_Another Trip to Richmond.--A Rebel General Taken In.--Curtis Makes
Valuable Acquaintances.--"The Subterranean Headquarters."_
Early in 1862, it becoming necessary to obtain more fully the plans and
intentions of the enemy, and their numbers around Richmond, I in April
of that year dispatched one of my keenest and shrewdest operatives on
this important mission.
The man selected for this delicate and dangerous work was George Curtis,
a young man about twenty-five years of age, tall, well-formed, with dark
complexion, clear gray eyes, and possessing handsome, intelligent
features. He was one of those men rarely met, who was by nature a
detective; cool-headed, brave and determined, with ready wit and
sagacious mind, he was especially qualified for efficient work in that
important branch, the secret service.
He was a native of New York, and had at the opening of the war enlisted
in an infantry regiment from that State.
Learning of his desire to enter the secret service, I had procured his
discharge from his regiment, and he was detailed on my force, where he
served until the close of the war.
It was a beautiful April morning when, with his instructions carefully
treasured in memory, for he dared take no written ones, he left my
office on "I" street, in Washington, and set out on his perilous trip.
I had previously made arrangements that he should accompany General
McClellan down the river on his boat, the "Commodore," and on which he
had established his headquarters, to Fortress Monroe, and landing there,
make his way to Richmond.
The morning of the first, he left Washington, and the next day he
arrived at Old Point Comfort, and landed under the frowning walls of the
old fort. He remained here until the morning of the second day after his
arrival, where he was provided with a horse, and set across the river
and proceeded on his way towards the rebel capital.
He had now a journey of near seventy miles before him, through a country
filled with enemies to the cause he espoused, and from whom, should his
true character and mission become known, he might expect anything but
kind treatment at their hands. His object in crossing the James at this
point was to place himself in less danger from suspicion as a spy, and
to better enable him to learn the sentiment of the people, as well as to
gain accurate knowledge of the condition of the country as to roads,
bridges, streams, etc., all of which information is of essential
importance for the General of an invading army to know.
He, therefore, on horseback, and apparently as a man traveling for
pleasure and recreation, proceeded on his way up the valley of the river
and towards the objective point of his journey, the rebel capital.
Nothing worthy of note occurred during the day; he stopped at noon at a
house by the wayside, and obtained dinner for himself and horse. In a
conversation with his host, who was a well-to-do old farmer, he
apparently in a careless manner betrayed the fact that he himself
followed the same occupation, that he lived on the river in the county
of Norfolk, below, and was on his way to visit among friends at
Petersburgh.
It was towards evening that he neared the outskirts of the city, when he
suddenly encountered the rebel pickets, stationed outside the town, who
halted him and demanded to know his name and business. "My name is
Curtis," replied the operative, "and I am from Norfolk; my business I
will state to your commander when I am taken to him."
Without further ceremony he was turned over to the officer of the guard,
who sent him under escort to General Hill, the general in command.
"Whom have you here?" queried the General, as in the company of his
escort the detective was led into his presence.
"A man who says he is from Norfolk," replied the guard, "but who refuses
to tell his business to any one but yourself."
"You may retire," said the General, and the escort immediately left the
room. "Now," he exclaimed, turning to Curtis, "What is your business?
Please be as brief as possible, as I am very busy."
"Well, to come to the point at once," replied the detective; "in the
first place, then, I spoke falsely to your pickets when I told them I
was from Norfolk. My name is Curtis, and I am from Washington. As to my
business, I deal in what the Yankees are pleased to term contraband
goods; yet I don't see how gun-caps, ammunition of all kinds, and
quinine should be considered contraband, for the simple reason that I,
as a dealer, find a better market South than North for my goods. My
desire," he continued, "is to get through to Richmond, where I hope to
be able to effect contracts, with Secretary Benjamin, to furnish my
goods to the Confederate government."
"How did you get through the Union lines?" asked the General, still,
evidently, a little suspicious of the sincerity of the detective's
story.
