The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-09-26

any experiences Will leHldle SOlel6IS9
"Oh, yes, frequently. Women were
trying to get into camp under some pre-
text or disguise all the time. They
were a great nuisance. I'll tell you
about some of them at another time.
There was quite a romantic story about
a girl who tried soldering in the Cd
Mich. Cav, the first regiment 1 COM
manded. She came down in mems
clothes, but was recognized by the sol
diers from her town and was sent home
again.
did you ever hay g any women scouts
or spies?"
eyes; I had a great many all the
time, and I'm free to say they were
more reliable and faithful than men
who served in the same capacity"
"Who were they?'
ST cant tell you that. I've got q rec
ord in writing of each one of them and
the exact service they performed. Some
of them were ladies of high social station
whose sympathies were with the Union,
but whose families were rebels. They
often gave me the most reliable infor-
nation J. got, and it wouldn't do to give
them away even at this late day, for it
might iniure them. If they wanted
their services known you would have
heard Of it long before this, but the
women who go about advertising that
they were scouts or spies can be gener-
ally put down as frauds"
did the women spies work for the
love of it?n
Sometimes they did, but quite as
for the money there was in it. They
were impoverished by the war. Those
whom they leaned upon for support
were either dead or in the Confederate
army, and the women had a hard time
of it to get along al home, particularly
those with families, and they were glad
to earn an honest penny. They under
stood that they were to be paid accord
ing as their information was reliable and
important, and / usually found they
could be depended upon"
"Didn't they try to mislead you?n
Sometimes they did, but never tried
it twice. You see, ] had a perfect sys-
tenn of spies and scouts covering the en-
tire country, and the same information
came in duplicate and often in triplicate
from different Sources, and, too, from
sources that didn't know of each others
SO, when information came in | could
tell, usually, how accurate it was
What became of these women?"
1.-THE most of them were residents of
the country where we happened to be,
and are living there still, / suppose. I
never attempted to keep track Of them
after / had no further use for their SER
Yices. j have met some of them since,
however, and have had them call upon
me when / was in their locality since
the war"
AN UNIONS CIOUS SPY.
Gone of the best spies / ever had"
continued the General, twas a rebel
girl, the daughter Of one of the most
prominent and aristocratic families of
Virginia; but she would have a fit if
she thought / was giving her away.
She was only Is or 19 years old then,
and uncommonly pretty. / came near
falling in love with her myself, and 1
heard some Of my officers who met her
were badly smitten.n
"Faye you seen her ~since?"
"Tes. I've seen her frequently since
5he war; have seen her here in Wash
ington. She's married now, and in
Europe with her husband. He is
quite a prominent man-but I'm afraid
I've told you to much about her. Some
body might guess who she is.
"There is another girl, also, of an
aristocratic and heightened Virginia
family. From her / received some of
the most important information / ever
received of the enemy's movements;
but, dear little thing, she. didn't rea-
lie what she was doing. She was loyal
Ito the Confederacy as could be--as
loyal as jeff Davis himself, but she
was salkatiye and fond Of admiration.
and we used to get lots of Information
out of her. Prominent rebel officers used
to go to her fathers house, and the
folks there used to receive letters from
the rebel army, and we we're generally
able to find out all that was srid.an all
that was written. But, as / said, she
never knew how much she was giving
away. nor what harm her information
brought upon her friends.
"Tiaen, there was Rebecc9 Wright.
You remember her. told you about
her once, you know. She was the lit
tie Q9raker schoolma1am who used :
send me information through the rebel
lines by an old darkey who peddled gar
den stuff among the soldiers, and was
allowed to go through the rebel lines
for that purpose. Size is o clerk in the
Treasury Department here in Washing
ton now"