Washington Carroll Tevis (February 22, 1829 – September 29, 1900), also known as Charles Carroll Tevis, Nassim Bey and Charles Carroll de Taillevis, was an American-born soldier of fortune who served in a variety of armies and conflicts during the 19th century.
Financed by the inheritance from his late father[13] Tevis traveled to Paris. There he began using the name "Charles Carroll Tevis". He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1853 where he received Baptism in the Chapel of the Archbishop of Paris, from the hands of then MonsignorGeorges Darboy who was charged with Tevis's instruction and preparation in the faith.[14]
Tevis left the army in 1855 to return to Paris. There he published a book of warfare La Petite guerre et le service des avant-postes published by Guiraudet et Jouaust in 1855 and patented a revolver.[21]
Return to the United States
Tevis returned to Philadelphia in approximately 1859 and applied to have his name changed to Charles Carroll de Taillevis;[22] believing it to be his original family name from a Huguenot who came to America in 1702.[23]
Tevis eloped with Blanche Florance, the daughter of Jacob Florance, a successful merchant, and Hannah Levy Florance, of Philadelphia, in November 1860. Her parents, who were Jewish, reportedly objected to the marriage because Tevis was Christian. As a result, she was disinherited, though her father left her an inheritance after his death in 1867.[24]
The American Civil War
Though an experienced cavalryman, Tevis was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry in the United States Volunteers; the second in command of the 4th Delaware Volunteer Infantry Regiment on August 18, 1862.[6] In addition to organising the regiment and serving with them at the defence of Baltimore he was involved in operations around Gloucester Point, Virginia. In June 1863 Lt. Col Tevis led a combined infantry force of 400 men, from several regiments in addition to his 4th Delaware, in an amphibious operation in the vicinity of Walkerton, Virginia, where his men successfully destroyed a large amount of Confederate supplies.[25]
The state of Maryland in the American Civil War contained large amounts of citizens loyal to both the Federal and Confederate governments. In addition to normal wartime military operations Tevis's regiment patrolled the areas of elections and made arrests.[28] Tevis entered the forbidden zone of politics when on November 2, 1863, he issued a proclamation not only declaring that all qualified voters should engage in their right to vote, but to vote for the platform of the Unconditional Union Party as "recognized by the Federal authorities as loyal or worthy of the support of any one who desires the peace and restoration of the Union".[29] Tevis's soldiers also arrested several candidates in the election. As a result, Brigadier Schenck ordered the withdrawal of the proclamation and the arrest of Tevis. After further investigation Schenck ordered Tevis released believing that Tevis acted in good faith, though he was quite wrong to sign the proclamation that was actually written by provost marshal and a candidate in the election, Captain John Frazier,[30][31] however Tevis was honorably discharged July 20, 1864.
With the Civil War only recently ending, Tevis found himself in a new war at a much higher level of command. The Fenian Brotherhood Congress appointed Tevis a committeeman from the state of Pennsylvania.[34]
Tevis and Major William O'Reilly purchased 4,220 Pennsylvania militia muskets from the Bridesburg, Philadelphiaarsenal, however plans to purchase cannon did not come to fruition.[39]
With the plans for Fenian Raids being devised, Tevis would lead the left wing of the assault on Canada in May 1866.[40] He organised and would transport 3,000 Fenian raiders leaving from Chicago, then linking up with Fenians in Milwaukee to steam up Lake Michigan to land for operations in Goderich, Ontario.[41] The Western invasion did not come to pass because Tevis was unable to organise the invader's transportation. Major General Sweeny dismissed Brig. Gen. C. C. Tevis, Adjutant General, for disobedience of orders.[37]
Though there are theories that the United States Government did not want the Fenian plans to actually succeed, Tevis was in the pay of the British Crown as a secret agent for £100 each month.[42] He would remain providing information to Her Majesty's Secret Service for years to come. The British Ambassador to the United States Frederick Wright-Bruce reported that Tevis "quarreled with the Fenian leaders and is now ready to do them as much harm as possible".[43]
The Army of the Pope
Though the 1853 announcement of Tevis's conversion to Roman Catholicism mentioned that he would join the Army of the Papal States as an officer,[44] it was not until after his Fenian adventures that Tevis enlisted as a private soldier in the Papal Zouaves an international legion of soldiers. With the Papal States facing continued opposition from those Italians desiring Rome be incorporated into a united Italy, Tevis proposed he recruit a separate battalion of battle experienced American soldiers to fight for the Pope with Tevis being commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel.[45] Tevis fired off a barrage of letters to the Freeman's Journal, an American Roman Catholic newspaper[46] including a statement that if each Roman Catholic parish in the United States provided $100 in gold a year, a battalion of 1,000 fighters could be equipped and sent to Rome. Four American bishops opposed the scheme.[47] Tevis was to be sent to the United States to drum up volunteers, but upon his arrival in Paris he heard of the opposition of the American bishops. Tevis resigned his commission.
In 1870 KhediveIsma'il Pasha of Egypt sought to modernise his army and was eager to reduce reliance on French military advisors at a time when French and British government and banking interests were increasing their demands, including demands for laborers in digging the Suez Canal.[55] An American adventurer named Thaddeus P. Mott connected the Khedive's government to American General William Tecumseh Sherman, then President Ulysses S. Grant's Commanding General of the United States Army. Sherman recommended former American General Charles Pomeroy Stone for the job.[56] General Stone was commissioned an Egyptian Lieutenant General and Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Army. General Stone, or "Ferik Pasha", recruited several American veterans of varying ranks who served with both the Federal Government and the Confederacy including Tevis. Tevis was commissioned in 1872 as a Brigadier-General and commanded the Military Engineering School at Abbassia, in Cairo.[57] Tevis left the service of Egypt in 1873.[58] He was one of about fifty Americans who served in the Egyptian Army during the era of Khedive Ismail; relative to the others, his stint in Egypt was one of the shortest.[55]
Whilst residing in Paris Tevis provided information to Great Britain acting as a double agent on plots by both Fenians[42] and MaharajaDuleep Singh, who proclaimed himself "the Sovereign of the Sikh nation and Implacable Foe of the British Government" [64] in a plot for a Sikh Uprising in India using Russian assistance.[65][66]
Personal life
Tevis had a wife prior to Blanche Florance, but nothing is known about her. Tevis and Blanche Florance had one child, Marie-Adele Florance Tevis (August 11, 1865- 1936) who married Henri Etienne Esperance Gouget de Landres (14 February 1852 – 15 June 1937) [67] later a General in the French cavalry on 1 April 1888 in Paris.
Tevis and Blanche divorced on January 12, 1885. Blanche died 28 June 1924 at her home in Paris, France.
Washington/Charles Carroll Tevis died in Paris on September 29, 1900; and was buried there at Montparnasse Cemetery.
Tevis in popular culture
James Weber Brown played the role of General Tevis in The Black Prince (2017).[68]
George Augustus Henry Sala's 1856 short stories The Dalgetty Race published in Household Words edited by Charles Dickens and A Journey Due North : Being Notes of a Residence in Russia[69] feature an American soldier of fortune "Nessim Bey" under the name "Washington Lafayette Bowie".[70]
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