Up next on American History tv, clayton lori discusses espionage and intelligence gathering tactics used during the civil war. How intelligence was used during so few and why they are primary source documents on civil war area intelligence gathering. Associatesnian hosted this event. It is a little under two hours. With thea historian Central Intelligence agency. He joined the u. S. Government in at the a staff Historian Army center of military history, where he served for 14 years before he joined the cia. During his time with the agency he also served in rotational assignments as deputy and chief historian at the National Reconnaissance office and at the office of director of National Intelligence. Taught dr. Taught at the American University and university of maryland at baltimore county. He specializes at the history of intelligence. He is the author of 40 articles on both military and intelligence history from the 19th century to the present. Give you a warm welcome to dr. Clayton laurie. [applause] laurie i would like to thank you all for coming here tonight and i would like to thank the smithsonian associates. Can you hear me in the back there . Out as part ofnt the introduction i am born and so i come from a northern state. When i first moved here i live to i lived for many years in maryland and spent the last 16 years in Northern Virginia. I say that because i do not have a dog in this fight. I have been north and south and in between. Historian here trying to enlighten, instruct, and inform about civil war intelligence. The other caveat i want to point is i noticed my title slide is different from the side in your program from the slide in your program. There will be no secrets revealed tonight. The things we will talk about were secret at the time. In my decades as a historian and teacher i spent some time with civil war intelligence history, but i found that this topic, more than any other i had experience with with, is subject to myth and legend. There is a dearth of coverage in the broad literature of the civil war. Unlike other has picks of the there is primary source documents in civil war intelligence affairs. These are the documents historians used as their baseline hard evidence from determining what went on. These could be somebodys briefing, somebodies chart. Cityrichmond fell the burned and most of the records of the confederacy went up in smoke. Even Union Records became scattered. We dont know everything we need to know about civil war intelligence because the evident is just there. That will come up several times ande explore these myths hard intelligence successes and failures. Theres not a lot of evidence to support either way. This primary record that is very very thin to begin with is clouded somewhat by selfserving who were Intelligence Officers in the civil war. Egerton comes to mind. Pinkerton lost all his records. Recordssedly had good in 1861 and 1862. They were all lost in the fire of 1871. He said he had to reconstruct his exploits from the photographic memory he has. [laughter] then again even the primary players are embellishing somewhat their exploits and records, and that further confuses the actual historical record. As well takes a good and attention in undercutting his chief rival, a man by the name of lafayette baker, who claimed to be the chief of u. S. Secret Service Intelligence during the civil war. Twoas a title that those individuals claimed that nobody else affirmed or took during the civil war. The memoirs tend to cloud the record. These were covert operations. These were highly secret operations. Records,t often keep they didnt often keep true lists of the names, and a fairly and they very rarely recorded what they did. There is an example we will see tonight of an organization that did keep those records that we use today still. Most of these organizations are in. They were only there for a short period of time. Enough money to record their histories, they are not bothering to archive paper even if they have it. Most of these are not going to be there. Finally, we are going to talk about the hundreds if not thousands of people north and involved in the broad applications of intelligence during the civil war. Most of these people are amateurs because there are no professional Intelligence Organizations. They will do work for a week, month, two months, then disappear. We have references to many people who supposedly provided information to lincoln or the confederate government and various military leaders. And they provided this information read we will note several of these later on tonight. There is no continuity of personnel or recordkeeping. Intelligence in the United States is one where we adopt Intelligence Organizations where the war or until the disappears next time there is a war or crisis. There are no organizations like the intelligence communities today or the Central Intelligence agencies that are there 24 7. They are not keeping these records. A fulltime or permanent Intelligence Community until after world war ii. The use of intelligence in American History is very much an ad hoc and amateurish affair. Only in times of war and crisis and then it disappears. At the time of the civil war all the lessons had been learned from the time of the mexican war. All of the lessons that were learned during the revolution had probably one of the most extensive Intelligence Organizations. For both north and south, it is not an existence won the war starts in 1861. Nobody knows how to do this and there is no written record to go back and take out the how do man u the howto manual. We see a great deal of innovation and technology, which will also carry down to the future 20th