The Civil War created a rip in our national fabric and re-wove it with historic change. It resonates to this day, and continues to influence and define how we, as Americans, view ourselves. It is arguably the most traumatic, transformative and talked about event in U.S. History. Despite all the research, all the interest, and all the experts, the American Civil War still has some secrets to reveal. This series will explore a Civil War that you weren't taught about in school...
In California, before and during the
Civil War, there existed secret societies made up of men who were pro-slavery,
pro-secession, and pro-Confederate. Three
of the most prominent and influential were the Committee of Thirty, the Knights
of the Golden Circle and the Knights of the Columbian Star[1]. Various figures have been given for
membership and they range from secondary source estimates of 100,000 for just
K.G.C. and K.C.S., with primary source estimates of 16,000 for just the K.G.C.[2]
The Knights of the Golden Circle were
originally formed in 1835 with the intention of conquering Mexico and
“Americanizing” it for the purpose of protecting and expanding slavery and
cotton production[3]. This society consisted of a complex system of
"Castles" (regional cells), and included a political arm and a
military one. As with other contemporary
secret societies, there were degrees and levels, and like the Freemasons, the
K.G.C. had three[4]. Interestingly enough, the K.G.C. allowed
women to join their organization and rise up to the level of second degree,
this at a time when a majority of secret societies were exclusively male. The
organization was pro-slavery, and was active in seraptitiously promoting their
agenda across the U.S., California being no exception. Rules were written out on how to identify and
target individuals who were abolitionist in nature. One tactic was to secretly mark an abolitionist’s
personal belongings, such as a traveling trunk, carriage, wagon, or even his
person with the drawing of a circle and a line drawn through it. Next, one would inquire, quite innocently, where this abolitionist was heading, who he or she would be staying with and
so forth. Once obtained, this
information was passed on to higher authorities within the organization, with the intent to defame, maim or kill the individual should they become a
liability and interfere with the dream of establishing a New World slaveocracy[5]. As Civil War loomed, the focus of the K.G.C.
switched from foreign conquest and expansion, to infiltrating Northern
and neutral States to subvert the Union, as well as supply and support the Confederacy[6].
The Knights of the Golden Crescent
was another secret society that was active in California during the Civil
War. This organization was kept in such
secrecy, that even members of the order had absolutely no idea who was in the
upper echelons, and in some cases, whom other members were.
Similar to the Knights of the Golden Circle, the Knights of the Golden Crescent had a whole series of secret signs, grips and passwords and each degree had a different set of each. For example, when a First Degree member met another, he would act as if he was fitting his coat. The other member would reply by throwing his hand behind his back. An exchange of password dialogue would follow:
Similar to the Knights of the Golden Circle, the Knights of the Golden Crescent had a whole series of secret signs, grips and passwords and each degree had a different set of each. For example, when a First Degree member met another, he would act as if he was fitting his coat. The other member would reply by throwing his hand behind his back. An exchange of password dialogue would follow:
Q. Do you know Jones?
A. What Jones?
Q. Preacher Jones.
A. Yes.
Q. Have you the password?
A. I have.
Q. Will you give it to me?
A. That is not the way I obtained it.
Q. What will you do with it?
A. I will divide it with you.
Q. Well, you divide it, and begin.
A. No, you begin.
Q. No, you begin: the word is yours.
A. Death.
Q. To.
A. All.
Q. Traitors[7].
As complex as these societies were, and regardless of the fact they were well organized, their influence never posed a real and serious threat to California’s pro-Union position[8]. However, there was one instance where a
pro-Confederate secret society lent direct military support to a Confederate operation
in northern California, when the K.G.C. played host to a few members of Rufus
Ingram’s Partisan Rangers through the San Jose Castle of the Knights of the
Golden Circle[9].
Pro-Confederate secret
societies did more to keep California in the Union than they did to join
California to the Southern Cause. In a letter to Secretary of War, Simon
Cameron, a San Francisco businessman placed the membership in the Knights of
the Golden Circle at 18,000. He also warned that "certain secessionist
societies" were planning to take California and turn it into a “Pacific
Republic” that would petition the Confederacy for statehood. Another piece of correspondence, written by E.V. Sumner, Commander
of the Department of the Pacific in San Francisco on April 28th 1861, also makes mention of these plans:
“ …I have no doubt but there is some deep scheming to draw California
into the secession movement; in the first place as the “Republic of the
Pacific,” expecting afterwards to induce her to join the Southern Confederacy…”
Furthermore, Sumner said he would be
powerless to stop the secessionists should they organize a “general uprising,”
but that he was doing everything in his power to reinforce the State with troops and
provide a strong U.S. military presence including ordering existing U.S. military forces to immediately
occupy areas where secessionist activity, real or perceived, was occurring. These
actions, as well as others carried out by Californians loyal to the U.S.,
quelled any hope the secret secessionist societies had of breaking California
away from the Union. Their numbers were not sufficient, nor their access to
arms plentiful enough, to combat a strong U.S. Army presence[10].
*****
1. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the
Rebellion, (Washington: Government Printing Office, Part 1) p. 590
2. Benjamin Franklin Gilbert, California and the Civil War, A Bibliographical Essay (California Historical Society Quarterly, Volume XXXX, Number 4, December 1961), p. 293, Charles M. Dustin, The Knights of the Golden Circle (Pacific Monthly, XXVI, November 1911), p. 495
3. Leonard B. Waitman, The Knights of the Golden Circle in California with Special Emphasis on Southern California and San Bernardino (San Bernardino County Museum Quarterly, Volume XV, Number 4, Summer 1968), pp. I, 2
4. Ibid, p. 6
5. W. Pomerey, A True Disclosure and Exposition of the Knights of the Golden Circle, including the Secret Signs, Grips, and Charges, of the Three Degrees, as Practiced by the Order (Cincinnati: Printed for the Author, 1861), p. 30-31
6. Leonard B. Waitman, The Knights of the Golden Circle in California with Special Emphasis on Southern California and San Bernardino (San Bernardino County Museum Quarterly, Volume XV, Number 4, Summer 1968), p. 9
7. Benjamin F. Gilbert, The Confederate Minority in California (California Historical Society, Volume XX, 1941), pp. 155-156, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government Printing Office, Series I, Volume L, Part II) pp. 938-941
8. Leo P. Kirby, California, The Civil War, and the Indian Problem, An Account of California’s Participation in the Great Conflict (Lorrin L. Morrison and Carroll S. Morrison: Journal of the West, 1967), p. 21
9. Phil Reader, Copperheads, Secesh Men, and Confederate Guerillas, Pro-Confederate Activities in Santa Cruz County during the Civil War, Part 2: Tom Poole, Confederate Guerrilla
10. Brig-Gen. Richard H. Orton, Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1867 (Sacramento: State Office, J.D. Young, Supt. State Printing, 1890), p. 6, Benjamin F. Gilbert, The Confederate Minority in California (California Historical Society, Volume XX, 1941), p. 293, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion, (Washington: Government Printing Office, Series I, Volume L, Part I), p. 462, pp. 474-475