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Artist
Alexander Gardner, 17 Oct 1821 - 10 Dec 1882
Studio
Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894
Sitter
Rose O'Neal Greenhow, 1815 - 1 Oct 1864
Date
1862
Type
Photograph
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 8.7 x 5.6 cm (3 7/16 x 2 3/16")
Mount: 10.1 x 6.1 cm (4 x 2 3/8")
Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
Topic
Exterior
Photographic format\Carte-de-visite
Rose O'Neal Greenhow: Female
Rose O'Neal Greenhow: Literature\Writer
Rose O'Neal Greenhow: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Secessionist
Rose O'Neal Greenhow: Military and Intelligence\Intelligence agent\Spy\Confederate
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.2008.15
Exhibition Label
Born Port Tobacco, Maryland
Rose O’Neal Greenhow (c. 1815–1864) was the Confederacy’s most celebrated female spy at the start of the Civil War. A popular widow and hostess in Washington, D.C., she moved easily in the social circles of the nation’s capital. When hostilities commenced in the spring of 1861, few were better connected than she. An ardent Southern sympathizer, Greenhow used her ample charms and guile to pass along information on the defenses of Washington and Union troop movements to Confederate officials.
She is credited with alerting Southern rebels just prior to the Battle of Manassas. Her clandestine activities were so successful that noted detective Allan Pinkerton surveilled her. Although he put Greenhow under house arrest and ultimately had her jailed, she was always considered a security risk, given her extensive social connections.
This photograph of Greenhow with her daughter Rose was taken at the Old Capitol Prison by Alexander Gardner for Mathew Brady’s studio.
