Clara Gunby, Confederate Spy-- Part 2

Clara Gunby was found guilty of treason for refusing to walk  under a Union flag and refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance and sentenced to prison at Fortress Monroe.  While she was there, she became a Confederate spy.  While at Fortress Monroe, she obtained intelligence and passed it on to authorities.

She is also said to have served as a nurse for Confederate troops after her release and spent the duration of the war with friends in Richmond.

She didn't return to Salisbury until shortly before her death in 1879 and is buried at Parsons Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Clara Gunby, Confederate Spy-- Part 1: "Death Before Submission"

From the September 14, 2013, Eastern (Maryland) Shore "Civil War Series: Meet Clara Gunby, a spy for the Confederacy" by Brice Stump.

"She was everything a woman of the Victorian era shouldn't have been: opinionated, independent, political and outspoken," said Aleta Davis.

Clara Gunby was also an activist.  When the Civil war came, she refused to show any respect for the Union and even went so far as to refuse to walk under any Union flags which were stretched out across Bridge (Main) Street in Salisbury, Maryland.

When Union soldiers spotted her doing this, they arrested her and sent her to Baltimore for a military trial.  Once there, she was told she would be released if she took the  Oath of Allegiance to the federal government as was required of so many others in Maryland's Shore Region.

She refused, saying, "Not I.  Death before submission."

--Old Secesh