feature of his face. These were a cold gray, and they had a peculiarly sharp and piercing expression, especially when he was talking on business. He also had a particularly sharp and abrupt manner of speaking at times; and more than once, when I have had reason to think that he might have knowledge of some of my transactions as a Confederate secret service agent, I have felt cold creeps all over me as he looked me straight in the eyes and spoke in that cutting tone of voice he was in the habit of using on occasions.
Colonel Baker was, in my opinion, a first-rate detective officer, and nothing more; for something more is necessary in the chief of a secret service department in time of war than to be a good hand at hunting down offenders. Give him a definite object to go for, and a very slight clew, and he would, in the majority of cases, accomplish a creditable piece of work. He had, however, very little skill in starting enterprises for him self. General Winder, in his place, would have made Washington a much more uncomfortable residence for Confederate spies and agents than it was during the war ; and the fact that I was able to play double with the colonel, as I did for nearly a year and a half, and to carry on, as I did, a number of important operations on behalf of the Confederacy, so to speak, under his very nose, was not very creditable to him, all the circumstances being taken into consideration.
Colonel Baker, however, was not without his good qualities, even if he was far from being as great a personage as he thought he was. He was stern and severe, but he was a kinder man at heart than General Winder, although he lacked the intellectual attainments of the Confederate officer. With regard to the relative honesty of the two, it is perhaps as well that I should express no opinion.
Application for a Position in the Federal Secret Service.
On being introduced to Colonel Baker by General A., I asked him if he could not give me a position in his detective corps in some capacity, explaining as my reason for making such a request that, having lost everything through the rebel lion, I was in urgent need of obtaining some remunerative employment by which I could support myself. In the course of the conversation with him, I told pretty much, the same story that I had to the Federal officers at Memphis. I was of Spanish extraction, and all of my friends and relatives were
