Benjamin's letter to Jacob Thompson.

[SSlater]

I have a copy of the letter to Jacob Thompson that Benjamin wrote about 2 March 1865, and was carried to Montreal by Gen, E. G. Lee, when he went there to assume command of the Confederate Commissioners. I found it in the papers called "Cameron's Manuscript". Cameron had collected information in anticipation of writing a "History of the Secret Service.", however he never got around to writing it. So, I have the info, but it is not it any logical order. This information is vital to the study of the events of that time. For one thing it tells us where most of the Confederate Treasury went, and this paper is never quoted.
There is another facet that has been pushed into the background, that is - Pres. Davis was very ill in the last days of the Confederacy, and Benjamin was running the Government. So. Benjamin could do anything he wanted , and would use the phrase " The President DIRECTS me to .....", to convince the reader that "This is what DAVIS wants." Here we go.

The letter is in the handwriting of W. W. Cleary.
Department of State
Richmond, 2 March 1865
Hon. J. Thompson
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Sir
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your several dispatches of 4th 8th and 22nd of January, as well as your full report from the hands of Col. Denson, the president instructs me to forward to you the following instruction on the various points embodied in your correspondence .
(unreadable) in regard to our escaped prisoners. Place in the hands of some person in whom you have confidence such sum of money, not exceeding ten thousand Dollars, as you may deem necessary, to be applied solely to the purpose of assisting such of our soldiers as may need aid to return to the Confederacy. No money is to be supplied to any that do not want to return here.
II. In regard to D S (This is Dr. Kensey Johns Stewart) the President doe not wish any monies advanced to him nor does he desire that any enterprise of any kind be undertaken by the Doctor. We are determined not to pursue any just complaint to be made of breach of natural rights by our authority if sanction.
III. Pay over to he gentleman referred to in my dispatch of 30th December last Twenty Thousand Dollars to be used by him at his discretion in the service and to accounted for by him when he here after needs more money. Inform him that I will send him on being notified of his needs.
IV. Reserve in your own hands such sum as you may need to pay your expenses home.
V. Remit the remainder in your hands to Mrss Fraser, Trenholm & Co. of Liverpool, to be placed to my credit in a separate account. Make the remittance as soon as possible and let me know the amount of it, as we are in pressing need of those funds for important serice there.
VI. Procure for us a complete record of Burley's case that we may make it the basis of official action. (from its beginning to the final judgement in Appellate Court.)
VII. Return to Confederacy as soon as you can. Your discretion must be considered as to the best mode. I would however suggest Havana, thence to Matamoras by neutral vessel, thence through Texas. This route is long, but is the only one that can be considered entirely safe.
I believe this covers all points. I am necessary brief in order to conceal this dispatch more securely - As soon as you receive this publish in N. Y. Herald an advertisement for one week, as follows:
For Sale, acres of Illinois prairie lands. For description, price and terms, apply by letter to
N. O. Donalson
Chicago, Ill.
Fill in the blank before the word "Acres", with the number of pounds Sterling that you remit to Fraser Trenholm & Co.
I am very respectfully
your obedient servant
J. P. Benjamin
Sec. of State
--------------------------------------------
In addition to this money, Benjamin had a special coat made for his escape to London. It had many secret pockets made in the coat to carry all the Gold he was to get away with.

Upon arrival in England, he went directly to Fraser- Trenholm, and then he went to Paris to say hello to his wife and daughter, who he hadn't seen in 5 years. Then he came back to London and "Found" hundreds of bails of Confederate Cotton. Since there was no confederacy, he took possession of the Cotton, since he was the ranking Confederate on site. Poor man, he probably laughed to death at the demise of the Confederacy.

One more item. I would like to ask anyone who has "Newspapers", to look in the New York Herald around March of 1865 and see if the Illinois Land was advertised, and tell us the amount of his wealth.

PS. This is an example of a "Coded Message", that was sent in plain English, that I tried to explain in another post.

[Gene C]

That's quite a letter.
Who is Cameron, and are the papers in a public or private collection?

Your comment about Davis health and Benjamin's use of "the President directs me to", adds a little light to the fact that in Davis's book "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (2 volumes), he barely mentions Benjamin at all, but during most of the war, they were quite close.
Some where, some how, their relationship soured.

[Cliff Roberts]

I did check for the "prairie land" ad in 1865 issues of the New York Herald but could not find it or anything close to it. I did find a long article in the July 24, 1872 Herald, p.8, titled "A Defense of Jacob Thompson" by "Colonel Pickett" in which the entire letter from Benjamin to Thompson is quoted, including the "prairie land" ad. The article also quotes a letter to "Pickett" from Thompson, then in Italy, stating that he returned all the money he withheld directly to Benjamin and had a receipt to prove it. No specific figure was mentioned.

