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Henry Thomas HarrisonConfederate Spy
Date of Birth: 01.01.1832
Country:  USA |
Content:
Early Life and Service
Henry Thomas Harrison was born in 1832 just outside Nashville, Tennessee. In November 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Mississippi state militia, but later that same month he transferred to the Confederate War Department, becoming one of the Confederacy's professional scouts.
The Spy That Changed Gettysburg
In March 1863, Harrison was assigned to General James Longstreet's staff and sent to Goldsboro, North Carolina. On his way, he was captured by Union forces but managed to convince them he was a civilian evading military service. Harrison arrived at Longstreet's headquarters near Chambersburg on the night of June 28, 1863, with intelligence that the Union had a new commander, George Meade, and that Union forces were concentrating around Frederick, Maryland, and moving north. At the time, General Lee's army was scattered across Pennsylvania.
Based solely on the information from the spy, Lee ordered his army to concentrate near Gettysburg. Harrison's intelligence saved Lee from potential disaster and thus altered the course of history.
Post-Gettysburg and Later Life
After Gettysburg, Harrison returned to the War Department's disposal, married a Washingtonian, and settled in New York City. The scout continued his espionage activities until the end of the war.
In 1865, the Harrison family emigrated to Mexico. The patriarch went off to prospect for gold and was lost for years. He was eventually declared legally dead, and his wife remarried. At the turn of the century, Harrison resurfaced, having been living in Cincinnati and working for a detective agency. In 1900, he traveled to Fairfax, where his estranged daughter lived, but she did not recognize him. The former spy then went to Colonel Fairfax, who had served on Longstreet's staff, and with his help re-established his identity.
From 1912 until his death in 1923, Henry Harrison lived in Kentucky, receiving a veteran's pension.
