Francis Hamit, Author of The Shenandoah Spy, Publishes Second in Confederate Secret Service Series!

The Queen of Washington


By Francis Hamit






I never enjoyed history in school; however, I have found that learning more about early America, and, especially, about the women involved, has been a wonderfully refreshing experience. Hamit's first book, The Shenandoah Spy (Check out my review!) shared a little known story of Belle Boyd, a Confederate Army spy and scout...

His second novel is an alternative history story leading up to the Civil War! I'll be reading soon and providing my review, but here's some preliminary information:

From Brass Cannon Books
Pine Mountain Club
Frazier Park, CA
Brass Cannon Books.net

Brass Cannon Books Announces the Release of the Second Book in Francis Hamit's Confederate Secret Service Mega-Narrative

Socialite and political operative Rose Greenhow, a "proud Southern woman" was "The Queen of Washington" during the years immediately before the Civil War. As the country split apart, she used her connections to create a very effective spy ring that developed the intelligence that allowed the South to prevail at the first battle of Manassas (or Bull's Run).

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greenhow.gif

The widow of a State Department official and the protege of such power players as John Calhoun and Colley Madison, Rose used her romantic relations with Union government officials to gather information for the South, until her arrest by Allan Pinkerton on August 23, 1861. She was then held under very adverse conditions in her own house and then in the Old Capitol prison until being sent South ten months later. Her ordeal was shared by her eight-year-old daughter.

Hamit's book is an alternative "what-if" history that asks when her spying career actually began. "There are indicators that she may have already been a spy and agent of influence for the French and British legations for years before, perhaps even before the Mexican War," Hamit said. "She was certainly involved in some shady attempts to bring Cuba into the United States as a Slave state through one or more 'filibustering' expeditions, and she was also involved in the Limantour land claims in California, testifying in support of them. These were finally dismissed by the Federal District Court as 'the most audacious fraud in history.'" Her husband's last job was as an Associate Law Counsel for the California Land Commission, and the record seems to indicate that he opposed these claims before he died under mysterious circumstances in San Francisco in 1854.

"This gave me an opportunity to look at the run-up to the Civil War and the geo-political game that was being played out between the forces of Manifest Destiny and the French and the British efforts to divide the Unites States and keep it from becoming a Great Power. This part of the conflict is usually overlooked now, but by starting this novel in 1850 and looking at possible alternative explanations, we can not just provide an entertaining novel but provoke some thoughtful discussions."

Hamit's first novel in this narrative is "The Shenandoah Spy" which examined the early career of Confederate Army spy and scout Belle Boyd, the first woman in American History to be commissioned an army officer. It was published in 2008 to widespread favorable reviews and is still in print.

Related articles

• Heroes of The Civil War: Belle Boyd (socyberty.com)

Review: The Shenadoah Spy Begins Exciting Civil War Series!

The Shenandoah SpyBy Francis Hamit
Brass Cannon Books
ISBN: 9781595959027
433 Pages


I met Belle Boyd this past weekend, thanks to Francis Hamit, and was thrilled to meet and spend all my time with her! This first book in a series starts with The Shenandoah Spy: Being the True Life Adventures of Belle Boyd, CSA, “The Confederate Cleopatra.”

“Belle Boyd was a real person, and became world famous as a spy for the Confederate Government...in September, 1862, [she] became the first woman in American history to be formally commissioned an Army officer.” (Foreword) The book centers on her role as a scout and spy for the Confederate Army. If only a small percentage of the story were true, Belle was...one gutsy woman! I am thankful that Hamit is publishing her story, for she is a woman to be much admired and embraced by all Americans and especially our younger generation!

Belle was a true Southerner but she was not the typical “belle” as we think of most women of the south. True, she might have worn the big-hooped gowns, learned how to flirt with gentlemen as part of her training, and had her first “season” in Washington with the intent to find a suitable husband. However, when the war began, she was just 17 and she automatically sought to find ways to support the south.

Her first major role was to assist and then nurse at the hospitals. Perhaps it was her required intimacy with those men that first started her reputation. Or perhaps it was her shooting a drunk Yankee soldier who had attacked her mother. But it was her scouting and spying efforts that firmly established Belle’s as a spy that could easily flirt and then finagle from the Yanks to learn and gain information to pass on to H. Turner Ashby, her immediate commanding officer, Jackson and other Confederate officers.

Hamit has created an exciting story of the civil war against which he tells Belle’s story. Through extensive reading and research, he presents the major players and battles of the war, and includes his characters that effectively supplement actual soldiers and officers. He also considers the political issues as to why the war was started and by whom, whether slavery was a major or minor point and highlights the role of the professional soldiers who moved from war to war, fighting for pay rather than through dedication to the people and the cause they supported.

Two other points of interest for me were the drinking, theft and lack of courtesy shown by the majority of Yankee soldiers and the role of the slaves/servants as they chose to support their families (owners) rather than their supposed liberators.

As the author stated in his foreword, he wrote the novel to entertain readers. Whether or not he took license with the truth in telling the story, I for one believe he did exactly what he said he was doing! This is truly an entertaining, fantastic tale of the past and provides all the excitement, intrigue, action and suspense that readers expect and enjoy!

Francis Hamit has the knowledge, experience and interest to have picked a remarkable character from our historical documents upon which to build this series. I highly recommend that you get the first book, The Shenandoah Spy, now and watch for the next one coming, hopefully soon!

G. A. Bixler