Hundreds of women posed as spies for the Civil War, on both the Confederate and Union sides. These women are arguably some of the most courageous people in American history, who took great risks to do everything they could to defend their beliefs. What they experienced was terrifying and difficult. The women who acted as spies during the Civil War played an important role throughout the war and are not given enough credit for all that they did. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay One of the most famous and well-known spies of the Civil War was Belle Boyd. She was born in May 1844 into a family with strong ties to the South. She was only 17 years old when the Civil War broke out, and shortly thereafter the Union Army captured her hometown of Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) on July 2, 1861. They mistreated many citizens, especially women, and forced them to move around armed. On July 4, Union soldiers broke into her home, destroying items, bringing a federal flag and, as she said in her memoir written after the war, "addressing my mother and me -even in language as offensive as it is possible to conceive.” She had enough of them, took out her pistol and shot one of the soldiers. It is thanks to this event that she acquires her career as a “rebel spy”. When she learns that she has shot and killed someone, soldiers are often sent to see if her behavior is tolerable. These frequent interactions allowed him to learn about important plans and positions of the Union army. She wrote them down on paper and sent someone she trusted to deliver them to a Confederate camp 7 miles away. However, at some point she was betrayed or someone identified the letters as hers. She was brought before a colonel where she was "threatened and reprimanded" and then read to her "the article of war", which stated that if she were to provide any assistance to the Confederate army again, it could be punished by death. She then bowed and sarcastically thanked them for their help. She then wrote: “I left; not at peace however, because my little “rebellious” heart was on fire and I was indulging in thoughts and plans of revenge.” After this meeting, all dealings with the Confederate army that revealed anything about Union plans were blamed on him. Another very important woman who played an important role as a spy was Rose O'Neal Greenhow. She was widowed in 1854, when her husband died in an accident. In 1961, when the Civil War broke out, she was recruited to join a Confederate spy network. His best-known accomplishment was helping the Confederates win the First Battle of Run, or First Battle of Manassas, in July 1961, which was one of the first battles of the Civil War. She managed to persuade a Union military official to give her information about the attack. With the help of another spy, Betty Duval, she was able to send cryptic messages to a Confederate officer about Union plans and whereabouts, which she did by "hiding the message in a small piece of silk and securing it in Duvall's bun. before sending it back.” The Confederates sent reinforcements and won a “decisive victory.” Shortly afterward, Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent her a personal letter thanking her for her assistance. Rose was suspected of being a spy and..