The Baltimore Plot

Allan Pinkerton and Abraham Lincoln became compatriots for freedom through a shared sense of justice, incorruptible integrity, and a deeply earnest respect for all Americans.  

Their relationship began in 1855, when Lincoln, then an attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad, drafted the pivotal contract between Pinkerton & Co. and seven railroads to establish the Northwestern Police Agency. This contract highlighted Pinkerton's already distinguished reputation and Lincoln's legal prowess, evidenced by his recent Supreme Court case. The agreement, detailed and forward-thinking, set lasting standards for industry best practices. 

Six years later, Pinkerton escorted President-elect Abraham Lincoln safely to Washington, D.C. in time for his inauguration, foiling an early assassination attempt in Baltimore. President Lincoln went on to lead the country through one of its most trying periods, the Civil War, and in 1863 enacted the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves. His efforts to show that all people were indeed created equal fundamentally changed America.

This story, the Baltimore Plot, begins a few days before that intrepid journey to the inauguration. As the inauguration of President-elect Lincoln neared, there was talk in the South that Lincoln should never be permitted to take the oath of office. As in any age, radicals spouted extreme ideology and wild threats exciting fear. Those with a calmer perspective, particularly in the North, tended not to give much credence to these threats. Lincoln himself chose not to dignify them, avoiding the topic even in his private conversations. The country was already divided, but most entertained no serious fears of open rebellion, believing that when Lincoln did take office Southern secession from the Union would be averted. 

The Investigation Begins

S.M. Felton, the President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, heard the rumblings. He believed there was a viable threat from Maryland secessionists. Felton’s railroad crossed the Mason-Dixon, a boundary line that makes up the border between Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, also known as the unofficial border between the North and the South. Philadelphia is located in the North, while Wilmington and Baltimore are located in the South. Moreover, this road was the great connecting link to Washington, D.C. 

Felton suspected the secessionists might attempt to sabotage the railroad, either by targeting the ferry boat that transported trains across the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace or by destroying the bridges over the Gunpowder River and other waterways. He was determined to protect his railroad from any damage or obstruction.  

At the end of January 1861, Felton wrote a letter to Allan Pinkerton, the founder of Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, to investigate. By February 3, Pinkerton and a team of his best detectives — Kate Warne, Hattie Lawton, Timothy Webster, Harry W. Davies, and Charles D.C. Williams — launched an in-depth investigation, traveling to critical junctures along the railroad from south to north. 

In Wilmington, Delaware, Pinkerton discovered “evidence of great political excitement.” But there was nothing to indicate imminent danger. The same at Perryville, Maryland, on the northern shores of the Chesapeake Bay. These Southerners indulged in fierce arguments, but Pinkerton believed there was no cause for apprehension.

“At Havre de Grace, however,” he reported, “the lines were more clearly drawn and the popular feeling much more bitter.”  

At this location, where trains traversed the Susquehanna River via ferries, any sabotage could significantly damage the railroad’s infrastructure, interrupting transportation and communication. One of Pinkerton’s operatives stayed in Havre de Grace. The mission: discreetly identify potential threats and subtly gather intel on their plans. 

A little further north in Perrymansville, Maryland, the sentiment was noticeably stronger, fueled by instigators. The movement had rallied a considerable number of supporters and sympathizers, creating a hotbed of hostility towards the railroad company. The tension was palpable, and boisterous threats permeated the air — no one with abolitionist views would be allowed safe passage through the town.  

While Pinkerton did not believe there was any immediate threat to the railroad here, he dispatched Timothy Webster, one of Pinkerton’s most daring and discreet detectives, as an undercover agent to carefully report everything that transpired. (It’s important to note that this was the beginning of Timothy Webster’s Civil War spy operation — but that’s another story.)  

Escalating Hostility in Northern Maryland

The further north Pinkerton traveled along the railroad in Maryland, the more extreme the resistance to Lincoln’s presidency.  

“As I neared the city of Baltimore the opposition to the government and the sympathy with secession was manifestly more intense. At Magnolia, particularly, I observed a very dangerous feeling, and among men of all classes the general sentiment was in favor of resistance and force,” Pinkerton reported. He also sent for more of his Chicago-based detectives to do what they did best. John Seaford was deployed at Magnolia. 

“I then proceeded on to Baltimore, and there I found the greatest amount of excitement that I had yet experienced,” Pinkerton reported. He soon found that Felton’s fears were not wholly without foundation.

“The opposition to Mr. Lincoln's inauguration was most violent and bitter…the sentiment of disunion was far more widespread and deeply rooted than I imagined.” 

