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  1. Lieber Code Provides Definition and Punishment for Confederate Spies
    date April 24, 1863map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Francis Lieber, Government Laws, Civil War, Espionage, Abraham Lincoln

    Issued in April of 1863, General Orders 100, also referred to as the Lieber Code, provided the Union Army with clear instructions as to how to deal with captured Confederate soldiers,  as well as non-combatants during the Civil War. Created at the request of Abraham Lincoln, the Lieber Code provided soldiers with rules and expectations for their conduct. The Code devoted an entire section to spies....

  2. Timothy Webster Becomes First Spy Executed in the Civil War
    date May 4, 1862map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Civil War, Timothy Webster, Espionage

    On the day of April 29, 1862, Timothy Webster became the first person executed during the Civil War for acts of espionage. Convicted four days prior to his execution, a court-martial in Richmond, Virginia ruled that Webster, an “alien enemy,” should “suffer death by hanging.” The New York Times republished an original article from the Richmond Dispatch relaying the information of Webster’s...