Elizabeth Van Lew – A Union Spymaster in Richmond

When the Southern states began seceding from the Union after Abraham Lincoln’s election as president in November 1860, young Elizabeth Van Lew thought secession was a bad policy. Elizabeth supported the Union, the Republican Party, and the abolition of slavery. She thought the opposite of what most all Southerners thought.

When the Civil War began, Elizabeth had the means and opportunity to move North and be with other family members. She could have been free of Richmond’s Civil War struggle. Instead, she chose to stay in Richmond, the seat of the Confederacy. The young lady had plans.

Elizabeth Van Lew Gave Aid and Help to Union Prisoners of War Held In Libby Prison

Richmond’s Libby Prison held Union officer prisoners of war under difficult and overcrowded conditions. The prisoners suffered from disease and malnutrition, and the prison had a high death rate. Elizabeth Van Lew visited the prison pretending to be a loyal Southern lady living up to her Christian faith and womanly concern for others.

She provided help and aid to the suffering and needy Yankee prisoners. Elizabeth used her family’s wealth to bribe guards and officials to gain favors and assistance for the prisoners. She helped the prisoners by giving them food and medicine. What she also sneakily did, was to help them escape.

Van Lew gathered information from the prisoners and passed it on to Union forces. In March 1862, President Jefferson Davis clamped down on Richmond with an iron fist of martial law. Many people thought to be Union supporters in the Confederate capital were arrested.

Elizabeth Van Lew could no longer visit Libby Prison and give aid to the prisoners. This did not stop her clandestine pro-Union efforts in Richmond. She changed her tactics.

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