Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy

The next morning, Emma’s hands are so blistered that she can’t continue to haul rocks, so she trades duties with a person enslaved in the kitchen. Her newest dilemma is how to escape the camp unseen. As Cuff, she thinks, “He had a lot of valuable information and had to get back as quickly as possible, but it wouldn’t be easy. Slipping into the rebel camp was simpler than finding a way to break out of it” (55).

Luck favors Emma when the Confederates unexpectedly tell her to stand sentry duty and give her a rifle. As night falls, a misty drizzle sets in, creating ideal conditions for the spy to disappear. She creeps away and hides in the woods before returning to the Union camp in the morning.

The information that Emma has gathered so quickly overjoys General McLellan. As a reward, he allows her to keep the handsome rebel rifle she stole the day before. Mrs. Butler is relieved to see her young friend has safely returned. She says, “‘Praise the Lord it’s all over and you’ve got it out of your system.’ Emma smiled and hugged her friend, but said nothing” (61).

Emma is reassigned to her duties at the hospital tent. Based on the details that Emma provided, McClellan is confident enough to order an all-out attack on the rebel forces. Battles rage for five weeks, filling the hospital tent with the dying and wounded, as the army slowly fights its way toward the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. The Union is building a bridge across the Chickahominy River to reach the city, but they need more information about the enemy’s defenses before they can advance. Once again, the Union engages Emma’s skills as a spy.

Mrs. Butler produces the idea for Emma’s next disguise and gives her the clothing and accessories she’ll need to carry it off: “Emma Edmonds, alias Franklin Thompson, alias Cuff the contraband slave, was now an Irish peddler named Bridget O’Shea” (66). As Emma sets out on her journey toward enemy lines, she takes shelter in an abandoned cabin to avoid a rainstorm.

Inside the cabin, she finds a Confederate soldier dying of typhoid fever. She tries to make him as comfortable as possible until he passes. As a last request, the young man asks her to give his gold watch to his commanding officer, Major McKee, who will send it on to the soldier’s family. After the boy dies, Emma realizes that she now has an automatic introduction to the rebel camp.

When Emma arrives at the Confederate lines, the soldiers let down their guard at the sight of a harmless peddler. She learns that Major McKee will be gone until the afternoon. In the interim, the soldiers escort her to a tent where enslaved women give her food and refreshment. While she awaits the major’s return, Emma listens to the women gossip about troop movements and takes note of their attire for a future disguise.

Still waiting for McKee’s return, Emma wanders around the camp under the pretext of selling some of her wares to the soldiers: “To her relief, she found she could move around with complete freedom. Nobody was suspicious of a poor woman trying to peddle her basket of meager goods” (79). As she strolls about, Emma chats with the soldiers and discovers even more valuable information about their fortifications and armaments.

At three o’clock, McKee returns and accepts the watch. He then asks Emma for a favor. Giving her a strong pony to ride, he asks her to guide a detail to the cabin where the soldier died so that his comrades can give him a proper burial. Emma is happy that luck is once again on her side. While the soldiers are busy loading the remains into a casket, Emma volunteers to serve as a lookout and says that she’ll return to camp later. Instead, she rides back to the Union Army. Not only does she give her commanding officers useful information, but they gift her the pony, whom she names “Rebel.”