Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Her name
Speaker 1: was Maria Rosetta O'Neill, but everyone called her Rose. Born
Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen, she grew up in poverty on a
Speaker 1: small farm in Maryland. Shortly after her thirteenth birthday, her
Speaker 1: mother died, leaving her to care for her siblings. A
Speaker 1: farm and children were too much for their father, so
Speaker 1: he sent Rose and his other children to any relative
Speaker 1: who would take them. Rose went to live with family
Speaker 1: in Washington, d c. Naturally, she was upset to have
Speaker 1: lost her own family. Over time, though, she found city
Speaker 1: life and a full social circle to her liking. As
Speaker 1: a young woman, she caught the eye of Dr Robert Greenhouse,
Speaker 1: a federal librarian with degrees in medicine and law. The
Speaker 1: two wed and headed west for a few years, but
Speaker 1: California life didn't suit the couple or their three children,
Speaker 1: and they made plans to return, but Robert stayed behind
Speaker 1: too tidy up some loose ends, promising Rose, now pregnant
Speaker 1: with their fourth child, that he'd rejoin her soon. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: they never saw each other again. Robert had a fall
Speaker 1: and died from his injuries. The death of a spouse
Speaker 1: spelled financial disaster for most women in the eighteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: but not Rose. With her husband's pension, she remained comfortable
Speaker 1: enough to stay in her beloved city and busied herself
Speaker 1: with her high society lifestyle. That lifestyle came under threat
Speaker 1: when the Civil War erupted. So when Rose heard about
Speaker 1: the Union army's plans to march on Manassas, Virginia, Rose
Speaker 1: used to cipher to encrypt this information in a letter
Speaker 1: and handed it to a Confederate spy, Bettie all And,
Speaker 1: disguising herself as a farm woman, Duval hid Rose's letter
Speaker 1: in her hair, snuck out of Washington, d c. And
Speaker 1: delivered the letter to Confederate commanders. The South went on
Speaker 1: to win the first battle at Manassas. Rose herself became
Speaker 1: a spy after that, establishing a network of forty eight
Speaker 1: women and two men. Though brilliant in her ability to
Speaker 1: code and transport letters, she was careless about destroying evidence.
Speaker 1: You see, Rose kept copies of the letters, along with
Speaker 1: maps and other documents in her home, and that would
Speaker 1: be her downfall. After searching her home in August of
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one, and finding the incriminating evidence, authorities arrested Rose,
Speaker 1: but her sentence was short, and on May thirty one,
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two, she was released on the condition that
Speaker 1: she leave Washington. She settled in Richmond and accepted a
Speaker 1: diplomatic mission to gain Confederate support from France and the
Speaker 1: United Kingdom. After one triple overseas, Rose returned home on
Speaker 1: a British blockade ship named the Condor. Just before reaching
Speaker 1: the coast, the captain spotted Union ships. Fearing a capture,
Speaker 1: Rose and the other agents acquired a rowboat, ill equipped
Speaker 1: to handle the number of passengers and their cargo two
Speaker 1: thousand dollars worth of gold. Under the added weight, the
Speaker 1: rowboat capsized and Rose drowned. Confederate troops found her body
Speaker 1: days later. For her service as a spy, the Confederacy
Speaker 1: gave Rose O'Neill greenhow a military burial with full honors.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It's often said
Speaker 1: that soldiers don't enter battle because they hate the person
Speaker 1: in front of them. They fight because of what's behind them,
Speaker 1: their beliefs and values and fears, and those tasked with
Speaker 1: strategy know the importance of turning the opponent's weaknesses into
Speaker 1: their strengths and misfortunes into gain. During the Civil War,
Speaker 1: brother fought against brother. Families were as divided as the
Speaker 1: nation itself, and while generals on both sides were highly
Speaker 1: regarded for strategy, some of the more critical events leading
Speaker 1: up to the end weren't determined on a battlefield. The
Speaker 1: outcome of the war wasn't entirely decided that day in Gettysburg,
Speaker 1: though that's the Civil War history we know best. No,
Speaker 1: the event that almost changed the United States forever happened
Speaker 1: in a field of clover with a corporal and an envelope.
Speaker 1: Intentions in the States had reached a fever pitch by
Speaker 1: April of eighteen sixty one. Southern states decided that if
Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln became president did succeed. Of course, the hostility
Speaker 1: between the North and South had been simmering for decades.
