Existing comment:
Rose O'Neal Greenhow c 1815-1864
and her daughter Rose
Born Port Tobacco, Maryland
Rose O'Neal Greenhow was the Confederacy's most celebrated female spy at the start of the Civil War. A popular Washington widow and hostess, she moved easily in the social circles of the nation's capital. Few were better connected than she when hostilities commenced in the spring of 1861. An ardent southern sympathizer, she used her ample charms and guile to pass along information on the defenses of Washington and Union troop movements to Confederate officials. She is credited with alerting the rebels of enemy military operations just prior to the Battle of Manassas. The success of her clandestine activities can be gauged by the surveillance she received from the noted detective Allan Pinkerton. Although he put Greenhow under house arrest and ultimately had her confined, she was always considered a security risk, given her extensive social connections.
This photograph of Greenhow with her daughter Rose was taken for Mathew Brady's studio by Alexander Gardner at the Old Capitol Prison in 1862.
Alexander Gardner for Mathew Brady Studio, 1862 |