Secret Agents in Hoop Skirts: Women Spies of the Civil War

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September 3, 2013

Secret Agents in Hoop Skirts: Women Spies of the Civil War

By History.com Staff

On August 23, 1861, the infamous Confederate spy Rose Greenhow was placed under arrest in Washington, D.C. One of hundreds of women who served as spies for either side during the Civil War, Greenhow is believed to have contributed to the South’s victory at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). Find out more about “Wild Rose” and three other female informants who played a significant role in America’s bloodiest conflict

Known from a young age as “Wild Rose,” Rose O’Neal Greenhow ascended the ranks of Washington, D.C., society as the wife of a wealthy and prominent doctor. Her charmed life took a tragic turn in the 1850s, when her husband and five of their eight children died. In the months before the Civil War broke out, Greenhow, a fervent supporter of the Confederate cause, became the ringleader of a growing network of anti-Union spies. Renowned as a charming hostess and engaging conversationalist, she gleaned critical information from politicians and diplomats, passing along their secrets to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard and other contacts.

In July 1861, Greenhow obtained critical information about the Union Army’s planned attack of Manassas, Virginia. She sent her 16-year-old courier, Bettie Duvall, through 20 miles of Union territory with a coded message for Beauregard tucked into her hair. Snip http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/secret-agents-in-hoop-skirts-women-spies-of-the-civil-war