case files of investigations by levi c. turner and...

FUCHARD NIXON Resident of the United States

R3BERT L. KUNZIG Administmtor of General Services

JAMES B. RHOADS Archivist of the United States

The records reproduced i n the microfilm publication

a re from

Record Group 94

Records of the

Adjutant General's Office, 17801s-1917

i n the National Archives

I

CASE FILES OF INVESTIGATIONS BY LEVI C. TURNER AND WAYETTE C. BAKER

1 861-186 6

On the 137 rolls of t h i s microfilm publication are reproduced an index volume and unbound case f i l e s of investiga- t i ons by Army Judge Advocate Levi C . Turner, 1862-66, and by Provost Marshal and Special Agent Lafayette C. Baker, 1861-65. The records r e l a t e t o investigations of subversive a c t i v i t i e s i n the Civi l War. s e r i e s of records known as the "Turner-Baker papers," and they are i n Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant Generalrs Of- f i ce , 1780 's-1917.

The index and the case f i l e s a re par t of the

Several organizations had general invest igat ive functions during the Civi l War. From the oukbreak of the war u n t i l ear ly i n 1862 the Secretary of State, acting through U.S. marshals and other Government o f f i c i a l s , caused the a r res t and imprisonment of many persons suspected of engaging i n treasonable o r dis loyal ac t iv i t i e s . By an Executive order i n February 1862 the authori ty t o make such a r r e s t s was t ransferred t o the War Department.

The off ices i n the War Department concerned with the in-

Although a vest igat ion of subversive ac t iv i t i e s were those of the Judge Advocate General and the Provost Marshal General. Judge Advocate f o r the Army had been authorized as ear ly as March 2, 1849 (9 S ta t . 351), increased demands ar is ing from the expanded mi l i ta ry operations a f t e r the outbreak of t he Civi l War required the services of more than one judge advocate f o r the administration of mi l i ta ry just ice . By an ac t of Congress approved July 17, 1862 (12 Sta t . 598), the President was given authori ty t o appoint a Judge Advocate General and eeveral sub- ordinate judge advocates.

AGO General Order 140, September 24, 1862, announced the newly created post of Provost Marshal General. An ac t of Con- gress approved March 3, 1863 (12 S ta t . 732), created the Provost Marshal General's Bureau and provided f o r the appointment of a provost marshal f o r each congressional d i s t r i c t . The provost marshals were mi l i ta ry police one of whose dut ies was t o a r r e s t deser ters and who could also be assigned t o detect subversive ac t iv i t i e s . I n addition, t he War Department employed special provost marshals, detectives, and other agents when necessary.

Maj. Levi C. Turner was appointed a s Associate Judge Advo- cate f o r the Army Around Washington by AGO General Order 95 of August 5, 1862. prisoners and a l so cases of mi l i ta ry a r r e s t s i n the Dis t r ic t of Columbia and the adjacent counties of Virginia were t o be spe- c i a l l y assigned t o Turner f o r investigation and determination.

Under the terms of the order all cases of S ta te

On August 8, 1862, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton issued

The order provided t h a t all c i t izens l i a b l e an order t o prevent evasion of military duty and t o suppress dis loyal pract ices . t o be drafted i n t o the militia should be prevented from going t o a foreign country and t h a t any person who might be engaged by ac t , speech, o r writ ing i n discouraging volunteer enlistments o r i n any way giving aid and comfort t o t he enemy o r engaged i n any other dis loyal pract ice against the United S ta tes would be arrested and imprisoned. A l l a r r e s t s made by U.S. marshals and superintendents o r t he chiefs of pol ice were t o be reported t o Judge Advocate Turner i n order t h a t t he apprehended persons could be t r i e d before a military commission. A s a r e su l t of an order dated August 11, 1862, and issued by Turner, he estab- l ished d i rec t contact with a l l Federal and loca l law-enforcement off icers i n the United States by instruct ing them t o properly execute the order of the Secretary of War.

The Turner case f i l e s reproduced i n t h i s microfilm publication r e l a t e t o the a r r e s t , parole, and release of suspects. Included i n the case f i l e s i s correspondence with provost marshals, U.S. marshals and detectives, chiefs of police, Governors of States , and mi l i ta ry commanders. The records r e l a t e both t o c iv i l ians and t o soldiers who were investigated and arrested on such charges as being disloyal, giving a id t o the Confederacy, defrauding the Government, res i s t ing the draf t , discouraging enlistments, and trading i n contraband. men arrested as deser ters from the Confederate Army, blockade runners, and S ta t e prisoners held i n Federal prisons.

