Commissioner Charles Gause No. 433 Chapter of the National Society of the United States Daughters 1812 met at the Indian Trail Meeting Hall in Southport, NC for their February 4th meeting. The speaker was Charen Fink and the program was titled "Spies of the War of 1812." Charen gave a very informative slide show of many of the spies for the Confederate and Union armies.
Not sure if anyone reading this post ever gave much thought to women dressing as men and buying spies in the Civil War. Belle Boyd seems to be one of the most talked about spies. Below are a few slides from Charen's presentation.
Sallie Pollock was born in Cumberland, Maryland and raised on the family farm along the west bend of the Potomac River. On June 8, 1861 the City of Cumberland was occupied by Union troops. It was about that time, at the age of 14, that Sallie began her activities as a Confederate spy during the Civil War.
Rose O'Neal Greenhow was a renowned Confederate spy during the American Civil War. A socialite in Washington, D.C., during the period before the war, she moved in important political circles and cultivated.
Isabella Maria Boyd (1844-1900) was one of the most famous and notorious female Confederate spies at work during the American Civil War. Best known as ‘Belle’.
Even their clothes seemed designed for smuggling secrets across enemy lines. In Virginia, famed Confederate spy Belle Boyd brazenly snuck into Union camps at night, picked up lonely sabers and pistols, and hid them in the woods, where other girls would come along and tie the stolen goods onto their crinolines (stiff or structured petticoat.)
There were also Union spies as well. If you would like to find out more information about these unbelievable women be sure to visit your library or buy the book, Women of the Civil War Battlefront by Robert H. Hall.
Kathy Miller was sworn in as chaplain of the 1812 chapter by the former chaplain, Diane Price for 2022-2024.
Some of the information provided came from researching the names of the spies on the internet
