Devil's game : the Civil War intrigues of Charles A. Dunham

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Title:

Devil's game : the Civil War intrigues of Charles A. Dunham

Author:

Cumming, Carman.

ISBN:

9780252028908

Personal Author:

Cumming, Carman.

Publication Information:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2004.

Physical Description:

xiii, 305 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Contents:

Chameleon -- "Cheats and forgeries" -- Castle thunder -- Reptile journalist -- Southern life -- Fire in the rear -- A message from Richmond -- "Private business" -- School for perjury -- Plots "shrewd and devilish" -- Scorpions in a bottle -- Impeachment -- "Protean maneuvers" -- Letters from Albany.

Abstract:

"The first book-length study of one of the Civil War's most outlandish and mysterious characters, Devil's Game traces the amazing career of Charles A. Dunham, double agent. Dunham was a spy, forger, "reptile journalist," and master of dirty tricks. Writing under different names for different newspapers, including New York's Tribune, Herald, and World, he routinely faked stories to promote the North's war aims, sometimes writing contradictory stories for rival papers. Dunham also used his journalism to create new identities and sometimes stepped into them, playing (with the help of his wife, Ophelia) at least a half-dozen such roles.".

"Dunham achieved his greatest infamy at the war's end. Called to testify in Washington, he was the most notorious of the witnesses who swore that Lincoln's assassination had been plotted by conspirators in Montreal and Toronto, on orders from Richmond. That testimony (later discredited but never officially challenged) helped lead to the execution of several alleged associates of John Wilkes Booth." "Dunham's postwar intrigues were almost as complex, as he continued to collect fake "evidence" of Southern war crimes. Finally convicted of perjury in these schemes, he worked in prison to produce evidence implicating President Andrew Johnson in the assassination, then reversed himself and sold out his associates to the President."

Personal Subject:

Dunham, Charles A., 1832-1900.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865-Assassination.

Subject Term:

Spies -- United States -- Biography.

Spies -- Confederate States of America -- Biography.

Journalists -- United States -- Biography.

Swindlers and swindling -- United States -- Biography.

Perjury -- United States -- History -- 19th century.

Geographic Term:

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Biography.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Underground movements.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Journalists.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip043/2003010414.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015770262	973.786092 D917D 2004	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Devil's Game traces the amazing career of Charles A. Dunham, Civil War spy, forger, journalist, and master of dirty tricks. Writing for a variety of New York papers under alternate names, Dunham routinely faked stories, created new identities, and later boldly cast himself to play those roles. He achieved his greatest infamy when he was called to testify in Washington concerning Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Many parts of Dunham's career remain shadowy, but Cumming offers the first detailed tour of Dunham's convoluted, high-stakes, international deceits, including his effort to sell Lincoln on plans for a raid to capture Jefferson Davis.

Exhaustively researched and unprecedented in depth, this carefully crafted assessment of Dunham's motives, personality, and the complex effects of his schemes changes assumptions about covert operations during the Civil War.