Secrets of the Late Rebellion

With the hasty leaving of the leading citizens of Alexandria had gone whatever it had possessed of municipal, county, or State government. The mayor and members of the city council had fled; all the State and county judges had fled; the county clerk, the surrogate, and every other county officer had fled; nor was there a single justice of the peace, a single constable, or a single police-officer – or, at least, not one who declared himself as such – left in the city. There was no formal announcement of the establishing of martial law within the city limits, but its possession by Union troops made it virtually so from the moment they took possession.

The battle of Bull Run occurred on the 21st of July, 1861, and although Alexandria had been bad enough before that time, it was still worse after. For some time after that battle the Union army seemed utterly demoralized. The commanders of regiments, brigades, and divisions seemed for the moment to have lost all control over their men. Officers and men, instead of remaining in camp to drill, flocked into Washington and into Alexandria by scores, yea, by hundreds, every day. Hotels, drinking saloons, restaurants' houses of ill-fame were all doing a rushing business, and meanwhile the legitimate duties of the officer and the soldier were almost wholly neglected. General McClellan reached Washington, and assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, on the 26th of July, 1861, and on the 30th issued an order in which he said, "The general commanding the division has with much regret observed that large numbers of officers and men stationed in the vicinity of Washington (his command included Alexandria and beyond as well) are in the habit of frequenting the streets and hotels of the city. This practice is eminently prejudicial to good order and discipline, and must at once be discontinued." This order had a salutary effect to a certain extent, but it by no means cured the evil. It made officers and men more careful to procure leaves of absence and passes before leaving their camps; for, if found in Washington or Alexandria without such leave or pass, they were liable to be called upon by the provost-marshal, or arrested by the provost-guard; but, after the first week or two, in the lessening of numbers the effect of the order was hardly perceptible. The hotels, drinking saloons, restaurants, and houses of ill-fame still continued to do a thriving business; while fights in saloons, brawls in the streets, insults to persons walking the streets, thefts, robberies, and the like misdemeanors, were of almost daily and nightly occurrence.

Such was the condition of things in Alexandria, when, in August, 1861, General William R. Montgomery, who had been the Colonel of the First New Jersey regiment of volunteers, but had recently been promoted to a brigadier-generalship, was detached from his command, then encamped near the Seminary buildings, and assigned to the command (as Military Governor) of Alexandria. He had for his Assistant Adjutant-General, Jacob R. Freese, of Trenton, N. J., who had been an active business-man all his life (he was then about thirty-five years of age), and who for the four years immediately preceding the war had been the editor and proprietor of the State Gazette, one of the leading newspapers of the State. General Montgomery was then about sixty years of age, a graduate of West Point, had been connected with the regular army nearly all his life – a perfect gentleman in his manners, mild, quiet, unobtrusive, exceedingly kind and gentle; but knew comparatively nothing of business life, and had hardly been in a police-office or a courtroom during his whole life. Though no officer in the army was truer to the Union cause than he, yet so exceedingly kind was he in his general disposition, so disliked to refuse any favor asked of him, and so averse was he to punishment of any kind, that he soon found his new situation a very perplexing one. Hardly had he assumed command, before such of the secessionists as remained in Alexandria commenced to ask favors at his hands. In all cases, where he possibly could, it gave him as much or more pleasure to grant their requests than for them to receive the favors. This soon became known to extreme Unionists, who thereupon called the General "a rebel in disguise." When this came to the General's ears, it distressed him greatly. It also distressed him as much, or more, to learn that some Alexandrians who remained were practising great cruelty towards some white citizens, and especially towards their slaves, because they had dared to express Union sentiments. And still another source of great annoyance to him was, that great numbers of soldiers came into the city every day – some got drunk, abused citizens, created brawls in the streets, and then left without so much as saying "by your leave, sir." Other disputes and disturbances were occurring, almost daily, among the citizens, which, when all other means failed, would be referred to him for settlement, since, as heretofore stated, there were no courts left in the city to whom such disputes could be referred. To organize a court-martial and keep it in session all the while would take a number of officers from their regular duties, and seemed utterly impracticable. To undertake to arbitrate and decide all cases himself, seemed not less impracticable, if not impossible; and as to prescribing punishment to others, he would almost prefer to take it upon himself.

