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DISCLAIMER (0:00)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 The following program contains descriptions of violence and suggestive topics that may not be appropriate for younger audiences. Listener discretion is advised.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (0:08)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 You\u2019re listening to the American Narrative: Histories of a Nation, a podcast series by Discover America. I\u2019m your host, Tim Murphy, alongside cohost Grant Shea, ready to uncover another chapter of our nation\u2019s captivating and forgotten past. Welcome back, Grant!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (0:22)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s good to be back, Tim! Man, we\u2019re really cruising along. I\u2019m excited to hear what we\u2019re going to talk about today.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (0:28)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Oh yeah, very exciting stuff for this second episode. In Chapter 2 of the Narrative, we\u2019ll be discussing the northernmost land action of the American Civil War: The St. Albans Raid.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n July 1863 was a watershed moment for the Confederate States of America. The decisive Union victory at Gettysburg stifled Robert E. Lee\u2019s Second Invasion of the North and permanently crippled his army\u2019s offensive capabilities. Meanwhile, in the Western Theater, Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured Vicksburg following a 47-day siege, compelling the surrender of General John C. Pemberton\u2019s Confederate Army of Mississippi\u2014approximately 30,000 soldiers. This critical defeat provided Federal forces with complete control of the Mississippi River, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n These military disasters weren’t the Confederacy’s only woes. The Anaconda Plan\u2014an extensive Union naval blockade designed to strangle the Southern economy\u2014was tightening its grip with devastating effectiveness. Once-bustling Southern ports were unable to export cash crops or import vital war materials such as armaments, uniforms, and medical supplies. The agriculturally-centered Confederate States, already struggling with limited industrial capacity, were beginning to feel the war\u2019s undeniable economic stress.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Confederate President Jefferson Davis begrudgingly acknowledged that the war couldn\u2019t be won independently, given the Union\u2019s growing military and industrial superiority. Successful secession required European support. Confederate envoys were dispatched across the Atlantic, seeking diplomatic recognition and military assistance. But European powers balked at outright cooperation; their hesitancies stemming from Abraham Lincoln\u2019s Emancipation Proclamation, which reframed the American Civil War as a moral crusade against slavery. This development made any alliance with the slaveholding Confederacy ethically and politically unpalatable, especially for Great Britain, which maintained a powerful abolitionist presence that heavily influenced public opinion and Parliamentary policy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n With direct diplomacy stagnated, the Confederate government resorted to more discreet methods of persuasion. During the spring of 1864, President Davis appointed Jacob Thompson, Clement Claiborne Clay, and James P. Holcombe as Special Commissioners to the Canadian provinces. These men were an extension of the Confederate Secret Service, tasked with representing Southern interests, disrupting Northern political unity, and fomenting anti-Union sentiment in British North America.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Before we get into the details of these covert operations, we must examine the strange dichotomy of contemporary Canadian geopolitics. The Province of Canada was a self-governing colony within the British Empire. Its governmental structure featured a locally accountable legislature and a Governor-General who, as the direct representative of the Royal Crown, maintained ultimate executive authority. When the American Civil War erupted, Queen Victoria\u2019s proclamation of neutrality became Canada\u2019s official policy; however, this impartiality proved difficult to maintain. For decades, the Canadian border served as the Underground Railroad\u2019s northern terminus, where an estimated 30 \u2013 40,000 freedom seekers successfully escaped slavery. Despite this humanitarian impact, powerful economic and political realities often dictated a different kind of pragmatism. The burgeoning textile industry in cities like Montreal and Toronto relied heavily on Southern cotton imports. Consequently, many wealthy merchants and factory owners held strong financial incentives to see the Confederacy succeed. This commercial self-interest was often intertwined with a deep-seated anti-Americanism\u2014a historical resentment dating back to the Revolutionary War\u2014and perennial fears of American Manifest Destiny and annexation. For some Canadians, supporting the Confederacy was less an endorsement of slavery and more a strategic opportunity to see the powerful American republic divided and weakened.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Confederate Secret Service strategically viewed Canada as a sanctuary to organize their subversive actions, free from Union interference. Bankrolled with $1.5 million, these rebel operatives devised some audacious plots like hijacking American ships on the Great Lakes, liberating Confederate prisoners-of-war in Chicago, and even attempting biological warfare with smallpox-infected supplies. However, the ultimate objectives were to undermine confidence in the federal government and force a significant withdrawal of Union troops to defend the northern border. The Confederates hoped to provoke a strong, hasty Union reaction onto Canadian soil, which would blatantly violate Britain\u2019s neutrality agreements. Such an offense, they believed, would compel the British Empire to intervene militarily, thereby securing Britain’s diplomatic and material support for the Confederacy, fundamentally altering the course of the war.