The Dahlgren Raid

[SSlater]

Pardon my delay in joining in - my computer could not make the connection. I hope it's fixed.
The Dahlgren Raid, and the one just before it -the Wistar Raid, were both failures, because the Confederacy had " A fox in the henhouse". There was a Confederate spy working in the front office of the National Detective Police, - Lafayette Bakers Secret Service.
Baker's First D. C. Cavalry were participants in the Raid. No doubt, they discussed the Raid, in the Office, as they prepared to Go. The South knew their plans and were more prepared for the Raids than the North was. Incidentally the Spy was William Andrew Norton. After the war, he married Fanny Dade, also a Spy, for BOTH SIDES. When we get to know more about what was going on, we are better prepared to form an opinion about whether it was good or other.
When I read this Raid - the Dahlgren Raid - I get the feeling that since the South just won a big victory, they were assured that they would win this one too. Why not use the occasion to gain a victory on the world market, too?
I think that the South prepared the papers and they were not found on any "bodies". They were already in the hands of the Press for world wide distribution, when released. That ***** about finding the papers on the bodies and carrying them to Commanders, is malarkey!
I'm surprised that they were not found by a "starving widow with nine kids who FOUND the papers and crawled to Richmond to deliver them."
Yes, Lincoln approved the Raid. As he would approve any Raid. I don't see Black Flag Warfare here. (He didn't know what the papers
said, the South wrote them). If Dahlgren went in with a White Flag and started to Killing everyone - that's Black Flag.
The South went one step more - they hid the body of a Union Commanders son, a Hero, and wouldn't let anyone have the remains or even see them.
The whole affair is so amateur and foolish, that I.M surprised that it worked.