Historical Newspaper articles abt KGC

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS.; The Knights of the Golden Circle Again
The United States Grand Jury of the Indiana District Present the Organization as Treasonable.
New York Times: August 7, 1862

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

 
The Grand Jury of the Circuit and District Court of the United States for the District of Indiana has just made the following presentment:

In the District Court of the United States, for the District of Indiana, May Term, 1862.

The Grand Jurors of the United States of America, within and for the District of Indiana, impanneled, sworn and charged in said District at said May Term thereof, having about completed their labors, (and being now ready to adjourn,) feel it their imperative dutyto announce, in a respectful manner, to this Honorable Court, the general features of some startling developments made during their investigations. These developments, when considered in connection with the disturbed condition of the country, by reason of the causeless and atrocious rebellion against the Constitution and laws of the land, are deemed of the gravest importance, and should be made known, that prompt and efficient measures may be taken by the civil and military authorities to meet and ward off the effect of the wicked and treasonable designs of those connected with such developments.

A recent act of Congress made it the duty of the Grand Jury to inquire into any combinations or conspiracies formed by individuals within the jurisdiction of the Court to prevent the execution of any law of the United States. Having heard that organizations with this object in view existed in certain localities, witnesses were sent for, and brought before the Grand Jury. These witnesses came from many counties, and lived in various parts of the State. After a careful and diligent examination of the testimony from witnesses well acquainted with the facts deposed, and having a personal knowledge of the matters, said Grand Jury are constrained to say that a secret and oath-bound organization exists, numbering some fifteen thousand in Indiana, as estimated by the members of their Order, commonly known as Knights of the Golden Circle, and even in the same localities by different names. Their lodges, or "Castles," as they denominate them, are located in various parts of the State, yet they have common signs, grips, and words whereby the members are able to distinguish each other, and passwords to enable the member to enter the castle in which he was initiated, or any other which such member may choose to visit. They have signals by which they can communicate with each other in the day, or the night time; and, above all, they have a signal or sign which may be recognized at a great distance from the person giving it. This last signal, we regret to say, was invented for the use of such members as should, by means of the draft or otherwise, be compelled to serve in the ranks of the army. In such case, members of the Order serving in opposing armies receiving the sign are reminded of their obligation not to injure the member giving it. This signal is given in every instance upon the initiation of a new member, and its observance is strictly enjoined upon every individual belonging to the Order. By the teachings of the organization, it is the duty of its members engaged in the present war, although arrayed on opposite sides, upon the signal being given, if they shoot at all, "to shoot over each other." Many members of the Order, examined before us, admit the binding force of the obligation, and pretend to justify it as correct in principle.

Said Grand Jury would respectfully submit that the effect of such obligation is to set aside the oath taken by every soldier when he enters the service of the United States. The obligation imposed by the organization alluded to is inconsistent with the duties of a soldier who in battle dare not spare the person of his enemy. We must either disarm or destroy him, and especially so long as the rebel may be seeking to take the life of the loyal soldier. To do otherwise would be grosly treacherous, and justly subject the guilty party to a traitor's doom.

From the evidence introduced before said Grand Jury, it would seem that the Order called the Knights of the Golden Circle had their origin in some of the Southern States, and was introduced into this State from Kentucky. Its primary object, when it [???] was to organize the [???] of the institution of African Slavery in the United States, for the purpose of [???] more territory in Mexico and the Central American States, and also the acquisition of Cuba, thereby to extend and [???] a great slave empire, even thought it should dye those countries in human blood. Hence the various raids made upon those countries which have called forth from time to time the proclamations of our former Presidents, denouncing such attempts and threatening the exercise of the power of the Government to put them down. Wicked as these hellish schemes were, said Grand Jury would not have troubled this Honorable Court with this [???] had the [???] of the Knights of the Golden Circle been confined solely to their original designs. Finding how useful such an organization was for the purposes originally intended, said Grand Jury believe that it not only extends at present through every part of the South, and every department of the rebel army, but during the last Winter and Spring was introduced into the State of Indiana and other Northern States. Since that time it has made alarming progress in our midst, when entirely new features attached to it in view of the unnatural conflict now desolating our country. Not only are the loyal soldiers in the army to be treacherously betrayed in the bloody hour of battle, by the signals before referred to, but said Grand Jury have abundant evidence of the membership binding themselves to resist the payment of the Federal tax and prevent enlistments in the armies of the United States.

It is a fact worthy of note, and conclusively shown, that in localities where this organization extensively prevails there has been a failure to furnish a fair proportion of volunteers. Said Grand Jury, after a thorough examination on that point, have been unable to find any instance where a member of said organization had volunteered to fight for the Union under the late requisition for volunteers. Said Grand Jury were informed that an individual of the Order had proposed to make up a company to be called "Jay Hawkers." composed exclusively of "Knights of the Golden Circle." But said Grand Jury believe that at no time was the proposition seriously entertained, but in fact only intended as a cover to hide their treasonable purposes when they found they were about to be discovered.

The meetings of the Order referred to are hold on in by-places, sometimes in the woods, and at other times in deserted houses. Its members frequently attend with arms in their hands, and in almost every instance armed sentinels are posted to keep off intruders. Youths not more than sixteen years of age are in many cases introduced and initiated into its mysteries. The credulous and unwary are often allured into the fold of the Order, upon the pretext that it was instituted for no other purpose than the better organization of their party. Its real character and teachings are sedulously concealed until the oath of secrecy has been in due form administered. Having taken the first degree, the initiate is familiarized with the obligations and opinions of his associates, and is gradually prepared for the second degree. When he is further taught, and found apt to learn, and ready to adopt its principles and teachings, he is obligated in the highest degree, and is turned out upon the country a thorough traitor, with the wicked purposes already specified. Said Grand Jury are happy to know that in many cases individuals, after their first introduction into the Order, seeing its evil tendencies,have abandoned it, although unwilling, on account of their obligations of secrecy, and for fear of personal violence, are reluctant to fully expose its treacherous principles.

Since said Grand Jury began said investigation, it has been discovered that the Order exists among the prisoners of war now in Camp Morton, who refuse to testify, upon the ground that it may implicate the members of their Order in Indiana, and thereby injure the cause of the Southern Confederacy.

For the purpose of evading any legal liability, in case of judicial investigation, it appears that their signs are to be used to enable them to get members of their Order on the jury, in case of criminal charges being preferred against them, and by changes of venue, and appeals from a Judge who does not belong to the Order, to create judicial delays, until they can find a Judge or juror belonging to this Order, and thus escape all legal liability.

Said Grand Jury have no doubt that the Order of the "Knights of the Golden Circle" exists in many localitics in Indiana where their vigilance has not been able to penetrate. They have labored under many difficulties in their researches, and have drawn evidence in most of the cases from unwilling witnesses. Judicial oaths have but little binding force where individuals once consent to abandon the allegiance they owe their country. The general facts, however, so far as they have come to the knowledge of the said Grand Jury, have been submitted to this honorable Court. They feel it their duty to do so. The safety of the country in this hour of peril and civil strife demands it at their hands. The power of such an organization to do harm, acting as one man, with one purpose in view, with their influence, may be appreciated by the honorable Court. It is the place where treason is concocted -- the nest where traitors are hatched.

The Grand Jury, therefore, respectfully ask this Court that this their presentment may be spread upon the records.

WILLIAM P. [???], Foreman; Charles H. Test, George Moon, Wm. A. Montgomery, James Blake, T.B. McCarty, Daniel Sigler, Leonidas Sexton, Ben. G. Stout, James Hill, Daniel Sagre, H.D.Scott, Robt. Parrett, Fred. S. Brown.



VALLANDIGHAM'S RETURN.; Full Report of His Speech at Hamilton.
New York Times
June 18, 1864

SPEECH OF VALLANDIGHAM.

