Southern Lady, Union Spy Elizabeth Van Lew was a well-born resident of Richmond, VA who built &amp; operated an extensive spy ring for the United States during the American Civil War. Under the nose of the Confederate government, she gathered intelligence, hampered the Southern war effort, &amp; helped scores of Union soldiers escape from Richmond prisons. A Northern sympathizer in the Confederate capital, she led what one historian called &#34;the most productive espionage operation of the Civil War.&#34;