For the Confederate States of America Canada represented a convenient second front to attack the United States of America. Such was the case on Monday, September 19, 1864 when twenty Confederate agents under John Yates Beall captured the steamer Philo Parsons on Lake Erie. Beall’s intention was to sail near Johnson’s Island, where the U.S.S. Michigan guarded three thousand two hundred Confederate prisoners of war. If the Michigan could be captured, the Confederate prisoners then could be freed and armed to carry out military operations on Lake Erie. The Confederate intrigue failed when the Michigan’s captain arrested Confederate agent Charles Cole who plotted to seize the Union warship. While in neutral waters at Sandwich, Canada, Beall had no alternative but to strip and burn the Philo Parsons, aborting his mission.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.