Pinkerton established his base of operations in Baltimore where he was quickly accessible to his operatives and could receive intel as it came in. And based on the intel he received from them, Pinkerton advised Felton to employ a small number of guards for the ferries and bridges along the railroad, should an attack come. 

The Inauguration at Risk

Pinkerton noted that among the intel, the chief opposition appeared to be the inauguration of Lincoln himself. Such rhetoric was to instill fear as to what his presidency could mean and provoke resistance —and it was done successfully across all classes of people, most successfully among the wealthier citizens. And on February 10, less than two weeks into the investigation, Pinkerton received a letter from the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad’s master mechanic that read: 

Pinkerton knew the intel was far too important to be disregarded as hearsay. And there wasn’t much time to determine the validity of the threat. The very next day, on February 11, Lincoln began his 12-day train journey toward the Capitol.  

Lincoln’s Praise and Unwavering Support

Embarking from Springfield, Illinois, the President-elect received praise and ovation. Vast multitudes converged on the stations at his stops, and in major cities — Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Albany, New York City, Trenton, Newark, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg — they proudly proclaimed their allegiance to the Union and to Lincoln. 

Pinkerton later wrote, “Everywhere he was received and honored as the chief of a free people, and in reply to complimentary addresses which he day by day received, the President endeavored to utter cheering words, and indicated a disbelief in any bloody issue of our domestic complications.” 

Pinkerton was driven by his sense of duty and long friendship with Lincoln to convey the message he had received from the master mechanic — with the “acquiescence” of Felton, after all, he was still in the railroad’s employ and any information he uncovered belonged to the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. 

On February 12, Pinkerton asked George H. Bangs, from Pinkerton’s Chicago office, to telegram Norman B. Judd, Lincoln’s personal friend who was accompanying him on the pre-inauguration tour from Springfield to Washington. Pinkerton knew that Judd was the most influential man in the presidential suite. 

To protect the President-elect and keep speculation and anxiety to a minimum, Judd kept the information to himself but he replied immediately:

 Pinkerton's Quest for Intelligence 

While the message he received from the master mechanic was compelling, Pinkerton needed more information, details to the plot at hand. For this, he needed his team to assume Southern secessionist aliases that would allow them to integrate themselves seamlessly and convincingly — and quickly.  

Among them, Timothy Webster was sent back to Perrymansville and enlisted in a rebel cavalry company where he was accepted as a fellow secessionist. Another one of Pinkerton’s detectives, who had spent several years in New Orleans and other Southern cities, assumed the alias “Joseph Howard” and effectively infiltrated a Baltimore secret society where he gathered intelligence without raising suspicion. Kate Warne quietly cultivated the acquaintance of the wives and daughters of the Baltimore society members.  

Every day Pinkerton received reports highlighting the rumblings of rebellion and assassination. His team found that one local hotel and restaurant appeared to be a gathering place for the secret society members as well as other Southern extremists, where conversations were loud and unrestrained. Over the course of the next 10 days, even Pinkerton himself, whose name was well-known but face was not, infiltrated the society — introduced by Howard — and met with its leaders.  

Pinkerton asked the important question, “Are there no other means of saving the South except by assassination?” 

The answer was, “No. With the first shot the chief traitor, Lincoln will die, then all Maryland will be with us, and the South will be ever free.” 

Pinkerton asked another question, “But, have all the plans been matured, and are there no fears of failure?” 

“Our plans are arranged, and the plan cannot fail.” 

Howard had befriended a Lieutenant of the Baltimore Palmetto Guard, a pre-Civil War company in Charleston’s 17th SC Regiment of Infantry (Militia), who supplied the details of the plan over drinks at a bar. Thanks to Lincoln’s highly publicized pre-inauguration itinerary, the conspirators knew that Lincoln was scheduled to arrive in Baltimore by train from Harrisburg on February 23, reaching the city by noon. Amidst the expected crowds at Calvert Street Depot would be extremists and conspirators whose goal was to crowd in around Lincoln as he departed the train and transferred to an open carriage for a short journey to the Washington Depot. Here, with minimal police presence — it was rumored that the city’s police were sympathizers — the conspirators planned to create a diversion, drawing the officers' attention and providing an opening for an assassin to strike.  

The assassin would then escape the crowds and make his way to a steamer stationed in Chesapeake Bay ready to transport him to a Southern port, where he would be celebrated as a hero. 

Not leaving anything to chance, the conspirators planted agents across key Northern cities to monitor Lincoln's movements. They were equipped with a secret cipher to communicate undetected by telegraph. 

Everything was in place except for the selection of the assassin, a decision to be made by ballot, with each conspirator ready to commit the act for their cause.  