From the Cincinnati Gazette, June 16.

Yesterday the Democrats of the Third Congressional District held a convention at Hamilton, Butler County, for the purpose of electing delegates to the Chicago Convention. Quite unexpectedly to most of them, C.L. VALLANDIGHAM appeared in their midst, not by permission, but in defiance of the Government.
The business of electing delegates having been concluded, which resulted in the choice of Mr. VALLANDIGHAN and Mr. CHRISTOPHER HUGHES, the returned exile made a speech, an authorized copy of which we print below:
MEN OF OHIO: To-day I am again in your midst, and upon the soil of my native State. To-day I am once more within the district which for ten years extended to me the highest confidence, and three times honored me as its representative in the Congress of the United States. I was accused of no crime against the Constitution or laws, and guilty of none. But whenever and wherever thus charged upon due process of law. I am now here ready to answer, before any civil court of competent jurisdiction, to a jury of my countrymen, and meantime, to give bail in any sum which any Judge or court, State or Federal, may affix; and you the 186,000 Democrats of Ohio, I offer as my sureties. Never for one hour have I remained in exile because I recognized any obligation of obedience to the unconstitutional and arbitrary edict. Neither did personal fear ever restrain me. And to-day I return of my own act and pleasure, because it is my constitutional and legal light to return. Only by an exertion of arbitrary power, itself against Constitution and law, and consummated by military force, I was abducted from my home, and forced into banishment. The assertion or insinuation of the President that I was arrested "because laboring with some effect to prevent the raising of troops and to encourage desertions from the army, and was responsible for numerous acts of resistance to the draft and to the arrest of deserters, causing assassination, maiming and murder;" or that at any time, in any way, I had disobeyed or failed to counsel obedience to lawful authority, or even to the semblance of law, is absolutely false. I appeal for the proof to every speech I ever made upon these questions, and to the very record of the Mock Military Commission, by the trial and sentence of which I was outraged. Not the sole offence then laid to my charge was words of criticism of the public policy of the Administration, addressed to an open and public political meeting of my fellow-citizens of Ohio, lawfully and peaceably assembled. And to-day my only "crime " is that, in the way which they call treason, worship I the Constitution of my fathers. But, for now, more than one year, no public man has been arrested, and no newspaper suppressed within the State, adhering still to the Union, for the expression of political opinion; while hundreds, in public assembly and through the press, with a license and violence in which I never indulged, criticised and condemned the acts and policies of the Administration, and denounced the war, maintaining even the propriety and necessity of the recognition of Southern independence. Indorsed by nearly two hundred thousand freemen of the Democratic party of my native State, at the late election, and still with the sympathy and support of millions more, I do not mean any longer, to be the only man of that party, who is to be the victim of arbitrary power. If ABRAHAM LINCOLN seeks my life, let him so declare; but he shall not again restrain me of my personal liberty, except upon the "due process of law." The unconstitutional and monstrous "Order Thirty-Eight." under which, alone, I was arrested thirteen months ago, was defied and spit upon at your State Convention of 1863 by the gallant gentleman who bore the standard as your candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and by every Democratic press and public speaker ever since. It is dead, From the first it was against the Constitution and laws, and without validity; and all proceedings under it were and are utterly null and void, and of no effect. The indignant voice of condemnation, long since went forth from the vast majority of the people and presses of America, and from all free countries in Europe with entire unanimity. And more recently, too, the "platform" of an earnest, numerous and most formidable convention of the sincere Republicans, and still further, the emphatic letter of acceptance by the candidate of that convention, Gen. JOHN C. FREMONT -- the first candidate, also, of the Republican party for the Presidency eight years ago, upon the rallying cry of free speech and a free press -- give renewed hope that, at last, the reign of arbitrary power is about to be brought to an end in the United States. It is neither just nor fit, therefore, that the wrongs inflicted under "Order Thirty-eight," and the other edicts and acts of such power, should any longer be endured -- certainly not by me alone. But every ordinary means of redress has first been exhausted; yet either by the direct agency of the Administration and its subordinates, or because of want of jurisdiction in the civil courts to meet a case which no American ever in former times conceived to be possible here, all have failed. Counsel applied in my behalf to an unjust Judge for the writ of habeas corpus. It was denied; and now the privilege of that writ is suspended by act of Congress and Executive order, in every State. The Democratic Convention of Ohio, one year ago, by a resolution formally presented through a committee of your best and ablest men, in person at Washington, demanded of the President in behalf of a very large majority of the people, a revocation of the edict of banishment. Pretending that the public safety then required it, he refused; saying, at the same time, that it would afford him pleasure to comply as soon, as he could by any means be made to believe that the public safety would not suffer by it." One year has elapsed, yet this hollow pretence is still tacitly asserted, and to-day I am here to prove it unfounded in fact. I appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, and because Congress had never conferred jurisdiction in behalf of a citizen tried by a tribunal unknown for such purposes, to the laws, and expressly forbidden by the Constitution, it was powerless to redress the wrong. The time has therefore arrived when it becomes me as a citizen of Ohio and of the United States, to demand, and, by my own act, to vindicate the rights, liberties and privileges which I never forfeited, but of which for so many months I have been deprived. Wherefore, men of Ohio, I am again in your midst to-day. I owe duties to the State, and am here to discharge them; I have rights as a citizen, and am here to assert them; a wife and child and home, and would enjoy all the pleasures which are implied in those cherished words. But I am here for peace, and not turbulence; for quiet, not convulsion; for order and law, not anarchy. Let no man of the Democratic party begin any act of violence or disorder; but let none shrink from any responsibility, however urgent, if forced upon him. Careful of the rights of others, let him see to it that he fully and fearlessly exacts his own. Subject to rightful authority in all things, let him submit to excess or usurpation in nothing. Obedient to Constitution and law, let him demand and have the full measure of protection which law and Constitution secure to him. Men of Ohio! You have already vindicated your right to hear; it is now my duty to assert my right to speak. Wherefore as to the sole offence for which I was arrested, imprisoned and banished -- free speech in criticism and condemnation of the Administration -- an Administration fitly described in a recent public paper by one of its early supporters, as "marked at home by its disregard of constitutional rights, by its violations of personal liberty and the liberty of the press; and as its crowning shame, by its abandonment of the right of asylum, a right especially dear to all free nations abroad" -- I repeat it here to-day, and will again and yet again, so long as I live, or the Constitution and our present form of Government shall survive. The words then spoken and the appeal at that time made, and now enforced by one year more of taxation and debt, and of blood and disaster, entreating the people to change the public servants and their policy, not by force but peaceably through the ballot, I now and here reiterate in their utmost extent, and with all their significancy. I repeat them one and all, in no spirit of challenge or bravado, but as earnest, sober, solemn truth and warning to the people. Upon another subject allow me here a word: A powerful, widely spread and very dangerous secret, oath-bound combination among the friends of the administration, known as the "Loyal Union League," exists in every State. Yet the very men who control it, charge persistently upon the members of the Democratic party that they have organized -- especially in the North West -- the order of "Knights of the Golden Circle, or some other secret society, treasonable or "disloyal" in its character, affiliated with the South, and for the purpose of armed resistance to the authorities of the Federal and State Governments. Whether any such ever existed I do not know; but the charge that organizations of that sort, or having any such purpose, do now exist among the members of that party in Ohio, or the other non-slaveholding States, is totally and positively false. That lawful political or party associations have been established, having as their object the organizing and strengthening of the Democratic party, and its success in the coming Presidential lection, and designed as a counter movement to the so-called "Union League," and therefore secret in their proceedings, is very probable; and however objectionable hitherto and in ordinary times, I recognize to the fullest extent, not the lawfulness only, but the propriety and necessity of such organizations, for "when bad men combine, good men must associate." But they are no conspiracy against the Government, and their members are not conspirators, but patriots; men not leagued together for the overthrow of the Constitution or the laws, and still less of liberty, but firmly united for the preservation and support of these great objects. There is, indeed, a "conspiracy" very powerful, very ancient, and I trust that before long I may add, strongly consolidated also, upon sound principles, and destined yet to be triumphant; a conspiracy known as the Democratic party, the present object of which is the overthrow of the Administration in November next, not by force, but through THE BALLOTBOX, by the election of a President who shall be true to his oath to liberty and the Constitution. This is the sole conspiracy of which I know anything; and I am proud to be one of the conspirators. If any other exists, looking to the unlawful armed resistance to the Federal or State authorities anywhere, in the exercise of their legal and constitutional rights, I admonish all persons concerned that the act is treason and the penalty death. But I warn also the men in power that there is a vast multitude, a host whom they cannot number, bound together by the strongest and holiest ties, to defend by whatever means the exigences of the times shall demand, their natural and constitutional rights as freemen, at all hazard and to the last extremity. Three years have now passed, men of Ohio, and the great issue, constitutional liberty and free popular government, is still before you. To you I again commit it, confident that in this, the time of their greatest peril, you will be found worthy of the ancestors, who, for so many ages. In England and America, on the field, in prison and upon the scaffold, defended them against tyrants and usurpers, whether in council or in arms.

DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST.; The President of the K.G.C. in Court
A Writ of Habeas Corpus Served on Gen. Dix Returnable March 25
Sketch of President Bickley, K.G.C. His Statement Concerning the Order, its Rise and Progress
The K.G.C. Opposed to Horace Greeley and Jefferson Davis
Its Motto "America for Americans"
Interesting Historical Reminiscences Presidents Polk, Pierce, and Buchanan Gen.Santa Anna and the Policy of Louis Napoleon.
KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. THE FIRST DIVISION
New York Times
March 21, 1865

Fort Lafayette was last week emptied of its prisoners of war and State, with four exceptions, the former being sent to Fort Delaware, the latter to Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor. Among the prisoners of State was a gentleman, who, for fourteen months, has been confined at the West and at Fort Lafayette. To many of our readers he is well known as an accomplished writer on political and medical subjects, but to the mass of the people of the South and Southwest he is best remembered as GEORGE W. LAMB BICKLEY, M.D., and President of the

President BICKLEY's health has been falling for a long time, and he is now reduced to a mere shadow. Various attempts have been made by his friends, including Ex-President FILLMORE, Bishop TIMON, of Buffalo, and other less distinguished people, to secure his trial or his liberation on bail. Failing in this, certain parties in this city, through their attorney, Mr. MCGREGOR, petitioned Judge BETTS, of the United States Court, for a writ of habeas corpus, which should compel the deliverance of President BICKLEY, or assign a reason for his detention. This petition is based on the provisions of the act of Congress, passed and approved March 3, 1863, in which it expressly directs that the Secretaries of State and War shall furnish to the Judges of the Circuit and District Courts lists of persons confined by their direction in any of the forts or arsenals of the United States. And further provides, "That in all cases where a grand jury, having attended any of the said courts having jurisdiction in the premises, after the passage of the act, and after the furnishing of said lists, as aforesaid, has terminated its session without finding an indictment or presentment, or other proceeding, against any such person, it shall be the duty of the Judge of the said court forthwith to make an order that any such prisoner desiring a discharge from said imprisonment be brought before him to be discharged." In the imperative discharge of duty, therefore, Judge BETTS issued a habeas corpus writ, which was served yesterday morning upon Gen. DIX, who commands the Department of the East, ordering him to produce the body of President BICKLEY in court on the 25th day of March. To this the General, through the Judge-Advocate of the Department, Major BOLLES, will make a return, stating the simple facts of the case, after which, in all probability, Judge BETTS will order his immediate release.

In view of these proceedings, a brief sketch of President BICKLEY, and a statement over his own signature, in relation to the Order of which he is the master spirit, will be found of interest.

Personally Dr. BICKLEY is of attractive appearance, courteous in manner, pronounced in opinion, and self-reliant. He is a son of Dr. BICKLEY, a Surgeon in the Virginia army of 1812-14, who resided in Prince George County, Va. The subject of this sketch was born at Temple Hill, Castle Woods, Russell County, Va., on the 18th of July, 1819. He was graduated from St. Mary's College, Baltimore, in 1838; studied medicine and surgery at University College and Guy's Hospital, London, whence he was graduated in 1842; served in the United States Typographical Corps, in Florida, until 1846, and in the army in Mexico until the close of the war; practiced medicine in Prince George County until 1850, at which time he commenced his political career.

In 1850 Dr. BICKLEY founded the Jefferson Historical Society, the object of which was to collect the historical material found in traditional form in great abundance in Southwest Virginia, and to encourage a more extended system of popular education in the mountain portions of the State. Under the auspices of this society he wrote and published in 1850 a history of the Indian wars and settlement of Southwest Virginia, the first volume of which is confined to Tazewell County, and is a complete specimen of special history, regarded by the London Quarterly Review as "an evidence of a determination on the part of Americans to preserve the history of the early settlement of their countrymen in detail, thus enabling the more general historian to produce what has not yet appeared -- a perfect history of the United States, and especially of the different States." In 1850 Dr. BICKLEY was tendered a Professorship in the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical College. In the Fall of 1851, while connected with the college, he edited the Cincinnati Nonpareil and the Weekly Sunday Mercury, and wrote much for the Holstein Christian Advocate and the Knoxville Whig. In the Spring of 1853 he published a large and splendidly illustrated treatise on Physiological Botany, now used as a text-book in the West, gave up his connection with the Nonpareil, and established the West American Review, which in 1854 was merged with the Parlor Magazine, and subsequently with the West American Monthly. In this year he published a volume on "Positive Medical Agents," and delivered at the New-York Broadway Tabernacle and Brooklyn Athenaeum a series of lectures on the "Doomed Cities of Antiquity;" he then purchased and edited the Daily Democratic Pennant, at Portsmouth, Ohio, with which he continued until the election of Mr. BUCHANAN in 1856, when he resumed his Professorship in the Cincinnati Medical College, occupying the chair of Physiology and Medical Jurisprudence.

Up to this time, although actively engaged in writing political essays, Dr. BICKLEY had not taken any marked personal interest in politics, although it was known that for several years he had been working with the Liberalists of Mexico, and that he was a correspondent of an extensive order in that country, known as "Los Caballeros del Circulo de Oro," and here popularly called the "K.G.C." To trace the Mexican history of this order in detail would take us back to the overthrow of ITURBIDE and the birth of those political convulsions which have culminated in the complete overthrow of Democracy in that State, and therewith the establishment of a Latin monarchy in the northern half of the New World, under the auspices of the French Emperor. Several revolutions have taken place in Mexico under the direct auspices of "Los Cabelleros del Circulo de Oro," the earliest of which, and the only one which has failed, was the movement under the lead of SAMANAS to detach the States of Yucatan, Chiapas, Tabasco and Oaxaca from the Government by the action of the people, and to seek for them an admission to the United States. For this purpose a delegation, in 1848, visited President POLK, who was obliged, for want of authority, to decline the negotiation. Upon the return of the deputation to Mexico, the leaders were thrown into prison, and SAMANAS was beheaded by order of SANTA ANNA. This occasioned a popular revolt, the prisoners were released and SANTA ANNA driven from the country. From this time the Order continued to spread, until it was determined to introduce an American element, with a view to the suppression of the continued anarchy of the country, and an eventual union of the great Republics. Dr. BICKLEY's connection with the Order began in this wise: Through an agent, who was traveling in Mexico, he became familiar with its schemes, and in 1855 he was selected to preside at a meeting of the friends of the Order, held at Lexington, Ky., at which time the entire system was newly organized and remodeled, and Dr. BICKLEY elected its Chief Executive. From him we are in receipt of a letter written to a gentleman in this city, which speaks for his Order and himself, as follows:

LETTER FROM PRESIDENT BICKLEY.
FORT LAFAYETTE.