Speaker 1: Both sides disagreed on matters of slavery, westward expansion, and
Speaker 1: states rights. With exponential growth in the US had come
Speaker 1: a shift in economics between northern and Southern states. The
Speaker 1: North had become a hub for manufacturing industry and finance.
Speaker 1: The South's economy relied on large scale farming, primarily of
Speaker 1: tobacco and potton. After abolitionist John Brown raided Harper's Ferry,
Speaker 1: Maryland in eighteen fifty nine, the South felt certain the
Speaker 1: North wanted to destroy their way of life. Of course,
Speaker 1: we know that Lincoln did become president, and we know
Speaker 1: that many states hadn't been bluffing on the threat to succede.
Speaker 1: During his first three months in office, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Speaker 1: and Texas seceded from the Union. Not long afterward, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia,
Speaker 1: and North Carolina joined them, and while Maryland, Kentucky, and
Speaker 1: Missouri didn't follow suit, they strongly sympathized with the South.
Speaker 1: With Lincoln in office, the South feared that being enslaved
Speaker 1: people would affect the labor force, and many businesses worried
Speaker 1: that'd lose income or simply ceased to exist Without slave labor,
Speaker 1: the South believed their entire economy would collapse. Taxation and
Speaker 1: the issue of federal rights versus states rights had also
Speaker 1: come under fire. None of Lincoln's propositions sat well with
Speaker 1: the Southern states, especially wealthy plantation owners who lived there.
Speaker 1: It didn't take long before an uprising loom to cross
Speaker 1: the US. If it came down to war, the North
Speaker 1: and South each believed they had the power to end
Speaker 1: the conflict within months. The Union had twenty three states
Speaker 1: and a well formed military, though not tightly united to
Speaker 1: the cause, and while the South didn't have as many
Speaker 1: states or the same number of soldiers, they were fiercely
Speaker 1: united to protect their way of life. The South was
Speaker 1: also home to some of the best military officers, including
Speaker 1: Robert E. Lee. Regarded as highly intelligent and possessing an
Speaker 1: uncanny knack for strategy, Lee was also a brilliant commander,
Speaker 1: easily able to rally and organize troops. He had been
Speaker 1: born into the military. His father had been a Revolutionary
Speaker 1: war hero. Lee himself graduated second in his class from
Speaker 1: West Point. After graduation, he wed Mary Anna Randolph Custis,
Speaker 1: Ever ready to defend his country. He went on to
Speaker 1: win three Brevets for gallantry in the War with Mexico
Speaker 1: in eighty six, and was promoted to colonel for his
Speaker 1: skills and bravery. Other formidable Confederate military leaders included Thomas
Speaker 1: Stonewall Jackson, and Samuel Cooper. Meanwhile, one of the Union's
Speaker 1: most accomplished leaders was Ulysses S. Grant. Serving under Grant
Speaker 1: was William Sherman, who received criticism for his scorched earth
Speaker 1: policy in burning anything and everything he perceived useful to
Speaker 1: the Confederates. The Union also had George McClellan. Intelligent and studious,
Speaker 1: he also fated second in his class from West Point,
Speaker 1: though in eighteen fifty three, while under the command of
Speaker 1: Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, McClellan showed a propensity for
Speaker 1: in subordination and overcautious military decisions. Both Davis and McClellan
Speaker 1: moved on in their careers. Davis served as President of
Speaker 1: the Confederate States, and McClellan also dabbled in politics, but
Speaker 1: with the Civil War looming, McClellan returned to the military
Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty one. On April twelfth of eighteen sixty two,
Speaker 1: Confederate forces fired on the United States naval ships at
Speaker 1: Fort Sumter, officially starting the Civil War. Union forces in
Speaker 1: the harbor surrendered within thirty four hours. Not long after
Speaker 1: the First Battle of bull Run showed just how ill
Speaker 1: prepared and poorly trained Union soldiers were the Confederate army
Speaker 1: continued to best the Union despite having far fewer soldiers.
