I mentioned previously that the majority of what has been written of in regards to intelligence matters has been dedicated to spies and not to scouts.  The big question then becomes what is the big difference between the two?  Actually that is quite simple to answer. A uniform is the first thing that differentiates the two.  The fact that the two have completely different  in scope and impact to the overall war effort.

A scout wears a uniform and goes just ahead of the army to find the location, size, and how the enemy is positioned as to what unit is where and who is anchored to who and how many guns they have. They also look for where their commander can put troops and maneuver in order to get on the flanks. They assess the roads for how well a unit can move down it. For example they check if the road can handle wagon traffic or at least a regiment of infantry or even a battery of artillery.  Then they report to their commander what they have found. The main force on both sides to be used as scouts were the Cavalry as they had the mobility none of the other types of units had.  However that's not to say the other types of units did not have scouts. Signal corps as I mentioned in previous issues as well as infantry and artillery and of course the engineers. As the artillery is the king of battle and the infantry is the queen to quote an army cadence information is the emperor of battle.

Now the spy first off doesn't wear a uniform and is a civilian.  Their primary goal is more for what is called strategic Intel than the scouts bailiwick of tactical Intel. The difference between the two is mainly tactical is concerned with terrain and immediate disposition of the enemy. The strategic is more concerned with what force is coming from where, who is in charge, how are they supplied, how much supplies do they have, and is the long term capabilities of this unit. Now you can have scouts in civilian clothing as in the civil war. These people who wore no uniform and assisted the armies of both sides by scouting the area prior to the army arriving. These people were more guides but the role of scout could be tagged to them for some of the service that they provided to both sides. Still the spies role was starting to become limited in this war and later wartime spy activities having become even more limited in scope.

Scouts mostly wear uniforms except for the civilian sympathizers who act as scouts and guides for whatever army they prefer. Spies are wearing civilian clothing or the uniform of the enemy. Scouts when they get captured generally get treated as other soldiers. The civilian scouts generally didn't get caught much due to them staying close to the forces they were supporting and then leaving before the shooting started. Spies get caught well most that were caught were hung.