John Yates Beall (January 1, 1835 – February 24, 1865) was a

Confederate privateer The Confederate privateers were privately owned ships that were authorized by the government of the Confederate States of America to attack the shipping of the United States. Although the appeal was to profit by capturing merchant vessels and seizi ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

who was arrested as a spy in New York and executed at

Fort Columbus A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

Early life and education

Beall was born in Jefferson County, Virginia (now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

) on his father's farm, Walnut Grove. He attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

to study law but upon the death of his father in 1855 he left his studies to take up farming.

Civil War

At the start of the war, Beall joined Bott's Grays, Company G, in the 2nd Virginia Infantry. He received a wound in the lungs which left him incapable of active service. Inspired by

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825 – September 4, 1864) was an American soldier who served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War of 1861–1865. In April 1862, Morgan raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment (CSA) and fought in ...

, he conceived a plan to launch

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

. He presented his plan to Confederate authorities, who were interested but declined to act since it might endanger relations with neutral Britain. Beall was commissioned as acting master in the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

, though not given a command. He then proceeded on his own as a privateer, active in the areas of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

and

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

. He assembled a crew of 18 men and commanded two boats, ''The Raven'' and ''The Swan''. His second in command was a 22-year-old Scotsman named Bennet G. Burley. Beall was captured by Union forces in November 1863 and jailed at

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...

, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, until he was released in a prisoner exchange on May 5, 1864. Steamship Philo Parsons

Upon his release, he returned to the north shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

to Canada West, part of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

, in order to implement a plan to free Confederate prisoners on

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, Johnso ...

. On September 18, 1864, a small group of volunteers embarked from

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

and

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

, Canada West, and, with Beall, captured the ship ''Philo Parsons'' off Kelleys Island, and then the ''Island Queen'', which was

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

. The plan included capturing the U.S. gunboat ''Michigan''. However, at this point the crew refused to proceed further without outside assistance. Beall reluctantly agreed, and together they sailed back to Sandwich (the former name of and now a neighborhood of

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

), where they scuttled the ''Philo Parsons'' and separated, all escaping arrest except for Burley, whose extradition was demanded by U.S. authorities. Beall then decided to free some captured Confederate officers by derailing a passenger train, but he and a companion, George S. Anderson, were arrested in

Niagara, New York Niagara is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 8,378. The town is named after the famous waterfall Niagara Falls. The Town of Niagara is the neighbor to the City of Niaga ...

, on December 16, 1864. They were imprisoned at

Fort Lafayette Fort Lafayette was an island coastal fortification in the Narrows of New York Harbor, built offshore from Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of what is now Bay Ridge in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The fort was built on a natural island ...

, New York. Anderson agreed to testify against Beall in return for leniency. General

John Adams Dix John Adams Dix (July 24, 1798 – April 21, 1879) was an American politician and military officer who was Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New York and Union major general during the Civil War. He was notable for arresting the pro-Souther ...

ordered a military commission for Beall's trial, which began on January 17, 1865. He was represented by James T. Brady. The arrest of Beall had not been published in any newspaper, and Confederate authorities were unaware of his status. On February 8, the commission found him guilty on all charges and sentenced him to death. Beall was then transported to and held at

in New York Harbor to await his execution. The story of Beall's arrest and trial then appeared in the newspapers, and efforts were made to save him. Appeals were made to President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

by many prominent people, including six U.S. Senators and 91 members of Congress, but Lincoln refused to intervene, not wanting to undermine Dix's authority. Beall was executed on February 24, 1865.

Notes

References

* ''The South in the Building of the Nation'', The Southern Historical Publication Society, Richmond, VA, 1909, Volume XI, pgs. 61-62. * Beall, John Yates & Daniel B. Lucas, ''Memoir of John Yates Beall: His Life; Trial; Correspondence; Diary; and Private Manuscript Found Among His Papers, Including His Own Account of the Raid on Lake Erie'', J. Lovell, 1865 * ''Trial of John Y. Beall: As a Spy and Guerrillero, by Military Commission'', United States. Army. Military Commission, D. Appleton and Co., 1865 * Headley, John W, ''Confederate Operations in Canada and New York'', Neale Publishing Co., 1906. Reprint ed. 1981 Time-Life Books Inc. * Horan, James D. ''Confederate Agent, A Discovery in History'', Crown, 1954. * Lewis, Lloyd. ''Myths After Lincoln'', New York: Grosset & Dunlap - Grosset's Universal Library, 1929, 1957, p. 169-170. * Ryall, Lydia Jane
"Sketches and Stories of the Lake Erie Islands" 1913
*

External links

John Yates Beall
at

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beall, John Yates 1835 births 1865 deaths 19th-century executions of American people Acts of sabotage American Civil War spies Burials at Zion Episcopal Churchyard (Charles Town, West Virginia) Confederate States Navy officers Executed people from West Virginia Executed spies Farmers from West Virginia Military personnel from West Virginia People executed by the United States military by hanging People from Jefferson County, West Virginia American privateers University of Virginia alumni People of Virginia in the American Civil War People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Beall family of Maryland

Early life and education

Civil War

Notes

Further reading

References

External links