Speaker 1: Lee and his men won Second Battle at bull Run
Speaker 1: as well. With a string of victories behind him, the
Speaker 1: Confederate star general turned his sights on Maryland. The timing
Speaker 1: couldn't have been better. The North's morale had hit an
Speaker 1: all time low that sustained heavy casualties, and families wanted
Speaker 1: their sons, brothers, and husband's home. Of course, that would
Speaker 1: necessitate a swift end to the war, and Lee had
Speaker 1: a plan to do just that. Lee's strategy was to
Speaker 1: push north of Virginia and force Washington, d C. The
Speaker 1: capital of the Union, to surrender. He and his men
Speaker 1: set out across the Potomac on September four of eighteen
Speaker 1: sixty two. On September nine, he issued a Special Order
Speaker 1: one which detailed his plans to overtake the Union garrison
Speaker 1: stationed at Harper's Ferry. Taking Harper's Ferry would effectively shut
Speaker 1: down supplies to the Union Army. It would also put
Speaker 1: the weapons from the by US Arsenal and Armory into
Speaker 1: Confederate hands. The plan was a bold move, since the
Speaker 1: Union had eighty five thousand men in the area, plus
Speaker 1: another seventy two thousand in Washington, compared to Lee's forty.
Speaker 1: Of course, Lee wanted Washington, but the army surrounding the
Speaker 1: capital was too formidable to take on directly. However, if
Speaker 1: Lee put off the Union supplies and Lord McClellan and
Speaker 1: his men to a battlefield of his choosing, hid ensure
Speaker 1: a path northward. To gain a foothold, he needed to
Speaker 1: get his men across the Shenandoah Valley and marched toward
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley, and to do that, Harper's Ferry came
Speaker 1: into play once more. He needed to eliminate the twelve
Speaker 1: thousand soldier Union garrison stationed there. He planned to divide
Speaker 1: his men into two parts. Two thirds would go with
Speaker 1: Stonewall Jackson to capture Harper's ferry. Lee and the remainder
Speaker 1: of the men would take Hagerstown, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border.
Speaker 1: Their numbers wouldn't be enough, and neither would stealth. But
Speaker 1: Lee had studied McClellan well and knew his opponents cautious,
Speaker 1: slow to react method of command would give him the
Speaker 1: edge he needed. Lee detailed everything roots time, and Direction
Speaker 1: Adjutant Robert H. Chilton penned the orders and endorsed them
Speaker 1: in Lee's name, then sent them to Stonewall Jackson and D. H. Hill,
Speaker 1: who had recently been tasked with commanding the rear Guard.
Speaker 1: Stonewall Jackson then made a copy and sent it to D. H. Hill. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's right, Hill had been sent two copies of order.
Speaker 1: The plans called for Jackson to sweep Harper's Ferry with
Speaker 1: divisions from the west. Two more divisions would seize Maryland Heights.
Speaker 1: If all went according to plan, it would take three
Speaker 1: days to carry out. If successful, the war would swiftly
Speaker 1: come to an end. For the was living in the South,
Speaker 1: winning key battles on Confederate territory wasn't enough. They wanted
Speaker 1: lead to push even further into Union territory to drive
Speaker 1: home that the South was nothing to mess with. Seizing
Speaker 1: the city of Washington would be the end game. Of course,
Speaker 1: Bully hoped that capturing the Union capital would persuade other
Speaker 1: nations to recognize the Confederate States of America. The United Kingdom,
Speaker 1: along with France and other European nations, were dependent on
Speaker 1: the cotton and tobacco that the Confederate States provided. After all,
Speaker 1: leaders abroad were already deciding whether they should become involved
Speaker 1: and whether their best interests economically speaking, were better off
Speaker 1: siding with the South. While the Union considered the odds
Speaker 1: that Lee might advance on Washington to be slight, they
Speaker 1: still took precautionary measures. A steamboat waited off shore to
Speaker 1: whisk President Lincoln and members of the cabinet away should
Speaker 1: the Confederate army actually managed to breach the city. Harper's Weekly,
Speaker 1: the most read journal of the day, didn't want to
Speaker 1: lose Southern readers and took a moderate approach to reporting
Speaker 1: the war. Without knowing about Lee's plans, the Confederacy felt
Speaker 1: confident that he had succeed in overtaking the Union capital.
Speaker 1: Southern newspapers reported on the cunning and brilliance of their
Speaker 1: military leaders and speculated a celebration would soon be at hand.
Speaker 1: At the White House, President Lincoln made it clear he
Speaker 1: was counting on mc clellan to give him the victory
Speaker 1: needed to announce a preliminary emancipation proclamation. No pressure there.
