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| Camp is broken — the army advances To secure for Grant the fullest possible information about Lee's movements was the task of General Sharp, Chief of the Secret Service of the Army, whose deserted headquarters at Brandy Station, Va., in April, 1864, are shown in this photograph. Here are the stalls built for the horses and the stockade for prisoners. The brick fireplace that had lent its cheer to the general's canvas house is evidence of the comforts of an army settled down for the respite of winter. Regretfully do soldiers exchange all this for forced marches and hard fighting; and to the scouts, who precede an army, active service holds a double hazard. Visitors to Federal camps often wondered at soldiers in Confederate gray chatting or playing cards with the men in blue and being allowed to pass freely. These were Federal spies, always in danger of being captured and summarily shot, not only by the Confederates, but in returning and attempting to regain their own lines. |
