Missouri Woman Believed to BeLast Civil War Widow Dies

AMissouri woman who was believed tobe the last remaining widow of a CivilWar soldier has died.

By Associated Press, Wire ServiceContent Jan. 7, 2021, at 3:37 p.m.

Helen Viola Jackson is shown this April2017 photo. Jackson was believed to be thelast surviving widow of a Civil War soldierwhen she died Dec. 16, 2020 in Marshfield,Mo. She was 101. In 1936, she was 17 whenshe married 93-year-old former Unionsoldier James Bolin. She had been hiscaregiver and he wanted to marry her so shewould receive his soldier's pension. Butafter he died in 1939, Jackson never appliedfor the pension. (Photo courtesy NicholasInman via AP

\BY JIM SALTER, Associated Press

O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Helen ViolaJackson's 1936 marriage to James Bolin wasunusual to say the least: He was 93 and indeclining health, and she was a 17-year-oldschoolgirl.

Bolin was also a Civil War veteran whofought for the Union in the border stateof Missouri. Jackson was almost certainlythe last remaining widow of a Civil Warsoldier when she died Dec. 16 at a nursinghome in Marshfield, Missouri. She was 101.

Several Civil War heritage organizationshave recognized Jackson’s quiet role inhistory, one that she hid for all but the finalthree years of her life, said Nicholas Inman,her pastor and longtime friend. Yet in thosefinal years, Inman said, Jackson embracedthe recognition that included a spot on theMissouri Walk of Fame and countless cardsand letters from well-wishers.

“It was sort of a healing process for Helen:that something she thought would be kind ofa scarlet letter would be celebrated in herlater years,” Inman said.

Jackson grew up one of 10 children in thetiny southwestern Missouri town of Niangua,near Marshfield. Bolin, a widower who hadserved as a private in the 14th MissouriCavalry during the Civil War seven decadesearlier, lived nearby.

Jackson’s father volunteered his teenagedaughter to stop by Bolin’s home each dayto provide care and help with chores. To payback her kindness, Bolin offered to marryJackson, which would allow her to receivehis soldier's pension after his death, acompelling offer in the context of the GreatDepression.

Jackson agreed in large part because “shefelt her daily care was prolonging his life,”Inman said.

They wed on Sept. 4, 1936, at his home.Throughout their three years of marriagethere was no intimacy and she never livedwith him. She never told her parents, her

siblings or anyone else about the wedding.She never remarried, spending decades“harboring this secret that had to be eatingher alive,” Inman said.

After Bolin’s death in 1939, she did not seekhis pension.

She also realized the stigma and potentialscandal of a teenager wedding a man in his90s, regardless of her reason. In an oralhistory recording in 2018, Jackson said shenever spoke of the wedding to protectBolin's reputation as well as her own.

“I had great respect for Mr. Bolin, and I didnot want him to be hurt by the scorn ofwagging tongues,” she said.

Inman and Jackson were longtime friends.She was a charter member of the Methodistchurch where he serves as pastor. One dayin December 2017, she told Inman about hersecret marriage to a much older man. Shementioned in passing that he fought in theCivil War.

“I said, ‘What? Back up about that. What doyou mean he was in the Civil War?’” Inmansaid.

Inman checked into her story and found thateverything she told him was “spot on.”Officials at Wilson’s Creek NationalBattlefield sent him copies of Bolin’sservice information. She identified where hewas buried, in Niangua.

She also kept a Bible that he gave her — inwhich he wrote about their marriage. Thosewritten words were good enough for theSons of Union Veterans of the Civil Warand other heritage organizations torecognize Jackson’s place in history.

After a lifetime of avoiding her past,Jackson embraced it in her final years,Inman said. She spoke to schoolchildren andhad a Facebook page dedicated to her. Sheenjoyed getting cards and letters.

She also found new peace. A stoic naturethat kept her from shedding tears at her ownsiblings' funerals seemed to evaporate.

After Bolin’s relatives found out aboutJackson's role in his life, they went to thenursing home and presented her with aframed photo of him.

“She broke down and cried,” Inman recalled.“She kept touching the frame and said, ‘Thisis the only man who ever loved me.’”

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‘Bloody Ravine’ 29 Acres at theHeart of Williamsburg’s Civil WarBattlefield, Protected forPosterity29-Acres at the Heart of W

American Battlefield Trust’s acquisitionof Colonial Williamsburg Foundationtract was made possible by federal andstate matching grants and privatecontributions

Mary Koik December 22, 2020

(Williamsburg, Va.) – Although the city issynonymous with the colonial era,Williamsburg’s significance to Americanhistory extends well beyond the 18th century.Thanks to a partnership between theAmerican Battlefield Trust and The ColonialWilliamsburg Foundation, supported by theNational Park Service’s AmericanBattlefield Protection Program and theCommonwealth of Virginia, 29 acres thatplayed a critical role in the Civil War will beprotected forever.

A colorful scene at the WilliamsburgBattlefield in Williamsburg, Virginia.Brian M. Callan

“Sometimes the stars align, and thatcertainly felt like the case with this project,”said American Battlefield Trust PresidentDavid Duncan. “Zoned for commercial usesand in a sought-after location, the fair-market value of this land was eye-popping.But The Colonial Williamsburg Foundationis a partner that shares our vision forcreating places where American history isalive and tangible. Together, we were ableto create a scenario, supported bygovernment partners who recognized theextraordinary significance of this land, thatwill preserve this historic ground forever.”

Acknowledging the Foundation’s importantrole, Colonial Williamsburg President andCEO Cliff Fleet said, “The story of Americais dynamic, and Greater Williamsburg isrich with places that figure prominently inthat story. It was our honor to ensure thatthis historic landscape is safeguarded by anorganization uniquely situated to interpret it.The work of the American Battlefield Trustto preserve this important piece of Civil Warhistory adds to the diversity of offerings forvisitors interested in a more completeunderstanding of the Battle of Williamsburgand provides an economic boost to localbusinesses.”

