Mary “Molly” Brant
Born into the Mohawk tribe around 1736, Mary “Molly” Brant went by many names. For example, she had two Mohawk names: Konwatsi’tsiaienni, which means “Someone Lends Her a Flower” and Degonwadonti, which means “Two Against One.” During the time of the American Revolution, Brant married a British general and passionately remained loyal to Britain for the rest of her life. As the daughter of a Mohawk chief, she had great influence and used that influence to her advantage. She was able to gather intelligence from the Patriots and deliver it to her British and Mohawk allies. Throughout the American Revolutionary War, Mary acted as a spy, hid loyalists, and acted as a diplomat between the British and the Iroquois. After the war, various nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, including the Mohawk, moved to Canada, which was still owned by the British. Mary was given a pension and home by the British government in recognition of her service during the war.
Many of us know that Harriet Tubman helped lead many slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad, but her actions as a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War are lesser known. An escaped slave herself, Tubman dedicated her life to helping others reach freedom. In 1862, she went to a Union Army camp in South Carolina where she worked with slaves who had run from their owners to the Union Army. It took her a long time to gain the trust of the slaves there, but as she did, she was able to create a network of spies who mapped the South, traced the movements of Confederate troops, Harriet Tubman and collected other important intelligence.
Harriet Tubman
Her information gave the Union Army an advantage by knowing where the Confederates had sunk mines in the Combahee River, helping the Union Army rescue more than 750 slaves. Tubman did not get credit for many of her actions and few records were kept of them, although one Union general did credit her by saying that Tubman could “get more intelligence than anyone else.” Today, we remember Harriet Tubman as one of the most dedicated, brave, and fearless activists in American History.
Richebourg
During the French Revolution, a short aristocrat named Richebourg made the most out of his short stature by adopting the ultimate undercover identity—a baby. During a time called the Reign of Terror, aristocrats were targeted as enemies of the revolution and many were put to death. The aristocrats in Paris needed to keep in touch with their allies outside
the city, but it was dangerous to carry their messages through the city. The solution was simple: Richebourg, who was only 23 inches tall, would dress up as a baby and pass messages to aristocrat allies in the country. A woman dressed as a nurse would carry Richebourg through the streets as though she was carrying a baby.
Richebourg, who wore a lacy baby bonnet, passed through the streets unnoticed. Carrying these messages in his baby blanket, he was successfully able to save members of the royal family and the future king of France thanks to his clever disguise. Even today, he holds the world record as being the shortest spy.
Nancy Wake admitted that being a spy against the Nazis meant doing things that weren’t very nice. Raised in Australia, Nancy left home at sixteen and traveled Europe. During the war, she went from being a happy-go-lucky young woman in Paris to a steely resistance fighter. Nancy’s husband was a wealthy industrialist, so she used her money and status as his wife to avoid suspicion as she escorted Allied soldiers and refugees out of France to safety. Nazi forces nicknamed her “The White Mouse” because she was like a mouse who could slip away quickly and quietly without capture. Nancy saved hundreds from the Nazis and, after escaping to England, also helped the Allied forces prepare for the invasion of D-Day.
The White Mouse:
Nancy Augusta Wake
With a group of other spies, she airdropped into France, hid supplies and weapons for the invading forces, and set up communication lines. Later, she told reporters that she was never afraid.
“I was too busy to be afraid,” she said. The governments of England, France, and the United States gave her so many medals for her work that she was able to live off the money she made selling them.