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Mary Richards Bowser proved to be an incredibly successful spy for the Union during the Civil War.
As the story goes, she worked in the Confederate White House where Jeff Davis assumed she was enslaved and spoke openly about Confederate strategy. #BlackHistoryMonth
As the story goes, she worked in the Confederate White House where Jeff Davis assumed she was enslaved and spoke openly about Confederate strategy. #BlackHistoryMonth
She was born into slavery but freed after the owner John Van Lew of Richmond died, and his daughter, an abolitionist, freed everyone went to Philadelphia to pursue an education. Bowser returned to work for the Van Lew family, who supported the Union, when the Civil War began.
Bowser passed on the information to the Van Lew family who then gave the valuable strategy to General Grant. https://ehistory.osu.edu/biographies/mary-elizabeth-bowser
I should say- the information was then passed along to Grant. I cannot verify that the Van Lew family gave what Bowser learned directly to Grant. But I think she should get much more attention in effort to win the war.
#CivilWarHistory needs to explore the work of individuals, especially Black women, who provided the necessary information to win the war.
