Spies

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 * Civil War Spies** By Christine Yao

= ESPIONAGE DURING THE CIVIL WAR = Espionage or spying was important in the Civil War to both the North and the South. Information helped both sides predict how many troops there were and what the enemy was plotting. Although the Union was not as quick to use spies and create agencies, by the end of the war many spies had been employed by Northern generals. The Union did not start forming espionage agencies until the war had already begun. Allan Pinkerton formed the first agency which overestimated the enemies and hampered General McClellan rather than help. Elizabeth Van Lew also formed a large agency that was conveniently centered in Richmond. Although there were many agencies, Union espionage was done by many lesser-known Northerns who consisted of women, both North and South, spies and counterspies. The Confederacy surpassed the Union in espionage and established the “Special and Secret Service Bureau” which managed the spy network in D.C. and provided and protected technology on weapons in 1862. The head of the bureau, William Norris set up many agents and counterespionage agents who worked along the "Secret Line," an underground passage between Richmond and Washington, Baltimore region. A second agency was set up in 1864 but was not as large or successful as the Norris agency. Not only did the Confederates have agencies, many civilians including women volunteered to spy. Belle Boyd was a very successful spy as was James Harrison and Rose Greenhow. Despite the triumphant achievements of the individual spies, the large-scale Confederate plans were mainly unsuccessful.

= MALE SPIES = Allan Pinkerton was the first to make a Union spy agency. He was born in Glasgow, Scottland in 1819 and died in 1884. His reports on Confederate troops were not accurate. He over-estimated the Confederate forces against McClellan which is why McClellan refused to fight. Pinkerton's agency, however was effective at identifying Confederate spies lurking in Washington D.C. An agent of his, Timothy Webster pretended to be pro-Confederacy. His mask was so convincing that he was arrested in Washington as a suspected Confederate spy. Of course, this lead to him having more credibility from the South and he was granted a passport to travel through the Confederacy. In the end, he was hung in Richmond. In the Confederacy, Thomas Conrad managed to have one of his spies on the staff of the Union's head of the Secret Police (Lafayette Baker).

= ELIZABETH VAN LEW =  Although women did not fight as soldiers in the Civil War, they participated greatly in espionage. It was easy for women to disguise themselves and not arouse suspicion because women were not expected to help in the war by doing jobs for men. Elizabeth Van Lew was a famous Union spy who worked for General Grant and General Butler. She was born in 1818 and lived in Richmond. Despite living in the capitol of the Confederacy, she fully supported the Union. She started spying for the North by gathering information from Federal prisoners of war in the Richmond Libby Prison. She would bring food and supplies for them and use her servants (former slaves) to send coded messages with information back to the Northern generals of current situations and troop formations. She even managed to have her servant (Mary Elizabeth) employed in the house of Jefferson Davis. She was despised in the city of Richmond for her view and she used this to pretend that she was a crazy lady and was given the nickname 'Crazy Bet'. She was able to travel easily to retrieve news from her servants in this disguise. When the Confederacy was almost finished off, she collected Confederacy paperwork for the Union to analyze. Van Lew died in 1900.

= SARAH EMMA EDMONDS = media type="youtube" key="E9WWWYYD4nA" height="271" width="288" align="right" Sarah Emma Edmonds was another well-known Union spy. She was born in 1841 in Nova Scotia and died in Texas in 1989. She soon ran away to Flint, Michigan because her father had wanted a boy and treated her badly. Edmonds is known for her ability to disguise herself as many other people. Wanting to fight for her country, she used her impersonation to enlist for the Union as a male nurse named Frank Thompson. Under her alias, she volunteered to be a spy for General McClellan. She travelled to the south and disguised herself as an African American slave named 'Cuff ' by dying her skin using silver nitrate. The first day she worked as a slave, her hands had been covered in blisters. Edmonds convinced a fellow slave to trade spots with her. Two months later, she disguised herself as a fat Irish peddler woman named Bridget O'Shea.

= ROSE GREENHOW =  Rose Greenhow was a female Confederate spy who was born in 1817 in Maryland. Her family was well connected in the Washington political circles and many of her friends were previous presidents and other government officials. She was considered a very beautiful and ambitious women who, to the disappointment of many suiters, married Dr. Robert Greenhow.When she was widowed, she started spying and provided information for General Beauregard. This information led to the Confederate success at Bull Run. However, she was arrested by Allan Pinkerton's agency in 1861. The next year, she had a trial and was deported by the Union and was warmly welcomed by the Southern generals. Greenhow was then sent to Europe to be a courier and collect intelligence there until she was recalled in 1864. As she headed back to the South on the //Condor//, it was ran aground by Union ships. The captain sent her and a few others on a lifeboat to go back to shore. Unfortunately, the lifeboat was caught up in a storm and she drowned, dragged down by the $2000 in gold in her pocket. Her body was identified later and she was buried with honor in Willmington in 1864.

= BELLE BOYD = Belle Boyd was another prominant female spy for the Confederacy. She was born in 1843 in Martinsburg - now West Virginia. She was famous for her ability to avoid being captured and crossing between enemy lines by using her femininity. Boyd was mainly spied for Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. She was arrested in 1862 and was held for a month in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. She was released and was then arrested again in 1863. On December 1, 1863, she came down with typhoid fever. Boyd was sent back to Europe to regain her health. She was expected to return with a blockade runner but he was captured and Boyd fell in love with the prize master, Samuel Hardinge. After he was dropped from the Navy for neglecting duty, he married Boyd and took her to Canada and then England. Hardinge was captured by the Union when he attempted to reach Richmond and soon died after his release. Meanwhile, Boyd had a stage career in England and died while touring the United States in 1900. 

= BIBLIOGRAPHY =  "Allan Pinkerton." 3 May 2010 .

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__The American Civil War home Page__. 2 Sept. 2008. 3 May 2010. .

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"YouTube - Alias Franklin Thompson: Sarah Emma Edmonds, Soldier, Nurse, and Spy." __YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.__ 08 May 2010 .