The World's Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service AgentsBarton, George
History
The World's Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service Agents
Barton, George
Secret service; Spies
Baker could have cried with joy. The one thing he most desired had
come about without any effort on his part. He cheerfully arose and won
the good will of the guard by his seeming docility. He was taken to
the station and placed on a freight car, along with some others who
were also going to Richmond. Evidently he was regarded as an important
prisoner, for he was carefully guarded during every stage of the
journey. That trip during the night, over a badly constructed road
was a nightmare, long to live in the memory of Lafayette Baker. But
the prospect of actually setting foot in the Confederate capital kept
him in the best of spirits and enabled him to exchange jests with his
captors.
On the arrival in Richmond he expected to be taken to Libby Prison,
concerning the horrors of which he had heard a great deal from Union
soldiers who had been captured in some of the early skirmishes of
the war. But instead of that he was conveyed to a room on the third
story of an engine house in the city. His apartment was large and
airy, and was all that could be desired. He was treated with great
consideration, but was guarded with scrupulous care. Evidently the
officers felt that they had no ordinary prisoner in their charge. The
cause of this extreme courtesy became evident on the morning of the
second day after Baker’s arrival in Richmond when he was informed that
President Davis desired to interview him. The head of the Confederacy
had his headquarters in the Spottswood House whence the Northern spy
was escorted. Baker expected to find much formality there, but to his
surprise found Mr. Davis in his shirt sleeves and without collar and
tie. He was evidently very busy because his desk was filled with papers
and there were a number of persons waiting to have a talk with him. He
motioned Baker to a seat without looking at him, and continued with
some writing with which he was engaged when the prisoner was brought
into his room. Presently he turned to the suspect and said abruptly:
“They say your name is Samuel Munson?”
“Yes, sir,” replied the cheerful fabricator, “that is my name.”
“I understand,” said the civil chief of the seceding States, toying
with his pen, “that you have been in Washington recently. What can you
tell me about conditions there?”
“Not much,” was the answer, “except that there is a great deal of
excitement and confusion there.”
“How many troops do you think there are in Washington and vicinity at
the present time?”
“That is a pretty difficult question to answer, but there are probably
from 75,000 to 100,000, with more arriving all the while.”
Mr. Davis seemed to ponder over this for some time, and then looking
his caller in the eye, he said,
“I presume that you know you are suspected of being a spy?”
The look of injured innocence which appeared upon the face of Lafayette
Baker would have done credit to a professional actor. Nevertheless he
evaded a direct answer by saying:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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