Hosted by the Marion County Historical Society. See http://mchsindy.org for more information.
“Detectives and Spies: U.S. Army Intelligence Operations in Indianapolis during the Civil War.”
The U.S. Army responded to growing threats to its integrity arising from desertion, draft dodging, and armed resistance to the draft in the Midwest during the Civil War by creating detective bureaus to collect intelligence on armed secret organizations that impeded the Union war effort. Army detectives and spies successfully infiltrated these groups and foiled plots to raise insurrection and release Confederate POWs. Towne will show how Indianapolis was a central hub for Army intelligence operations.
The speaker:
Stephen E. Towne is Associate University Archivist at IUPUI. He has published extensively on Civil War-related topics. His latest book, Surveillance and Spies in the Civil War: Exposing Confederate Conspiracies in America’s Heartland, is forthcoming from Ohio University Press.