A Most Successful Spy
The most successful spy is the one we know the least about. During the Civil War, a spy inside the Confederate White House in Richmond went undetected. She hid in plain sight, a servant of Jefferson Davis himself, who made little effort to conceal documents from her. "Little Mary" Bowser was assumed to be illiterate, but instead was intelligent, educated, and possessed a photographic memory. Bowser had been freed from slavery and educated by Elizabeth Van Lew, who was the Union's spymaster in Richmond and had helped her get the job.
Even less is known about Clara, a Richmond prostitute who gathered information from her clients for the Union.
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