"I came down on the 'Commodore,' General McClellan's boat, three days
ago," he answered, "was set across the river there, procured a horse
from a friend, and here I am."
"Do you know anything of McClellan's plans for an advance?" asked the
General.
"I can tell you nothing about them," answered Curtis, "as everything is
kept secret from even his own staff, I am told."
The General mused, thoughtfully, a moment, and then said: "I will give
you a pass to Richmond, and you can proceed on your way in the morning."
"Thank you, General," exclaimed the detective, "I assure you the cause
shall suffer no loss by any efforts of mine. I shall, in all
probability, return by this way, in a few weeks at farthest, when, if I
can be of any service to you, you have only to command me."
"By the way," said the General, "I have some letters to parties in
Richmond, which ought to go at once. If you will do me the favor to
deliver them I shall be obliged to you."
"I shall be happy to serve you, General, and will take pleasure in
seeing that your letters reach their destination all right."
"Very well, then; call at my quarters in the morning, before you start,
and I will have them ready for you, and will give you also your pass to
Richmond."
Curtis thanked him again, and, bidding him good-night, repaired to the
hotel, and secured for himself and horse supper and lodging for the
night.
After he had partaken of a hearty meal, and provided himself with an
excellent cigar, he sauntered out on to the veranda of the hotel, and,
taking a comfortable seat, prepared to enjoy his fragrant weed, and
amuse himself with listening to the conversation of those around him.
He soon discovered that the war, and the prospects for a speedy victory
for the South, were the subjects under discussion, and he listened with
much interest to the ideas advanced, and the confidence that marked
their assertions of the superiority of the Southern troops over the
Northern mudsills, as they termed the Federalists.
"You may depend on it, that General Johnson will not permit the Yanks to
approach any closer to Richmond than they now are, without contesting
every inch of the ground as they advance," remarked one gentleman of the
party near which he was sitting.
"No," emphatically rejoined another, "when they take Richmond, it will
be when they have annihilated the Southern people, when not a thousand
able-bodied men are left on Southern soil to rally to its defense."
"Well, I am satisfied," remarked another, "that right here is to be the
contest, that is to decide this matter one way or the other."
"If the Yankees take Richmond, the South may as well surrender at once;
if however they fail, as they are extremely liable to do, _they_, on the
other hand, may as well withdraw their forces and acknowledge our
independence."
"If I am not greatly mistaken," now ventured my operative, "in the
spirit of the Southern people, they will, to use a common phrase, 'fight
to the bitter end.' And yet," he continued, "to the thoughtful
observer, it is not pleasant to contemplate the spectacle of brother
arrayed against brother, as they are in this war. I tell you,
gentlemen," he added, "that while I am a Southern man, it grieves me to
see our land so rent with strife and bloodshed and that the North has
made it necessary for a resort to arms to settle a matter that should
have been amicably adjusted."
At this juncture, the party was joined by a new-comer, who had evidently
just left the supper-room, as he carried an unlighted cigar in one hand,
while with the other he was picking his teeth, with the manner of a man
who had just eaten a hearty meal and who had enjoyed it.
He was a man past the middle age, hair generously sprinkled with gray,
and with a face, that while bronzed by exposure to the weather, was
keenly intelligent, not unhandsome, and strongly expressive of force and
decision of character. He seated himself and soon joined in the
conversation, with that freedom and _nonchalance_ that characterizes the
experienced yet courteous traveler, who has seen the world and is
familiar with its ways.
"We shall hear of some pretty hard fighting, shortly, I imagine,"
finally observed the stranger; "McClellan has arrived at Fortress
Monroe, and will no doubt commence hostilities at once."
"And we shall also hear of his army getting badly whipped," put in one
of the party.
"Well," rejoined the stranger, "that may be true; but, after all, the
real contest will be before Richmond; the fighting that may occur now
will only be the strategic moves preceding the final struggle. Lee and
Johnson," he continued, "are not yet ready for McClellan to advance upon
Richmond, and they will see to it that it is put in the best possible
condition of defense before he succeeds in reaching it."