When the Trust announced the project inMay 2020, it emphasized the extraordinaryinvestment that the opportunity represented.Between a donation of value being made onthe part of the seller and anticipated grantsfrom the federal and state governments, eachdollar donated by Trust members would bematched $220-to-$1. Also notable, the landrepresented a pristine pocket of battlefield ina highly developed area. It provides anopportunity to honor seven Americansoldiers who earned the Medal of Honor fortheir valor at Williamsburg: Cpl. RobertBoody (40th New York), Sgt. MartinConboy (37th New York), Sgt. JohnNicholas Coyne (70th New York), Pvt.Michael Dillon (2nd New Hampshire), Pvt.Thomas Timothy Fallon (37th NewYork), Sgt. John Haight (72nd New York)and Capt. George Washington Mindil (61stPennsylvania).

Having a sizable portion of the battlefieldprotected also offers the opportunity to tellimportant stories of often overlookedAfrican American involvement in the CivilWar. The outcome of the Battle ofWilliamsburg was greatly influenced whenenslaved persons offered the Union armyintelligence about unoccupied Confederatefortifications, enabling them to gain aprotected foothold on their opponent’s flank.Slave labor had been used to construct thesefortifications, and some of the same menwho built them clandestinely led soldiersthrough the woods to exploit them. As thewar progressed, enslaved persons in theregion pursued self-emancipation byjourneying to Fort Monroe, where theymight be declared contraband and underUnion protection. Subsequently, many Blackmen from the Williamsburg region enlistedin the United States Colored Troops as thewar progressed.

Battle of Williamsburg. Gen. Hancock'scharge, May 5, 1862.Library of Congress, Kurz & Allison.

Although the Trust is typically able togenerate matches that double or triple theimpact of private gifts, the massivemultiplication factor drew immediateattention and the Trust swiftly raised theamount necessary to secure the property.With the fundraising completed and stateand federal grants awarded this autumn, thetransaction was completed this week.

The newly protected land will provide bothenvironmental and economic benefits to thelocal community, noted Drew Gruber,interim president of the WilliamsburgBattlefield Association. “Conservation ofthis green space will not only ensure thequality of life for regional residents but willhelp our economy by diversifying ourtourism profile. Adding a Civil War amenitywill attract that large audience whichliterally drives past Williamsburg each yearin search of these sites and stories.”

The Battle of Williamsburg was fought onMay 5, 1862, and marked the largestengagement fought in Virginia up to thattime, after First Manassas the previous July.Departing from Fort Monroe, the UnionArmy moved up the Virginia Peninsula,hoping to threaten Richmond. The twoforces had settled into a weeks-long siege at

Yorktown, another site more oftenassociated with the Revolutionary War.When the Confederates withdrew from theirentrenchments, Union Maj. Gen. George B.McClellan was slow to mount a pursuit butmade contact with Confederate Gen. JosephE. Johnston's rearguard brigades four milessoutheast of Williamsburg on the rainymorning of May 5.

One of the key geographic features of themorning fighting came to be known as the“Bloody Ravine,” as the forces occupiedopposite sides of the divide and hand-to-hand combat was recorded between the lines.Later in the day, Union Brig. Gen. JosephHooker assaulted Fort Magruder, an earthenfortification alongside the WilliamsburgRoad, but was repulsed. Confederatecounterattacks, directed by Maj. Gen. JamesLongstreet, almost overwhelmed Hooker'smen, but reinforcements stabilized theFederal left. It was in this fighting that Brig.Gen. Winfield S. Hancock earned hisnickname “Hancock the Superb.”

That evening, Johnston continued hiswithdrawal up the peninsula. McClellanclaimed the battle at Williamsburg was a“brilliant victory” over superior forces, butneither commander had committed his entirearmy to the fight; nearly 41,000 Federalsand 32,000 Confederates slugged it out,inflicting a total of 3,800 casualties on bothsides.

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicatedto preserving America’s hallowedbattlegrounds and educating the public aboutwhat happened there and why it matterstoday. The nonprofit, nonpartisanorganization has protected more than 53,000acres associated with the Revolutionary War,War of 1812, and Civil War. Learn moreat www.battlefields.org.

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American Battlefield TrustLaunches Five – Year Push toProtect the Hearty of Two MajorBattlefieldsMary Koik, December 17, 2020

(Richmond, Va.) – For decades,preservationists and historians have held anear-consensus view: A square-mile of theRichmond suburbs was the most historicallysignificant but unprotected Civil Warlandscape in America. Not only was thisland central to the Battle of Gaines’ Mill inJune 1862, but two years later played amajor role in the Battle of Cold Harbor.Even as other important battlegroundsaround the former Confederate capital wereprotected and brought into RichmondNational Battlefield Park through public-private partnerships, it remained pristine butvulnerable to the forces of development. Butat the conclusion of a five-year campaign,launched today by the American BattlefieldTrust, it will be protected forever.

Fog rolls over the historic landscape at theGaines' Mill Battlefield in Mechanicsville,Virginia.Matthew Huntley

“For the entirety of my nearly 21 years atthe Trust, this land has stood at the pinnacleof our preservation hopes,” said organizationPresident David Duncan. “This twice-hallowed ground will stand forever as a

testament to the power of historic landscapesto inform our understanding andappreciation of the past.”

The full initiative involves several tracts tobe announced in phases over the course offive years. Although confidentialityagreements prevent us from disclosing thecampaign’s ultimate price from the outset,this massive project will be among the mostambitious ever undertaken by the Trust.While the entire effort is known as the“Gaines’ Mill – Cold Harbor Saved ForeverCampaign,” the first stage is summarized as“Pickett’s Charge, Five Times as Large.” Itincludes a large, 96-acre parcel, plus 12additional acres nearby — all of it landacross which, between the two battles, some70,000 soldiers charged. The total cost topreserve the 108 acres is $1,411,000. But,thanks to early gifts from major donors anda significant grant from the Lee-JacksonEducational Foundation, $511,000 remainsto be raised. This is in addition to a separateproject nearby, where the Trust is seeking$201,000 to protect 36 acres at Cold Harbor,including the site of the original ColdHarbor Tavern that lent its name to thefighting, and Trevilian Station, Va.

