Information Security Activities

During the Civil War

 

 

            In June of 1862, a 17-year-old teenager from Pennsylvania enlisted in the Union Army near his hometown in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Little did he know that he would be playing an important role in the War Between the States, otherwise known as the American Civil War, and participate in some of the great battles of that war, including the Battle of Gettysburg.  He and his fellow Pennsylvanians were mostly raised on farms in rural Lancaster County and possessed something the Union Army was sorely in need of – men who could ride a horse and become seasoned cavalrymen.  The Union Army had started the war with many setbacks, not the least of which was an inexperienced cavalry, especially when compared to their Confederate counterparts.  It took several years for the Union Army, as well as the Union Cavalry, to build up the experience needed to take on much better trained and savvy troops from the South.  (It wasn’t until the Battle of Brandy Station in June of 1863 that the Union Cavalry finally started to show that they could compete with the Confederate Cavalry on the battlefield.)

Text Box: The veterans of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry regiment, which rode under Colonel Thomas C. Devin's brigade, met in 1886 to discuss placing a monument on their main battle line at Gettysburg. Their goal was to create a unique and different monument, one that would personify the Cavalry, and be permanent in nature. These gentlemen succeeded in their goals. This impressive work is done on a 27-ton block of Blue Westerly Granite, with a life-size mounted cavalry vedette portrayed as if just discovering the enemy. His attached carbine is slightly raised, as if to fire a warning shot to alert the reserve. The sculptor of the monument used an actual veteran of the 17th as his model, dressing George W. Feree in his original uniform and accoutrements for accuracy. Feree was a veteran of Company L of the regiment. The sculpture is highly detailed; for instance, the close observer will notice that a small currycomb protrudes from one of the saddlebags. Text Box:

 


Text Box: Monument to 17th PA Cavalry at Gettysburg

 

           

            By October of 1862, the teenager from PA had become a member of the newly formed 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry, which had been deployed from their base camp in Harrisburg, Camp Curtin, to the Capital of Washington, D.C.  Their initial duties were to keep the Confederate troops out of the DC area, during which they experienced two initial engagements with Confederate Colonel (later General) Wade Hampton at the Occoquan River, about 25 miles south of the Capital.  These first two engagements were less than successful, with the Union Cavalry unit being repulsed twice and sent back to DC, with the loss of a number of their troopers captured or wounded by the superior fighting Confederates.  However, this was only the beginning of what would be many encounters with their American brothers, and better and more successful days were ahead of them.

            The 17th Pennsylvania was not one of the more infamous units of the Civil War, but they were certainly unique in some of the duties they were assigned.  In addition to riding escort for General George Meade, the Commanding Officer at the Battle of Gettysburg, and other noted flag officers, this group of farmers, short in stature yet sturdy and strong, were tasked to do what most soldiers, and particularly most cavalrymen, would not even consider.  They were part of a small, elite group of soldiers that were sent across enemy lines to perform espionage and collect intelligence from the Confederate troops, while posing as Southern soldiers.  Of course, the danger was ever present and the punishment for being caught was inevitably death by hanging or firing squad.  There aren’t many documented accounts of members of the 17th Pennsylvania actually being caught, but the danger nevertheless was ever imposing.

            So what does this have to do with information assurance?  Well, if you had asked someone in 1862 what information assurance was, they would have looked at you with crossed eyes and wondered what planet you came from.  However, if you had asked them what spying was, that would have been a different story.  Spies were everywhere and were, of course, in the business of collecting intelligence from the other side, primarily information about troop movements, but any information about the status or condition of the opposing force could be used to advantage.  Something as simple as a list of supplies being ordered from Headquarters could provide a cornucopia of intelligence about what the needs or deficiencies of the troops were, and could potentially provide indicators of weaknesses, strengths, or even opportunities for intervention and surprise.

