Pauline Cushman (1833-1893) was an actress turned Civil War spy. Her exploits on and off the battleground made her a celebrity, and she became the first female spy on either side of the war to be executed — well, almost executed.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s woman of mystery was an actress turned Civil War spy. Her exploits on and off the battleground made her a celebrity, and she became the first female spy on either side of the war to be executed — well, almost executed.
Let’s talk about Pauline Cushman.
Pauline Cushman was born Harriet Wood in New Orleans in 1833. Of the eight Woods children, Harriet was the only girl. When the family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, Harriet learned how to ride horses, shoot guns and canoe alongside her brothers.
But more than anything, Harriet wanted to be an actress. At 17, she set out for New York City. By 18, she was back in New Orleans, working in local theaters. It was there that she became Pauline Cushman.
Harriet — now, Pauline — married Charles Dickinson in 1853, when she was 20 years old. Charles was a musician, and the couple would go on to have two children.
But the Civil War was already on the horizon, and soon, Charles would head to the battlefield. In 1862, Charles was discharged from the 41st Ohio Infantry due to severe illness. He died soon after coming back home.
Pauline was 29 years old, widowed, with two children. The Civil War was tearing the country apart. Perhaps feeling like the only way forward was to start over, Pauline decided to head to Kentucky, to pursue acting again. She left her children behind with family.
At the time, Kentucky was a political — and ideological — hotbed. The state had originally declared neutrality in the war, survived an attempted takeover by a Confederate general, and, by 1862, had come largely under Union rule. But amid constant tension between Unionists and Confederate sympathizers, violence was common.
While performing in the play The Seven Sisters on a stage in Louisville, Pauline was approached by two Confederate officers. They offered her $350 to toast to Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, during her next performance.
Unsure what to do, Pauline consulted Colonel Orlando Hurley Moore, the U.S. Provost Marshal. Moore told Pauline to make the toast, and to report back to his office the next day. So Pauline did as she was asked:
That night on stage, she raised her glass and shouted, “Here’s to Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy. May the South always maintain her honor and her rights!”
Chaos erupted in the theater, Pauline was promptly fired, showed up at Colonel Moore’s office -- and was offered a job as a Union spy.
The specifics of Pauline’s career in espionage are, understandably, muddy. But here’s what we know:
Her performance on stage that night gave Pauline a way into the Confederate sympathizer community.
In one account, she took up residence at a boarding house, and discovered her landlady trying to poison the coffee of wounded Union soldiers. In another, she dressed as a man, sweet-talked a woman who was transporting goods for the Confederate army into letting her come along, and alerted Union forces about their whereabouts.
Pauline then moved to Nashville, where she began working for a new theater. She was soon hired by the local Union Army espionage chief to gather information about the Confederate General Braxton Bragg.
Her alibi was that she was searching for her brother, a Rebel soldier. And she was told, under no circumstances, to steal physical documents. If she were to come across anything valuable, she was to memorize as much as she could.
But the temptation proved too strong. Pauline was arrested trying to cross back into Union territory, with Confederate battle plans hidden in the sole of her boot. General Bragg sentenced her to death by hanging. She was set to be the first female spy, on either side of the war, to be executed.
But Pauline… didn’t hang. Her execution was delayed. Some say it was because of illness. Some say it was because of a fake illness. Either way, before she could be put to death, Union forces captured the town where she was being held. The Confederate army retreated, leaving her behind.
Pauline was heralded as a hero. She received public recognition from President Lincoln and future president General Garfield, and was awarded the honorary rank of Brevet Major.
After the war, Pauline once again returned to the stage. She liked being introduced as “Major Cushman,” and appeared in a one-woman show for P.T. Barnum, the circus manager. Billed as “The Spy of the Cumberland,” she told stories of her espionage exploits. Some were, arguably, exaggerated. A friend of Pauline’s published a book called, “Life of Pauline Cushman: The Celebrated Union Spy and Scout.” The book’s stories were greatly exaggerated.
Pauline slowly faded from public life. In 1879, she married Jeremiah Fryer and moved to Arizona, where she and her new husband ran a hotel. In 1888, their adopted daughter died at the age of six. The next year, they separated.
By 1890, Pauline was living in poverty, in Texas. She spent her last few years in a boarding house in San Francisco.
There, Pauline worked as a seamstress and a cleaning woman, despite suffering from arthritis. In an attempt to manage her condition, she became addicted to pain medications. In December 1893, Pauline took a fatal dose of morphine. She was 60 years old.
Pauline Cushman — the actress, the spy — captured the heart and the imagination of Americans. Despite the murky details of her adventures, Pauline’s fearlessness proved inspirational. In the midst of a brutal war, a woman, dressed as a man, heroically stuffing maps into her boot and trying to sneak across enemy lines, offered people something they’d been missing: a sense of hope.
All month, we’re talking about spies.
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