BHM: Pinkerton Honors the Legacy of W. H. Ringgold
Culture
As part of Black History Month honoring the central role of African Americans in U.S. history, we would like to honor the legacy of W. H. Ringgold, a free man who involuntary served aboard a Virginia riverboat that was moving Confederate troops and supplies across the York River.
According to a CIA report on Intelligence in the Civil War, Ringgold and the other crewmen spent six months on the York River and were allowed to return to the North after the riverboat was damaged in a storm. Debriefed by Allan Pinkerton and recruited as an agent in the Union Intelligence Service headed by Pinkerton in December 1861, Ringgold shared all he knew about Confederate defenses and troop movements on the Virginia peninsula, including fortifications and artillery batteries. The information was relayed to General George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac.
When McClellan launched the peninsula campaign in the spring of 1862, he said the most actionable intelligence he had was from Ringgold.
