Eugene B. Van Camp

Eugene B. Van Camp (March 31, 1838 - June, 1904) was an espionage agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, assisting his father Dr. Aaron A. Van Camp in his spying activities.

Eugene Bestor Van Camp was born on March 31, 1838 in Louisville, Kentucky. His parents were Maria Bestor Van Camp and the dentist Dr. Aaron A. Van Camp.

Van Camp attended St. Mary Seminary of St. Sulfice, now St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland between 1848 and 1849.

Van Camp attended Georgetown College in Washington, D. C. between 1853 and 1855.

On April 20, 1861, in Alexandria, Virginia, Van Camp enlisted in Captain Edward B. Powell's Company of Cavalry, which became Company F, 6th Regiment, Virginia Cavalry. Van Camp re-enlisted in April 20, 1862, and was promoted to Third Sergeant. He was wounded at an engagement in Strasburg, Virginia and took convalescent leave in Winchester, Virginia in the Fall of 1862. Van Camp then went absent without leave on November 1, 1862, and was arrested in Berlin, Maryland as a deserter. Van Camp was paroled and ordered to proceed to Baltimore and then stay north of Philadelphia for the duration of the war.

In April 1861 Van Camp became an orderly for General P. G. T. Beauregard before the First Battle of Bull Run. This allowed Van Camp and his father to assist Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who was operating a spy ring in the capital, in smuggling information pertaining to Union troop movements prior to that battle. Shortly thereafter, Greenhow's spy ring was broken up by Allan Pinkerton of the newly formed Union Intelligence Service. In late 1861, the elder Van Camp was imprisoned as suspected spy in downtown Washington in the Old Capitol Prison. Dr. Van Camp was released from custody in March 1862 after signing an oath of allegiance to the Union. His son was not arrested for assisting his father in the spy ring.

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