SIR: -- I do not hold myself bound to answer idle questions which may be propounded to me in reference to the K.G.C., any more than I would be bound to answer questions relating to Masonry, Odd Fellowship or any other secret association to which I may belong. But as your question seems to be asked in good faith, and for arriving at a just estimate of the association to which I have devoted so much time, and which I have the honor to represent as Chief Executive Officer, I cheerfully comply. There has been manifested such a prejudice against the Order, and I have been so persistently calumniated, that I look for no correct or impartial verdict upon my public career for the last ten years until time and circumstances shall vindicate my opinions and develop the general justice of the great principles for which I have so long contended.

The modes of the K.G.C.'s work do not constitute a subject for public discussion, and hence I can only speak of the principles which are taught in the college of the Order. The popular belief that it is merely a political scheme or system of machinery is a great delusion; for in selecting its membership the most scrupulous care has been taken to assure every person that we interfere with no man's politics or his religion, and if, in the course of our instructions, the novitiate finds aught that does not meet his approbation, he is freely allowed to stop and withdraw, leaving him in the exact status which the world holds to the Order. This is true as regards the first and second divisions, but not as regards the third division, for he who enters that department, must live and die a working member of the K.G.C. The education received during the progress of the passage of the two first divisions, enables the novitiate to comprehend the last division, which he enters, with a full knowledge of its work and purposes and with the clear understanding, that he can neither cease his connection with the K.G.C. or to labor for the perpetuation of the same.

Each of the three divisions is composed of three sub-divisions or degrees, the third degree of each being governmental, and is so managed that the first and second degree members do not know who has the third, and these latter thus constitute not only the true governmental machinery of the division, but become the police by which every act of the membership is known at the seat of government of the Order, to which there is pouring in converging channels a continuous stream of information, which enables the Executive Cabinet to modify their policies to the exigency of public society, not only as it may exist in the United States, but in foreign countries. The agents maintained in foreign countries are paid regular salaries from the general fund of the Third Division, and hold their offices at the option of the President and his Cabinet Council.

The executive business is entrusted to a Division Council, presided over by a Vice-President, and in all matters of doubtful purport, its decisions are referred to the Superior Council for confirmation; and if the matter is of very vital importance, it is then referred to the Council of the 57, composed of the first Vice-President and the ministry of the general departments of each division. The President presides only at the sittings of the General Congress, which meets annually, and in the event of his absence, the first Vice-President fills his place. This Congress decides at each annual meeting when and where it will again convene, though for extraordinary purposes it may be convened at any time and place. The proceedings of these General Congresses are conducted in the K.G.C. language, and recorded in Oghams known only to the members of the Third Division. The lower divisions use a cypher writing, very simple and beautiful, but which has never yet been exposed, and if it were made public could do no earthly harm, since the Third Division would at once promulgate another.

The divisions are based on the grades of society and its subdivisions, and the greatest pains are taken not to entrust a superior part to an inferior subject. But to give you a more perfect idea of the machinery of the Order, it will be necessary to examine the divisions in detail through their sub-divisions or progress.

is military in its general aspect, but neither of the degrees is strictly so, since the first is designed to sift from every man his real natural ideas of justice and civilization, and to correct those abuses of education through which he may have been duped into the support of principles and opinions adverse to the onward march of Americanism -- to remove prejudices and leave the mind free to form judgments consonant with reason and justice. In this view the first degree, or that of the I.H., is educational and preparatory. A candidate is never urged to proceed beyond this, and when he makes application to proceed he is closely examined and may then be passed to the second degree, or that of the T.F., provided the vote in the Chamber of Finance is unanimous. If there be only one dissenting vote the person so voting must state fully his reasons. If the grounds of opposition seem warranted, and do not arise from personal dislike, the candidate is rejected, and the facts in his case are reported to the Division Council, and until these conditions and objections are removed, the party can proceed no further, but will hold his place in the Order, receiving all the advantages of the first degree, unless he chooses to resign, and the fact is communicated to the Division Council. There is but little danger of the party so being refused advancement imposing on the Order, for he is specially obligated against such a contingency, and even if he were to perjure himself and expose its secret ceremonial, it could only embarrass the Order for a few days until the ceremonial of the degree could be substituted by another; but strange to say, only one instance of this kind has as yet occurred, and it was remedied immediately. So far as any one can expose the principles of any degree of the Order is concerned, no earthly objection exists. The second degree of the first division is mainly financial, and furnishes all the moneys needed by the division. There are two sources of revenue, one from initiation fees, and the other from voluntary donations, both of which are placed at interest and the revenue from the investment is over sufficient for all the current expenses of the division for extraordinary purposes, as was the case in purchasing vessels for the American Colonization and Steamship Company of Yucatan, bonds are issued, and interest paid on them until the bond matures, and the debt is liquidated. The third degree of the first division of the K.G.C., or that of the C.S., is the governing department of the division, and exercises a perfect espionage over the interests of the Order. It is entrusted to but few. The relative proportions of the membership of the three degrees of the first division is 1,000, 250 and 50. The total membership of the Order on the 1st of July, 1862, was 486,398, of whom 42,000 were citizens of Mexico and other American countries.

It is sufficient to say that the other divisions of the Order are organized on a basis similar to the above, though, of course, the scope and character of their operations are different and far more important, though only an extension or development of the one grand idea of Americanism, or of Christian civilization as conveyed through that term. The K.G.C. sets out with the broad general declaration that the Old and New Testaments -- the Holy Bible -- is the revealed will of God, and a belief in the same is a condition to good society, a safeguard to liberty, the very keystone of human happiness and national greatness. That innovations on the written word of God ought to be discountenanced by all men who would discountenance the horrors of political and moral anarchy, and that when one is found who has not a good and fair understanding of God's word, it becomes every man's duty to assist in presenting it in its naked purity for his inspection, and if he then denies it as the great moral code bearing on all, he ought to be maranatha, and so we regard him.

The whole scheme of Christianity is Democratic -- that is cognizable of the best rights of man -- that monarchism and Christianity are inconsistent when applied for the purposes of human advancement. Recognizing this fact, our ancestors came to America where the dignity of man could be taught and recognized; that they were zealous Christians, and under their hands the career of peaceful civilization flourished in a wonderful degree, and so it continued and will continue to flourish as long as we stand by God's word and the great moral precepts therein enunciated. In the great plans of Providence Republicanism, founded on Christianity, first rose in the new world, and hence we claim this continent as the sacred home of Liberty, and we ever struggle against all doctrines, schemes and issues likely to imperil the same. We oppose all kingcraft, and the civil rule of Priestcraft. Our rulers must be of our own choosing, as decided by a majority at the ballot-box, where each man is allowed to express, without trammels, his choice, and every one is then morally bound to abide by and respect this decision of the majority; and if he is unwilling so to do, then he ought to leave the country and seek an asylum among other people, whose opinions are more suited to his own. If these remarks are true as regards the United States, they equally apply to the peoples of the whole continent, and hence the K.G.C. do and will oppose every scheme of kingcraft to plant its unhallowed foot on the domain of Christian civilization, presided over by the genius of Republicanism, and consecrated by the memories of the fact.

Americanism as represented by WASHINGTON and his successes for half a century and more, was hedged around by the Bible and a wise Constitution -- a strict adherence to both these is imperative on every member of society; and he who refuses assent to them ought to be ruled out of society, and thus guard the great body against attractive heresies under captivating forms, whose adoption could lead to anarchy, infidelity and public enslavement.

