Boyd, Belle

Boyd, Belle

▪ Confederate spy
in full  Isabelle Boyd  
born May 9, 1844, Martinsburg, Va. [now W.Va.], U.S.
died June 11, 1900, Kilbourne [now Wisconsin Dells], Wis.
 spy for the Confederacy (Confederate States of America) during the American Civil War and later an actress and lecturer.

      Boyd attended Mount Washington Female College in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1856 to 1860. In Martinsburg, Virginia, at the outbreak of the Civil War, she joined in fund-raising activities on behalf of the Confederacy. When the town was occupied by Union forces in July 1861, she associated freely with officers, gleaning bits of military information that she sent by messenger to Confederate authorities. She and her mother denied entry to Union soldiers who wanted to raise a flag over their house in Martinsburg. When one of the soldiers tried to force his way in, Belle Boyd shot and killed him. She was tried and was acquitted on a defense of justifiable homicide.

      Union officers under the command of General James Shields were quartered in the same residence as Boyd in Front Royal, and Boyd overheard their plans for a withdrawal from that town. She undertook a hazardous journey through the lines to inform General T.J. “Stonewall” Jackson (Jackson, Thomas Jonathan) of the Union plans to destroy the town's bridges as part of their retreat. This was the only major success in intelligence work she is known to have had. After her return to Martinsburg, Boyd continued to spy openly for the Confederates and served also as a courier and scout with J.S. Mosby (Mosby, John Singleton)'s guerrillas.

      In 1862 Boyd was arrested on a warrant signed by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton; she was eventually released as part of an exchange of prisoners. Arrested again after her return to Union-held Martinsburg, Boyd was again released, in 1863, after a bout with typhoid fever in prison. Her usefulness in the North at an end, she was thenceforth employed as a courier.

      In 1864 she sailed on a blockade runner to England bearing letters from Confederate president Jefferson Davis. After her ship was intercepted by a Union vessel, she utterly distracted an officer named Hardinge who was placed aboard as prize master. He allowed the Confederate captain of the vessel to escape and for that was court-martialed and discharged from the navy, after which he went to England, where he married Boyd in August 1864.

      After he died early in 1865, she published her two-volume memoir, Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. In 1866 she turned to the stage, making her debut in The Lady of Lyons in Manchester and then returning to the United States to make a tour of the South. She appeared in New York in The Honeymoon in 1868. She retired the following year, but in 1886, her third marriage having brought her into financial difficulties, she began a career as a lecturer on her own exploits. Boyd died during a speaking tour in Wisconsin.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Belle Boyd — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Boyd. Belle Boyd Isabella Marie Boyd (Martinsburg, 1844[ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Belle Boyd — Belle Boyd. Maria Isabella Boyd auch Belle Boyd wurde La Belle Rebell genannt (* 4. Mai 1844 in Bunker Hill, Virginia; † 11. Juni 1900). Sie spionierte für die Südstaaten im Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg, indem sie General Thomas Stonewall Jackson… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Boyd (surname) — Boyd is a surname of Scottish origin, and may refer to:A*Adam Boyd, English footballer *Alan Lennox Boyd, British politician (Viscount Boyd) *Alan Stephenson Boyd, American politician *Alex Boyd, Scottish photographer *Alfred Boyd, Canadian… …   Wikipedia

  • Boyd — ist der Name folgender Orte in den Vereinigte Staaten: Boyd (Alabama) Boyd (Arkansas) Boyd (Florida) Boyd (Illinois) Boyd (Indiana) Boyd (Iowa) Boyd (Kansas) Boyd (Kentucky) Boyd (Michigan) Boyd (Minnesota) Boyd (Montana) Boyd (Nevada) Boyd (New… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Belle Boyd — Infobox Person name = Maria Isabella Boyd caption = birth date = birth date|1844|5|4|mf=y birth place = Martinsburg, Virginia, United States dead = dead death date = death date and age|1900|6|11|1844|5|4|mf=y death place = Wisconsin Dells,… …   Wikipedia

  • Boyd — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Boyd peut désigner : Patronyme Alana Boyd (1984 ), une athlète australienne Anne Boyd (1946 ), une compositrice et professeur australienne, Belle… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Belle de Jour (writer) — Dr Brooke Magnanti Dr Brooke Magnanti, 7 June 2010 Born Brooke Magnanti 9 November 1975 (1975 11 09) (age 36)[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Belle & Bunty — Article issues COI = January 2008 orphan = January 2008 Belle Bunty is a London based womenswear designer label, founded by Alice Louise Shreeve and Hannah Coniam in April 2003. The label specializes in bright and vibrant designs. History Shreeve …   Wikipedia

  • La Belle au bois dormant (film, 1959) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir La Belle au bois dormant (homonymie). La Belle au bois dormant Données clés Titre original Sleeping Beauty Réalisation Clyde Geronimi Scénario …   Wikipédia en Français

  • La Belle au Bois Dormant (Disney) — La Belle au bois dormant (film, 1959) Pour les articles homonymes, voir La Belle au bois dormant (homonymie). La Belle au bois dormant Titre original Sleeping Beauty Réalisation Clyde Geronimi Scénario Erdman Penn …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”