In Perrymansville, Webster learned that the assassination plot was but one step in a bigger plot. As soon as the deed had been accomplished in Baltimore, news was to be telegraphed along the railroad, where co-conspirators were waiting to destroy bridges, tear up tracks, and cut the telegraph wires to prevent any information from being conveyed to the cities in the North. 

As the intel came in, Pinkerton sent messages to Judd in Cincinnati, Buffalo, and New York, informing him of the accumulating evidence, but conveying no details, lest the messages be intercepted. 

“I determined to learn all that there was to learn before many hours,” wrote Pinkerton.  

The Race Against Time

With but only a few days before Lincoln was to pass through Baltimore, Pinkerton and Warne traveled to New York City, arriving the same day as the presidential party. Warne arranged for a meeting with Judd at which time she introduced him to Col. E.S. Sandford, President of the American Telegraph Company, who was fully acquainted with the facts of the case. Sanford promised Judd unlimited use of the telegraph wires under his purview.

While they met, Pinkerton traveled to Philadelphia to meet with Felton. He relayed all the information he had on the case, including the conspirator’s intention to sabotage the railroad should the assassination be successful. 

Felton and Pinkerton took evidence to Judd who arrived the next day. They spent more than an hour going over the evidence, after which Judd was convinced that a plot existed. Protective measures, they determined, were absolutely necessary. 

If that were the end of the matter, Lincoln would have simply boarded a train for Washington, D.C. However, Lincoln remained unconvinced. In what can only be described as a turn of fortune, another respected acquaintance arrived in Philadelphia to deliver a grave message.  

Lincoln later wrote regarding the operation:

At midnight, Pinkerton, Judd, Sandford and G. C. Franciscus, General Manager of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad convened that night at midnight to pour over the evidence and come up with a plan to get Lincoln through Baltimore safely.  

It was determined that Lincoln should be brought from Harrisburg to Philadelphia the next night by special train, and then travel to Washington by one of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore night line sleeping car. Additionally, under the direction of Sanford, the telegraph lines in all directions were cut, to prevent news of his Lincoln’s movements.  

The plan allowed Lincoln to choose one person from his party to travel with him, while Pinkerton provided other protective agents. Lincoln chose Ward E. Lamon, a young athletic Virginian lawyer based in Illinois. Pinkerton chose George H. Bangs, one of his Chicago-based detectives and a former member of New York City’s Crystal Palace Squad, to travel with Pinkerton, Warne, and Lincoln.  

The Secret Journey

Everything was carried out successfully. Lincoln and Lamon departed Harrisburg as planned. They traveled without incident to Philadelphia where Pinkerton met them in a carriage outside the station. He went over the plan one more time. As they stepped out of the carriage and made their way to the nightline train, the President-elect, dressed in a simple overcoat, muffler, and hat, slightly hunched over to blend in, accompanied by the shorter Pinkerton

At the train in Philadelphia, Warne and Bangs had arranged for Warne’s “sick brother” to be boarded through a rear entrance, ensuring privacy. Inside, three sections were reserved for the team, with Lincoln, Lamon, and Pinkerton occupying the central one, curtains drawn. Warne and Bangs, stayed awake through the night, prepared for any eventuality.

The night passed quietly, with only Lincoln breaking the silence with low-spoken stories, displaying a remarkable calmness that Pinkerton later reflected on with admiration. 

"I could not then," reported Pinkerton, "nor have I since been able to understand how anyone, in like circumstances, could have exhibited such composure." 

As the train slowed for the Havre de Grace ferry, Pinkerton slipped to the rear platform. A covert signal — two lantern beams — pierced the darkness, a silent message from Timothy Webster: all clear. The train arrived in Baltimore at 3:30 AM, and Pinkerton briefly stepped out of the train while his operatives patrolled the platform. All clear. The train continued on its course arriving at dawn on February 23, 1861. Lincoln, stood stretching to his full height and straightening his clothes, “Well, boys," he said, "Thank God this prayer-meeting is over.” On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States of America. 

Beyond the Operation: Pinkerton's Legacy

The operation to uncover the assassination plot and then safely deliver President-elect Abraham Lincoln to Washington D.C. was not just a display of exceptional detective methods, but a testament to the strategic skill of Allan Pinkerton and his team in executing covert operations. Pinkerton's ingenuity lay in his ability to craft an operation that was as discreet as it was effective, ensuring the safety of the President-elect through a series of intelligence, clandestine tactics, and well-orchestrated maneuvers. The success of this mission laid the groundwork for future protective services and established a legacy of intelligence and security operations that would become the hallmark of Pinkerton's Agency. 

While Pinkerton’s operation is a masterclass in covert strategy, there is so much more to the story — that story is not without controversy — politics, players, intel, and intrigue. And Lincoln had yet to face his greatest challenges. In the end, he accomplished what no other President could.