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Union intelligence was aware that Confederate operatives were present on Canadian soil. Major General John A. Dix, Commander of the Department of the East, wanted to preemptively station troops along the U.S.-Canada border to dissuaded any subterfuge, but Secretary of War Edwin Stanton rebuked the idea. He ensured British diplomat Lord Richard Lyons, quote, \u201cin the present peaceful aspect of affairs, we shall not make any such military demonstration.\u201d The U.S. government was particularly sensitive to Canadian neutrality and aimed to avoid any actions that could lead to British intervention in the Civil War.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While traveling through Halifax, Nova Scotia\u2014a refuge for Confederate blockade runners and escaped prisoners-of-war\u2014Clement Clay acquainted Bennett Henderson Young, a spry 21-year-old Confederate soldier who had previously served in the 8th Kentucky Cavalry, part of General John Hunt Morgan\u2019s Brigade.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Morgan\u2019s Raiders, as they were known, were a highly mobile and disruptive cavalry force that sabotaged logistical and communication networks behind Union lines. During the summer of 1863, these Confederate cavalrymen embarked upon their most ambitious action, \u201cMorgan\u2019s Great Raid\u201d\u2014a destructive, thousand-mile campaign across Kentucky, southern Indiana, and Ohio. Over the course of three-and-a-half weeks, Morgan\u2019s men captured and paroled an estimated 6,000 Union soldiers, destroyed numerous pieces of railroad infrastructure, and inflicted hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Despite its initial success, Morgan\u2019s Great Raid ultimately became a costly failure. The campaign lacked a clear strategic objective beyond local disruption and was conducted against the explicit orders of Morgan\u2019s commanding officer, General Braxton Bragg, who forbade any operation beyond the Ohio River. This insubordination isolated the Raiders from any immediate military support, which proved costly at the Battle of Buffington Island, where more than half of Morgan\u2019s Brigade was captured. Following a relentless Federal pursuit and brief skirmish in Salineville, Ohio, General Morgan surrendered his remaining command on July 26, 1863.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Most of Morgan\u2019s enlisted men, including Bennett Young, were imprisoned at Camp Douglas, Illinois. Known as the \u201cChicago Slaughter Pen,\u201d Camp Douglas was notorious for its severe overcrowding, poor sanitation, and high death rates. However, in January 1864, Young bribed a prison guard for his freedom and escaped to Canada.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n During his encounter with commissioner Clay, Young described the horrific conditions he experienced at Camp Douglas and, driven by a vengeful indignation against the Union, proposed a series of \u201cretribution raids\u201d along the US-Canada border. This provocative strategy had three main objectives. First, divert Federal troops from Southern battlefronts and alleviate pressure on beleaguered Confederate forces. Second, instill widespread panic among the Northern populace, thereby undermining civilian morale and support for the Lincoln administration. And finally, replenish the Confederacy\u2019s depleted coffers through organized bank robberies.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Impressed by Young\u2019s ambition, Clay arranged for him to meet members of the Confederate War Department in Richmond, Virginia. The Kentuckian\u2019s proposed action was ultimately approved by Secretary of War James A. Seddon, who commissioned him as a lieutenant. Upon his return to Canada, Young recruited twenty Confederate fugitives for the mission\u2014most of whom were veterans of General Morgan\u2019s command or previously imprisoned at Camp Douglas. Young named his specialized raid unit \u201cFifth Company, CSA Retributors.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In early autumn 1864, Young conducted reconnaissance missions along the Northern border, scoping out villages vulnerable to attack. He meticulously surveyed several communities, assessing their defenses, presence of Union troops, and accessibility of banks. After thorough deliberation, Young identified St. Albans, Vermont, as the opportune target.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Located just fifteen miles south of the Canadian border, St. Albans\u2014a town of 4,000 people\u2014was the seat of Franklin County and a \u201cprosperous market town\u201d of northern Vermont. A regional powerhouse in the burgeoning dairy industry, St. Albans produced and shipped nearly fifteen-hundred tons of butter annually. The presence of the Central Vermont Railroad\u2014which maintained its headquarters and major repair shops in St. Albans\u2014was pivotal for merchants to safely transport perishable goods over long distances. So significant was the dairy trade that every Tuesday between April and October was nicknamed \u201cButter Day.\u201d R. R. Sherman, author of the 1872 work, \u201cThe Origin of the St. Albans Butter Market,\u201d described the scene as follows: \u201cSt. Albans presents a lively appearance on Tuesday during the Spring, Summer and Fall\u2026 Teams are hitched on every post on Main Street, the yards are full, the hotels are full, and the farmers, I mean their pockets, are full. Butter is king.\u201d Butter\u2019s a big thing up in St. Albans.