All persons assembled at this place in connection with, and in aid of the Fenian organization for the purpose of invading Canada, are hereby ordered, in compliance with the President's proclamation, to desist from their enterprise and disband. The men of the expeditionary force will, on application to the officer in command of the United States forces, on giving their names and residences, and satisfying him that they are unable to provide their own transportation, be provided with transportation to their homes; and all officers below the rank of field officers who are unable to provide their own transportation, on giving their parole to abandon the enterprise, will be allowed to return to their homes; officers above the rank of field officers will be required to give such bonds as may be satisfactory to the civil authorities; it being the determination of the United States Government to preserve neutrality, and the most stringent measures having been taken to prevent all accessions of men and material, the Commanding General trusts that these liberal offers will have the effect of causing the expedition, now hopeless, to be quietly and peaceably abandoned; and he confidently expects that all those who have any respect for the authority of the United States will conform to the requirements of the President's proclamation; and of this, which if not promptly obeyed, a sufficient force will be brought to bear to compel obedience.
(Signed) GEORGE G. MEADE, Major-General, U.S.A.
In compliance with this order, the majority of the men immediately gave their paroles, and for the next day or two trains were filled with the discomfitted warriors returning to their homes. All thoughts of the capture of Canada had vanished, and peace reigned once more on the border line.
The day previous, while Gen. Sweeny and Col. Meehan were actively engaged in mobilizing troops and directing operations on the Vermont frontier, warrants were served upon them by the United States authorities for violation of the Neutrality Act. They were arraigned before the United States Commissioner at Burlington, Vt., when they waived examination, and bail was fixed for Sweeny at $20,000 and Meehan at $5,000, to appear for trial at the July term of the United States District Court. Meanwhile other prominent leaders were being arrested at other points. With the President, the Secretary of War, and other members of the Irish Republican Cabinet under arrest, and many others of lesser note being "wanted" by American officers for infractions of the law, the hopes of the invaders sank below zero, and their warlike zeal vanished away.
FENIANISM IN CONGRESS.
As nearly all of the prominent Fenian leaders had been placed under arrest for transgression of United States laws, and quite a number of their deluded followers who were captured in Canada were confined in Canadian prisons awaiting trial, the seriousness of their offences began to dawn upon the minds of those implicated in the movement. The good offices of the United States Government were then eagerly sought by their friends and supporters to get them out of the meshes of the net, and earnest appeals were made to the State Department for some action along these lines. Every possible pressure was brought to bear on Congress and the United States Senate to secure the influence of those two important legislative bodies in taking up the Fenian cause. But it was a delicate question to handle, and although there were some Congressmen who introduced the matter into the House of Representatives, and made fiery speeches in support of their resolutions, the majority failed to concur, as they rightly conjectured that if the United States gave the Fenians the recognition and liberty of action they desired, it might end in embroiling them in war with Great Britain, for which they were not prepared.
On June 11th, 1866, Congressman Ancona, of Pennsylvania, offered the following preamble and resolution in the United States Congress:
Whereas, the Irish people and their brothers and friends in this country are moved by a patriotic purpose to assist the independence and re-establish the nationality of Ireland, and whereas the active sympathies of the people of the United States are naturally with all men who struggle to achieve such ends, more especially, when those engaged therein are the known friends of our Government, as are the people of the Irish race, they having shed their blood in defence of our flag in every battle of every war in which the Republic has been engaged; and whereas the British Government against which they are struggling is entitled to no other or greater consideration from us, a nation, than that demanded by the strict letter of international law, for the reason that during our late Civil War that Government did in effect, by its conduct repeal its neutrality laws; and whereas when reparation is demanded for damages to our commerce, resulting from the wilful neglect of Great Britain to enforce the same, she arrogantly denies all responsibility, and claims to be the judge in her own cause; and whereas the existence of the neutrality law of 1818 compels the executive department of this Government to discriminate most harshly against those who have ever been, and are now, our friends, in favor of those who have been faithless, not only to the general principles of comity which should exist between friendly States, but also to the written law of their own nation on this subject; therefore, be it resolved, that the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to report a bill repealing an Act approved April 20th, 1818, it being the neutrality law, under the terms of which the President's proclamation against the Fenians was issued.
It is needless to say that the good sense of Congress prevailed, and the resolution was consigned to the morgue which is the receptacle for all undesirable resolutions.