            There were no intelligence staffs, organization of spies, or even any such concept for which some kind of plan could be developed.  The word “intelligence” meant new information on any subject and the closest word in the military jargon of that era was “secret service”.  “Secret service” was used to refer to both military intelligence and nonmilitary detective work, but as used in this context by historians, did not actually exist as an entity throughout the entire American Civil War.  [Source:  Article titled, The Secret War for the Union – The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War, by Edwin C. Fishel, as printed on washingtonpost.com in 1996 by Mr. Fishel].

            George Washington had directed espionage activities during the American Revolution, possibly starting the first “intelligence” operations in the soon to be formed Republic.  There was a definite lull in the intervening years leading up to the Mexican War, when army engineers again became actively engaged in espionage activities.  Captain Robert E. Lee and 2nd Lt. George B. McClellan, although not well known at the time, became important providers of intelligence as engineering officers, engaging as evaluators of certain terrain features and the enemy’s manmade defenses.  Mexican banditos were also used to gather information from the other side establishing a tradition of intelligence work by a group of engineers who had yet to find a name for their clandestine operations.  [Source:  Article titled, The Secret War for the Union – The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War, by Edwin C. Fishel, as printed on washingtonpost.com in 1996 by Mr. Fishel].

            Two technological advances prior to the Civil War presented some good opportunities for intelligence planning and operations.  One was the use of lighter than air vehicles, balloons, to conduct reconnaissance of enemy lines.  The other technology, or better called a technique, was the use of flags and torches for visual signaling.  Major Albert Myer, an Army surgeon, invented the world’s first successful system of alphabetic communication in the 1850’s.  While the Confederate Army adopted the technology and used it effectively at the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), for some reason the Union side had not adopted the technology at the beginning of the war and missed many opportunities to intercept important Confederate intelligence.  It was only when signal officers detected flag signaling on their telescopes (today’s radar screens) that intercept operations finally caught on with the Federal Army.  [Source:  Article titled, The Secret War for the Union – The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War, by Edwin C. Fishel, as printed on washingtonpost.com in 1996 by Mr. Fishel].

            The best defense against spying, or protecting your information from falling into the wrong hands, was to utilize trusted couriers who could get the information from point A to point B as quickly as possible and with as much secrecy as the information warranted.  Of course, even the best laid plans to protect information from getting into the wrong hands could go awry, given a few miscues and the intervention of some devious people.  There are several notorious and famous spies from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, not the least of which was Rose O'Neal Greenhow.  She was born in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1817, and was known as "Wild Rose" from a young age.   She was a leader in Washington society, a passionate secessionist, and one of the most renowned spies in the Civil War.  She is credited with helping General Beauregard win one of the battles of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia.  [NOTE:  The image below was scanned from the book My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule At Washington, by Rose Greenhow. London: Richard Bentley, 1863.]

 

Text Box: Rose Greenhow was imprisoned for her efforts, first in her own home and then in the Old Capital Prison. Despite her confinement, Greenhow continued getting messages to the Confederacy by means of cryptic notes which traveled in unlikely places such as the inside of a woman's bun of hair. After her second prison term, she was exiled to the Confederate states where President Jefferson Davis received her warmly. In 1864, after a year abroad, she boarded the Condor, a British blockade-runner that was to take her home. Just before reaching her destination, the vessel ran aground at the mouth of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina. In order to avoid the Union gunboat that pursued her ship, Rose fled in a rowboat, but never made it to shore. Her little boat capsized and she was dragged down by the weight of the gold she received in royalties for her book.

           

            There are numerous odd stories about information being discovered under rather bizarre circumstances during the Civil War.  One particular story involves what appears to have been a Quaker.  A civilian dressed in traditional Quaker attire on The 1st of July 1863, the first day of that epic battle, approached the Commander of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry at the Battle of Gettysburg, Colonel Josiah Kellogg.  When asked what his business was, the civilian presented him a paper from the hollow end of his cane.  As it turned out, the information on the paper provided intelligence about the planned movement of Confederate General Ewell’s forces, which were only a short distance from the city of Gettysburg.  Confirmation of this intelligence was quick to arrive in the form of a Union trooper who reported an encounter with Rebels, as Colonel Kellogg was questioning the Quaker gentleman.  In fact, General Ewell’s Army was at that moment advancing towards the 17th from both the front and right side of the line.  [Source:  Page 54, Morning at Willoughby Run, July 1, 1863, by Richard S. Shue, as reported by Henry P. Moyer in the book Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, Vol. II, 885.]

