Reevaluation of the St. Albams Raiders

[SSlater]

This is a careful study of the St. Albans raid. If you are in agreement with the published story of the St. Albans Raid - don't read this. You won't like what I am saying.

After reading all that I have, on the Raid, I am changing my mind about the whole raid. I now believe that it was a criminal attack on an innocent Village in Northern Vermont.

1st off - the Confederacy did not approve or sponsor the raid. The raid was approved by C. C. Clay, Jr. (One of the Confederate Commissioners in Canada). Jacob Thompson (The other Commissioner) objected, and was thoroughly embarrassed buy the venture, yet took all the "heat" for what was done. He got fired from his job as Commissioner.

The Raiders claimed that they were punishing the North, for the atrocities they committed during similar Raids on Southern cities. I believe that the Federal Raids were intended to weaken the ability of the South to continue to wage war - of any kind. I will show that the St. Albans raid was a self-serving fiasco for the benefit of the Raiders.
Not one cent of the money stolen was ever turned over to the Confederate Government. The Northern raids were accomplished in a Military manner - everyone was in full uniform with the Stars and Stripes flying in full view etc. etc. At St. Albans no one was in ANY uniform, and there was no flag of any kind on display.

I am finding Lt. Bennett Young's plan of attack questionable. At 3 PM he waved his guns in the air and announced that the town has been captured. This simple, quiet, town had no idea of something like this occurring. Then other thugs popped up and put on, mavbe a hat, or a jacket, perhaps, and the war was on. It took awhile before the town began to resist. The "Destruction" of the town amounted to burning one shed. Woopie! That'll show them. Shouldn't Young have tested his "Greek Fire", before the Raid? It tells me that the "Burning" was to be a minor part of the Raid.

The Bank Robbing went off well. They even "nailed" a few Bank Customers for their weekly deposits of maybe $100.
It appears that the escape plan was to give all the money to Higbee , and his wife" and they would hide out, while the rest ran off to Canada, drawing the Americans away from Higbee. Unfortunately, not everyone handed over their "take", so a lot of the money was taken from the Raiders. (I will get back to this topic in a minute.)
This part of the "Escape" was done without the knowledge of the rest of the Raiders. I have read that Young lagged behind the rest of the troops, in order to put Higbee in safe hands. He had to Find the "unidentified woman" who was to take care of Higbee's wounds. I say that was his wife.

This was not a rare and strange caper for Higbee. He actually took $75,000 home from a raid he participated in on one of Quantrill's Raids. How did Mary Belle (Mrs. Higbee] get from Louiville , KY. to Montreal in a day or two - Was it via "SOUTHWEST, or did she fly UNITED? I say she was in St. Albans, at the time for the Raid. This meeting with Higbee was all in secret -no one else was there. WAS HE WOUNDED AI ALL? It is said he was smuggled into Canada, to the St. John the Baptiste Society and attended to by Dr. Montrose Pallen. To begin with, the Society is really the St. Jean Society which is a Political/Religious Society. They advocated Canada's separation from Great Briton , very much like the Confederate Plan to separate from the United States. And the National language would be French.
Dr. Pallen was actually a Botanist.. Was his care for Higbee "The application of Bug Spray and some fertilizer? ( there has to be an explanation for this, but I haven't found it )

Let's get to Sarah Slater's part in the Raiders adventure.

Sarah was the "Newbie" in the Secret Service office and had very little to do while she learned. So, one day the Boss stuck his head out of his Office and said "Who would like to go to Richmond?" Sarah, trying to fit in said "I"ll go!". There is no way in God's creation, that that man would send her out penniless. How much did she need? First she need a "Cover", she needed a "Widow's Garb" and a few bucks so as to eat etc. She got it and off she went. Before this came about, she had arrived in Canada with Rev. Cameron and Josephine Brown.(See St. Lawrence Hall Register for December 1864. See Dec. 10, 12, 17 for "A. Reynaud, Josephine Brown and the Good Reverend.) They didn't sign together as this would reveal their complicity.

We read that Sarah nursed the Raiders while in Jail. Hmmmm!
I read that the Raiders had food sent in from local restaurants, The guys had "comforting " visits from the certain local women. It is obvious that they had plenty of money to arrange this pleasure. Since Compatriot Higbee and his "believed wounds" were not in this jail, Mrs Higbee would have no need to associate with the likes of this crowd.

Lastly, who is the lady in the picture published by Headley? I would like to think that Sarah was the only LADY in the group and that the Raiders didn't have to "Explain" to anyone about their association with her. So they used Sarah's picture. As an aside, the picture of Sarah resembles the description provided by the Judge in her Divorce proceedings. (Small, Dark hair and eyes etc.)

I'm not happy or proud of putting it together. It is in opposition to almost all that I have believed about Sarah. If true, so be it!

Please feel free to question anything and ,please, tell me about your ideas.

.

