The Boys of '61 Part 66

"It is satisfactory to find that the friends of the President of the Confederate States are anxious to free him from the charge of having been an advocate of the repudiation which has now been practised for exactly a quarter of a century by the State of Mississippi....

"Should it turn out that there has been a mistake, the announcement will be hailed with warm gratification,-not from any idle feeling of partisanship for the South, on the one hand, or the merely sordid consideration of the prospects of the bondholders on the other, but because there can be no question, whether his course be judged by Northerners or Southerners, that in his conduct of the existing war Mr. Jefferson Davis has displayed such qualities as to give the world an interest in wishing that the dishonorable cla.s.ses who are to be found in every nation should not, either now or in the future, be able to point to him as an instance of the possibility of a heartless disregard of pecuniary rights being compatible with real greatness of character. It is to be apprehended, however, that the solution will not come in the manner contemplated. Nevertheless, in another way it is not out of reach, and the best probability is that the unhappy blot upon Mr. Davis's reputation was caused by the influence of an unscrupulous community upon a then young and aspiring politician, deriving his views, perhaps, from the sophistical perversions of fraudulent lawyers, and that he has since discovered his mistake, and learnt to feel and acknowledge that if he had again to act in the matter, it would be in a very different spirit."[106]

It was necessary, for the success of the loan, to show that the South was sure of obtaining its independence, and while the editor of the city article was whitewashing Jeff Davis, the editor in chief was a.s.suring the public that the Union was forever broken up.

Thus wrote Mr. Delaine, the editor in chief, on the 19th:-

"So far as it is concerned, the once United States are a mere heap of loose materials, a caldron of molten stuff, ready to receive whatever form fortune may determine. In that vast melee are two centres, which severally strive to give law and order to the whole. At Washington a body of men, not without courage, ability, and enterprise, are laboring, not to restore the Union,-they might as well try to restore the Heptarchy,-but to reconquer what has been lost, and, let the worst come to worst, to establish a military power."

On the 27th another leader was given to American affairs. Said the editor:-

"As to the final issue of the war, all the world, except some politicians, soldiers, and contractors at Washington and New York, have made up their minds, ... excepting a few disappointed gentlemen of Republican tendencies, we all expect, we nearly all wish, success to the Confederate cause."

And again, on the 28th:-

"There was room enough for two states on one continent, could the Americans but have believed it. We do not affect to be surprised at the course they have taken. It was natural that a blow should be struck for the Union; but all Europe has long seen that the Union could never be restored."

That men act from motives is a fundamental truth of moral philosophy. Why the Times gave such earnest advocacy to the slaveholders may be inferred from what follows. Opening now the correspondence of D'Erlanger with the Rebel Secretary of the Treasury, we read, under date of June 6, 1863:-

"A great margin had to be given to interest the newspapers, pay commissions, and captivate the opinions of those who treated the loan and its support as a question of profit and loss."

And further on, in the same letter:-

"Thanks to great pecuniary sacrifices made, AND THE SUPPORT OF ALL THE NEWSPAPERS, the subscriptions for the loan surpa.s.sed our own expectations. It reached five times the amount of the loan, and success made everybody friends."

At a later date, J. Henry Schroeder & Co., in a note marked "private," writes to D'Erlanger:-

"For the advertis.e.m.e.nts in the Times, through Mr. Sampson, and later on in the Index, concerning the payment of the coupons, we shall do the needful."

Thus we learn, from the statement of D'Erlanger, that the Times, upon which John Bull pins his faith, was not only by sympathy, but through interest, the advocate of the loan and of the slave-lords' Confederacy. Its financial articles and its leaders were written to the order of D'Erlanger. By the aid of the Times, a Parisian Jew, taking advantage of the sympathy expressed for the South by lords, members of Parliament, bankers, business men, and adventurers, and of the general gullibility of the British public, was able to secure a subscription of forty-five million dollars,-or thirty million in excess of the loan! On page 532 we have seen that the Liverpool correspondent of the Times had been quieted by a commission of 6,500 ($30,000), not for services rendered, but to secure his interest, as explained in D'Erlanger's letter to Memminger, written on the 8th of July, 1863. The banker says:-

