Posts Tagged ‘Ward Hill Lamon’

There are certainly scholars who dispute this story, and even Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln’s staunch friend and self-appointed bodyguard disputes Pinkerton’s veracity to a degree.  However, there is also a body of evidence to support the account.  Perhaps we will never know for certain, but it sure makes one heck of a yarn.

This tale begins with the State of Maryland seething with dissension.  Pro-slavery factions were bubbling over with new members.  Groups like The Knights of the Golden Circle, and the National Volunteers had established cells in Baltimore, and set up training camps in Virginia to drill would-be soldiers.  There was talk in taverns and secret meetings of destroying northern railroad property, tracks, and bridges, to disrupt the Federal government in the name of the Southern Cause.

Pinkerton's Logo

Allen Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, whose symbol was a single open eye, a “private eye” if you will, was thriving in Chicago.  He was known for his innovative investigative techniques, and was considered one of the top detectives in the country.

Having heard rumors of such antagonistic groups, the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad hired Pinkerton to identify and investigate these dissident groups, with an end goal of protecting railroad property and interests.  He was authorized to take with him a team of detectives.

Allan Pinkerton

By early February, 1861, Pinkerton was using undercover agents in Baltimore to gather information.  To their surprise, they uncovered a possible plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, the President Elect.  The bare bones information indicated that the plot would be executed in Baltimore, as the President Elect passed through on the way to Washington for his inauguration.

With the approval of his railroad employers, Pinkerton set about on an audacious plan to flesh out this information and act to neutralize the plot.  He would employ three trusted covert operatives using the cover that they were southerners from New Orleans or Charleston.  Pinkerton, himself, would be with them as lead operative and coordinator, under the alias “Mister Hutchinson” (No relative … anyway, mine’s Hutchison.)

A “Mister Howard” would target the gentry of Baltimore, many who publically expressed radical pro-slavery views. We don’t know his real name to this day, but he was reported to have been extremely good at his job.  Before long Baltimore society had accepted him as that handsome devil, “Howard from New Orleans.”

The middle classes of Baltimore, and the subversive groups, were to be infiltrated by Timothy Webster.  That was his real name.  In an unrelated covert operation later in the war, he was caught and hanged as a spy.  In this operation, he succeeded in joining one of these groups and, in fact, drilled with them at a training camp in Virginia.

Pinkerton’s last operative was a quantum visionary leap in investigative work.  He chose a woman, Kate Warne, but no ordinary woman.  Pinkerton had hired her as a detective – unheard of in the mid-19^th century – and she was good.  In fact, Pinkerton later made her his Female Superintendent of Detectives.  She went along on some missions with him as his wife.  Rumors of a romance were never proven, but they were buried side by side.

As a credit to her skill, she was eventually named one of the five best detectives in America.  In this operation, she was to gain acceptance by Baltimore society, to compliment and support the work done by “Howard of New Orleans.”

Reported to be Captain Cipriano Ferrandini, in later years

In only a matter of weeks, Pinkerton and his operatives were amazingly successful.  By mid-February, they had identified the groups involved and many of the key players.  One in particular stood out.  A captain in the Knights of the Golden Circle, Cipriano Ferrandini was of Italian decent, and strongly favored political assassination with a knife to gain his ends, and overthrow a disliked government.

One of Pinkerton’s operatives is reported to have introduced him, as Mister Hutchinson, to Ferrandini in a tavern in Baltimore.  It was well known that Lincoln was to come through Baltimore enroute to Washington and his inauguration on February 23, 1861.  Ferrandini made it perfectly clear that Lincoln would die in Baltimore.

Pinkerton now had strong reason to believe this was a credible threat.  He knew he must report it to Lincoln before he took the train to Baltimore.

Tune in tomorrow for Part II, and find out the meaning of “The Red Ballot.”

I can’t speak for others who write historical fiction, but I have developed a philosophy in plot and characters.  I personally do not want to distort history, even in a novel.  As a historian, I believe that to be a disservice to history and to the reader.

Flying under the radar means to me that you try diligently not to change any major part of history by remaining below the flow of recorded events and characters.  This is especially difficult when some of your characters are real historical figures, and you are giving them life and dialogue.  It is, however, possible if you remain steadfast to that historic flow.

