page_title: John C. Babcock
section_title: Civil War service
hierarchical_section_title: John C. Babcock / Civil War service
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: photographichist08mill (find matches) Title: The photographic history of the Civil War&#160;: thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities Year: 1911 (1910s) Authors: Miller, Francis Trevelyan, 1877-1959 Lanier, Robert S. (Robert Sampson), 1880- Subjects: United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Pictorial works United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Publisher: New York&#160;: Review of Reviews Co. Contributing Library: New York Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: MSN View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: COPYRIGHT, 1911, PATRIOT PUB, CO. AT THE TEXT OF McCLELLANS CHIEF DETECTIVE, 1862 Only a handful of people, in North and South together, knew the identity of Major Allen, as, cigar inhand, he sat before his tent in 1862. His real name was Allan Pinkerton. As the head of his famous de-tective agency, he had been known by General McClellan before the war. He was chosen as the head ofLittle Macs secret service, and remained until McClellan himself retired in November, 1862, only amonth after this picture was made. Directly behind Major Allen stands young Babcock (in the samecostume that he wears with his beautiful horse in the frontispiece), between George H. Bangs andAugustus K. Littlefield, two operatives. The man seated at Pinkertons right is William Moore, privatesecretary to Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, down from the Capital to consult Pinkerton. Text Appearing After Image: A NEW SECRET SERVICE—THE MILITARY INFORMATION BUREAU After Pinkertons departure from the Army of the Potomac, the secret-service department was allowed to fall into hopeless neglect-All organization vanished. When General Hooker assumed command there was hardly a record or document of any kind at head-quarters to Hive information of what the Confederates were doing. Hooker was as ignorant of what was going on just across theRappahannock as if his opponents had been in China. With the energy that marked his entire course of organization, he put ColonelGeorge II. Sharpe, of the 120th New York regiment, in charge of a special and separate bureau, known as Military Information. Sharpewas appointed deputy provost-marshal-general. From March J!0, 1863, until the close of the war, the Bureau of Military Informa-tion, Army of the Potomac, had no other head. Gathering a staff of keen-witted men, chiefly from the ranks, Sharpe never let his com-(264) Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: John C. Babcock was a founding father of American amateur rowing and an important member of the secret service for the Union Army during the Civil War.
context_section_description: Babcock served the entire Civil War.  Initially, Babcock volunteered for the Sturgis Rifles as an enlisted soldier in 1861, but he soon was offered a civilian position to be a principal scout for the Army of the Potomac.  Babcock became a skilled interrogator of captured Confederates. In 1862, Babcock worked as a Confederate order-of-battle expert with the Topographical Department under Allan Pinkerton and made maps for General George B. McClellan.  In one of his reports, Babcock's estimate of enemy forces was off by less than one percent. Early in 1863, Babcock joined the Bureau of Military Information under Colonel George H. Sharpe to gather intelligence.  While in this secret service, Babcock provided detailed maps for aeronaut Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, who made frequent flights to obtain tactical intelligence.  In 1863, Babcock discovered Robert E. Lee's forward movement, which helped end the Battle of Gettysburg.   At the Battle of Appomattox Court House in 1865, Babcock found General Lee under an apple tree and facilitated the surrender of the Confederate States Army.  Even though he was a civilian, Babcock was unofficially called "Captain Babcock" and then later "Colonel Babcock".
caption: Babcock (right) and Col. George H. Sharpe, head of the Military Information
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