"When our loan contract was coming back from America, this gentleman [Mr. Spence] wanted to interfere in the matter, by all means, and claimed a partnership to the contract of one sixth, under the pretence that he was the financial agent of the Confederate government in England, and that our making the loan had put him out of business which he might otherwise have transacted for the South. We knew that Mr. Spence wrote frequently for the Times, that as a public writer he could do a great deal of harm if not any good. We succeeded in escaping his intrusion, and when I had made arrangements to bring out the loan in England, I followed his invitation to arrange matters with him in Liverpool, and went down there myself. I gave him 50,000 of the loan at seventy-seven, taking them back at ninety, which gave him a commission as profit of 6,500."

These extracts from D'Erlanger's correspondence will serve to show the American people that the London Times was in the service and pay of Jeff Davis during the Rebellion.

On the evening of the 23d Lord Campbell called up the American question in Parliament, making a speech in favor of recognizing the Confederacy. He spoke of the remarkable success of the loan as a proof that the English public were ready to aid the South. The loan being thus bolstered up rose to four and a half per cent premium.

Mr. McRae having arrived in France, there was a meeting of distinguished Rebels in Paris on the 4th of June, at D'Erlanger's banking-house. Mason, Slidell, and L. J. C. Lamar, who had been purchasing supplies in London for the Confederacy,-and McRae were present. The object of the meeting was to consider the financial condition of the Confederate government in Europe. The indebtedness of the Confederacy abroad, for cannon, arms, ships, and supplies, at that time, was put down at 1,741,000 ($8,705,000). "At the same time," reads the correspondence, "Ermile d'Erlanger & Co. furnished the meeting with a full statement concerning the loan. According to which, 1,850,000 ($9,250,000) of the loan is in circulation; a part of which is full paid, having been subscribed for by the creditors of the government."

The balance of 1,150,000 was in the hands of D'Erlanger for disposal. In a letter written two days later, on the 6th, by D'Erlanger to Memminger, we learn how there happened to be so large an amount of the stock on hand. Unfavorable news from America caused a feeling of uneasiness, and speculative holders began to sell at depreciated rates.

"An arrangement," says D'Erlanger, "was thereupon entered into with Mr. Mason, and heartily approved by Mr. Slidell, which enabled us to buy for the government 1,000,000 of the stock; but so eager was the speculation, that this did not suffice, and the sum had to be extended to 1,500,000. This operation had its effect, and better tidings helped the market."

Upon this amount purchased by D'Erlanger to sustain the price of the loan, 35 per cent had been paid in by the subscribers.

"We would not," writes the banker, "have recommended the course of buying back part of the loan for the government, but for its peculiar character. The first Confederate loan was as much a political as a commercial transaction, and we have done everything that it may be regarded in both ways.... We, as well as our friends Messrs. Schroeder, are happy to have been able to lend our names and credit to the first financial operation of the South."

On the 13th of June McRae wrote to D'Erlanger a sharp letter, charging him with "unauthorized proceedings." D'Erlanger was playing a good game for himself.

"These important modifications of the contract," wrote McRae, "have in every case inured to the benefit of the contractors."

D'Erlanger replied on the same day, saying, "The operation [the repurchase of the stock] was not conducted on any selfish ground, but for the political feeling attached to the loan." It made no difference to D'Erlanger whether he bought or sold on government account, so long as he received his commissions. He objected, however, to receiving the full amount of his commission in bonds; he must have part cash.

"We should," wrote he, "be under too heavy an outlay if we had to take the 150,000 commission in bonds." This commission, therefore, up to the 15th of June, 1863, had reached the nice little sum of $750,000!

D'Erlanger having disposed of the stock to good advantage, was anxious to bring out a second loan on the same terms. In a letter written to Memminger on the 8th of July we discover what those terms were.

"We are ready," said he, "to make a new loan contract, taking exactly the terms of the old contract, and engaging to divide with the government the profits to be realized, between the rate of 77 and the issue price."

