Trial of John Y. Beall as a Spy and Guerrillero, by Military Commission, 1865

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• Lot Description
  Trial of John Y. Beall as a Spy and Guerrillero, by Military Commission. New York: Appleton, 1865. Small 8vo, no covers, 94pp. Disbound, title page with institutional rubberstamp and inked inscription, To the New Jersey Hist. Socy., from S. Alofsen, Jersey City, May 16, 1865. A report including the record of Beall's trial in February 1865, with testimony, exhibits, and arguments of counsel. Beall sought to prove that he was a soldier in the regular army, not a guerrilla, and therefore entitled to the rights of a prisoner of war under the laws of war. However, Beall was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. Despite the petition of over 90 congressmen, Lincoln refused to commute the sentence.
  
  Jefferson County, VA (now West Virginia) native John Yates Beall (1835-1865) volunteered for service in the Virginia militia in 1859, after the raid of John Brown into the state. This unit became Company B of the 2nd VA Infantry when war was declared in April 1861. It was one of the earliest units in the field, and assigned to the 1st Brigade under the command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. While at home on furlough in October 1861, Beall volunteered to aid Turner Ashby, whose mission was to check the advance of the Federals on Charles Town, which was only partially successful. Beall jumped to the head of the militia to lead a charge to dislodge troops from a dismantled building on the outskirts of Bolivar. He took a minie ball in the chest. It was a glancing blow that broke three ribs and passed around his rib cage, a wound from which he never fully recovered. He was finally discharged in spring of 1863. However, he was far from finished fighting for Virginia. He conceived of a number of small-scale operations, designed to inflict maximum disruption of enemy actions with minimum Confederate manpower. He was especially focused on maritime resources. He was appointed Acting Master in the Confederate Navy and given permission to recruit a troop of men not subject to conscription, men like himself with limited ability for field service, but still capable of small operations. During summer and fall, he captured a good many small Federal ships, destroyed Cape Charles lighthouse and cut a submarine telegraph cable. He was becoming such a problem that the Union assigned Brigadier General Wistar to the peninsula to capture Beall. Wistar had one African American regiment of infantry, two white cavalry, one artillery battalion and 10 gunboats - all to capture about 18 Confederate Marines. But Beall had accomplished his purpose - disrupt Union actions and draw off resources. And Wistar accomplished his - the raiders were all captured and taken to Fort McHenry where Beall was put in irons. The Confederacy retaliated by taking an equal number of Federal prisoners hostage, until Beall was released from manacles and given the status of a POW, not a pirate. Eventually, he and all of his men were exchanged.
  
  He again approached Secretary Mallory with several more proposals. One was again harassment and capture of Federal ships along the eastern seaboard; another was doing the same with Great Lakes activity on the part of Federal ships, but with the additional goal of releasing prisoners from Johnson's Island; and enlisting Southern refugees in Canada to go to Indian Territory Minnesota, and stirring up trouble among the tribes against the United States. Mallory discouraged the plan to release the prisoners, but prepared an expedition to operate from Canada, including going to Johnson's Island (all without giving Beall credit or the opportunity to join the expedition).
  
  Beall went to Canada, anyway, and contacted some of the Confederate expatriates there, and began capturing Federal ships. He also took part under Captain Cole on another attack on the Island. However, before getting to that point, 17 of his 20 men mutinied, so he had to abandon his plans, leaving Cole unsupported and subject to capture. Beall escaped detection for a while, with many Confederates engaging in raids in the northern regions and escaping across the border into Canada, placing increasing strain on US-Canadian relationships. Finally, on December 16, 1864, Beall was captured after failed attempts to capture a military train between Buffalo and Dunkirk, New York.
  
  There followed a long, convoluted series of legal maneuvers, which included denial of counsel for Beall. He was tried as a pirate and spy, and, although he made numerous appeals on the grounds that he was a Confederate officer and attacking ships as an act of war, he was convicted and sentenced to hang. Lincoln refused to act on his behalf, allowing the execution to go forward. There were delays, but in the end, John Yates Beall was hanged in New York City on Governor's Island on the 24th of February, 1865. His last words as he stood on the gallows were, "I protest against the execution of this sentence. It is a murder. I die in the service and defense of my country." Lincoln was haunted by the Beall case, and he later stated “There was this case of Beall on the lakes. That was a case where there must be an example.”

  Condition

  Disbound, with institutional rubber stamp, inked period notes on front and back pages, clean copy overall. 
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