Vast and Fiendish Plot

[L Verge]

Somehow I missed a 2010 book by Clint Johnson entitled A Vast and Fiendish Plot: The Confederate Attack on New York City. I received my copy today and have not had a chance to flip through it. However, the back cover's synopsis claims that eight Confederate officers hatched the scheme of burning the city in retaliation for the Union killing General John Hunt Morgan and torching the Shenandoah Valley.

This is #5 on my list of books sitting on my sofa waiting to be read. Someday, I'll let you know my opinion.

[BettyO]

I need to get that book....I, too have SO MANY waiting to be read....

[L Verge]

Maybe we should take our unread books to the conference and assign one to each person to read at bedtime and report back at breakfast the next morning.

[ReignetteC]

Maybe we should take our unread books to the conference and assign one to each person to read at bedtime and report back at breakfast the next morning.

Ladies,

The book is a page-turner. (But I am a bit biased because I love NYC.)

RC

[JMadonna]

Somehow I missed a 2010 book by Clint Johnson entitled A Vast and Fiendish Plot: The Confederate Attack on New York City. I received my copy today and have not had a chance to flip through it. However, the back cover's synopsis claims that eight Confederate officers hatched the scheme of burning the city in retaliation for the Union killing General John Hunt Morgan and torching the Shenandoah Valley.

The 8 officers served under Morgan on his great 'Northern Raid' but were under the orders of the Canadian Secret Service at the time of New York who provided their Greek Fire. The cover synopsis makes it sound that they were independent terrorists, which they were not.

[Laurie Verge]

I am so happy to hear you say that, Jerry! I want the finger to point towards Canadian Cabinet with the puppet strings being pulled by Judah Benjamin. I know y'all will find that a strange thing for a She Rebel to say, but I still think that Booth was merely an agent of them -- the puppet, not the puppet master.

[JMadonna]

As far as what I know on the subject that was the case.
Has anyone researched the British Archives on the subject? You have to know they were monitoring Thompson and his crew too.
I'd love to know how to do that research.

Jerry

[RJNorton]

Regarding why the fires failed to take hold, Ed Steers writes (in a North & South article from 2002) it was due to (1) the Greek Fire had been sabotaged or altered in some way to cause its failure or (2) it was manufactured by a chemist who wasn't qualified or (3) each of the rooms were sealed tight preventing an adequate flow of oxygen to the fire.

[JMadonna]

Regarding why the fires failed to take hold, Ed Steers writes (in a North & South article from 2002) it was due to (1) the Greek Fire had been sabotaged or altered in some way to cause its failure or (2) it was manufactured by a chemist who wasn't qualified or (3) each of the rooms were sealed tight preventing an adequate flow of oxygen to the fire.

Most probably #2. The NYFD had no trouble using water to put them out.

[Gene C]

In "Confederate Operations in Canada and New York" by John Headley (an active participant in the undercover activities), he writes, "It had been agreed that our fires would be started in the hotels, so as to do the greatest damage in the business district on Broadway. The eight members of our party had each taken a room at three or four motels." They agreed to meet the next day, but two failed to show up. "The bottles of Greek fire having been wrapped in paper were put in our coat pockets. Each man took ten bottles."

From what I've read, I don't know why the fires didn't spread more rapidly. Headley also seemed to think the Yankees knew about the attack ahead of time, The stuff caught fire quick enough, but the gov't authorities were prepared to deal with that. These guys were definately not independent terrorist, but working directley under Canadian Confederate leadership.

I don't know much about this subject or John Headley. Is he a reliable witness?
Purchased this book about 3 years ago, it wasn't quite as interesting as I thought it should be (lots of copies of corespondence, military orders and such). Parts of it were very interesting, other parts quite dry. It is a Time/Life book (Collectors Library of the Civil War) about 450 pages.

[JMadonna]

Headley said the Greek Fire didn't work as advertised. Water should have merely spread the fire but it didn't.
Napalm is the closest thing we have to Archimedes original formula.

[Gene C]

Jerry, is Hedley's book reliable, in your opinion?

[JMadonna]

It's probably the most quoted on the subject since he is one of the few to tell the story from the Confederate point of view. Since, I know of none of his contemporaries to take issue with it, I'd have to say its reliable.