Every day he talked these troublesome matters over with his Assistant Adjutant-General, and finally requested him to draw up, and submit to him, in writing, a plan for governing the city. This he did on the day following the request. The leading feature of the plan submitted was to organize a provost-court, over which some officer should preside as provost-judge, who should hear and adjudicate all cases of whatsoever kind brought before him. To arrest delinquents and enforce the orders of the provost-court, the plan proposed that the soldiers, detailed for sentinel duty in the city, should be organized into a provost-guard, with a provost-marshal at their head; that both the marshal and guard should be subject to the direct orders of the provost-judge; and that the provost-judge should submit his doings, every day, to the military governor for his approval, amendment, or reversal, since he alone was responsible to the general government for what was done within his command. General Montgomery considered the plan carefully and decided to adopt it. He then asked his Adjutant to accept the appointment of provost-judge, and perform its duties, in addition to such as he had as Assistant Adjutant-General of the post. At first the Adjutant declined, not seeing how it was possible for him to perform both duties, since either one of them seemed quite as much as any one man could perform. The General urged that, as he would be held officially responsible for whatever the provost-judge might do, he must have some one in whom he had implicit confidence, some one whom he could see and converse with at every meal-time, some one who was familiar with the workings of courts of justice, and since he, the Adjutant, had drawn up the plan, there was no one whom he could detail that could put the plan in operation so well as he. The Adjutant, on the other hand, urged that his duties were already quite as much as he could perform satisfactorily to himself; that almost every day he had quartermaster, commissary, and hospital reports to examine and sign; passes and permits to consider and issue, etc.; all of which involved the writing, "By order of Brigadier-General Montgomery, J. R. Freese, A. A. G.," from one hundred to five hundred times each day, which usually occupied every minute of his time. It was finally arranged that the General should detail two additional clerks for the Adjutant's office, and one to write up the records of the court at every sitting, and thereupon the Adjutant consented to enter upon the additional duty of provost-judge of the city. The General issued the necessary order, over his own signature, and on the day following the Adjutant entered upon his new duties.

The court-house had not been used for any purpose since the evacuation of the city by the Confederates. Men were now put to work in cleaning and fitting it up for the purposes of the new provost-court. A large building on the outskirts of the city, which had been used for the temporary detention of slaves, and therefore called a "slave-pen," was cleaned and fitted up as a guard-house. The old jail was cleaned, whitewashed, and renovated generally. A large, empty building, in the heart of the city, was fitted up for the provost-marshal's office, and as quarters for the guards. Captain Griffiths, of Pennsylvania, the senior captain of the companies then on duty as sentinels, was appointed provost-marshal, and the two companies then on duty organized as a provost-guard. The duty assigned them was to arrest every drunken man – officer, private, or citizen – whom they observed to be disturbing the peace of the city, whether at hotels, drinking saloons, on the streets, or elsewhere; to take them, so soon as arrested, to the officer in charge at the guard-house and report all the facts to him; if the officer at the guard-house deemed the complaint to be of such seriousness as to require a further hearing, the arrested party was to be locked up until the next sitting of the provost-court, when he was to be brought before that court for trial. This was to be the procedure not only in cases of drunkenness, but in all other cases of petty misdemeanor. If, however, the offence was of a more serious character, the party arrested was to be taken at once before the provost-marshal, and all the facts immediately after reported to the provost-judge. If he deemed the charges sufficiently strong to hold the arrested party, he was then to be sent to the county jail and there held until next day, or until the court was ready to try the case, which usually was on the day following the arrest. It was arranged that a session of the provost-court should be held every day (Sundays excepted) at the court-house, commencing at ten o'clock, and continue until all the cases were disposed of. Usually this could be done between ten and twelve o'clock; but occasionally the sessions extended until late in the afternoon.

