Pauline Cushman

Born:  June 10, 1833, New Orleans, Louisiana

Died:  December 2, 1893, San Francisco, California

Resting Place:  San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California

Brief History:  Harriet Wood, who later adopted the stage name of Pauline Cushman, 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). After a Northern performance, Cushman was paid by two local pro-Confederate men to toast Confederate President Jefferson Davis after the performance. By fraternizing with rebel military commanders, she managed to conceal battle plans and drawings in her shoes, but was caught twice in 1864, tried by a military court, and sentenced to death by hanging. Cushman was spared hanging by the invasion of the area by Union troops. She was also wounded twice.

As a Union Spy, Cushman used her acting skills to pose as a Confederate sympathizer in both feminine and masculine dress in order to gain information. Posed as Southern woman in a boarding house, Cushman was able to stop the poisoning of Union soldiers by the boardinghouse’s mistress. While in Nashville, she received the title “Major of Calvary” for her espionage work and became known as Miss “Major” Pauline Cushman. The Union Ladies of Nashville presented her with a military uniform, which she wore as she travelled throughout the Union. By 1892, she was living in poverty in El Paso, Texas. She had applied for back pension based on her first husband's military service which she received in the amount of $12 per month beginning in June 1893.