Protection of important battlefieldlandscapes around Richmond has alwaysbeen driven by public-private partnerships.Initial efforts in the 1920s were led byRichmond newspaperman and PulitzerPrize-winning historian Douglas SouthallFreeman, whose Battlefield MarkersAssociation erected 59 large interpretivetablets, many of which can still be seenaround the region. Later, the RichmondBattlefield Parks Corporation acquired 572acres that were deeded to theCommonwealth of Virginia in 1932 andbecame the first state park. Followingconsiderable work by the CivilianConservation Corps to connect the disparatesites from 1933–1941, Richmond National

Battlefield Park was officially established in1944.

The sun rises over the Cold Harborbattlefield near Mechanicsville, Virginia.Matthew Huntley

As the decades passed, the city of Richmondgrew swiftly, and the threat of developmentloomed ever larger. This resulted in the lossof important battlefields, such as SevenPines, much of which is the site of theRichmond International Airport. Eventually,the Gaines’ Mill – Cold Harbor battlefieldbecame one of the largest undeveloped areasin desirable Hanover County. However sogreat was the land’s historical significancethat during a 2005 Trust Board Meeting,legendary historian Ed Bearss declared:“Even if you have to sell every other pieceof battlefield land the Trust has ever savedin order to preserve this land, you should doit.” Trust officials were able to convey toBearss that, after another 15 years ofcultivation and negotiation, an agreementhad been reached shortly before his passingin September at the age of 97.

This multi-year effort will contribute towardthe protection of a critical mass at bothbattlefields — allowing visitors 200 yearsfrom now to understand how the actionunfolded on that landscape. Such anachievement will be largely due to the

Trust’s efforts — as recently as 2012, theNational Park Service owned only 65 acresat Gaines’ Mill, a figure that quintupled witha single Trust transaction that year. Morebroadly, between 1995 and 2013, RichmondNational Battlefield Park more than tripledin size, a feat made possible through theTrust’s efforts to protect these hallowedgrounds and, when possible, transferprivately protected lands into the park.These efforts have been regularly supportedby land acquisition funding from theNational Park Service and matching grantsfrom the American Battlefield ProtectionProgram and Virginia BattlefieldPreservation Fund, leveraged with donationsfrom private citizens around the country.

As the capital of the Confederacy,Richmond’s capture was a chief war aim ofUnion armies during the Civil War. In thespring of 1862, Federal troops embarkedfrom Fortress Monroe on the tip of theVirginia Peninsula and traveled northwesttoward their goal. Maj. Gen. GeorgeMcClellan’s troops made it practically to thegates of Richmond before stern resistancefrom Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee,newly appointed to lead the Army ofNorthern Virginia, stymied the advance. OnJune 27, 1862, the armies clashed atthe Battle of Gaines’ Mill – the third ofthe Seven Days’ Battles; the day’s final andsuccessful assault remains the largest attackever made on American soil. Two years later,the armies returned to the same spot for thefinal engagement of the Overland Campaign,the Battle of Cold Harbor. Union Lt. Gen.Ulysses Grant also launched one of thelarger attacks of the Civil War across thisground on June 3, 1864. Regretful of theresulting bloody repulse and unable tocapture Richmond, Grant turned to besiegethe vital rail hub at Petersburg, preventingsupplies from reaching Richmond.

Learn more about the Gaines’ Mill – ColdHarbor Saved Forever Campaignat www.battlefields.org/GMCH2020.

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicatedto preserving America’s hallowedbattlegrounds and educating the public aboutwhat happened there and why it matterstoday. The nonprofit, nonpartisanorganization has protected more than 53,000acres associated with the Revolutionary War,War of 1812, and Civil War. Learn moreat www.battlefields.org.

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Head of Class

Thomas Henry Hines (left) andunidentified fellow raiders (possibleGeorge Eastin and John Hunt Morgan)taught their Union foes some toughlessons with their guerilla tactics andmoxie above the Mason/Dixon Line.University of Kentucky

Ron Soodalter HISTORYNETJanuary 2021

Former schoolteacher finds a fittinghome as one of John Hunt Morgan’svaunted Cavalry raiders

Thomas Henry Hines’ war began in1861, when he left his Kentucky home

to fight for the South. He rose swiftlyfrom lieutenant in a local Kentuckycavalry unit to captain underConfederate raider John Hunt Morgan,the fabled “Thunderbolt of theConfederacy.” He also became a huntedand highly placed special agent, and amajor provocateur for PresidentJefferson Davis. During his service,Hines staged the most sensationalprison break of the war andendeavored—in the end,unsuccessfully—to establish apowerful Confederate Second Front inthe heart of the Union itself.

Hines was a slim, handsome young man,bearing an uncanny resemblanceto John Wilkes Booth. To fellowConfederate agent John Headley, hewas “modest andunassuming…endowed with variedtalents and unflinching courage….Hisexploits…in Morgan’s Cavalry are toonumerous to be recorded here.” Hines’superior officer, Major John B.Castleman, added that, with but oneexception, he had never known “a manso resourceful and so composed in alldifficulties.” It was these qualities thatmade Hines an ideal member ofMorgan’s guerrilla band.

At the beginning of hostilities, 22-year-old Thomas Hines was earning hisliving as a schoolteacher. He soon lefthis position to lead a homegrownvolunteer cavalry company callingitself the Buckner Guides, named forBrig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, afellow Kentuckian. After the Guidesdisbanded in May 1862, Hines—havinglost his lieutenant’s rank in the now-defunct unit—enlisted as a private inthe 9th Kentucky Cavalry, Morgan’scommand.

Hines found he was well-suited toMorgan’s Cavalry, which one chroniclerdescribed as “the most celebrated andflamboyant detachment in theConfederate Army.” Morgan discovereda kindred spirit in Hines, and he sooncommissioned the young man a captain.For months, Hines led guerrilla raidsfrom Tennessee into Kentucky,destroying Union trains and depots,“liberating” livestock, and earning areputation for boldness and daring. Healso acted as secret liaison betweenMorgan and the state’s Southernsympathizers, keeping clandestinemeetings dressed in civilian attire andrisking capture and death.