After all needed arrangements had been completed, the Judge's horse – saddled, bridled, and with a pair of loaded revolvers in the holsters – might be seen every morning, at precisely nine and a half o'clock, standing before the General's headquarters. At precisely a quarter to ten, Judge Freese would come out of the Adjutant's office in full uniform, mount his horse, and, usually on a full gallop, ride to the court-house, about a quarter of a mile distant from the headquarters. On reaching the court-house the Judge dismounted, a soldier took charge of his horse, and he passed in to take his seat on the bench. Generally, the guards, and the prisoners from the guard-house, were already in waiting – every guard standing at attention, with loaded musket and fixed bayonet. It was from this fact that it was sometimes designated, by New York journals and others, as "Judge Freese's Bayonet Court." The clerk, acting as "crier," then announced that the "court was now open for business," and immediately after handed the Judge a list containing the names of all the prisoners at the bar, with the nature of the offence charged against each. The Judge, beginning with No. I, would call for the evidence of the sentinel making the arrest, and then for the evidence of others who might know anything of the case. When the evidence for the prosecution had closed, the accused was asked to say anything he could in his own defence, and to produce any witnesses he might have. It was plainly to be seen that the Judge always leaned towards mercy; that he encouraged and aided the prisoner in the making of a defence, if any were possible; that never, at any time, did he speak harshly to a prisoner at the bar; but even in his sentences so tempered his words with kindness and good advice as to make the accused determine to do better in the future. At no session of the court, nor at any time after, was a prisoner ever known to complain of his treatment by the Judge, such was his uniform kindness and courtesy towards all who were brought before him, whether citizens or soldiers, white or black. When all the evidence was in on both sides, the Judge announced the sentence and the clerk recorded it The book in which the record was kept was open to the inspection and revision of the General commanding (military governor) every day, so that he might, if he chose, at once change or reverse any sentence which the Judge had passed upon any prisoner. The number of cases tried each day varied from ten to thirty. Most of them were of a minor character, and the punishment, consequently, very light Often the one day or one night's detention in the guard-house, which they had already received, was deemed sufficient; in other more serious cases, a fine of from one to five dollars, or further confinement in the guard-house or in the jail from one to five days, was imposed; but now and then a case of far graver character was brought before the court, one of which we will now relate.

Mr. A. was an old resident of Alexandria, and for many years had been engaged in business as a hardware merchant He was a Virginian by birth; a man of general good character, a hearty secessionist, and would have gone when the others left, only that his family and his business were in such condition that the one could not be removed, nor could the other be closed without very great discomfort and a large sacrifice. He therefore concluded to take his chances of remaining, and did remain.

Mr. B. had been a resident of Alexandria for several years. Had been one of the builders, and was then superintendent, of the gas-works of that city. He was a New Englander by birth, and an earnest Unionist from the day the contest opened between the North and the South. Though a very quiet man, and never speaking upon political or warlike matters, except when in situations where he must speak or show cowardice, yet when thus compelled to speak he never failed to express his honest sentiments.

