Kim Beall's Beall History Pages

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Any Southern endeavour which ventured outside the Confederacy during the war tended to be viewed in an unfavorable light by the residents of the Northern states. During the War the Union had witnessed not only Robert E. Lee's invasion reaching Gettysburg, but also many authorized and "not quite official" Confederate cavalry raids deep into Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. These invaders tended to be known as "guerillas," "raiders," "plunderers," "bushwhackers," "looters," "marauders," and "robbers." [see note below]  There were also a number of Confederate privateers - regarded by the Northerners as rogue "pirate" ships- which were capturing and sinking Union commercial shipping on the high seas. Complicating Jacob's intended peace mission, or perhaps just complementing his role, there were other, similar Confederate plots involving operations on Canadian soil: 

     "...various schemes for burning and pillaging were concerted by Confederate emissaries in Canada, and some of them were carried into effect. On the 19th of October, a raid was made on the village of St. Albans, Vermont, about 15 miles from the frontier [Canadian border]. The  marauders robbed the banks, fired on the passers-by, killing and wounding several, and      succeeded in making their escape into Canada...On the night of November 25th, an attempt      was made to burn the city of New York. Fires were simultaneously kindled in several of the large hotels, but were fortunately extinguished before much damage was done. The perpetrators of this crime also escaped into Canada." - G.P. Quackenbos, History of the United States, New York, Appleton, 1868"

The Lake Erie Affair

The above source also tells us that, "Another party captured and burned two small steamers on Lake Erie." It was a plan gone awry. John Yates Beall, the Confederate captain who attempted to carry out Jacob's plan, later wrote to a Canadian newspaper:

     "Immediately on my arrival in Canada I went to Colonel Thompson at Toronto...He informed me of a plan to take the MICHIGAN (14 guns) and release the Confederate officers confined at Johnson's Island...We arranged our plans...I came to Windsor to collect men...On Monday morning we started..."

The MICHIGAN was the only United States war vessel on the Great Lakes, assigned to guard the Confederates on Johnson's Island, off Sandusky, Ohio. Jacob had instructed another Confederate Captain, Charles H. Cole, to create some type of distraction on the MICHIGAN and to give a signal when Beall might attack. In the meantime, Beall and his group boarded the Detroit-Sandusky steamer PHILO PARSONS on September 19, 1864, at Malden, Ontario, posing as ordinary passengers. 

Cole was drinking with the officers of the MICHIGAN when Beall took over the PARSONS off Kelley's Island.  Perhaps because of some slip-up, Cole was arrested and failed to send a signal to Beall, but Beall proceeded according to plan. Enroute to Sandusky on the PARSONS, Beall had to stop at Middle Bass Island for wood.  Another small steamer, the ISLAND QUEEN "with a large number of passengers and 32 soldiers" tied up alongside them for the same purpose. The PARSONS raiders took them all prisoner, but then released all the soldiers and civilians on the isle, sworn not to leave for 24 hours. The ISLAND QUEEN was towed out to deep water and sunk. The PARSONS finally headed for Sandusky, but for some reason [possibly because Cole had not sent the signal] the crew all backed out, refusing to attack the MICHIGAN. Beall later reported,
"I then started to attack the MICHIGAN, when seventeen of my twenty men mutinied...This necessitated my turning back...."

Beall sailed the PHILO PARSONS north again to Sandwich, Ontario. On September 20th, "after plundering and cutting her pipes to scuttle" her, he abandoned the ship to sink. It was also set on fire, according to other accounts. The MICHIGAN must have been close behind, as Commander John C. Carter of the MICHIGAN soon afterward telegraphed, "I have got the principal agent prisoner on board and many accomplices." They had in fact captured neither Jacob nor Captain Beall, but the failure of the mission would haunt future Confederate plots out of Canada. 

The following descriptions of the steamer Philo Parsons and her sister ship the Island Queen are taken from http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/civil_war_usa/C.S.N./p.txt

PHILO PARSONS

Str

PHILO PARSONS was a Detroit-Sandusky steamer seized on Lake Erie by Confederate raiders in an attempt to capture USS MICHIGAN, only United States war vessel on the Great Lakes, and liberate Confederate prisoners she was guarding on Johnson's Island, off Sandusky, O.

The commandos boarded at Malden, Upper Canada (Ont.) in the guise of passengers, 19 September 1864. Their leader was Acting Master's Mate John Y. Beall, CSN, who had helped Capt. Charles H. Cole, CSA, of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's command-an escapee from Johnson's I. in July-organize the plot under chief Confederate agent in Canada, Col. Jacob Thompson (v. GEORGIAN supra). Cole also claimed to have a commission as Lieutenant, CSN.

Cole was drinking with officers of MICHIGAN when Beall took over PARSONS; the scheme went awry, Cole was arrested and failed to send a messenger, as agreed, to Beall, but the latter proceeded according to plan regardless. Beall, in PARSONS, had to stop at Middle Bass Island 
for wood; ISLAND QUEEN "with a large number of passengers and 32 soldiers" tied up alongside them with the same intent. The PARSONS raiders took them all prisoner, paroled the soldiers and left the civilians on the isle sworn not to leave for 24 hours. ISLAND QUEEN was towed out to deep water and sunk; PARSONS finally headed for Sandusky, but for some reason now unknown the crew all backed out, refusing to attack MICHIGAN.

Nothing was left for it but to retreat: at Sandwich, Ont., the 20th, "after plundering and cutting her pipes to scuttle" her, PHILO PARSONS was left to founder while, according to Colonel Thompson, "most of" the Confederate conspirators escaped below the Mason-Dixon Line; Acting 
Master's Mate Bennett G. Burley, CSN, did not: Comdr. John C. Carter, USN, of MICHIGAN telegraphed of Burley, "I have got the principal agent prisoner on board and many accomplices." Canada sought at the Burley trial to force Colonel Thompson's expulsion from the country as the 
espionage mastermind behind the PARSONS, GEORGIAN and other incidents.

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