The North Star -- Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln

[David Lockmiller]

(09-13-2023 10:12 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/julian-sh...-1.6964098

[I]t's the fall of 1864 and the Confederates are determined to give the North a taste of their own medicine. Bennet Young is a young cavalry leader. The Confederates had already tried several unsuccessful raids from Canada into the northern states, hoping to break out the many Confederate prisoners who were being held in northern prisons. Young said, why don't we attack these unprotected northern towns?

He picks a small town in Vermont called St Albans, just across the border, largely unprotected, but big enough to have several banks. And in October, he will lead a small band of 20 men who arrive dressed as Canadian tourists. They announce they are taking over the town in the name of the Confederacy. They rob three banks in the space of a few minutes of $200,000. Kill an innocent bystander. Try to burn down the town. Gallop away on horseback and make it to the Canadian border. They make it to the Canadian side, but they're quickly arrested and they will be put on trial. [T]he Americans expect[ed] that these terrorists who committed a war crime and bank theft and murdered an innocent citizen would be duly prosecuted and extradited.

[But, to the contrary, the confederate prisoners] got wonderful wine and food served on white linen tablecloths. The New York Times talks about how the fine ladies of Montreal come down to see the Confederate prisoners. Young would have an affair with the daughter of the judge who would later acquit him.