The Portland daily press., 1895-06-29
KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE.
An Organization Very Dangerous to
the Union Cause.

the Union Cause.
Its Great Strength in the West-How the
Union Authorities Met 1t.
OF all the armies of the Confederates
that faced the Federal troops during the
war of the rebellion perhaps none was SC
full of danger to this great nation as that
unnumbered, secretly officered and wide.
ly scattered organization known in gener-
al terms as ''The Knights of the Golden
Circle. 1t did it's work in the dark; its
methods were underhanded, and for a
long time it seemed impossible to get at
an understanding of the organization.
From the information available to- the
government, it was evident that this Sc
cret force had its greatest power in the
States of Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and In
diana, with ramifications extending into
Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia
and several of the Southern States
AS the war of the rebellion progressed,
it became more and more evident that
the Confederates were constantly in re-
ceipt from some source In the North of
comfort, and perhaps something more
substantial The source of this help was
difficult to ascertain, but all surface in
dications were that in, some way this
widespread littleknown seeret-working
Order of the knights of the Golden
Circle was responsible for it. 1t at last
Became necessary to stop this encourage
,y1opnt Qytan1oI to ho South of
the most active men in the special employ
Of the U. S. government in ferreting
out the objects and members of the Or
der was Capt. j. G. Grammar, ex-Chief
of Detectives of this city, and now head
of the Grammar Detective Bureau, says
the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
Grammar was cavalry officer and drill
master of great daring, skill and courage,
and no better man could have been Sc
lected for SO arduous and dangerous a
mission-a miss on in which he carried
his life in his hands, and was ever in
danger of losing his life. Leaving the ar
my of the Potomac, Grammar came to
Cincinnati and began series of inyesti-
cations that carried him all over the
States named, and into the lodge rooms
of scores of the various subordinate divi-
sionsof the Knights. 1t was now '62, and
great armies on both sides confronted
each other, but the fighting was amateur
ish. The South had however learned
the North intended to fight, and the vast
hosts under Mcclellan and other North
ern commanders showed Lee how much
they had miscalculated At this time
President JEFF Davis began to lay the
plans that gave birth to the Knights.
The whole formula of this treasonable Or
ganization was Matched in Richmond and
out of it sprang the minor Orders of
tion Society, y knights of the Mighty
Hosts and others, but all governed by
the same constitution and bylaws. Some
of these lodges professed to be organized
to resist invasion from the South, and on
that plea induced many nominally loyal
men to join and contribute money to sup
port their plans to aid the South.
Capt. Grammar and his co operatives
became all things to all men. They were
cattle buyers and land seekers and spent
days in small towns and rural neighbor-
hoods. They wormed their way into the
confidence of the farmers and joined
lodge after lodge of the Knights In this
way they worked their way into bigger
lodges and more influential aids, and it
gas not long until the government began
to get at the bottom of the great conspir-
acy and to be able to keep tab on their
movements
The States of Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio were specially well armed. In In
diana they had over 5000 muskets and
about so, 900 revolvers This does not in
clude the private arms belonging to mem
bers. Their arms were purchased by tax
levied on each member, and it was not
an uncommon thing to raise from So, 900
to 81, 800 at any one meeting of the differ
ent organizations, whenever it was re-
quired for the purchase of arms and am
munition. Money did not seem to be an
object; any amount could be raised for
this purpose whenever it was asked for to
assist the cause in any way necessary.
The members of this organization in the
State OF Indiana were supplied with arms
and ammunition from the cities of Terre
Haute, Vincennes, Fort Wayne and other
smaller cities, but indianapolis was the
principal headquarters. in those days
the we'll known firm Of the Beck Bros,
OF indianapolis were the parties to whom
arms and ammunition were shipped,
many Of which were purchased in Gin
cinnati and Louisville, KY, but the
most of them came from the East and
from Canada. The boxes containing these
goods in some cases were marked "glass,
handle with care household goods, "
"pickaxes' railroad spikes, sthard-
ware" and the devil knows what all.
Brigadier General Darlington, COM
manding the district of Indiana, was con-
stantly kept busy issuing orders and re-
ceiving reports from the corps of the Sc
eret service men of the army, and through
bis efficiency in connection with Col
Sanderson, Provost Marshal General of
N isseuri, and Major General Burbidge,
commanding the District of Kentucky,
are entitled to the credit of SO ably man
aging the work of the secret service men
OF the army of the United States in un-
earthing the secrets of the knights of the
Golden Circle and their allies. Thous-
ands of arms were discoveredE stored in
Windsor, Canada, these found their way
to Detroit, Mich. ,and as they were shipped
to different points they were seized by the
government agents This tedious process
was resorted to in order to ascertain the
true character and standing Of of the re-
ceivers or the people to whom they were
consigned
1t was time and again stated at the Sc
cret meetings Of the different branches of
the Knights of the Golden Circle that it
was almost impossible to have the orders
for arms and ammunition filled. This
was not on account of the scarcity, but
solely due through the vigilance of the
vIo