Moses Dickson’s Secret Underground Army

The Knights of Liberty: Moses Dickson’s Secret Underground Army

​History often remembers the abolitionist movement through the lens of oratory and political pressure, but for some, the path to freedom required a more radical design. In 1846, a young man named Moses Dickson and eleven determined companions met in St. Louis, Missouri, to form a clandestine organization that would become one of the most ambitious resistance efforts in American history: The Knights of Liberty.
​A Vision of Armed Resistance
​Moses Dickson was not content with the slow pace of legal reform. He envisioned a coordinated, armed uprising that would dismantle the institution of slavery from within. The Knights of Liberty was a secret society with a clear, military-inspired goal: to recruit and train an army of Black men capable of striking a decisive blow for liberation.
​To protect their mission, the group operated under extreme secrecy. Dickson spent a decade traveling throughout the South, establishing local cells and recruiting “soldiers.” Legend suggests that by 1856, the organization had grown to include tens of thousands of members, all pledged to a code of silence and prepared to fight for their collective humanity.
​The Shift from Combat to the Underground Railroad
​By 1857, Dickson and his leaders were reportedly preparing for a massive, coordinated strike. However, as the political climate in the United States reached a boiling point, Dickson made a strategic pivot. Recognizing that the country was sliding toward a full-scale Civil War, he realized that the Knights of Liberty could be more effective by supporting the established Underground Railroad.
​Rather than initiating an independent war, the group used its vast network to funnel information, supplies, and escaping enslaved people toward the North. When the Civil War finally erupted in 1861, many members of this secret army enlisted in the Union forces, bringing their discipline and specialized knowledge of Southern terrain to the official fight for abolition.
​A Legacy of Post-War Empowerment
​After the war, Moses Dickson did not stop his work. He transformed the remnants of his secret organization into the Order of Twelve of the Knights and Daughters of Tabor, a benevolent society dedicated to the social and economic upliftment of formerly enslaved people.
​The story of Moses Dickson is a powerful reminder that Black resistance was never a monolith. It involved complex strategy, military discipline, and a tireless commitment to self-determination. While the “Secret Army” never fought the specific war it was founded for, its existence proved that the desire for freedom was backed by a sophisticated and fearless organization.