Messrs. A. and B. had been warm personal friends for several years, the latter purchasing all the hardware needed for the gas-works of the former, and being in his store frequently, as well for pastime as on business. Until the war commenced there had never been a word of difference between them, and since it commenced they had rarely spoken upon the subject, for each well knew the others sentiments, and neither desired a rupture of friendly relations. On the day in which a rupture did occur, Mr. B. went to Mr. A.'s store to make a purchase of some article, when in some way the conversation between them turned upon the war. For some cause Mr. A. seemed to be in a specially bad-humor that day, and very soon commenced to use most violent language toward the "Yankees" and the Union troops. Mr. B. replied, at first very mildly, but one word led to another, until erelong both became angry and talked loud. All of a sudden Mr. A., who was a large, powerful man, seized Mr. B., who was a much smaller, weaker man, by the throat, and hurled him to the floor. Then, seizing a large butcher-knife which chanced to lay upon the counter, he held it threateningly over B.'s breast, and said he would kill him instantly unless he would promise not to report the conversation they had had and the difficulty following it to Provost-Judge Freese. Of course, such noise and confusion brought others into the store, and before the promise could be exacted others had seized and dragged Mr. A. from off his prostrate antagonist. Mr. B. went from the store direct to military headquarters and reported all that had occurred to Judge Freese. A formal statement, as detailed by Mr. B., was then drawn up by the Judge and subscribed and sworn to by Mr. B. It was then afternoon, and too late to try the case that day. The Judge, therefore, issued an order to the Provost-Mar-shal to arrest Mr. A. at once, lock him up in the county jail, and bring him before the court next morning at ten o'clock – all of which was done precisely as ordered. The arrest of so prominent a man as A. spread throughout the city at once. Before sundown there was scarcely a man or a woman in the whole city who did not know of it, and General Montgomery was besieged by Mr. A.'s wife, by his daughters, and by several of his secession friends to order his release at once. The General, having learned the facts from his Adjutant, only replied that "things must take their course; that the trial, and that only, could develop whether Mr. A. was guilty or not, and, if he was, he could not and would not interfere with the Judge in the infliction of a proper punishment, however much he regretted the difficulty and sympathized with those who were afflicted by it."

The next day the court-room was crowded in every part, and promptly at ten o'clock the crier announced the court open for business. After all the other cases had been disposed of, that of Mr. A. was called. The witnesses, both for the prosecution and for the defence, were examined carefully and patiently by the Judge and by the defendant. Then the defendant was invited to say whatever he could in his own defence. The defendant had a lawyer present to suggest and prompt him, but the lawyer would not appear as his formal attorney, for the reason that some time before the Judge had announced that, as that was a United States court, no lawyer could appear in it, as attorney for another, unless he would take, if asked, the oath of allegiance to the United States Government, and the lawyer present being an avowed secessionist, he well knew that if he attempted to act as an attorney for his friend A., he would at once be tendered the oath of allegiance to take or refuse. He therefore contented himself with whispering in his friend's ear, without presuming to appear as his attorney. The facts, as heretofore stated, were all proved beyond any possible doubt. Indeed, the defendant himself scarcely made a denial of any one of the statements made by Mr. B. He only pleaded, in extenuation, that he had no ill-will towards Mr. B., and that whatever was said or done was from an excess of passion for the moment, which he could not control; that he greatly regretted all that had happened, and would promise the court that the like should never happen again. He also produced several witnesses to prove his previous good character.

Before pronouncing sentence, the Judge took occasion to say that the court had been organized for the special purpose of maintaining the peace of the city. That, in the absence of all other courts, this was the only judicial power to which citizens of Alexandria could look for the protection of their lives and their property, and in this respect it was as much of a protection to the avowed secessionist as to the Unionist; that the lives and the property of the one or of the other were equally under the protection of the court. While, he added, the court could not, and would not, recognize secession as a legal right, and while no secessionist, as such, could have any legal standing in that court, professionally or otherwise, yet the court would, at all times and under all circumstances, use whatever power it possessed to protect the lives and property of avowed secessionists. If, then, it was thus ready to protect secessionists in their personal and property rights, certainly it should not be less willing to protect Unionists. Nor would it be less ready to protect Union men so long as he remained the Judge of the court. In conclusion, the Judge said that, in consideration of Mr. A.'s previous good character, in the absence of all premeditation, and in consideration of other extenuating circumstances surrounding the case, he would make the sentence of this defendant very light, but gave fair warning, then and there, to all the residents of Alexandria, and to such as came within the jurisdiction of the court, though not residents of the city, that should there be any further assaults upon Union men, whether by word or by act, the court would punish the offender with much greater severity. He then sentenced Mr. A. to pay a fine of five hundred dollars, and to stand committed to the county jail until the fine was paid. "Of course," the Judge added, "this does not relieve Mr. A. from the payment of damages to Mr. B. for any injuries he may have sustained at the hands of A., and for which he may choose to prosecute in an action for damages." The court then adjourned, and Mr. A. was ordered back to the county jail until the fine was paid.

