John Yates Beall

Excerpt from Memoir of John Yates Beall: His Life; Trial; Correspondence; Diary; and private manuscript found among his papers, including his own account of the Raid on Lake Erie, [by Daniel B. Lucas]. Montreal, Canada: John Lovell, 1865.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
No. 14.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,
NEW YORK CITY, Jan. 17th, 1865.

6. A Military Commission, to consist of the following named officers, will assemble at Fort Lafayette, N. Y. H., at 11 a.m., on Friday, January 20th, 1865, or as soon thereafter as practicable, for the trial of such cases as may be brought before it, by orders from these Headquarters, to sit without regard to hours, and to hold its sessions in New York city, if the convenience of the service require it; four members to constitute a quorum, for the transaction of business.

Brig. General FITZ HENRY WARREN, U. S. V.
" W. H. MORRIS, U. S. V.
Colonel M. S. HOWE, 3d U. S. Cav.
" H. DAY, U. S. A.
Brev. Lieut. Col. R. F. O'BIERNE, 14th U. S. Infant.
Major G. W. WALLACE, 6th U. S. Infantry.
Major JOHN A. BOLLES, A. D. C., is appointed Jge. Adv.

By command of Major Gen. Dix.
D. T. VAN BUREN,
Assistant Adjutant General.

. . .

FORT LAFAYETTE, NEW YORK HARBOUR,
11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1st, 1865.

The Commission met pursuant to adjournment.

Present all the members.

Present, also, the Judge Advocate, and the accused John Y. Beall, who was brought in for trial.

By leave of the Commission James T. Brady, Esq., appeared as counsel for the accused.

The Judge Advocate inquired of the accused if he was ready to plead to the charges and specifications, and the accused answered that he was.

The accused was then arraigned on the following charges and specifications, which were read aloud in his presence and hearing, and to which after they were so read the accused pleaded that he was not guilty.

Specification 1. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, did on or about the 19th day of September, 1864, at or near Kelley's Island, in the State of Ohio, without lawful authority, and by force of arms, seize and capture the steamboat Philo Parsons.

Specification 2. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, did on or about the 19th day of September, 1864, at or near Middle Bass Island, in the State of Ohio, without lawful authority, and by force of arms, seize, capture, and sink the steamboat Island Queen.

Specification 3. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy at or near Kelley's Island, in the State of Ohio, on or about the 19th day of September, 1864.

Specification 4. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy on or about the 19th day of September, 1864, at or near Middle Bass Island, in the State of Ohio.

Specification 5. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy on or about the 16th day of December, 1864, at or near Suspension Bridge in the State of New York.

Specification 6. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, being without lawful authority, and for unlawful purposes, in the State of New York, did in said State of New York undertake to carry on irregular and unlawful warfare as a guerilla; and in the execution of said undertaking, attempted to destroy the lives and property of the peaceable and unoffending inhabitants of said State, and of persons therein travelling, by throwing a train of cars and the passengers in said cars from the railroad track, on the railroad between Dunkirk and Buffalo, by placing obstructions across said track; all this in said State of New York, and on or about the 15th day of December, 1864, at or near Buffalo.

Specification 1. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy in the State of Ohio, at or near Kelley's Island, on or about the 19th day of September, 1864.

Specification 2. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy in the State of Ohio, on or about the 19th day of September, 1864, at or near Middle Bass Island.

Specification 3. In this that John Y. Beall, a citizen of the insurgent State of Virginia, was found acting as a spy in the State of New York, at or near Suspension Bridge, on or about the 16th day of December, 1864.

JOHN A. BOLLES, Major and A. D. C.,
Judge Advocate.

. . .

These proceedings having been submitted to Major Gen. John A. Dix, the Major General in command of the Department, he endorsed thereon his approval, and issued the following order:

The order of Maj. Gen. Dix upon this case is as follows:

GENERAL ORDERS,
No. 14.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,
NEW YORK CITY, Feb. 14th, 1865.

I. Before a Military Commission which convened at Fort Lafayette, New York Harbour, by virtue of Special Orders No. 14, current series from these headquarters, of January 17, 1865, and of which Brigadier General FITZ HENRY WARREN, United States Volunteers, is President, was arraigned and tried JOHN Y. BEALL.

...................................................................................................

[Here follow the charges and specifications, and the finding of sentence.]

II. In reviewing the proceedings of the Commission, the circumstances on which the charges are founded, and the questions of law raised on the trial, the Major General commanding has given the most earnest and careful consideration to them all. The testimony shows that the accused, while holding a commission from the authorities at Richmond as Acting Master in the navy of the insurgent States, embarked at Sandwich, Canada, on board the Philo Parsons, an unarmed steamer, while on one of her regular trips, carrying passengers and freight from Detroit, in the State of Michigan, to Sandusky, in the State of Ohio. The Captain had been induced by Burley, one of the confederates of the accused, to land at Sandwich, which was not one of the regular stopping-places of the steamer, for the purpose of receiving them. Here the accused and two others took passage. At Malden, another Canadian port, and one of the regular stopping-places, about twenty-five more came on board. The accused was in citizen's dress, showing no insignia of his rank or profession, embarking as an ordinary passenger, and representing himself to be on a pleasure trip to Kelly's Island, in Lake Erie, within the jurisdiction of the State of Ohio.

After eight hours, he and his associates, arming themselves with revolvers and hand-axes, brought surreptitiously on board, rose on the crew, took possession of the steamer, threw overboard part of the freight, and robbed the clerk of the money in his charge, putting all on board under duress. Later in the evening he and his party took possession of another unarmed steamer (the Island Queen), scuttled her, and sent her adrift on the lake. These transactions occurred within the jurisdiction of the State of Ohio, on the 19th day of September, 1864.

