(During the American Civil War, John Beall was a privateer...)
During the American Civil War, John Beall was a privateer, raiding Union ships on Chesapeake Bay. In 1864, he led a band of men on a daring raid to free Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie. Available for the first time as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones is Beall's own account of his raid on Lake Erie, his diary leading up to that period, his trial, letters, and his execution. Beall felt his actions were legitimate acts during war and that he should be treated as a POW. He was tried as a spy. This book gives a fascinating look at a man who knows his neck is bound for the gallows but is facing it without remorse or fear.
https://www.amazon.com/Memoir-John-Yates-Beall-Correspondence/dp/151905520X?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=151905520X
John Beall was born on January 1, 1835, in Jefferson County, Virginia, in the upper part of the Shenandoah Valley. He came of good family. His mother, a Yates, claimed descent from those English Howards whose ancestor was the "Belted Will" of Scott's poem. His father, George Beall, was the owner of a large farm.
John Yates Beall attended the University of Virginia and studied law, but did not take a degree.
At the beginning of the Civil War John Beall was a private in the "Stonewall Brigade, " but was soon severely wounded and compelled to leave the army. Traveling to relatives in Iowa, he from there proceeded to Canada, and formed schemes for operations against the Federals on inland waters. Returning to the Confederacy, he was appointed by Secretary Mallory acting master in the navy, and was soon at work in Chesapeake Bay. With a band limited in numbers he captured the Alliance and other small vessels, cut cables, and performed various exploits until his own capture. Held at first as a pirate, he was released upon threats of retaliation on certain Federals held as hostages. He fought for a short time in front of Richmond, but soon disappeared, and making his way to Canada entered upon the last and noted part of his career.
Beall formed a plan in September 1864 to seize the Federal war-vessel Michigan on Lake Erie; and with the aid of helpers on the land, under one Cole, to set free the Confederate prisoners interned on Johnson's Island (entrance to Sandusky Bay). Associated with him was one Burley - known later as a famous English war correspondent under the name "Bennet Burleigh. " The conspirators seized the steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen and scuttled the latter. But the plot failed through a "mutiny" of Beall's men and a breakdown on Cole's part. The Parsons was beached and abandoned, and Beall returned to Canada. On December 16, 1864, he was arrested on the New York side of the frontier at Suspension Bridge, after making several futile attempts to derail trains near Buffalo. His motives are not clear; perhaps he designed to liberate Confederate prisoners. He was taken to New York, where Gen. Dix was in command, and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette.
Beall was brought to trial on the charges of being a spy, and of "violation of the laws of war. " In defense he attempted to show that he was regularly engaged in the Confederate service, but was found guilty and condemned to death. Strenuous efforts were made for a commutation of the sentence by prominent Baltimoreans, by Gen. Roger Pryor, a fellow prisoner, and by such noted men as Thaddeus Stevens and Gov. Andrew of Massachusetts. A petition signed by many congressmen was presented to Lincoln through a personal friend, Orville Browning, but the President declined to interfere, and Beall was executed by hanging on Governors Island. Afterward there appeared a "weird and lurid story" - thoroughly exploded - that Wilkes Booth, reputed to have been Beall's intimate friend, had a midnight interview with Lincoln; that the President, moved to tears, promised a pardon for Beall but was overruled by Secretary Seward; whereupon Booth, in revenge, formed his plot of assassination.
(During the American Civil War, John Beall was a privateer...)
Beall's intimate friends described him as an earnest and serious young man, of exemplary habits and a marked religious nature.
