Details the lives of six women who fought to preserve the Confederacy and the Southern way of life by serving as spies during the Civil War.

These fictional memoirs are based on the true story of a southern belle who defied convention to become a front line soldier and spy for the Confederacy. Follow Laura as she fights in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, breaks hearts, and extends the limits of glory. Based on the life of Loreta Velazguez.

Barred from fighting for their beliefs on the battlefield, though many tried, Southern women served the Confederacy in other ways, like through the timeless art of espionage. Confederate women used their wits, charm, and beauty to discover Union secrets and carry out covert operations for the war efforts. This insightful book highlights these little-discussed Confederate figures, including the famously persuasive Rose O'Neal. Readers will meet the Moon sisters, who used their acting skills to smuggle information and supplies under the noses of Union soldiers using all manner of disguises.

An incredible heroine of the Confederacy There are several accounts told through the ages, and concerning several conflicts, of women who went to war for the cause they espoused and who not only performed extraordinary feats of daring and bravery, but acted disguised and undetected in the roles of men. The history of the American Civil War offers several examples where the women concerned came from both sides of the conflict and all are incredible. Several of these dauntless Amazons have left posterity riveting accounts of their experiences, but among them all this book, written by the Cuban born Loreta Janeta Velazquez, is widely regarded not only as an extraordinary narrative among those where all are extraordinary, but also as an account of a woman's wartime experiences that has virtually no equal in history. This was an exceptional woman by any standards and her story will inform, astonish and entertain. Indeed, it has long been the subject of disputed veracity in its entirety, but modern historians have confirmed much of its authenticity. If it does contain a few 'tall stories' it will not be exceptional among memoirs irrespective of the gender of the author. Loreta enlisted for the South in 1861 as a regular soldier and, of course, as a man, under the name of Lieutenant Harry Buford. She fought at First Bull Run, Balls Bluff, Fort Donelson and at Shiloh. This remarkable woman then gave up uniform to travel behind the Union lines, there working as a spy, gathering intelligence and undertaking other dangerous and subversive activities on behalf of the Confederacy. This is an indispensable book for all those interested in outstanding women of action. Available in softcover and hardcover with dustjacket.

Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and “pioneer of sizzle history” (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War. Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies. After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives. Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Abbott seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy contains 39 black & photos and 3 maps.

So which one is Loreta Velazquez? Born into an aristocratic Cuban family, Loreta Velazquez moved to New Orleans as a young lady. There she met a dashing officer in the United States Army. Since her family disapproved of the relationship, she eloped with him and they spent the years before the war at different army posts. When the Civil War began, Velazquez was an enthusiastic supporter of secession and desired to serve the Confederacy. So she purchased an officer's uniform and made adjustments to make herself look more convincingly like a man. With some assistance from friends, she became the dashing Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, who is at first a recruiter for the Confederate Army. Later the transvestite Buford serves in combat at the Battles of Bull Run, Balls Bluff, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh. Although wounded, her secrets are not revealed. Later Velazquez returns to female clothing to serve as a spy, a smuggler, and a counterfeiter.

Loreta Janeta Velazquez (June 26, 1842- c.1897), was a Cuban-born woman who masqueraded as a male Confederate soldier during the Civil War. She enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, without her soldier-husband's knowledge. She fought at Bull Run, Ball's Bluff and Fort Donelson, but her gender was discovered while in New Orleans and she was discharged. Undeterred, she reenlisted and fought at Shiloh, until unmasked once more. She then became a spy, working in both male and female guises. Her husband died during the war and she remarried three more times; being widowed in each instance.

Presents the lives of courageous women who served as spies for the North and South during the Civil War, including Belle The Siren of the Shenandoah Boyd, Elizabeth Crazy Bet Van Lew, and Harriet Tubman.

When the Civil War broke out, women answered the call for help. They broke away from their traditional roles and served in many capacities, some of them even going so far as to disguise themselves as men and enlist in the army. Estimates of such women enlistees range from 400 to 700. About 60 women soldiers were known to have been killed or wounded. More than sixty women who fought or who served the Union or Confederacy in other ways are featured. Among them are Sarah Thompson, the Union spy and nurse who brought down the famous raider John Hunt Morgan; Elizabeth Van Lew, the Union spy instrumental in the largest prison break of the war; Sarah Malinda Blalock, who fought for the Confederacy as a soldier and then for the Union as a guerrilla raider; Dr. Mary Walker, a doctor for the Union and the only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for Civil War service; and Jennie Hodgers, the longest serving woman soldier (and the only woman to receive a soldier's pension).