On the 16th day of December, 1865 [sic], the accused was arrested near the Suspension Bridge, over the Niagara River, within the State of New York. The testimony shows that he and two officers of the insurgent States, Colonel Martin and Lieutenant Headley, with two other confederates, had made an unsuccessful attempt, under the direction of the first-named officer, to throw the passenger train coming from the West to Buffalo off the railroad track, for the purpose of robbing the express company. It is further shown that this was the third attempt in which the accused was concerned to accomplish the same object; that between two of these attempts the party, including the accused, went to Canada and returned, and that they were on their way back to Canada when he was arrested. In these transactions, as in that on Lake Erie, the accused, though holding a commission from the insurgent authorities at Richmond, was in disguise, procuring information, with the intention of using it, as he subsequently did, to inflict injury upon unarmed citizens of the United States and their private property. The substance of the charges against the accused is, that he was acting as a spy, and carrying on irregular or guerrilla warfare against the United States; in other words, he was acting in the two-fold character of a spy and a guerrillero. He was found guilty on both charges, and sentenced to death; and the Major General commanding fully concurs in the judgment of the Commission. In all the transactions with which he was implicated - in one as a chief, and in the others as a subordinate agent - he was not only acting the part of a spy, in procuring information to be used for hostile purposes, but he was also committing acts condemned by the common judgment and the common conscience of all civilized States, except when done in open warfare by avowed enemies. Throughout these transactions, he was not only in disguise, but personating a false character. It is not at all essential to the purpose of sustaining the finding of the Commission, and yet it is not inappropriate to state, as an indication of the animus of the accused and his confederates, that the attempts to throw the railroad train off the track were made at night, when the obstruction would be less likely than in the daytime to be noticed by the engineer or conductor, thus putting in peril the lives of hundred of men, women, and children. In these attempts three officers holding commissions in the military service of the insurgent States were concerned. The accused is shown by the testimony to be a man of education and refinement, and it is difficult to account for his agency in transactions so abhorrent to the moral sense, and so inconsistent with all the rules of honourable warfare.

The accused, in justification of the transaction on Lake Erie, produced the manifesto of Jefferson Davis, assuming the responsibility of the act, and declaring that it was done by his authority. It is hardly necessary to say that no such assumption can sanction an act not warranted by the laws of civilized warfare. If Mr. Davis were at the head of an independent government, recognized as such by other nations, he would have no power to sanction what the usages of civilized states have condemned. The Government of the United States, from a desire to mitigate the asperities of war, has given to the insurgents of the South the benefit of the rules which govern sovereign States in the conduct of hostilities with each other; and any violation of those rules should, for the sake of good order here, and the cause of humanity throughout the world, be visited with the severest penalty. War, under its mildest aspects, is the heaviest calamity that can befall our race; and he who, in a spirit of revenge, or with lawless violence, transcends the limits to which it is restricted by the common behest of all Christian communities, should receive the punishment which the common voice has declared to be due to the crime. The Major General commanding feels that a want of firmness and inflexibility, on his part, in executing the sentence of death in such a case, would be an offence against the outraged civilization and humanity of the age.

It is hereby ordered that the accused JOHN Y. BEALL, be hanged by the neck till he is dead, on Governor's Island, on Saturday, the 18th day of February, inst., between the hours of 12 and 2 in the afternoon.

The commanding officer at Fort Columbus is charged with the execution of this order.

By command of Major Gen. Dix.
D. T. VAN BUREN, Col. A. A. G.

On the 17th February the execution of the sentence against Beall was suspended by the following order, viz.:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,
NEW YORK CITY, Feb. 7th, 1865.

Commanding Officer Fort Columbus,
New York Harbour.

You will suspend the execution of the sentence of John Y. Beall until further orders.

By command of Major General Dix.
(Signed) D. T. VAN BUREN,
Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General.

. . .

FORT COLUMBUS, Feb. 21st, 1865.
Col. J. THOMPSON,
Confed. Com'r.,

SIR, - Perhaps I should have written to you sooner, but I knew that you were not inappreciative of my situation, and I hope that you did not slacken your efforts on account of the reprieve of six days. You may not succeed in your efforts, but I do expect you to vindicate my character. I have been styled a pirate, robber, etc. When the U. S. authorities, after such a "trial," shall execute such a sentence, I do earnestly call on you to officially vindicate me at least to my countrymen. With unabated loyalty to our cause of self-government, and my country, and an earnest prayer for our success as a nation, and kindest feelings for yourself,

I remain, truly, your friend,
JOHN YATES BEALL.

Col. THOMPSON,
Toronto, C. W.

(True Copy.) WRIGHT RIVES,
Capt. U. S. A.

FORT COLUMBUS, Feb. 21st, 1865.

Col. R. OULD, Com'r Exchange,
Richmond, Va.

SIR, - The published proceedings of Military Commission, in my case, published in the New York papers of the 15th inst., made you and my Government aware of my sentence and doom.

A reprieve, on account of some informality, from the 18th to the 24th was granted. The authorities are possessed of the facts in my case. They know that I acted under orders. I appeal to my Government to use its utmost efforts to protect me; and, if unable to prevent my murder, to vindicate my reputation.

I can only declare that I was no "spy" or guerillero, and am a true Confederate.

Respectfully, JOHN Y. BEALL.
Act. Mas. C. S. N.

(True Copy.) WRIGHT RIVES,
Capt. U. S. A.

Civil War