[L Verge]

(10-14-2016 08:09 AM)Gene C Wrote:  That's quite a letter.
Who is Cameron, and are the papers in a public or private collection?

Your comment about Davis health and Benjamin's use of "the President directs me to", adds a little light to the fact that in Davis's book "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (2 volumes), he barely mentions Benjamin at all, but during most of the war, they were quite close.
Some where, some how, their relationship soured.

Gene - I'm not familiar with Cameron's Manuscript, but I assume it refers to Simon Cameron, Lincoln's first Secretary of War - another to add to the list of sneaky politicians.

[John Fazio]

Laurie, et al.:

I do believe that the reference is to Simon Cameron, who served as Lincoln's Secretary of War for about a year and who was then sent to the boonies in Russia as our Ambassador, amid charges of corruption. In discussing his honesty with Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens said to Lincoln "I don't think he (Cameron) would steal a red-hot stove". When word of this trashing reached Cameron, he confronted Stevens and demanded that he retract the statement. Stevens went to Lincoln and said "I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back".

Queries:

Why was the letter in Cleary's hand? Was he in Richmond at the time? My understanding is that he was most often in Montreal as part of the Canadian Cabinet. Wasn't he Thompson's Secretary?

Might the $20,000 have been for John Surratt?

What happened to the rest of the Confederacy's gold?

Is it not likely that Davis, in his two-volume work (The Rise and Fall...etc."), barely mentions Benjamin, despite the fact that Benjamin was his right-hand, having served as Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State of the Confederacy, because he knew that most of Benjamin's work, especially in the last year of the war, related to terror and assassination plots? If so, it follows that the less said the better. Corroborating this line of thinking is the fact that Benjamin left the country after the fall of Richmond, endured an incredibly harrowing journey to get to "the farthest place from the United States if it takes me to the middle of China" (his words) and then, after making it to England and carving out a successful career as a barrister, never returned to the United States and never even spoke about the American Civil War, nor about his role in it, for the rest of his life.

John

[RJNorton]

Laurie and John F., I am not sure the Cameron (Cameron's Manuscript) reference is to Simon Cameron.

I think it may be a reference to Rev. Stephen F. Cameron. Please see the bottom of p. 227 in "April '65."

[L Verge]

(10-14-2016 02:25 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Laurie and John F., I am not sure the Cameron (Cameron's Manuscript) reference is to Simon Cameron.

I think it may be a reference to Rev. Stephen F. Cameron. Please see the bottom of p. 227 in "April '65."

Of course, I forgot about that Confederate operative. I'm sure you are correct.

[SSlater]

I apologize for skipping over Cameron so lightly. Yes he was REV. Stephen Cameron. He's the cat that took two ladies to Canada, with him in the garb of a Catholic Priest and them dressed as Catholic Nuns. The Nuns I think were Sarah Slater and Josephine Brown. That trip was about Oct. of 1864. I am fairly certain those were the ladies, because they show up in Canada at that time. Sarah was at the St. Lawrence hall, and Josephine joined her husband, who was an aid to Clay.
There is another book "Niagara on the Lake" (in Canada) that talks about Confederate Gold. That was where all the Confederate Officials went to draw their final salary. I will look up the author after supper. (maybe some quotes from it,, Yes?

[John Fazio]

Laurie, Stanton:

We should have known better than to try to slip one past Roger. He's a one-man Snopes. Well, the Simon Cameron-Thaddeus Stevens story is still funny.

Roger, there are two April '65's, one by Tidwell, one by Winik.

John

[SSlater]

Back from supper. Here we go again.
Gene C. A long time ago, I got the "Manuscript" from the Confederate Museum in Richmond. I do not remember if they have a Research Div. or a Librarian, or what ever, or if they still have it available.
Cliff Roberts Thanks for checking in "Newspapers". If Thompson "returned all money he withheld - directly, to Benjamin, Then Benjamin must have gotten more than a Million Dollars. I did read the amount in another source, but it was given in "Pounds", and I didn't know how to convert it to $$$.
Laurie. Check to see if you have a copy of the Manuscript. If you don't, we can remedy that.
John Fazio. "Why was the letter in Cleary's hand?" Cameron told us That he "Collected" all the Spy Info that he could. He never said it was all original Material, he copied some and Cleary copied some for him. And yes, Cleary was Thompson's secretary.
Next question - "Were is the Confederate Gold?". I don't want to tell you on this public source. It would be gone when we got there. There are barrels of Mexican Coins buried in identifiable places. They were too heavy for horse drawn wagons. I have a Kabota tractor, that can dig and tow, what are you doing next weekend?
PS. I have an on-going project, typing Cameron's Manuscript. It is a real Bugger. I have not finished more than 70 or 80 pages. I copied the original, with a printer, and glued it to the left side of a page, then started typing what I could read on the right side. Some people do not agree with my decyphering. (Neither do I.)
I couldn't find Niagara on the lake, I will hunt some more.