At this, my operative, who had taken little part in the conversation,
except as an attentive listener, now arose and laughingly said:
"Gentlemen, I guess we are all of one mind on this subject, let's
adjourn down below and interview the bar-keeper; I don't profess to be a
judge of military matters, but when it comes to a good article of
whisky, I claim to be posted."
The party, numbering near a dozen gentlemen about him, good-humoredly
took the interruption and laughingly followed the detective, who now led
the way to the bar-room.
They filled glasses all around and Curtis proposed the rather ambiguous
toast, "May the right prevail, and death and confusion, attend its
enemies"--ambiguous in that it as much represented his real sentiments
as it also met the approval of his secession friends.
After the party had drank, they separated, agreeing to meet later in the
evening; Curtis was himself starting for a stroll about the town, when
the stranger, who had last joined the party on the veranda approached
him and said: "I have just drank the toast you proposed, and judging
from it and your conversation up stairs, I take you to be, at least, a
friend to the South, if indeed you are not a Southern man. I should like
much to have your company for a short stroll about the city; my name,"
he added, "is Leroy, and I hail from Baltimore."
"I shall be glad to accompany you, Mr. Leroy," said my operative,
heartily: "I was just thinking of going for a walk alone, but I assure
you I shall be only too glad to have a companion. And since you have so
kindly told me your name, I may as well tell you, that mine is George
Curtis, and I am from Washington. But before we start," he added, "let
us have a fresh cigar."
He then ordered the cigars and they started for their walk.
They had not proceeded far, before his new companion revealed the fact,
that he also was in the contraband trade, and singularly enough, was on
his way to Richmond on precisely the same business my operative had
represented himself as engaged. Of course, Curtis reciprocated the
confidence of his new-found friend, and with such results, that he not
only returned from his walk much better posted on how to get goods
through to Richmond, but actually returned a partner in an enterprize to
furnish their goods in large quantities to the Confederate government,
provided they could succeed in making satisfactory arrangements with
Mr. Benjamin, the Secretary of War. They returned to the hotel, where
they had a long talk, completing their plans. It was arranged that my
operative should leave his horse at Petersburg, and in the morning, they
would proceed on their way to Richmond by rail.
On the following morning he arose early, and after breakfast, proceeded
to call on General Hill at his quarters and obtained his pass, also the
letters he was to carry for him to parties in Richmond. They then took a
train for the rebel capital, and by noon found themselves in that city.
The day following his arrival, in company with Leroy, he called on Mr.
Benjamin and succeeded in closing contracts to furnish large quantities
of their goods to his government, and at prices that were highly
satisfactory to Mr. Leroy, who jovially remarked, as they left the
Secretary's presence, that if they only had good luck, their fortunes
were made. Curtis, however, felt highly gratified over the result of the
interview, more from the reflection of the aid it would give him in
prosecuting the real object of his visit, than from any financial
benefit he expected to derive from it. He had received a pass from the
Secretary that would enable him to pass in and out of Richmond at his
pleasure, a most important privilege, and one that really removed all
practical hindrances, and left him free to more fully accomplish his
work.
He had not been in the city a week before he discovered that through
some source, the rebels had almost daily news from the front, concerning
the movements and plans of the Union troops. This he now determined to
ferret out, and the next day, he in a careless manner, inquired of his
friend Leroy, how it was, they obtained news so promptly from the front.
"Why," replied his friend, laughingly, "haven't you heard of the
subterranean headquarters?"
"I confess I have not," replied the detective.
"Then come along with me," said Leroy. "I ought to have told you about
this before, as it is intimately connected with our business."
He then led the way to the very hotel at which they were stopping, and
conducted Curtis to a large and elegantly furnished room on the third
floor, and in which were seated a number of gentlemen--some reading,
while others were engaged in writing at little tables that were ranged
about the room.
