Mark,

Your assessment is correct.

This order was first the "Circle of Honor", succeeded by "The Order of the Sons of Liberty", succeeded by "The Knights of the Golden Crile" and lastly "The Order of American Knights".

It's stated purposes were;

1. Aiding soldiers to desert and protecting and harboring same.

2. Discouraging enlistments and resisting the draft

3. Circulation of disloyal and treasonable material;.

4. Communicating with and giving intelligence to the Confederate forces.

5. Aiding the Confederate forces in recruiting from behind Union lines.

6. Furnishing Confederate forces with arms and ammunition.

7. Co-operating with Confederate forces in raids.

8. Destruction of Union property.

9. Destruction of private property and persecution of Union loyals.

10. Assassinations and murder

11. Establishing a Western or Northwestern Confederacy.

None of these were very successful.

After the 1864 trial of the officials for treason, with the Grand Secretary of the Order personally identifying the conspirators, the order drifted into the oblivion of history. Only a radical fringe element tried to continue, but they too faded into history, only to be resurrected by conspiracy nuts in today's world.