Tactical or battlefield intelligence became vital to both sides in the field during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Units of spies and scouts reported directly to the commanders of armies in the field. providing details on troop movements and strengths. The distinction between spies and scouts was one that had life or death consequences: if a suspect was seized while in disguise and not in his army's uniform, he was often sentenced to be hanged. A spy named Will Talbot, a member of the

35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry The 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, also known as White's Battalion, White's Rebels and the Comanches, was a Confederate cavalry unit during the American Civil War raised by Elijah V. White in Loudoun County, Virginia in the winter of 1861-62. T ...

, was left behind in Gettysburg after his battalion had passed through the borough on June 26–27, 1863. He was captured, taken to

Emmitsburg, Maryland Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...

, and executed on orders of Brig. Gen.

John Buford John Buford, Jr. (March 4, 1826 – December 16, 1863) was a United States Army cavalry officer. He fought for the Union as a brigadier general during the American Civil War. Buford is best known for having played a major role in the first day o ...

.Fishel (1996). ''The Secret War for The Union''.

Confederate spying

Intelligence-gathering for the Confederates was focused on

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, and the surrounding area. Thomas Jordan created a network of agents that included

Rose O'Neal Greenhow Rose O'Neal Greenhow (1813– October 1, 1864) was a renowned Confederate spy during the American Civil War. A socialite in Washington, D.C., during the period before the war, she moved in important political circles and cultivated friendshi ...

. Greenhow delivered reports to Jordan via the “Secret Line,” the name for the system used to get letters, intelligence reports, and other documents across the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers to Confederate officials. The Confederacy's Signal Corps was devoted primarily to communications and intercepts, but it also included a covert agency called the

Confederate Secret Service The Confederate Secret Service refers to any of a number of official and semi-official secret service organizations and operations conducted by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Some of the organizations were under t ...

Bureau, which ran espionage and counter-espionage operations in the North including two networks in Washington.United States (2005) ''Intelligence in the Civil War''.

Confederate spies

Joseph Baden Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Fannie Battle Fannie Battle (1842–1924) (born Mary Frances Battle) was an American social reformer and spy for the Confederate Army. A Spy for the Confederate Army Battle was born in 1842 in Cane Ridge near Nolensville, Tennessee. She attended the Nashvil ...

John Yates Beall John Yates Beall (January 1, 1835 – February 24, 1865) was a Confederate privateer in the American Civil War who was arrested as a spy in New York and executed at Fort Columbus on Governors Island. Early life and education Beall was born in ...

Belle Boyd Isabella Maria Boyd (May 9, 1844The date in the Boyd Family Bible is May 4, 1844 (), but Boyd insisted that it was 1844 and that the entry was in error. () See also . Despite Boyd's assertion, many sources give the year of birth as 1844 and the ...

*William Bryant *

James Dunwoody Bulloch James Dunwoody Bulloch (June 25, 1823 – January 7, 1901) was the Confederacy's chief foreign agent in Great Britain during the American Civil War. Based in Liverpool, he operated blockade runners and commerce raiders that provided the Confed ...

Sam Davis Sam Davis (October 6, 1842 – November 27, 1863) was a Confederate soldier executed by Union forces in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. He is popularly known as the ''Boy Hero of the Confederacy'', although he was 21 when he ...

David Owen Dodd David Owen Dodd (November 10, 1846 – January 8, 1864), also known as David O. Dodd, was an Arkansas youth executed for spying in the American Civil War. In December 1863 Dodd carried some letters to business associates of his father in Union ...

* Nancy Hart Douglas * Zora Fair *

Antonia Ford Antonia Ford Willard (July 23, 1838 – February 14, 1871) was a volunteer civilian spy for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life Antonia Ford was born at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. She was a daughter of ...

Mary Jane Green Mary Jane Green was a Confederate spy and bushwhacker. Early life and education Not much is known about Mary Jane Green's early life. She claims to have been born in Sutton, Braxton County (currently known as West Virginia). Green's level ...

Thomas Harbin Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Henry Thomas Harrison Henry Thomas Harrison (April 23, 1832 – October 28, 1923), often known simply as "Harrison", was a spy for Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet during the American Civil War. He is best known for the information he gave Longstreet a ...

Elizabeth Carraway Howland Elizabeth Carraway Howland (November 20, 1816July 11, 1886; also Harland or Holland) was a Confederate spy during the American Civil War. Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathema ...

Annie Jones Ann Jones (or similar) may refer to: Writers *Ann Jones (author) (born 1937), American writer on women's issues *Anne Jones (writer) (born 1955), Australian editor and administrator * Anna Jones (food writer), columnist and cookbook author * Cat ...

* Thomas A. Jones * Thomas Jordan *

Alexander Keith Jr. Alexander Keith Jr. (1827 – 1875), known as William King Thomas, was an American Civil War spy for the Confederate States of America. He used a time bomb to attempt to destroy the ship ''Mosel'' for insurance fraud. Biography Keith was born ...

Joseph Clinton Millsap Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Virginia Bethel Moon Virginia "Ginnie" Bethel Moon (1844–1925) was born in Oxford, Ohio in 1844. When she was young, her family lived in what is now known as the "Lottie Moon House." She moved to Memphis, Tennessee with her mother in 1862 where she began a short but ...

Samuel Mudd Samuel Alexander Mudd Sr. (December 20, 1833 – January 10, 1883) was an American physician who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Mudd worked as a doctor and tobacco fa ...

* William Norris *

Emeline Piggott Emeline Jamison Pigott (December 15, 1836 – May 26, 1919) was a spy for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. For several years, she hid secret messages in her skirt and carried them between New Bern, North Carolina ...

