Belle Boyd, Cleopatra of the Secession, Siren of the Shenandoah, La Belle Rebelle, Rebel Joan of Arc
Occupation
Confederate Spy
Maria Isabella Boyd (May 9, 1844[1] – June 11, 1900[2]), best known as Belle Boyd (and dubbed the Cleopatra of the Secession[3][4] or Siren of the Shenandoah,[5][6] and later the Confederate Mata Hari[7][8][9]) was a Confederate spy in the American Civil War. She operated from her father's hotel in Front Royal, Virginia, and provided valuable information to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson in 1862.[citation needed]
^The date in the Boyd Family Bible is May 4, 1844 (Scarbrough, Ruth (1997). Belle Boyd: Siren of the South. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. p. 2. ISBN978-0-86554-555-7.), but Boyd insisted that it was 1844 and that the entry was in error. (Sigaud, Louis A. (1944). Belle Boyd, Confederate Spy. Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press. p. 224. OCLC425072.) See also Hay 1975, p. 215. Despite Boyd's assertion, many sources give the year of birth as 1844 and the date as May 10 (Barnhart, Clarence L.; et al., eds. (1954). "Boyd, Belle". The New Century Cyclopedia of Names. Vol. 1. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts., "Belle Boyd: Chapter No. 2620". Belle Boyd Chapter of the Louisiana Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy via RootsWeb of Ancestry.com.)
^Boatner, Maxine Tull (December 18, 1955). "Lady of Intrigue". Hartfod Courant. Hartford, CT. p. 105. Retrieved October 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. he devoted his sixth chapter to 'Cleopatra of the Secession,' Belle Boyd