Lola Sánchez (Confederate spy)

Sánchez became upset when their father was falsely accused of being a Confederate spy by the members of the Union Army and imprisoned.

On one occasion Sánchez overheard various officers’ planning a raid and decided to alert the Confederate forces.

Prior to 1850 the Sánchez family immigrated to the United States from Cuba and settled on the east bank of the St. Johns River in an area known as Federal Point opposite Palatka, Florida, a town situated about 63 miles (101 km) due south of Jacksonville.

Goods were shipped down the Ocklawaha, loaded onto larger steamers in Palatka and plied north on the St. Johns River.

The Union Army carried out an investigation to this respect and reached the false conclusion that Don Mauricio Sánchez, the family patriarch, was a spy.

The incident inspired Sánchez (Lola) to spy on the Union forces on behalf of the Confederacy with the aid of her sisters.

In the meantime, Lola and her sisters had to take care of their invalid mother and in order to make ends meet, they entertained the Union officers with a conversation.

During the supper, the officers and their guests felt confident enough to discuss the plans that their unit had for a raid against the Confederate forces which was to go into effect the next morning.

The plan consisted of a surprise attack on the Confederates while they slept with the aim of proceeding to St. Augustine to "liberate" supplies for the Union army.

She decided that it was of utmost importance to notify Captain John Jackson Dickison, commander of the Confederate force the 2nd Florida Cavalry in Camp Davis, just a mile and a half from her home.

The Confederate forces had placed artillery guns on the banks of the river and opened fire on the approaching Union gunboats.

This was one of the few instances in which a Union warship was captured by land-based Confederate forces during the Civil War and the only known incident in US history where a cavalry unit sank an enemy gunboat.

The daughters of Lola and Panchita served as pages (a ceremonial position), in honor of their mothers' service to the Confederacy.