Uncle Daniel's Story Of "Tom" Anderson Part 13

"'I suppose there must be twenty or thirty thousand-enough for a pretty good army. If they had any bold man to lead them, they could release our prisoners here and destroy our city.'

"Seeing that the Governor exhibited some alarm, the General was afraid to tell him then how many there actually were in the State. But very soon his Adjutant-General came in, and in conversation raised the figures to some forty or fifty thousand. The Governor looked surprised, and the General thought that he might then disclose the facts as to numbers, and told the Governor that he had found out means of ascertaining, and that their claim for Indiana was 75,000. This seemed to startle him. He at once asked his Adjutant-General how many regiments there were now in camp near the city, and was informed that there were four, with a great many recruits in the camp of instruction. He made many inquiries of the General as to how he obtained his information.

Gen. Anderson told him that he had obtained it in various ways; that some of his friends had joined the organization and, not believing in it, had posted him, under the seal of confidence.

"'Do you believe them?' inquired the Governor.

"'I most certainly do,' responded the General.

"The General then gave him the names of Strider, Bowen, Bowlens, Millington, Dorsing and Byron as the leaders--Organizers, Agitators, Commanders, etc.--for the State of Indiana. The Governor was surprised at hearing some of the names, and said he had no doubt of Strider being at the bottom of it, but that he would not be caught; that when the trying time should come, if ever, he would turn up as counsel, and in that way would get out of it, and thereby seal the mouths of the criminals.

"He advised the Governor to keep a watch on some of these men, and he would soon discover them; that they had not been long enough at this thing to understand the necessary precaution. None had yet been caught and punished, and they were not looking to the serious consequences to themselves should they be exposed.

"He also asked the Governor to apprise the President of the United States of the condition of these matters in the State, but at the same time not to mention his name as the source of information. He bade the Governor good-by and left for Camp Chase, Ohio, having, while in Indianapolis, determined to return to Ohio and investigate the prisoners at Camp Chase. When he arrived there, having no authority, he could not converse with the prisoners alone; but, becoming acquainted with the Colonel commanding the Camp, and explaining in confidence who he was and his mission, he was allowed free access to the camp and to the prisoners. He soon picked out a young man from Virginia--his appearance would indicate his age to be about eighteen years. He told the General that he lived in the extreme south-western part of what is now old Virginia. His name was Ridenbergen. He said to the General that he had no cause to fight against the United States, but that he was in now and proposed to fight it out. The General having played the Southern dodge and sympathy with the rebellion in such a way as to satisfy him, and also having given the sign of the Circle, which this young Virginian seemed to well understand, there was no longer any necessity for withholding anything in reference to their condition, expectations of succor, release, etc. He told the General that John Stetson, alias Col.

Jacob Reed, of Dayburg, had been there frequently; that only a few of them recognized him; of course no one 'peached,' as they knew he was working for their benefit.

"He said our commander of the prison was not very observing; that quite a number had escaped, and nothing was known or said about it; that others answered for them, reported them sick, or gave some other excuse which was always taken; that Stetson had brought in the rituals of the Golden Circle, and that all of them who were intelligent enough to understand it, were posted, and that some of the guards belonged and were constantly making the signs to the Confederate officers inside.

He had no doubt that sooner or later they would be released. He had the same idea about how they would ultimately succeed. This idea pervaded the minds of all with whom he had spoken on the subject. Many leading men in Ohio were in accord with all that they contemplated with reference to their release and the future success of the Confederacy.

"He also said that the party in Ohio who were in sympathy with the rebellion were quite outspoken, and were under the lead of a very able and bold man. The General inquired of whom he had reference, and he said Valamburg, of Dayburg.

"'Yes,' the General responded, 'I have heard of him frequently; but is he a military man?'

"'No,' replied Ridenbergen; 'but we have them in the State in many places, from the Confederate army, just waiting the sound of the bugle. But the fears I have are as to the time. It takes so long to get everything ready--our people have to move so cautiously.'

"'Have you heard that we are organizing for raids from Canada at some future time?'

"'Oh, yes; that is understood. Many of our best and brightest men are over there, at different points, preparing for it; but that is to be done only when we must strike in Northern cities for the purpose of terrifying the Northern property-holders; we must strike then where the greatest amount of wealth is concentrated.'

