Mary Elizabeth Bowser was a freed slave woman who eventually became a spy working for Union Army during the Civil War.
Some Interesting Facts
* It isn't known when Bowser was born or when she died.
* Mary Elizabeth Bowser was inducted into the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame in 1995 by the U.S. government.
* It is believed that Bowser kept a diary, but it is unclear whether or not it was destroyed.
* In 1865 she tried to burn down the Confederate Capitol. She was unsuccessful.
* She worked with Elizabeth Van Lew, her former owner's daughter.
* Her disappearance is still unexplained.
Some Quotes on Mary Elizabeth Bowser
- "...as she was working right in the Davis home and had a photographic mind. Everything she saw on the Rebel president's desk, she could repeat word for word. Unlike most colored, she could read and write. She made a point of always coming out to my wagon when I made deliveries at the Davis' home to drop information."
- "Ms. Bowser certainly succeeded in a highly dangerous mission to the great benefit of the Union effort. She was one of the highest placed and most productive espionage agents of the Civil War. ... [Her information] greatly enhanced the Union's conduct of the war. ... Jefferson Davis never discovered the leak in his household staff, although he knew the Union somehow kept discovering Confederate plans."
- "Slave power crushes freedom of speech and of opinion. Slave power degrades labor. Slave power is arrogant, is jealous and intrusive, is cruel, is despotic, not only over the slave but over the community, the state." (Elizabeth Van Lew quote on Slavery)
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