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Stuffy Intellectualism

John Burke (Spy)
John Burke (1830 – January 18, 1871) was a Confederate adjutant general of Texas and spy. He was born in Pennsylvania. He was left an orphan by age 11 and eventually he made his way to Texas. There he studied law at night and was a cobbler (shoemaker) by day. He was eventually barred and took rank as a criminal lawyer along side his brother-in-law, Pendleton Murrah. He joined the Confederacy and was briefly a member of the famous Hood's Brigade until he became a scout. He served early in the war as a scout for P.G.T. Beauregard, Joseph E. Johnston and J.E.B. Stuart during Jackson's Valley Campaign in 1862.

Unfortunately, Captain John Burke never really kept a record of any field reconnaissance, but the information he gathered for the Confederacy was "said to have aided Beauregard and Johnston at Manassas."

Disguises and Spy Life
Lastly, because he was born in the Northern region of the United States, Burke "possessed a Northern accent that enabled him to move about among the Yankees without rousing suspicion;" thus, making him a key element in the Confederate spy ring.