Augusta County: John W. McCue to Colonel &
Mrs. Sepps, September 1866
Summary:
McCue's description of his capture, imprisonment, and trial at the culmination of
the war.
Notes for narrative - J.W. McCue's capture &c. Oct. 11th 66
Col. & Ms. Sepps
Sept 1866
Lovington
My Dear Sir,
In response to your request to furnish you with a full account from my pen of the circumstances connected [deleted: y] [deleted: no] with [deleted: the] my capture, trial and imprisonment &c. I give the following unvarnished statement of facts.
On the 25th of March 1865, J. Logethin with five others of
Mosby's Command provided from Westmoreland Co. in
Va. into St. Mary's County, Maryland on a
scout to ascertain the face of the enemy at [unclear: Scondotown]: after
performing that duty, we proceeded into Prince George County, in which at a
place called Croome, on the night of the night of the 3rd of April, myself and
the others - three of the party having deserted, in an effort to get possession
of the United States Post Office at that place, came in contact with four
detectives of that government all armed and the Post Master - named Coffon -
provided with an axe. On the enemy firing the first volley, the others of my
comrades fled and made good their escape, leaving me alone to fight for my life
with five men. In the encounter, I severely wounded one and killed another, but
was then overpowered, badly hurt and taken under heavy guard to Annapolis, where
I was kindly healed, and thence removed to the negro jail in Baltimore where I
was under the immediate command and control of Major Neigh, a second edition of
Beast Butler, Thad Stevens and all that ilk. I arrived in Baltimore and was
lodged in the [illeg.] jail on the day of [deleted: March]
April 65. I was treated not as a prisoner of war, but as a convict. While there
was [added: kept in irons &] thrown into a
solitary cell, [deleted: without any coat]
[deleted: no] blanket and no fire, and when a fellow prisoner [deleted: threw]
[added: pushed] me a blanket between iron bars, the
guard ordered [deleted: it to be] me to throw it out: which I did.
[page 2]
I was taken to Baltimore in chains. At Croom, after being
overpowered, a rope was gotten with which to hang me unless I answered [deleted: ques] inquisitional questions: Capt Curry [added: Provost Marshal of
Annapolis] who came up the next morning [deleted: as on] ordered
a rope to be gotten for that purpose. [deleted: The rope] A rope
halter taken from a horse was brot: I refused to
answer any questions and said to know, if I was hung, Mosby would hang seven men
for me. Upon that remark, they desisted, and I was taken to Annapolis. The night
I was at Croom, [deleted: I was tied] My hands were tied behind me
[added: with ropes,] and so tightly that the pain
was excrusiating. I asked to have the ropes
slackened and the guard refused. I was taken into the room where the men I had
wounded - one mortally & the other severely, [deleted: to be]
were lying and there kept during the night as above explained: I saw whilst
tied, on the mantlepiece of the room a small silver mounted seven shooter: I lay
upon my back [deleted: with] and very quietly endeavored to slip my
hands from the rope: I had gotten them so nearly released, that, I supposed by a
spring and powerful effort I could entirely extricate myself - seize the pistol
and make good my escape. I made the effort - but the ropes were not as nearly
loosened as I supposed: I was instantly seized & thrown down by the
guard and the ropes were drawn upon me as tightly as possible.
[deleted: I was The chief of the reacting force I encountered by]
[page 3]
James Ryan & J. Coffron [added:
[deleted: the wounded men]
] lay in the room as above stated in which I was confined: the former
mortally [added: & the latter severely]
wounded - and he, about 4 o' clock in the morning requested that I be brought to
his bedside - my hands tied behind me - and remarked: Sir you have done your
duty - I don't blame you - you were in combat uniform - fought me as a soldier -
hard as you will: he had no body to blame but himself - and he hoped that I
would be treated as a prisoner of war. He was a noble, gallant and brave man -
and fought me with such an unconquerable spirit.
As above stated, I was then taken to Annapolis, thence to Baltimore, and after four days incarceration in the negro jail, was removed in irons to the magnificent city jail of Baltimore where I was healed with humanity & kindness. It is unnecessary for me to give an account of the horrid negro jail in Baltimore: its vermin, the character of its inmates - negroes, Yankees - desperadoes - and gentlemen from Maryland and elsewhere who were there [added: under suspicion of [illeg.]] [deleted: under suspicion of [illeg.] and complicity in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln].