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (9:39)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 You know, just something that I always think is interesting, too, is the way that economics and culture intersect in these moments in history. A lot of this has to deal with trying to get Britain\u2019s support for the Confederacy by having this whole moral depravity of slavery becoming an obstacle to achieving that. But, I\u2019ve actually been reading a book about the Haitian Revolution back in the 1790s, and something really interesting was\u2014as you said, Britain had a really strong abolitionist movement\u2014and the powers that be in Britain didn\u2019t really want to act on that or they tried to keep them to the fringes until they saw that they could achieve a lot of the same economic benefits that they were achieving through colonialism in India that they were achieving in the Caribbean through slavery. And when they came to that consensus, they said \u2018Well, what if we start a moral crusade against slavery to try to\u2026\u2019 You know, France, their only colonial holdings relied heavily on slavery\u2014like Saint-Domingue, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Hispaniola, that whole island\u2014and [in the] early 1800s, William Wilberforce, anti-slavery society that became one of the biggest grassroots global human rights campaigns (up until that moment) in history. And the actual people that were a part of that movement\u2014driven by morals, driven by principles very honorable\u2014but the powers that be above that kind of allowed that to foment. They really saw it as an economic opportunity to hurt France because France\u2019s colonial economy relied more heavily on slavery at that point than Britain, and you realize now, the Confederacy is kind of trying to do the same. The cultural ramifications or the moral depravity of slavery is again butting heads with the economic realities of how the Confederacy, Canada\u2026this is something that I feel like throughout history you always see. One doesn\u2019t exist without the other. It\u2019s almost like two sides of the same coin\u2014we like to separate economics from culture, but they both shape each other. I think that just, big picture, this is really interesting in how you see this play out in a very empirical scenario like this\u2014just a moment in history. I think it\u2019s super interesting. People don\u2019t talk about this when they think about the Civil War, typically.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (12:26)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 And it\u2019s not like a binary, either. You know, when people think of the Civil War it\u2019s like \u2018the South was pro-slavery, the North was anti-slavery\u2019\u2014there were a lot of pro-slavery folks up in the North.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (12:38)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 What were they called? Copperheads?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (12:41)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Copperheads! And we talked about that in our first episode.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (12:43)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 I was gonna say\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (12:45)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 But I mean, yeah\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (12:46)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 And it was vice versa in the South. There were the Union sympathizers in the South. It\u2019s as you say. It\u2019s not binary. It\u2019s all kind of a fluid matrix. You know, I always think, too, just in reading some historical philosophy\u2014one of my favorite baseline philosophical books is the Tao Te Ching about Taoism\u2014if you ever see the Yin Yang symbol, you see the black and the white, but in each there is a dot of the other color, and it\u2019s to symbolize that nothing is binary. That yes, there are two sides to the coin, but in each side there exists parts of the other, no matter how hard they try.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (13:29)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Beyond its role as a major commercial and transportation hub, St. Albans was a pinnacle of industry for northern Vermont. More than 500 men were employed in the town\u2019s railyard and iron foundry. Yet, despite its strategic accolades, St. Albans remained completely undefended by any organized military unit.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Over the course of several excursions, Young gathered intelligence about St. Albans\u2019s topography, gun stores, livery stables, and its three financial institutions\u2014the First National, St. Albans, and Franklin County Banks. During one visit, Young disguised himself as a divinity student and approached the home of Vermont Governor John G. Smith. The Governor’s wife, Ann Brainerd Smith, unwittingly toured him around the property. She had no idea that this innocent-looking seminarian planned to incinerate the mansion\u2014a calculated reprisal for the destruction of Virginia Governor John Letcher’s home earlier that June.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On October 6, Young received a memorandum from Clay stating, \u201cYour suggestion for a raid upon accessible towns in Vermont, commencing with St. Albans, is approved, and you are authorized and required to act in conformity with that suggestion.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lieutenant Young and his 20-man contingent relocated to St. Johns, Quebec, to finalize preparations for the raid. Rather than employing traditional ambush tactics, the raiders planned a more insidious approach: they would infiltrate the town over several days, posing as civilians to avoid arousing suspicion. Young himself was the first to arrive, checking into the Tremont Hotel on October 10. The remaining retributors gradually filtered into St. Albans between the 11th and 17th.