Also investigated were

I n October 1865 Turner reported t h a t he himself had con- ducted 7,748 examinations, including those re la t ing t o deserters from the Confederate Army as wel l as those re la t ing t o a l iens , prisoners, and soldiers whose cases a f t e r invest igat ion were reported t o the Secretary of S ta te . Turner investigated ac- counts of recrui t ing of f icers t h a t were referred t o him as "false and fraudulent" and he was responsible, by d i rec t ion of t he Secretary of War, fo r t he t r ans fe r of women, children, and Federal prisoners by boat between Annapolis, Md., and City Point, Va. Two such t r i p s , i n January and July 1863, were reported. Turner s ta ted t h a t i n the execution of h i s orders he had trav- eled extensively throughout the country. He became a Colonel i n the Volunteer Army on March 13, 1865, and served i n the War Department as a judge advocate u n t i l h i s death on March 13, 1867.

I n February 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln trans- ferred the power t o make extraordinary a r r e s t s from the Depart- ment of S ta te t o the War Department, Secretary of S ta t e W. H. Seward recommended Lafayette C. Baker, !!a capable and e f f i c i en t officer,!! fo r possible employment by the War Department. Baker had previously been employed i n !!detective!! o r !!secretT1 services f o r the Commanding General of the Army and f o r Secretary of

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State Seward. from February ton appointed relieved from

He was a special ageilt fo r the War Department u n t i l September 1862, when Secretary of War Stan- him as special provost marshal. After Baker was duty a s a special provost marshal on November 7,

1863, he continued h i s a c t i v i t i e s a s a special agent of the War Department. the F i r s t Regiment, Dis t r ic t of Columbia Cavalry, a regiment formed because, according t o Baker, "The importance of the bureau, and i t s rapidly accumulating business, rendered a mi l i ta ry force, exclusively under my control, a necessity." On April 26, 1865, he became a Brigadier General i n the Volunteer Army. Baker's o f f i c i a l connection with the War Department ended when he was honorably mustered out on January 15, 1866. years l a t e r .

On June 29, 1863, Baker was appointed Colonel of

He died 2

The Baker case f i l e s , containing fewer papers than the Turner f i l e s , include reports submitted by pr ivate persons and Government o f f i c i a l s re la t ing t o suspicious persons and alleged subversive ac t iv i ty , and correspondence concerning cases re- sul t ing from the War Department order of March 30, 1862, for the confiscation of abandoned rebel property around Washington, persons reported t o be secessionists, detectives employed t o f e r r e t out contraband trade, frauds upon the Government, and prospective employees fo r Baker's detective force.

Many of t he Baker case f i l e s contain correspondence of Col. H. S. Olcott, special connnissioner fo r both the War Department and the Navy Department, who was appointed t o invest igate fraudulent claims and contracts. Many f i l e s contain reports t o and correspondence with Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana. Included i n these f i l e s a re Baker's reports t o Secretary Dana, who spent much time investigating cases involving dis loyal ty t o the Government and fraud by contractors fo r supplies. Baker's work fo r the War Department included investigating cases of dis- loyalty, treason, vandalism, and conspiracy. He was a l so in- volved i n espionage on behalf of the Government.

There a re few records i n the Baker case f i l e s re f lec t ing other of h i s ac t iv i t i e s , such as the invest igat ion of frauds i n the recrui t ing service of the Regular Army and of the Navy, the apprehension of John Wilkes Booth and the other conspirators i n the Lincoln assassination, the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis, the t r i a l of Henry Wirz, and a t the request of the Treasury De- partment the invest igat ion of i t s system for issuing currency.

The Turner-Baker papers were brought together a f t e r the war by the Bureau of mil i tary Just ice . case f i l e s began i n 1869; work on Turner's papers was completed i n 1871 and on Baker's, i n 1873. Bureau of Mili tary Just ice u n t i l they were turned over t o the Record and Pension Office i n 1894. Ultimately a l l records of the l a t t e r of f ice were merged with those of the Office of the Ad jutant General.

