Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1915-04-30
Secret
Dispatches
GLOW They Were Obtained
I, For President Linc0ln's !,
/ Inspection
By Captain 2. A. MITCMEL


In acknowledging myself to have
been professional secret service man
l must admit, that lose much of the
sympathy OF those who love the ro-
nance of war. But war Isl not ro-
nance; it is, what General Sherman
described 1t. The soldier Isl paid for
standing up ITO be shot. Thetpaid spy
Is us necessary to an army aa the sol
der. Indeed, he may be Of more bene-
fit to commander than an ARMY.
During the big north and south strug
gle Allan Pinkertm established a Sc
cret service bureau In Washington. I
was living there at the time. the Oldest
of family Of five children, orphans,
who were dependent on me for sup.
port. was nineteen; the next In or
der OF birth wns Il girl Of fifteen; the
next boy of thirteen, and 80 on down
to the youngest, a boy of six. My ia.
ther died several years before the war
broke out and left my mother to do the
best she could In feeding and clothing
us. |, being the Oldest, soon became
her main reliance, and when I'm 1862
she died l fell heir to the problem of
providing for the family necessities.
l had lived till l was twelve years
old In Richmond and my natural dia.
lect was southern. My sympathies
were neither with the south nor the
north. 1t occurred to me that was in
position to earn money by going
south and bringing back information
for the federal government. l knew
of Allan Pinkerton's secret service bu.
reau. and one day l went In there and
had talk with him. He was at the
time furnishing spies for President
Lincoln and listened attentively to all
l said. When | had finished he sug-
gested that would likely have more
success playing the part Of girl than
man.
His reason for this was that had
u feminine face at that time, no beard
and spoke with soft voice that would
be called contralto In woman. He
questioned me good while to assure
himself that l could be relied on to
serve the Union side, and, although
confessed to him that | had no prefer.
ente for either cause, | won his con.
fidence simply by promising to stand
by the interests OF the federal govern.
ment.
He sent me to President Lincoln,
with whom I had a private interview.
The time was the summer of 1862,
when the Federal armies I'm the west
had little or nothing to oppose them,
and had competent leaders then been
In command the war could have been
ended within very short period. Mr..
Lincoln wished me to go to Richmond
to investigate the feeling at the CAPT
tai OF those In power, to learn whether
1t was an advantageous time to offer
terms for peace. II came back with
the desired information ! was to re.
ceive very large sum Of money. A
sum sufficient to take care OF my
brothers and sisters during my absence
was given me, and l was promised q
pension for them in case was taken
and hanged.
My sister Margie, though -four years
younger than l, was nearly my height
and weight, and, having accepted Mr..
PinkertOn's suggestion to dress as a
girl, used her clothes. With Mr.. Lin.
coins pass made out for Miss Alice
Hunter. had no difficulty In getting
out Of the Federal lines. was ad.
mitted into the Confederate lines read.
ily because 1t was much easier to pass
Into Confederate territory than to
emerge from 1t. When reached Rich
mond sought a boarding house, where
I settled myself to remain long enough
to accomplish my mission.
This was early In July, when the va.
cation period for schools had come, and
gave out that had been studying
In New York when the war broke out
and preferred to remain another year
In order to finish my course at north
ern school. But | was very chary
about making definite statements. Mr..
crate spies were constantly passing be-
tween Washington and Richmond and
their number was legion. Realizing
that ! would be In more danger from
them than any one else, I was suspi-
clOus OF all persons whose connections
and occupations we're not accounted
for.
| talked with good many persons
about the gloomy aspect Of Confeder.
ate affairs In the west, but found few,
II any, who were in favor OF giving up
the struggle. I made various attempts
to interview persons Of influence, but
was not very successful. One person
In power whom succeeded In getting
near found unwilling to give me his
real opinion. But made up my mind
that, even II the leaders were willing
to listen to terms for peace, the people
were not, except on the acknowledg
ment Of the Independence OF tho Con
federate states. However. learned
through the wife Of a member OF the
Confederate cabinet that the govern.
ment was with the people in this re
spect and looked for General Lee 10
make good In the east what other Con.
federate generals had lost in the west
All the time I spent In Richmond
was very exclusive. though my story
VI having been at school In the north
which I told TO avoid accounting for
where really had recently been
drew forth numerous questions an b