Charlie Wright Biography
by Krysta CardinaleIn 1863, the Bureau of Military Information (BMI) was created. That June, a young black man from Culpeper, Virginia named Charlie Wright arrived at Union lines. He went through the extensive interrogation given to all black refugees who came into the Union from the South. After this process, it was discovered that Charlie Wright had an impressive knowledge of units in the Confederate army and an incredible capacity for retaining military details. He was able to successfully name more than a dozen Confederate regiments and reported that they were bound for Maryland after he observed their passage through Culpeper.
The Union army decided that a centralized intelligence service would benefit the war effort and created the Bureau of Military Information (BMI). Its purpose was to collect intelligence on the Confederacy, though no counter-intelligence measures were implemented initially. The BMI was responsible for scouting out and obtaining information on undercover missions behind Confederate lines. In addition it was in charge of interrogations, cavalry reconnaissance, balloon and Signal Corps observations, flag signal and telegraph intercepts, the capture of Confederate documents, and newspapers and intelligence reporting from subordinate military units. This structure was not changed until the advent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1947.
Thanks to information obtained by the BMI, in conjunction with the information supplied by Charlie Wright, the Union was able to shadow Lee's army through Maryland without being seen. By doing this they protected the Union capital at Washington and forced the battle of Gettysburg. It was thanks to Charlie Wright's information that the Union army was able to arrive at Gettysburg first and forge the best ground. General Lee and the Confederate troops were eventually defeated and retreated back to Virginia.