Speaker 1: On September tenth of eighteen sixty two, Lee's army moved
Speaker 1: west out of Frederick, dividing themselves into four widely set columns.
Speaker 1: This time, they wouldn't be outnumbered. Lee knew that mc
Speaker 1: clellan had only a fraction of his troops near Harper's Ferry.
Speaker 1: Coupled with mc clellan's unwillingness to be more proactive, the
Speaker 1: attack wouldn't take too long. Every Thing was going just
Speaker 1: as planned, and the Union didn't suspect a thing. The
Speaker 1: reports of sparse Confederate soldier sightings confused McClellan. They weren't
Speaker 1: showing up in any one area, or even in the
Speaker 1: locations he had expected, and certainly not in any numbers.
Speaker 1: It's signaled an attack. On September twelve, he wrote to
Speaker 1: his wife that Lee's men were so scattered that Pete
Speaker 1: couldn't catch them. He evidently don't want to fight me,
Speaker 1: he added. Over confident, McClellan and his men slowly advanced
Speaker 1: into Maryland arrogance aside. He knew some regiments would undoubtedly
Speaker 1: come into contact with the Confederates rambling Path, and urged
Speaker 1: his superiors to order and evacuation. The officials reminded him
Speaker 1: that the Union had far superior numbers and promptly denied
Speaker 1: the request with orders to keep moving. Indiana's twenty seven
Speaker 1: regiment made camp in a clover field on the outskirts
Speaker 1: of Frederick, Maryland. The men stacked their arms and were
Speaker 1: settling in when Corporal Barton W. Mitchell came across a
Speaker 1: bulky envelope near the road. He noticed the envelope had
Speaker 1: been opened. Curious, he emptied the contents. Inside. There were
Speaker 1: three cigars wrapped in a sheet of paper. The paper
Speaker 1: had been marked as confidential, so naturally the inquisitive corporal
Speaker 1: opened it. He read the contents, then read them again. Headquarters,
Speaker 1: Army of Northern Virginia, September two, Special Order. Numb. He
Speaker 1: couldn't believe what had found in his hand. He held
Speaker 1: Confederate battle plans signed by General Robert E. Lee's command,
Speaker 1: and they held an important revelation. They were walking into
Speaker 1: a trap. Mitchell brought the envelope and its contents to
Speaker 1: his commanding officer, who immediately sent it up the chain
Speaker 1: of command. It didn't take long before McClellan himself had
Speaker 1: read the letter. The tensions between him and Lincoln had
Speaker 1: and high, but now he knew just how to defeat Lee.
Speaker 1: He telegraphed Lincoln. I think Lee has made a gross mistake,
Speaker 1: and that he will be severely punished for it. I
Speaker 1: have all the plans of the rebels and will catch
Speaker 1: them in their own trap. Will send you trophies. How
Speaker 1: the letter came to be in that clover field that
Speaker 1: day is still speculated. A courier may have carelessly dropped
Speaker 1: one of Lee's orders while delivering them. The Confederate General D. H. Hill,
Speaker 1: of course, He'll insisted he had received his letter from Jackson.
Speaker 1: One thing is clear. Though ad Mitchell not discovered the envelope,
Speaker 1: or if McClellan had evacuated his troops, the Civil War
Speaker 1: might have ended very differently. The United States might today
Speaker 1: be divided into two separate sovereign nations. The discovery of
Speaker 1: lost order should have sealed Lee's fate and ended the war. Yet,
Speaker 1: even with Lee's plans right in front of him, McClellan
Speaker 1: perceive did with what Lincoln referred to as a case
Speaker 1: of the slows, had been handed the enemy's battle plans
Speaker 1: on a platter, and decided to wait things out. With
Speaker 1: his troops in position to take out nine of the
Speaker 1: Confederate's infantry divisions, McClellan delayed sending his men across South Mountain. Instead,
Speaker 1: he chose to stay at camp an additional eighteen hours,
Speaker 1: giving the rebels an advantage. The move cost McClellan dearly,
Speaker 1: all that sitting around drew attention. Confederate scouts reported back
Speaker 1: to Lee the Union troops unusual behavior. They also noted
Speaker 1: McClellan's obvious excitement, making Lee suspicious. Unlike his opponent, the
Speaker 1: Confederate general wasted no time in ordering his divided troops
Speaker 1: to regroup into a single unit, then they join another
Speaker 1: division at South Mountain. Lee's troops reached the mountain pass
Speaker 1: late in the day on September four. Union soldiers were
Speaker 1: waged for them, but the order to reorganize and meet
Speaker 1: with the second division saved the Confederates from complete defeat.
