Before reading about either Boyd or Greenhow, it would be well to consult Edwin C. Fishel, "Myths That Never Die," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 2, no. 1 (Spring 1988): 27-58.
1. Belle Boyd
2. Rose O'Neal Greenhow
3. Other
Belle Boyd (1843-1900): Although both Curtis Carroll Davis and Edwin C. Fishel cast doubts on her accomplishments, there seems to be little doubt that Boyd did engage in espionage activities for the Confederacy. She probably reported through Lt. Col. Turner Ashby to Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Her most famous exploit involved supplying updated strength and disposition intelligence about the Union forces around Front Royal, Virginia, to Jackson in 1862. Imprisoned and released several times, Boyd undertook a courier assignment to England in 1864. After the war, Boyd remained in England to establish a stage career, eventually returning to the United States and continuing that career. O'Toole, Encyclopedia, pp. 75-76. See also Bakeless, Spies of the Confederacy, and Kane, Spies for the Blue and Gray.
Boyd, Belle. Ed., Curtis Carroll Davis.
Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison, Written by Herself. New York: Thomas
Yoseloff, 1968. [pb] Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. Intro., Sharon
Kennedy-Nolle; Foreword, Drew Gilpin Faust. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State
University Press, 1996.
Boyd's memoirs were originally published in 1865. Louis A. Sigaud, a biographer of Boyd, considers her "memoirs -- the principal source regarding her intelligence work -- as essentially sound, if somewhat embellished in detail." O'Toole, Encyclopedia, p. 75.
Davis, Curtis Carroll. "The Civil
War's Most Over-Rated Spy." West Virginia History 28, no. 1
(Oct. 1965): 1-9.
Davis, Curtis Carroll. "The Pet
of the Confederacy Still? Fresh Findings About Belle Boyd." Maryland
Historical Magazine 78, no. 1 (Spring 1983): 35-53.
Hergesheimer, Joseph. Swords and
Roses. New York: Knopf, 1929. [Petersen]
Scarborough, Ruth. Belle Boyd: Siren
of the South. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1983. [Petersen]
Sigaud, Louis A. Belle Boyd, Confederate
Spy. Richmond, VA: Dietz, 1944.
Rose O'Neal Greenhow (?1817-1864): Greenhow, well established on the Washington social scene when war broke out, was recruited by Col. Thomas Jordan as an espionage agent for the Confederacy. "The traditional view, held by Greenhow's biographers and some historians, and based on the gallant Beauregard's own account," is that intelligence supplied by Greenhow "enabled the Confederate commander to win a major victory at [First] Bull Run." Fischel finds this account improbable. Caught by Pinkerton and imprisoned for her activities, Greenhow was released in mid-1862. She was drowned returning from a European trip in August 1864. O'Toole, Encyclopedia, pp. 208-210. See also Beymer, On Hazardous Duty; Kane, Spies for the Blue and Gray; and Stern, Secret Missions of the Civil War.
Blackman, Ann. Wild Rose: The True Story of a Civil War Spy. New York: Random House, 2005.
A Publisher's Weekly reviewer (via Amazon.com) calls this an "excellent biography of Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow (1817–1864).... This literate and thoroughly researched biography does Greenhow justice."
Peake, Studies 50.1 (Mar. 2006), says that the author "gives a thoroughly documented biography of this widowed mother and outspoken Washington socialite who ... spied for the Confederacy.... An appendix, 'Assessing Rose’s Spycraft,' presents a good summary of that historically contentious subject. Wild Rose is not only a pleasure to read, it is a valuable contribution to the literature of Civil War intelligence."
Burger, Nash. Confederate Spy: Rose
O'Neal Greenhow. New York: Franklin Watts, 1953. [Petersen]
Farquhar, Michael.
"'Rebel Rose,' A Spy of Grande Dame Proportions." Washington
Post, 18 Sep. 2000, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
Our thanks are due to the Washington Post and the author for this balanced retelling of the saga of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a reminder that faithfulness to cause can take many forms.
Greenhow, Rose O'Neal. My Imprisonment
and the First Year of Abolition Rule in Washington. London: R. Bentley,
1863.
Ross, Ishbel. Rebel Rose: The Life
of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Confederate Spy. New York: Harper, 1954.
Sigaud, Louis A. "Mrs. Greenhow
and the Rebel Spy Ring." Maryland Historical Magazine 91 (Sep.
1946): 175-198.
Wiley, Bell I. "Women of the Lost
Cause." American History Illustrated 8, no. 8 (1973): 10-23.
Galbraith, William, and Loretta Galbriath,
eds. A Lost Heroine of the Confederacy: The Dairies and Letters of Belle Edmondson. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 1990.
From advertisement: "Edmondson played an active role in promoting the Southern cause as a courier, a gatherer of intelligence and a smuggler of contraband on behalf of Confederate troops in West Tennessee."
Mahoney, Harry Thayer, and Marjorie Locke Mahoney. Mexico and the Confederacy, 1860-1867. Bethesda, MD: Austin & Winfield, 1998.
Anderson, Intelligencer 9.1, found this "small [219 pages], well organized book ... most interesting." Although it is not focused on intelligence, the book "has a modest number of intelligence references.... Of particular interest,... is a discussion of the active and effective role of Union agents in New Orleans.... The most intriguing intelligence vignette is about ... Loreta Velasquez."
Velazquez, Loreta J. Ed., C.J. Worthington.
The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and Travels
of Madam Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T.
Buford, Confederate States Army. Hartford, CT: Belknap, 1876. [http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/RefBibs/intell/civwar.htm]
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