Pauline Cushman
Pauline Cushman (1833 - December 7, 1893), a New Orleans born actor, served as a Union
spy in the
American Civil War. After becoming an actor, she moved from New Orleans to New York at the age of 18. At the outbreak of the Civil War,she became a transvestite spy, discovering the battle plans of Confederate general
Braxton Bragg. She was caught and sentenced to death, but escaped execution, enabling her to keep providing intelligence information to General
William Rosecrans and President
Abraham Lincoln.