strong sympathy for the rebel cause he was not a violent secessionist. Having offered to take the oath of allegiance he was upon the recommendation of Major-General Dix discharged from custody by order of the Secretary of State dated September 21, 1861.

Charles H. Pitts, of Baltimore, a member of the Legislature of Mary land and one of the disloyal band who were known to be conspiring to pass an act of secession in that body, was arrested on or about the 13th day of September, 1861, by order of Major-General Dix and taken to Fort McHenry from which place he was transferred to Fort Monroe and afterward to Forts Lafayette and Warren. The arrest of Pitts was a measure of military precaution for the preservation of the public peace and the prevention of the treasonable designs of the disloyal conspirators in the Legislature. On the 13th day of December, 1861, an order was sent to Colonel Dimick to release Pitts for thirty days on his parole with the usual stipulations for good behavior. On the 9th day of January, 1862, Major-General Dix was authorized to exercise his discretion in regard to extending the parole of Pitts and it is understood that he remained at large under such stipulations as were satisfactory to General Dix till February 15, 1862, when he was passed ove to the charge of the War Department.

S. Teackle Wallis, of Baltimore, was a member of the Maryland Legislature and was publicly esteemed as the leader of the band of conspirators who were known to be plotting to pass an act of secession. He was arrested by order of the War Department on or about the 12th day of September, 1861, and confined successively in Forts McHenry, Monroe, Lafayette and Warren. Wallis openly advocated the recognition of the rebel Government and his correspondence and manuscripts were full of arguments in their justification. His arrest was a measure of precaution to preserve the public peace and to prevent the consummation of the treasonable purposes entertained by the conspirators in the Legislature. The said Wallis remained in custody at Fort Warren February 15, 1862, when in conformity with the order of the War Department of the preceding day he was transferred to the charge of that Department. *

Thomas J. Claggett was a member of the Legislature of Maryland from the county of Frederick in the year 1861. Known to be one of the faction of that body which was engaged in plots to pass an act of secession in that State he was arrested by order of Major-General Banks as a measure of precaution on the 17th day of September, 1861, and sent to Fort Lafayette and from there afterward transferred to Fort Warren. Early in January and again in February, 1862, Claggett was offered his discharge from confinement on condition of his taking

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* See p. 611 for William Schley to Honorable William H. Seward, Secretary of State, November 4, 1861, which its inclosure, embodying the substance of conversations with Willis concerning the probable action of the Maryland Legislature in relation to secession, in which Wallis is made to disclaim all knowledge of a conspiracy on the part of a coterie of that body supposed to favor legislative action taking the State out of the Union or obstructing the war measures of the General Govenment. These conversations occurred previous to the arrests. - COMPILER.

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