Elizabeth Van Lew was an American abolitionist and the daughter of a wealthy family in Richmond that operated a spy ring for the Union Army during the Civil War. Elizabeth creates rapport with both capture prisoners and guards by been friendly, providing food and medicine to them and they gave her information on Confederate troops and movements unknowingly, which she was able to gather valuable information about Confederate strategy from both prisoners and guards, which was then passed on to Union commanders. She likewise helped union soldiers, smuggled out letters for them. She also runs her own network of spies. In late 1863, Union General Benjamin Butler recruited Van Lew as a spy because of her strong abolitionist sympathies; she soon became the head of an entire espionage network based in Richmond
<em>Elizabeth Van Lew gathered information from wounded Union soldiers before she was recruited as a spy by General Benjamin Butler because of her strong abolitionist sympathies</em>
