In late 1861, around the time the Kentucky legislature declared its official support for the Union cause, some Federal officials began to question that commitment, fearing that the Confederacy was going to seize control of the state, and that state residents were traveling to other states to join the southern army. This was a potentially serious issue, and they had to address it.
According to historian Stuart Sanders, “to save Kentucky and to consolidate their power, by late September Union authorities began arresting prominent pro-Confederate civilians and spiriting them to out-of-state prisons without warning, formal charges, or trial.”
Some of these men had even advised President Abraham Lincoln that “drastic measures” were needed to keep Kentucky in the Union.
This environment of paranoia and worry naturally swept through Campbell County as well, with its own local twists and turns.
The cases of two county residents exemplify this situation late in the war's first year.
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On September 28, 1861, the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer reported the September 26 arrests of Campbell County resident Robert Maddox and former county sheriff Hubbard Helm. After making the arrests, Union officials took them across the Ohio River to Cincinnati to await further orders from General Ormsby Mitchel.
The arrest had occurred between 11:00 and midnight of the previous day when a U.S. Deputy Marshal crossed the Ohio River from Cincinnati and apprehended the duo before taking them to a Cincinnati hotel.
Two companies of Home Guards assisted in the apprehension, similar to what Sanders had described.
The newspaper added that the military had two other warrants but could not find their targets, politician Thomas L. Jones and future Confederate soldier Albert S. Berry.
The arrests were due to suspicion that Maddox and Helm “had secretly been aiding and abetting the rebels in the Confederate army.” They were under the watch of a strong guard at the hotel where authorities kept them.
In the afternoon of the 27th, a court issued a writ of habeas corpus ordering the arresting officer to bring the detainees before a judge to explain the reasons for their confinement. Soldiers guarded them closely as they entered the court. The judge gave the arresting office until 10:00 am on the next morning to provide a written explanation of their actions.
On September 30, the court of the Southern District of Ohio held a hearing on the situation. Sergeant William Pickham had the duo in his custody, but a decision did not arrive until six weeks had passed when, on November 11, a judge declared: "The arrest was by the civil officers, not by the military; that the arrest was made unlawfully; but as some evidence appears that disloyalty was shown by the prisoners.” He declared that had there been a crime, it had occurred in Kentucky, out of his court’s jurisdiction, so he ordered the prisoners removed from military arrest and placed in custody of the U.S. Marshal in Kentucky for trial.
The judge also followed a recent mandate from Congress and required that the pair required a bond from them to ensure their faithfulness to the Union and the Constitution.
The security was set at $2,000 for each man. They appeared in court and completed the required paperwork. The judge ordered the Marshal to take them to the Kentucky authorities, which he did on November 13.
When they arrived in that office, they had to wait for the deputy marshal to return, but when he did, he was not anxious to handle this business, so another officer took charge, having noticed that "a knot of men, whose fealty to the Union" was questionable at best had gathered nearby, He then went to the Newport Barracks where he assembled a "sergeant's file of soldiers," whom he ordered to re-arrest Maddox and Helm and move them to the Barracks.
This second apprehension angered Maddox, who “instantly sprung to his feet, and drawing a huge bowie-knife, swore he would not be taken” Soldiers approached, prepared to use force, if necessary, but as Maddox observed the gleam of their bayonets and the foreboding business ends of their long guns, he regained his composure.
The marshal again started to escort him to the river, but Maddox had another change of heart. After only a short distance, the prisoner “swore he would rather die” than go with his guards. He turned around and tried to enter a nearby building for shelter.
This commotion could not help but draw attention. “At least five hundred” curious onlookers had gathered nearby, with more than a few hands reaching inside breast pockets as if they were preparing to grab a gun. The tension was growing.
The officer ordered the soldiers to re-apprehend Maddox, preferably without injury. The unwilling client still gripped his knife firmly and wielded it threateningly. Soldiers tried to knock it from his grasp, but he resisted, fighting for his liberty. After a brief scuffle, the soldiers loosened his hold on the gun and took it from him, enabling them to place him back under arrest.
The captors failed in one regard. During the melee, Maddox "sustained a bayonet thrust near the right temple, which bled profusely." The soldiers then escorted him south of the river.
Helm offered no resistance to his arrest.
Two or three weeks before this, Mitchel had issued orders to arrest the duo as soon as they were released from their initial detention.
The Cincinnati Daily Gazette felt this latest apprehension clarified the previous court ruling: "We think there can be no doubt in the mind of Judge Leavitt 'or any other man' that 'this is a military arrest.'"
By November 21, Maddox was still "carefully guarded but sees his friends almost every day."
Five days later, the same journal reported that two officials traveled to Louisville, where they were able to get an order from General Don Carlos Buell transferring the prisoners to that locale.
At the time, Helm was free from confinement on a parole of honor, while Maddox was still in prison in the City Barracks in Cincinnati. The two managed to get a writ of habeas corpus from a judge, but military leaders felt Buell's order took precedence. They sent Maddox to Louisville on a mailboat. Helm finished some personal business and was escorted to that city on the evening train.
On November 26, Helm and Maddox appeared before a judge in Louisville and, "there being no charges against them,” they were released. They arrived back home on November 27.
Thus ended the adventures of Robert Maddox, Hubbard Helm, and their trouble with Union authorities.
Well, at least until 1862.
I'll examine their experiences in that year soon.
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