When people remember prominent American Civil War figures, they generally think of President Abraham Lincoln, General Ulysses S. Grant, or General Robert E. Lee. But what about the men–and women–who risked their lives behind the scenes? Spies are important in any war; gathering intelligence, scouting out enemy tactics, and reporting back, all while remaining unseen and unnoticed. One such agent started out her life as a proper Southern lady, but she soon became one of the Union’s most valuable spies.
Elizabeth Van Lew was born on October 15, 1818, in the heart of the South, Richmond, Virginia. Her family owned several slaves, and her father, John Van Lew, had a flourishing hardware business. Elizabeth was educated at a Quaker school in Philadelphia. It was there that she developed her distaste for slavery. When her father died in 1843, Elizabeth and her mother, Eliza Baker, freed their household slaves. However, many chose to stay as paid servants. Elizabeth’s brother also shared…show more content… She and her mother began bringing food and clothing to the Union soldiers in Richmond’s Libby prison. They were never allowed inside the prison, but Elizabeth communicated with the prisoners by hiding secret messages in books and custard dishes with concealed compartments. She also bribed the guards to give the prisoners more food or send them to a hospital, where she could visit them. Elizabeth provided them with details about safe houses and often harbored prisoners in the attic of her three-story mansion. She helped over 100 Yankee prisoners escape Libby prison. Elizabeth gathered military information about the Confederate troops from the prisoners and the prison guards, which she secretly delivered to Union officials. Residents of Richmond greatly criticized and became suspicious of her unfailing attention to the Union prisoners, but she carried on
