Her hope was that Southerners would free their slaves and that emancipation by manumission would gradually end the practice that she viewed as abhorrent and destructive to the South.

[1] Upon the outbreak of the war, Van Lew began working on behalf of the Union with her mother, caring for wounded soldiers.

[5] When Libby Prison was opened in Richmond, Van Lew was allowed to bring food, clothing, writing paper, and other things to the Union soldiers imprisoned there.

[7] Recently captured prisoners gave Van Lew information on Confederate troop levels and movements, which she passed on to Union commanders.

[5] She is rumored to have helped hide escaped Union prisoners and Confederate deserters in her own mansion, although no definite proof of such claims has been found.

[10] Van Lew's spy network was so efficient that on several occasions she sent Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant fresh flowers from her garden and a copy of the Richmond newspaper.

[2] When Richmond fell to U.S. forces in April 1865, Van Lew was the first person to raise the United States flag in the city.

[12] Van Lew modernized the city's postal system and employed several African Americans, with the same pay and benefits as white employees, until new President Rutherford B. Hayes had her replaced in 1877.

[12] When attempts to secure a government pension also failed, she received support from the family and friends of Union Col. Paul Joseph Revere, whom she had helped while he was held prisoner during the Civil War.

[16] The epitaph reads: "ELIZABETH L. VAN LEW (1818 - 1900) She risked everything that is dear to man-- friends-- fortune-- comfort-- health-- life itself-- that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved.

"[17] In her will, Van Lew bequeathed her personal manuscripts, including her account of the war, to John P. Reynolds, Col. Revere's nephew.

[21] Furthermore, the daughter of two of Van Lew's servants, Maggie Walker, became a prominent Christian entrepreneur in Richmond, founding the country's first African-American-woman owned bank.

[24] Her story was also fictionalized in 1995 children's book The Secret of the Lion's Head by Beverly Hall,[25] the 2005 novel Elizabeth Van Lew: Civil War Spy by Heidi Schoof,[26] the 2006 novel Only Call Us Faithful: A Novel of the Union Underground by Marie Jakober, the 2013 novel The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini.