The Spy with the Glass Eye

In early January 1862, Colonel Wade Hampton crossed the Occoquan River with a small detachment of cavalry and rode toward Pohick Church looking for a fight. A few miles beyond the church on Telegraph Road, his men encountered a small body of Union cavalry that turned toward Alexandria and fled, drawing Hampton in pursuit. As Hampton reached the top of Potter’s Hill, a Texas scout rushed from the left side of the road and warned him to stop because a Union ambush lay at the bottom of the hill. Hampton halted at once and formed his squadron on the crest. The Union troops remained hidden, expecting the Confederates to charge, but when it became clear they would not enter the trap, the Federals began cursing and shaking their sabers. Both sides then exchanged fire, the Union troops using Sharp’s carbines and the Confederates using pistols. One of Hampton’s men was shot in the face, one or two others were slightly wounded, and several horses were hit. Hampton then withdrew back across the Occoquan. The scout who gave the warning was John Burke, known as the spy with the glass eye, and his timely action may have saved many Confederate lives, including Hampton’s. Hampton later became a lieutenant general and, after the war, governor of South Carolina.

Kingstowne, Virginia · United States