Philip Henson, The Southern Union Spy
Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart
Philip Henson, The Southern Union Spy: The Hitherto Unwritten Record of a Hero of The War of the Rebellion (1887), by George Sibley Johns
Philip Henson, a Mississippian, worked as a manager in a dry goods store in Rienzi, Mississippi, before the war started. When the Civil War began, the Confederacy wanted all able-bodied men in service. Because Henson supported the Union, he took a job as overseer to avoid mustering into the Confederate army.
Before General Grant left Corinth, Mississippi, he issued an order that everyone should take the oath of allegiance. Many Southern sympathizers took it for protection—Philip took it because he believed it.
Henson became a spy for both sides. He was a double spy.
He served as a Union spy from July 28, 1862 to May 20, 1864, when he was arrested by Confederate soldiers.
I purchased this book to discover the history surrounding the Siege of Vicksburg. I was researching the background for my Spies of the Civil War Series, Streams of Courage, Book 4, and River of Peril, Book 5.
Recommended for readers of American Civil War history and American history.
