- Aaron Van Camp
Aaron Van Camp (
June 23 ,1816 –September 15 ,1892 ) was anespionage agent for theConfederate States of America during theAmerican Civil War . He was a member of theRose O'Neal Greenhow Confederate spy ring, which in 1861 was broken up byAllan Pinkerton , head of the newly-formed Secret Service.Van Camp was a well-known dentist in
Washington, D.C. , and, after his arrest and imprisonment in theOld Capitol Prison , was paroled in early 1862. During the remainder of the Civil War, he continued his spying activities for the Confederacy. He also served as Commercial Agent for the United States in the Navigator Islands (nowAmerican Samoa ) from 1853 to 1856 and as Commercial Agent inFiji from 1881 to 1884.Early life and career
Van Camp was born in
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania . He married Maria L. Bestor of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in about 1837. A son, Eugene B. Van Camp, was born inLouisville, Kentucky , in 1838 and later assisted the elder Van Camp in his espionage activities for theConfederate States of America .Aaron Van Camp practiced
dentistry in Kentucky, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., and then migrated with his family to California during theCalifornia Gold Rush period.In 1851, Van Camp went on a voyage into the South Pacific and became interested in supplying
whaling ships, with the Navigator Islands as his base. He established a whaling resupply outpost inApia, Samoa , in 1852. In 1853, Van Camp was appointed as Commercial Agent to the Navigator Islands (Samoa) and to the Friendly Islands (Tonga ) by theU. S. Secretary of State . He held that position until 1856, when he returned to the United States to resume his dentistry practice in Washington, D.C.Espionage during the Civil War
In April 1861, shortly after the Civil War began, Van Camp's son, Eugene, enlisted in a Confederate
cavalry unit and became an orderly for GeneralP.G.T. Beauregard before theFirst Battle of Bull Run . Aaron and his son Eugene then assisted Rose Greenhow in smuggling information pertaining to Union troop movements prior to that battle. The elder Van Camp and Rose Greenhow were then imprisoned as suspected spies in downtown Washington in the Old Capitol Prison. Van Camp was released from custody in March 1862 after signing anoath of allegiance to the Union.However, in January 1864, both Van Camps are reported to have been engaging in spying activities for the Confederates in the
Vicksburg, Mississippi , area, according to a confidential letter sent to U. S. Secretary of WarEdwin M. Stanton by a Union sympathizer. They were alleged to be conducting such espionage under the cover of trading in cotton. No arrests were made, however, and after the war, Van Camp and his son returned to Washington, D.C.Postbellum activities
Between 1881 and 1884, Van Camp served as U. S. Commercial Agent at
Levuka , Fiji. He died in Washington, D.C., where he was buried.Sources and further reading
* Bakeless, John. "Spies of the Confederacy". Philadelphia:
J. B. Lippincott Company , 1970.
* Blackman, Ann. "Wild Rose: Rose O'Neale Greenhow, Civil War Spy". New York: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6118-0.
* Kane, Harnett T. "Spies for the Blue and Gray". New York: Doubleday & Co.
* Markle, Donald E. "Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War". New York: Hippocene Books,1994. ISBN 0781807611
* NARA Personnel Records of the State Dept. M588, M587, "Consular Dispatches, Samoa and Fiji", T25 and T27.
* Richards, Rhys. "Samoa's Forgotten Whaling Heritage, American Whaling in Samoan Waters 1824-1878". Wellington, New Zealand: Lithographic Services, Ltd. 1988. ISBN 0-473-01607-9.
* Ross, Ishbel. "Rebel Rose, Life of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Confederate Spy". New York: Harper & Bros.
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