John Yates Beall John Yates Beall ( January 1 , 1835 – February 24 , 1865 ) was a Confederate privateer in the American Civil War who was arrested as a spy in New York and executed at Fort Columbus , Governors Island , New York . Early life and education . He was born in Jefferson County , Virginia , now West Virginia , on his father ' s farm , Walnut Grove . He attended the University of Virginia to study law but on the death of his father he left his studies to take up farming in 1855 . Civil War . At the start of the war , he joined Bott ' s Grays , Company G , in the 2nd Virginia Infantry . He received a wound in the lungs which left him incapable of active service . Inspired by John Hunt Morgan , he conceived a plan to launch privateers on the Great Lakes . He presented his plan to Confederate authorities , who were interested , but declined to act since it might endanger relations with neutral England . However , Beall was commissioned as acting master in the Confederate States Navy , though not given a command . He then proceeded on his own as a privateer , active in the areas of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay . He assembled a crew of 18 men , and commanded two boats called " The Raven " and " The Swan " . His second in command was a 22 - year - old Scotsman named Bennett G . Burley . Beall was captured in November , 1863 , and was jailed at Fort McHenry , in Baltimore until he was exchanged on May 5 , 1864 . On his release , he returned to the north shore of Lake Erie , to Canada West , part of the Province of Canada , in order to implement a plan to free Confederate prisoners on Johnson ' s Island . On September 18 , 1864 , a small group of volunteers embarked from Sandwich and Amherstburg , Canada West , and , with Beall , captured the ship " Philo Parsons " off Kelley ' s Island , and then the " Island Queen " , which was scuttled . The plan included capturing the U . S . gunboat " Michigan " . However , at this point the crew refused to proceed further without outside assistance . Beall reluctantly agreed , and together they sailed back to Sandwich ( the former name of and now a neighborhood of Windsor , Ontario ) , where they scuttled the " Philo Parsons " and separated , all escaping arrest except for Bennett G . Burley , whose extradition was demanded by U . S . authorities . Beall then decided to free some captured Confederate officers by derailing a passenger train , but he and a companion , George S . Anderson , were arrested in Niagara , New York , on December 16 , 1864 . They were imprisoned at Fort Lafayette , New York . Anderson agreed to testify against Beall in return for leniency . General John Adams Dix ordered a military commission for Beall ' s trial , which began on January 17 , 1865 . He was represented by James T . Brady . The arrest of Beall had not been published in any newspaper , and Confederate authorities were unaware of his status . On February 8 , the commission found him guilty on all charges and sentenced him to death . Beall was then transported to and held at Fort Columbus on Governors Island in New York Harbor to await his execution . The story of Beall ' s arrest and trial then appeared in the newspapers , and efforts were made to save him . Appeals were made to the President by many prominent people , including six U . S . Senators and ninety - one members of Congress , but Lincoln refused to intervene , not wanting to undermine Dix ' s authority , and Beall was executed on February 24 , 1865 . There is a legend discussed by Lloyd Lewis that Lincoln was approached by John Wilkes Booth , who was a friend of Beall ' s , to save his life , and that the President agreed to do so . But Lincoln changed his mind ( the legend goes ) when he was approached by his friend and Secretary of State William Henry Seward , who insisted that Beall ' s activities had been dangerous to the citizens of New York State ( Seward ' s state ) . Supposedly a furious Booth determined to kill Lincoln and Seward for this betrayal after Beall was executed .