The loan then on the market was issued at 90, which gave D'Erlanger a commission of 6-1/2 per cent,-a portion of which doubtless went into the pocket of Slidell. D'Erlanger was fearful that the success of the loan would bring proposals from other banking-houses. "We wish," said he, "that the circ.u.mstance of our names being the first connected with a large financial transaction for the government in Europe shall tell in our favor, and that a preference shall be granted to us, which we are quite ready to merit, by making better terms to the government than any other respectable house may offer."

This proposition was indorsed by McRae, who the following week accompanied D'Erlanger to Rippaldson, where "a charming company" had gathered, and "an agreeable week was pa.s.sed in the society of Madame Caroline and Miss Theresa." McRae, in a letter written on the 17th, urges a new loan, but the news from Gettysburg and Vicksburg had "lessened the appet.i.te," and we hear no more of the proposition for a second loan.

At a later date, in December, the correspondence is in regard to the purchase of boats for the government, in which the Paris banker takes the part of Shylock:-

"Well then, it now appears you need my help: Go to then; you come to me, and you say, Shylock, we would have moneys."

McRae wanted 200,000 on government account, and applied to D'Erlanger, whose terms will be seen from the following extract from McRae's letter:-

"Your proposition amounts to this: That the government should pay 100 per cent for the use of 200,000, for probably less than six months, with no risk on the part of the lenders, as the 650,000 of bonds deposited, and the lien on the boats purchased with the sum lent, would protect them against loss in any event. My proposition was to pay 33-1/3 for 200,000, for a period of probably ten or twelve months. This I considered sufficiently favorable for the lenders, as they would have been secured by the deposit of 333,333 of bonds, and a lien on the boats."

The American people, doubtless, care very little who among Rebel agents and manipulators of the loan, or who of the bondholders, made or lost money, and I pa.s.s over the details of the interesting correspondence. That D'Erlanger managed it shrewdly for his own benefit is very evident. He charged interest, commission, and exchange on all the stock pa.s.sing through his hands. In the transaction 140,000, raised from the sale of bonds, was set aside as "caution money" by Mason and Slidell, who wished, for political considerations, to keep the stock at par. D'Erlanger charged commission on the repurchase of this stock, although he held it in his own name, and received interest on the same! McRae was not then in Europe, but upon arriving he refused to ratify the act of Mason and Slidell, but made a proposition to D'Erlanger that the banker should place 704,000 of unsold stock. It is not stated what commission he was to receive. The agreement was verbal, and D'Erlanger was to forfeit 140,000 if the stock was not placed at the end of six months. The months rolled away, and the stock was not placed, and D'Erlanger, instead of paying his forfeiture, held on to the 140,000 of caution money, and helped himself to the interest from government funds in his hands! McRae had no redress except to appeal to Memminger. D'Erlanger wrote a honeyed letter to the Rebel Secretary of Treasury, and offered to "compromise" by giving up one half! McRae finally accepted terms from D'Erlanger; what they were is not stated, but McRae writes a doleful letter to the banker, saying that he is afraid Memminger and Davis will censure him. D'Erlanger seems to have wound McRae round his finger at will.

Schroeder & Co. were in the "ring" with D'Erlanger, and received commission and brokerage on the entire amount of the loan, 3,000,000. D'Erlanger, Schroeder, and McRae each took 50,000 of stock in the "Franco-English Steam Navigation Company," which was to bring out cotton on government account. D'Erlanger fixed the date of issuing the bonds, and thus brought advantage to himself. Among the payments made through Mr. Mason were 55,000 to Captain Crenshaw, 26,000 to Captain North, 38,000 to Captain Maury, 31,000 to Captain Bullock and Mr. Spence. A portion of these sums went into the hands of the Lairds for the rams which they were building. Isaac Campbell & Co. received 515,000 ($2,575,000). This firm took 150,000 of the loan. Bonds to the amount of 117,000 were converted into cotton. It appears that D'Erlanger endeavored to sweep these into his drag-net, and obtain commission and brokerage wholly unauthorized.

