In his Civil War memoir
Confederate General John B. Gordon (1832 – 1904) recalled leading the spearhead of Lee’s army through Gettysburg and on to the towns of York and Wrightsville on June 28th, 1863. While his procession was entering York a young girl ran up to him and handed him a large bouquet of flowers, which served to camouflage a letter from a Southern spy.
Written in a feminine hand, the emissary reported accurately on the Union forces in the neighboring town of Wrightsville, their strength, their position and how best to maneuver around them:
“The result of this movement vindicated the strategic wisdom of my unknown and – judging by the handwriting – woman correspondent, whose note was none the less martial because embedded in roses, and whose evident genius for war, had occasion offered might have made her a captain equal to Catherine.”
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