Part 15

We then went to C. T. Cockey's and Alder explained to him who I was and Mr. Cockey then introduced me to John C. Brown, of Busson Parish, La., and lately manager of the Rebel Secretary of War's plantation. Mr. Cockey told me to remain there all night and he would see me safe, as he was engaged in the business ever since the war commenced, and had run off a great many men to the Rebel army; in fact he said that men from all parts of the country were sent to him to take across the lines, and that he always went into the Rebel lines with them.

Among the rest that he had taken across was Capt. Simms and Capt. Beard and Gus Williamson. He said when General McClellan was following Lee into Maryland, a man came to him from Washington and gave him the number of men that McClellan had, and the direction he was going to take, and that he went to Frederick, and gave the information to Lee; and would, he said, do so again, if it would do any good to the Southern cause.

Cockey receives papers regularly from Richmond. He also said that Capt. Harry Gilmor stops at his house whenever he comes over the lines, and that a great many men from the South come to his house, and he always helps them. I remained at his house all night, and listened to him and John C. Brown cursing the government for everything they could think of, and telling what they would do if the Rebel army would come into Maryland again. C. T. Cockey was also engaged at the time of Lee's raid into Pennsylvania; he took men to the Rebel army and was in the Rebel lines several times, and gave them all the information that he could get hold of that would do them any good.

Mr. J. C. Brown gave me the name of his brother, Benj. F. Brown, of Frederick, Md., agent for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., and in charge of the government warehouse which he surrendered to the Rebels without endeavoring to destroy the goods, or to get them out of the way. J. C. Brown told me to go to his brother and let him know who I was and everything would be right, and that he would meet me there with a lot of recruits, and a Rebel mail to take south.

The next day, 21st April, I expressed a wish to go into Pennsylvania for a few days, and promised to meet Mr. Brown in Frederick. Mr. C. T. Cockey took me in his buggy to T. D. Cockey of "I" at Ellingown, near Texas, on the Northern Central Railroad, where I met T. D. Cockey, of "I".

T. Deye Cockey and Philip Fendel, who are violent Rebels, say they have been running men off ever since the war commenced. And T. Deye Cockey says that he has been in the Rebel lines several times, and at one time took three recruits from Harford County to Hanover Junction, when the Rebels were there, and gave them all the information he could.

Richard Worthington, a very wealthy man, whom I met, offered me a horse, and any assistance in his power, to enable me to escape, and stated that he had rented his farm out, and was endeavoring to get his property fixed in such a way that the damned negro government could not confiscate it. He was going to leave the damned Yankees and go to Canada, and from there to Nassau, and take a vessel and go to the Confederacy, where he would be free to do as he pleased. He said he had invested a portion of his money in Confederate bonds, and only wished he had a chance to invest more in them, as the greenbacks, or Yankee shinplasters were not worth a damn.

These men were under the impression that I was the Rebel Capt. Harry Thompson, who, as it was published, had made his escape from a Federal prison. I told them I had escaped from the Old Capitol.

Very respy., WM. V. KREMER, U. S. D. 8th A. C.

You will notice Mr. Kremer speaks of T. D. Cockey of "I." That is a common way in Maryland and Virginia to designate the lineage of that T. D. Cockey, to obviate confounding him with some other T. D. Cockey.

Later on, in July, when the Confederate Army swung around north and east of Baltimore, the information contained in Mr. Kremer's report became very valuable to us.

FILE XI.

Mrs. Key Howard, a lineal descendant of the author of "The Star Spangled Banner," forgetting her honor, prepared to carry a Confederate mail to "Dixie"--Miss Martha Dungan--Trip on the steam tug "Ella"--Schooner "W. H. Travers" and cargo captured--James A. Winn, a spy--Trip to Frederick, Maryland.

Headquarters, Middle Department, 8th Army Corps, Baltimore, Apl. 28, 1864.

Special Order No. 48.

Lieut. H. B. Smith, Chief Officer, Secret Service Bureau, 8th Army Corps, will proceed to Washington, D. C., in charge of prisoners, Miss Martha Dungan and Mrs. Key Howard.

On arrival you will deliver prisoners to Mr. Wm. P. Wood, in charge of Old Capitol Prison and receive receipt for same, after which you will report to Hon. C. A. Dana, Asst. Secy. of War, deliver all papers in prisoners' cases and return to these headquarters without delay.

Quartermasters will furnish transportation.

By command of Major General Lew Wallace.

JOHN WOOLLEY, Lt. Col. and Provost Marshal.

Here is a sad incident illustrating what Hamlet meant when he said: "To what base uses may we return, Horatio!" Mrs. Key Howard, a lineal descendant of Francis Scott Key, author of the "Star Spangled Banner," having obtained a personal pass direct from Mr. Lincoln, permitting her to pass our lines, had actually gathered a Confederate mail, to carry through, under its protection. Honor of a truly "Blue Blood?"--it was absent.

The pass was written on a plain card, and read:

Pass Mrs. Key Howard through the lines. A. LINCOLN.

I might have retained the card, but turned it in with the case. Mrs. Howard, in discussing with me the lack of honor in so abusing a great favor, became very angry; she said: "Lincoln was vulgar, not a polished man; he sat with legs crossed while talking to me." Young and inexperienced as I was, I was so forcibly struck with the shallowness of pretended culture that I have many times told the story to illustrate.

I have no doubt that Mrs. Howard traded upon her family name with President Lincoln. He undoubtedly trusted her, believing that she had honor in her composition.

Blockade running schemes were without limit as to variety or manner of evasion. Vessels were loaded in Baltimore, clearing for any port. Trading schooners were loaded, taking shipments for various stores on the rivers and bays of the Chesapeake Bay; some of the shipments would be honest transactions, but others would be especially designed for Confederate consumption.

In April, 1864, the schooner "Wm. H. Travers" (Captain Rice) had been under surveillance. She was loaded at Baltimore with a mixed cargo, part of which was of honest shipments. I learned that it was intended to swamp the vessel within reach of the Confederates, thus permitting them to take the entire cargo regardless of ownership. I allowed its loading and permitted the captain to leave port with her, but after she got well down the stream I overhauled her with the steam tug "Ella," and brought her back to Baltimore. Her cargo was worth about six thousand dollars. Mr. Blackstone, of St. Mary's County, was the guilty party.

Depot, Quartermaster's Office, Baltimore, Md., April 30, 1864.