"The General then said to him:

"'Mr. Ridenbergen, you are a young man. I hope to hear good things of you in the future,' and bade him good-bye.

"The General arrived at Allentown the next day. After the family greetings, kisses from his wife and little daughter, and a 'How ar' you, Marsa Tom?' from Ham and a 'Bress de good Laud, heah you is agin!' from Aunt Martha were over, the General related his trip to me in minute detail, and told me that matters were much worse than he had any suspicion of prior to his investigations. In speaking of those he had seen, and his many talks with members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, his utter contempt for them, and especially for many leading men who claimed to be loyal to the Union, but did not like the unconst.i.tutional manner of prosecuting the war, he remarked:

"'There was but one of all of them that I have seen for whom I have any sympathy or respect, and he is the young Virginian, Mr. Ridenbergen.

I rather liked the frankness of this young man. I am satisfied that at heart he is not a rebel, but is young, and, after engaging in the rebellion, will go as far as any one to make it a successful cause.'

"Just then Jackson came from the train and entered the house.

"'My! how well you are looking, Gen. Anderson, compared with your appearance when I left. You must have been to some water-cure or have used some kind of elixir of life,' was his first greeting.

"'No, sir,' replied the General; 'I have been marching, and it has brought me out wonderfully.'

"'Yes, it has. Well, Jennie, I saw David, Dr. James and Henry. They are all well and "spilin'" for a fight. David thinks that his brigade can thrash the whole rebel army.'

"Little Jennie rushed to her Uncle Jackson, saying:

"'Did you see my good papa?'

"'Yes, dear, I saw him, and he sent you a thousand kisses and asked all about you.'

"Turning away, he said, 'Poor David, his heart is broken over the loss of his little Sarah.'

"Gen. Anderson said, 'Sit down, and tell us all about your visit. Were you successful?'

"'Oh, yes; I am a full-fledged Captain in the 18th U. S. Inf., and a.s.signed, by order of the Secretary of War, as Aide-de-camp to Brig.-Gen. Thomas Anderson, the hero.'

"'Stop, stop,' said the General; 'you must not commence that too soon.

The taffy part must be left off if you are to be on my staff.'

"'My dear,' said his wife, 'he can say that about you to me; for it's the truth. Capt. Jackson, I will not get mad at you for speaking in a complimentary manner about my husband.'

"'Hereafter I will repeat all the good things which I may have to say about him to you; but you will tell him, and then he will get mad at me.'

"'No, he will not be mad; don't you know what peculiar animals men are?'

"'Well, yes; they are rather peculiar,' said Jackson. 'They like compliments when not deserving; but when deserving they then dislike them. Is that not about the way with most men? I notice women are somewhat differently const.i.tuted? Are they not?'

"'Yes, indeed; they always like compliments. Do they not, my dear?'

addressing her husband.

"'I have usually found it so,' replied the General. His wife ran into the house, and laughingly said:

"'Well, I guess Tom has been trying his compliments on some one else.

Has he not, aunty?' addressing Aunt Martha.

"'G.o.d lub you' sole, chile, dese men, you can't tell nuffin 'bout dem, sho'; but Ma.s.sa Tom be all rite, I 'spect; I knows him; no fear 'bout him; de good Laud spar' him for good work, sho'.'

"I asked the General to write out a full statement of all he had reported to me. He did so that night, and the following day I mailed it to the President with a private note accompanying.

"During the day Jackson entertained us with his visit to Was.h.i.+ngton, to the army, and the pleasant time he pa.s.sed in camp with his brothers. He said that there was something wrong in that army; that the machinery did not seem to work very smoothly, but that never having been a soldier, perhaps he could not form a correct opinion. The sequel told the tale, however."

"Well, Uncle Daniel, this Golden Circle discovery was most extraordinary," said Dr. Adams.

"Yes. It grew into greater proportions later on, however."

"I feel an interest in knowing what became of that young Virginian whom Gen. Anderson met at Camp Chase; his name I forget, but have it written down."

"Yes; you mean Mr. Ridenbergen?"

"Yes."

"I have learned that he went through the war on the rebel side unharmed, after the war married in Pennsylvania, and is now one of the most prominent men in Virginia. He espoused the advanced policy of the men who saved the Union, and is now one of the leading opponents of the unreconstructed in that State."

Uncle Daniel becoming very weak and exhausted, by an agreement with us, the continuance of his story was postponed until another time.