The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Knights of the Golden Circle

There is no doubt that a multitude of these "secret" societies existed. The debate seems to be over the extent of their impact.

From letters in the O.R., I would believe that their influence was vastly over-rated by Federal commanders, particularly in the border states where they were having to contend with a significant amount of guerrilla action. Being over-estimated by the Federals created an image of power they didn't have, and resulted in unneccessary caution on the Federals' part.

The end of the CW appears to have been the death knell for most of the groups, although a few die-hards still still harbored dreams of a rebirth of the Confederacy. There is no known evidence that the KGC, OAK, etc. outlived their original membership, although various seccessionist organizations have popped up from time to time, and some are still active today.

Conspiracy theories abound, but with little evidence to support them.

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Knights of the Golden Circle
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Re: Knights of the Golden Circle
Fascinating Article
Re: Knights of the Golden Circle