A Yankee Spy in Richmond

She walked the streets of Richmond dressed in farm woman’s clothing, singing and mumbling to herself. Soon her suspicious and condescending neighbors began referring to her as “Crazy Bet.” But she wasn’t mad; she had purpose in her doings. She wanted people to think she was insane so that they would be less likely to ask her questions and possibly discover her goal: to defeat the South and to end slavery. Elizabeth Van Lew, of Crazy Bet, was General Ulysses S. Grant’s spy in the capital city of the Confederacy.