At five feet, eight inches tall and weighing barely 100 pounds, the diminutive Frank Stringfellow proved to be one of the Civil War’s most effective spies, acquiring and passing a bevy of secrets to the Confederacy about Union troop movements and plans throughout the conflict.
A scout in the 4th Virginia Cavalry, Stringfellow repeatedly donned civilian clothes, disguising himself as a dental apprentice, a store assistant, and even a woman, enabling him to operate freely and extensively in Washington, D.C., as well as in Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia. In one instance, in August 1862, Stringfellow guided Confederate cavalry on a raid at Catlett’s Station, Virginia, where the Union Army of Virginia, under the command of Major General John Pope, was headquartered. After overrunning Federal troops guarding Pope’s tent, the Confederates seized documents, including Pope’s dispatch book filled with valuable intelligence. The information was used to aid General Robert E. Lee in his decisive defeat of Pope’s army at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
At five feet, eight inches tall and weighing barely 100 pounds, the diminutive Frank Stringfellow proved to be one of the Civil War’s most effective spies, acquiring and passing a bevy of secrets to the Confederacy about Union troop movements and plans throughout the conflict.
A scout in the 4th Virginia Cavalry, Stringfellow repeatedly donned civilian clothes, disguising himself as a dental apprentice, a store assistant, and even a woman, enabling him to operate freely and extensively in Washington, D.C., as well as in Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia. In one instance, in August 1862, Stringfellow guided Confederate cavalry on a raid at Catlett’s Station, Virginia, where the Union Army of Virginia, under the command of Major General John Pope, was headquartered. After overrunning Federal troops guarding Pope’s tent, the Confederates seized documents, including Pope’s dispatch book filled with valuable intelligence. The information was used to aid General Robert E. Lee in his decisive defeat of Pope’s army at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
In April 1864, General Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, informing him of a report that Union General Ambrose Burnside was marching with 23,000 troops through Alexandria and toward Confederate positions outside Richmond, Virginia. Lee believed the report came from Stringfellow and was trusting enough of it to ask Davis that troops previously diverted to North Carolina be summoned back to Virginia to strengthen Confederate defenses there.