century organizations. Aboutwhat we want to talk is the open force and the vast majority of intelligence collected during the civil war is coming from what we call multiple sources, newspapers, magazines, journals, and just plain simple observations. Somebody sees a unit going by. Nonetheless in spite of the deeds of derringdo and the intelligence is collected from open sources, coming from both sides. Mainly newspapers and the reporting of war correspondence. And the use of northern newspapers to collect intelligence will prop sherman to state that newspaper correspondence nonetheless efforts will be increased on both sides during the civil war to clamp down on the presence of newspaper reporters and military camps. We do have open press in this country and the civil war where most are allowed to go into the encampment. When the army is mobilized it is off on a march 3 at and these new these newspapers are fed into the intelligence line, so they make it to richmond or they make it to washington. So you have open source reporting that is often revealing some very sensitive things. True today that open source is a major source of intelligence information. Go back to 1861 and the first use of intelligence and Intelligence Services. 1861, the spring of during the time of lincolns inauguration, as most of you know washington is a southern city. Maryland is a border state, a slave state nonetheless with a good many who prefer to see themselves joined the confederacy. At the same time we have virginia, which had seceded by april 1861. Enormous numbers of southern sympathizers throughout the washington dc area. Federal government, most people live either in virginia or in maryland or d. C. Sympathies weed see a lot of southern sympathizers in the primary departments of government, including the War Department. You see them among the congressional staffers. You see them in the patent office, they are everywhere. Of them are actively watching and listening to see what federal plans are. We are going to see it fill with sympathizers. When he was making plans to deploy down to the battle of first manassas. They would not talk about plans or intentions. He would actually take people he needed to speak to out into the halls into the hallway and whisper plans and intentions because he cannot be sure that somebody who was a southern sympathizer would not be listening. Soon after lincoln, who left springfield for washington rumors of assassination were swirling around washington. A union opposite is going to be appointed to oversee the d. C. Militia. The d. C. Militia was thought to be chock of rebel sympathizers. So it would be a stones throw to see if these people would be rooted out or forced into retirement. Throughout the spring and early summer of 1861, stone is going to be looking for people in the d. C. Militia who are openly hostile to the union, as well as rooting out federal employees. Detectives will provide security during lincolns inauguration, and they will secure the capital in summer of 1861. These assassination rumors are still swirling around when lincoln is coming from springfield to his inauguration. Allan pinkerton will first appear at this time. Pinkerton is a Railroad Detective from chicago, and hes going to be the man who secures the route for lincoln to get safely in. He is going to create an elaborate plan to smuggling can into the capital by Cutting Communications and distributing watch officers and watching for any specific any suspicious activity. This appeared all over in the press of Abraham Lincoln dressed up as a female. True. S not Abraham Lincoln did like shawls. He is always wrapped in a shop. Platforme came off the but his critics said he is coming in dressed as a woman. Story causes lincoln great discomfort and caused him to basically issue personal security for much of the war, that he was afraid of what the critics might say. Pinkerton, after he safely cut secured byo the city stone, offered his services to Abraham Lincoln at that time in early spring of 1861, offering to provide personal security. But lincoln had hired his own intelligence officer. Meant bythe way i the name of William Alvin lloyd. Lincoln hired lloyd as his personal intelligence agent and paid and the norm is some of 200 per month, which is comparable to 4000 per month today. Mission to travel around and collect information on southern sympathizers and travel into Northern Virginia and report on confederate dispositions directly to lincoln. Lloyd is an interesting character because we do not know a great deal about him today. We dont know what he told lincoln. He stayed as lincolns personal intelligence agent all the why all the way through lincolns assassination. Musts much of what he reported is lost to history. Lincolns cabinet did not even know he was getting information from his own personal representative. Lloyds activities were extremely secret and we still dont have a very good read on going to be reported to the president. The picture is one you can go visit today. This is colonel one of the unit one of the new york firemen. Federal troops are reported in the city in 1861. Sitting here in washington dc, he looks over the horizon to alexandria. And on top of a hotel that used to be in a location directly across from the Government Center on king street, there is a hotel with a rebel flag. Again, an indication that there are rebels right across the river. So he will take a detachment over to the hotel, and this detachment will go to the top and tear down the stars and bars and come down the stairs here. Is a man named marshall, who will promptly kill ellsworth by shooting him point blank in the chest. It is an early indication