The proclamation of martial law and suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in September, 1862, had the effect of restraining the open, active efforts of these secret disloyal organizations to cripple the resources at Mr. Lincoln's command for suppressing the rebellion, inasmuch as any such efforts were met by arrest, military trial, and imprisonment; yet, inasmuch as they created a necessity for a military police at all important points in the North, they felt that they were still rendering valuable service to the rebellion by thus weakening the force at the front; and whilst it was necessary to conduct their operations with much more secrecy, their organizations were not disbanded. They went on to effect a complete military organization, thoroughly officered and drilled, and in many cases armed, holding themselves ready to take the field in any emergency that might arise that would justify so bold a measure. The Canada Cabinet watched over these organizations with great interest, and directed their operations, and by many schemes sought to bring about an emergency that would enable them to bring this army, which they had hidden away in secrecy, into the field of active operations for the success of their cause. The officers of these secret military organizations were chosen from the local political leaders in the different localities where they existed, and kept themselves in communication with the Canada Cabinet, and through this medium the Confederate Government was kept informed of their strength, organization, plans, and purposes. So bold and active did they become, in spite of the efforts of the military police for their suppression, that the government finally found it necessary, through its secret service department, to possess itself of a thorough knowledge of these organizations, and in this way was enabled to capture the arms and munitions of war which had been secured and were hidden away in secrecy by them, and also to arrest the leading officers of these organizations in several states. Whilst by these means these treasonable combinations were seriously crippled, they were unchanged in animus and still struggled to maintain their existence. They kept themselves in communication with the Canada conspirators, and ready to co-operate with them for the success of their schemes should the conditions become sufficiently promising to justify them in declaring themselves openly.
It was in the summer of 1864 that Jacob Thompson, according to the testimony before the Commission, declared that he had his friends all over the Northern States, who were willing to go to any length in order to serve the cause of the South. Jefferson Davis's Canada Cabinet kept up a constant correspondence with their chief, through secret agents who travelled directly through the states, and even through the city of Washington.
So potent was the aid of secret signs, grips, pass-words, etc., as a means of recognition, and so universally were the members of these secret orders diffused over the country, that they could go anywhere. Should one agent find it necessary to stop his task for fear of detection, another would take it up; and where men could not go, women went, to carry communications. The Canada Cabinet was well supplied with money by the government at Richmond, and in this department of the service Jacob Thompson seems to have been Secretary of the Treasury. He kept his deposits largely in the Ontario Bank of Montreal, and his credits there arose from Southern bills of exchange on London. The object of the writer in this introductory chapter has been to place clearly before his readers the formidable character of the conspiracy, which, with the President of the Confederacy at its head, and organized by his Canada Cabinet, was intended to throw the loyal North into a state of chaotic confusion and bring to the aid of their sinking cause the disloyal element all over the North, by a series of assassinations which would leave the nation without a civil and military head and without any constitutional way of electing another President, and at the same time would deprive the armies of the United States of a lawful commander. This was the last card of the political leaders of the rebellion, the last desperate resort to retrieve a cause that had been manifestly lost in open warfare. It may seem like temerity in the writer to make such a charge involving a total disregard of the laws of civilized warfare, and such utter moral depravity on the part of these conspirators, and to claim for their wicked project the approval of Jefferson Davis, but the evidence in the possession of the government and adduced before the Commission, it will be seen, fully justified the government in making this charge. The persons brought before the Commission, though in full sympathy in sentiment with their employers, were merely the tools and hired assassins of the Canada Cabinet, acting under the advice and sanction of their chief. I shall now proceed to bring before my readers the denouement of their plot, and, from the evidence given before the Commission, show that the origin, scope and purpose of the conspiracy have been truly indicated above.
[CHAPTER II.]
PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE PLOT.
The evidence which will be hereafter referred to shows that John Wilkes Booth and John H. Surratt had, as early as the latter part of October, or early in November, 1864, entered into a contract with Davis's Canada Cabinet to accomplish the assassinations they had planned, and that they immediately entered upon their work of preparation. It would seem from the evidence, that at that time the purpose was to execute their designs at a much earlier date than they did; and that this delay was occasioned by the Canada conspirators.
J. WILKES BOOTH.
Surratt and Booth, however, were busied from that time on in making their preparations. The first step was to enlist in the conspiracy a sufficient number of competent and reliable assistants, to each one of whom was assigned the part he was to take in it, and to train, equip, and prepare him for the part assigned him. The assassination of President Lincoln had fallen to Payne by lot; and to him was entrusted the task of making all needed preparations. Payne had visited Canada during the fall of 1864, and probably there made the acquaintance of Booth. To a man of Booth's sagacity, a mere glance at Payne would be sufficient to impress him with the idea that he was one of the helpers he wanted; and as we find him as early as February, 1865, transplanted to Washington City by Booth and Surratt, and from that time on associating with them very intimately but very secretly, and without employment, or visible means, passing back and forth between Washington and Baltimore, and finally provided with quarters in Washington by Surratt, there can be no doubt that he was early enlisted in the conspiracy, and supported by the Canada Cabinet through their agents in Washington—Booth and Surratt. The author is led to conclude from studying the evidence that Booth and Surratt were acting under a considerable latitude of provisional instructions, and that to them was entrusted the selection of the time and place for the accomplishment of their purpose. There were a number of persons in Canada, members of the conspiracy, who were expected to take an active part in its execution; and it is altogether probable that the original plan contemplated the accomplishment of these assassinations as opportunities could be found or made, and that for each one a man had been assigned.