Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1864-10-28

within our lines. On coming within the territory
occupied by our forces, they are harbored and sup
/ Piled with information by tho order Another
class of spies claim to be deserters from the enemy,
and at once seek an opportunity to take the oath
OF allegiance, which, however, though voluntarily
taken, they claim to be administered while they
are under species Of duress, and. therefore, not
to be binding Upon swearing allegiance to the
! Government the pretended deserter engages, with
the assistance ce the order, incoHecting contra
band goods or prt curing intelligence to be convey
cd to the enemy, or in some other treasonable en-
terprise.
The system Of espoipGge kept up by the order,
for the purpose Of obtaining information of the
movements Of our own forces, &C., to be i1anart-
cd 10 the enemy, seems to have been as perfect as
1t was secret The Grand Secretary Of the order
in Missouri states, in his confession: One the
especial objects Of this order was to place members
in steamboats,, ferryboata, telegraph Offices. ex-
press Offices, department headquarters, provost
marshal Office, and, in fact, in every position
where they could do valuable service.
5. Hiding the e,ana3s 6y recruiting fer tiea1, or
assisting them to recruit gitlain ottr ms has
also been extensively carried on by members Of
the order, particularly ia Kentucky and Missou-
RI X is estimated that two thousand men were
sent South. from Louisville alone, during few
weeks in April and May, 1864.
The same facilities which were afforded to re-
er-uits for the Southern army were also furnished
BY the Order to persons desiring to proceed be-
yond our lines for any illegal purpose By these
Louisville was generally preferred as a point Of
departure, and, on the Mississippi river, partic-
ular steamer, the Graham, was selected as the saf
est Conveyance.
6. F,aataEtisg The Re5e7s Nth Arnls, Anapaisa5-
ti9a, Gc In this, too, the Order, and especially
its female members and allies, has been sedulous-
II engaged The rebel women Of Louisville and
Kentucky are Represented as having rendered the
most valuable aid to fhe Southern army, by trans
porting very large quantities Of percussion caps,
powders, &c, conceiled upon their persons, to
some convenient locality near the lines, whence
they could be readily conveyed to those for whom
they were intended.
Co-opaatiag sojth the E,senay IN Raids aad
jsgasjoas-Wh hile it is clear that the order has
given AID both directly and indirectly, to the for
ces Of Che rebels, and to guerrilla bands, when en-
gagged in making incursions into the border States
yet because, on the one hand Of the constant re-
straint upon its action exercised BY our military
authorities. and on the other hand, of the gener-
al success of our armies in the field over those Of
the euemy, their allies at the North have never
thus far been able to carry out their grand plan of
general armed rising Of the order, and its coop
cration on an extended scale with the Southern
forces.
g. Destruction OF Goverameat Property There
is no doubt that large quantities Of Government
property have been burned or otherwise destroyed
by the agency of the order in different localities.
AT Louisville, in the case Of the steamer Taylor,
and on the Mississippi river, steamers belonging
to the United States have been burned at the
wharves. and generally when loaded with Govern
ment stores. Shortly before the arrest of Bowles,
the senior Of the major generals Of the order in
Indiana, he had been angaged in the preparation
Of Greek Fire, which was to be found ser7ica-
bic in the destruction Of public property.
9. Destruction Of pirate property and pcrscc1-
ton Of Union g1ea.-It is reported by Gen Car
rington that the full development of the. order
in Indiana was followed ''by state Of terrific
rism'' among the Union residents of portions
of Brown, Morgan, Jonson, Rush, Clay, Sullivan,
Bartholomew, Hendricks, and other counties in
that State that from some localities they were
driven away altogether that in others their barns,
hay and wheat ricks, were burned; and that ma
ny persons under the general insecurity of life
and property sold their effects at sacrifice and
removed to other places.
In this connection the outbreak of the miners
in the coal districts of eastern Pennsylvania, in
f,.,o ofic
referred to- 1t was fully shown in the testimony
adduced upon the trials of these insurgents, who
were guilty Of the destruction of property and
numerous acts of violence as well as murder that
they were generally members Of secret t@asona-
bic association, similar in all respects to the K. G.
c., at the meetings of which they had been Incl
ted to commission of the crime for which they
were tried and convicted
10. ASSASSINATION and Au1t2er After what
has been disclosed in regard to this infamous
league Of traitors and rufians, it will not be
matter Of surprise to learn that the cold-blooded
assassination Of Union citizens and soldiers has
been included in their de7ilish scheme of opera
tons. Green B Smith states in his confession
that t'The secret assassination of United States
officers soldiers, and Government employees, has
been discussed in the councils Of the order and
recommended.
At a meeting Of the Grand Council Of Indiana
at Indianapolis on June 14th last, the murder Of
one Coffin aGovernlaent detective, who, as it was
supposed, had betrayed the order, was doTber-
ately discussed and fully determined upon This |
fact is stated by Stdger in his report to General
Garrington of June 175h last, and is more fully |
set forth in his testimony upon the trial of Dodd
He deposes that ut the meeting in question, Dodd
himself volunteered to go to Hamilton, Ohio,
where Coffin was expected to be found, and there I
dispose Of the latter He adds that prior to /
the meeting, he himself conveyed from Judge
BulHtt, at Louisville, to Bowles and, at mdianap-
oils snncinl instrncfions 10 have Coffin .nnt nnt