Belle
Boyd
Confederate Spy
(1844-1900)
Maria
Isabella (Belle) Boyd of Bunker Hill in Berkeley County spent
most of her childhood in Martinsburg. When Union troops invaded
Martinsburg during the Civil War the 17-year-old Belle shot
and killed a Union soldier who had invaded her family home.
She was acquitted on self-defense and used her charm to gain
the confidence of federal troops. Boyd continued to hone her
spy skills of disguise, code, observation, and passing messages
to Confederate officers. After smuggling a message to England
in 1864 she was exiled from the country. After the war she returned
to the U.S. and toured the country telling of her exploits.
