Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1866-07-20


story was made up, it is not necessary to re-
peat it.
And here we come to the most astound-
ing part of my disclosure. This man evil
liam Campbell and his friend "Snevel,"
whose first name, or rather alias, do not re-
member, on being brought before the Judi
ciary Committee for examination, acknowl-
edged that the above names did not belong
to them, but were fictitious; that they had
never been in the rebel service nor in Rich
mond +; that they had never seen Davis, Or
Benjamin, or Surratt, in their lives; that they
had never heard Of any plot to destroy Lin
coin until after his death; that there was not
a word Of truth in the dispositions they made
for the Bureau of Military Justice, but that
they made such dispositions for pecuniary
reward, being first furnished with the state
hitting it to memory for the purpose; and
that of the other parties, some seven or eight
in number, who made dispositions for the Blu
reau referred to, every one of them deposed
under false names to false statements for pc
cuniary considerations.
The depositiens of the other witnesses,
under the assumed names of Wright, Will
Hams, Patten, Douglass, Meredith, Knapp,
etc., accused Davis Of completely in the as
sassination just as positively, and were as in
geniously concocted as those of Campbell and
Snevel. Having accomplished so much in
their way of procuring evidence, the Radical
conspirators urged President johnson with
all their force to appoint commission for the
trial of the distinguished culprit Campbell
and other witnesses were taken before His
Excellency and the Cabinet, in order that
their frank demeanor and honorable appear
ance could be Observed and were asked a
few questions by the President, and exam
ined at considerable length by Mr.. Seward,
to the apparent satisfaction of all that they
were telling the truth and nothing but the
truth The President, as is known, did not
at once appoint the commission, but he was
prevailed on to call for the opinion of the At
torney- General as to the legality and propri-
ETY. Of trying by military court parties impli-
Gated in the assassination, and the Attorney
General soon after gave the opinion, and the
argument upon which he based it, that it
would not only be legal ana proper to try
parties so accused by a military court, but it
would be clearly illegal & improper to arraign
them before civil tribunal The Radical
conspirators now regarded Davis as good as
disposed of, and licked their jaws with glee
But, unfortunately for them, the Presi-
dent would not be hurried into ordering a
military trial His penetrating eye had
probably discovered something about Camp
bell and others paraded before him sufficient
to convince him that they were classifying. -
He knew Davis well enough to know if he
would descend to conspire at murder at all,
it would be only with men Of honor-that
kind Of honor to be found among thieves and
bold desperadoes- would sooner die
than compromise themselves or their chief,
and not with men ofignorance and low stand
ing, and comparatively unknown to him, like
the witnesses paraded, who are willing to
swear to their own shame and betray their
master for thirty pieces of silver.
Finding it impossible to induce the Pres
ident to convoke military court for the i'm
notation of the rebel chief, the Radicals were
bitterly disappointed, and some Of them were
furious. They determined, however, not to
be beaten altogether; not to throw aside as
worthless g evidence" which had been pro-
cured at so much trouble and expense, but
if possible to turn it to some account. With
Machiavellian adroitness they conceived a
scheme whereby, if they could not hang Mr..
Davis, they could at least load him with in
fanny, and at the same time wreak exquisite
vengeance on President johnson for decli-
ming to aid their murderous designs
The process relied on for the consumma-
ton Of this double headed project was re-
markable for it's simplicity. The dispositions
of the spurious witnesses were to be preserv-
ed in the Bureau of Military Justice, and at
a proper time rendered accessible to the press
and the historian. None of the alleged Grim
inal proceedings of Davis set forth in the nu-
merous dispositions, with the exception Of
those pretended to have occurred in the pres
ence of Benjamin (who, being accused as
pa,ticeps criminis, would not be believed, J
were susceptible of refutation, all his crini-
nal conversations and transactions being, as
alleged, in either the presence Of prominent
rebels, since deceased, and the witnesses, OF
in the presence of the witnesses alone. Da-
Wis could and would, there, be published to
the world as monster and murderer de.
serving to be cursed like Cain and driver
from Christendom and no matter how much
he might say to vindicatc himself, or how ell
oquently his friends might expatiate on hi
Christian character and high sense of honor
three-fourths of his countrymen, and poster
ity generally, would believe him guilty.
This the Radical conspirators though
would effectually dispose of Davis, and be as
great punishment as he could bear.
But how were they to reach Mr.. johnson
He had already been denounced for his leni
ency toward the rebel leaders, and with en-
dcavoring for political purposes to ingratiatt
himself with the South. and they would no
20 before the country with the argument tina
his failure to put Davis on his trial for the
murder of Lincoln, in face Of the overwhel
ming evidence that could have been brought
against him, as appeared from the deposi
tons in the Bureau Of Military Justice, was
n - - L@ o,Y