Civil War Spies

Civil war makes for interesting bedfellows. With warring factions often former friends, colleagues neighbors, or both, the potential for spying is increased dramatically.

During the Civil War era in the U.S., spying was rampant, and it was no wonder; important cities like Washington D.C., not to mention border states like Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia, often housed both Federal and Confederate sympathizers separated by fences or even walls.

While the very nature of espionage makes it difficult to determine the number of spies who operated during the Civil War, much less have any historical record of their activity, there were several spies whose activities during the war were so notorious that they were known both during the war and to history since.

One of the most famous Civil War era spies was the woman pictured at the top of the post, Belle Boyd. A Confederate spy, Boyd became famous during the war for her espionage activities - and her ability to slip out of sticky situations unscathed.

Boyd, born Maria Isabella Boyd, began spying for the Confederacy when Union troops converged on her home in Martinsburg, Virginia in 1861. When one of the soldiers manhandled her mother, Boyd shot and killed him. Exonerated in the soldier’s death, an emboldened Boyd befriend the Union soldiers left to guard her, and used her slave, Eliza, to pass confidences she learned from the soldiers along to Confederate officers. Although Boyd was caught at her first attempt - and threatened with death - she did not stop her activities, but rather vowed to find a better way.

She found her chance at her father’s hotel. She listened in on conversations the Union officers staying at the hotel conducted about military affairs, and learned enough to inform General Stonewall Jackson about their regiment and activities. Her information allowed the Confederate army to advance on Federal troops at Fort Royal.

Boyd’s daring acts of espionage were drawn to a halt when a beau gave her up to Union authorities in 1862. After being held in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington for a month, Boyd was released, but found herself in the hoosegow again shortly. However, she was again set free, and traveled to England, where she married a Union officer.

While Belle Boyd’s brazen attempts at espionage are well-known, less known are those of a Union spy who was able to use his position as an artist during the war to pass information about the Confederates back to the Federal army.

Theodore Davis, an English “special artist,” as magazine and newspaper artists assigned to specific events such as the Civil War were known at the time, became a spy for the North while traveling throughout the South for Harper’s Weekly. Davis, who was traveling with a fellow Englishman who wrote for Harper’s as well, led Confederate troops to believe he was working for an English publication, and was therefore a neutral party.

This deception allowed Davis to become friendly enough with the Confederates that he was able to make detailed drawings of, among other things, their weaponry, which he then passed along to Federal officials. During his time as a special artist, Davis was twice wounded, once having his horse shot out from under him. He is said to have been present at more battles than any other artist during the war.