Evening star., 1886-10-25
THE CAMP DOUGLAS CONSPIRACY.
Reviving the story Of the Plot to Ltber.
ate the Prisoner.

A telegram from Chicago says: The announce
ment of the intended publication at Louisville
OF the correspondence and secret history sur
rounding the operations of the Knights
of the Golden Circle and the Sons OF
Liberty in the northern states dur.
Ing the closing months of the great rebellion
and their efforts to liberate confederate pris-
oners at Chicago and other points in the norths
has called mp thousand recolections In the
minds of persons still living who had q part in
the guarding of Camp Douglas; the huge stock
ade here where thousands of rebel prisoners
ing the ia,ll OF Fort Donelson. Many of the men
VINO had no small part in the exciting incidents
about this city and Camp Douglas during the
autumn OF 1864 are dead have been lost
sight of, while Others do not care to even
acknowledge that they knew of such a
place as Camp Douglas or heard of the two
great copperhead organizations in the northern
states. Gen. Il. j. Sweet, who com manded the
camp at that time, is among the dead, but his
adJutant,Capt T.. Il. L. Shuriey, is q quiet, hard.
working jeweler on State street. Capt Shurley
was familiar with all the details OF the steps
taken TO suppress the uprising OF the ) 900
prisoners at Camp Douglas, but was reluctant
to-day TO talk about the matter.
''When the camp closed" said Capt. Shurley,
''all the official documents OF the command
ants Office were forwarded 10 Washington In a
dry goods box. A clerk i'm the War depart
ment told me four years ago that the box had
never been opened. 1 think this Louisville
book Is a catchpenny arrangement, but IL the
facts are truly presented the discussion that
N,
the truth will drag before the public in very
disagreeabe way the names of many people
who are and have been extremely prominent
since those days.
''We had spies among the prisoners" said the
captain, land spies who were present at all the
meetings of the Knights Of the Golden Circle,
which was back OF the movement among the
copperheads To bring about the uprising. Our
spies made reports to us, and upon those we
acted. We had no orders from Washington,
but did what we thought best. Our force al
Camp Douglas numbered only 700 men. Had
the prisoners once obtained the upper hand
Chicago would have been sacked and all the
state OF Illinois, between Chicago and st. Louis,
would have been laid waste. The prisoners
had plenty of friends outside the camp. The
day after we arrested q. ST. Leger Grenfell,
Gen. Vincent Marmaduke, and Mofiam, the
Engllshman, whicn was two three days be-
fore the presidential election OF 1864, We found
600 stand of arms in a barn not more than a
quarter OF a m from the stockade. The scheme
was for the escaped prisoners to sack, punder
and burn the city, taking what they could with
them, and march down TO Rock Island. About
1000 prisoners were confined there, and with
these and number held at Alton they expected
TO capture st. Louis and secure arms enough to
nj out those still uneQuipped from the.gun
stores of this city and the intervening towns.
The outside plotters We're in comm un ication
with the prisoners, for when the latter were
finally released and sent home talked with
many OF the more intelligent ones, and they
said that the entire number imprisoned in the
stockace were organized into companies, regi-
ments and brigades, and could have fallen in
and marched out like an army. Part OF the
general plot Was to seize the iron steamship
Merchant at her pier here, run her across to
Canada, arm her with cannon waiting there,
and send her out to sweep the lakes and rec the
confederate prisoners here. The same idea was
to be carried into effect by the captain OF the
boat running between Sandusky and johnson
Island, with the view of turning loose all the
rebel prisoners held there. / learned OF this at
a meeting OF the Cleveland chapter, Royal Arch
Masons, where a total stranger came up and
told me the details OF the pot, which he had
overheard a cuuuie OF men discussing. Subse-
quent investigation verified the strangers
story"