ned in
the "Old Capitol Prison." General Andrew Porter, U.S.A., whose widow
still resides in Washington and is one of my cherished friends, was
Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia at this time, and as such
Mrs. Greenhow was in his charge during her imprisonment. This duty was
made so irksome to him that, upon one occasion, he exclaimed in
desperation that he preferred to resign his position rather than to
continue such an uncongenial task. It has been stated that information
conveyed by her to the Confederates precipitated the Battle of Bull Run,
which was so disastrous to the Union Army. Her conduct, even in prison,
was so aggressive that the government officials decided she was
altogether too dangerous a character to remain in Washington. They
accordingly sent her, accompanied by her young daughter Rose, within the
Southern lines, fearing that even behind prison bars her ingenuity
might devise some method of communicating with the enemy. From the South
she went to London, where she published, in 1863, a volume entitled, "My
Imprisonment and the First Years of Abolition Rule at Washington," to
which I have already referred. I have heard that this book had quite a
circulation in Great Britain, but that an attempt was made to suppress
it in the United States. The last year of the war, Mrs. Greenhow was
returning to America with considerable money acquired by the sale of her
book, which she carried with her in gold. She took passage upon a
blockade-runner which, after pursuit, succeeded in reaching the port of
Wilmington, North Carolina. She was descending from her ship into a
small boat to go on shore when she made a false step and fell into the
water. Her gold tied around her neck held her down and she was drowned.
Her remains were recovered and brought to the town hall, where they laid
in state prior to an imposing funeral service. She was regarded
throughout the South as a martyr to its cause.

Old Washingtonians who recall Mrs. Greenhow's eventful career will
associate with her, in a way, Mrs. Philip Phillips, who was also active
in the Southern cause, and whose husband represented Alabama with much
ability for one term in Congress. He subsequently remained in
Washington, where he was known as a distinguished advocate before the
Supreme Court. Mrs. Phillips's enthusiastic friendship for the South
made serious trouble for herself and family. The first year of the war,
all of them were sent across the Union lin