Saboteurs set firebombs in 19 NYCity Hotels

[BettyO]

(07-30-2012 09:31 AM)HerbS Wrote:  On November 23,1864 terrorists set fire to 19 hotels in NYCity."The Safety Of New York City"The following dispatch was received by His Honor the Mayor:Washington,DC-November 3,1864---This department has received information from the British Provinces to the effect that there is a conspiracy on foot to set fire to the principal cities in the Northern States on the day of the Presidential election.-WH.Seward- Secretary of State.The fires were started in hotel beds,luckily their staffs extinguished the fires!As legend has it,one of the terrorists escaped to an island in the St.Lawrence River.His unidentified remains were found on Grindstone Island.The question still remains as to his identity.

Captain Robert Cobb Kennedy, a Louisiana soldier and more than likely later Confederate spy was hanged in March of 1865 for being one of the saboteurs who set the fire in Barnum's Museum. He escaped to Canada and then was captured when he attempted to sneak back into the US via Detroit. Lew Powell was supposed to be part of this plot as well; but there is certifiable verification that Powell was with Mosby at this venture - up until he left on January 1, 1865. There is no confirmation that Powell was ever a part of this particular plot, although David Homer Bates attempts to claim so.