Those of you who have followed Joseph and Molly’s adventures in my earlier novels—Lincoln’s Bodyguard and Land of Wolves—know that those stories are not only historical fiction but works of revisionist history. The timeline in those novels departed from the history we know when Joseph saved President Lincoln in Ford’s theater—14 April 1865. Angel in the Fog starts before that historical bifurcation and is therefore the first book in the series that is a pure work of historical fiction. The challenge in this genre is to fit the story within the history we all know. I had the great luxury in my previous novels to explain away small historical inaccuracies as a result of the “new” timeline. That wouldn’t be the case with Angel in the Fog.
At first, I worried that I would not be able to find a way to weave Molly’s story into the fabric of our history at the dawn of the Civil War. However, as I started my research, her story emerged as if I were lifting it from a history textbook—though much more exhilarating. Almost all of the events as well as the backstory in the novel are true—or primarily based on truth. Many of the characters existed, and I used their role in history throughout Angel in the Fog. Let’s start at the beginning.
Allan Pinkerton, one of America’s most famous detectives at the time, was hired by Samuel Felton, the president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. Pinkerton’s charge was to investigate whether separatist elements might burn railroad bridges to prevent Abraham Lincoln from arriving in Washington for his first inauguration. During the course of that investigation, Pinkerton learned of a plan far more sinister than burning bridges. A secretive group in Baltimore, led in part by Cipriano Ferrandini, planned to assassinate Lincoln when he transferred train stations in the city. Pinkerton and his operatives, including Mrs. Kate Warne, were able to thwart the attempt by sending Lincoln through Baltimore earlier than expected, just as presented in the novel. Some of the characters we meet, including Kate Warne and Timothy Webster, were instrumental in this operation—particularly Mrs. Warne.
Kate Warne is truly a fascinating character. The often quoted saying by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich applies: “Well behaved women seldom make history.” Kate Warne made history. As a young widow, she marched into Allan Pinkerton’s office and made a proposal to the famous detective—she wanted to be America’s first female detective. Despite his initial hesitation, Pinkerton accepted her to his burgeoning detective agency. She soon proved her worth in a variety of cases, and by the time we meet her in Angel in the Fog, she is a seasoned operative. Kate Warne was a true pioneer, blazing a path for other women to follow at a time when acceptable careers were limited to teaching and nursing. She was therefore the perfect person to advocate for and train an apprentice—Molly.
Throughout the novel, Molly uses a cover name—Hattie Lawton. The historical records show Miss Lawton was a real person, though her identity has been lost to the ages. Some references refer to her as Carrie Lawton or have a different variant of her last name. What is clear is that her exact background before she came into the Pinkerton organization is not known. The same is true about what happened to her after her time with Pinkerton. She comes in and out of history like a breeze and leaves nothing more than anecdotes of her accomplishments and stories of her bravery. She became the perfect cover for Molly. I did take some liberties with her story, in particular in including her complicity with Mrs. Warne in thwarting the Baltimore plot. It seems Hattie Lawton was involved during that operation, but in a different city. She posed as Timothy Webster’s wife, and they lived among railway workers on the outskirts of Baltimore who were suspected to be planning the bridge burnings that Samuel Felton initially feared.
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In the first half of the novel, Molly also travels to several Northern cities. In New York she meets George Sanders. Mr. Sanders was a Confederate official who conducted business in New York and Montreal. He is credited with working in the background of the Confederacy, traveling to Europe and supporting the Confederate Secret Service in Montreal. Although I could find no record of him meeting with John Wilkes Booth, as is portrayed in the novel, the two men certainly traveled in similar circles and could have met and worked together. While in New York City, Molly also meets Superintendent Kennedy, the head of the New York Police Department. He was also a historical figure, who helped guide Lincoln through New York on his trip to Washington, D.C., despite the fact that the city mayor, Fernando Wood, did advocate for New York City seceding from the Union. In Albany, Molly finds John Wilkes Booth who needs no introduction. In the novel, he is recovering from a self-inflicted wound endured during a theatrical performance. Booth did, in fact, injure himself with a dagger during a show in Albany, NY. Finally, Molly meets with Colonel William Norris in Montreal. Colonel Norris is also ripped from history, though I embellished his role in the Confederate Secret Service and his presence in Montreal.
