128 FENIANS fore behooved Massey and his confederates to be wary. Having resolved to make England the principal field of action, they established a " central directory " of 15 members in London, while subordinate directories were formed in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow. Massey, after making a tour of inspection in Ireland, reported the organization there to be so numerous and well appointed that a rising was forthwith resolved upon, and a plan of campaign adopted. The castle of Chester was garrisoned by a company belong- ing to an Irish regiment, and in it was stored a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition. A plan was formed to seize these, and the llth of February was fixed upon for its execution. On the 10th the directory met in Liverpool to arrange the last details for the morrow's opera- tions. At midnight the magistrates of Liver- pool were fully informed of everything by one Congdon, who exhibited a commission in the Union army and another in the Fenian service. In less than half an hour the mayor of Chester was warned of his danger, and he hastened to post a strong body of men in the castle. From 2-J- A. M. every train arriving in Chester brought many Fenians, until their number reached some 1,200 at 4^- P. M. At that hou? a company of regular troops arrived from Manchester, and a regiment of the guards was promised from Lon- don. Numbers of special constables had mean- while been sworn in and armed. The Fenians saw they had been betrayed, and after some fu- tile demonstrations dispersed under cover of night. It was now impossible for the directory to countermand in time the simultaneous rising in Ireland, where the government had also been informed of everything, and had taken pre- cautionary measures. Killarney had been cho- sen as the centre of Fenian operations in the south, and Capt. O'Connor was intrusted with the command. But at noon on Feb. 12 the frigate Gladiator, at anchor in Valentia bay, landed her marines to protect and assist the coast guard. At the same hour Capt. Moriarty was taken prisoner, and a body of 800 Fenians were dispersed without any serious resistance. Another large body withdrew into the Toomies mountains, but fled before the advance of the military. The attack on Chester castle and this rising in the south of Ireland were, in the conception of the directory, only preliminaries to a general insurrectionary movement through- out Ireland, which was to take place on March 5. This, it was commonly believed, was the day fixed in Canada for the execution of Fenian prisoners. But on March 3 Godfrey Massey, who had come over from England with final instructions, was taken prisoner at Limerick station. He divulged to the British government everything pertaining to the pres- ent plans and organization of the Fenian body, and its history. However, on the 5th the ri- sing took place in Dublin, in accordance with the orders issued by the leaders. After dark, along every road which led from the capital and the neighboring towns to Tullaght hill, numerous bodies of men were seen advancing in silence, and arming themselves at certain places on their way. A band of mounted po- licemen attacked and drove back a column of several hundred Fenians, who in the darkness, unaware of the extent of the attacking force, were stricken with a panic which became general. About the same hour a body of 1,000 partly armed men took possession of the police barracks and the city hall of Drog- heda, and held them throughout the 6th ; but finding no sympathy among the citizens, they disappeared during the night. In Munster the insurrection was pretty general; but be- yond tearing up railway tracks, destroying telegraphic lines, and attacking isolated posts of constabulary and coast guards, nothing came of the movement in the south of Ireland. A considerable force of insurgents took refuge in the Galtee hills, whence they were soon driven by a heavy fall of snow. The special commis- sion appointed to try the Fenian prisoners be- gan its session in Dublin on April 8. In the subsequent trials T. F. Burke was condemned to death in Dublin, and John McCafferty in Cork, but their sentences were afterward com- muted to penal servitude for life. Stephens had meanwhile been relieved of the management of the Fenian organization, and the direction was vested in a committee until the fifth con- gress met in New York, Feb. 27, 1867. It elected as central executive A. A. Griffin; much money was raised and many measures were projected to aid " the men in the gap." The president of the United States was vainly appealed to for the purpose of obtaining belli- gerent rights for the Fenians. Toward the end of May a second invasion of Canada began to be talked of. Large bodies of men were seen drill- ing in Detroit and Buffalo, and recruiting of- fices were kept open by the Fenians ; and St. Albans and Ogdensburgh were spoken of as de- pots of military stores and points of departure for a new expedition. But the United States authorities exerted the utmost vigilance, and orders were issued on July 30 for the arrest of all who should attempt any violation of the neutrality laws. The parent organization of the Fenian brotherhood had, however, des- patched in April an expedition to Ireland. On April 13 the brig Erin's Hope sailed from New York with 5,500 stand of arms, 3 batteries of artillery, 1,000 sabres, 5,000,000 rounds of small ammunition, a large supply of artillery ammunition, equipments for a brigade, and 39 officers of every grade of infantry, cavalry, ar- tillery, and engineers. On May 18 she made Black Rock, 12 miles from the mouth of Done- gal bay, and in a week got into communication with parties on shore. She remained 20 days on the coast of Ireland and four on that of England, and made three landings on the former and one on the latter. Several of the officers set ashore were captured; but the military stores were brought back to New
