My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington: Annotated and Illustrated

Rose O'Neal was a beautiful, well-educated, and charming Washington, D. C. socialite at the beginning of the War Between the States with connections to significant U.S. government officials. Born into the Maryland aristocracy, and the widow of a Virginian, her loyalty was covertly with the Confederacy. Rose used her wiles and connections to learn weighty secrets of Union military operations and passed this intelligence on to the Confederates. Eventually, she was imprisoned. In her own words, this is the story of her imprisonment at the Old Capitol Prison in D. C. The reader will be amused by her candid comments on those who made up the Washington elite in those stirring days. There have been several reprints of this 1863 book, but this one, while remaining true to the original text, has annotations and background information that will aid the modern reader in a clearer understanding of some of the subjects to which she is referring. Her frequent use of French and Latin terminology has also been footnoted with definitions. This 2019 reprint edition has a bonus supplement telling of Rose's tragic demise and what happened to her children. The book has additional illustrations not appearing in the original.