![]() ![]() was counterfeit.Īlso of note, as the U.S. At the time of the end of the Civil War, it’s estimated that one-third of all the currency in the U.S. to lead the fight against counterfeiting. Wood was appointed from his position as the superintended of the Old Capital Prison in Washington, D.C. Many of the methods and tactics of both Baker and Wood would not have been well received today, harsh methods and little regard for warrants or constitutional rights being chief among them. Wood also served as an intelligence gatherer for the Union Army under the War Department. ![]() Secret Service appointed July 5, 1865, William P. The cover of an early edition of Lafayette Baker’s memoirs.Īs the first chief of the Treasury Department’s U.S. He was appointed by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, but believed the Secretary was involved in corruption and was demoted for illegally tapping the Secretary’s telegraph lines. His memoirs were published in large part to clear up his reputation. In General Lafayette Baker's memoirs, “The United States Secret Service during the Late War” he also described himself as the first chief of the Secret Service. Alan Pinkerton from Harper’s Weekly, circa 1884. Pinkerton is succeeded in his post by the controversial figure Lafayette Baker. In his 1883 biography “Spy of the Rebellion,” Alan Pinkerton refers to himself as the chief of the Secret Service. He’s also known for starting the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the 1850s prior to his appointment. Two other notable individuals, Lafayette Baker and Alan Pinkerton also served in the War Department ‘Secret Service.”Īt the outbreak of the Civil War, Alan Pinkerton served as the head of the Union Army’s secret service intelligence division from 1861-1862. Wood, also served in the War Department Secret Service. To further complicate matters, the first chief or director for the then-Treasury (now the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS) Secret Service, William P. The Confederacy’s Signal Corps had a covert agency called the Confederate Secret Service Bureau. Due to the investigative nature of the undercover Secret Services’ operatives’ investigative duties, their identities were to remain ‘secret,’ thereby creating the name Secret Service.īoth sides in the Civil War had a ‘secret service’ intelligence division which ran espionage and counter-espionage operations. The War Department “Secret Service” during the Civil War or early detective agency ‘secret services’ are not the United States Secret Service formed within the Treasury Department on July 5, 1865. Many of the clandestine services involved in intelligence gathering, as well as numerous early detective agencies, generally refer to ‘secret services.’ There were instances of the War Department using ‘secret service’ division as early as the Revolutionary War. The name "Secret Service" is not to be confused with earlier organizations within the United States War Department that used the same title. ![]()
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