Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-17
A CONFEDERATE SPY.
w,man for Whom Reward was Offered Dy-
inq in a Hospital.


sha fascinated Ambrose f.. Burn
s,ae then a student there. and ulti-
ata,v Tilted him. 1t was to Gen.
n',rnside that years afterward. when
was 4 prisoner in the Burnet House
CINCINNATI. she made a confession
- her work as spy in the Confeder-
otto cause. Miss Moore married James
clarke. a lawyer. in Ohio.
The Clarkes were living in Ohio when
.ho civil war broke out. and they were
tnown as Southern sympathizers' one
r. tbe visitors at their house about
that time was Walker Taylor, Con-
federate spy He had important de-
snatches for Gen. Kirby Smith, and
Nrs Clarke volunteered to deliver
,ban,. She disguised herself as an
rrish woman. won the sympathy OF an
Irish Federal soldier and was passed
through the Federal lines. She deliV-
arad the dispatches to Confederate
whom she met on the road, and whom
she had previously known, although
be did not know her at the time.
When she was on her way back, as
,be train neared Cincinnati, the sta
inns were notified that a female spy
was on board who must be captured.
Mrs. Clarke had taken seat behlnt
CEN. Leslie Coombs, Ex-Governor of
Kentucky, a Union man. The sobs
and walls of the supposed irish woman
anpealed TO the General and his Vile
Her piteous tale enlisted their sympd-
Inv. And when she said she heard
they were looking for female spies and
was afraid they'd arrest poor lone
woman like herself, it was Gen.
Combs himself who helped her off the
roar end of the train at Covington
and saw her pick her way through the
dark streets toward the ferry. She
reached her home in Cincinnati in
safety.
It was soon after this that the Rev.
Dr Stuart Robinson. editor of a relig-
ious weekly in Louisville. was forced
IN leave the country because of the
bitter editorial which appeared in his
paper against the North. He came
North en- route to Canada and met Col.
Thompson. who was also dying for
fear of arrest, and together they Went
10 Montreal. These TWO names are
famous in history as the leaders Of
that little band of SOutherners in Can
ada who We're accused of collecting
smallpox tlolillIlS anu bt4iNi ~ NNi'eN'
garments and sending them to the
Union army. In this cause they Were
able to enlist the services of Mrs
Clarke.
She iourneyed quietly to Montreal.
and a few months later an English
lady with an ample fortune and in very
bad health presented herself and her
credentials in Washington and asked
for pass which would enable her to
reach the great Virginia Springs.
When she was questioned she acknoWl-
edged having journeyed through Can
ada, and having met there two Ameri-
cans who We're very much Interested
in the southern cause She gave as
much information concerning their
plans as she remembered. and so
ingratiated herself with the officers.
who pited her evident i'll health. that
when Lincoln made his journey to re-
view the Army of the Potomac st
Fredericksburg, to the surprise Of
every one concerned, she was found in
the Presidents carriage
Her charm did the rest. and on arriv-
ing at the camp Gen. Mcclellan, know
ing she had come in the Presidential
party, gave her a pass through the
Union lines to Richmond When the
mistake was discovered Stanton. the
secretary of war, ragged like mailman,
and offered a reward of $40, 000 for that
Confederate female spy, dad or alive.
Having reached her destination and de-
lvered the dispatches and information
intrusted to her, Mrs. Clarke turned
her face toward Cincinnati. She came
back through the northeastern part of
Kentucky, across Louisa county, and
down through Mount Sterling and
Pikevile. Here she struck the Federal
troops in command of Gen. Milroy, and
the pickets halted the carriage and re-
fused to let her pass. After hearing
her story. the guard sent word TO Gen
Milroy that an English lady. very il
and making her way North from the
Virginia Springs, wished to pass
through the Union lines The answer
came to send the invalid to head.
quarters. Gen. Milroy felt the case
was a matter for the surgeon. not fol
himself, and he accordingly called III
MS medical director, man very prouf
~ ms wisdom and ability. who ordered
the stranger taken to the hospital.
When they reached the hospital the
English lady persisted she was no
abe to walk without assistance. Two
attendants We're brought out and sht
was carried in a chair to the surgeon:
ONCE. Here the officer asked the pre-
"lse nature of her ailment, and wa!
tod that it was rheumatism. The ply
sician proceeded to make an examina
ton. He raised the interesting strang
ers arm, and while her face wore al
expression of misery the short, sharl
Sciaplng of the bones could be dis
thctIy heard. Next the physician place.
MS ear TO the inValid's heart. AM
clearly heard the ominous sound o
disorder there. Mrs Clarke had no
studied the atr of mimicry for nothing
he surgeon was convinced that tn
stranger was all that she representa-
herself, and that she was really in
very serious condition. She was car
rled down stairs to her carriage, an
on recommendation of his medical ad
WISER Gen. Milroy issued a pass whic
brought her in safety to Cincinnati.
burnside, who was now a genera
ana IN command in Cincinnati, ha