Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1863-12-09
THE PERIOD OF THE Conspiracy.

THE PERIOD OF THE CONSPIRACY.
IT was in the fall of 1868. The rebel
lien having its backbone broken, and
carrying it in a sling, was nevertheless
boastful and defiant.
Ragged, barefooted, half starved and
totally demoralized, the rebel army had
fought SO we'll in Tennessee against cur
disciplined and we'll appointed troops as
/ to cause our Government to seriously
consider the expediency of reducing our
own army to the same condition; rags,
bare feet, starvation and Generalization
being evidently essential to success on
the battle field, Fort Sumter was redu-
eed to a heap Of ruins about twice day.
by Gilmore's ponderous batteries, and
Charleston was occasionally treated to
q" Greek FIRE" now universally acknowl-
edged TO be Irish whiskcy, On the Po-
toma, Lee and Meade were amusing them
selves aud the country with a game OF
tag, conducted in & quiet and gentle
manly manner.
In New York the Russian Bear was
dancing gidily on the glowing gridiron
of American hospitality, while the British
Lion and Gaelic Eagle, suIky and aloof,
were unregarded spectators.
ORIGIN OF TIE CONSPIRACY.
Although it is known who were the
chief eonspirators, there is some doubt
as to what master mind first conceived
the idea of liberating rebel prisoners in
The North, capturing lake shipping, bur
ming lake cities, &C.. Some think it had
as eminent an origin as Jeff Davis him
self, the grand conspirator Of the age.
But JEFF. has got his hands full to keep
from being a prisoner himself, without
plotting to liberate others. Again, it is
laid to Bragg, but Bragg wouldn't have
had a washerwoman in it. He quarrel
ed with his a couple Of years ago, it will
be remembered, because she refused to
take a wagon load Of Confederate money
in payment Of a small bill be owed her,
Stonewall Jackson didn't get it mp, being
mostly dead at the time-he gets up no
more If Beauregard had mad anything
to- do with it, there would have been a
number of notes, couched in the most
polite and courteous language, eEchang-
ed between himself and Major Pierson,
the commander of johnson Island. Stor-
ling Price would have appealed to the
prisoners in a proclamation to fly to him
-"Are you coming, fifty thousand
nen?"
Nor do We recognize the giant intellect
of John Morgan in the scheme, no arran-
cement being made foT providing the re-
leas d prisoners with stolen horses. Floyd s
plan would have been to steal the priso-
Rers away on the sly, carrying off John
sons Island, too, if possible. 1t is prob
able that the original suggestion to give
liberty to the prisoners was elaborated
upon by a number of ingenious minds
until the whole programme was develop
ed as follows:
PROGRAMME OF THE CONsPIRAToRs.
l. Liberation ofprisoners on Johnson's s
Island, at Camp Chase and other camps in
Ohio, Illinois, &c
q Letting loose the prisoners in all
Northern prisons, jails and watch hOu-
ses.
8. Liberating all other prisoners.
4 Capturing all the sailing craft on
the lakes.
5. Burning all the Northern cities.
6. Burning all the rest Of the cities in
the North.
Z. Introducing conhagrations among
country residences generally.
s. Burning few more cities.
9, Capturing gunboats ou the Miami
with view 20 a raid on Cincinnati with
! canal horse cavalry.
10. Tunneling Lake Erie for the pur-