Pauline Cushman (born Harriet Wood; June 10, 1833 – December 2, 1893) was an American actress and a
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
for the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. She is considered one of the most successful Civil War spies.
Early life
![Pauline Cushman NPG-NPG 81 M621](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Pauline_Cushman_NPG-NPG_81_M621.jpg)
Harriet Wood, who later adopted the stage name of Pauline Cushman, was born in
, on June 10, 1833, the daughter of a Spanish merchant and a Frenchwoman (daughter of one of
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's soldiers). Harriet and her brother William
were raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her parents moved there to establish a trading post with indigenous peoples. In 1862, she made her stage debut in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, a
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
-occupied city. Later, she would travel to New York where she would take the stage name Pauline Cushman. Over the course of her life, Cushman was married to Jere Fryer, Charles C. Dickinson, and August Fichtner. She had three children: Charles, Ida, and an adopted daughter, Emma.
Career as a spy
![Pauline Cushman 1865](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Pauline_Cushman_1865.jpg)
After a Northern performance, Cushman was paid by two local pro-Confederate men to
toast
Toast most commonly refers to:
* Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat
* Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken
Toast may also refer to:
Places
* Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States
Books
* '' ...
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
President
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
after the performance. The theatre company forced her to quit, but she had other ideas. She had decided to ingratiate herself with the rebels by making the toast, while offering her services to the Union as a
spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
.
By fraternizing with rebel military commanders, she managed to conceal battle plans and drawings in her shoes, but was caught twice in 1864 and brought before Confederate
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Weste ...
, tried by a military court, and sentenced to death by hanging. Though she was already ill, she acted worse off than she was. The Confederates had to postpone her execution. Cushman was spared
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
by the invasion of the area by Union troops. She was also wounded twice.
Some reports state that she returned to the South in her role as a spy, dressed in male uniform. She was awarded the rank of
brevet
Brevet may refer to:
Military
* Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay
* Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college
* Aircre ...
major by General
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
, and made an honorary
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
by President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
for her service to the Federal cause, and became known as "Miss Major Pauline Cushman." By the end of the war in 1865, she was touring the country giving lectures on her exploits as a spy.
Later life
![Florence-Walker- Oury House-1877](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Florence-Walker-_Oury_House-1877.JPG)
Because her undercover activities on behalf of the government were secret, there is a lack of corroborative information about her life at this time. After the war, however, she began a tour celebrating her experiences as a Union spy, working at one point with
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
. In 1865, a friend, Ferdinand Sarmiento, wrote an exaggerated biography titled ''The Life of Pauline Cushman: The celebrated Union Spy and Scout,'' detailing her early history, her entry into the secret service, notes, and memoranda.
She lost her child to sickness by 1868, and married again in 1872 in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, but was widowed within a year. Sources state that in 1879 she met Jere Fryer, and moved to
Casa Grande
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...
,
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
, where they married and operated a hotel and livery stable. Jere Fryer became the
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
of
Pinal County
Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
. Their adopted daughter, Emma, died on April 17, 1888 at 6 years old of a seizure. As a result, the Fryers separated in 1890.
By 1892, she was living in poverty in
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. She had applied for back
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
based on her first husband's military service which she received in the amount of $12 per month beginning in June 1893 . Her last few years were spent in a boarding house in San Francisco, working as a
seamstress
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
Nota ...
and
charwoman
A charwoman (also chargirl, charlady or char) is an old-fashioned occupational term, referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually ...
. Disabled from the effects of
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...
and
arthritis
Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...
, she developed an addiction to pain medication, and on the night of 2 December 1893 she took a suicidal overdose of
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
. She was found the next morning by her landlady.
Death and legacy
![Florence-Ross-Fryer-Cushman House-1876](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Florence-Ross-Fryer-Cushman_House-1876.JPG)
She died as Pauline Fryer at the age of sixty. The time of her Civil War fame was recalled at her funeral, which was arranged by members of the
Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...
; Cushman was buried with full military honors.
"Major" Cushman's remains now rest in Officer's Circle at the
Presidio's National Cemetery. Her simple gravestone recognizes her contribution to the Union's victory. It is marked, "Pauline C. Fryer, Union Spy."
In 1961, the television series ''
Rawhide'' aired an episode, "The Blue Spy" with Pauline Cushman as the central character, portrayed by veteran actress
Phyllis Thaxter
Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 2012) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Ellen Lawson in ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) and Martha Kent in ''Superman'' (1978). She also appeared in ''Bewi ...
.
A road at
Fort Ritchie
Fort Ritchie at Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 199 ...
, Maryland a now decommissioned Army Post, was named in her honor.
See also
*
List of female American Civil War soldiers
Numerous women enlisted and fought as men in the American Civil War.
Historian Elizabeth D. Leonard writes that, according to various estimates, between five hundred and one thousand women enlisted as soldiers on both sides of the war, disguised ...
References
11
Books
*
*
Articles
*Herringshaw, Thomas William. 1909. "Cushman, Pauline". ''Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-Five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits''.
External links
Due to conflicting details about her life, several source links are provided.
Pauline Cushman: Civil War Spy And Theater ActressPauline Cushman: Spy of the Cumberland WebsiteN.Y. Times report of June 3, 1864Arizona Historical Foundation*
*
Pauline Cushman. Film by the National Cemetery Administration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cushman, Pauline
1833 births
1893 deaths
American Civil War spies
Actresses from New Orleans
People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
Female wartime cross-dressers in the American Civil War
Female wartime spies
People from Casa Grande, Arizona
Burials at San Francisco National Cemetery
19th-century American actresses
American stage actresses