Life as a Confederate Spy

BAM! The Union soldiers kicked down the door to my house, trying to display a Union flag. The smell of alcohol was on their breaths, and their drunkenness showed when they pushed my mother down. Angry now, I grabbed a gun and shot the officer that had knocked my mother down.


“Oh man,” I thought, “Now they’re going to take me to court.” My thoughts were confirmed when officers came to take me to a trial.


“Isabella Marie Boyd, did you shoot this officer?” The judge asked as he pulled out a picture of the officer that I had so rightfully shot.


“Yes, I did indeed. He burst into my home with his drunken officer friends and pushed my mother down,” I said, feeling the need to have authority. I looked over at my mother in the audience, watching me as I fought for her.


“Okay, well then you may have a seat and I will call another officer to the stand,” The judge said as he pointed to one of the officers that had broken into my home. Sitting in the stand, the officer looked dazed and confused.


“Sir, did the targeted officer push this young lady’s mother down?” The judge asked the officer called to the stand.


“Uh, yeah, he did.” The officer looked shy, as if he didn’t want to get his friend in trouble, even though his friend was already dead.


The judge looked over his files and racked his brain for a decision. I watched him, hoping that he realized that I had killed the officer out of justice for my mother. He looked up and said, “Isabella Boyd is not to be charged, for she was justified in killing the officer, but guards will be placed outside of her home to keep watch.” I beamed at my mother as we rose out of our chairs to leave the courtroom and go home.


When we got home, the guards were already there to watch me. Though this wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it was better than being stuck in jail. Getting home, my slave, Eliza Hopewell, greeted me and took my stuff. She was sweet; probably the best slave that I could find. My heart went to the South - to the Confederate side of the war. That is the biggest reason why I had shot that officer that had pushed my mother and tried to raise the Union flag above my home.


“Ms. Boyd, where do you want me to put your stuff?” Eliza asked me, interrupting my thoughts.


“Just put them in my room please, Eliza,” I replied, smiling at her. I followed her to my room. As soon as she went out of my room, I dressed for bed, thinking about my long day. Once my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep immediately.

********************

A couple of months went by, and I had gotten to know the officer’s outside of my house pretty well. What they didn’t know was that I happened to support the Confederate rather than their side, the Union. I got to know Captain Daniel Kelly the most, and got most of my information from him. From the information that he gave me about the military, I had Eliza deliver it to Confederate officials in a watch case. The thing is, the first time that I had Eliza deliver the information, I was caught. Punishment wasn’t given to me, just a warning to stop doing it. Though they had warned me, I kept doing it, and even started to deliver medical supplies and Union weapons.


It’s mid-May of 1862 now, and I’m in my father’s hotel eavesdropping on Union General James Shields’ conversation about troop movements out of Fort Royal. My jaw dropped, and I knew I had to do something. That night I rode through Union lines to give Colonel Turner Ashley the information that I had heard.
Riding up to him, he greeted me, “Hello Belle, what are you doing here?”


“Sir, the Union is planning to move the troop out of Fort Royal. I just thought that I should inform you so that you can do something about it.”


He looked at me with recognition in his eyes and responded, “Belle, you just may be the best spy there is.” We said goodbye and he went to tell the rest of the Confederate army what I had told him as I headed home.

********************

On May 23rd, the Confederate army marched on Fort Royal. Being there to meet General Stonewall Jackson, I received the Southern Cross of Honor for being their spy and doing such good work. Along with the Cross of Honor, General Jackson gave me an honorary aide-in-camp position. I really loved doing this for them, and I think they finally realized how much I loved it.

*********************

“So much for being a spy forever,” was all that I could think on July 29th, 1862, when Union Captain Daniel Kelly turned me in. Being able to get out of going to jail for shooting the officer before, I thought that I could have maybe gotten out of it again. So much for that wish. I was arrested and taken to Washington, D.C., and put into the Old Capital Prison.


Sitting in the prison cell, all I could imagine doing instead was telling the Confederate army information about the Union. Yeah, I wanted to be back with my family and Eliza, but I really wanted to be a spy more than that. If people think that putting me in jail will stop me from being a spy, then they are terribly mistaken. And I’m going to prove it.

********************

Finally, it’s August 29th, just a month later, and I’m getting out of the prison. Even though I was only there for a month, my addiction to spying just got worse and a month felt like forever. Getting home, I found that my family had missed me as much as I had missed them, so I spent some time with you. My brother, Bill, and my sister, Mary Jane, greeted me with warm smiles. Soon after, my mother tackled me with the biggest hug ever. All of them had concern on their faces, and I knew that they had worried about me. We all sat down for dinner, and I told them all about what had happened.


Bill’s face showed amazement as he said, “So, you know how to work a gun?” After he said this, he looked at my father with a huge smile on his face. For a brief second, my father gave me the evil eye then turned back to Bill and said, “Yes, Bill, I will teach you how to use a gun.” Bill showed that this was probably the best day of his life, and continued to eat his dinner. Looking at all of them, Bill eating his dinner with a goofy grin on his face, Mary Jane sitting like a proper lady, my father sighing at Bill, my mother laughing at them, and Eliza quietly cleaning, I knew that nothing could be better than this.

********************

It’s 1863, and of course, I couldn’t stay away from spying, so I continued to do it. With my luck, I was caught a third time in June, and I was arrested. Soon after, I was released due to typhoid fever. It had hit me so quickly; nobody could have seen it coming. Sitting around at home, Eliza and my mother took care of me. Over the next year, I got better and 1864 brought a new year, but had the same starts. While I was on board a blockade runner ship, I was transporting military messages, like always. This time, I was captured and banished by President Lincoln.


“Banished?” I thought. “That’s too cruel of a punishment.”


He sent me to England and had Union naval officer, Samuel Hardinge, guard me. Easily enough, I used my charm to convert him to the Confederate side. But I wasn’t just using my charm to get him on my side, I actually liked him. Actually, I had fallen in love with him. Samuel was dishonorable discharged, and we married in August of that year. Staying in England, we had a daughter, Grace Hardinge, in 1865. He then went back to the United States with me to be a Confederate spy as well. Night by night, we shared stories with each other about what had happened that day. Every day, I fell more and more in love with him. My family liked him, too, and my mom loved having a granddaughter to be around.


Grief struck when Samuel died soon after we returned to the United States. His death caught us all by surprise, and made us all sad. We had all loved him, and I had wanted to be with him forever. Later on, at the end of the Civil War, I performed as an actress in England. I also decided to write a memoir called Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison, and it was published in 1865. In 1866, I toured the country, recapping my times in the Civil War. Only then did I really talk about Samuel and smile at the same time.