Facts and Trivia About Confederate Spy Belle Boyd

One of the more colorful characters that emerged in the Civil War was Marie Isabella Boyd, better known as Belle Boyd. Born in Martinsburg, Virginia (now part of West Virginia) on May 9th, 1844, Belle was a strong supporter of the Confederate cause. On July 4th, 1861, 17 year old Belle Boyd shot and killed a drunken Union soldier that had broken into her family's home and addressed her and her mother in "language as offensive as it is possible to conceive" she later wrote. The Union Army investigators did not file charges against her, and Belle Boyd's involvement with the Confederate cause had begun. She went on to be a successful spy for the Confederacy. Here are some more facts and trivia about Belle Boyd:

Belle Boyd's father was a prosperous business man who enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 at age 44. He did not survive the war, dying of illness in Richmond, VA December 6th, 1863.

After Belle killed the Union soldier at her home in Martinsburg, the occupying Union forces posted sentries outside the home. Belle became friendly with the soldiers and learned all kinds of valuable military information. Her outgoing, friendly personality along with a figure that went well with the fashions of the era had quite an effect on officers and men on both sides of the war. Belle began passing intelligence on to the Confederate Army through messengers by simply writing the messages out in her own handwriting and in plain English, not in code. When one of her messages was intercepted and easily traced to her, she was reminded that passing information on to enemies of the United States could get her the death penalty. But she was not prosecuted and was released from custody, dodging another bullet.

Belle Boyd at the Battle of Front Royal

Belle's most famous incident in the war was at the Battle of Front Royal, Virginia on May 23rd, 1862. As Confederate forces under General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson closed in on Front Royal, the smaller Union force occupying the town prepared to leave. Belle learned that several other Union commands were on the way to Front Royal, and that the retreating Federals would burn the bridges leading out of town to slow down the Confederate advance. If Jackson attacked quickly, the overmatched Federals could be defeated before reinforcements could arrive and before the bridges could be burned.

Belle ran through the streets of Front Royal towards the fighting. She passed through the picket lines and Union soldiers began shooting at her. She was not hit, although bullets did pass through her clothes. She also had to contend with artillery fire that was dropping shells along her route. But she made it, and passed the information on. Jackson attacked and achieved a complete victory.

In her memoirs, Belle wrote that the dark blue dress she wore that day was later cut up and made into shirts for two wounded Confederate soldiers.

Belle Boyd's Marriages

Although she was a staunch backer of the Confederacy, Belle Boyd married a Union Naval officer named Sam Hardinge in London in August 1864. He had resigned from the Navy before marrying Belle. He died near the end of the war or shortly thereafter, although the exact circumstances are unknown.

After the war, Belle married another Union Army veteran named John Hammonds. The couple divorced in 1884.

She married again in 1885, to an actor named Nathanial Rue High. She was 41 and he was 24.

Later Life

For the final 14 years of her life, Belle Boyd performed stage shows where she told of her experiences in the Civil War. She performed all over the country and was popular with audiences and veterans in both the north and south.

In June of 1900, Belle Boyd was in Kilbourn, (now Wisconsin Dells) Wisconsin where she was to perform one of her stage shows. She died of a heart attack June 11th at age 56. She was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Wisconsin Dells, with four Union Army veterans and two Spanish American War veterans serving as pall bearers.

Sources:

Boyd, Belle. Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. 1865. Reprint. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1998.

Confederate Spy Belle Boyd at IronBrigader.Com

Scarborough, Ruth. Belle Boyd: Siren of the South. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1997.