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(CONFEDERATE BULL RUN SPY LETTER )

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155. (CONFEDERATE BULL RUN SPY LETTER) An extremely rare and important A.L.S. 2pp. 8vo. "Camp Pickens", July 22, 1861 in which Confederate spy George Donnellan, after successfully warning the Confederate Army of the Union advance on Bull Run, writes from the battlefield to tell a Confederate general of their successes there. Immediately before the battle, Donnellan took dispatches from fellow Confederate Spy Rose Greenhow to General Beauregard warning him of Union plans to concentrate at Bull Run, giving the Southern forces the time needed to rush all available men to that position. Largely as a consequence of this rapid Southern redeployment, the Union was defeated at Bull Run late in the afternoon of July 21, 1861. In this letter written early in the morning of the following day, Donellan writes General Ruggles, then in charge of Confederate defenses in the Fredericksburg area, informing him of the extent of the Confederate victory. This important letter reads in part: "...In the hurry of War movements everybody is so busy that I have not yet conferred with General Beauregard [in command at Bull Run] and the bearer leaves before breakfast. Hence there is but little to communicate. Of the 50 pieces artillery I mentioned in [the] dispatch you forwarded here yesterday 30 have been captured. Our loss has been pretty heavy but that of the enemy much heavier. 400 or 500 of Patterson's men are here as prisoners. I will give you a detail item of news after conferring with General Beauregard. Mr. Gales who accompanied me here returns with but one horse, the one I rode having...either been stolen or borrowed...I will notify General Holmes of the fact and endeavor to have the horse found and returned by the courier...". The Washington spy ring to which Rose Greenhow and Donnellan belonged was managed by one of Beauregard's aides, future Confederate Gen. Thomas Jordan. On July 16, 1861 Donellan had appeared at Mrs. Greenhow's door with an encrypted note from Jordan saying "Trust the Bearer". Donellan delivered several Confederate codes to Greenhow for her use, and subsequently carried reports on the Union Army from Greenhow to Beauregard. Two days after Bull Run, Greenhow and a number of her associates were arrested by Pinkerton for espionage. Encrypted letters by Donnellan were found in her possession, but Donellan himself was still with the Confederate army and avoided capture. Because it delayed his return, Donellan may well have owed his life to the unknown horse thief he mentions in this letter! Very little is known of the activities of the Confederate Secret Service, and important letters such as this one are unheard of. As far as we know, this is the only letter of this important Confederate spy to be offered for sale. This unique letter, made all the more desirable by the spy's writing from the battlefield within hours of Bull Run, comes with a complete transcription and is in excellent condition.$2,000-3,000

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