Civil War Secret Marker Kit TY-001-077

The American Civil War probably involved more spying, including more people, than any other conflict in our history. Spies targeted the capitals of the North and South, Washington and Richmond, which lay only 100 miles apart. Union agents effortlessly maneuvered in and out of Richmond while Confederate spies easily set up headquarters in Washington. However as both sides suffered embarrassing defeats from careless security, organized intelligence programs gradually emerged. Sophisticated civilian and military spy networks were managed through secret communication using intermediaries, double agents, disappearing ink, complex cyphers, code books, counter-intelligence, and propaganda.

Disappearing ink was an invaluable tool in the spy game. Many a Union and Confederate spy often wrote their reports in invisible ink—locations of new artillery batteries, formation of new cavalry regiments, availability of supplies, holding areas for prisoners of war. By June 1864, the Richmond underground had five “depots,” where couriers could deliver their reports for pickup by Union operatives slipping through Confederate lines. Nevertheless, much of the secret correspondence on both sides was intercepted and decrypted.

Kit includes invisible ink marker, revealer marker, spy notepaper and instruction sheet. Meets CPSIA safety standards

Minimum order quantity - 6