, 1866-05-10

IRON the new York W ord 18th inst.
uEApQrAn1Ers Fk,s1Ax BROTHERHOOD
No. u East Seventeenth etreet,
NEW YoRK, May4.
To the Officers and members OF The Fenian Brot1l.
ethood:
As Head Centre of the Fenian Brotherhood,
owe to The Circle Of this organization q sue
cinct statement Of the recent movement on
the Northeastern frontier, the result OF which
has caused such widespread dissatisfaction In
our midst.
So far as lies in my power nt present, shall
place the principal jacts Of the case before the
to the movement, and then allow the Brother
hood to judge impartlnlly as to the sound
policy Of the movement itself, aud rs to the
motives OF the parties who are responsible for
either its inception or its failure
For months previous to this movement,
communications were continually pouring III
from the circles In nearly every section Of tho
tiou Of active war operations, aud asserting
that, If such operations were not speedily be-
gun, IL would be impossible to keep the 1nem-
bers together much longer, as they threateu-
cd either to forbake tho organization nIto-
gethcr, Or to give their support to another
Of ireland, but really for the ss,bjugatlon Of
Canada, and in opposition to the wishes Of
james Stephens, c. E. 1.R.
Indications OF this spirit Of fmpatlcnce were
rapidly increasing in this country, while at
the same time vast numbers of the organized
members Of the l. r. B. were pouring into our
ports In consequence ot the suspension of the
ha1eds CORPUS act. These two causes COM
headquartcrs = that It seemed impos.
sible 10 resist without imperilling the exist
tncc Of tho Feninn org1n1zation- A session
oil the Central Council was summoned in this
emergency, in order to determine On the
hr tSftrr ifyr f13r.
cumsl nnces. Durjn:, the sesslon, which com-
mcnced on the 18th OF March last, at q jofnt
meeting, composed OF the G. c.. and the
chiefs OF bureaus, an expedition to Campo
Bello was proposed by .. Doran killan, and
warmly advocated by Mr.. P. A. Sinnott. This
measure to be neutral territory, cluimed
alike BY Great Britain and the United States,
while no clear title to Its ownership had been
established by either. 1t was proposed that
the men engaged in its occupation proceed to
Eastport, Me-, without arms, aud In civilian
attire, 50 as to commit no: overt violation Of
the laws ot the American Kcpublic, while
munitions OF war, arms and other supplies
were to be sent 10 the same place by differ
cnt route.
Upou ginning possession Of the Island, It
was represented TINT an armed force could be
Organized there, either tor the immt diats in
vaslon Of Ireland or for manning privateers to
prey upon the British commerce, aud thus
commence hostllilies. 1t was also torcibly
insisted on, and, from the encouraging prom
tscs made to us from lnany quarters, proved
with apparent likelihood, that were the hrst
blow successfully struck from this, OF, indeed,
any othcr point, 1t would be sustained and
followed up by the friends Of ireland and the
enemies Of Great Britain throughout the
United States; TINT privatcers would bo OK
tcnEively fitted out and that Great Britain
would be attacked Ia her commerce upon the
American waiers. Other cventualities were
brought forward, TO Which 1t were unWise to
refer to here. Furthermore, 1t YVES shown,
and have since ascertnincd its correctness,
that Campo Bcllo could be taken within the
SPACE Of or: cne day after the arrival of our
Tie majority OF the Central Council and
myself we're opposed to the raid upon Campo
Del1o as an isolnted movement, though in
favor Of 1t as movement co-operatlye with
descent upon Ireland and the launching. Of
priyatecrs. II was, also, the all but unanl-
ment should be made until after the arrival
Of James Stephens, then mud still daily e1-
pected on these shores. Gen. Wm. G. Hal
pin, who had recently landed from ireland,
most forcfbly infested upon tits point. So
did Messrs. Rogers, KavanauQb, Col. Down.
ing, and Captains Tobin and afcCaaery. A
resolution 70 this effect was actually passed
Next day, unfortunately, by the erroneous
statements nadcto nc Of the neutrality Of
the place to he captured, and under the pres
sure Of Impatient members Of the New York
citc1es,the lighting material ofwhfch had been,
without my knowledge or conecnt, ordered to
cMp}oymcnts, was induced 10 consent to 8
sudden movement, md to sign an authoriza-
tion for Mr.. killian to commence; 1t. The
comparatively small expense nt which It was
insisted the thing could lie done was also
great fEcltcmcnJ 10 me ut the time. !, more
over, 'elt somewhat impatient myself, now
that we had naval force, to have our nation-
NJ f'ag unturled on the Atlantic with as little
delay rs possible.
peditlon to start for Eastport from New York
ria Boston. In compliance with the earnest
wishes +. Of ths men ' engaged in It. The needed
diiiv1tnt route. Those supplies, IS Well as
the number or Den, far exceeded anything
originally demanded by Mr.. Ki,lIan. No
thing, indeed, that lad been ot,l2nany =.
auirsd vas neglected, ,, srgn % thGash S she ,ea e5.
sentcd 10 incur. had the expedition: not start
ed already. +. then, the performance Of the
requirements on headquarters could have In
surad success, victory was certain. -.
But from the start, treason or folly threat
ened to defeat the attempt. Though secrcsy
tnd elective work, the whole uf the aims of
the expedition, together with Its destination,
were next morning laid bare to friend and foe
through the columns OF the New York press.
When the first detachment of men arrived
at Enstport; il was found TINT their arms had
not yet reached that port, aud that the Brit
fsl, warned through The press, had, in aatlcf-
patIou Of the Intended attack, placed an
armed force at Campo Rello, and had sent
war steamers into its surrounding waters.
Land mud naval forces Of the uniled States
appeared also. with promptitude, on the
scene, and seized schooner laden with sup
plies Tor the expedition. !: -
formed that nothing further could then be
donc-nothing at oil commensurate With
what was expected-I telegraphcd an order
fol the prompt recall Of the men. This order
: was. not complied with, and thence arose a
necessity forlnrgc expenditures for the mems
support, "a once they were there could not
Now.that this thing is past without loss Of
life, I must say that see many encouraging
features about 1t. Not the least of these orc
the. courage, hardilood, deyotedncss md
discipline OF both officers and Tnen-their un-
willingness to return without fight, their
willingness TO 50 anywhere they were ordered
The chief drawbacks consist In the alsor-
canization consequent upon the failure aud
tile disappointment Of the brave hearts Of our
men. Ii was the plan, or rather the handling
OF tho plan, that was detective. The men OF
the rank md file were equal to any tnsk COM
mepsurate with their numerical strength.
The whole matter Is now undet consldern-
tlOn before select committee appointed By q
CONVENTION of the Manhattan district. The
report will be placed before you before many
dogs. There lave been some grave mistakes
mnde By myself md others connected VILE