Some are still here.........................headquartered in Langley, Virginia........i am not joking..............

Overview[edit]

During the Civil War, a number of secret confederacy organizations emerged. Some of these organizations were under the direction of the Confederate government, others operated independently with government approval, while still others were either completely independent of the government or operated with only its tacit acknowledgment.

By 1864, the Confederate government was attempting to gain control over the various operations that had sprung up since the beginning of the war, but often with little success. Secret legislation was put before the Confederate Congress to create an official Special and Secret Bureau of the War Department. The legislation was not enacted until March 1865 and was never implemented; however, a number of groups and operations have historically been referred to as having been part of the Confederate Secret Service. In April 1865, most of the official papers of the Secret Service were burned by Confederate Secretary of StateJudah P. Benjamin just before the Confederate government evacuated Richmond, although a few pages of a financial ledger remain.^[1] Thus, the full story of Confederate secret operations may never be known.