Pauline Cushman
| Pauline Cushman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Harriet Wood June 10, 1833 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | December 2, 1893 (aged 60) San Francisco, California |
| Other names | Major Pauline Cushman Fryer, Pauline Fryer |
| Occupation | Actress, Union Spy |
| Spouse(s) | Jere Fryer, August Fichtner, Charles C. Dickinson, |
| Children | Three, Charles and Ida, and adopted daughter Emma |
Pauline Cushman (Born Harriet Wood) (June 10, 1833 – December 2, 1893), was an American actress and a spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Harriet Wood was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 10, 1833, the daughter of a Spanish merchant and a Frenchwoman (daughter of one of Napoleon Bonaparte's soldiers). Harriet and her brother William were raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Pauline Cushman's parents moved there to set up a trading post with Native Americans. In 1862, she made her stage debut in Louisville, Kentucky, a then Union-occupied city. Later, she would travel to New York where she would take the stage name Pauline Cushman. Over the course of her life, Cushman was married to Jere Fryer, Charles C. Dickinson, and August Fichtner. She had three children: Charles, Ida, and an adopted daughter, Emma.
After a Northern performance, Cushman was paid by two local pro-Confederate men to toast Confederate President Jefferson Davis after a performance. The theatre forced her to quit, but she had other ideas. She had decided to ingratiate herself with the rebels by making the toast, while offering her services to the Union as a spy.
By fraternizing with rebel military commanders, she managed to conceal battle plans and drawings in her shoes, but was caught twice in 1864 and brought before Confederate General Braxton Bragg, tried by a military court, and sentenced to death by hanging. Though she was already ill, she acted worse off than she was. The Confederates had to postpone her execution. Cushman was spared hanging by the invasion of the area by Union troops. She was also wounded twice.
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