Citizens of Old Washington, Ohio, scatter asMorgan’s Raiders—so-called Freebooters—swarm through town during Morgan’sdevastating raid of June-July 1863. (NorthSwind Picture Archives/Alamy Stock Photo)

By that time, the “High Tide of theConfederacy” was ebbing and thelightning raids of men such as Hinesand Morgan not only diverted theUnion Army’s attention, they boostedSouthern morale. When Hines led hismen into South Union Depot, Ky.,

burning the Yankee station anddestroying a steamboat full ofprovisions, the news quickly spreadthroughout the Confederacy.

In June 1863, Morgan sent Hines and25 men north into Indiana disguised asUnion cavalry. His dual mission was tofind the best places for Morgan to crosson a planned raid into the North, and toascertain the presence and number ofSouthern sympathizers in the area.These pro-Southern citizens weredisparagingly known to their fellowNortherners as “Copperheads,” andHines was to determine theirwillingness to support Morgan’sforthcoming raid.

Hines’ patrol was discovered, however,and after a desperate chase, theyescaped capture only by swimming theOhio River. His appetite whetted forclandestine operations, Hines wouldsoon have an opportunity to play amuch more significant role behindenemy lines.

Though Morgan’s Raid (June 11–July 26,1863) advanced farther into the Norththan any other Confederate unit theentire war, it was ill-advised.Displaying his usual boldness, Morganled his Raiders across the Ohio Riverinto Indiana and then Ohio. But theraid ended poorly. Morgan took heavycasualties and, ultimately, he and morethan a thousand of his men werecaptured. Most were sent to prisoner-of-war camps, but Morgan and ahandful of his officers—includingHines—were incarcerated at the OhioState Penitentiary.

After four months in prison, theresourceful Hines discovered an air

chamber under the floor, and, usingonly two knives, he and his cellmatesproceeded to dig a tunnel. After threeweeks’ labor, he, Morgan, and sixothers crawled under the prison,scaled the 25-foot wall, and escaped.Before entering the 18-inch-widetunnel, Hines, in a rare act of bravado,left a note addressed to the warden,explaining in succinct, respectful detailhow he had managed the breakout.

Hines had already achieved fame in theRebel army as a guerrilla raider; nowhe was a legend.

By 1864, the South had had cripplingdefeats at Gettysburg and Vicksburg,and it was becoming apparentConfederate prospects were on thewane. As Jefferson Davis saw it, drasticaction was needed, and he called for awar of attrition that would drag onlong enough, and cause the Northsufficient anguish, to bring the federalgovernment to the bargaining table. Itwould entail a three-pronged campaign.One aspect involved what historianshave labeled the Confederacy’s “dirtywar.” Desperate plots were hatched toset ablaze the North’s major cities,including New York and Chicago, whileagents pursued plans to poison NewYork’s water supply, spread yellowfever and smallpox throughout theNorth, and assassinate its politicalleaders. Writes chronicler Jane Singer:“[T]he intent of the plotters was alwaysclear: kill, terrify, and demoralize.”

Hines’ dazzling November 1863 escapefrom captivity in Ohio. (002 Images/AlamyStock Photo)

The second part entailed uniting theCopperheads in the North to form a“fire in the rear.” A significant numberof citizens living in the Northwesternstates—mainly Indiana, Ohio, andIllinois—were Southern sympathizersand hostile to the Lincolnadministration. Many had formedthemselves into secret societies such asthe Knights of the Columbian Star, Sonsof Liberty, Knights of the Golden Circle,and the Order of American Knights. Itwas the Davis’ goal to arm and unitethem as a military force.

Finally, it was the Confederatepresident’s objective to liberate thevarious prisoner-of-war camps

throughout the North and release tensof thousands of Confederate soldiers—presumably to join with theCopperheads—on a southward path ofdestruction. He was inspired by Hines’daring escape. As Hines later wrote,referring to himself in the third person,“Captain Hines had escaped withGeneral Morgan from the Ohiopenitentiary. Mr. Davis’ attention wasattracted to him by this circumstance,which perhaps contributed to suggestthe idea of a general release ofprisoners.” The young captain mighthave been unduly modest; someaccounts, in fact, insist that Hineshimself brought the idea to Davis, whofound the concept “highly feasible.”

Davis assigned Jacob Thompson andClement C. Clay as commissioners todirect the overall implementation ofthe ambitious plan and allotted$600,000 in gold—a tremendousamount of money at the time—to theproject. The Confederate president alsotook the precaution of establishing abase of operations outside the bordersof both the Union and the Confederacy.“I hereby direct you,” Davis wroteThompson on April 27, 1864, “toproceed at once to Canada, there tocarry out such instructions as you havereceived from me…in such manner asshall seem most likely to thefurtherance of the interest of theConfederate States of America….” Thereasoning was sound: Rebel agents andactivists could enter the Union on theirvarious missions, and cross back intothe safety of neutral Canada. Ontario,or as it was known at the time, “CanadaWest,” swiftly became the gatheringplace for veterans of Morgan’s Raiders,as well as escaped Rebel prisoners,

arsonists, chemists, would-be assassins,adventurers—and Thomas Henry Hines.

Jefferson Davis and his secretary ofwar, James A. Seddon, placed Hines atthe helm as director of militaryoperations, with orders to cause therelease of the imprisoned soldiers andorganize them, as well as the membersof the various Copperhead secretorganizations, into a viable fightingforce. He was directed, in part, to“effect any fair and appropriateenterprises of war against ourenemies….” Ordered to Canada, he wasresponsible only to CommissionerThompson.

