The Contributions Of Timothy Webster During The Civil War

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Timothy Webster Timothy Webster is one of the most famous spies in the Civil War. He worked for Allan Pinkerton, the leader of one of the most famous detective agencies ever, and was the first spy to be executed during the Civil War. One of his major successes, and the reason he has been remembered so well, was the prevention of Abraham Lincoln’s pre inauguration assassination. No one knows what would have happened if Webster had failed, but if there had been a different result regarding the assassination then the country we now live in could be a very dark and miserable place. Timothy Webster Timothy Webster was born on March 12, 1822 in Newhaven, Sussex County, England. When Timothy was young he was taught a machinist’s trade. In August …show more content…

Sometimes he would be tracking grave robbers, other times he would be taking down terrorists who were trying to burn down the Rode Island Bridge. In one of his more exciting cases, Webster was chasing forger Jules Imbert through the city. When the suspect ran Webster chased him relentlessly, even jumping off a train in order to keep up. If fate had been kinder, Webster would have eventually run the detective agency. Unfortunately, this was not to be. In 1861, Webster and Lawton were sent to Baltimore to pose as a southern husband and wife. Their mission was to infiltrate the secessionist group and gather information on a plan to destroy bridges that linked Washington and New York. While on this mission Webster found that the group was planning to assassinate Abraham Lincoln while he was traveling to his inauguration. With this information Pinkerton was able to change Lincoln’s plans, sneaking his through Baltimore on a night train. Thus avoiding a major …show more content…

While there he reconnected with the group that had tried to assassinate Lincoln. Webster then volunteered to carry messages across the border for them. While it was dangerous to be crossing the border so much, it gave Webster a distinct advantage in that he could travel freely throughout the whole of the south including Richmond. Webster and Hattie established themselves once again as husband and wife, but this time in the heart of the confederacy. With this new level of importance within the confederacy, they were allowed access to military camps. They even gained the trust of confederate officials such as John B. Magruder and John H. Winder. He carried both official and personal documents for both of these generals. Webster’s pass to cross the border was issued by Confederate Secretary of War Judah Benjamin himself. To them Webster was friend who could be