The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-04-02
Secret
Dispatches
How They Were Obtained
For President l.inCOlD's
Inspection
By Captain F. A. mitchell

In acknowledging myself to have
been a professional secret service man
l must admit that | lose much Ut the
sympathy Of those who love the ro-
nance of war. But var is 10 TO
nance; 1t is what General Sherman
described it.. The soldier Is paid for
standing up to be shot. The paid spy
is as necessary to an army as the sol
der. Indeed, he may be Of more bene-
fit to a commander than an army.
During the big north and south strug-
gle Allan PinkertOn established a &C.
cret service bureau in Washington. |
was living there at the time. the Oldest
of a family Of five children. orphans.
who were dependent on me for sup
port. | was nineteen; the next in or
der Of birth was il girl of fifteen; the
next u boy of thirteen. and so on down
to the youngest boy Of six. My ia
ther died several years before the war
broke cut and left my mother to dc the
best she could in feeding and clothing
us. /, being the oldest. soon became
her main reliance, and when in lSG2
she died | fell heir to the problem OF
providing for the family necessities.
| had lived till | was twelve years
old in Richmond. and my natural dia
lect was southern. My Sympathlps
were neither with the south nor the
north 1t occurred to me that | was in
a position to earn money 10y going
south and bringing back information
for the federal government. | knew
Of Allan PinkertOn's secret service Du
reau. and one day | vent in there and
had a talk with him. He was at the
time furnishing spies for President
Lincoln and listened attentively to all
| said. When | had finished he sug-
gested that | would likely have more
success playing the part OF q girl than
q man.
His reason for this was that I had
a feminine face at that time. no beard
and spoke with q soft voice that would
be called contralto in q woman. he
questioned me a good while to assure
himself that ! could be relied on to
serve the Union side. and. although |
confessed to him that l had no prefer.
ence for either ! VOL his con
fdence simply by promising to stand
by the interests of the federal govern
ment.
He sent me to President Lincoln
with whom l had a private interview
The time was the summe OF 1862
when the Federal armies in the Yves,
had little or nothing to oppose them
and had competent leaders Their beer
in command the war could have been
ended within q very short period. Mr.
Lincoln wished me to 20 to Richmond
to Investigate the feeling at the "npi
tai of those in power. to learn whether
1t was an advantageous time to Offer
terms for peace. If | came back with
the desired information | was to re-
ceive a very large sum of n A
sum sufficient to take care OF M
brothers and sisters during my abs"I,r,
was given me. and ! was promised q
pension for them in case | was takrr
and hanged.
My sister Margie. though -four years
younger than /. was nearly my height
and weight. and. having accepted Mr.
PinkertOn's suggestion to dress as d
girl. ! used her clothes. With Mr.. Lin
coins pass made out for Miss Aiir,
Hunter. | had no difficulty in getting
OUT of the Federal lines. | was ad
lily because II was much easier to pass
into Confederate territory than t.
emerge from it. When | reached Rich
mond | sought Il boarding house. wh-r.
| settled myself to remain long enough
to accomplish my mission.
This was early in July. when the va
cation period for schools had come. anC
in New York when the war broke Out
and preferred to remain another yea
in order to finish my course at a north
ern school. But | was very chary
about making definite statements. Mr.
PinkertOn had told me that COnfed
crate spies were constantly passing be
tween Washington and Richmond anG
their number was legion. Realizing
that | would be in more danger from
them than any one else. ] was suspi
rious OF all persons whose connections
and occupations were not accounted
for.
talked with q good many person.
about the gloomy aspect Of Confeder
ate affairs in the west. but found few
II any. who were In favor Of giving ~
the struggle. I made various attempt
to interview persons of influence. bu
was not very successful. One person
In power whom | succeeded In gett1n,
near found IN willing to give me BIZ
real opinion. But made up my mint
that. even II the leaders were willing
to listen to terms for peace. the peopl,
were o except on the a~cknowledg
ment Of the independence Of the Con
federate states. However. I learned
through the wife Of . member Of tb,
Confederate cabinet that the ver
ment was with the people In this re
spect and looked for General Lee Il
make good In the east what other Con
federate generals had lost In the west
All the time ! spent In Richmond
MI---Z-.-- u--N~-A-> A~~-AE--"-