I try to create a group of fictional characters who carry the story as heros, villlians, or participants in the action, then I weave them in with real people of the time.  The story takes place at a level beneath the actual historical line, the radar if you will.  Ian Carlyle, for instance, isn’t a general or a major politician.  He’s a company commander or staff officer (First book in Ian Carlyle Series, Follow Me to Glory), a British observer on McClellan’s staff, or a military liaison officer at the British legation (Second book in the series, The Gettysburg Conspiracy)  - all minor positions in the big historical picture.

Latest Release by Will Hutchison

The Gettysburg Conspiracy is a perfect example of my point.  It is a story about a fictitious assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln.  We know there were such threats and attempts.  The story is thus plausible.  We know he had terrible security in Washington and when he traveled.  We know he went to Gettysburg for the address.  We know his bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, was concerned for his safety in Gettysburg.  Thus, the story is even more plausible.

Could it have happened?  We know it fails, but how does it fail?  How does the hero foil the plot?  Who are the bad guys?  What will happen to them?

Someone much better at this than me once said something like -”fiction is drama, and drama is conflict.”  Even if you know the end, you can create drama within the tale.  After all, in most crime dramas, the bad guy inevitably gets caught.  We all know that.  The questions are who is he, how does he get caught, who catches him, and am I, the reader, invested in the characters – both good guys and bad guys.  In historical fiction you can add more questions:  Is the story historically believable?  Could it have happened?  Is the background and setting authentic and plausible?  Is the dialogue real for the historic period?

Some time as Lincoln rode back to DC from Gettysburg by train, Ward Hill Lamon might have quietly whispered to him, “Say, Abe, there was an attempt to assassinate you back there in Gettysburg.  Not to worry, we took care of it.”  Lincoln might nod his head and resume looking out the train window as it rolled east toward Washington.  Thus, below the radar of history … a minor footnote at best, yet a good story when you’re hip deep in the middle of it.

Map of Site of Gettysburg Address as drawn by the conspirators - Map by Curt Musselman

Ian Carlyle, surrounded by scenes from The Gettysburg Conspiracy - Sketch by Peter Culos

My latest historical fiction release tells of a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln while he was giving his famous Gettysburg address.  There was no such plot to my knowledge, but his personal security and colleagues were certainly concerned over his safety while in Gettysburg – thus it wasn’t much of a historical stretch.

My research for the book left me in awe, and led me to wonder at the lack of security for Lincoln even in Washington. With the many threats against him, and considering the mood of the country during his presidency, I am astonished there were not more attempts on his life.

Today we see the President surrounded by highly trained Secret Service agents, diligently watching the crowd through sunglasses, ready to instantly spring into action.  In Lincoln’s day, you might have seen him strolling totally alone to and from the telegraph office in Washington, where he monitored news from the seat of war, or riding a horse unaccompanied back and forth to his summer residence at the Soldier’s Home – miles away from the White House.

Lincoln’s protection, at least until 1864, would have at best been his close friend, confidant, and unofficial bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, an entourage of other friends and politicians tagging along (unarmed and ill prepared), regular Army soldiers around his office and DC residence, and perhaps a cavalry detachment along when he was traveling.

In Gettysburg, for instance, there was no advance security party to make certain any local threats were neutralized, or crazies rounded up.  No one ensured in advance that the routes President Lincoln took to see the battlefield, to the cemetery for the dedication, or the speaker’s platform itself, were safe from snipers.  Yes, there were lots of soldiers in town, in the parade to the cemetery, and surrounding the platform.  Additionally, Lamon – armed to the teeth himself – ensured that Lincoln was surrounded by thirty or so unofficial “marshals.” However, a determined sniper or crazy in the crowd lining the way would have had far more ready access to kill Lincoln in 1863, than today.

Also, like so many of our presidents, Lincoln didn’t wish to be seen as hiding from the American people behind security personnel. On the contrary, he wanted to appear accessible to the citizens.  He thus frequently thwarted protection efforts.

After researching the serious lack of depth in Lincoln’s personal security, my story line became even more plausible.

Ian Carlyle and scenes from "The Gettysburg Conspiracy" - Sketch by Peter Culos