This is the story of two Confederate spies, Tom Harbin and Charlie Russell. Harbin, among the most wanted of all Confederate agents, was also one of the leaders in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln. It was Harbin who left a getaway horse for Booth outside Ford’s Theatre, and Harbin who helped Booth escape across the Potomac. For a time there was a big price on Harbin’s head, but he was never arrested. Tradition holds that he went into hiding, perhaps in Cuba or England, but this book demonstrates that he was again openly living and working in D.C. at least as early as 1866.
The other half of this book presents a new Confederate spy: Tom Harbin’s step-cousin Charlie Russell, a man who never talked and never left a paper trail. It was only while the author was conducting genealogical research into the Russell family of Clarksville, Virginia, that he stumbled across Russell’s activities during the Civil War. Here the author presents a wealth of evidence to suggest that Russell, too, played a part in the dramatic history of Confederate espionage.
Enhancing the life stories of both these men is detailed information on their genealogy and the lives of their forebears and descendants, many of whom were prominent in the history and society of Washington, D.C.

John Stewart is the author of non-fiction books on a variety of topics including African states and rulers, Antarctica, the British Empire, Moons of the solar system, Italian movies, Broadway musicals, the British circus, Lord Byron, Jefferson Davis, and Confederate spies. Winner of numerous reference book awards, he lives in West Jefferson, North Carolina.

John Stewart
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 219
Bibliographic Info: appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2868-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by Roy Z. Chamlee, Jr.      1
Preface      3
Introduction      5

I. The Life and Family of Charlie Russell      15
II. The Life and Family of Tom Harbin      97

Appendix A. Graves in the Historic Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.      153
Appendix B. More Census Information and Related Documents      155
Bibliography      193
Index      195

“strongly recommended”—Midwest Book Review; “exciting”—The Lone Star.