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Union spies were not alone in their subterfuge. Early in the war, Confederate military commanders took advantage of the absence of Union counterintelligence to connect with Southern sympathizers in Washington, D.C. With the vast majority of the war fought in slaveholding states, the Confederates had an additional edge: spies had little need to travel north and could infiltrate Union lines and forces in their own territory with relative ease. Even with these favorable conditions, however, Confederate espionage had limited impact on wartime campaigns.