[RJNorton]

John, I have a question about the papers that came from Richmond that verified that the raid was a legitimate military action sanctioned (ordered?) by the Confederate government. Were these papers signed by Jefferson Davis? Or Judah Benjamin? Do these papers exist nowadays? I would be interested in seeing what they said or how things were worded. Many thanks if images of the papers could be posted on the forum.

[Gene C]

John, I agree with your comment about the Greek Fire. It also failed in the Confederate attempt to burn NY.
In the movie, "The Raid", BettyO mentioned in another thread (Interesting Visit), the greek fire worked quite well - thanks Hollywood.

Fascinating post!

[JMadonna]

Love your thinking "outside the box".

You didn't mention that the entire raid was the brainchild of George N. Sanders who manipulated Clay into believing that Thompson was holding back the funds that Clay (and Sanders) needed to be successful.

He also started rumors that the Americans were going to invade Canada to retrieve the raiders, manipulating the Canadians into moving them to Montreal (his headquarters). His manipulation of the judge into a 'judicial error' which released the raiders stunned both the British and the Americans.

[SSlater]

RJ. The papers that came from Richmond showed only that Young was a Lt. in the Confederate Army and maybe something similar on the others. The "Orders" were created in Canada, and they were signed by Clay - only. but I will scratch around some more.

Jerry I was aware of your input, but I felt I was getting "to long", and getting outside my purpose. There is even more than the bit we cover here. Thanks for contributing.

Gene I'll bet we can come up with an interesting blurb on the relationship between Clay and Thompson. They were "equal" Commissioners, but Thompson was the "Senior" of the two so there were times when Thompson overruled Clay. Thompson said "NO" to this raid, but Clay went ahead on his own.

[JMadonna]

(06-02-2017 01:05 PM)SSlater Wrote:  RJ. The papers that came from Richmond showed only that Young was a Lt. in the Confederate Army and maybe something similar on the others. The "Orders" were created in Canada, and they were signed by Clay - only. but I will scratch around some more.

The orders were created by Sanders and possibly signed by Clay or forged by Sanders.

[L Verge]

"Sarah was the "Newbie" in the Secret Service office and had very little to do while she learned. So, one day the Boss stuck his head out of his Office and said "Who would like to go to Richmond?" Sarah, trying to fit in said "I"ll go!"."

Those two sentences are the only things I want to comment on at the moment, John. I still do not believe that Sarah was in Canada first and sent to Richmond for the commission papers. I think she went from South to North.

Right now, I am re-reading Rev. Cameron's statement of his role. Maybe more later...

[SSlater]

(06-03-2017 02:57 PM)L Verge Wrote:  "Sarah was the "Newbie" in the Secret Service office and had very little to do while she learned. So, one day the Boss stuck his head out of his Office and said "Who would like to go to Richmond?" Sarah, trying to fit in said "I"ll go!"."

Those two sentences are the only things I want to comment on at the moment, John. I still do not believe that Sarah was in Canada first and sent to Richmond for the commission papers. I think she went from South to North.

Right now, I am re-reading Rev. Cameron's statement of his role. Maybe more later...

Laurie. Re read the Paragraph -lines 4 & 5. Sarah signed the SLH Register in December when she arrived in Canada with Josephine Brown and Stephen Cameron - Early Dec. '64. Her assignment was in Jan '65.
(You are tuff to convince. Do you believe me????) She did not return to Richmond and return to Canada and then leave again. I think that the "Passport fiasco" is the Problem. On her first trip north, Cameron took care of the Passport. When she left Canada all by herself, she didn't have a passport. I am guessing that she was already at the Potomac and couldn't get across and she used the "Story" about seeing MaMa as a cover, to justify the need. (I'll bet she just left her Mother's house in NY)
(PS Cameron was in Canada too, when he decided to make the run.)

[L Verge]

(06-03-2017 04:06 PM)SSlater Wrote:  

(06-03-2017 02:57 PM)L Verge Wrote:  "Sarah was the "Newbie" in the Secret Service office and had very little to do while she learned. So, one day the Boss stuck his head out of his Office and said "Who would like to go to Richmond?" Sarah, trying to fit in said "I"ll go!"."

Those two sentences are the only things I want to comment on at the moment, John. I still do not believe that Sarah was in Canada first and sent to Richmond for the commission papers. I think she went from South to North.

Right now, I am re-reading Rev. Cameron's statement of his role. Maybe more later...

Laurie. Re read the Paragraph -lines 4 & 5. Sarah signed the SLH Register in December when she arrived in Canada with Josephine Brown and Stephen Cameron - Early Dec. '64. Her assignment was in Jan '65.
(You are tuff to convince. Do you believe me????) She did not return to Richmond and return to Canada and then leave again. I think that the "Passport fiasco" is the Problem. On her first trip north, Cameron took care of the Passport. When she left Canada all by herself, she didn't have a passport. I am guessing that she was already at the Potomac and couldn't get across and she used the "Story" about seeing MaMa as a cover, to justify the need. (I'll bet she just left her Mother's house in NY)
(PS Cameron was in Canada too, when he decided to make the run.)