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During the second half of the novel, Molly accompanies another Pinkerton operative to the Confederate capitol—Richmond, VA. Timothy Webster was by all accounts a brave and talented man. He also has the misfortune of being the first American executed for espionage since Nathan Hale in the Revolutionary War. While I did expand Timothy Webster’s role in uncovering the Baltimore plot, deliberately conflating his contribution with that of Mr. Harry W. Davies—another Pinkerton operative—Webster was nonetheless a real person. In addition, as portrayed in the book, Webster did work as a spy for the Union while in Richmond, where he was accompanied by none other than Hattie Lawton posing as his wife.
In Richmond, Molly’s role was exactly the same as Hattie Lawton’s in real life—to enhance Webster’s cover as well as to “worm out secrets” from the wives of the Richmond elite. During the course of her time in Richmond, Molly and Webster discover that Mr. Cheeney is devising a devastating new type of ship to break the Union naval blockade. This is also based on real events. The display in the James River of this new naval technology—a submarine sinking a barge—occurred in the summer of 1861. This was the scene that Molly and Webster witness, along with Captain Atwater and his wife—also real people. The submarine was developed by a man named William Cheeney. I changed his name to Mason Cheeney as I also changed his backstory by making him part of Molly’s past in New Orleans. However, I did maintain the Cheeney name as a tip of the hat to history.
During her time in Richmond, Molly also encounters another famous female operative—Miss Elizabeth Van Lew. Miss Van Lew grew to be one of the most important sources of intelligence for the Union throughout the war. She was so important that General Grant personally paid her a visit once he entered the fallen city. If anything, her role is downplayed in the novel. She formed and ran an extensive spy ring in Richmond. She figured out how to get messages out of the city; she tended to Union prisoners, even helping them escape from prison with the help of the clerk at Libby Prison—another aspect we see in the novel as Molly escapes. Miss Lizzie, as she was known, even planted a servant in the Confederate White House, offering Mary Jane Bowser’s services to none other than Varina Davis—Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ wife. We meet Mary Jane in the novel, though there is no mention of her incredible service of stealing secrets right under the nose of Jefferson Davis himself.
Molly’s time in Richmond ends sadly when Timothy Webster is arrested and executed for espionage. The details of his capture in the novel are largely accurate. He did fall sick with rheumatism and was unable to send Pinkerton messages about his status. Fearing the worst, Pinkerton sent two operatives—Scully and Lewis—to find Webster. These men inadvertently cast suspicion upon Webster, and when they were arrested, they pled guilty to save their lives. That sealed Webster’s fate. Hattie Lawton was there when Webster was hauled away to the gallows, as was Molly in my story. After Webster’s execution, Miss Lizzie visited Hattie Lawton, just as she pays a visit to Molly in the novel.
Finally, I added a bit of international intrigue in the form of Europe’s interest in the American Civil War. This is also based on fact. In turn, the intense interest from Europe shaped how we responded. For instance, England longed for cheap cotton to feed their textile mills. Their biggest dilemma in supporting the South to secure that commodity was the use of slave labor. Intense debate occurred within their society about whether they should back the Confederacy and turn the tide of the war. England had abolished slavery in 1833, nearly three decades before the U.S. Civil War, and the moral elements in their society were successful in maintaining a perceived sense of neutrality throughout the war. This did not prevent England from selling goods to the naval blockade runners, nor did it stop Confederate officials from lobbying England and France for assistance. England’s teetering viewpoint on Confederate support may have been a significant factor in President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which threaded a fine line to keep border states in the Union while sending a signal to Europe. One of Lincoln’s principal fears was that the South might emancipate the slaves—as seen in Cheeney’s plan in the novel—in order to curry favor with Europe as a means to break the stalemate of the Civil War.
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Hopefully these notes have helped show how intertwined Molly’s story is with the real history of the time period. In fact, there are more real-life characters in the book than fictional ones. Throughout my research I was struck by one common theme—the incredible bravery of a small group of people who altered the course of history for our nation. This includes a cadre of women operatives—Kate Warne, Elizabeth Van Lew, Mary Jane Bowser, and, of course, Hattie Lawton. This list is by no means exhaustive and includes none of the Confederate women who engaged in similar activities—Belle Boyd, Nancy Hart Douglas, and Rose Greenhow to name a few. These women, on both sides of the battle lines, challenged the norms of the day. They participated in espionage and scouting the enemy lines at a time when men considered them to be too weak or lacking the intellect to carry out such activities. They not only proved these notions ridiculously false, they succeeded in a way that their male counterparts could not match, forever shaping our nation.
Although my ideas for the novel drew from many sources, I recommend the following references, both fiction and nonfiction, which outline this incredible time in our nation’s history.
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, by Karen Abbott
The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln before the Civil War, by Daniel Stashower
The Spymistress (a novel), by Jennifer Chiaverini