Cleopatra of the Secession
Please, may I have a round of applause for Belle Boyd...Confederate spy and most importantly, WOMAN!
Negating the little fact of 'who won the civil war,' all that stuff about right and wrong, I would like to acknowledge the daring efforts of Belle Boyd, in representing her beliefs. Belle spied on enemy lines during the civil war and worked as an informant for the Confederacy. And, the most interesting fact about Belle is that she was NOT a quitter.
After her ship was captured en route to Britain, she wooed her way up the ranks and eventually won the heart of Samuel Hardinge, a union Naval officer part of the blockading fleet. For her love, Belle was banished to the cold depths of Canada (go figure...). But she tracked down her man, and they were later married after reuniting in Europe. Now, I have little doubt that this reunion was engineered by Belle and just as intricately planned as her escape from Union custody by way of the Mounties. And, I must say I do not condone the trading of sex for freedom (save for some very special and elaborate circumstances perchance involving a sale on Textbooks...I am a college student after all), however, Belle did what she thought was necessary and fate managed to catch up with her. I don't think she ever planned to fall in love with Hardinge, but she did, and had to trek from Canada to Britain just to prove it!
Belle was a daring women (a trait I think we should all possess), and she took measures that few of us would dare to take...this includes blackmailing the President.
When Samuel Hardinge was captured and incarcerated for betraying the Union (ahem, the man fell for a Confederate spy!), Belle took up a pen and paper and worked out her scorn.
She promised Lincoln that she would subdue the publication of her new book--which exposed the Union dogs for the blackhearts and scallywags they were--if he would release her husband. (A copy of the letter can be seen here: http://womenshistory.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=womenshistory&cdn=education&tm=15&gps=301_259_1362_544&f=10&su=p897.6.336.ip_&tt=11&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r%3Fammem/mal%3A@field%28DOCID%2b@lit%28d4022200%29%29) If I could, I would say that Lincoln replied by freeing her husband, but that is untrue. Instead, he took no notice and after a few more years, Hardinge was released. And, I wish I could tell you that Belle and Samuel stayed together for ever and had numerous adventures after the war, but I can't do that either.
The truth is, Belle Boyd divorced Samuel shortly after he was released. She then returned to America and remarried twice, eventually touring the country and regaling her stories from the war in full Confederate garb. Then, she died.
But, I still like the story of Belle Boyd...the adventure, romance, and folly. I appreciate that she was a real woman, and just like the rest of us, she had no idea what she wanted from life.
Though, unlike most of us, she tried to figure it out. She didn't settle for what was good at the moment, trapped forever in a loveless, hopeless void, not quite dead, but definitely not living.
Belle learned and lived, each day, one day at a time.
A good idea, don't you think?
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