Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy Richmond socialite who secretly ran one of the Union’s most effective spy networks right in the Confederate capital. She used her status to avoid suspicion while hiding escaped Union prisoners, passing messages out of the city, and even placing a spy inside Confederate offices. Van Lew reportedly fed information to Union generals and used coded messages and carrier pigeons, all while maintaining the image of a proper Southern lady. Despite widespread suspicion, she was never arrested, making her one of the most successful spies of the Civil War.
SmoochyZoey on
Gaslight, Gatekeep, Grand Central Intelligence.
successfullynumb on
Reading her Wikipedia page, looks like she came off worse during Reconstruction than some rebels.
fringeguy52 on
“We should use this source that’s close to the rebel government and actually has people inside of it.”
“No I’d rather keep hiring Pinkertons that are bad at math”
Quackmoor1 on
I can never remember, which were the south and which were the north?
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Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy Richmond socialite who secretly ran one of the Union’s most effective spy networks right in the Confederate capital. She used her status to avoid suspicion while hiding escaped Union prisoners, passing messages out of the city, and even placing a spy inside Confederate offices. Van Lew reportedly fed information to Union generals and used coded messages and carrier pigeons, all while maintaining the image of a proper Southern lady. Despite widespread suspicion, she was never arrested, making her one of the most successful spies of the Civil War.
Gaslight, Gatekeep, Grand Central Intelligence.
Reading her Wikipedia page, looks like she came off worse during Reconstruction than some rebels.
“We should use this source that’s close to the rebel government and actually has people inside of it.”
“No I’d rather keep hiring Pinkertons that are bad at math”
I can never remember, which were the south and which were the north?