            In the aftermath of the 1st Battle of Bull Run, or 1st Manassas as the South called it, President Jefferson Davis was concerned about the status of the western counties of Virginia, who had voiced loud objections to seceding from the Union.  Davis sent General Robert E. Lee to the area to attempt to unify the western counties and negotiate an agreement to maintain solidarity with the South.  As it turned out Lee was not the right person to accomplish what Davis had intended to accomplish.  In addition to disagreements among the commanders of the region, Lee faced a larger enemy force, rain soaked road conditions, and a plethora of misinformation regarding the situation in the surrounding area.  Lee did not possess the people skills to resolve the differences between the recalcitrant generals and had to leave the situation unfinished.  The result was the separation of roughly the western 3rd of the state, comprising forty-eight counties, and the emergence of the new Union state of West Virginia.  The availability of current and accurate information, which could have given General Lee the ammunition he needed to persuade the warring generals, may have made the difference in preserving the western Virginia counties as part of the Southern Block.  However, it was not meant to be and much of the blame for this failure fell on General Lee’s shoulders.  [Source: Page 38, Civil War Virginia: Battleground for a Nation, by James I. Robertson, Jr.]

            Although there were no prestigious organizations like the CIA, the FBI, NSA, or any other formalized intelligence gathering operations in either the Federal Government or Confederate States, both sides certainly had numerous secret operatives, in addition to Rose Greenhow above.  While the South had the famous female spy Belle Boyd, the North had the notable Pauline Cushman.  Pauline’s real name was Harriet Wood, a native of New Orleans.  She was raised in Michigan, but began her career in the spying world in St. Louis, Missouri.  During an assignment in Nashville, Tennessee, Ms. Cushman was able to “out” a number of Confederate spies in the Union occupied city, operating as an actress from the safety of a stage, avoiding capture throughout her career.  [Source: Pages 289-290, Best Little Stories From The Civil War, by C. Brian Kelly.]

            Belle Boyd, on the other hand, had many close calls with the hangman’s noose, having been arrested and incarcerated numerous times while spying for the Confederacy.  She operated in the Virginia area and managed to talk her way out of captivity in Baltimore, Maryland.  She was successful at extracting information from unsuspecting Union soldiers at will, brazenly displaying the Confederate flag and singing Dixie while in captivity.  Ms. Boyd pursued an acting career after the war and died in 1900, ironically, in Wisconsin during a stage appearance.  [Source: Pages 289-290, Best Little Stories From The Civil War, by C. Brian Kelly.]

            Another well-known figure of the war went on to become a legend in the area of security.  Allan Pinkerton opened the first private detective agency in Chicago in 1850 and was recruited by the North to establish the Union army’s “secret service” agency.  He directed counter-espionage activities under an alias and provided some very unreliable intelligence to General McClellan, resulting in the failure of the Peninsular Campaign early in the war, and leading to the end of McClellan’s military career.  To Mr. Pinkerton’s credit, however, he did prevent an assassination attempt on President Lincoln prior to the start of the war and went on to write 18 popular detective stories after the war.  [Source:  Who Was Who in the Civil War by Editor John S. Bowman]