The arrangement of the

The papers remained i n the

3

The f i l e s have been arranged separately, first fo r Turner and then for Baker, and thereunder i n numerical order. A l l documents i n a case f i l e have been annotated with the number assigned for t ha t specific f i l e . number; the Baker f i l e s carry a number and the symbol IrB.I1

Thus the f i l e c i ta t ion llllf re fers t o the f i r s t case f i l e i n the Turner papers and the c i ta t ion ffl-B,ll t o the first case f i l e i n the Baker papers.

The Turner f i l e s bear only a

rhe Turner papers a re dated 1862-66, with a few documents before and a f t e r these dates. and reports received by him are arranged by case f i l e number, 1-019, except for case-file numbers 1087 and 1088 tha t prob- ably were never assigned. The Baker papers a re dated 1861-65, with a few papers of ea r l i e r and l a t e r dates. The l e t t e r s received by Baker, with reports and notes, are a lso arranged by case-file number, 1 B - 845B. The Turner case f i les a re reproduced on Rolls 2-126; the Baker case f i l e s , on Rolls 127-137.

Reports by Turner and l e t t e r s

A case f i l e may contain one t o several hundred documents. Some of the documents i n the f i l e s bear a f i l e c i t a t ion other than tha t assigned by the Bureau of Military Just ice . t i o n Lndicates t ha t a t one time o r another the l e t t e r had been f i l ed i n some other off ice .

The ci ta-

Some cross-reference s l i p s prepared by the War Department They indicate the f i l e nmber under which a re i n t h i s se r ies .

case f i l e s concerning the same individual have been consoli- dated. Krause has been f i l e d with Turner f i l e 1245, which also concerns Krause .

For example, Baker case f i l e L21B re la t ing t o Gapt. C. A .

Papers for 16 Turner and 7 Baker case f i l e s a re missing. For about half of these missing papers there are cross-reference s l ip s tha t were inserted by War Department clerks t o indicate tha t the documents were removed from t h e i r or iginal locat ion and forwarded t o another off ice . a s t o the locat ion of the papers, the National Archives searched among the records of other War Department off ices and inserted a cross-reference notation i n the Turner-Baker case f i l e s and beside the f i l e number i n the name index-volume for each document tha t was found. An as te r i sk indicates t ha t the case f i l e i s among the Turner-Baker papers o r has been located i n another ser ies . Brackets contain the f i l e designation of the document i n other se r ies of records. Roll 1 of t h i s microcopy.

When there were obvious indications

The index has been reproduced on

The index, which was compiled by the Bureau of Military Justice, contains information for each entry a s follows: case f i l e number, name of individual concerned, occupation, and remarks. The remarks column has been used t o indicate the reason for the investigation. Only names of individuals who were

I

? 1

4

investigated were indexed; other names, such as those on pet i - t ions o r a f f idavi t s , were not indexed.

The en t r ies i n the index have been arranged alphabetically, but separately for Turner and fo r Baker under each l e t t e r of the alphabet, and thereunder numerically. Thus the en t r i e s for the Turner papers a re before the en t r ies fo r the Baker papers fo r each l e t t e r of the alphabet. The National Archives has stamped each page of the index with the c i t a t ion lTurnerfl o r "Baker" t o indicate the se r i e s of papers t o which the en t r ies on the page re fer .

Also i n Record Group 94 are other records from the se r i e s of Turner-Baker papers t ha t are not reproduced i n t h i s micro- fi lm publication. cate Turner, 1862-70; a memorandum book kept by Turner, 1863-66; rough d ra f t s of Turner's l e t t e r s and endorsements; l ists of pr is- oners a t Camp Chase, Fort McHenry, and other Federal prisons; prison reg is te rs ; prisoners ' statements; applications fo r passes t o v i s i t prisoners; oaths of allegiance, mostly f o r Virginians; a record of Secret Service funds; and other records relat ing t o prisoners and witnesses. 94 include documents re la t ing t o both Turner and Baker.

Among them are letterbooks of Judge Advo-

Other s e r i e s of records i n Record Group

I n Record Group 153, Records of the Office of the Judge Ad-

Among them are the invest igat ion and . t r i a l papers re- vocate General (Army), are records re la t ing t o both Turner and Baker. l a t i ng t o the assassination of President Lincoln, which include documents re la t ing t o Baker. These papers have been reproduced on microfilm by the National Archives as Microcopy 599.

