  Here begins my service as an assistant provost marshal of the department and chief of the Secret Service—Confederate General Winder's detectives— E.H. Smith, special officer, War Department—Mrs. Mary E. Sawyer, Confederate mail carrier—W.V. Kremer's report on the "Disloyals" north of Baltimore. The Secret Service, as its name implies, is the most confidential arm of the service. Its information intelligently guides the commanding general. It gives him to know of the conduct of the enemy and discloses weaknesses, if any exist, in his own armour. There is always a "cloud of mystery" thrown around it by outsiders. But its pursuit, on the inside, is not that of romance, but simply of cold facts; it deals with business propositions. In telling my stories, not being a story writer, I shall tell plain facts, leaving the reader to clothe them with the glamour that a fiction writer would usually apply. Were I to attempt to tell something of all my many stories it would weary a reader; so I will try to select some that are really historic, or interesting from their Provost Marshal's Office, Lieut. H.B. Smith, I have just been informed by Mrs. Myers that a detective of General Winder's staff from Richmond, Virginia, is in the city in disguise. Respy., General J.H. Winder commanded the Department of Henrico, headquarters at Richmond, Va. Many of his detectives were Marylanders, among them were John Lutz, Wash Goodrich, T. Woodhall, —— Taylor, and William Byrne. I perfectly imitated General John H. Winder's signature to passes which we used with success. I had a close imitation of his stationery; only an expert could detect our passes. If he is living I am sure he will pardon the liberty I took, for it was all in the game. Following is one of General Winder's genuine passes: Headquarters, Department of Henrico, Mrs. James Gordon & (3) children, a citizen of Great Britain, This passport is given, subject in all cases to the approval, delays and restrictions of military commanders through whose lines the persons or person may pass. By command of the Secretary of War, Jno. H. Winder, Hair: light Our sources of information were numerous, as our own officers were always on duty, and officers in other departments worked in conjunction with us, thus forming an extended net work. Baltimore, April 14, 1864. Lt. Smith, Sir.—I am very unfortunate in always coming when you are out. How has Kremer progressed with the case, anything been done? I Very respy, your obdt servt., The following is Kremer's report of progress: United States Military Telegraph, H.B. Smith: Two men answering description but under different names left here for Leonardtown on the 16th. Shall I follow? If so, answer and send White. W.V. Kremer. Headquarters, Middle Department, Special Order No. 43. Lieut. H.B. Smith, 5th N.Y. Arty., will proceed to Washington with Mrs. Mary E. Sawyer, Rebel mail carrier, turn her over to Supt. of Old Capitol Prison, taking receipt for prisoner. Will then deliver to Hon. C.A. Dana, Asst. Secy. of Quartermasters will furnish transportation. By command of Major General Lew Wallace. John Woolley, Persons were not disturbed in the enjoyment of their opinions so long as they did not become actively disloyal, but it was my duty to learn who were disloyal for the purpose of keeping them under surveillance. The following report I put in to illustrate that character of work: Headquarters, Middle Department, H.B. Smith, I have the honor to report that I left Baltimore as per orders and proceeded to Reisterstown and stopped at a tavern and was accosted by a citizen who told me there were detectives in the house, and that he knew I was from the other side, and sent me to a woman named Mrs. Hofman, who keeps a hotel there. I went to her house and represented myself as a Rebel captain. The detectives did not come upstairs, but a man named C.L. Alder came up to the room and told me to get ready and come down stairs, that he had a buggy ready to see me safe and that he would die before I should be taken and that he had helped many of the Rebels out of just such scrapes by taking them to the Rebel lines. We went about a mile and a half from Reisterstown and stopped at the house of Dr. J. Larsh, and held a conversation with him and another man that I could not learn the name of; about the best plan for me to adopt was to keep away from the detectives; he, the Doctor, told me that he was very busy or he would take me safe through himself, but told Alder to take me to Charles T. Cockey's, and that he would see me all right. We then went to C.T. Cockey's and Alder explained to him who I was and Mr. Cockey then introduced me to John C. Brown, of Busson Parish, La., and lately manager of the Rebel Secretary of War's plantation. Mr. Cockey told me to remain there all Among the rest that he had taken across was Capt. Simms and Capt. Beard and Gus Williamson. He said when General McClellan was following Lee into Maryland, a man came to him from Washington and gave him the number of men that McClellan had, and the direction he was going to take, and that he went to Frederick, and gave the information to Lee; and would, he said, do so again, if it would do any good to the Southern cause. Cockey receives papers regularly from Richmond. He also said that Capt. Harry Gilmor stops at his house whenever he comes over the lines, and that a great many men from the South come to his house, and he always helps them. I remained at his house all night, and listened to him and John C. Brown cursing the government for everything they could think of, and telling what they would do if the Rebel army would come into Maryland again. C.T. Cockey was also engaged at the time of Lee's raid into Pennsylvania; he took men to the Rebel army and was in the Rebel lines several times, and gave them all the Mr. J.C. Brown gave me the name of his brother, Benj. F. Brown, of Frederick, Md., agent for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., and in charge of the government warehouse which he surrendered to the Rebels without endeavoring to destroy the goods, or to get them out of the way. J.C. Brown told me to go to his brother and let him know who I was and everything would be right, and that he would meet me there with a lot of recruits, and a Rebel mail to take south. The next day, 21st April, I expressed a wish to go into Pennsylvania for a few days, and promised to meet Mr. Brown in Frederick. Mr. C.T. Cockey took me in his buggy to T.D. Cockey of "I" at Ellingown, near Texas, on the Northern Central Railroad, where I met T.D. Cockey, of "I". T. Deye Cockey and Philip Fendel, who are violent Rebels, say they have been running men off ever since the war commenced. And T. Deye Cockey says that he has been in the Rebel lines several times, and at one time took three recruits from Harford County to Hanover Junction, when the Rebels were there, and gave them all the information he could. Richard Worthington, a very wealthy man, whom I met, offered me a horse, and any assistance in his power, to enable me to These men were under the impression that I was the Rebel Capt. Harry Thompson, who, as it was published, had made his escape from a Federal prison. I told them I had escaped from the Old Capitol. Very respy., You will notice Mr. Kremer speaks of T.D. Cockey of "I." That is a common way in Maryland and Virginia to designate the lineage of that T. D. Cockey, to obviate confounding him with some other T.D. Cockey. Later on, in July, when the Confederate Army swung around north and east of Baltimore, the information contained in Mr. Kremer's report became very valuable to us. |
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