            Civil War historians and aficionados are certainly familiar with the Southern attempt to capture New York City through an elaborate strategy of diversion, firestorms, and taking control of key installations.  The leader of the group was a Confederate named Robert Kennedy (no known relation to the current Kennedy clan).  The saboteurs met at the St. Dennis Hotel in October of 1864 to carry out their deed, meeting with a New York City chemist and Southern sympathizer.  The chemist had developed something called “Greek Fire”, a chemical concoction that looked like water, but was actually a highly flammable liquid when exposed to the air.  The plot, eventually carried out on November 25 of 1864, utilized bottles of this deadly liquid to ignite fires at pre-designated hotels throughout the city, causing havoc which, it was hoped, would lead to the eventual takeover of the entire city.  In the meantime, Union Secretary of State Seward had received intelligence of the plan from a foreign source and alerted the Mayor of New York City.  The information was made public, causing the saboteurs to consider aborting the plan.  In the end, the decision was made to proceed with setting the fires and not attempt a takeover of the city, which was felt to be futile.  At least 13 hotels were set ablaze on that day in November and Mr. Kennedy was eventually caught and, after a short trial, was hanged.  One of the ironies of this story is that Robert Kennedy had met with John Wilkes Booth during his planning activities in New York City and probably would have been part of the plot to kill President Lincoln.  Only one thing stood in his way – the hangman’s noose.  [Source:  From the article The Newspaper Editorial that COULD Have Won the Civil War For the Confederates, by R. J. Brown, Editor-in-Chief, HistoryBuff.com].

            General Robert E. Lee probably used secret agents more than any other Southern general during the American Civil War.  They supplied him with copies of Union newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer.  It was an article in this paper that provided the intelligence General Lee needed to reposition Southern troops during a troop withdrawal by Union General McClellan.  The South also had a Signal Bureau that communicated with its agents in the Union capital and other Northern strongholds, using codes and ciphers to transfer intelligence.  Several other offices in the Confederate capital of Richmond engaged in espionage activities to the point where the mission suffered because of the lack of coordination and organization.  As a result, Union spies were able to operate fairly freely within the Confederacy.  During the waning days of the war, one of the last desperate acts by the Confederate government in Richmond was to destroy most of the South’s “secret services” papers.  Unfortunately, the Union engaged in the same practice for the sake of trying to protect the names and activities of Northern operatives whose lives may have been jeopardized by the disclosure of such intelligence.  With the destruction of this important piece of history, the full story of American espionage activities on both sides of the war that raged from 1861 through 1865 will never be known.  That, in itself, is a great tragedy.  [Source:  Spies for the Blue and Gray, by Harnett T. Kane, cited on the “Civil War” home page].

            The good news is that, overall, the Civil War was quite extensively documented, particularly on the Union side, with numerous photographs by Matthew Brady and Timothy O’Sullivan, two of the more prolific war photographers of the time.  There are also the many sketches of the battles made by Alfred Waud, an artist for Harper’s Weekly magazine, which have been preserved for posterity.  In addition, a myriad of personal letters, memos, books, and other documents have made their way into the archives.  In fact, the bugler for the 17th PA Cavalry, Henry Moyer, wrote a history of the unit’s exploits, a copy of which can be found in the Civil War Museum in Philadelphia, PA.  Amazingly, even the medical, pension, and discharge records of many Union soldiers are available from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC.

            So while the adventures of the teenager from Pennsylvania will never be known in detail, the stories that have been passed down from generation to generation will continue to arouse the interest of many people.  For anyone attracted to the history of our country or those with a direct connection to someone who served in the Civil War, they will be able to continue to dig into the archives and search the battlefields, looking for that ever-elusive “golden nugget” of intelligence from America’s most tragic conflict.

 

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Rob Weinhold is a retired Air Force Acquisition Office and currently a Project Manager with Booz Allen on the IATAC contract.  Rob also worked in Signal Intelligence with the U.S. Navy during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  His Great-Grandfather, William Walters Weinhold, is the teenager who served with the 17th PA Cavalry. William was wounded at White House Landing, east of Richmond, in June of 1864, during the initial stages of the assault on Richmond in the closing months of the war.  He lived in Lancaster County following the war until 1907.  Further information about the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry can be found at:

 

http://www.pa-roots.com/~pacw/cavalry/17thcav/17thcav.html