The Confederate Secret Service refers to any of a number of official and semi-official secret service organizations and operations performed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Some of the organizations were directed by the Confederate government, others operated independently with government approval, while still others were either completely independent of the government or operated with only its tacit acknowledgment.
By 1864, the Confederate government was attempting to gain control of the various operations that had developed since the beginning of the war, but often with little success. Secret legislation was put before the Confederate Congress to create an official Special and Secret Bureau of the War Department. The legislation was not enacted until March 1865 and was never implemented; however, a number of groups and operations have been referred to historically as having been part of the Confederate Secret Service. In April 1865, most of the official papers of the Secret Service were burned by Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin just before the Confederate government evacuated Richmond, although a few pages of a financial ledger remain.[1] Thus, the complete story of Confederate secret operations may never be known.
- ^ Confederate States of America. Secret Service. "CSA Secret Service Account Book [Manuscript]." Chicago Historical Society. 1861–1865. http://www.chsmedia.org (accessed January 31, 2013). An account book of secret service expenditures with entries dated 1861–1874, plus a few apparently unrelated 1886 personal account entries by someone using the old volume. The volume has been mutilated extensively with only a few pages remaining.