Hines immediately made his way northin disguise through the United Statesand into Ontario, stopping at variouslocations to confer secretly withSouthern sympathizers. He took to hisnew position with alacrity. In June,Hines sent a coded missive to SecretarySeddon, laying out a portion of his“Plan for a Revolutionary Movement inthe West.” He recommends that adiversionary “force be thrown into thestate of KY,” while “[t]he Confederatesin Canada, together with two regimentsin process of formation in Chicago, willbe placed under my command to moveon that place [i.e., Chicago] for therelease of the five thousand prisonersat Camp Douglas. Simultaneous withthis movement, the Democrats in everycounty of Ill. and portions of Ind. andOhio will rally to arms. A force of threethousand Democrats…will march uponRock Island for the release of the seventhousand prisoners. At that point, fivethousand will move upon Indianapolis,where there are six thousandprisoners.”

The Raiders’ foray into St. Albans, Vt., inlate 1864 proved mostly a nuisance.(Lebrecht Music & Arts/Alamy Stock Photo)

Hines went on to assure Seddon that“the state governments of Ind. Ohioand Ill. will be seized and theirexecutive heads disposed of. By thismeans, we hope to have, in ten daysafter the Movement has begun[,] aforce of fifty thousand men.” Heproposed to hold Camp Douglas withhis force of freed prisoners, and ifunable to do so, “to retreat through Ind.to KY.” After informing Seddon that theMovement would begin “on or aboutthe twentieth of July,” Hines assuredhim that “the people were never soripe for revolution.” Once he hadneutralized the governments of thesestates, replacing their executiveofficers with Copperheads, he wouldlead thousands of released prisonerson an attack on Nashville, Tenn.

While these numbers might appearfantastic, Hines and Thompson hadbeen assured that such a force couldeasily be mustered and brought intoConfederate service. ClementVallandigham, famed antiwar activist

and self-appointed prophet of the pro-Southern Sons of Liberty, had assuredHines that some 175,000 members ofthe secret society in Illinois, Indiana,and Ohio stood ready to rally to thecause.

Hines’ elaborate and ambitious schemedepended almost entirely on thewillingness of the Copperheads to puttheir lives on the line. Ominously,however, the Copperhead leadersfound excuses to push back the launchdate three times, into late August.

Armed and in disguise, Hines traveledwith 60 men to Chicago for the AugustDemocratic convention, confident theywould set the spark of rebellion ablazeamong the Copperheads. But Hines wasa dedicated Southern patriot andcombat veteran, whereas the myriadCopperhead malcontents had venturednothing beyond voicing theirdiscontent. As Bruce Catton wrote,“Thompson and Hines…made the samemistake; when they looked upon thevast body of supposedly militantNorthern Copperheads; they took themseriously.”

When the thousands of promisedvolunteers failed to materialize, Hinesbegged for 500 men with whom to freethe prisoners from just one camp. Noone stepped forward. With the realityof turning inflammatory rhetoric into afight with real bullets, and thepossibility of the gallows waiting forthose who survived, the promisedCopperhead army did not materializeand Hines returned to Canada.

Assured anew by Copperhead leadersthat they would rise on Election Day inNovember, the ever-

optimistic Hines once again traveled toChicago. This time, he was determinedto free only the prisoners at CampDouglas and required only sufficientCopperhead assistance to overcome thecamp’s garrison. However, twoinformers gave up the plot, and morethan 100 men were seized, along with alarge store of guns and ammunition.

Hines escaped with difficulty and madehis way to Richmond, where hereported to Seddon on the “attempt,betrayal and failure” of his mission. Henaively suggested that the plot was stillfeasible but acknowledged that theCopperhead societies in general werenot to be relied upon. By now, however,it was too late for further action. Hineswas ordered back to Canada, where heused the government’s money to helpalleviate the legal difficulties of thosefellow conspirators who had beencaptured.

The abortive Chicago rising was not theonly aspect of the NorthwestConspiracy to fail. An attempt toliberate Johnson’s Island, the prisoner-of-war camp on Lake Erie, came tonaught, as did the elaborate plan to setNew York City aflame. The two majorplayers in these actions wereultimately captured and hanged. A planto blow up the White House wasdiscovered and neutralized, as was thescheme to create a yellow feverpandemic through the distribution ofinfected blankets. Only the plot to roband burn St. Albans, Vt., a small townnear the Canadian border, wasmoderately successful. A uniformedband of former Morgan’s Raiders did,in fact, make off with the local bank’scash, escaping into Canada, but theyfailed to burn the town.

Ultimately, the Northwest Conspiracyfoundered due to a lack of supportfrom the Copperheads, the activities ofinformers, double agents, and federalspies, and the fatal flaws thatinevitably afflict grandiose schemes.With the South’s surrender, some of itsmost dedicated servants were leftstranded in Canada.

Given the vengeful mood nowpermeating the Republican-led federalgovernment, Hines deemed it wise toremain in Canada. He was far fromalone; sharing his exile were countlessformer Confederate agents, generals,and government officials.

Hines’ hope, however, was to returnhome, for both sentimental andpractical reasons. Six months after thesurrender at Appomattox, he wrote toan influential Kentuckian: “I am veryanxious to return immediately to KY.;and besides, if I decided to remain inCanada, my financial condition wouldnot permit it.” In March 1866, havingtaken the Oath of Loyalty, he crossedthe border into the United States forthe last time. “We are determined tolive among our own people,” he wrote,“and take their fate whatever that maybe. Wellcome [sic] any fate if it beshared among my own people.”

Ever the “unreconstructed” Rebel,Hines refused to follow the path ofother former Confederate officers whochose to pursue military careers inblue uniforms. At the end of his exile,he had written in his diary, “Bydiligence and labor, I will be able torise.” And rise he did. He entered lawschool, became editor of a citynewspaper, and went on to sit as ajudge and, ultimately, the chief justice

of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Hehad married his sweetheart during thewar, and eventually fathered sixchildren. Long life, though, was not inthe cards. A month after his wife diedin 1898, Hines—not yet 60 and inincreasingly poor health—followed.

