I Spy…
Tom Ryan of the Washington Times has written many articles on the Civil War, including some rather thought provoking and illuminating material on the intelligence networks of both the Confederate and Federal governments during the Gettysburg campaign. Spies were quite active in this area. A Rebel spy named Will Talbot was captured in Gettysburg in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg; he was executed down in Maryland by the Union cavalry. Another spy was picked up near Harrisburg when he was spotted sounding the depth of the Susquehanna River from a rowboat. He was taken to Fort Delaware.
A lot of rumors floated around here in York. A one-armed Bible salesman who went around town peddling the Word supposedly, according to the rumor mill, accompanied the Confederates during the invasion of York. Another man drinking in a York bar claimed to be a member of an Alabama regiment who had been sent into York County at the specific orders of Robert E, Lee; he spent time in the local jail while he sobered up. He wasn’t a soldier, just a wino.
Several strangers in Wrightsville were picked up and interrogated by the authorities, and the flood of refugees coming from the west from Adams County only added to the confusion and suspicion, and perhaps a tad of paranoia set in among some locals.
Ironically, the newspaper article shown above is from the Columbia Spy!
