Rose O'Neal Greenhow

circa 1817 - October 1, 1864

           A rich, attractive and outgoing widow was a very popluar member of Washington's highest social circles; her friends were former presidents, senators and generals. When the Civil War started, she joined the Confederate espionage system in Washington and used her social contacts and admirers to gather useful information for the Rebel government. She is credited with supplying Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard with the timetable for the Union advance to Mannasses, thus allowing the Rebels time to consolidate their forces to win the 1st Battle of Bull Run in July, 1861.
           Too indiscrete about her sympathies, Greenhowe and her activities aroused suspicion in Detective Allan Pinkerton, who had her arrested in Aug., 1861. A search of her house turned up detailed maps of the Washington fortifications and notes on military movements. She was placed under house arrest for a few months; then, in Jan., 1862, she was imprisoned along with her daughter, in the Old Capital Prison in Washington, from which she managed to continue her clandestine activities and forward valueable information to the Confederacy. In May, she was deported to Richmond, where she was greeted by cheering crowds.
           That summer, Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent her on a diplomatic mission to Europe. During her two year stay, she wrote and published her memoirs, titled "My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington". She was reentering the Confederacy on Oct. 1, 1864, when her blockade runner "Condor" was spotted and chased by a Union warship of the coast of North Carolina. The "Condor" was forced onto a sandbar at the mouth of the Cape Fear River during a storm, and Greenhowe, fearing capture and return to prison, asked to be put ashore in a small lifeboat. A few days later, her body washed up on the shore. The stormy seas had swamped her boat, and the weight of the $2000 in gold that she carried dragged her under the waves. She was given a military funeral and (buried in Wilmington, Delaware.) See Below...

"Civil War Cards", Stephen T. Foster, 1963 Atlas Editions, USA

Fri, 16 Nov 2001

          Hello! I have just discovered your Women in the Civil War site, and look forward to exploring it. I particularly like the patchwork quilt background graphic.
           Thought you might want to consider a minor correction on Rose Greenhowe's page. Your text states she is buried in Wilmington, Delaware, but I believe Miss Rose is right here in Wilmington, North Carolina, at Oakdale Cemetery. We're near the mouth of the Cape Fear, where she died, so that makes sense. I have to share with you that my reason for visiting your site was out of curiosity about Rose Greenhowe, as last spring I had pinched some seedlings of a stunning Japanese maple tree growing on her grave (hence my uncharacteristic knowledge of gravesite location.....). The seedlings have all flourished, and so I have a warm spot in my heart for Miss Rose. Too bad she drowned for the sake of a lost cause, though. But then that's very Southern, isn't it?

           Thanks for your interesting web site!

           Ann Hines