Arrest Of T A Menzier And Expose Of A Prominent Railroad Official
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, Dec. 4, 1864.
Capt. W. H. Wiegel,
Asst. Provost Marshal.
Captain.--I have the honor to report that by direction of
General Wallace, I arrested Mr. T. A. Menzier and locked him
up in this jail, and ordered the officer of the Navy that was
in company with him, Surgeon L
Receiving-Ship "Princeton," Philadelphia Harbor, to report to
you at ten o'clock A. M. to-day. These parties were in town
yesterday morning and intend to return to Philadelphia this
evening; neither of them had papers. Menzier's sister, at
whose house I arrested them is a rebel.
The rebs were having a grand jubilee over his visit. The
Doctor had no arms.
I am, Captain,
Very respy. your obdt. servt,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.
I found in this house a number of prominent citizens, among whom was a
very high officer in a big railroad company. He begged me not to report
his presence, with which request I complied, in my written report, but
did not, of course, fail to report verbally to General Wallace. This man
was in confidential relations with the departments at Washington.
Menzier was a Rebel assistant surgeon. Both were turned over to
Commodore Dornin, for the Navy's disposition.
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, Dec. 5, 1864.
Capt. W. H. Wiegel,
Asst. Provost Marshal,
8th Army Corps.
Captain.--I have the honor to report that I confined Barton R.
Zantzinger, from the Rebel Army.
Herewith I hand you his statement, which places Mr. Milnor
Jones in a worse fix than ever. Perhaps this corroborative
evidence will be sufficient to convict Jones of blockade
running.
I think Zantzinger should be detained as a witness, if for
nothing else.
I am Captain,
Very respy. your obdt. servt,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, Dec. 6, 1864.
Capt. W. H. Wiegel,
Asst. Provost Marshal,
8th Army Corps.
Captain.--I have the honor to report the arrest of John Henry
Skinner Quinn, alias J. Y. Plater, alias Simpson, on charge of
being a spy.
I hand you two sworn statements that he made to me, also his
memorandum book in which is a partial description of his first
visit to Baltimore, also some entries, some of which he
explains in his statement. I also hand you his furlough, which
he said he did not have, in his first statement.
On this trip he registered at Miller's Hotel as "Simpson." On
23d April last, he registered at same hotel as John Y. Plater.
You can see by his statements that he tries to conceal the
Rebel sympathizers of this Department, and some he positively
refuses to name, but asks me to kill him, and not ask him any
more questions.
He came to this office to report as a Rebel deserter, but when
he found that I had been on his track, he owned up, but
refused to implicate his friends.
I am, Captain,
Very respy. your obdt. servt.,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.
As General Wallace had said, it was our duty to ascertain by every
means, the status of all persons; our archives were crowded with
information, which materially helped us to avoid the dilemma General
Schenck described.
Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, Dec. 7, 1864.
Capt. W. H. Wiegel,
Asst. Provost Marshal,
8th Army Corps.
Captain.--I have the honor to report the arrest of E. R. Rich,
of the 1st Md. Rebel Cavalry, on the charge of being a spy. He
came to this office to report and take the oath of allegiance,
but I think he did not come until he heard from his friend
Quinn, with whom he came to this city. I hand you herewith his
sworn statement, memoranda and pocket book, which show his
character.
You will also see an entry in his memoranda where Skinner
Quinn (now in prison) started for Baltimore last spring, which
corroborates Quinn's statement. You will also see that he
registered under several names.
The memorandum book shows that it was his intention to return
for good to Virginia.
Very respy. your obdt. servt,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.
Both Quinn and Rich were sentenced to be hanged, but their sentences
were finally commuted to imprisonment during the continuance of the
war.
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