"Harrison, our scout, had been with us since Gettysburg. His report, all important as to the results of the campaign, was not forgotten. With no immediate duties assigned him, he trotted along from day to day, but he was sure of something to come, and it came. He asked permission to go to Richmond for a few days. As there was nothing to keep him, leave was given.
"Colonel," said this dark character, ‘if by any chance you should be in Richmond next week, I hope you will take in the theater one evening. (There was then not the slightest expectation of my being in Richmond at that time.) "What is the attraction?" I asked. "Myself," said Harrison. "I have made a bet of $50 greenbacks that I play Cassius and play him successfully." "Are you an actor?" I asked. "No, but I can play." The matter was dismissed as so much nonsense, but he was not a man for nonsense. It so happened that I was in Richmond the next week with Longstreet and the staff on the way to Georgia to strike our great strategic coup, and did happen into a friend’s box at the theater. "Othello" was on the boards with all the splendor the times could muster, and my Harrison and "Cassius," one and the same, were before me. He had lied in part. His acting was as if he had regularly strutted the boards for a stock company. But the play was rather lively at times. "Othello" was in drink, "Cassius" was really quite far gone, and even "Desdemona" was under more than one suspicion that evening.
"The occurrence induced me next day to set on foot some minute inquiries about Harrison’s life. I learned that he was drinking and gambling. On reporting it to General Longstreet he thought it better to let him go and so directed me; accordingly I had him paid off, with an order to report to the Secretary of War, from whom he had originally come.
"This was the last I saw of the mysterious fellow. Longstreet missed him afterwards while we were in East Tennessee, and I made careful effort to find him and bring him out to us.
"While writing I hear from Latrobe that the man is alive and in Baltimore, seeking some small assistance from the Confederate veterans. I should like to see his last days more comfortable."
Source: Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer
Commentary
Harrison had played a vital role in the battle of Gettysburg. Conceivably, he had saved the entire army's destruction with his timely and detailed reports. Longstreet had secured his services previous to Chancellorsville, and the scout had not failed him yet. However, times would soon be changing. Trust of spies was not an easy thing to come by in the Army of Northern Virginia.
In the lull between the Gettysburg campaign and Longstreet's temporary transfer to the Army of Tennessee, the ANV experienced a period of relative rest. These reflections by Moxley Sorrel regarding the scout Harrison refer to this time period and directly after.