Unguarded liberty -- liberty freed from the trammels of the Bible and the Constitution -- leads only to political heresy, to civil commotion and discord, to irreverence, arrogance, and final misery; and all who have made deadly threats at Americanism, have denounced the Constitution of our fathers and the Bible of their faith. It is in denouncing parties and principles founded in opposition to these, that the K.G.C. has been forced to assume sometimes a political aspect. Yet it will be presently seen that it has in every instance stood by the old Constitution and the Bible; and when it has been overpowered, so the Bible and the Constitution will cease to guide and protect the rights of Americans.

So long as our people North and South stood by these two sure anchors of human liberty and human advancement, there was peace, harmony, rapid progress in the race of civilization and human development, and there was no need for the establishment of such an institution as the K.G.C. But it was apparent as early as 1850 that we were drifting on to sectional strife, and should eventually come to the dreadful horrors of the present day. There was but one way to avoid this. The remedy, it seems, was easily observable when we inquire into the causes of dissension. Those who set up visionary codes of human systems in opposition to the Eternal Word of the living God, took exceptions to the Constitution which permitted the Southern States to hold Africans and their descendants in perpetual bondage. The South respond by asserting that the Bible recognizes slavery, and they entered the Union with the clear and distinct understanding that the Constitution should recognize this right; and that the people, through their several State Governments, could alone interfere with the institution. Honest and consistent Abolitionist like Mr. GREELEY say, "Well, irrespective of the Bible warrant, if you will hold men in bondage, and it is admitted the Constitution does protect you in such practice, then we suggest, if you will not give up the institution, will not agree to alter the Constitution, that you leave the Union." While this is, perhaps, not just the worded sentiment of HORACE GREELEY, it is what I have always understood to be Mr. GREELEY's position, and so long as he stood to it his consistency commanded the respect of even Southern men.

The South responding to the above sentiment noted on Mr. GREELEY's suggestion, but a vast majority of the people, recognizing the value of the Union, said to Mr. DAVIS, "You shall not go out," and hence the present war.

The K.G.C. took issue with both Mr. GREELEY and Mr. DAVIS. We said, Republicanism in America has a far higher mission than the education of the three or four millions of negroes, whom everybody is sorry were ever brought from their own scorching sandhills. Obey the Bible and the Constitution and all the errors of Americanism will correct themselves like a fermenting liquid. From our political organization, and the greater population of the free States, you of the North, for the sake of power will continue to use the negro question until the South will in self-defence be compelled to quit your association, from which moment the disintegration of Americanism must begin. To prevent this we must acquire territory on our Southern border, which will no increase the political power of the South as to render it impossible for you to seriously threaten the constitutional rights of the Slave States, and since no such thing as disunion can then occur Americanism will purify itself. The neon system of Mexico is in sufficient sympathy with the interests of the South to harmonize them, and thus enable us to perpetuate our Government, and with the appliances of modern invention we can govern and control the empire of the people with more ease than Washington governed the original Union. The K.G.C. is, therefore, the only real Union measure likely to answer the purpose yet presented to the public.

The first step in this scheme was the overthrow of the corrupt military systems of Mexico, which, since 1824, had disgraced the country. Organize a Constitutional Government placed in the hands of agents chosen by the people. The Church Party feel and understand the auspices of this Order. The Constitution of 1857 was adopted, and BENITO JUAREZ was duly elected President of the Republic, which, after a struggle of nearly three years, was fully recognized by the United States Government. MIGUEL MIRAMON and his partisans, who were headed by LABISTIDA, Archbishop of Mexico, fled to Europe, and, as the success of their intrigues, a war with England, Spain and France was forced on JUAREZ, which finally devolved on the latter, and who, through mere brute force, and in defiance of the oft-repeated declarations of the United States Government to protect and foster the American Republics, has firmly planted a Latin Monarchy in Republican Mexico. And, though engaged in a great war, we have not had time to say to the poor patriots of Mexico, we will come to your aid as soon as we can, but we have had time to assure LOUIS NAPOLEON that he shall meet with no opposition to his Imperial projects in the New World. Let history judge between the K.G.C., which helped establish Constitutional Government in Mexico, and the United States, which encouraged the Emperor of the French to thus strangle Mexican freedom.

One year before the opening of the present war, a movement of K.G.C. emigrants took place toward Mexico. Quite a number assembled in Texas, and others entered the country where they still are, but the sudden opening of hostilities in the United States compelled a suspension of the movement, and since June, 1861, I have neither taken any action in public events, nor in my official capacity as President of the K.G.C., interfered with American politics. The supposition that I would do so has, no doubt, led the Government to have me arrested, but the only action I was likely to take, or that would be consistent with my official position, would have been to have carried a sufficient force to Mexico to maintain the Government of 1857, as represented by President JUAREZ, until our own troubles are settled. In doing such a work, I would not have acted without the knowledge of the United States Government, for neither the Administration of Mr. PIERCE or that of Mr. BUCHANAN ever objected to the K.G.C. rendering any service to Mexico, not inconsistent with treaty stipulations, and when under the sanction of the Mexican Government.

Hereafter when the name of MAXIMILIAN is mentioned in the pages of history, let it be done in this style: "The man, who by French bayonets, with the consent and knowledge of the United States, triumphed over JUAREZ and the K.G.C. -- over constitutional government and American liberty, whose imperial standards flaunt back derisively in the face of the United States Congress, the chimera of the Monroe doctrine." But let the friends of Americanism not despair, for our cause is based upon reason, truth and justice, and when the proper moment arrives, the flag that bears the emblems of the K.G.C. will be thrown to the breeze, and another contest must commence in Mexico between the sons of the country and their foreign oppressors.

But, sir, I am striving from the end I had in view when I commenced this note, which may only serve to fasten the shackles of the captive on my wrists, and yet for which I care much less than one would suppose since my liberty can in no way effect the great ends and objects, the actions or labors of the K.G.C. We have labored too long and earnestly to leave such interests dependent on the liberty of any one man.

If the United States Government had immediately on my arrest summoned me before the Departments of State and War, it would have been at once satisfied that it had acted under a misapprehension, and that so far from either myself or the Order having any connection with the Confederate Government, it had ever stood aloof from all connection with either of the contending sections, and have been since the beginning of the war up to the present moment most solicitous for a peace honorable alike to both sections. Our membership is in both armies and in both sections, for which reason, as an Order the K.G.C. could not take part with either of the contending Powers. The K.G.C. is only the military circle of Americanism, and the occurrence of the war rendered it absolutely necessary to suspend, until further orders, all those departments in any way affecting North or South. But, sir, let me again assure you that beyond and above all sectional and political considerations, there is something in the public heart, both North and South, which still binds together the lovers of Saxon democracy, of constitutional liberty, throughout North America; and it has been the constant effort of the Knights of the Golden Circle, North and South, since the war began, to reach the public ear through the press, by social teaching, and by books and periodicals, in a way to show Americans that we were tending to such a system of disintegration as to endanger it not utterly to destroy every hope of our fathers to plant here such a permanent system of constitutional democracy, as to afford at all times and to all peoples a refuge from tyranny in the old world. Let the public remember that our theory is that the real question of the world to-day, and for ten years past, has been one of Democracy vs. Monarchism -- Latinism vs. Saxonism, and that the K.G.C. has been proved to stand forth the great vanguard of Saxonism. The Order warned the American people as early as 1858 of the Franco-Spanish Alliance against Mexico. It showed that the monarchies of Europe were determined to disrupt us by dangerous sectional issues, and so weaken the power of the United States as to accomplish their ends with the smallest possible expenditure of European blood. The present civil war was to be encouraged, hopes were to be held out to the South of a speedy recognition, and if need be then, of material aid. This, while flattering to the South, was a mere pretext. No European Power has yet seriously contemplated such a step, but orders were issued by the Emperor NAPOLEON to keep these hopes buoyant in the South, until such time as when, heavily pressed by the superior power of the North, the South would listen favorably to propositions of a French protectorate and a gradual cession of sovereignty to His Imperial Majesty. When this point was reached, the Governors of several Southern States were gradually approached by the special agents of France and Spain. The trick was at once detected by the K.G.C., and reported to the Confederate Government, when Mr. DAVIS promptly dismissed the offending Consuls, showing that while engaged in a terrible struggle for Southern Independence, he was yet not willing to yield his country into the hands of His Imperial Majesty. Thus rudely rebuffed by Mr. DAVIS, the French Emperor at once determined to push his Mexican scheme with great vigor. Cardinal ANTONELLI could furnish some very curious developments on this subject, the key to which was furnished me by LABISTI[???]A, Archbishop of Puebla, in a conference held with me in the Spring of 1859, in the City of Baltimore.

