Secrets of the Late Rebellion, Now Revealed for the First Time

by Jacob R. Freese

HARDLY had the Provost-Court at Alexandria been organized before reporters for Northern journals began to call upon the General and upon the Judge for details of its doings, and soon thereafter reports, to a slight extent, of its operations began to appear in some journals under the caption of Judge Freese's "Bayonet Court"—the same as placed at the head of this chapter. One illustrated paper of New York city had a full-page cut, representing the Judge upon the bench in military uniform, with his clerk sitting at his right, and his sword laying upon the desk at his left, with guards standing at attention, each with musket and fixed bayonet; with a score or more of prisoners in the dock, all with woebegone faces; with the Provost-Marshal, in full uniform, standing in front of the Judge, awaiting his orders; with lookers-on all about; and with all the other paraphernalia of a crowded city court-room.

It was not for show, by any means, that the Judge rode to the court in uniform, with loaded revolvers in his holsters; nor was it for show that he sat upon the bench in uniform, and had guards about him with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. Almost from the day that the court commenced its sittings, the secessionists who remained in Alexandria began to sneer at the court, and some even went so far as to threaten the Judge with assassination.

These facts were communicated to the Judge by friends, and through secret detectives, whom the Provost-Marshal had employed to watch every movement in the city. It was, therefore, literally true that the Judge "carried his life in his hand" every moment, and was liable to assault and attempted assassination every time he rode to the court-room, every time he took his seat upon the bench, every time he walked the streets. But a still greater reason for this display of power, and of constant readiness to meet every emergency, was, that the inhabitants of the city might be impressed with the power of the court, and the source from which it derived that power—namely, the military. Without such impression of power among the citizens, the orders of the court would not have been respected and obeyed, and twice, if not four times, the number of guards would have been needed to enforce its orders and maintain quiet in the city. To relate a few of the cases which came before the court, under this particular head, will better illustrate the facts above stated than any amount of theorizing.

One day, the General informed the Judge that, as he was passing along King Street, two females, dressed as ladies, overtook and passed him, and, as they passed, they gathered up their skirts and held them from him, and made other signs of derision and contempt, as though he, the General, was the vilest of all vile creatures. After they had passed, he inquired of a citizen and learned that they were the wives of two noted secessionists, who still remained in the city.

About the same time several officers, and quite a number of the guards, told the Judge that, while the men of the city treated them with entire respect, the women and the children of secession citizens insulted them almost daily—the women by various acts of contempt, and the children by calling them vile names and throwing stones at them. They had borne, they said, these things a long time without seeming to notice them, and without complaint; but the longer and more they forbore, the oftener and viler became the insults, and they could stand it no longer without making complaint to the court.

The Judge thereupon announced in open court, that from thenceforth any woman, or any child, who offered an insult, or threw a stone or other missile at any officer or soldier upon the public streets, should be promptly arrested and inquired of as to who was their husband, father, brother, or other near male relative. That, if the guard making the arrest was not entirely satisfied as to the truthfulness of the answers made, the woman or child should be at once brought to the office of the Provost-Marshal or of the Judge, for such further questioning and disposition as either might deem proper in the case. That, upon ascertaining, without doubt, the name and whereabouts of the husband, father, or brother, the woman or child should be dismissed, and the husband, father, or brother of the one offending should be immediately arrested, locked up in jail until next day, and then brought before the court for trial and sentence. Or, if the woman arrested proved to be a courtesan, or, if the child had no father or adult brother who could answer for him or her, then the woman herself, or the child, should be locked up in jail until the next day, and then brought before the court for trial and sentence.

Within twenty-four hours after this order was promulgated from the bench, it was known to every man, woman, and half-grown child of the city. Of course, there were deep mutterings, some cursing, and not a few threats, especially against Judge Freese, but the effect was wonderful and immediate. So wholesome a dread did it produce on the minds of those who had been offering such insults, daily, and almost every hour of the day, that there was only one instance in which the order had to be executed. That was the case of a child, who called vile names and threw stones at one of the guards, while at his post. The child was promptly arrested, the name of his father ascertained, the child dismissed, and the father at once arrested and locked up until next day. When brought before the court, the father proved one of the most pronounced secessionists of the city, and, instead of apologizing for the rude acts of his son, rather approved of what he had done. The Judge tried to reason with him as to the impropriety of such conduct towards any one, and especially towards a guard, whose duty and business it was to protect the lives and property of secessionists no less than of Unionists. But the longer the Judge reasoned, the more obstinate the defendant became, until finally the Judge said he would have to make a slight example in his case, and thereupon sentenced him to ten days in the county jail—promising that the next person arrested for a like offence should receive a sentence doubly, if not quadruply, as great. The news of the arrest and sentence was speedily known in every house of the city, and from thenceforth no other arrest was necessary for a like offence. The recognized power of the court had done the work, with but one arrest and punishment as an example. But for this recognized power, at least a hundred arrests would have been needed before the evil could have been abated.

