Burn the Town and Sack the Banks: Confederates Attack Vermont! (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: other raiders, rebel raiders, United States, New York, Bennett Young (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

On a dreary October afternoon, bands of Confederate raiders held up the three banks in St. Albans. With guns drawn, they herded the townspeople out into the common, sending the people of the North into panic. Operating out of a Confederate stronghold in Canada, the raiders were young men, mostly escapees from Union prison camps, who had been recruited to inaugurate a new kind of guerilla war along the Yankees' unprotected border. The raid, though bungling at times, was successful — the consequent pursuit of the rebels into Canada. The celebrity-like trial it sparked in Montreal and resulting diplomatic tensions that arose between the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, left the Southern dream of a second-front diversion in ruins. What survived, however, is a fascinating tale of the South's desperate attempt to reverse the course of the war. Burn the Town and Sack the Banks is a tale filled with dashing soldiers, spies, posses, bumbling plans, smitten locals, lawyers, diplomats, and an idyllic Vermont town, set against the backdrop of the great battles far from the Northern border that were bringing the Civil War to its bloody conclusion.

About the Author

Cathryn J. Prince is the author of “Shot from the Sky: American POWs in Switzerland” (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2003). Prince worked as a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor in Switzerland and in New York where she covered the United Nations. She writes a weekly political column for The Weston Forum and is an op-ed contributor to The Christian Science Monitor. Prince and her husband live in Weston, CT and have two children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (September 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786717513
• ISBN-13: 978-0786717514
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #304,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not enough for a history, September 29, 2006

By	James Durney (Tampa Bay area) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

The Confederate attack on St. Albans Vermont is one of the fascinating sideshows of the American Civil War. Together with the Greek Fire incident in New York City and the attempt to spread Yellow Fever, they show us the workings of the Confederate Secret Service. Additionally, we can develop a sense of the desperation in Richmond as the war moves into 1864. Many of these operations have some of characters that will appear during Lincoln's assassination. This possible link only make any history of these events that much more interesting. Another major element of the story is the Confederacy's use of "neutral" states to stage these operations. The support Great Britain and Canada extended to Confederate operatives in violation of their laws is astounding. Lincoln's unwillingness to start a European war and the Crown's backing away at the last minute prevent armed conflict. When it was over, very little had been accomplished but the scars lasted for years.

The basic plan for the St. Albans raid is for a number of men to establish themselves in the town. Quickly, take control. Rob the banks. Set fire to a number of buildings and escape. "Neutral" Canada provides both the jumping off point and refuge after the raid. The raiders would take advantage of the undefended border, lack of military age men and the general absence of modern weapons in the United States. Working with these assumptions, a small number of men could cower a much larger group with a show of force. The raiders expected to be on their way within an hour, well before organized opposition could start.

Things went very much as planned. A group of about 20 CSA soldiers crossed the border, established themselves in the town and attacked on October 19, 1864. They robbed three banks, killed one resident and wounded a couple of others. The rain soaked buildings refuse to burn and one raider is wounded during the escape. The Canadian authorities refused requests for extradition, while treating the raiders as heroes. The United Sates added this to the list of grievances against the British Empire and the normalization of relations begun in the years prior to the war suffered.

This is a fertile field and one that has seen little work. We need books covering these subjects to give us a better understanding of the international aspects of the war and the impact on Washington's decision-making. Cathryn Prince writes well, the feel of the narration is more of a novel than a history. This style makes a readable and interesting story but I find it detracting from the idea that this is a serious history. An abundance of quotes without footnotes contributed to this feeling. The quotes are in the endnotes, listed by page and the first few words. The book contains a good Bibliography and index. The Epilogue contains the much of the same information you have read and contributes little. A standard set of photographs of the main characters completes the book. Both the author and publisher did not feel that a map of the town is necessary. I found this disturbing having no idea of the location of banks, hotels and the town green. These locations are important to the story and a map would have aided my understanding of the raid.

The book starts with an overview of Vermont's contribution to the war, a history of the town and background of many participants. This consumes a little over half of the text, leaving just under one hundred pages for the raid and aftermath. I found this very disappointing wanting a detailed history of the raid, trials and international tensions. In its' place, I was treated to a glimpse between the curtains but not the full detailed view I wanted. While it is not the book I wanted, this is not a bad book. It is a good introduction and a very entertaining read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judah P. Benjamin was very good............, October 14, 2007

By	Robert C. Hufford (Hopewell, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

....at touching things without leaving fingerprints. Few things illustrate that better than this history of the northernmost battle of the Civil War. Mrs. Prince has written a fine book that can be equally enjoyed by historians, by readers wanting to learn about a little-known aspect of the war, or even by anyone wanting a darn good adventure story.

