Biography
Marshall identifies Wattles as a resident of North Branch, Michigan arrested on November 23, 1862. According to the narrative, children raised a blackberry-stained cloth on a pole and an informer represented it as a secession flag. Wattles was transported to Fort Lafayette, held five months, and released after an allegiance oath. No formal charge or trial is recorded in the account. Source: John A. Marshall, American Bastile (1869), printed pages 558, https://archive.org/details/americanbastile00marsgoog/page/n575/mode/1up.
The Official Records identify David C. Wattles of North Branch, Lapeer County, Michigan, arrested about November 25, 1861 and ordered to Fort Lafayette. W. H. Barse’s November 26 telegram and accompanying narrative confirm actual arrest and transport; the official summary records him still held February 15, 1862, when administrative responsibility passed to the War Department. Authorities alleged public advocacy of secession and association with Guy S. Hopkins and Isaiah Butler; these are allegations, not convictions. This contemporary 1861 custody chronology conflicts with Marshall’s printed November23, 1862 date and five-month account. Both source accounts are preserved; the evidence here does not prove a second arrest episode or justify treating the 1862 date as an uncontested endpoint. Source: Official Records, Series II, Volume II, printed pages 1246–1248, https://archive.org/details/cu31924079570259/page/n447/mode/1up. Marshall’s printed 558 date was visually checked against the scan.
The contemporary documents continue through April 1862: Wattles signed a parole promising no aid or comfort to the enemy April 9, and Burke’s April 10 report explicitly confirms that he had been released. The exact physical departure day is not independently stated. This documents an actual release by April 10, while preserving the different chronology and oath account in Marshall. Source: Official Records, Series II, Volume II, printed page 1267, https://archive.org/details/cu31924079570259/page/n468/mode/1up.