In Record Group 107, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Nar, are some records re la t ing t o Turner and Baker. A volume containing telegrams sent by Judge Advocate Turner, August 1862- January 1865, i s among the se r i e s of bound telegrams collected by the Office of the Secretary of War. produced on Roll 133 of Microcopy 473, Telegrams Collected by the Office of t he Secretary of War (Bound), 1861-82.

The volume has been re-

I n Record Group 109, War Department Collection of Confed- erate Records, a re se r i e s of documents t h a t r e l a t e t o c iv i l ians who came in to contact with the Army. F i le of Papers Relating t o Individual Civilians, reproduced as Microcopy 345, and the Union Provost Marshals' F i le of Papers Relating t o Two or More Civilians, reproduced as Microcopy 156, contain documents assembled from the f i l e s of Union Army provost marshals and from other records of Army t e r r i t o r i a l commands. The f i l e s include information re la t ing t o deser ters , Confederate spies, and c iv i l ians suspected of dis loyal ty .

The Union Provost Marshals'

Other records re la t ing t o Baker may be found i n Record Group 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau

5

(Civi l War), and i n Record Group 59, General Records of t he Department of S ta te .

Much of Turner's and Baker's correspondence i s published i n The War of t he Rebellion: A CornDilation of t he Off ic ia l Rec- ords of t he Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, 1880- 1901). of the United S ta tes Secret Service (Philadelphia, 1 8 6 e

Some of Baker's correspondence i s a l so i n h i s Histor

The records reproduced i n t h i s microcopy were arranged for filming by Steven L. Carson, Kenneth E. Deale, Esau F. Jackson, and Florence P. W i l l i a m s . wri t ten by Aloha South, who a l so provided the other ed i to r i a l material .

These introductory remarks were

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CONTENTS

Roll

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 4 1 5 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 0 42 43 44 45 46 47

I

Description

Name Index Turner Case Files:

1-3 9 40-67 68-120

121-151 152-163 164-199 200-218 219-263 264-300 301-322 323-357 358-02 03-440 U - 4 6 8 469-507 508-542 543-592 593-633 634-686 687-723 724-773 774-827 828-852 853-892 893-918 919-947 948-983

1017-1028

98&-1010 1011-1016

1029-1039 1040-1060 1061-1095 1096-1116 1ll7-1140 110-1169 1170-1181 1182-1201 1202-1240 120-1280 1281-1320 1321-1360 1361-1431 143 2-1490 1491-1565 1566-1612

Rol l

48 49 50 5 1 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 7 1 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 $0 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

- Description

1613-1688 1689-1756 1757-1836 1837-1952 1953-2009 2010-2055 2056-2084 2085-2137 2138-2189 2190-2231

265-2299 2300-2345 2346-200

2 0 1 202-2440 2 U - 2 4 7 4 2475-2490

2232-2264

2491-2528 2529-2629 2630-2654

2686-2735

2768-2804 2805-2875 2876-2899 2900-2927 2928-2962

2990-3020 3021-3046

3056-3086 3087-3112

2655-2685

2736-2767

2963-2989

3047-3055

3113 3114-3160 3161-3196 3197-3214 3215-3255

3289-3309 3310-3336 3337-3370 3371-3392 3393-3420 3421-3440 3 U - 3 4 6 4

3256-3288

7

Roll

96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 I l k 117 118 119 120

Description

346 5 -3 490 3 491-3 497 3498-3 520 3521-3552 3553-3578 3579-3608 3609-3 6W 3 642-3 652 3653-3689 3690-3740 37U-3751

3752 3753 (Pt . 3753 (Pt

3754-3755w - 3755(Pt -

375 6-3757 3758-3762 3763-3780 3781-3799

3800(pt. )-3801 3800(pt.

3802(pt. 3802(pt. )-3830

3831-3879

Roll

121 122 123 124 125 126

Description

3 880-3959 3960-3999 moo-4045 4046-4069 4.070-l+080 4081-1;119

Baker Case Files: 1B-82B 83EL209B 210~~314~ 315B-382B 3 5 B 83B-47 476B-601B

611B-651B 652B-722B 723B-783B 784B-845B

602~-610~

case files of investigations by levi c. turner and...

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