Those who study the Civil War are aware that the Confederacy had clandestine operations run thru Canada all during the conflict. Though officially neutral, Canada was home to many Southern sympathizers who could be counted upon to give safe passage to smugglers, spies, etc. I sure would have liked to meet Sarah Slater.... In 1864, Jacob Thompson and Clement C. Clay were sent north with "instructions". Just what they were told by Jeff Davis, Judah Benjamin, and War Secretary James Seddon will, of course, never be known; that is the nature of secret operations. The commissioners, with the help of George Sanders and others, commenced plans for an operation with several objectives:

[1] To gain a measure of retribution for the actions of war-criminal Phil Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.

[2] To raise badly needed money.

[3] To make the Yankees say "ouch", and, maybe, open a new front of the war. Northerners had been fighting on our soil for three years. They weren't fighting for their own freedom [which was never threatened], but to take away ours. Maybe if THEIR land was invaded.....

An invasion was planned....twenty one escaped POW's, led by Lt. Bennett Young, a 21 year old native of Kentucky who had ridden with John Hunt Morgan infiltrated St. Albans, Vermont. On October 19, 1864, they sprung their trap, robbed all three banks in town, and escaped to Canada. They were captured, "jailed" [in a luxury hotel], tried twice, and released twice. All of the plotters, and raiders, lived out their days...Bennett Young was a highly respected citizen who lived till 1919. Though other raids were rumored, none ever took place. Still, objectives [2] and [3] were met...the fear on the northern border lasted long after the war....

Mrs. Prince is a very nice lady who has written a very fine book. She and I differ, however, when it comes to the Lincoln Assassination. She offers speculation that the murder of Dishonest Abe was an offical Confederate operation. Of course, no proof is offered; there isn't any, because it wasn't. The worst that can be said is that Mr. Benjamin had people working for him who had rogues for friends and relatives. We've all "known somebody who knew somebody" when it comes to something. John Surratt worked for Mr. Benjamin...his mother was guilty...he knew Booth...BUT, John Surratt was acquitted. Dr. Mudd was guilty in the Lincoln plot; he may have been involved in the "Doctors Line" of spies. But there is no hint that he knew any high official. Sarah Slater worked for Mr. Benjamin...she knew Booth, and others, but....nothing. To call the murder a Confederate operation implies the involvement of Jefferson Davis, plus at least ONE of a very small group; Benjamin, Seddon, Stephens, Cooper, Bragg, Breckinridge,...that's about it for something this big. I'll boil it down to two points, and I'll be brash enough to claim to be an expert on Mr. Benjamin:

[1] IF it were an official plot, Benjamin would have run it. There's no evidence that he did, and he was good at keeping secrets, BUT, he wouldn't have dared without orders from Jeff.

[2] Davis would have NEVER traded Lincoln for Andrew Johnson. He may have had no love for Abe, but he respected his intelligence and ability. He despised, and had no respect for, Johnson.

Assassination aside, this is an excellent book, that I heartily recommend. Plenty of background, even if some of it is speculation. We will never PROVE what Jacob Thompson discussed with Davis and Benjamin. If I disagree with the author on a side issue, I can still state that you will enjoy reading about a rather obscure aspect of the Civil War.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Get on with it already!, May 20, 2008

By	Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'm not an impatient guy. But after years of grading student essays and writing books and articles myself, I've come to the point where I have little use for prolixity and needless fillers. That's why I find Cathryn Prince's Burn the town and Sack the Banks! so frustrating.

Prince sets out to tell a story that needs to be told, because we tend to over-romanticize the American Civil War. Her tale is about the late 1864 Confederate raid on St. Albans, Vermont, which was part of a larger rebel plan to conduct guerilla warfare in the northwestern states. The goal was in part retribution for the hard war conducted in the south by the likes of Sheridan, Sherman, and Grant, and in part an attempt to break the morale of northerners and force their leaders to the negotiation table. This kind of warfare, which ignored distinctions between combatants and noncombatants, was much more prevalent in the Civil War than we typically hear.

The problem is that Prince doesn't seem to want to tell it. She spends an inordinate amount of time writing about topics that only relate tangentially--e.g., Vermont in the Civil War, the "burning" campaign of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley--and leaves herself only about 100 pages to tell the story of the actual St. Alban's raid. After awhile, I found myself impatiently flipping pages in search of the point of it all. I was amazed to discover that I'd flipped through well over half the book before I found it.

A disappointment. As Francis Bacon said, some books are to be devoured, others are to be skimmed. This is definitely a skimmer.