In retrospect, Thomas Henry Hines wasthe author of impressive successes andcolossal failures. While he cannot beheld singly accountable for theultimate disintegration of the South’swide-ranging clandestine war, he did,in fact, play a major part, due to bothhis naivete and his unrealisticexpectations. As historian Edward M.Coffman states, “In the last year of theConfederacy, Southern leaders werewilling to gamble on illusions whichthey had long cherished. As their agent,Captain Hines failed…as a master spy.Although few could match hisexperience in small cavalry operations,Hines’ ability as a subversive agent wasopen to question.” Ultimately, it was asa dashing officer and guerrilla fighterin Morgan’s Cavalry that Hinesachieved his greatest and mostdramatic success.

Ron Soodalter writes from Cold Spring,N.Y.

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Online Exclusive: Ram the Yankees,Full Speed Ahead

Harper's Weekly depicted Confederate ramStonewall en route across the Atlantic inMarch 1865. The war ended before the ramcould threaten U.S. vessels. (Naval Historyand Heritage Command)

By Mike Coppock HISTORYNETJanuary 5, 2021

Hoping to smash the entire Union Navy,the Confederacy tried to buy the mostlethal fleet afloat

Georgia native James DunwoodyBulloch was of average height andbuild, with a slightly receding hairlineatop bushy sideburns. However,Bulloch walked big. At night, as hestalked the cobbled streets of Liverpool,England, during the American CivilWar, Bulloch’s emphatic footfallsmade him sound imposing. The U.S.State Department called Bulloch themost dangerous man in Europe. Rumorhad it that the Union was offering abounty on his head—one reason hetook the long way around to his flat.But Bulloch, a member by blood andmarriage of aristocratic Americanfamilies, also walked to get lost inthought and rev his creative energies.

The U.S. State Department called JamesDunwoody Bulloch, the Confederacy’sspymaster in Britain, the most dangerousman in Europe. (Alamy Stock Photo)

As the Confederacy’s Europeanspymaster, Bulloch had a breadth ofduties, including buying civilian shipsand reconfiguring them into commerceraiders, like CSS Alabama, to prey onUnion shipping. Bulloch also oversaw thesmuggling of Southern cotton intoEngland and clandestine transport of warmaterials in the opposite direction byblockade runners. In many respects,Bulloch was the South’s sole source ofhard currency.

Fifteen antebellum years serving in theU.S. Navy had conditioned Bulloch tolove the sea and to keep abreast of thelatest in maritime and militarytechnology. Recent innovations inweaponry, ship design, and propulsionhad set his mind racing. It was one thingto perforate and outrun Lincoln’sblockade and to outgun a federal warshipin ship-on-ship combat. But what if onecould design a vessel so unstoppable asto be able to bring down the entire U.S.Navy?

In 1862, after one of his Liverpudlianconstitutionals, Bulloch, 39, sat at atable with paper, pencil, and ruler andbegan drawing a warship. For weeks, hedrew and re-drew, always coming back toa topside array, akin to that of theUnion’s Monitor, of two revolving gunturrets clad in 10 inches of armor. Alongeither side of its hull, Bulloch’simaginary vessel mounted banks ofBritish rifled cannons protected by 4.5”of steel. Around the deck, he picturedGatling guns able to cram enemyboarding parties into interlocking fieldsof fire.

The design of the CSS Stonewall includedtwo 350-hp steam engines, revolving gunturrets, cannon, Gatling guns, and at thebow, a reinforced wrought iron battering

ram. (Alamy Stock Photo)

The preliminary design showed a vessel250 feet long with a beam of 31.5 feet.Two 350-horsepower steam engineswould power the 1,358-ton behemoth tospeeds exceeding ten knots. Should coalrun low—the ship could carry only 90tons—Bulloch added sails and riggingthat extended the ship’s range. At thebow, Bulloch sketched a reinforcedwrought iron battering ram below thewaterline. The ram was consideredessential because naval gunnery seemedunable to pierce the armor protecting thesuperstructures and gun decks of ironclad

ships, but the wooden hulls were leftvulnerable to a front-on strike. “Idesigned these ships for something morethan harbor or even coastal defense,” hewrote in 1863. “I confidently believe, ifready for sea now, they could sweepaway the entire blockading fleet ofenemy vessels.”

If one ram had such potential, Bullochreasoned to Confederate Navy SecretaryStephen Mallory, imagine what a fleet ofthe big fellows, escorted by armoredwooden cruisers like the Alabama, couldaccomplish. Mallory liked the wayBulloch’s mind worked, but, on this topic,he and his spymaster sparred. Mallorywanted the rams to have a shallow draft,enabling them to patrol coastal watersand rivers, as the South’s ironcladsalready were doing. Shallow-draft ramswould take a toll on the Union Navy—provided the Union Navy attacked. Incontrast, Bulloch saw his rams as globe-ranging hunter-killers, pursuing anddestroying Union warships at will, ablue-water role demanding a deeper hullsuitable for ocean-going travel. Once hisrams smashed the Union Navy, Bullochposited, the seagoing beasts could invadeNew York, Boston, Baltimore, and otherYankee ports and lay waste theirwaterfronts. After a series of letters,Mallory embraced Bulloch’s vision. SoonSouth Carolina-based blockade runnerGeorge Trenholm was smuggling amillion dollars in Confederate gold intoLiverpool aboard his ships. With the goldcame instructions from Mallory to buildfour rams on the sly. That meantspreading out the project. Bullochcontracted to have the rams NorthCarolina and Mississippi built by theLaird Shipyard at Birkenhead, across theharbor from Liverpool. Code-named Cheops and Sphynx, another two

rams were to be built at Bordeaux, France,by Lucien Arman, a French legislatorwith ties to Emperor Louis Napoleon III.

Britain and France each had neutralityacts, and each officially recognized theConfederate States of America as abelligerent with certain rights, separatefrom the North though not quite anindependent republic. Britain had reasonsfor backing the South besides feeding itscotton mills; a smaller United States ofAmerica would make Canada lessnervous. France, too, had cotton mills—but France also was occupying Mexico,an affront to the Monroe Doctrine.President Abraham Lincoln had madeplain that once he defeated the South hewould be coming for those Frenchoccupiers and their Mexican puppets.France preferred a Confederate borderwith Mexico to one lined by Union forces.

