Peter Cousins Hanged as Confederate Spies
· Historic Events ·
“The boldness of their conduct made their flimsy subterfuges almost successful.” In one of the Civil War’s murkier incidents, two Confederate officers infiltrating a Union Army camp in Tennessee in the summer of 1863 were discovered as they left and promptly hanged, as described soon after in a first-hand account in Harper’s Weekly (scroll down for full-page image). The pair’s members were Confederate Col. Lawrence (“Orton”) Williams, the nephew of Tudor Place owner Britannia Kennon, and Lt. Walter G. (“Gip”) Peter, a cousin. Learn more about Orton’s and Gip’s ties to Tudor Place and related artifacts photographs, and manuscripts in “Gentlemen, Have Played This D—d Well,” a post on our blog.
