Rebel Plot in Canada Detailed in 18 Pages to Officer in the Army of the Potomac

[CIVIL WAR.] Andrew [H.] C[aughey], Autograph Letter Signed, to David B. McCreary, November 25-26, 1863, Erie, Pennsylvania. 18 pp. + envelope, 5" x 8.125". Expected folds; very good.

In this fascinating and lengthy letter, local minister, editor, and lawyer Andrew H. Caughey of Erie, Pennsylvania, writes to his friend Lieutenant Colonel David B. McCreary of the 145th Pennsylvania in the Army of the Potomac. McCreary had already been captured once—at the Battle of Chancellorsville—and exchanged. The following year, he would be captured again—at Petersburg, Virginia.

Excerpts
"You have doubtless been told by some of your other correspondents of our great military preparations against a rebel attack by way of Canada and the Lake [Erie]. For about a fortnight our 'streets re-echoed to the tread of armed men,' and our citizens took up shovel and pick-ax, and they did dig a ditch, and did throw up an embankment towards the North, even by way of the Block House bank, as thou goest to the Light House. And many people did work thus, both the young and the old and the middle-aged—the priests and chief men of the city, as well as the laboring man and the colored person. But the fortifications are finished, the soldiers are gone and we are at peace.
"There was no doubt a plot concocted in Canada, originating at Richmond, to seize vessels on Lake Erie and then make a descent on Johnson's Island and release the Rebels there confined; but the plot never took very formidable proportions, and perhaps would have amounted to nothing had the revel force even attacked Johnson's Island. But the alarm has had at least one good effect—it has given the Government an opportunity to put the Lake cities in a state of defence, so that they may be able to resist if not a Rebel, a British and Canadian attack, which will doubtless sometime be made."

"There is nothing doing here in the way of volunteering. Col. Schlaudecker has been appointed Recruiting Officer, and he has opened an office to receive recruits, at the corner of State and 9th Streets; but I was told only a few days since that not one man had yet enlisted, although the office has been open for a couple of weeks. O that we could do something to fill up the depleted armies!... But it is only Six weeks till the 5th of January, and then we'll all have to 'either fish or cut bait.' Uncle Abe will reach for us about that time."

"we are...getting up a Monument Association, for the purpose of erecting a fitting monument in the Park in this city to the memory of the brave men from this part of the State who have fallen in the war for the Union.

Historical Background
Johnson's Island is a three-hundred-acre island in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, 150 miles southwest of Erie, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, Union officials selected the island for a prisoner of war camp for Confederate officers, and the camp opened in April 1862. Designed to hold 2,500 prisoners, the population peaked in the spring of 1865 at 3,200 prisoners, including privates, spies, and citizens arrested as guerrillas or bushwhackers. Over the war, more than 15,000 men were imprisoned there, of whom approximately 200 prisoners died from disease, the harsh winters, and food and fuel shortages. Despite many attempts, only a handful of escapes were successful.

The USS Michigan was a side-wheel steamer built in Pittsburgh and assembled in Erie in 1843 as the first iron-hulled ship in the U.S. Navy. During the Civil War, it patrolled Lake Erie from its port in Erie. Early in 1863, a Confederate naval lieutenant developed plans to lead a group of naval officers to Canada, purchase a small steamer, and capture the USS Michigan for use against shipping on the Great Lakes. Confederate President Jefferson Davis refused to approve the plan.

Colonel Mathias Schlaudecker (1831-1907) was born in Bavaria and served as a major in the Erie Regiment in the spring of 1861 then raised a regiment later in 1861 that he drilled at Camp Reed. He was elected colonel of the 111th Pennsylvania Volunteers in January 1862, and he led it until November 1862, when he resigned due to ill health and returned to Erie and recruiting work.

A large monument with bronze figures of a Civil War soldier and sailor was erected in Perry Square in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1872, but because of a debate over its location, it was not officially dedicated until 1939. It honors the soldiers and sailors of Erie County who gave their lives during the Civil War.

Andrew H. Caughey (1827-1916) was born in Pennsylvania and graduated from Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1849. He was a Presbyterian minister, teacher, lawyer, and newspaper editor. In 1882, he published The Occasional Writings of Isaac Moorhead; with a Sketch of His Life about his friend and Erie's postmaster Moorhead (1828-1881). In 1890, Caughey received an honorary Ph.D. from Washington College.

David Barclay/Berkley McCreary (1826-1906) was born in Pennsylvania and attended Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1848 and 1849. He married Annette J. Gunnison in 1851, and they had two children. McCreary worked as a teacher in Pennsylvania and Kentucky before moving to Philadelphia. There he became a lawyer. He enlisted in April 1861 as a first lieutenant in a three-month regiment. After mustering out in July, he received a commission as a captain in the 145th Pennsylvania Infantry on August 27, 1862. He received a series of promotions to lieutenant colonel in September 1862, colonel in January 1865, and brevet brigadier general in March 1865. He commanded the regiment at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and was captured at Chancellorsville in May 1863, later released, and captured again at Petersburg in June 1864. He was confined at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; and Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. After his release, he was mustered out with his regiment in May 1865. He returned to Erie and served in the state legislature in 1866, 1867, and 1870, and as a state senator from 1889 to 1896.

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