Speaker 1: Had McClellan moved more quickly, he would have stood a
Speaker 1: chance of capturing Lee and overtaking his army. At first,
Speaker 1: Lee had thought retreating might be his better option, but
Speaker 1: then word came in from Jackson informing Lee that the
Speaker 1: attack on Harper's Ferry had been successful. Lee decided to
Speaker 1: take three divisions through Sharpsburg and sticking to the remainder
Speaker 1: of his plans laid out in order. Once in Sharpsburg
Speaker 1: had reunite with Jackson. McClellan still had the advantage of
Speaker 1: more men and of course, the element of surprise since
Speaker 1: he knew Lee's plans. Yet he hesitated once again, mistaking
Speaker 1: the size of the gathering Confederate cohort. In reality, Lee
Speaker 1: had been bluffing for days while awaiting an additional twelve thousand,
Speaker 1: five hundred Confederate soldiers. Lee hadn't planned on going to
Speaker 1: battle so early, but after having repeatedly and soundly defeated
Speaker 1: McClellan so far, he positioned forces four miles behind Antietam Creek.
Speaker 1: McClellan pursued, and when the fog rolled in on September,
Speaker 1: the two sides collided. McClellan hadn't made a battle plan,
Speaker 1: nor did he issue any orders. He never rearranged the
Speaker 1: attack despite having Lee's plans. The carnage was swift and brutal.
Speaker 1: He watched the battle from his post, only issuing commands
Speaker 1: after a few of his divisions were decimated. The men
Speaker 1: on both sides fired at point blank range. By noon,
Speaker 1: the fighting shifted to the center of the Confederate line,
Speaker 1: which became known as Bloody Lane. The front line of
Speaker 1: Confederate soldiers misunderstood in order to realign and pulled back.
Speaker 1: Union troops quickly overpowered them by early afternoon. One soldier
Speaker 1: said that he could have walked on top of the
Speaker 1: bodies as far as the eye could see from his post.
Speaker 1: McClellan said the Bloody field was as glorious and beautiful
Speaker 1: as any had ever seen. Yet instead of pressing forward,
Speaker 1: he ordered his men the whole the line. This left
Speaker 1: them in the open and direct line of fire from
Speaker 1: Confederate forces flanking the sides, costing McClellan five hundred men.
Speaker 1: By the following morning, Lee pulled back. Despite prodding from Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. McClellan didn't pursue Lee again. The death poll
Speaker 1: was staggering. A combined total of eighty six thousand men
Speaker 1: had gone into battle. Over twelve thousand, four hundred Union
Speaker 1: soldiers were dead, wounded, or missing. The Confederates, who had
Speaker 1: brought far fewer troops, suffered a proportionately greater loss of
Speaker 1: over ten thousand, three hundred. Had the Confederates had equal
Speaker 1: men and weapons, the battle might have turned out differently.
Speaker 1: McClellan's case of the slows, as Lincoln put it, cost
Speaker 1: him his post. Amid the eighteen sixty two mid term elections,
Speaker 1: McClellan was removed from command. Lee didn't find out about
Speaker 1: the missing orders until after Antietam. The copy of Order
Speaker 1: one that had been delivered directly from Jackson to D. H.
Speaker 1: Hill and Richmond now rests in the National Archives. You
Speaker 1: might ask why Hill had been sent two copies of
Speaker 1: that order, and we know that Jackson was unsure of
Speaker 1: who Hill was receiving orders from when Lee split the troops.
Speaker 1: Jackson made the copy because he wanted to be sure
Speaker 1: Hill was aware of the plan. And what we don't
Speaker 1: know is how the letter found its way into that
Speaker 1: field of Clover that day. Hill and his men had
Speaker 1: camped in the field just days before, and he insisted
Speaker 1: he hadn't dropped any letter. He kept the copy Jackson
Speaker 1: sent him until the day he died. Hill believed that
Speaker 1: the courier dropped the orders Chilton Penn Trelly. Back then,
Speaker 1: envelopes acted as receipts after a recipient opened a better
Speaker 1: they signed the envelope and handed it back to the courier.
