Antonia Ford was born in 1838 in Virginia and her father, Edward R. Ford, was a successful businessman who supported the Southern cause. Her brother also died in the Battle of Brandy Station, fighting for the South. In 1861, the Ford's family home in Fairfax, Virginia was occupied by the Union Army, and during this period — the First Battle of Bull Run — Ford surreptitiously passed intel gleaned from Union soldiers to Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's forces, encamped nearby.
For her loyalty, Ford grew close to General Stuart and became one of his most trusted informants, designated his lieutenant and aid-de-camp. In 1862, Ford rode 20 miles to inform Stuart the Union army had planned a trap. According to Ford's intelligence, federal forces plotted to lure the Confederate army out of position with its own colors in what became the Second Battle of Bull Run, according to Emerging Civil War. In that battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeated the Union army.
Afterward, the North continued to occupy Fairfax, and accordingly, Ford's work as a double agent continued. By 1863, Ford had endeared herself to Union General Edwin H. Stoughton, who commanded federal forces in the area. The two were known to spend time together, despite the Ford family's well-known support of secession. The Union official even hosted a party for Ford's mother and sister. Under the cover of that distraction, Confederate forces slipped into Fairfax unnoticed. A Ford rendering from "Harper's Weekly" in 1863 can be seen above.
[Featured image by Harper's Weekly via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
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