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Rose Greenhow:
Military Spy
Objective:
 My objective is for you to describe Rose
Greenhow’s role in the Civil War.
Background
 Rose Greenhow was born in Port Tobacco,
Maryland in 1817.
 Was called “Wild Rose” at a young age.
 Leader in Washington society and a passionate
secessionist.
 Known to be the most renowned spies in the
Civil War.
 In 1861Thomas Jordan recruited her as a spy.
Background Cont.
 As a teenager she moved from Maryland to live with
her aunt’s boarding house in Washington D.C.
 With her outgoing personality she easily adapted to the
social scene; many people in Washington’s highest
cabinet “opened doors” for her.
 Because of her good looks many army men were
disappointed when she married Dr. Robert Greenhow.
She later had 4 daughters.
 One of her closest friends was John C. Calhoun,
helped her with her loyalty to the South.
Mission #1
 She used her contacts and talents to
provide General Pierre T. Beauregard
with information regarding the Union rout
at First Bull Run.
 She contributed to the Union Army
defeat.
 Jefferson Davis credited her for winning
the battle.
Consequences
 She was imprisoned for her efforts in her own home and then at
the Old Capital Prison.
 Despite that, she continued getting messages to the Confederacy
by means of “cryptic notes”
 *cryptic means- secret coded notes.
 The “secret coded notes” traveled in unlikely places like the buns
of women’s hair.
 Unable to find evidence of her spying, Rose Greenhow was
released in June, 1861 and exiled (sent away) to the south. She
wrote her book, My Imprisonment, before being sent to Europe to
raise money for the Confederate Army.
 Once she arrived she was warmly greeted by Jefferson Davis.
Mission #2
 Her second mission for the Confederate Army was to tour Britain
and France to spread information for the Confederate cause.
 2 months after arrival in London her biography was published and
enjoyed throughout Britain.
 While in Europe Rose Greenhow sympathized for the south,
especially among the ruling classes. (ruling class- would be kings
and queens or military generals)
 In Paris, she was received into the court of Napoleon III and
granted an audience with Emperor at the Tuileries.
 Her diary (Aug. 5th ,1863- Aug.10th , 1864) held in North Carolina
State Archives in Raliegh, North Carolina, describes her mission in
great detail.
 North Carolina State Archives is a research room.
Rose in Europe
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In 1864, after 1 year abroad, she boarded the Condor.
Condor- British blockade-runner which was to take her home.
Just before reaching her destination, the ship ran aground (up on
land/shore or rock) at the mouth of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington,
North Carolina on the morning of October 1st
To avoid the Union gunboat that pursued her ship she fled in a rowboat
but never made it to shore.
Fearing capture and reimprisionment, she persuaded the captain and to
send her 2 other people ashore in a lifeboat.
But in stormy seas the lifeboat overturned.
She drowned dragged by the $2,000 in gold she received in royalties
(money) for her book.
(royalties-when you sell something for $10 you get $1)
Her body was found and identified a few days later and buried with
honors in Wilmington.
 October 1864 she was buried with full military
honors in the Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington,
North Carolina
 Her coffin was wrapped in the Confederate flag
and carried by confederate troops.
 The marker for her grave, which was a marble
cross, bears a saying about her,
 It reads “Mrs. Rose O’N. Greenhow, a bearer
of dispachs to the Confederate Government.”
Evaluation
Question:
Did Rose Greenhow chose the right course of action
when she decided to help the Confederacy?
Answer:
I think she did because she helped the south in many
ways, and found important information that is still
unknown today. Without her help the south wouldn’t
have defeated the North in the Battle of Bull Run, and
even though she lost her life, she helped the lives of
others in the south.
What do YOU think????