Since the war has been in progress, both North and South have been most thoroughly permeated with French spies or agents, whose business it has been to further inflame the public mind and justify French intervention in Mexican affairs. All these schemes of the Latin monarchist have been exposed time and again by the K.G.C. We have even suggested, by various modes, our willingness to take a sufficient body of men, at our own expense, to Mexico, to assist President JUAREZ in maintaining Mexican nationality and freedom until our own troubles were settled. Twenty thousand men from North or South could have been had on my call for this purpose, and without in any way compromising either Government; and without any assistance whatever, and can now be had from the one State of New-York, or from nearly any one of the Northwestern States, and that, too, without taking a man from the army or who is likely to go into the army. The K.G.C. is so well understood in the South, and in portions of the North, that every American would at once give it a portion of that sympathy which so strongly expressed itself last Spring in the House of Representatives on adopting Mr. WINTER DAVIS resolutions on the Monroe doctrine. In the direction of public sentiment in this direction, the K.G.C. has manifested strength enough to lay the Mexican plank in each political platform which has thus far been presented to the American people.

The organization of the K.G.C. is as perfect now as it was before the war, and should it last ten years longer it will remain the same -- for it is only necessary to issue a single order to move its entire machinery. Though nothing will be done until the Government shall be satisfied that we have nothing to do whatever with any of the secret political societies, whether called by our name or any other, either North or South, and that we have not only tried, but are determined to remain neutral as between North and South; but belligerent as between Latanism and Saxonism -- as between monarchy and democracy -- and that we do now and ever will hold ourselves in duty bound to respond to the first call made for defenders of Saxon republicanism. Equally ready do we stand to oppose with all our might any party or scheme which shall attempt the overthrow of the great principles of constitutional government for which our fathers so long contended.

With an earnest desire, Sir, that our present national troubles may be speedily and honorably settled, I beg to subscribe myself.

Very truly your obedient servant,
GEO. W.L. BICKLEY, M.D.,
President of the K.G.C.

We are not in possession of the facts connected with Mr. BICKLEY's arrest, but if we remember correctly, he was apprehended with a pass from Gen. ROSECRANS in his pocket, sent to the Ohio Penitentiary at the time of Gen. MORGAN's confinement there, and thence sent to Fort Lafayette. He seems to be almost a monomaniac, at times speaking of large armies and immense sums of money at his disposal, and again appearing despondent to the last degree. He is regarded by those who have been companioned with him as visionary, good-hearted, honorable and energetic. He is willing to take the oath of allegiance, settle down quietly, or leave the country as the Government may elect.



Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,10569.msg80526.html#msg80526

interesting article,thanks

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,10569.msg80569.html#msg80569

Battlefield Dispatches No. 210: 'Guerrillas, Outlaws, Red Legs and Knights of the Golden Circle'
Friday, April 16, 2010
Arnold W. Schofield

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

By the spring of 1863, the western tier counties of Missouri were part of the District of Kansas in the Department of Missouri and there were strict instructions circulated concerning the fate of Confederate Guerrillas, Bushwhackers and the Union Red Legs. If any of these individuals were captured their future longevity was very short as described in the following letters of instruction that were issued to Union commanders in the field. Both letters are located on "Pages 222-224 in Series I, Vol. 22 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion."
"Headquarters District of Kansas,

Fort Leavenworth, April 16, 1863.

Col. E. Lynde,

Commanding Ninth Regiment Kansas Volunteers:

Colonel: The western tier of counties of the State of Missouri, lying south of the Missouri River, being now embraced within the limits of this district, you will therefore, for the purpose of protecting loyal citizens and punishing traitors and insuring peace and quiet upon the borders of KANSAS & MISSOURI, move the troops under your command into the border tier of counties before mentioned (your headquarters remaining at Paola, Kansas) & co-operate with such other loyal Federal troops as you may find within the limits of this district. The troops should be kept moving or patrolling the border counties & exercise the utmost vigilance and promptness in discovering & destroying all BANDS OF GUERRILLAS & OUTLAWS & when such parties are met with ARMS IN THEIR HANDS, opposing the Federal authorities, they are not to be considered as belligerents, according to the rules & usages of civilized warfare; but having organized within the Federal lines to oppose the Federal authorities by armed resistance, THEY MUST BE TREATED AS INSURGENTS & SHALL SUFFER DEATH! When such persons are taken prisoner, WHICH SHOULD BE AVOIDED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, they will be summarily tried before a military commission, to be appointed by the senior officer present & if found GUILTY, MUST BE executed by HANGING or SHOOTING, without delay; but, in carrying out these instructions, great discrimination should be exercised, to the end that no loyal or innocent person shall suffer. The troops must be kept under complete discipline and subordination & all officers held accountable for the conduct of the men under their command.

ALL OPERATIONS AGAINST REBELS MUST BE DIRECTED BY THE LEGAL MILITARY AUTHORITIES. This injunction is to apply especially to an organization known as the "RED LEGS", which is an organized band of THIEVES & VIOLATORS OF LAW & GOOD ORDER. All such persons found prowling over the country, without a legitimate purpose must be DISARMED, & if they shall be caught in the act of thieving or other lawlessness, or in the possession of stolen property, for which they cannot give a good & sufficient reason, THEY SHALL BE SHOT ON THE SPOT!

And as there is reason to believe that officers in the military service are implicated, directly or indirectly, in the offenses committed by "RED LEGS" & other lawless bands, therefore, upon evidence that any officer has failed or neglected to carry out the foregoing instructions in reference to such offenders, they shall be dishonorably dismissed from the Service of the United States. All stock and other property taken from the rebels in the State of Missouri will be turned over to the commanding officer at Kansas City.

Copies of the foregoing instructions will be furnished to the commanding officers in the border counties of Missouri, for their information & guidance.

JAMES G. BLUNT,

Major General, Commanding."

[Note: The "Knights of the Golden Circle" was one of a number of secret organizations in the "Border States" such as Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland & Delaware and some northern states that consisted of men & women who supported, supplied and spied for the Confederate States of America. The following letter is one of the few "official" Union documents that mentions & describes the activities of the Knights of the Golden Circle in Missouri.]

"Headquarters District of Kansas

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, April 17, 1863.

Major General Samuel R. Curtis,

Commanding Department of the Missouri:

General: In my opinion the rebel's purpose is not to move through Missouri, but upon Kansas. This opinion is confirmed by information I obtain through the Knights of the Golden Circle. I have a man who joined sometime since in Missouri for certain purposes [as a Union Spy]. He has been for sometime with Todd's Band of guerrillas in Jackson County & is well posted in the working order & the purposes for which they are organized. I expect to make a descent upon one of their lodges a few nights hence and if successful in taking them, I think I SHALL HANG ALL I CATCH. There are about 800 of them in Kansas & 10,000 in the State of Missouri. They are all sworn to support the southern confederacy & are secretly procuring arms & are confident that [Major General Sterling] Price will succeed in invading Kansas & Missouri. Recruiting Officer's from Price's army are constantly arriving & a regular correspondence by rebel mail is carried on between here & the rebel army. The plan of Price, as revealed by these Knights of the Golden Circle, is to make a feint with a small force in the direction of Springfield & Rolla, while with his main force he will move up the Arkansas [River] & through the Indian Country [,0klahoma] upon Kansas, while the troops for the protection of this line are diverted for the protection of Rolla.

