Description:

CONFEDERATE SECRET SERVICE
Interesting A.L.S. of H. C. Yeatman, aide-de-camp to Gen. Leonidas Polk, 1p. 8vo., "Headquarters Polk's Corps Murfreesboro Dec. 19th/62", on blue Confederate letter sheet to an unnamed general, possibly Braxton Bragg. Yeatman forwards a directive from Polk regarding a possible spy mission, in full: "The Lt. Genl. Commdg. desires me to say that the bearer Capt. C. H. Blake is in charge of his party of scouts on special secret service - 'Blake' is perfectly reliable & served in the same capacity at Columbus, Ky. The General desires that you will pass beyond our lines a boy 'Luther Davis' who goes into Nashville for a particular purpose...". On verso appears the docket: "Head Qurs Polk's Corps December 19th 1862 Informing of a Scouting party sent out, to go Nashville". It is known that Bragg constantly used spies, especially in and around Nashville, to assess the enemy's troop strength. This letter is dated less than two weeks before the Battle of Murfreesboro, thus suggesting that Bragg was trying to determine Union general Rosecran's exact whereabouts at the time. Capt. C. H. Blake enlisted on Oct. 19, 1861 in Co. C., 7th. Mtd. Kentucky Infantry, later called "Blake's Scouts, CSA". He was captured in Hickman County on Mar. 23, 1862 while on a recruiting mission for a new cavalry unit. Sent to Johnson's Island, he was transferred to Vicksburg and exchanged five months later on Sept. 1, 1862. After his release he was associated with his "Blake's Scouts" on secret missions gathering information on the enemy. Very good.

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December 16, 2010 11:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

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