that passions in this city were extremely harsh, even in these earlier days. Be theth is going to first Union Officer killed during the civil war, and his pistols are available on display at the National Portrait gallery downtown owned by the smithsonian. Lets talk about espionage and intelligence collection. The confederate signal corps is going to include a covert secret Service Bureau run by a man this islliam noris, and the closest thing the confederacy has to weigh National Intelligence service. It will be at the heart of intelligence activity in the confederacy for most of the war. They will create a secret headquarters in canada, which we will discuss later on. And they will also set up espionage missions, propaganda, and covert collection activities in europe, primarily in Great Britain and france. This is going to be an incredibly Sophisticated Network for this early in the war. It is good to serve the intelligence needs of president Jefferson Davis, who recognize the celfin harry didnt recognized the self inherit two advantages. Very much like George Washington at the start of the revolution. He is outclassed, howd fund, outgunned, outnumbered. Davis, due to Benjamin William noris, said to the camp we have to know when the north is going to do it, they outnumber us and are much stronger. They will start setting up intelligence lines. There are going to be three of them. The largest and most secretive is the line down to richmond. The other two are called the doctors line and the postman line. That is because most of the people who worked on these lines were either doctors or postman. Doctors had to make house calls in the middle of the night. They couldblack bag, put secret documents in that black bag. Or in the Eastern Shore region of maryland, nobody is going to suspect they are doing anything. Had a network of doctor to doctor to doctor, smuggling documents into richmond down through the northern neck. Postman line is even mourn if areas. Service employees who have severance of the fees who the next southern sympathizer is down the line. You can give them a secret document, delivery to the next guy, deliver to the next guy, and then across the record and often to the richmond. , who worked with there are stone all these networks that are of theng information out Washington Area down to the south and being very effective in doing that. One of these is going to be used by who is often referred to as the star espionage agent of the confederacy. We will get more to the controversy in just a bit. Edc socialite, she is 44 years old. Is a widow. She is openly prosouth. She has quite a reach. She is a personal friend of president buchanan. Marriage toed by james and dolly madison. And she is described by one historian as an agent with masterly skill who bestowed the knowledge and all the forces trained at the capital. She socialized with many federal Government Employees and soldiers. She developed ciphers to socko to smuggle secret reports down through richmond and eventually employed a ring of 17 agents that were all replaced by april of 1861. After the battle of bull run, put under surveillance by Allan Pinkerton. She was exposed by the spy and arrested in august 1861 with much incriminating evidence being smuggled by one of her cohorts, an agent by the name of betty duvall. The story, if it is true, is and treating one is an intriguing one. Told her, we suspect you of espionage, and immediately roses daughter started screaming to the neighborhood they are arresting my mother, they are arresting my mother, which is a good tip off any of her sympathizers in the area to get out of the area. Rose says i need to go to the bedroom and change clothes. While she is in her bedroom, which is her operating office, that he do fall is there that he do fall is there. Duvall is there. She had so much secret material under her clothing. Is going to be arrested for espionage. She is going to be sent to the old capital prison. This is on the site of where the Current Supreme Court sits. This is the general prison for everybody. There are murderers and robbers and all sorts of unseemly people. And rose is the socialite. She goes in there with her daughter. I have some means of protecting myself and say yeah, take this to your cell with you. She was virtually under house arrest. She personally negotiates her role with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln says that lincoln says we will let you go. Lincoln says we will a few go. The firstplace she visits is Jefferson Davis and she offers her services to Jefferson Davis. Her secret network is going to behold. But Jefferson Davis asks her, england be my envoy to and see if you can get those two nations to support our cause . She will be the toast of the town throughout england. She will meet with the Prime Minister lord palmerston. She will actually have an. Udience by 1863, especially after the first of january when the emancipation proclamation is it cant is issued, neither afford to have the moral sake moral stigma. Rose has nothing else to do. She boards a blockade runner by the name of condor. And they come to the coast off of wilmington north carolina. The seas are very choppy. He absolutely insists to the captain to take me ashore. It is way too dangerous. The seas are too choppy. We will put you ashore the next morning. Rose is not one to be denied and she insisted. The captain said ok, we will put you in the bow. They get away from the main ship. Shore. W either swims to day when they find her body, they discover she had large quantities of gold bully bullion so it into her dress gold bullion sewed into her dress. Every year on the anniversary of her death they do ha