"Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."  ~Winston Churchill~

Knights of the Golden Circle

(K.G.C)

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I'll start this page with two definitions of the Knights of the Golden Circle and what they were.

1- from http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Knights_Of_The_Golden_Circle

KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, a semi-military secret society in the United States in the Middle West, 1861-1864, the purpose of which was to bring the Civil War to a close and restore the "Union as it was." There is some evidence that before the Civil War there was a Democratic secret organization of the same name, with its principal membership in the Southern States. After the outbreak of the Civil War many of the Democrats of the Middle West, who were opposed to the war policy of the Republicans, organized the Knights of the Golden Circle, pledging themselves to exert their influence to bring about peace. In 1863, owing to the disclosure of some of its secrets, the organization took the name of Order of American Knights, and in 1864 this became the Sons of Liberty. The total membership of this order probably reached 250,000 to 300,000, principally in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kentucky and south-western Pennsylvania. Fernando Wood of New York seems to have been the chief officer and in 1864 Clement L. Vallandigham became the second in command. The great importance of the Knights of the Golden Circle and its successors was due to its opposition to the war policy of the Republican administration. The plan was to overthrow the Lincoln government in the elections and give to the Democrats the control of the state and Federal governments, which would then make peace and invite the Southern States to come back into the Union on the old footing. In order to obstruct and embarrass the Republican administration the members of the order held peace meetings to influence public opinion against the continuance of the war; purchased arms to be used in uprisings, which were to place the peace party in control of the Federal government, or failing in that to establish a north-western confederacy; and took measures to set free the Confederate prisoners in the north and bring the war to a forced close. All these plans failed at the critical moment, and the most effective work done by the order was in encouraging desertion from the Federal armies, preventing enlistments, and resisting the draft. Wholesale arrests of leaders and numerous seizures of arms by the United States authorities resulted in a general collapse of the order late in 1864. Three of the leaders were sentenced to death by military commissions, but sentence was suspended until 1866, when they were released under the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the famous case Ex parte Milligan. /n==Authorities== - An Authentic Exposition of the Knights of the Golden Circle (Indianapolis, 1863); J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 (New York, 1905) vol. v.; E. McPherson, Political History of the Rebellion (Washington, 1876); and W. D. Foulke, Life of 0. P. Morton (2 vols., New York, 1899).

(W. L. F.)

and

2- From  http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-KnightsG.html

Knights of the Golden Circle

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition     Date: 2007

Knights of the Golden Circle secret order of Southern sympathizers in the North during the Civil War. Its members were known as Copperheads . Dr. George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian who had moved to Ohio, organized the first "castle," or local branch, in Cincinnati in 1854 and soon took the order to the South, where it was enthusiastically received. Its principal object was to provide a force to colonize the northern part of Mexico and thus extend proslavery interests, and the Knights became especially active in Texas. Secession and the outbreak of the Civil War prompted a shift in its aims from filibustering in Mexico to support of the new Southern government. Appealing to the South's friends in the North, particularly in areas that were suffering economic dislocation, the order soon spread to Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. Its membership in these states, where it became strongest, was largely composed of Peace Democrats, who felt that the Civil War was a mistake and that the increasing power of the federal government was leading toward tyranny. They did not, however, at this time engage in any treasonable activity. In late 1863 the Knights of the Golden Circle was reorganized as the Order of American Knights and again, early in 1864, as the Order of the Sons of Liberty, with Clement L. Vallandigham , most prominent of the Copperheads, as its supreme commander. Only a minority of its membership was radical enough—in some localities—to discourage enlistments, resist the draft, and shield deserters. Numerous peace meetings were held. A few extreme agitators, some of them encouraged by Southern money, talked of a revolt in the Old Northwest, which, if brought about, would end the war. Southern newspapers wishfully reported stories of widespread disaffection, and John Hunt Morgan's raid (1863) into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio was undertaken in the expectation that the disaffected element would rally to his standard. Gov. Oliver P. Morton of Indiana and Gen. Henry B. Carrington effectively curbed the Sons of Liberty in that state in the fall of 1864. With mounting Union victories late in 1864, the order's agitation for a negotiated peace lost appeal, and it soon dissolved.

Bibliography: See G. F. Milton, Abraham Lincoln and the Fifth Column (1942, repr. 1962); R. O. Curry, A House Divided (1964).

Now with that out of the way I have to say there's much more to the KGC than most will ever know.  The KGC was/is a very secretive organization and I would imagine that unless some kind of document or history about them is unearthed, then any more knowledge about them will remain illusive and secret. 

Some however believe the KGC was an extension of the Knights Templar.  They too were persecuted and branded not only traitors but heretics by the Catholic Church and only recently were found to have been innocent of the crimes they were said to have committed.

One thing you've always got to remember is that the Knights of the Golden Circle were pro-south and since the North won, they got to write history.  Answers you get by so-called "experts" depends on who you ask, how they view the Civil War and whether or not they're pro south, pro north or open minded which seems to be very rare these days. 

Some so-called "experts" like those so-called experts in the time of the Templars claim the Knights of the Golden Circle were traitors.  They're calling the Knights of the Golden Circle a traitorous organization yet the same group has been known by other names.  Names like The Order of the Sons of Liberty and just who in our nations past has been a member of that group?  Their founder, Samuel Adams and men like Ben Franklin and George Washington to name a few.  Men who are well known throughout the world as being "true Americans" and "Patriots".  They were responsible for the Boston Tea Party and certain so-called experts call them traitors.  "One man's traitor is another man's patriot." 

Todd Alan Kreamer addressed that topic in an article he wrote titled:  Sons of Liberty:  Patriots or Terrorists?  How a Secret Society of Rebel Americans Made it's Mark on Early America

Here's a little of what Mr Kreamer had to say:  "

Jesse Woodson James was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle and not only was he a member, he was in the inner circle.  These men took oaths and when men like Jesse James take an oath, they were deadly serious about it. 

The Knights of the Golden Circle were also known to hoard gold, silver and other valuables as well as ammunition, dry goods and weapons long after the Civil War ended.  Why?  Because they were preparing for a 2nd Civil War.  They wanted another fight and they wanted to make sure the next time around, they would win.  Some say the treasures they had gathered had nothing to do with a 2nd civil war but for some greater purpose.  Some purpose having something to do with some other secret organization.  Which is true?  We may never know.

If the purpose was for a 2nd civil war, then that war never came and it has been said by some that caches of treasures, old uniforms, dry goods and weapons still lay buried under the earth to this day, just waiting to be discovered! 

Don't believe it?  Have you ever heard of Victorio Peak in New Mexico?  Truth is stranger than fiction.  Who knows what untold secrets may lie beneath our feet?

 

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