Thus in addition to being the most desirable plan for them, for there is no State they would so much like to DEVASTATE as this. It is the most feasible plan, for leaving Fort Smith [, Arkansas] with 10 days of supplies of rations, they could reach Fort Scott through a country well provided with grazing, provided there was no force to oppose them; whereas they cannot move a large army up through Arkansas for want of grass.

Besides there is NOTHING TO ATTRACT THEM IN MISSOURI or supplies to sustain them, except for the government stores at the posts, which could be easily destroyed by us if necessary, while KANSAS would furnish abundance of supplies after reaching her south border. We should not suffer ourselves to be deceived in regard to their anticipated movements. Whatever I may be able to learn through the "Order" I will keep you posted. The telegraph should not be used in making mention of the "Knights of the Golden Circle." General Ewing has received orders from General Herron to join his command with the Kansas troops now in this district. I shall retain them in my district unless I receive orders from you to the contrary, as I believe that all of them & many more will be needed here before long.

I have the honor to be general, respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES G. BLUNT,

Major General, Commanding."

Now then, the potential Confederate invasion of Kansas that General Blunt mentioned in this letter did not occur in 1863 so some of the information his spy in the "Knights of the Golden Circle" was not reliable and of course the War Went On!

? Copyright 2010 Fort Scott Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,10569.msg85547.html#msg85547

THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE.
New York Times
August 30, 1861

Under this head an article appears in the London Spectator, of Aug. 17, which is of especial interest, as the journal in which it appears is well known to be American property and under American inspiration. It has a prominent place among the articles on the leading topics of the day, which forms a conspicuous and valuable feature of the Spectator, and will be read with interest by men of all hues in politics on this side of the Atlantic;

Just before the descent of LOPEZ on Cuba, the American papers were full of allusions to an association called the Order of the Lone Star, said to be organized for the purpose of conquering Cuba and Nicaragua. M. SOULE was said to be its President, and the appointment of that individual as Minister to Madrid was regarded by the Court of Spain, as a wilful discourtesy. LOPEZ himself belonged to the society, and it was from the ranks of the Order that WALKER obtained his most ardent recruits. After the failure of WALKER's first expedition, the rumors of the society died away, and though its members, under the quaint title of "Precipitators," were supposed to be active in the work of disunion, the society itself, as such, ceased to play any prominent part. The more violent members, however, saw in it a power which might be effectively used, and on the first symptom of the predominance of the Free-Soilers, they organized a new association, under the name of the Knights of the Golden Circle, with new and better defined objects, and an obligation of secrecy. The secret of the Order, however, has been betrayed during the intestine strife raised by disunion in Kentucky, and the revelation exposes a plot which, for audacity, ability and wickedness, has rarely been surpassed in the long history of conspiracy.

The object of the Order may be briefly stated. It is nothing less than to raise an army of 16,000 men for the conquest of Mexico, and the establishment in that vast Territory of a strongly organized monarchy, resting on a basis of slave institutions. The precise mode of accomplishing this object has already been settled. As soon as the internal warfare is over, all members of the Order, under their secret leaders, are to repair to Guanajuato, with the Governor of which province of Mexico, MICHAEL DOBLADO, the Order has concluded a formal treaty. By the provisions of this precious document the Governor is to add 16,000 men of his own, and the entire army is to march forward under his command to the permanent subjugation of the country. Means are found from the revenues of the province, and its State property is "mortgagad" for the payment of the soldiery, at one-eighth above the American rates.

To secure the necessary cohesion, the Order has been organized after this fashion. Every applicant for admission is first sworn to secrecy under the penalty of death, and then the design of the Order is revealed. If he assents to its propriety, and is, moreover, an American born, and a slaveowner, or can produce proof that he is imbued with Southern sentiments, and is a Protestant, he is admitted as a soldier of the Order, and informed of its signs, pass-words, and organization. On the recommendation of the chiefs of the Order he is admitted to the second degree, informed that the stores and ammunition for the Army are collected at Monterey, and acquainted with the names of the officers to whom he is to look for pay. He is also supposed to be on active service, and the President has, we perceive, summoned all Kentuckian members to attend a rendezvous, where they will be drilled and organized by regular instructors, and whence they are, for the present, to control the Kentucky elections in favor of Southern men. If influential enough, he is next admitted to the third degree, the council of the Order, which under the Presidency of Mr. GEORGE BICKLEY, the future monarch, regulates the affairs of the Order, without communication, except through GEORGE BICKLEY, to the other degrees. He swears in this degree to obtain all the neophytes he can, to support his colleagues the Knights of the Columbian Star in all efforts for office, to conquer Mexico and "Southernize" its institutions; to drive all free negroes into Mexico, there to be enslaved, and to reduce the peon population of Mexico to slavery, dividing them as chattels among the members of the Order, and to recognize for the present monarchical institutions, as tending to strong government. Moreover, after the conquest of Mexico, he is to contend for the exclusion of every Roman Catholic from office and from the priesthood, and to support a system of passports enforced by the penalty of death. He again swears to a scheme of government which, from its utter want of resemblance to any American idea, we give entire:

13. The successor to GEORGE BICKLEY must be over thirty years of age, of Southern birth, liberally educated, Knight of the Columbian Star, sound of body and mind, and married, and Protestant. He shall swear to carry out this policy, and to extend Slavery over the whole of Central America if in his power. He shall try to acquire Cuba and control the Gulf of Mexico. No one else will I sustain. But for such a one, who must be proposed by the Cabinet Ministers and elected by all Knights of the Star, or a majority of them, I will sustain here, there, or elsewhere. When the Knights cross the Rio Grande, I will do all I can to send in recruits for the Army, and if I should ever cease to be an active worker for the Star, I will keep secret what I know of the real character of the organization, and I promise never to confer this degree in any other way than in the way I have here received it, and I will forward to GEORGE BICKLEY, or to the Governor-General of this State, the name and fees of every candidate whom I shall initiate as Governor. In witness, I do voluntarily, here and in these presence, sign my name and address."

He is then informed that Mexico can provide any amount of means, that funds to the extent of a million of dollars are lying at Matamoras, and two millions more at Monterey; that the Governor of Guanajuato is rapidly organizing his province for the reception of the Order, and that the march of the invading Army will commence on the 6th of October, 1861.

