Frank stringfellow confederate spy belle

Frank Stringfellow c. When war broke out, Stringfellow sought a commission in the Confederate Army.

Union spies during the civil war

Despite four denials due to his fragile health and 94 pound weight , [ 3 ] Stringfellow eventually secured a commission as Captain in the 4th Virginia Cavalry his brothers also served the Confederacy, although his cousins Pleasant and Robert Stringfellow served in the U. On September 4, he led 20 soldiers in a raid in an attempt to capture Union General Joseph Bartlett , whose headquarters were in the front yard of the home of Julia Sanford, a farmer and Union sympathizer in New Baltimore, Virginia.

They fired a number of rounds at the Union troops and into the home but were unsuccessful. However, Stringfellow's fame derived from his confidential service, sometimes directly for General Robert E. Lee , but much through J. Stuart until his death in March Stringfellow refused to take the loyalty oath after the war and moved to Canada.

He returned to Alexandria, Virginia in , enrolling at what became the Virginia Theological Seminary and marrying his high school sweetheart, Emma Green [ 1 ] with whom he had four children: Ida born , Alice Lee Born , Frank born and John Stanton born After graduating, from Virginia Theological Seminary, he was ordained an Episcopal priest in Stringfellow served in various parishes in Virginia, including in Franklin , Patrick , and Henry Counties.

Stringfellow meaning

As rector, Rev. Stringfellow led the campaign that built Christ Episcopal Church in Martinsville in the s, but moved on soon after the building was finished. Stringfellow enlisted as a chaplain in the U. Army, after obtaining a reference from former President Grant, who noted Stringfellow had refrained from shooting him years earlier.

During his postwar years, Stringfellow maintained contact with his Civil War era acquaintances.