Mr. A. and his friends were very indignant at the sentence; said it should never be paid; that he would rot in the jail first; that they would appeal to General McClellan, to the President, to the Cabinet, to Congress; but to all such threats the Judge only replied, when they came to his ears, "He shall have all the opportunities he wants for appeal, but until the fine is paid, or the judgment set aside by a higher authority, he must remain in jail." That afternoon and evening every possible effort was made with General Montgomery and with Judge Freese to have him released on bail, but without avail. Next day, when the court opened, a friend of Mr. A. was present with five hundred dollars in silver, which he paid down, and thereupon received an order from the Judge for Mr. A.'s release from jail. That money, as all other received by the court for fines, and not used for feeding the prisoners and other incidental court expenses, was deposited with the United States Treasurer, at Washington, to await such further action as might be had in this or in any other case.

In pursuance of their threats, Mr. A. and his friends at once went to work to have the fine refunded, and finally, after several months' effort, succeeded in getting General McClellan to issue an order on General Montgomery for the refunding of the money. This was done by an order on the United States Treasurer for the five hundred dollars.

Mr. A. got his money back, but neither he nor any other secessionist of Alexandria ever again made an assault, with threat to kill, upon a Union man; nor did any Union man make a like assault or threat upon a secessionist. And, better still, it had the effect to convince every secessionist that Judge Freese's court was no respecter of persons; that while it punished such of the poor as violated the law, it was no less ready to punish the rich; and that a Union man in Alexandria would be protected by the court with as much vigilance as one could possibly be in New York or Philadelphia. The refunding of the fine, however, proved that General McClellan and his advisers, while pretending great love for the Union, were largely in sympathy with the secessionists, and would, so far as they could, undo anything the Provost-Court might do in punishing rebels and protecting loyal men. General Montgomery and Judge Freese, being convinced that such would thenceforth be the policy of General McClellan and his advisers, tried thereafter to so shape the proceedings of the court that General McClellan should know as little about it, and have as little to do with it, as possible – believing (as afterwards proved true) that he would not only thwart its proceedings, but really abolish the court altogether, whenever he could see that he could do so without calling down upon himself and political associates condemnation from the administration.

Thus has been stated the how and why of the organization of the Provost-Court at Alexandria; some of the details of its workings, so far as appertained to its municipal or police duties; its happy effect upon the comparative quiet of the city; and its restraining power on the belligerent disposition of some of its citizens. What other powers the court was called upon to exercise, and how it exercised them, will be reserved for future chapters.

CHAPTER XII. JUDGE FREESE'S "BAYONET COURT" OTHER POWERS, AND HOW EXERCISED

HARDLY had the Provost-Court at Alexandria been organized before reporters for Northern journals began to call upon the General and upon the Judge for details of its doings, and soon thereafter reports, to a slight extent, of its operations began to appear in some journals under the caption of Judge Freese's "Bayonet Court" – the same as placed at the head of this chapter. One illustrated paper of New York city had a full-page cut, representing the Judge upon the bench in military uniform, with his clerk sitting at his right, and his sword laying upon the desk at his left, with guards standing at attention, each with musket and fixed bayonet; with a score or more of prisoners in the dock, all with woebegone faces; with the Provost-Marshal, in full uniform, standing in front of the Judge, awaiting his orders; with lookers-on all about; and with all the other paraphernalia of a crowded city court-room.