Frontispiece from Belle Boyd, in Camp and Prison

Belle Boyd, Confederate spy during the American Civil War (1861–1865), is drawn here for inclusion in her 1865 memoir Belle Boyd, in Camp and Prison. The memoir capitalized on public interest in Boyd, especially in the stories of Boyd's legendary methods, her ability, in the words of the historian Elizabeth D. Leonard, to "compel even apparently invulnerable men in blue to disclose precious military secrets." Boyd denied prostituting herself, but she did seem to enjoy tempting her victims. To one Union captain, she wrote, "I am indebted for some very remarkable effusions, some withered flowers, and last, not least, for a great deal of very important information, which was carefully transmitted to my countrymen."