Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-01-23
The Orgigin of the Committee of
Nine Movement.

WHAT JOHN B. BALDWIN THOUGHT o F
IT-GEN. LEES NAME-THE AUTHOR
SHIP OF THE AUGMENTATION. A. II.
H. STUART, GEN. ECHoLs AND W. L.
SUTHERLIN.
&c. &c. &c
Arecent allusion in an editorial in the
Richmond sDispatch'' to the connection
of Hon. A. H. II. Stuart with the commit
tee of Nine movement, is bringing forth
some interesting statements about it. A
correspondent of that paper over the sig
nature of &C." gives this
The author Of that movement was Major
William T. Sutherlin, of Danville. | well
remember the time when that gentleman,
having come to Richmond from Baltimore,
and met General Stoneman on his way
hither from Washington, spoke to three or
four gentlemen-of whom | was one and
the only assenter Of the party-of the ne
eessity Of such o movement and his pur-
pose to inaugurate it. This was in conse-
quence Of his conference with Gen. Stone
man, who had satisfied him of the malig-
nant influences that oppressed Virginia.
Very soon after Major Sutherlin concocted
the plan with Gen. Echols, of Staunton,
and he, OhjHk, enlisted MI. Stuart. AT
all events, Major Sutherlin's ideas prece-
ded Mr.. Stuart's action by several days, as
/ remember perfectly we'll; so well that I
can fix the date If it shall be necessary to
take that trouble.
OF MI. Stuart's subsequent activity [ am
well aware, and give him great credit for
it; but he did not originate the movement,
nor control it. Its master spirit was the
late John B. Baldwin.
Another writer in that journal over the
signature of s'E. M. A." (who, we take
it, is e. M Alfriend, of Richmond wri-
ting later, says:
See that some doubt obtains as to the
| authorship of the Committee of Nine
While in Staunton last summer the lamen-
ted Col. John B. Baldwin informed me
that Gen. Robert E. Lee was the Original
tor of that movement, and first suggested
it to himself and others, and that it was
his purpose to make the fact known in the
interest of the truth of history in some en-
during form. I well remember his earnest
abnegation Of all credit to himself, and his
eloquent eulogium on the great statesman
ship of Gen. Lee. The early subsequent
and fatal illness of Col Baldwin doubtless
defeated his purpose. l have no doubt
that well-known gentlemen in Staunton,
can confirm the statement made in this
communication.
An editorial in the Richmond "Whig,"
written we presume by Mr.. N. B. Meade,
commenting ON the matter, says of Col.
Baldwin:
AS one of the forty-nine invited to the
conference we discussed the question fully
and freely with that gentleman, and can
never forget the earneStness with Which
he said !: "Mark my prediction, this move
ment if judiciously plotted will res ult in
success, the State will be admitted, and
own officials but, he continued, ''let no
man take part in it who is not prepared to
sacrifice his political future for the good
of the State. for when the victory is won
| and the State once again freed from her
| shackles, the very men who now stand
| coldly by and refuse their countenance
and support will be the first to claim all
| the rewards to be bestowed, and will sheer
| ingly point to those to whom they are in
debted for their freedom as dirt eaters, to
whose custody the honor Of the State
should not be entrusted.' 1t is not our
purpose to investigate the truth of the pre-
diction, but simply to bear testimony to
the worth of us noble a gentleman, as
true q patriot as Virginia ever gave birth
to. Col. Baldwin was not without ambi-
ton, and he had right to aspire to the
first honors in the gift of the State. None
doubted his devotion to the Common
wealth, and all conceded his wonderful
grasp of mind and ponderous intellect ;
and yet, fully impressed as he was with
the fact that the policy he proposed would
end forever all hope Of political prefer
ment, he neither halted OF hesitated, but
calmly struck the blow, content to sfatter
his own prospects provided only the good
Of the public was truly subserved. All
honor to the memory of one so we'll worthy
the respect, admiration, and affection OF
those he has served SO faithfully.
The Petersburg, Va ''Appeal'' says +:
The ''Dispatch's" correspondent E. M. A.
is right in his statement that Col. Bald
win ascribed to Gen. Lee the credit Of orig
mating, or rather of suggesting the idea
out Of which grew afterwards, the cele-
brated ''new movement 1868. We were
given the same version by Col. Baldwin in
the summer of 1872. The conversation be-
tween Gen. Lee and Col. Baldwin was had
at one of the Valley fairs soon after
which the latter set out for Washington,
and at once began to labor to carry out
| the idea.
The 'sDispatch'' of yesterday contains a
note from Hon. A. II. II: Stuart in which
he says that if Gen. Lee ever had anything
to do with the movement he is ignorant of
it, and that Col. Baldwin so far from being
the ''author and master spirit" declined to
attend the Richmond conference.