Speaker 1: The envelope founded the field had been opened but not signed,
Speaker 1: indicating the orders never reached their destination. We'll never know
Speaker 1: how lost order came to be in the field that day,
Speaker 1: but we do know that its discovery changed the Civil
Speaker 1: War and perhaps our nation as well. The Civil War
Speaker 1: saw more casualties than any other US conflict. Nearly five
Speaker 1: hundred thousand men died, which is considerable since the population
Speaker 1: of the United States was only about twenty four million
Speaker 1: during the war. Her perspective, out of the nearly nine
Speaker 1: million US men and women who served in the Vietnam War,
Speaker 1: there were just over nine casualties. In fact, more people
Speaker 1: died in the Civil War than World War Two, the
Speaker 1: Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. One in thirteen
Speaker 1: men returned home disabled, one in four enlisted died, and
Speaker 1: since the recruitment was often localized, some families and communities
Speaker 1: lost entire generations. No one had expected such casualties, and
Speaker 1: they weren't prepared for all the burials. Before the war,
Speaker 1: most people were buried in their hometowns. Of course, most
Speaker 1: of them died in their hometowns, so preserving and transporting
Speaker 1: the dead wasn't as much of a problem. Before the war,
Speaker 1: the deceased were laid out in the family home for
Speaker 1: viewings before the burial. During the Civil War, most soldiers
Speaker 1: were buried where they died. Others were interred at nearby cemeteries.
Speaker 1: Those were soon overwhelmed, but that was about to change.
Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty two, authorities levied attacks on Robert E.
Speaker 1: L's one thousand one acre Virginia estate. It had an
Speaker 1: empty since Lee went away to lead the Confederate Army,
Speaker 1: and his wife, Mary, who had inherited the estate from
Speaker 1: her parents, had fled south to Richmond when the Union
Speaker 1: overtook the area. Mary hated leaving the estate. It had
Speaker 1: been her childhood home. She and Robert had raised three
Speaker 1: children there. Her parents were buried on the grounds. When
Speaker 1: her father, George Washington Park Custus, had died, he left
Speaker 1: Mary the entire estate. If that name sounds familiar, you're
Speaker 1: on to something. His father had been George Washington's adopted
Speaker 1: son and the product of Martha Washington's first marriage. That
Speaker 1: made Mary Anna Custis Lee the great granddaughter of President
Speaker 1: George Washington by marriage. When Mary heard about the tax,
Speaker 1: she immediately sent a relative with funds to secure the estate.
Speaker 1: Officials refused the money, claiming that Mary herself had to
Speaker 1: pay the tax in person. This was impossible because Union
Speaker 1: forces and the fighting prevented her from returning. Now in default,
Speaker 1: her estate was auctioned off. There was only one bid,
Speaker 1: the federal government. They planned to use the estate just
Speaker 1: as Mary feared, for the Union military, including as a cemetery.
Speaker 1: The first soldier laid to rest in the northeastern corner
Speaker 1: was Private William Christman. Other soldiers joined the private, and
Speaker 1: soon afterward Union Quartermaster Montgomery Megg's moved to make the
Speaker 1: plantation a Federal cemetery. He could think of no better
Speaker 1: way to make the estate uninhabitable should the Lee family
Speaker 1: ever return. He encircled Mary Lee's garden with tombstones of
Speaker 1: fallian Union officers. Megs sent scouts to look for Union
Speaker 1: soldiers buried in other cemeteries and had them reinterred at
Speaker 1: the estate. The Lees spent considerable time and effort trying
Speaker 1: to reclaim their former home. When Robert E. Lee died
Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy two, Mary continued the fight to regain
Speaker 1: her inheritance. Meanwhile, the estate had become the eternal resting
Speaker 1: place for hundreds of men. Robert and Mary's son Curtis,
Speaker 1: took up the fight after his mother's passing, and eventually
Speaker 1: one but the cost of removing the two thousand plus
Speaker 1: graves proved more expensive than buying the estate itself. In
Speaker 1: the end, the government purchased the estate in three for
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty thousand dollars over four million in
Speaker 1: modern American dollars. It was Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln,
Speaker 1: who accepted the title on the federal government's behalf. Today,
Speaker 1: the estate serves as the resting place for over four
Speaker 1: hundred thousand men and women Arlington National Cemetery. There's more
Speaker 1: to the story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break
Speaker 1: to hear all about it. The matter of politics has
Speaker 1: always divided families. During the Civil War, it's no surprise then,
Speaker 1: that families found themselves torn between opposing sides. Those in
Speaker 1: favor of the Union fled north, those favoring the Confederacy
Speaker 1: fled south. While we might think those living along the
Speaker 1: border between North and South would have been most likely
Speaker 1: to switch sides, that wasn't necessarily the case. During the war,
Speaker 1: One more state tried to secede from the Union New York.