Another instance of the recognition of the power of the court was as follows: One of the Episcopal ministers of the city was known to be in the habit of omitting the prayer for the President of the United States, found in the morning service of the Episcopal prayer-book. The fact was told to the Provost-judge, and he was asked by some over-zealous Unionists to send a note to the minister, requiring him to use the prayer, or be subject to arrest in case he refused. The Judge declined to do any such thing—telling his informants, that whether the minister used that prayer or not was purely a matter of conscience, and that it was no part of his business, or the business of his court, to interfere in matters of conscience; that he fully agreed with Roger Williams in the opinion, that the civil or military authorities of a town, city, or state, "have no more right to command over the souls and consciences of their subjects than the master of a ship has over those of his passengers or the sailors under him, although he may justly see to the labor of the one, and the civil behavior of all in the ship;" that so long as the Episcopal minister, and those who attended his church, deported themselves as quiet citizens, attending to their own affairs and not interfering with the affairs of others, no matter what might be their sentiments on religious or political affairs, they were entitled to protection in their persons and property, and should have it.

Those who reported the minister and desired his arrest were not at all pleased with Judge Freese's reply, and tried hard to get up some feeling against him among the Union men of the city; but utterly failed in the attempt. The Judge's Union sentiments were too well known, and had been too often tested, to allow any one who knew him to doubt him for a moment. Failing to make any impression against the Judge among the Union men of the city, these over-zealous busybodies next tried their hands among the officers of troops which lay about the city. It chanced, just at that time, that a regiment of Illinois cavalry was encamped on the outskirts of the city, whose officers were known to be among the most violent abolitionists of the country; men who believed, or pretended to believe, that no man who lived in a slave State had any rights which a Union man was bound to respect—not even the right of conscience. To these officers these busybodies told the story about the Episcopal minister omitting the prayer for the President in the morning service of the prayer-book; and also of their having told the whole thing to Judge Freese, and of his refusing to issue an order to the minister to use the prayer or be subject to arrest.

One of their listeners, the Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, became so interested in their story as to volunteer at once to bring the recusant minister to speedy justice; nor did he care "a snap of his finger for Judge Freese, or for any other judge." Several other officers of the regiment volunteered to join him, and the plan agreed upon was that, on the following Sabbath, they would all attend the Episcopal service, and when the Rev. Doctor came to the part where the prayer for the President occurs, in the "morning service," if he failed to read it, the Lieutenant-Colonel would arise in his seat and demand that it be read, and if the minister refused, then to arrest him, and take him to the general headquarters. According to appointment, the Lieutenant-Colonel and his friends were at the church on the following Sabbath morning. The congregation was not large, but those present seemed to be unusually devout. The sexton had given the Lieutenant-Colonel and his friends seats in about the centre of the church. The service was opened in the usual form. The "general confession" had been repeated, all kneeling; the "declaration of absolution" had been pronounced; the Lord's prayer said in a clear but subdued voice; the "Venite Exultemus Domino" had been sung by the choir; the portion of the Psalms appointed for the day read; the "Te Deum Laudamus" sung; the lesson from the New Testament, according to the calendar, read; the Apostles' Creed repeated; and the prayers were being read, when, all of a sudden, a stentorian voice was heard, saying, "I demand, sir, that you read the prayer for the President of the United States." Had a cannon-ball burst through the walls of the church and fallen upon the floor just at that instant, greater surprise would not have been created. For a moment the minister stopped in his prayers. Part of the congregation arose from their knees to their feet and looked wildly around. Some of the more nervous of the ladies burst into tears. Confusion worse confounded seemed to pervade the whole congregation. So soon as the minister recovered self-possession, he commenced to read the prayer "for the clergy and people," when again a voice, louder than before, sounded throughout the church, saying, "I demand, sir, that you read the prayer for the President of the United States." Again the minister stopped, and again confusion prevailed for some moments. When quiet again prevailed, the minister, without having made any answer whatever to the two former requests, commenced to read the prayer for "all conditions of men," when again the demand to read the prayer for the President was repeated in a still louder and more threatening tone. The minister then arose from his knees, and, looking towards the Lieutenant-Colonel, said, "My conscience will not allow me, at this time, to read that prayer, and the congregation who statedly worship in this church have requested that I should not read it while the war between the North and the South continues."