Charles Francis Adams Sr., U.S.ambassador to to the Court of St. James’s,pressured the British government to

withdraw informal support for the South,especially to stop building ships for theConfederacy. (Library of Congress)

That million in gold ignited a game ofdodge and feint between Bulloch and hisagents and Charles Francis Adams Sr.

and Thomas Haines Dudley, U.S. envoysto Britain, and John Bigelow, U.S. envoyto France. Dudley was the one whosniffed out the rams. As U.S. consul inLiverpool, Dudley apprehended that theLaird yard was much too busy—massesof steel were coming into Birkenhead—and Bulloch in and out of Liverpool toooften for a sentient man not to concludethat Confederate money was fueling ashipbuilding boom. One night Dudley’smen scouted the shipyards, spotting thegiant hulls. On August 30, 1862, Dudleyalerted his federal masters to the rams.“The ribs of one is up,” Dudley reported.“and they have commenced to put on theplates.”

The revelation sent Ambassador Adamsinto a panic and rattled the Uniongovernment. Based on Dudley’s accountof what he had seen, no U.S. Navy shipcould withstand the Laird rams, Adamssaid. He pressed Foreign Secretary LordPalmerston’s subordinates on the ill-advisedness of the matter. In Washington,Secretary of State William Seward toldBritish Ambassador Lord Richard Lyonsthat Lincoln was prepared, if the ramssailed, to make undeclared war on Britishcommerce.

The latest turns in the two-year-old warbetween North and South had Britain andFrance distancing themselves from theConfederacy. Union victories atGettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863seemed to dim rebel hopes for victory.Seward ordered Adams to go public inthe British press with Dudley’s evidenceabout the rams. Coverage casting theships as a neutrality act violationoutraged Britons. Whitehall, hoping tocalm Britons’ ire, ordered the seizure ofthe Alexandra, being built at Liverpool

for Confederate service as a commerceraider.

Thomas Haines Dudley U.S. consul inLiverpool, played the spy game withBulloch, reporting regularly about theobvious signs that ships being built inBritain were bound for the Southernstates. (Naval History and Heritage

Command)

The day after Lee lost at Gettysburg,Dudley reported that Laird had launchedthe rams into Liverpool harbor. Bullochhad concocted a byzantine deal to maskthe ships’ ownership and purpose. AParis-based, Russian-owned firm, Bravay& Company, was the nominal purchaser.Bravay representatives told the Britishthey were middlemen for the Pasha ofEgypt, who wanted the vessels as NileRiver patrol craft. The Laird ramsactually were to sail to France to be soldto Bulloch. The Russians would earn ahealthy commission for their part in thecharade.

In September 1863, Adams presented theBritish with a note stating that if theLaird rams sailed from Birkenhead, “this

is war.” On October 10, 1863, armedBritish sailors from theHMS Majestic seized the British-builtrams. Laird sued the Crown, whichforcibly bought the rams, renaming themHMS Scorpion andHMS Wyvern. Besides neutralizing Unionthreats, the British may have hadpractical reasons for the seizure. TheRoyal Navy was 90 percent wooden-hulled; Britain and France had ironclads,but nothing in the rams’ league. Bothnations had allowed weapons for whichthey had no defense to be constructed ontheir soil. Palmerston did not want to runthe risk of France obtaining and using theLaird ships. Seizing the rams resolvedpart of that multipronged dilemma.

Bulloch was in France, trying to stayahead of events, such as the apparentimpending seizure of the second pair oframs. Gettysburg had forced Napoleon IIIto rethink his attitude toward theConfederacy; the emperor was tilting pro-Union, hoping to parley with the Lincolnadministration. Napoleon seemed toknow that at Arman’s yards in Nantes thepolitician-cum-shipwright wasconstructing two rams, along withcorvettes ordered by the Confederacy butrepresented as being Swedish. Agovernment agent showed Arman proofthat the ships were not for the SwedishNavy and that he was close to violatinghis nation’s neutrality laws. Denmark andPrussia were at war; the pragmatic Armanarranged to sell Cheops to Prussiaand Sphynx to Denmark. He was notselling the rams to the South, but he stillwas violating French law, so he confectedfictional buyers in Sweden and theNetherlands for each ship. The Frenchgovernment knew Arman was breakingsome law, especially when Danish navalofficers began supervising changes

to Sphynx—but as long as the rams werenot going to the Confederacy, the Frenchdid not concern themselves. After all,Arman was a legislator.

Denmarkrenamed Sphynx the Staerkodderand had a French crew sail the ram toCopenhagen starting on October 15,1864. Cheops, renamed Prinz Adalbert byPrussia, got a later delivery date. But bythe time the Danish ram reachedCopenhagen, the Prusso-Danish war hadended. The Danes refused delivery,positioning Lucien Arman for a huge loss.He contacted Bulloch, offering to sell theConfederacy the Sphynx for 373,000francs plus 80,000 francs for his agents.

Bulloch agreed to Arman’s deal. In codedtelegrams ostensibly about teakwoodshipments, Bulloch ordered ConfederateNavy Captain Thomas Page to takecommand of the Danes’ ram once it wasout of Danish waters. Page’s temporarycrew would be the men of the capturedCSS Florida, now being held in Europe.Blockade runner City of Richmond wouldrendezvous with the ram at Belle Isle, anisland in the Bay of Biscay, bringingsupplies and a permanent Confederatecrew. French coaler Expeditif would alsobe at Belle Isle to fuel the ram. Page’scombat orders would come later.

Bulloch thought he was working inutmost secrecy—until, at a Paris railstation, he ran into a gaggle of youngConfederate naval officers with theirfemale companions. The sailors beggedto crew on the newly active ram. “Itforced me to make a partial confession inorder that I might warn them to secrecyand caution,” Bulloch said later.