It reads, all this, rather like a dream of some mad slaveholder than a grave and definite project, which, nevertheless, we believe it to be. The Order is already powerful in the South, the alliance with the Governor is sufficiently probable, and the whole plan is strictly in accordance with the views known to be entertained by the most prominent slaveholders. Nor is the execution of the plan so difficult as to create any prima facie suspicion of falsehood. The South is full of men without slaves, with no place in society, and hungry for profitable adventure. They have been accustomed for years to regard the immense republic to their south, with its vast territory, its real and imaginary wealth, its disorganized government, and powerless white population, as a certain and easy prey. The successful annexation of Texas is a proof of what may be accomplished by a few unscrupulous and resolute men, and the laws of the Order tend directly to secure effective cohesion among its members. Quarreling and seduction are absolutely forbidden, every member is responsible for the orphans of those who fall, and societies released from the law are apt to protect themselves by somewhat effective guarantees for their own extra-legal code. The Order has men at command, so numerous that they are said to be objects of terror in Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas, and the bribe offered is of stupendous magnitude. It is nothing less than to bestow on 16,000 men a body of slaves equal to the whole slave population of the South, and slaves, too, more easily controlled than the negro race. To men thirsting for ownership, and convinced that Slavery is lawful, the temptation must be almost irresistible, more especially as every American overratesthe case with which Mexico might be subdued. The pure Spaniards and the landed proprietors, utterly weary of anarchy, would probably bail a strong Government of any sort, while the native and quadroon population have never been able to resist the hated and dreaded "North." Of the awful increase of human misery which would follow the conquest it is unnecessary to speak. Slavery, as it exists, is bad enough, but the deliberate addition of 3,750,000 people and their children forever to the ranks of a slave population, is a crime from which the imagination itself recoils. It seems from its very magnitude impossible. CORTEZ, however, conquered these people with far inferior means, and there is no evidence that the Mexican peon of to-day is better able to resist a rifleman than his ancestor was to defeat CORTEZ's heavy armed cavalry. The only element of effective resistance would be the religious fanaticism the laws of the Order are so well adapted to arouse. These laws, however were obviously intended to serve only a tem porary purpose, the exclusion of Catholics being rendered essential by their friendly feeling for Mexico. A priest informed of the design in the confessional would be certain to put the Mexicans on their guard, perhaps cause the arrest of the Governor who is so coolly selling his country. Mexico once conquered, the necessity for the restriction would disappear, and though one of the laws of the Order, an obligation to dissolve all monasteries and open all convents, seems dectated by a real religious dislike, it is difficult to believe that it would endure in spite of the political advantage of tolerance. The whole scheme may be unreal, and the Knights of the Golden Circle as little disposed to fulfill their promises as Masons are to preserve the obligation of Christian brotherhood. But it must not be forgotten that this whatever the truth as to this society, is one of the designs of the South, and that the plan, which thus boldy stated seems incredibly atrocious is part of the permanent policy of the Government which has just won its first battle in front of Manassas Gap. The design, we fear, if the North succumbs, is at once as possible of execution as it is remorselessly wicked in concention.

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,10569.msg86171.html#msg86171

Secret Society of Pin Indians Disappear Into History After Civil War

The Civil War was to have a great impact on everyone who lived in Arkansas, and that included members of the Civilized Cherokee tribe. While Chief Ross forbade his people to take part in border warfare or to organize a band of guerrillas to help protect Arkansas, Elias Boudinot, a resident of Arkansas, encouraged Ross?s nemesis, Stand Watie, to fight for the Confederates. And so was formed a secret society of Cherokee known as Knights of the Golden Circle, finally changed to The Southern Rights party.

Another organization, made up of full bloods who called themselves Keetoowahs began to operate in the Indian Nation on the side of the Union. They were reorganized in 1859 by Evan Jones and his son John, and were claimed to be designed to perpetuate tribal traditions. It was common knowledge in the Nations that they really had been reorganized to fight slavery. This group of Cherokee became known as Pins Indians because of the insignia of crossed pins they wore on their hunting shirts and coats.

Asked to leave the Nations, the Pins reverted to their ancestors way of fighting. Though supposedly aligned with the United States against the Confederate States of America, they consistently raided their arch enemies the Knights of the Golden Circle, using guerrilla warfare at every opportunity.

It was only natural that settlers in the area just across the border in Northwest Arkansas should become unwitting targets of these hit and miss raids by this unruly band of warriors. In fact, according to records, Jones, said to be a white man with his own agenda, trained the Pins in a school in Cincinnati near Cane Hill, Arkansas.

After much political ado, Cherokee Stand Watie was made a General in the Confederate Army. When he and his men attempted to raise the Confederate flag in the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah, about 150 Pins led by Chief Doublehead stopped him.

In the book, The Cherokees, by Grace Steele Woodward, the final mention of the Pins Indians is made when the factions, split by the Civil War reunited in the Indian Nation in 1867.

In the book Mankiller by Chief Wilma Mankiller and Michael Wallis, the Pins are referred to as an ultra secret society. They used secret signs to identify themselves to other members. Touching their hats in salutation would be followed by ?Who are you??, with the proper response being, ?I am Keetoowah?s son.? Among the Cherokees it was also known that those who had split from the tribe and fought for the Union forces wore strips of split corn husks in their hair before they went into battle.

Chief Ross never wished to align himself with the Confederate cause and slavery, though many Cherokees did indeed own slaves. So when the Union troops entered Indian Territory in 1862 he welcomed them and left under their protective custody.

Ever a rival of Chief Ross, Stand Watie saw his chance when Ross left the Indian Nations, and declared himself the new principal chief of the Cherokees. Many members of the tribe did not back Watie, and the war within a war spilled into Arkansas to affect those already under constant attack by gangs of bushwhackers.

Pin Indians attacked, burned and killed southern sympathizers on both sides of the border. Those living in Washington County became unwilling victims in this battle between the two factions of Cherokees as well as the two factions of men fighting in the Civil War. Many of the Cherokees caught up in this guerilla warfare fled into neutral lands in Kansas. Hundreds of Indian refugees, being cared for rather poorly in Kansas by the Federal Government, died during the first year of the war.

While down in the Indian Nations and Arkansas, the two factions continued to wage a bitter war. In 1864 Stand Watie was promoted to Brigadier General in the confederacy, the highest rank to be achieved by any Native American. The confederate troops led by General Stand Watie continued to fight long after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his confederate army at Appamattox, Virginia April 9, 1865. It would be late June before Watie?s army finally laid down their arms. In all, 7,000 Cherokees lost their lives in that war. Their homes, libraries, businesses and livestock suffered devastating losses.

White settlers living along the borderland of Northwest Arkansas suffered great losses as well. The white man?s law held no power in the Indian Nation and on the Arkansas side Indians were free from tribal jurisdiction. Outlaw gangs frequenting the area could step across the border from either direction and be free from punishment for their crimes committed on the other side.

According to Conrad Russell, a native of Cane Hill and a historian who wrote many articles about the Civil War from stories he heard at his grandfather?s knee, Jones was white and his name probably wasn?t Jones at all. It was known that he hated slavery in any form and didn?t care how it might be stomped out. He taught the young men to kill, rob and otherwise destroy slave owners. Soon they didn?t much care who they raided. Russell said that soon no man, woman or child was safe from raids by the Pin Indians. The group of outlaw Indians held no loyalties to either side. It was known that they raided both Confederate and Northern sympathizers alike.

Isaac Buchanan, a prosperous farmer living near Cane Hill became a victim of the Pins. One day three of them arrived at his farm and asked for food. Buchanan led them to his cellar where he gave them some apples. When he followed them from the cellar and turned to close the door, they shot and killed him. Buchanan?s three sons had already been cut down by bushwhackers and this deed left his womenfolk defenseless. Finally tiring of the killing, a band of Confederates and local citizens in the beleaguered area gathered weapons and ammunition and set up a series of clever ambushes. Spotting a large band of Pins headed for Cane Hill, they lay in wait south of the settlement along the road they were known to travel.

A group of about 60 Pins rode through and the first contingent closed up any retreat, driving the band into the second and third group who waited in hiding. By the time the renegades made the border, there were few left. It is said they never returned to pull another raid on the citizens around Cane Hill. Thus, according to Arkansas legend, ended the reign of the Pins and they disappeared for good into Indian Territory. Cherokee writings make no more mention of the secret Pins Indians after 1867.

Stories always differ, depending on which side the storyteller is on, but the story of the Pins has been recorded in most Cherokee histories, but few whites. Conrad Russell admits the stories he heard from his grandfather are only hearsay, as is most of our folk lore. However, the written history of the Pins by Cherokee sources are more than hearsay. The mystery of who is entirely correct will probably always remain just that. A mystery.



Velda Brotherton is currently working on a history of Springdale, Arkansas, which will be published by Arcadia Publishers in their Making of America Series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright ? 2001 Velda Brotherton
originally published in The White River Valley News, Elkins, Arkansas

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,10569.msg165210.html#msg165210