The women of the mountain districts of Virginia were as ready to do scout
and spy work for the Confederate leaders as were their men-folk. Famous
among these fearless girls who knew every inch of the regions in which
they lived was Nancy Hart. So valuable was her work as a guide, so
cleverly and often had she led Jackson's cavalry upon the Federal outposts
in West Virginia, that the Northern Government offered a large reward for
her capture. Lieutenant-Colonel Starr of the Ninth West Virginia finally
caught her at Summerville in July, 1862. While in a temporary prison, she
faced the camera for the first time in her life, displaying more alarm in
front of the innocent contrivance than if it had been a body of Federal
soldiery. She posed for an itinerant photographer, and her captors placed
the hat decorated with a military feather upon her head. Nancy managed to
get hold of her guard's musket, shot him dead, and escaped on Colonel
Starr's horse to the nearest Confederate detachment. A few days later,
July 25th, she led two hundred troopers under Major Bailey to Summerville.
They reached the town at four in the morning, completely surprising two
companies of the Ninth West Virginia. They fired three houses, captured
Colonel Starr, Lieutenant Stivers and other officers, and a large number
of the men, and disappeared immediately over the Sutton road. The Federals
made no resistance.
[Illustration: THE GERMAN DIVISION SENT AGAINST JACKSON