As above stated, I was removed to the city jail - charges were pursued against me: a military commission: not an ordinary court martial, appointed. The charges were as follows to wit:
[page 4]
Head Qrs Middle Department Eighth Army
Corps - Baltimore April 13-'65
Special Orders
No. 90
"Col. S.M. Bowman 8
th
Penn
Vols is newly appointed a member of the military
commission appointed by paragraph 5.S.O. No 87
current series these Head Quarters
By command of
[unclear: Bu't]
Brig Genl Maris.
Saml B. Lauriner A.A.S."
First day. Baltimore
Md
Apr 27th 1865
"The commission then proceeded to the trial of John W. McCue"
"The accused was then arraigned on the following charges &c."
I deem it unnecessary to copy the record further in this connection: it would cumber your book with much irrelevant matter. Let it suffice that I was charged:
1st with the murder of Richard N. Ryan, a detective officer in the service of the United States government.
2nd Assault with intent to kill and murder one Jeremiah Coffrin, by discharging at the said Coffrin, a loaded pistol, nearly inflicting a serious and dangerous wound.
3rd Violation of the laws of war as laid down in general orders &c.
To all these charges the plea of not guilty" was entered, but upon all I was found guilty.
The finding [added: in reference to]
[deleted: upon] the 1st charge - murder - is so singular and
unprecedented in Criminal Jurisprudence, that I cannot forbear quoting it
verbatim - "Guilty except with malice aforethought."
Malice is the essence of the crime of murder, and how under any civilized [deleted: ] is it possible to be guilty of murder "except with
[page 5]
malice? In other words, murder without malice
aforethought?
I was sentenced
[page 6]
The trial commenced on the 27 day of Ap'l
65 and continued until the day of when it was at the
instance of a lady friend - the daughter of one of our distiguished jurists in
Virginia suspended for a few days in order that my father J.D. McCue and my
cousin Wm P. Halsey - then prisoners of war at Fort
Delaware could arrive under a summons as witnesses in my behalf: on the day of
they reached Baltimore under guard - were thrown into the same negro jail, and
on the following Monday at the meeting of the Commission - when the hour of
trial had arrived I was ushered into their presence. It is not necessary to
state what my feelings were - in manicles as I was,
when brot into the presence of my father and my
relation Mr. Halsey. They were examined as witnesses, in reference especially to
the status of Mosby & command in the service of the Confederate gov't. On this subject, their evidence was clear
and conclusive - to the effect that Mosby was a commissioned officer that his
command was organized in result of and obedience to acts of the Confed. Congress & orders from the Secy of War. I was charged and piled [deleted: ] with abuse, as a guerrilla. The trial continued in days. Mr. Willm Whitney & Mr. John Mills represented me
as counsel. The speech of Mr. W. was powerful and eloquent. - The trial
concluded - [added: the commission consisted of - officers
- Col. Bowman - President & Major Lord Judge Advocate. All the
commission except Col. Bowman ruled for capital punishment: he would not
yield a a compromise finding agree and
sub solitary confinement & hard labor for life.
Major Lord was kind and humane.] I was returned
[page 7]
to prison -
and then awaited anxiously for almost 2 months the action of Genl Wallace who had to review and confirm or reject
the decision of the commission.
On the day of that decision was announced - which consigned me to solitary imprisonment and hard labor for life in the Curtin Prison - near Lake Champlain New York - to which place I arrived [added: in heavy irons & [illeg.]] [deleted: in heavy irons - hands & feet] on day of 65. After reaching there was shaved, washed and prison clothes put upon me. Was first put to striking in the blacksmith shop - and then to cutting nails by machinery. I was resigned to work [deleted: 10] [added: eleven] hours per day - with only one hour of intermission in meals - and at night locked up in a cell. - 10 x 4 - and this was my home on Sundays. I worked side by side with a negro convict: and was required to walk [added: to] and eat with him at the mess hall. His name ______ and I have no hesitation in saying he was the best friend & most [illeg.] gentleman I met with in my incarceration. [deleted: When at labor my]
[deleted: In my solitary In my confinement in prison]
[deleted: In my] I occasionally received letters from my parents
assuring me that every effort was being made to procure my pardon. This
sustained & cheered me. My father, immediately on his return home about
the 1st of July 65 from prison -
went to work and did not abate his efforts until success crowned his efforts in
Nov./during. Petitions signed by many
thousands of the most respectable citizens of Va.