Speaker 1: New York was embroiled in a decade's long dispute with
Speaker 1: the federal government over federal corruption and the removal of
Speaker 1: states rights in favor of federal rights. In eighteen sixty two,
Speaker 1: New York's mayor Fernando Wood addressed to the city, seeing
Speaker 1: that the war currently favored the Confederacy, and thinking that
Speaker 1: dissolution was inevitable, he thought the time to join the
Speaker 1: South had come in New York, already having established itself
Speaker 1: as the nation's financial center, had long been reaping the
Speaker 1: rewards for supplying goods and services to the Southern States.
Speaker 1: Aside from favoring states rights, many New York officials saw
Speaker 1: slavery as an economic necessity. One New York Post editor wrote,
Speaker 1: New York belongs almost as much to the South as
Speaker 1: to the North. But Wood's cry of federal corruption was ironic.
Speaker 1: Wood had a long history of bribery, selling public offices,
Speaker 1: and offering citizenship to immigrants in exchange for votes, and
Speaker 1: much of his political success came from a New York
Speaker 1: gang boss with strong ties to the trade of enslaved people.
Speaker 1: To say, Wood's viewpoint was financially skewed would be an understatement. Still,
Speaker 1: New Yorkers believed him when he said their economic welfare
Speaker 1: depended on the South. Not to mention, New York was
Speaker 1: home to an illegal slave trade. Skilled attorneys employed by
Speaker 1: the state anonymously, of course, defended captains and crews. Many
Speaker 1: of these lawyers were former federal attorneys, from police to judges.
Speaker 1: New York's legal system was about as corrupt as it got.
Speaker 1: Wood's younger brother, who owned the New York Daily News,
Speaker 1: printed article after article telling citizens that if Lincoln was elected,
Speaker 1: but have to compete for jobs with four million formerly
Speaker 1: enslaved people. After the election, woods fearmongering intensified. An equally
Speaker 1: corrupt group of politicians approved the mayor's proposal to secede.
Speaker 1: They reversed their decision after the attack at Fort Sumter
Speaker 1: kicked off the Civil War, and sticking to the proposal
Speaker 1: would have made every member of the council traders and
Speaker 1: traders were sent to the gallows. Lincoln's administration replaced two
Speaker 1: corrupt New York officials with more honest ones. These new
Speaker 1: officials set to work making New York the primary supplier
Speaker 1: of men and goods to the Union. Effort that didn't
Speaker 1: stop most citizens animosity toward Lincoln, though they'd become firmly
Speaker 1: entrenched in their belief that no good could come from
Speaker 1: the South. Losing the war, angry mobs to the streets,
Speaker 1: burning buildings and leaving dozens of people dead. But as
Speaker 1: New York continued to flourish by providing supplies to the Union,
Speaker 1: and the tide began turning in the North's favor, Union
Speaker 1: pride sword In eighteen sixty one, thousands of New Yorkers
Speaker 1: took to Union Square in support of the North. When
Speaker 1: wood sphere tactics and forecasts of financial ruin didn't come
Speaker 1: to pass, many households found themselves reunited, and in eighteen
Speaker 1: sixty two, Wood found himself out of a job when
Speaker 1: George Opdyke won the election for mayor with Lincoln support.
Speaker 1: The gang boss slave trader who had supported Wood was arrested, tried,
Speaker 1: and hanged. The message was clear to others who still
Speaker 1: supported slavery, and some New Yorkers, however, remained loyal to
Speaker 1: their original political views, forever dividing friendships, families, and communities,
Speaker 1: and proving that the Civil Wars battles were far from
Speaker 1: confined to the Confederate Union Line. American Shadows is hosted
Speaker 1: by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto,
Speaker 1: researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and
Speaker 1: Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit grim
Speaker 1: and mild dot com. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts