· Rose O’Neal Greenhow (From http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow/)
Rose O'Neal
Greenhow was born in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1817. "Wild
Rose", as she was called from a young age, was a leader in Washington
society, a passionate secessionist, and one of the most renowned spies in the
Civil War. Among her accomplishments was the secret message she sent to General
Pierre G.T. Beauregard which ultimately caused him to win the battle of Bull Run.
She spied so successfully for the Confederacy that Jefferson Davis credited her
with winning the battle of Manassas.
She was imprisoned
for her efforts first in her own home and then in the Old Capital Prison.
Despite her confinement, Greenhow continued getting messages to the Confederacy
by means of cryptic notes which traveled in unlikely places such as the inside
of a woman's bun of hair. After her second prison term, she was exiled to the
Confederate states where she was received warmly by President Jefferson Davis.
Her next mission
was to tour Britain and France as a propagandist for the Confederate cause. Two
months after her arrival in London, her memoirs were published and enjoyed a
wide sale throughout the British Isles. In Europe, Greenhow found a strong
sympathy for the South, especially among the ruling classes. During the course
of her travels she hobnobbed with many members of the nobility. In Paris, she
was received into the court of Napoleon III and was granted an audience with
the Emperor at the Tuileries. Rose's diary (August 5, 1863 - August 10, 1864),
held in the North
Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, NC, describes her mission in great
detail.
In 1864, after a
year abroad, she boarded the Condor, a British blockade-runner which was
to take her home. Just before reaching her destination, the vessel ran aground
at the mouth of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina. In order
to avoid the Union gunboat that pursued her ship, Rose fled in rowboat, but
never made it to shore. Her little boat capsized and she was dragged down by
the weight of the gold she received in royalties for her book.
In October 1864,
Rose was buried with full military honors in the Oakdale Cemetery in
Wilmington. Her coffin was wrapped in the Confederate flag and carried by
Confederate troops. The marker for her grave, a marble cross, bears the
epitaph, "Mrs. Rose O'N. Greenhow, a bearer of dispatchs [sic] to the
Confederate Government."
The following
are a several titles by or about Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Look for these in your
local public or university libraries. Some of these titles may be available
through interlibrary loan. Ask your librarian!