Major General George H. Sharpe and the Creation of American Military Intelligence in the Civil War by Peter G. Tsouras

Author:Peter G. Tsouras
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)
ISBN: 9781612006482
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2018-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

Expanding Control

Sharpe partially accomplished the first mission by sending Babcock to Washington to set up a system to keep track of the main railroads that Early would have to use to shuttle troops back and forth. Sharpe had proposed this idea to Meade who had rejected it earlier, but Grant was more appreciative of this sort of imaginative initiative. Sharpe was able almost immediately after relocating to City Point to begin organizing this collection system. Because Grant’s forces around Richmond did not have direct overland contact with this area of Virginia, this mission had to be controlled from the War Department in Washington. Babcock organized three of his spies living west of Fredericksburg, including old Isaac Silver, to travel to the railroad depots conveniently near their homes to monitor movement. Silver had moved from his ruined farm above Fredericksburg to a place below the town and near the railroad terminus. It is a tribute to Silver’s patriotism that he continued to work as actively as an agent even after the devastation of his farm by Sheridan’s cavalry.

The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, June 22, 1864.

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