Sarah Slater Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

Richard Thomas (Zarvona) Richard Thomas Zarvona (October 27, 1833 – March 17, 1875), born Richard Thomas Jr., was an American adventurer, soldier, and a Confederate Army officer who became known as "the French lady" after he disguised himself as a woman to seize a p ...

* William Orton Williams

Union spying

The Union's intelligence-gathering initiatives were decentralized.

Allan Pinkerton Allan J. Pinkerton (August 25, 1819 – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in the United States and his claim to have foiled a plot in 1861 to a ...

worked for Maj. Gen.

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

and created the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

Lafayette C. Baker Lafayette Curry Baker (October 13, 1826 – July 3, 1868) was a United States investigator and spy, serving the Union Army, during the American Civil War and under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Early life Baker was born in Staf ...

conducted intelligence and security work for Lieutenant General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

hired William Alvin Lloyd to spy in the South and report to Lincoln directly. As a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in Missouri,

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

was ordered by Maj. Gen.

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

to start an intelligence organization. Grant came to understand the power of intelligence and later made Brig. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge the head of his intelligence operations that covered an area from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

with as many as one hundred secret agents. Maj. Gen.

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...

, who became commander of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

in January 1863, ordered his deputy provost marshal, Col.

George H. Sharpe George Henry Sharpe (February 26, 1828 – January 13, 1900) was an American lawyer, soldier, United States Secret Service, Secret Service officer, diplomat, politician, and Member of the Board of General Appraisers. Sharpe was born in 1828, in ...

, to create a unit to gather intelligence. Sharpe set up what he called the Bureau of Military Information and was aided by

John C. Babcock John C. Babcock (September 6, 1836 – November 20, 1908) was an amateur rower, a member of the secret service for the Union Army during the Civil War, and a founder of the New York Athletic Club. Early life Babcock was born in Warwick, Rhode ...

, who had worked for

and had made maps for

. Sharpe's bureau produced reports based on information collected from agents, prisoners of war, refugees, Southern newspapers, documents retrieved from battlefield corpses, and other sources. When Grant began his siege of Petersburg in June 1864, Sharpe had become Grant's intelligence chief. The most useful

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

of the

was probably provided to Union officers by

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s and

smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

s.Quarles(1953). ''The Negro in the Civil War''. Intelligence provided by slaves and blacks was called black dispatches.Rose (1999). ''Black Dispatches''.

Union spies

* Mary Elizabeth Bowser * Charles C. Carpenter * George Curtis *

Pauline Cushman Pauline Cushman (born Harriet Wood; June 10, 1833 – December 2, 1893) was an American actress and a spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War. She is considered one of the most successful Civil War spies. Early life Harriet Woo ...

* Grenville Dodge *

Sarah Emma Edmonds Sarah Emma Edmonds (born Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmondson, married name Seelye, alias Franklin Flint Thompson; December 1841 – September 5, 1898) was a Canadian-born woman who claimed to have served as a man with the Union Army as a nurse and spy du ...

Abraham Galloway Abraham H. Galloway (February 8, 1837 – September 1, 1870) was an American politician who served as a state Senator in North Carolina. An African American, he was a Republican. Born in Smithville (now Southport, North Carolina) in 1837. A for ...

Philip Henson Philip Henson (December 28, 1827 – January 10, 1911) was a scout and spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Upon the election of U.S. Grant to the U.S. Presidency (1869–1877), Henson became the ''first Special'' Secret Service ...

*William J. Lawton *

Hattie Lawton Hattie Lawton, also known as Hattie H. Lawton,Cuthbert (1949) Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot. p. 4. Hattie Lewis, Recko, Corey, A Spy for the Union: The Life and Execution of Timothy Webster (McFarland & Co., 2013), 75. "Hattie Lewis, a Pinkerton ...

Pryce Lewis Pryce Lewis (February 13, 1831 – December 6, 1911) was an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and American Civil War spies, Union spy during the American Civil War. His activities in Charleston, Virginia and the surrounding area heavily ...

Albert D. Richardson Albert Deane Richardson (October 6, 1833 – December 2, 1869) was a well-known American journalist, Union spy, and author. Among his works is his noted biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Richardson was shot on two occasions, the second time fatally, ...

John Scobell Major General Sir Sanford John Palairet Scobell, (26 September 1879 – 2 March 1955), known by his middle name John,Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

Elizabeth Van Lew Elizabeth Van Lew (October 12, 1818 – September 25, 1900) was an American abolitionist and philanthropist who built and operated an extensive spy ring for the Union Army during the American Civil War. Many false claims continue to be ...

Kate Warne Kate Warne (1833 – January 28, 1868) was an American law enforcement officer known as the first female detective, in 1856, in the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the United States. Pre–Civil War Early detective work: 1856–1861 Very lit ...

Timothy Webster Timothy Webster (March 12, 1822 – April 29, 1862) was a British-born American lawman and soldier. He served as a Pinkerton (detective agency), Pinkerton agent and American Civil War spies, Union spy, and was the first spy in the American ...

References

Bibliography

* Fishel, E. C., ''The Secret War for The Union: The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War''. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co, 1996. * Quarles, B., ''The African American in the Civil War''. Boston, Little, Brown, 1953. * Rose, P. K.
The Civil War: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence
''Black Dispatches: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence During the Civil War''.] Washington, D.C., Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 1999. * United States Government
''Intelligence in the Civil War''
Washington, D.C., Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. *Swanson, James L., ''Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer''. New York, HarperCollins, 2006.
Search , eHISTORY

External links

William J. Lawton killed 1864
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Civil War Spies American Civil War spies, * American Civil War espionage