Lincoln's Spies

[L Verge]

(08-03-2019 04:46 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I'd be interested in reading about Baker and Van Lew, but I'm not sure I want to bad enough to buy the book.

I am hoping that we can get a good enough wholesale price from the publisher to be able to lower the cost a tad. However, $35 is not that high a price for a hardback with jacket, nearly 500 pages, and authored by a reputable, award-winning journalist/author. Anybody remember what O'Reilly's attempt at Killing Lincoln retailed for?

Speaking of high prices -- I have home delivery from the grocery store because I can no longer walk through one. Today, I had a delivery and thought I had ordered one pound of apricots. Nope, it turned out that I only ordered one, and it cost $1.07. It was very tasty and sweet, but not for over a dollar. I have given up on cucumbers this summer because the last time I checked, one was selling for $1.69. Boy, do I miss my backyard garden where, during July and August I was harvesting lots of cucumbers and making pickles, lots of tomatoes for sauce, and lots of beans for freezing...

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(08-03-2019 11:21 AM)L Verge Wrote:  

(08-03-2019 03:41 AM)Steve Wrote:  

(08-02-2019 08:10 PM)L Verge Wrote:  As I posted elsewhere, the book has bios on four spies - Pinkerton (who affected McClellan's military strategy with inflated info), George Sharpe (who was pretty much the father of what we now term military intelligence), Lafayette Baker (an early version of the Gestapo, imo), and Elizabeth Van Lew of Richmond.

Laurie, your opinion about Baker makes me think you might want to read this article about Hiram Whitley:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secret...guantanamo

Would love to read it, but this morning, I am being hit with AdBlocker walls on the dailybeast. Happened when I tried to get back on the WaPo Lincoln article.

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I believe Steve said that Holzer did not believe Lincoln and Pinkerton met prior to the 1860 election, and right now, I agree. Pinkerton was working for a railroad line and infiltrated Baltimore's "underground" during the period before the election. That's where he picked up the rumors of what would happen to Lincoln if he were elected. I don't think Lincoln did much campaigning on his own - wasn't it the custom for the candidates to let others do the stumping for them?

Anyhow, I think Pinkerton reported to his railroad boss because the line that would get the president-elect to D.C. had to run through Maryland. That report subsequently led to Pinkerton and Lamon being able to fool the secessionists in Baltimore. I believe Pinkerton first met Lincoln in either Harrisburg or Philadelphia in the final leg of the trip in February.

When I get a chance to crack open Waller's book, I'll see what he says.

I got about 20 pages read this morning before I got an emergency call from work and had to go in for the rest of the day. The first chapter is a bio of Pinkerton, and there is mention of his working for the Illinois Central Railroad and Lincoln being the lawyer for the company and drawing up his security agreement and being impressed with Pinkerton.

The author says there is no mention of what Pinkerton thought of Lincoln. This seems to imply that the two met previous to 1860, but I don't see concrete proof. I can be impressed with someone while reading their credentials and not even meeting them.