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

The Confederacy was struggling as food and supplies grew scarce. Riots broke out with the chant of “Bread or Blood.” Rioters stole everything they could. Jefferson Davis urged them to stop, tossing a wad of cash into the crowd. The people dove for it, and he demanded they leave in five minutes or else the guard would shoot them. By nightfall, the city had convinced itself that a Union spy started it.

The Richmond elite donated bed sheets, food, clothes, and even horses to the army. Elizabeth’s horses were seized by impressment agents. The agents had been to her home four times, taking horses each time. Elizabeth hid her final horse to keep it out of Confederate hands.

Emma ran to the Union line in the melee of the skirmish. Union soldiers protected her as she was attacked. Back at camp, Emma was told she could no longer be a spy, for fear she may be recognized. She was devastated, and her loss was compounded by the news that Reid had resigned his commission to return to his wife and children. Emma had a recurrence of malaria, and Jerome took care of her, nursing her to health. Emma could do nothing but cry. Her regiment’s leader was also leaving, and it was likely Emma would be replaced as mail carrier. She realized that she couldn’t continue living as Frank—the risk was too great. Still sick, she left the army in the dead of night.

On May 2, the Confederacy won the Battle of Chancellorsville. Stonewall Jackson had been shot three times during the battle. Jackson caught pneumonia and died not long after. The entire Confederacy grieved. Belle was in Alabama when she had heard the news of his death. She returned to Martinsburg, dressed as a man for her journey. To her dismay, Belle discovered that the region of Virginia she had called home had become West Virginia and rejoined the Union. The West Virginia Constitution freed all enslaved people, including Eliza. Belle’s mother had given birth recently, and her father was sick. Belle spent most of her time tending to her parents. Belle was warned of her impending arrest as Union troops returned to Martinsburg. Her family pleaded with the Union officer tasked with arresting Belle to keep her under house arrest, but Secretary Stanton ordered her to Washington. Belle and the rest of her family were devastated. In prison, it became clear that the superintendent hoped to get information out of Belle by having another rebel woman placed in the cell next to hers.

After Emma recovered from Malaria, she resumed her life as a woman and traveled to Washington, DC. There, Emma wrote to Jerome and told him of her plans to become a missionary.

Rose became the Confederate emissary to the French and British courts. She bought a new wardrobe for herself and Little Rose. The mission would be difficult, but she felt capable of the undertaking. Lincoln had announced the Emancipation Proclamation, making the war overtly about abolition. Rose and her daughter embarked on the daunting journey, arriving in England in September.

Elizabeth’s home was searched by two of Winder’s detectives. Elizabeth let them look, offering them sweet tea and cookies. She gave them a tour of the house, praying they wouldn’t discover the secret room.

An arrow with a letter attached was shot into Belle’s cell. The note was written by a secessionist who claimed to have a plan to help her. Curious, she hid her own message in a rubber ball and lobbed the ball in the direction the next arrow had come from. The mysterious secessionist became her pen pal, sharing news of the war with her. Belle was granted permission to take daily walks, but not to communicate with anyone on penalty of being shot by the armed guards. On one walk, a group of teenage girls gave her a Confederate flag embroidered with her name. Belle lost her privilege to go outside. Belle was amazed at how many people knew her name. She was even dubbed “La Belle Rebelle” by the French. Belle’s father, still sick himself, traveled to Washington to negotiate her release. He managed to get her sentence commuted, and she was banished to the South. Belle prepared to be released, sending word she needed extravagant supplies.

Belle was taken to Fort Monroe, where she met General Butler, who was known as the “Beast.” Belle’s things were searched. When Butler took Stonewall Jackson’s glasses, Belle cried. Eventually, she was sent to Richmond, where she learned of her father’s death.

Rose met with a famous writer whose view on race aligned with the Confederacy’s. She appealed to him to write an article on the Confederacy’s behalf, but he declined. Rose published her memoir, certain that it would help the Confederacy, but critics focused on Rose more than the book in their reviews. Rose and Little Rose went to Paris. On Christmas Eve, Rose took her daughter to enroll in a convent run boarding school. Rose refocused on making connections with the Confederate diplomats and tracked any developments in the Civil War, including Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. Rose decided she’d plea her case to the Emperor of France directly.

The detectives did not find Elizabeth’s secret room, distracted by her sweet tea and cookies. In December, John helped coordinate the escape of a Union surgeon at Libby Prison Hospital by having the man play dead. The surgeon and another compatriot reached Elizabeth’s home after, and Elizabeth coordinated with a railroad superintendent to secure their escape. She gave the escapees information to take to General Butler, advising the general to meet with a mutual friend, Charles O. Boutelle. The prison guards searched for 10 days for the escaped prisoners before calling off the search.

Lincoln’s newest general, General Hooker, centralized the army’s intelligence gathering and created the Bureau of Military Information. Boutelle vouched for Elizabeth. She received a coded letter from Butler and learned how to use disappearing ink and tannic acid to read the real message and send hidden ones herself. Elizabeth also received a cipher to further encrypt any messages she sent. Another letter arrived too, this one from the White Caps—the group threatened to set fire to her house and use her blood as ink.