Born in Martinsburg, Virginia in 1844, she was a Washington debutante, and a pretty woman, who became a diehard secessionist at the start of the Civil War. She raised money for the Confederacy until 1861, when her career took a more active turn. She became an espionage agent and was imprisioned and let go three times. She died in Evansville, Wisconsin, in 1900, while on tour, lecturing about her adventures.