[deleted: such] including such men as Gov. Letcher, Judge [unclear: Rockenhaus], Genl Lewis & John Y. Haines - and letters and personal
[page 8]
appeals to the President from such men as Mr C. Nives, Alexander
Nives, A.H. Stuart, J. [illeg.], John M. Botts, J.D. Baldwin, Mr.
Windham Robinson, Frank G. Ruffin - and scores of other leading Virginians. But
to Genl Grant & Capt James Maguire [illeg.]
[illeg.] for their answers [illeg.] of my [illeg.] more
pain to any others. They on [illeg.] of Nov appeared together in person before the President & did not
leave him until the accomplishment of their object. Gen'l Grant took the bold position that we've had our bloodshed and
suffering enemy - and the time had come when the prison doors should be thrown
open by the President. His appeal and the eloquent appeal of of the noble and
just man Capt Maguire now not unavailing. Delicacy
forbids my [deleted: refusing] do more than simply referring to the
interviews of my mother with the President - her kind & courteous
reception by him. &c
[page 9]
Notes
Major Weigel had me brot into his presence and told me there was only one chance for my life - and that was to confess before the commission, that I was a guerrilla - and had murdered Ryan: I indignantly replied to him: that I was a Confederate soldier - engaged in legitimate warfare - belonged to Mosby's command - was no guerrilla - that [deleted: I was under] there was a predetermined purpose to execute me - and he wanted to be saved the trouble of having witnesses and a protracted trial: that my life was to be taken I knew - [deleted: but] [added: So ] I had done my duty as a soldier fighting for a great & just cause - and would do [deleted: over] again under like circumstances what I had done - and regretted nothing I had done. To others he represented me as the most hardened heathen & reprobate of my age he had ever met with. Not satisfied with his interview with me he put a detective in Confederate uniform in the cell with me: who [deleted: represented that] [added: said] he and myself were - in a bad fix: he knew I had done something for which I would be hung - and his case was no better than mine - and after he had, as he supposed gained my confidence in that however, he was mistaken for I suspected him all the time & was very retisent, he [deleted: proposed that] suggested there was only one way of [deleted: escape] [added: salvation] from the gallows - and that was for him & myself rise upon the guards - murder them and thus make good our escape. I told him - I knew understood his object, would have nothing to do with him or his scheme - he was very soon let out of my cell & I saw nothing more of him or any other disguised detective.
[page 10]
My trial occurred [deleted: immediately] very soon after
[deleted: the surrender of Gen'l Lee and
immediately after] the assassination of President Lincoln. When the
spirit of the Northern people was averse to clemency or humanity: every rebel
was regarded by them as perhaps [unclear: crominis] in his murder, with
Davis at the head of the plot or conspiracy. At that time returned Confederates
were not safe in Baltimore. The passions of officers & men of the United
States gov't were aroused to a pitch of madness
& phrensy unprecedented except in the days of
the French Revolution. The slightest spark would have kindled a flame that must
have led to the destruction of the thousands of Confederates in the Nation
Bastiles.
[page 11]
but myself and I hope you will be treated as a prisoner of war". He
was a noble, gallant and brave man, and fought me with an unconquerable spirit.
As above stated, I was taken to Annapolis, thence to Baltimore, and after four days incarceration in the negro jail, was removed in irons to the magnificent city jail of Baltimore where I was healed with humanity and kindness. I shall ever remember with gratitude my keepers in that prison.
It is unnecessary for me to give an account of the horrid negro jail in Baltimore under the immediate management and control of one Major Weigel [added: Provost Marshal of Baltimore] whose office was in a room of the prison, would induce the necessity of my speaking of Yankees - outlaws - negroes, & vermin of every [deleted: description] genus & species - huddled together within high brick walls, narrow-cells and behind iron grated windows & doors.
[page 12]
was only one chance for my life and that was to confess before the
commission that I was a guerrilla and had murdered
Ryan. To this, my indignant reply was - "I am a Confederate soldier - engaged in
legitimate warfare - belong to Mosby's command, no guerrilla -, and know there
is a predetermined purpose to execute me; [deleted: and in his part, he
only desired that he save the trouble of summoning witnesses for a
protracted trial]. My life is to be be taken, I know; but I have done
my duty as a soldier, [deleted: have devoted my life, to] fighting for
[deleted: it] a great and just cause, and would do over, under
like circumstances, what I have done, and have the approval of my conscience. I
have no excuse, apology or confession to make, and were I to acknowledge guilt,
I [deleted: would]
[added: will] appear before my maker with falsehood
stamped upon my soul."
