- John Burke (spy)
John Burke (
1830 -January 18 ,1871 ) was a Confederateadjutant general ofTexas andspy . He was born inPennsylvania . He was left an orphan by age 11. He spent many of his young days inNew York doing work on thepiers . He was known for doing daredevil typestunts , such as jumping fromHigh Bridge . At some point he made his way to Texas. There he studiedlaw at night and was acobbler by day. He joined the Confederacy and was a member of the famousHood's Brigade briefly until he became scout. He served early in the war as a scout forP.G.T. Beauregard ,Joseph E. Johnston andJ.E.B. Stuart . Later in the war he was commissioned as aspy byRobert E. Lee and went as far behind Union lines asNew York , and Lee soon considered him his "favorite spy". [ [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/fbu33.html Handbook of Texas Online - BURKE, JOHN ] ] He had many adventures and several escapes from capture. These include stories of leaping from a train while it was crossing a high trestle, hiding under a lady's petticoats to hide from Union soldiers who were chasing him, and hiding between mattresses to escape detection. His covert activities exhausted him and he returned to his home inMarshall, Texas , where he was appointed by GovernorPendleton Murrah , who was his brother in law, asadjutant general of Texas. He married Martha Virginia Taylor in 1865. He retreated toMexico with Murrah after the defeat of the Confederacy, but returned to Marshall to practice law after Murrah's death. He died in 1871 inJefferson, Texas .References
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