A World on Fire_ Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War - Amanda Foreman [311]
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General Meade was troubled by many worries, but the condition of his army was not among them. At the beginning of October, a scandal had threatened to tarnish the reputation of the cavalry corps, but it was quickly hushed up by the War Department. All the cavalrymen knew about it was that Sir Percy Wyndham had been escorted to Washington under armed guard. It was not clear why he had been removed. The War Department refused to say anything other than that he had been relieved “for the time being.” Sixteen years later, in 1879, the Decatur Daily News of Illinois ran an article that claimed to clear “an old mystery.” Apparently, two unnamed informants had accused Wyndham of plotting to surrender his regiment to the Confederates for $300,000. “Mr. Stanton could not, getting his information as he did, place Col. Wyndham under arrest … so the only road open was to remove him from command.”13 The informants had first brought the accusation to Secretary Chase, who took the matter to Stanton. They claimed to have a letter from the Confederate secretary of state, Judah P. Benjamin, that laid out a strategy to entice Wyndham into surrendering his cavalry.14 The War Department does not seem to have investigated whether Wyndham actually considered the bribe, nor was he interrogated about the letter.
Speculation about Wyndham’s removal from active duty was rife: Lord Lyons received protests from the public after stories appeared in the New York press that accused him of being the instigator. “I have to say that there is no foundation whatever for the assertion made respecting me,” Lord Lyons wrote to a Mr. John Livingston in New York. He had not, as Livingston claimed, solicited or made “representations of a disparaging character against that brave officer.”15 On November 5, The New York Times intervened unexpectedly—probably at Seward’s behest—with an article on the controversy that explicitly denied Lord Lyons’s involvement and repeated the War Department’s stance that Wyndham was on temporary relief from duties. It would turn out to be a very long relief.
The Union cavalry wondered about the unexplained removal of its most colorful brigade leader; Wyndham’s habit of twiddling his mustache whenever he became angry was remembered with humor rather than the fear it once provoked. The corps would have been happy to have him back, especially after it suffered a humiliating defeat by Jeb Stuart’s troopers at Buckland Mills on October 19, which was dubbed “Buckland Races” by the Confederates after the Federals were chased upcountry for several miles. Meade was summoned by Lincoln for an interview in Washington and given to understand that he was expected to destroy Lee, not play cat-and-mouse with him. The result of the meeting was a small engagement near Fredericksburg on November 7, which netted Meade more than 1,600 prisoners, eight battle flags, and four artillery guns.
The secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, remained unimpressed and wanted Meade to push harder. Nothing about the situation in Virginia pleased him. But on November 14, Stanton received one piece of news that did give him satisfaction: the combined land and sea force sent to capture John Yates Beall had at last succeeded in cornering its prey. Bored with lying low in Richmond, Beall had resumed his raids on November 10. He managed to seize just one vessel before his whereabouts were exposed and the full might of the North pounced on the little band. Bennet G. Burley was one of only two who managed to escape. Beall and his crew were taken to Fort McHenry in Baltimore, where they were kept in manacles for six weeks until the Confederate secretary of the navy, Stephen Mallory, ordered eighteen Federal prisoners of war—picked at random—to be similarly shackled in retribution, which led to a relaxation of their treatment.26.1
“I have seen your dispatches,” Lincoln