Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-06-29

u. How long did yon remain Il
Richmond2 A. | remained in Richmond
three days.
@. Where then did you go? A. AT
ter leaving Richmond / came to Wash
ington, and reported in person to Mr..
Lincoln. .
REBEL COUNCIL AT NIAGARA FALLS.
Q. On what other secret service did
you then go2 A. When l returned from
Richmond, Mr.. Lincoln saw, from the re.
port made to him, that he was about to
commit very serious blunder in refer
ence to the Niagara Falls negotiation, and
he told me to go there with all possible
dispatch and sec what there was of that;
or, III other words, he remarked to me,
NJ want you to crack that nut immedi-
Aely.n l went there at once and had an
Interview with those parties at Niagara
Falls.
Q. Who were those partiesG A. Clay
and Thompson.
Q. Clement C. Clay and Jacob Thomp-
SOM a Yes, sir; Cl ,lnent G. Clay and
Jacob Thompson were the only parties
saw; there were other parties there, but |
had no interview with any except those
two.
Q. Were you at Niagara Falls at the
time there was held al that place a sort of
Convention of rebel leaders and sympa-
thizers and spies, with some persons from
the United States who went over TO con-
fer with theml A. l was there at Mr.
Lincoln's request. had made second
visit to those parties before that. gained
access, however, to that Convention, as it
was called, through Mr.. Buchanan.
O. Ex-President Buchanan A. Yes,
sir, Mr.. Lincoln sent me there to look in
to it for him. OF course, l had to adopt
the best means of getting there, and
found that about the only way IN which l
could get there was through Mr.. Ruchan-
az. So went to his house and stayed
With him all day, and drank more liquor
While was in his house than ever drank
id my life, because it was the custom of
those who were visiting him at that time;
and through him / got full privilege to go
into that Convention at Niagara Falls, and
j learned all their secrets. When | left
MIR. Buchanan at his residence at Lsncas-
her, he gave me letter to Mr.. Folger, of
SSt. Louis, Mo-, leading man in the poll
tics of the times, and who was to be at
this convention, or council, as it was
called by them. represented portion
of Southern Illinois, was only working
member of the party. Knew John A.
Logan, and other leading men of the
Democratic party, who had gone over to
the opposite party, or the enemy, as the
Republican party was called by them.
Among other important facts which l
discovered in this movement was that
ex-P President Buchanan was thoroughly
advised of, and familiar with, all the
movements of the enemy on the bt rider,
and in full sympathy with them, anG pre-
ferred that they should succeed in their
wicked design against the Government
Than that the Republican party should
succeed in saving and keeping control of
Che country. | may further state that /
met Mr.. Fogler at Niagara Falls, and
Through him had unrestricted privilege in
the councils Of the meetings which fol-
lowed, which were confined in their de-
liberations to the best methods of secur-
ing the election of the Democratic can
didate for the Presidency, the defeat of
Mr.. Lincoln, and the elevation Of them
selves to power.
Q. Was Mr.. Greeley there at that time?
A. No, sir.
@. Did you sec him there at all? A.
l did not see him there, though | under
stood he had been there.
HE INTERVIEWS HoRAuo SEYMOUR.
O. What next2 4. | next went to
the Governor of the State Of New York.
Q. Under the orders of Mr.. Lincoln
A. At the request of Mr.. Lincoln.
@. Who was Governor of New York
at that timer A. Horatio Seymour.
@. Did you have an interview with
him; and if so, what is it9 A. l had
an interview with him by Mr.. incoln's
request. explained to him, entirely and
in full, my visit TO Richmond, and all
the points connected with it. Mr.. Lin
coin wished me especially TO state to him
the fact that l had elNited from Mr..
Davis that they were not fighting for
slavery; that they were fighting for their
independence, and he had repeated it TO
me under the head of three differ
cnt propositions, 'our independence we
viii have, or we will have humiliation.
Mr.. Lincoln requested me to state these
facts TO Gov. Seymour, which | did. l
spent three days with him in private, and
he seemed rather 10th then to let me go.
| first laid the plan of bringing Gov. Sey-
mour here to have an interview with Mr..
Lincoln, for l found the Governor in a
different state of mind really from what
! had expected to find him, and left him
in very different state OF mind; but
finally adopted the plan of getting Gov.
Seymour and Gov. Andrew, of Massachu-
sets, together. / went to Boston and
brought Gov. Andrew to New York, and
then went to Gov. Seymour, at Albany,
AGAIN, and brought him TO New York,
and paid the expenses of both of them on
the way, and paid their expenses while
they were in New York, for the purpose
Of getting Gov. Seymour to two points
First, that he should cease his opposition
10 the Observation-Disclosures York was
considered big institution at that tina,
aud it was thought we could not very well
do without his inhuence-tirst, to cease
his opposition to the Administration in its
vigorous prosecution of the war; and
second, to furnish his quota of troops.
Gov. Seymour pledged himself TO Gov.
Andrew and myself that for the future he
would comply most strictly with our re-
quests.
Q. What was the date of that pledge,
as near as you can remember! A. Just