Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War

Jefferson Davis’s manservant and Varina’s maid fled to Washington, DC. Mary-Jane continued to spy despite the increased risk. Elizabeth continued to encrypt any intel she got from the Richmond Underground. One of her contacts, Merritt Rowley, volunteered to act as a courier for Elizabeth. He traveled to Fort Monroe on his own, delivering Elizabeth’s message to Butler with great urgency. The intel allowed Butler to propose a plan to attack Richmond. In February, alarm bells warning Richmond of the invasion woke Elizabeth in the middle of the night. Butler was attacking, but the Confederacy managed to hold off Union forces. Elizabeth had been receiving strange missives warning about a mass escape from Libby Prison. Elizabeth visited her brother who had been hiding in the countryside to avoid conscription. She stayed the night. That evening was the night the mass escape happened, and 109 men arrived at Elizabeth’s home. They were turned away by her driver, who was unsure if they were really prisoners or spies.

Elizabeth worried about her brother, John’s, welfare. After the escape, Confederate detectives were on high alert. She met with General Winder and pleaded with him not to punish John for avoiding conscription. He promised he’d do what he could.

Belle’s requests to return to Martinsburg were denied. So, she went to Europe, offering to carry dispatches on behalf of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis accepted her offer and sent her $500 in gold to pay for her expenses. Belle boarded The Greyhound, and the ship set sail in the evening. The Union ship, The Connecticut spotted and chased The Greyhound. After a long chase, The Greyhound was captured and surrendered. Belle met the new captain, the lieutenant of The Connecticut, Samuel Hardinge, and she was immediately besotted with him.

Rose returned to England and continued to lobby on behalf of the Confederacy, traveling back and forth between England and France. She visited Little Rose as much as she could and started to view any meeting or conversation she had as “very stupid.” She spent a lot of time alone writing sad diary entries. In public, she fell back on anger and would loudly argue with anyone who critiqued the Confederacy or slavery.

Winder tried to keep John from conscription, but his requests were denied. So, he placed John in his regiment, promising to keep John from active duty. Winder believed that John’s conscription was based on animosity. Elizabeth realized that after four years, their game of cat and mouse turned into a strained sort of friendship. However, Winder was boarding at her house, and she knew he was still investigating her.

Elizabeth began sending her correspondence from her friend Eliza’s home. She was paid for her spying with shoes, tea, and “a muff of the latest stye” (364). Butler asked her to meet his informant, General Winder’s chief aide. Elizabeth smuggled a letter from the Union general into the Winder prison building. The informant warned her not to come back to see him again; he would go to her.

Elizabeth continued to offer refuge to escaped Union soldiers, even while Winder was boarding with her. However, a group had arrived one night when Winder was in his room, blocking access to the secret room. She hid them in her root cellar, waiting for Winder to leave in the morning. However, more of Winder’s detectives searched her home. After the detectives left, Elizabeth scolded Winder for sending his detectives to search the home of “unprotected ladies.”

Rose isolated herself in May, anxious to hear an update on the battle. A telegraph from Lee informed her of the Confederacy victory, pushing her to resume her work. Despite the Confederacy’s recent victories, most of Europe refused to recognize it. The last thing Rose did in Europe was negotiate the release of a Confederate soldier. Rose knew she had to return to the States. She prepared for her return by receiving a sacrament from the Pope, applied one more time to English lords, and met with Little Rose, hugging her goodbye.

Belle and Lieutenant Hardinge were engaged after only two days. When The Greyhound docked in Boston, Belle helped Captain Henry escape, feigning surprise when his disappearance was discovered. Belle was arrested in Boston and held in a hotel. Hardinge lobbied for her in Washington, and Belle was exiled to Canada, not imprisoned. Before she left for Canada, Belle learned her fiancé was charged as an accomplice for Captain Henry’s escape. Belle was distraught. They were allowed to say goodbye, and he told her not to worry and that he’d meet her abroad. The two reunited in London and got married. As she couldn’t return to her home in West Virginia, Hardinge went on her behalf.

Jefferson Davis’s son died in a tragic accident at the same time the Union Army was advancing, closing in on Richmond, and Atlanta was captured. Confederate troop numbers plummeted as people were offered money and transportation to return to the Union and take an oath of loyalty.

Elizabeth was being watched. Winder had left her home and was transferred to Andersonville. John deserted the Confederate Army in the midst of a battle. Elizabeth picked up information from Mary-Jane three days a week. She hid the dispatches in a decorative column by her fireplace. One of Elizabeth’s maids would pick up the dispatch and pass it on to farmers working on the Van Lew farm in the Old Market Hall who hid them for a Union scout to pick up.

One evening, Elizabeth’s friend arrived on her doorstep. Elizabeth discovered that Winder’s replacement was questioning any of the Van Lews’ known associates. The friend had sworn off any knowledge of treasonous activities. Elizabeth hoped that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t. Instead, Winder’s replacement interviewed John’s estranged wife, Mary.

Rose boarded the blockade runner and traveled back to the South. She knew the South would be changed, but she had to help the cause she believed in. Near the coast, the ship got stuck on a shoal. Rose panicked, believing that they’d be captured. She refused to be imprisoned again. Rose demanded to be taken to shore in a lifeboat, and two sailors volunteered. However, a storm was raging, and the lifeboat flipped. Rose drowned. Her body was discovered by a Confederate captain. The Confederacy mourned her death and compared her to Joan of Arc.

Samuel went to Martinsburg and visited Belle’s family. The Shenandoah Valley was completely under Union control. He stayed at Belle’s family home, slept in her room, and wrote poetic letters to her. Not long after he arrived, he was detained and sent to Carroll Prison in Washington because he was Belle Boyd’s husband.

Emma had returned to nursing, working at a hospital run by the US Sanitary Commission. She began relearning the mannerisms typical of the women around her. She met a man name Linus Seelye, a fellow Canadian who was fascinated by her. Emma began writing the stories she’d tell him down and published a memoir.

Mary testified against the Van Lews, speaking about their anti-Confederacy and abolitionist views. Detectives searched Elizabeth’s home, looking for incriminating evidence, but couldn’t find anything, so no action was taken. Elizabeth continued her routines, and the Richmond Underground stealthily sent countless dispatches to Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters. One night, Elizabeth was awoken by strange sounds outside. When she investigated, she discovered Mary-Jane, who had just escaped from the Confederate White House.