I understand your point, John, but I am also stuck on the version that I learned from Hall and Tidwell that is pretty well repeated in Winkler's book Stealing Secrets. The bool is online, but it won't let me copy the passage. Go to page 32 at https://books.google.com/books?id=cYlcod...ar&f=false

That discusses two NC congressmen giving her letters to see Benjamin for entry across the lines to live with Mom in NYC. Benjamin also sent her to Seddon, Sec of War for CSA. He made the offer of secret service, and the bored young lady took him up on it and was immediately assigned the job of getting those commission papers to the Canadian court. She left Richmond on January 31 and signed in at St. Lawrence Hall on Feb. 15 at 3 am.

If she was previously doing service for the Confederacy, would she have needed recommendations from two congressmen, Benjamin, and Seddon? Or, was she someone new who had a better chance of eluding detection on this important mission? Cameron, however, came down from Canada to Richmond because the operatives in Canada did not know that the newbie was en route to them with the papers.

Somewhere, I have seen a timeline of Sarah's life and service to the CSA. For some reason I keep thinking that there was something on that that convinced me that the St Albans Raid trip was her first outside of the U.S. Someone help!?

[RJNorton]

(06-03-2017 08:18 PM)L Verge Wrote:  The bool is online, but it won't let me copy the passage.

Laurie, Google Books disables the ability to copy and paste. In the past I have tried one or two "workarounds" for this issue, but I found none were really satisfactory.

[RobertLC]

Roger, I use a MacBook Pro and the app called "Grab" works really well for making selections from the screen and it works in Google books. The user is allowed to "Grab" the entire page, a window, or a special selection. It is one of my most used apps.

I haven't used Windows for a while, but the screen capture might let you get the entire page. I don't remember if the screen capture allows a special selection or not. It might just include the entire screen. That might be a partial solution. Maybe you've already tried it. Sorry that I can't be more helpful with Windows.

Bob

[Susan Higginbotham]

Has anyone compared "A. Reynard's" signature in the St. Lawrence Hall register to Sarah's signature? "A. Reynard" registered at the hotel on at least three occasions I know of, December 10, 1865, March 9, 1865, and March 17, 1865. Hall has Sarah in Washington around March 10-12.

[RJNorton]

(06-04-2017 08:56 AM)RobertLC Wrote:  Roger, I use a MacBook Pro and the app called "Grab" works really well for making selections from the screen and it works in Google books. The user is allowed to "Grab" the entire page, a window, or a special selection. It is one of my most used apps.

I haven't used Windows for a while, but the screen capture might let you get the entire page. I don't remember if the screen capture allows a special selection or not. It might just include the entire screen. That might be a partial solution. Maybe you've already tried it. Sorry that I can't be more helpful with Windows.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. I think it's easier with a MacBook Pro. It is supposed to work with Microsoft OneNote (which I have). I'll keep working on it.

[SSlater]

Some more thinking - outside of the box.
Since Richmond did not approve the Raid, and the Raiders blew it. How did Richmond feel about the whole mess? It wouldn't surprise me if one or more of the "Travelers" who went for the "papers" carried a wee bit of the Stolen Cash, to "buy Richmond's help" - by turning over a few thousand dollars to the Treasury.This may explain why so many of them did not make it to Richmond. They didn't want to waste it on a losing cause. It appears that Sarah and the good Reverend, were the only ones who wanted to save the gang.
I think you can tell, that I don't think it was a "Nobel" Raid, and the Raiders never intended to turn over the Take. The biggest crook of them all was sweet young handsome Bennett Young. I live in the South, so you may read of my hanging, any day now.

[Gene C]

Speaking of Bennett Young, this from "The Civil War Years - Canada and the United States, by Robin Winks:

"The defense presented the prisoner's statements, and Young submitted to the court copies of his vague commission from Confederate Secretary of War Seddon, which authorized him to organize a company of twenty men for an unstated purpose. Young further declared that the particular expedition was neither organized nor projected from the Canadas, and in this he appears to have been less than honest. He added, for emotional effect and apparently with some truth, that he was also avenging his fiancée, who had been criminaly attacked by a Northern soldier, a point which impressed the pro-Southern crowd in the courtroom. The defense requested a thirty day delay so that messengers might go to Richmond to obtain copies of commissions and other documents that would prove that the expedition had been an act of war, and Coursol suspended the charges until December 13.

When the defense appealed to Lincoln to grant the messengers safe conduct to Richmond, the President refused."
(page 312)

**** This occurred before "Coursol declared he would hear no more of the matter and discharged the prisoners from all six warrants" (page 314)
Coursol claimed he had no jurisdiction in the case. - p 315.