Maria Isabella Boyd

The soldiers surrounded our house, taking livestock for food and stealing our horses. Then, those Union soldiers broke into our house! They demanded to raise their flag in our house against our wishes. They were rude and insulted my mother. When I couldn’t take any more abuse, I reacted and did something foolish. I was placed on trial and should have been hanged, but due to my young age, I was acquitted by a board of inquiry. Even so, they placed me under surveillance at my father’s hotel. “What a fantastic opportunity to spy on the Union army,” I thought.

The Union officers and generals visited the hotel on a regular basis. Two guards were assigned to watch me, but nobody bothered to try to keep their talk secret from me, perhaps because I am a girl. I would always be so polite and charming, but I also listened very carefully. Later, I would write down what I heard, give it to my maid, Eliza Hopewell, and she would carry it to the Confederate generals. After a while, when my notes proved to be correct, I was accepted as a true spy!

One evening in 1862, I overheard some Union generals making elaborate plans to attack a fort. This was such critical information that I went to see the general at the fort myself. I even had to dodge bullets to get there!

For this endeavor, I was awarded the Southern Cross of Honor. I was later arrested and thrown into a Union prison.

After a month in prison, I was freed, arrested again, imprisoned, freed, and then finally sent to England for the duration of the war. The one thought that helped me through it all was that I had done all a woman could for her country’s cause.