Here Begins My Service As An Assistant Provost Marshal Of The Department

The Secret Service, as its name implies, is the most confidential arm of

the service. Its information intelligently guides the commanding

general. It gives him to know of the conduct of the enemy and discloses

weaknesses, if any exist, in his own armour. There is always a "cloud of

mystery" thrown around it by outsiders. But its pursuit, on the inside,

is not that of romance, but simply of cold facts; it deals with business
< r /> propositions. In telling my stories, not being a story writer, I shall

tell plain facts, leaving the reader to clothe them with the glamour

that a fiction writer would usually apply. Were I to attempt to tell

something of all my many stories it would weary a reader; so I will try

to select some that are really historic, or interesting from their

unusual character.





Provost Marshal's Office,

Fort McHenry, Apl. 10, 1864.



Lieut. H. B. Smith,

Asst. Provost Marshal 8th Army Corps.



I have just been informed by Mrs. Myers that a detective of

General Winder's staff from Richmond, Virginia, is in the city

in disguise.



Respy.,

J. W. HOLMES,

Capt. and Provost Marshal.





General J. H. Winder commanded the Department of Henrico, headquarters

at Richmond, Va. Many of his detectives were Marylanders, among them

were John Lutz, Wash Goodrich, T. Woodhall, ---- Taylor, and William

Byrne.



I perfectly imitated General John H. Winder's signature to passes which

we used with success. I had a close imitation of his stationery; only an

expert could detect our passes. If he is living I am sure he will pardon

the liberty I took, for it was all in the game.



Following is one of General Winder's genuine passes:





Headquarters, Department of Henrico,

Richmond, Va., March 26th, 1864.



Mrs. James Gordon & (3) children, a citizen of Great Britain,

having sworn, in good faith, not to reveal, either directly

or indirectly, any information that may benefit the enemy, is

hereby permitted to pass beyond the limits of the Confederate

States, by the route herein designated: and none other.

Strictly forbid to pass through General Lee's lines. Go by the

lower Rappahannock.



This passport is given, subject in all cases to the approval,

delays and restrictions of military commanders through whose

lines the persons or person may pass.



By command of the Secretary of War,



JNO. H. WINDER,

General Comdg.



Hair: light

Eyes: blue.

Age: 33.

Complexion: florid.

Height: ----





Our sources of information were numerous, as our own officers were

always on duty, and officers in other departments worked in conjunction

with us, thus forming an extended net work.





Baltimore, April 14, 1864.



Lt. Smith,



Sir.--I am very unfortunate in always coming when you are out.

How has Kremer progressed with the case, anything been done? I

go to Washington per order of the Secretary of War. I am

obliged to go to New York within two weeks. I wish the case

here might be disposed of before I go to New York. Would you

oblige me by writing P. O. Box 62, Washington?



Very respy, your obdt servt.,

E. H. SMITH,

Special Officer, War Dept.





The following is Kremer's report of progress:





United States Military Telegraph,

War Department,

April 17, 1864.



H. B. Smith:



Two men answering description but under different names left

here for Leonardtown on the 16th. Shall I follow? If so,

answer and send White.



W. V. KREMER.









Headquarters, Middle Department,

8th Army Corps,

April 22, 1864.



Special Order No. 43.



Lieut. H. B. Smith, 5th N. Y. Arty., will proceed to

Washington with Mrs. Mary E. Sawyer, Rebel mail carrier, turn

her over to Supt. of Old Capitol Prison, taking receipt for

prisoner. Will then deliver to Hon. C. A. Dana, Asst. Secy. of

War, all the papers in her case, after which he will report

without delay at these headquarters.



Quartermasters will furnish transportation.



By command of Major General Lew Wallace.



JOHN WOOLLEY,

Col. and Provost Marshal.





Persons were not disturbed in the enjoyment of their opinions so long as

they did not become actively disloyal, but it was my duty to learn who

were disloyal for the purpose of keeping them under surveillance. The

following report I put in to illustrate that character of work:





Headquarters, Middle Department,

8th Army Corps.

Office Provost Marshal,

Baltimore, Apl. 24, 1864.



H. B. Smith,

Lieut. and Chief:



I have the honor to report that I left Baltimore as per orders

and proceeded to Reisterstown and stopped at a tavern and was

accosted by a citizen who told me there were detectives in the

house, and that he knew I was from the other side, and sent me

to a woman named Mrs. Hofman, who keeps a hotel there. I went

to her house and represented myself as a Rebel captain.



