| Belle Boyd, La Belle Rebelle, (May 9, 1843 - June | | | | aide-de-camp. Jackson wrote to the young Belle |
| 11, 1900) was a Confederate darling. | | | | (the "La Belle Rebelle" as a French war |
| Young, attractive Belle Boyd was a Confederate | | | | correspondent called her); "I thank you, for |
| spy. Belle was born in Martinsburg, Virginia | | | | myself and for the army, for the immense |
| (Martinsburg is now part of West Virginia) and | | | | service that you have rendered your country |
| was only seventeen when the Civil War started. | | | | today." Boyd was a brave young lady, she served |
| She had a knack for listening in on the | | | | Colonel John S. Mosby and his guerillas as a scout |
| conversations of Union officers who patronized | | | | and courier. Once while on a mission, Yankees |
| her father's Front Royal hotel. Her familiarity with | | | | shot bullet holes through her skirt. |
| the countryside of the Shenandoah Valley | | | | Belle's lover gave her away as a spy. On July 29, |
| provided the Confederates with valuable | | | | 1862 she was arrested on order of United States |
| information in the spring of 1862. | | | | Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. She spent a |
| Young Belle was an enthusiastic Confederate. The | | | | month in Old Capital Prison in Washington before |
| year before her spying activity began, Belle shot | | | | being released in a prisoner exchange. |
| to death an intoxicated Yankee soldier who was | | | | Belle was arrested for a third time in June, 1863 |
| attempting to raise the Stars and Stripes over | | | | and remained in jail until being released the |
| her Martinsburg home. She was arrested and put | | | | following December. She had contracted typhoid, |
| on trial for murder. Belle's defense was justifiable | | | | so she sailed to Europe to improve her health and |
| homicide and she was acquitted, free to go on | | | | also to deliver some letters for Confederate |
| her way. | | | | President Jefferson Davis. Belle then returned |
| Belle Boyd provided General Thomas Jonathan | | | | from Europe on a blockade runner, but this ship |
| "Stonewall" Jackson and General Ashby Turner | | | | was captured by a Union warship. |
| with important information during Stonewall's | | | | With her capture, things may have been looking |
| Shenandoah Valley Campaign, that helped with the | | | | grim for the young, attractive Confederate spy |
| capture of Front Royal, Virginia on May 23, 1862. | | | | La Belle Rebelle. Maybe she would be imprisoned, |
| Belle warned the Confederates they should move | | | | or even executed, but her luck had not run out. |
| fast so they could cross bridges before Yankee | | | | Union Captain Samuel Hardinge was put in |
| soldiers destroyed them. | | | | command of Belle's blockade runner, his duty |
| In appreciation for her information and spy | | | | being to take the ship to the North. |
| service regarding Union troop movement during | | | | Quickly, Captain Hardinge fell under the charms |
| the Valley Campaign, Stonewall Jackson gave Belle | | | | and spell of beautiful Belle. Hardinge let Belle and |
| Boyd the rank of captain and made her an | | | | the blockade runner's captain, escape to Canada, |
| honorary member of his staff as an | | | | they then made their way to England. |