Welcome, Tara. I'm delighted to have you visit today to share some of the history behind your new Civil War historical series. It's a fascinating period and dear to my heart.
Hello,
Alison,
It’s
a pleasure to appear as your blog guest today. I’m excited about the release of
the second book in my Civil War Secrets
& Spies series, Pistols, Parasols
& Passionate Little Lies. To celebrate, I’m offering the first book in
the series, Secrets, Spies & Sweet
Little Lies as a Kindle free book today (January 23) through Monday,
January 27, and I’m here to share the historical inspiration for the heroine
and her fellow spies in Pistols, Parasols
& Passionate Little Lies. I’ll be giving away a Kindle copy of that
book to one lucky commenter.
Set
during the months just before the conclusion of the Civil War, Pistols, Parasols & Passionate Little
Lies revolves around a pair of Union petticoat spies operating out of
Richmond and the men who love them. Led by a cagey matron who passes herself
off as crazy as a bedbug, Amanda and Kate use their talents and their beauty to
gather intelligence and outsmart the enemy. In Pistols, Parasols & Passionate Little Lies, no-nonsense agent Amanda
recruits a dashing Union agent for a desperate mission—break a double agent out
of a Confederate prison before he’s executed as a spy.
Pistols, Parasols & Passionate
Little Lies was
inspired by the stories of petticoat spies operating in both the North and the
South during the Civil War. Spymaster Betsy Kincaid was modeled after Elizabeth
Van Lew, a Richmond spinster commonly known as Crazy Bet. Daughter of a
prominent businessman, she was an ardent abolitionist whose methods were
ingenious and varied. She pried men with food, even charming her way past a
Confederate prison commander. She funneled information into the prison in
baskets equipped with false bottoms and even hollowed out eggs to ferry
intelligence to Union generals. Crazy as a fox, she was a loyal and valued part
of the Union war effort. Her use of food as an entry ticket to the prison
inspired Crazy Betsy Kincaid’s strategy of baking her way into the prison.
Another
petticoat spy who worked for the Union in the Confederate South was Pauline
Cushman. Born in New Orleans, she moved to Michigan as a child, then took off
for New York at eighteen to pursue a career on the stage. She traveled the
country in road shows and seized an opportunity to spy on the Confederate
troops while she was performing in Kentucky near the start of the war. Through
a series of deceptions, she spent time following the Confederate Army, gleaning
information from soldiers and serving as a Union Messenger. At one point, she
escaped a death sentence for spying when Union Forces invaded the Tennessee
town where she was being held. After the war, she wrote a book about her
adventures and toured the country with tales of her exploits. When Miss Cushman
died in 1893, her gravestone bears an unusual designation: Union Spy.
Of
course, the Confederacy employed petticoat spies as well. One of the best known
was Rose Greenhow. A popular Washington, D.C. hostess, she flattered secrets
out of the nation’s political and military elite. “Rebel Rose” quickly proved
her mettle as a spy, utilizing her charm and ingenious methods to ferry
information to Confederate generals. Arrest and imprisonment did not curtail
her activities, and she became a propaganda tool for the South until her tragic
death off the North Carolina coast on her return from a trip to Europe to
garner support for the Confederate cause from dignitaries including Queen
Victoria. Mrs. Greenhow was buried with full military honors in Wilmington, North
Carolina.