U.S. envoy to France John Bigelowlearned that Stonewall had left Denmarkand was headed for American waters.(The History Collection / Alamy Stock

Photo

On January 7, 1865, the soon-to-be-former Danish ram, nowchristened Olinde, sailed fromCopenhagen, listing Page as a passenger.When a gale hit Western Europe’s coast,the heavyweight vessel did not ride theswells, but plunged through, “diving andcoming up after the fashion of aporpoise,” wrote Page. The Belle Islerendezvous occurred as planned. Oncethe fresh crew replaced the men who hadsailed from Denmark, Pagecommissioned the ram asCSS Stonewall and sailed south. The gale,now full force, was driving wavesover Stonewall’s decks bow to stern.Compartments were taking on water, anda leak threatened to flood the bilge. Lowon coal, Page put in at A Coruna, onSpain’s northwest coast, on February 2.He sent Bulloch a reporton Stonewall’s seaworthiness. Bullochresponded by dispatching an engineer torepair the ram; the man also bore orders

identifying Page’s target: He was to crossthe Atlantic to Nassau, evaluate thesituation at Savannah, Sherman’s supplyport in Georgia, and, if indications weregood, destroy those facilities and stores.The orders’ wording suggested toBulloch that if Sherman had burned hisway to the Georgia coast, the Southalready had lost. The storm had sodamaged the ram that Page had to limp tothe shipyard at nearby El Ferrol forrepairs.

John Bigelow learned from Americanoperatives that the ram had leftCopenhagen. On January 28, wordreached Bigelow in Paris that the ram hadbeen spotted bearing thename Olinde. Determined to find andsink the big vessel, Bigalow alerted U.S.warships across Europe. Spies watchedthe coast. American agentsquizzed Expeditif crewmen. On February4, Horatio Perry, charge d’affairs in atthe U.S. Embassy in Madrid, reported asighting of a Confederate ram undergoingrepairs at A Coruna. The American navydispatched the frigate USS Niagara fromAntwerp and the sloop of warUSS Sacramento from Cherbourg.When Stonewall steamed out of El Ferrol,the Americans were to sinkit. Sacramento was the same sizeas Stonewall; Niagara, 100 feet longer.Both had wooden hulls. The Stonewall’sfore turret had a rifled Armstrong cannonthat fired a 300-lb. round and in its afterturret two 70-pounder rifled Armstrongs.On March 24, Page took Stonewall intothe Ferrol estuary, steaming directlyat Niagara with both turrets’ guns trainedon the Union warship. From 10 a.m. to8:30 p.m., Stonewall lay near the foe,waiting for Captain Thomas Cravenof Niagara to fight. Craven refused toengage. To do so, Craven said later at

two courts-martial, would have beensuicide. Having survived the day withouta shot being fired, CSS Stonewall sailedfor Lisbon, Portugal, to refuel. On March28, Stonewall departed Lisbon, boundwest. Union surveillance reported hercoming into Nassau, the Bahamas, onMay 6. At Nassau, Page learned that Leehad surrendered and that Union forceshad captured Jefferson Davis. Broke andlow on supplies, Page sailed to Havana,shadowed by the USS Monadnock, adouble-turret monitorroughly Stonewall’s length but not itssize. Page now captained a ship without acountry. Lacking authority to sell aConfederate Navy ship, he spurnedSpanish authorities’ offer of $60,000 forthe vessel. However, he did need $16,000to pay his crew. Proffering that sum, theSpanish took control of Stonewall, givingPage and his men every courtesy. In July,the Spanish turned the warship over toAmerican authorities, getting their moneyback.

Stonewall sailed to the Washington, DC,Navy Yard, where it languished for twoyears. In 1868, the government decidedthat selling the ram to Japan’s TokugawaShogunate would improve relations withthat nation. The Shogun agreed to pay$30,000, plus $10,000 upon delivery. OnApril 2, 1868, Lieutenant George Brownsailed the former Confederate vessel intoYokohama Bay, arriving amid civil warbetween the forces of the Emperor andthose of the shogun, leader of theSamurai military class. France andBritain were intervening in the conflictwith men and supplies. The shogun’s seaand land forces had retreated to Hokkaido,declaring that northernmost Japaneseisland the independent Ezo Republic, andthe city of Hakodate there its capital.

Stonewall ended up a prize during thecivil war between the Imperial JapaneseNavy and the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate.The U.S. ambassador turned the ram overto the emperor in 1869 and her guns weredecisive in the ultimate battle. (Photo by

Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

Robert Van Valkenburgh, the U.S.minister to Japan, ordered the ram keptunder American control. The emperor’srepresentatives begged the Americans torelease Stonewall. In February 1869, VanValkenburgh relented.Renamed Kotetsu and now the ImperialNavy’s flagship, the ram had Americanofficers and crew on board to offsetshogunate warships’ ranks of Frenchadvisers.

On March 25, 1869, at Myako Bay, ArielIkunosuke sailed warship Kaiten, flyingAmerican colors, up to Kotetsu, at thelast moment lowering the Stars andStripes, raising the Ezo flag, andramming the Stonewall. The Kaitencarried 300 elite swordsmen assigned toboard and capture the ram. As theswordsmen dropped from the attacker’smuch higher deck onto Stonewall,Kotetsu’s crew cranked Gatling guns,slaughtering the boarding party.Ikunosuke and Kaiten escaped.

Now dominating HakodateBay, Kotetsu proved as unstoppable asBulloch had envisioned,sinking Kaiten and a second shogunatewarship, effectively destroying the Ezofleet as the crews of a French warshipand a British warship looked on. TheFrench vessel took on the Frenchpersonnel who had assisted the shogun inthe Japanese power struggle and sailedaway. In 1871, Kotetsu wasrenamed Azuma, serving until 1888 whenrelegated to harbor duty. An American in1908 commented that the old leviathanwas still afloat, “peacefully rustingaway.” The Prussians never used sistership Prince Adalbert, which was brokenup in 1878. Captain Page moved toArgentina, where his son and grandsonsaw service in the Argentine Navy, thegrandson making admiral.

Excluded as a spy from the post-waramnesty accorded most formerConfederates, James Bulloch lived outhis life in Liverpool, now and theninfiltrating the United States in disguiseto visit relatives, including young nephewTheodore Roosevelt.

This story from American History wasposted on Historynet.com on January 5,2021.

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