Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this gripping Civil War history, Fox Business's Gerri Willis charts the making of a spymaster genius.

Wealthy Southern belle Elizabeth Van Lew had it all. Money, charm, wit—the most elegant mansion in Richmond.

So why risk everything to become a Union spy?

The answer was simple: freedom. Right in the heart of the Confederate capital, Elizabeth played the society lady while building a secret espionage network of slaves, Unionists, and prisoners of war.

It would cost her almost everything. Flouting society’s expectations for women, Elizabeth infiltrated prisons and defied public opinion. Her story is filled with vivid personalities, including:

• Assassin John Wilkes Booth • Washington socialite and Southern spy Rose Greenhow • Prison escape artist Thomas Rose • Cavalry hero Ulrich Dahlgren • Black spy Mary Bowser who infiltrated the Confederate White House

From grave robbery to a bold voyage across enemy lines, Elizabeth’s escapades only grew more daring. But it paid off.

By the war’s end, she had agents in both the Confederate War Department and the Richmond White House, and her couriers provided General Ulysses S. Grant with crucial, daily intelligence for his final assault.

With extensive and fresh research, Gerri Willis uncovers the Southern abolitionist heroine that the Lost Cause buried—an unbelievable tale of one woman’s courage, resistance, and liberation. Heartfelt, thrilling, and inspiring, Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster restores a forgotten hero to her rightful place as an American icon.

© 2025 Harper (Audiobook): 9780063333673

Release date

Audiobook: 3 June 2025