The Spy Who Used Her Sex to Get Away with Treason
Tags: Civil War, America, Culture, Sexuality, History

The Spy Who Used Her Sex to Get Away with Treason

Belle Boyd was a confederate spy during the American Civil War who used her gender to get away with treason.

History tells us that women have played as important a part in shaping the outcome of major events as men. Many great women have not only maneuvered their way out of countless problems but also engaged in spying activities to influence the surroundings to their benefit. The societal constraints subjected to these women restricted their power and ability to decide the outcomes of their own lives. Women, at the time, were constantly being put aside by men. They were also not allowed to engage actively in the fighting. This brought forward their motive of standing up for themselves and putting an end to the constant injustices they faced.

During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America, also known as the ‘Confederacy,’ hired many citizens as spies. Through espionage, they aimed to infiltrate their enemy. This brings us to the story of Maria Isabella ‘Belle’ Boyd, who was notorious during the American Civil War for her performance in undermining the Yankee Army’s advancement through the pretense of vulnerability.

The Reason for Boyd’s Interest in Espionage

Belle Boyd was born in May 1844 to a wealthy family with close Southern ties in Martinsburg, Virginia. Her father was an officer in the Stonewall Brigade during the Civil War, and it is reported that at least three of her family members served as spies for the Confederate.

Belle Boyd’s accounts of her life indicate that the very first experience of warfare she had was with a drunk union soldier. This intoxicated soldier harassed Boyd and her mother, the result of which was Boyd shooting the man dead out of fury. Belle Boyd’s name was cleared after thorough inquiries were held, concluding her conduct to be that of self-defense.

This instance enlightened Boyd, and she became cognizant of the fact that she could away with things that others could not. So, she decided to become a spy at a very young age, aiming to stand up against discrimination against women.

“She could act more daringly than a man ever could, as Union soldiers did not consider a teenage girl was capable of being such an effective spy.” — Highlight History

Boyd Plans a Risky and Daring Scheme

Boyd worked from her father’s Front Royal, Virginia, hotel and supplied Confederate General Stonewall Jackson and Pierre Beauregard with important information in 1862. One of the reasons Boyd was so engrossed with gathering information for General Stonewall Jackson was because her father worked for the Stonewall Brigade, of whom General Jackson was in charge.

Boyd’s most renowned contribution came in the middle of May in 1842, when General James Shields and his staff assembled in the parlor of a hotel in Front Royal, Virginia. Boyd hid in a closet, eavesdropping through a keyhole in the lock, which she had widened. The Union War Council were conversing about how General Banks’ forces had been ordered east to advance on General Jackson at the battle of Winchester.

Upon hearing this, Boyd rode across the Union lines that very night, using fake documents to bluff her way past the sentries to announce the story to General Jackson’s officers.

“Learning that Union Major General Nathaniel Banks’ forces had been ordered to march, she rode fifteen miles to inform Confederate Major General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson who was nearby in the Shenandoah Valley. She returned home under cover of darkness. Several weeks later, on May 23, when she realized Jackson was about to attack Front Royal, she ran onto the battlefield to provide the General with last-minute information about the Union troop dispositions.” — battlefields.org

The news that Belle Boyd had conveyed to General Jackson resulted in a victory for the Confederates, and helped them recapture the town of Front Royal. No one could ever think that a teenage girl, fleeing from the battlefield, would in fact turn out to be a rebel spy.

Becoming One of the Confederate’s Most Notorious Spies

As written in her memoirs, on May 23, Boyd raced to greet the men of Stonewall Jackson as the Confederates marched on Front Royal, escaping an enemy fire that put bullet holes in her skirt. She writes about it as being a very bold and brave escape. However, historians have pointed out that her memoirs are often slightly exaggerated. Despite this, her memoirs have been amusing to read for most and they sold well after the American Civil War was over.

After her initial effort in the Civil War, Boyd became quite prominent. She was even mentioned in the New York Tribune. She would infiltrate Union Camps confidently, collect information, and then leave as a ‘courier’. Around 1862, Boyd had been captured six times, jailed three times, and even exiled twice. Every time, however, she got away with it. In the years 1863 and 1864, she got arrested again for espionage by the Union.

Boyd fled to England in August 1865 and wrote her memoirs, which described her information gathering abilities and techniques in great detail. People are fascinated with the audacity that she had, refusing to be bound by social standards and sacrificing life and limb to succeed in her role.

During the period she worked as a spy, if anyone accused her of spying, her response would be,

“How dare you!? Accuse me of such things is beneath the conduct of an officer and a gentleman. I am a defenseless woman.”

Hence, using the sexism deployed by the adversary, she used to draw attention away from her, engage in treacherous behavior, and always used to get away with it.