"Here," said he, laughing, "are the subterranean headquarters, although
they are above the top of the ground instead of beneath it. I need not
tell you," he added, "that the name is given as much to mislead as for
any other purpose."
They then took seats at one end of the room where they were alone, and
he proceeded with his explanation:
"First," he said, "you must know that this is a bureau of intelligence,
and is managed partly by the government and partly by wealthy merchants
here and at Baltimore; besides being used in getting information
concerning the movements of the Federal troops, it is also used by the
merchants in getting our goods through from Baltimore. We employ," he
continued, "nearly fifty persons, some of whom are constantly in the
field carrying dispatches, gaining and bringing in information from the
Yankee lines. These persons are all under the control of a chief at
their head, and are all known to that man yonder," pointing to a
gentleman seated at a desk at the opposite end of the room.
"Strange as it may seem to you," he continued, "right here in this
hotel, we have the most exclusive privacy. You noticed that man standing
in the hall when we came in, the same one now sitting at the desk?"
Curtis nodded, and he proceeded: "Well, he knew me, and consequently he
knew you were all right. Had you come alone, that door would have been
closed, and would not have opened, had you tried it. Now," he said, "I
will call him here and introduce you."
Touching a small bell that stood on the table, the gentleman, to whom he
had alluded, instantly answered its summons and crossed the room to
where they were sitting.
"Mr. Wallace," said Leroy, "this is my friend and partner, Mr. Curtis."
The two men bowed and shook hands, and Wallace seating himself proved
to be a pleasant and well-informed gentleman.
In the course of the conversation, Leroy asked, "What is the latest news
from the front, Mr. Wallace?"
"We have nothing as yet to-day," he answered, "but yesterday it was
reported that McClellan had laid siege to Yorktown; the chances are,
that we shall hear of a battle, in a few days at farthest." During the
interview, Curtis learned also, that the persons operating for this
bureau had confederates, both at Baltimore and at Washington; these, he
determined to discover, if possible, in addition to the information
already gained.
To this end, he made himself very agreeable to Mr. Wallace, and in the
course of the conversation, expressed his willingness to do what he
could in aiding the force, and remarked that he should be passing back
and forth, between Washington and Richmond, and could doubtless be of
service.
Mr. Wallace thanked him heartily, and gave him a small plain badge of
peculiar shape, that would at any time, if shown, admit him to the
headquarters, and then taking him about the room, he introduced him to
the gentlemen present, and after a short conversation with his new
friends, he in company with Leroy took his departure, and together they
went down to dinner.
That evening, as he was sitting in the bar-room of the hotel, one of
the men he had met up-stairs in the forenoon, came to him and told him
that in a day or two, he was to start for Yorktown with important
dispatches for General Magruder, but that owing, to sickness in his
family, he did not want to leave home, unless it was impossible for him
to get some one he could trust to undertake the task for him.
He then asked Curtis if he would object to making the trip for him. The
detective thought a moment, and told him he would give him an answer in
the morning. The two men then indulged in a friendly glass, after which
they separated. The man had no sooner gone, than Curtis made up his mind
to take the dispatches, not to General Magruder, but to me at
Washington.
Accordingly, the next morning he informed his friend he would undertake
the task for him, as he intended returning to Baltimore at any rate.
The next morning found him, with the dispatches carefully secreted about
his person, at the depot, ready to take the first train for Petersburgh.
Here he arrived about noon, and proceeded to call on General Hill. After
procuring his dinner at the hotel, he ordered his horse and started on
his long ride for the Union camp, where he delivered his dispatches to
Mr. Bangs, the superintendent of my headquarters in the field, and
forwarded copies of the same to me at Washington, together with a full
account of his trip and information he had gained; not forgetting a
full statement of his discovery of the "Subterranean Headquarters," and
his enlistment as a member of its force of spies and agents, employed in
transmitting intelligence of the movements and plans of the Union
troops.