I had been there a short time when Mrs. Hofman took me

upstairs in a bedroom that was in the back part of the house

and told me if the detectives came upstairs, to get out of the

back window and take a horse that she would have saddled ready

for me; she said she did not care for the horse as the

citizens would make it up to her.



The detectives did not come upstairs, but a man named C. L.

Alder came up to the room and told me to get ready and come

down stairs, that he had a buggy ready to see me safe and that

he would die before I should be taken and that he had helped

many of the Rebels out of just such scrapes by taking them to

the Rebel lines.



We went about a mile and a half from Reisterstown and stopped

at the house of Dr. J. Larsh, and held a conversation with him

and another man that I could not learn the name of; about the

best plan for me to adopt was to keep away from the

detectives; he, the Doctor, told me that he was very busy or

he would take me safe through himself, but told Alder to take

me to Charles T. Cockey's, and that he would see me all right.



We then went to C. T. Cockey's and Alder explained to him who

I was and Mr. Cockey then introduced me to John C. Brown, of

Busson Parish, La., and lately manager of the Rebel Secretary

of War's plantation. Mr. Cockey told me to remain there all

night and he would see me safe, as he was engaged in the

business ever since the war commenced, and had run off a great

many men to the Rebel army; in fact he said that men from all

parts of the country were sent to him to take across the

lines, and that he always went into the Rebel lines with them.



Among the rest that he had taken across was Capt. Simms and

Capt. Beard and Gus Williamson. He said when General McClellan

was following Lee into Maryland, a man came to him from

Washington and gave him the number of men that McClellan had,

and the direction he was going to take, and that he went to

Frederick, and gave the information to Lee; and would, he

said, do so again, if it would do any good to the Southern

cause.



Cockey receives papers regularly from Richmond. He also said

that Capt. Harry Gilmor stops at his house whenever he comes

over the lines, and that a great many men from the South come

to his house, and he always helps them. I remained at his

house all night, and listened to him and John C. Brown cursing

the government for everything they could think of, and telling

what they would do if the Rebel army would come into Maryland

again. C. T. Cockey was also engaged at the time of Lee's raid

into Pennsylvania; he took men to the Rebel army and was in

the Rebel lines several times, and gave them all the

information that he could get hold of that would do them any

good.



Mr. J. C. Brown gave me the name of his brother, Benj. F.

Brown, of Frederick, Md., agent for the Baltimore and Ohio

Railroad Co., and in charge of the government warehouse which

he surrendered to the Rebels without endeavoring to destroy

the goods, or to get them out of the way. J. C. Brown told me

to go to his brother and let him know who I was and everything

would be right, and that he would meet me there with a lot of

recruits, and a Rebel mail to take south.



The next day, 21st April, I expressed a wish to go into

Pennsylvania for a few days, and promised to meet Mr. Brown in

Frederick. Mr. C. T. Cockey took me in his buggy to T. D.

Cockey of "I" at Ellingown, near Texas, on the Northern

Central Railroad, where I met T. D. Cockey, of "I".



T. Deye Cockey and Philip Fendel, who are violent Rebels, say

they have been running men off ever since the war commenced.

And T. Deye Cockey says that he has been in the Rebel lines

several times, and at one time took three recruits from

Harford County to Hanover Junction, when the Rebels were

there, and gave them all the information he could.



Richard Worthington, a very wealthy man, whom I met, offered

me a horse, and any assistance in his power, to enable me to

escape, and stated that he had rented his farm out, and was

endeavoring to get his property fixed in such a way that the

damned negro government could not confiscate it. He was going

to leave the damned Yankees and go to Canada, and from there

to Nassau, and take a vessel and go to the Confederacy, where

he would be free to do as he pleased. He said he had invested

a portion of his money in Confederate bonds, and only wished

he had a chance to invest more in them, as the greenbacks, or

Yankee shinplasters were not worth a damn.



These men were under the impression that I was the Rebel Capt.

Harry Thompson, who, as it was published, had made his escape

from a Federal prison. I told them I had escaped from the Old

Capitol.



Very respy.,

WM. V. KREMER,

U. S. D. 8th A. C.







You will notice Mr. Kremer speaks of T. D. Cockey of "I." That is a

common way in Maryland and Virginia to designate the lineage of that T.

D. Cockey, to obviate confounding him with some other T. D. Cockey.



Later on, in July, when the Confederate Army swung around north and east

of Baltimore, the information contained in Mr. Kremer's report became

very valuable to us.