Since the close of the war the British holders of the loan have called upon D'Erlanger for an account of his operations, but can obtain no satisfaction. They have despatched an agent to the United States, appealing to the magnanimity of the Federal government for an adjustment and payment of their claims! Such insolent audacity has been promptly rebuked by Mr. Seward. Marvellous their stupidity and effrontery,-to ask pay for the coals on which they sought to roast us, for the rope that was to strangle the young giant of the West, whose growth they had beheld with alarm, and whose power they feared! As is evident from the correspondence in my possession, the whole scheme was well contrived and manipulated by Slidell and D'Erlanger for the benefit of themselves, and also of Campbell & Co., Schroeder & Co., Spence, the Lairds, and McRae, who, by the aid of the London Times, and "all the papers," were able to fleece the English aristocracy out of fifteen million dollars.

From mercenary motives they enlisted in the cause of slavery to destroy a friendly republican government. They had persistently a.s.serted that a const.i.tutional democracy like ours must ultimately fail to secure the rights and liberties of the people,-that internal war would crumble it into ruins like the ancient republics; and now they thought the fulfilment of their prophecy so near at hand it was unnecessary longer to disguise their hatred, and openly gave their "aid and comfort" to the enemy, jeering at our efforts and denouncing our measures to maintain our existence among the nations. They ventured their money on the doubtful issue and lost, and now so lugubriously bewail their folly as to make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of the world, and the laughing-stock of the American people.

Patriot orphan home, flushing, L. I.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

SURRENDER OF LEE.

April, 1865.

At three o'clock Monday morning, April 3d, Wilc.o.x's division of the Ninth Corps entered Petersburg just in season to see the rear guard of Lee's army disappear over the hills on the north bank of the Appomattox, having burned the bridges and destroyed all the supplies which could not be transported. Lee's army was divided,-Longstreet, Pickett, and Johnson being south of the stream, fifteen miles west of the city. Gordon, Mahone, Ewell, and Elzy, with the immense trains of supplies and batteries from Richmond, were north of the river,-all moving southwest, towards Danville, with the intention of joining Johnston in North Carolina.

"Good by, boys," said the women of Petersburg, some sorrowfully; others more joyful cried, "We'll drink pure coffee, with sugar in it, to-morrow. No more hard times."[107] They were weary of war. The troops pa.s.sed through the town in silence and dejection. It was a sorrowful march. The successive disasters of Sunday, the sudden breaking up, the destruction of property, the scenes of the night, soon had their effect upon the spirits of the army. Soldiers slipped from the ranks, disappeared in the woods, and threw away their muskets, sick at heart, and disgusted with war. Virginia soldiers had little inclination to abandon the Old Dominion and fight in North Carolina. They were State-rights men,-each State for itself. If Secession could cut loose from the Union, why not from the Confederacy?

Before noon the troops moving from Petersburg, and those retreating from Richmond, with all the baggage-trains and flying citizens, came together on the Chesterfield road, producing confusion and delay. Had Lee thrown his supply trains upon the Lynchburg road, and made a day's march farther west with his army, instead of taking the nearest road to Danville, he probably would have escaped; but his progress was very slow. The roads were soft, the wagons overloaded. The stalling of a single horse in the advance delayed the whole army.

The teamsters were quite as unwilling to go south as the soldiers. They were expecting every moment to hear the ringing shouts of Sheridan's men charging upon their flank or rear. There were frequent panics, which set them into a fever of excitement, and added to the confusion.

Grant determined to prevent Lee's escape if possible. The Ninth Corps was detailed to hold the town, guard the railroad, reconstruct it, and follow the other corps as a reserve. The Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, instead of crossing the river were sent upon the double-quick along the road which runs between the Appomattox and the South Side Railroad.

Ord, with the divisions of the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Corps, marched for Burkesville Junction. Sheridan, being in advance with the cavalry, reached Jettersville, on the Richmond and Danville road, forty-four miles from Richmond, on the 4th, tore up the track, intrenched his position, and waited for the infantry. Meade joined him on the morning of the 5th, while Ord, by a forced march, reached Burkesville, south of Sheridan.