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The raid was initially scheduled for October 18th, but that was a Tuesday (Butter Day),\u00a0 meaning the town would be teeming with civilians. To mitigate risk, Young postponed his operation to Wednesday October 19th, comparatively the \u201cdullest day of the week.\u201d By coincidence, forty of St. Albans\u2019s key civic leaders would be absent from town that day, attending either a State Supreme Court hearing in Burlington or sessions of the State Legislature in Montpelier. This greatly minimized the potential for any immediate armed resistance.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That Wednesday morning, the Confederate operatives convened in Young\u2019s room at the Tremont Hotel. Each raider was equipped with two .36 caliber Colt Navy Revolvers and flasks of \u201cGreek Fire\u201d\u2014an incendiary liquid (likely a mixture of turpentine, phosphorous, and other volatile compounds) that was notoriously difficult to extinguish. The rebels organized themselves into five units to execute their coordinated attack. Three detachments were designated to conduct simultaneous bank robberies; one group was tasked with securing fresh horses for their escape; and the final unit was assigned to hold hostages in the town square and prevent civilian interference.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n At precisely 3 PM, Young discharged his pistol in front of the American House Hotel, exclaiming \u201cI am an officer of the Confederate Service. I take possession of this town in the name of the Confederate States of America!\u201d The townsfolk initially thought Young\u2019s proclamation was a tasteless prank or drunken outburst, but this skepticism quickly faded as additional raiders emerged, brandishing weapons and corralling hostages in the Village Green.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lieutenant William Hutchinson led three armed raiders into the Franklin County Bank, where they quickly subdued teller James Armington and cashier Marcus Beardsley. The Confederates stole $75,000 before locking their hostages inside the bank\u2019s vault.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A similar scenario unfolded at the St. Albans Bank, where raiders held teller Cyrus Bishop and bank manager Martin Seymour hostage. The heist was briefly interrupted when a neighboring business owner, Samuel Breck, attempted to enter the locked building, unaware of the ongoing robbery. A Confederate operative accosted Breck at gunpoint, relieving him of $393. A short while later, another unwary customer, 17-year-old Morris Roach, was also robbed of $210. All four captives were forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the Confederate States before being locked inside the bank. The Confederates escaped with $80,000 in cash but left behind approximately $50,000 in uncut bank notes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the First National Bank, rebel retributors terrorized bank clerk Albert Sowles and General John Nason, a veteran of the War of 1812 who was nearly 90 years old. As the raiders gathered their spoils, an unsuspecting customer named William Blaisdell entered the bank. Realizing a robbery was underway, Blaisdell began grappling with an armed assailant. The scuffle ended when another conspirator threatened to shoot Blaisdell in the head. The Confederates made off with $58,000 from the First National Bank.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In total, Young\u2019s company managed to steal over $200,000 within 30 minutes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While the robberies were taking place, several other raiders stole horses, saddles, bridles, and blankets from livery stables and hitching posts. Some unfortunate citizens were victims of the pillaging. One resident, Collins Huntington, was shot after refusing to dismount his horse. Fortunately, the bullet glanced off his ribs, and he ultimately survived his injury. Another individual, Lorenzo Bingham, encountered similar violence while attempting to knock a raider off his stolen horse. According to Lorenzo\u2019s daughter, Lizzie, who recounted the event years later, \u201c[He] got hit with a bullet but was not hurt. A stray bullet struck a heavy silver watch he was wearing and fell to the sidewalk\u2026[leaving] only a graze on his belly just in front of his hip bone.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Grant (18:41)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 You see that in movies I feel like, but, to see it actually happen in real life\u2026thank God his pocket watch was where it was.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (18:51)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Yeah, that\u2019s crazy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tim (18:55)<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 The sound of gunfire captured the attention of passersby. Leonard Cross, who owned a photography studio on Main Street, stepped outside to ask the men what they were celebrating. Lieutenant Young menacingly responded, \u201cI\u2019ll let you know\u201d and fired a shot directly at the bystander. The bullet missed Cross\u2019s head by mere inches. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another civilian, Elinus Morrison, inadvertently ran into the unfolding action. Young commanded him to halt, but Morrison attempted to duck into a nearby storefront. Young discharged his revolver, the bullet piercing Morrison\u2019s hand and abdomen. Two civilians carried the gravely wounded man to LL Dutcher\u2019s Drugstore, where Dr. Seth Day rendered emergency aid. Despite his efforts, Morrison succumbed to his injuries two days later. He was the only civilian fatality of the St. Albans Raid.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n