Emeline Piggott
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Emeline Jamison Pigott (December 15, 1836 – May 26, 1919) was a
Early life
Emeline Pigott was born on December 15, 1836, in Harlowe Township, Carteret County, NC. She was the daughter of Colonel Levi Whitehurst Pigott and Elizabeth Dennis. She grew up in Harlowe. When 25, she moved with her family to Crab Point, near present-day Morehead City, NC.
Civil War
Just across Calico Creek from Pigott's farm lay an encampment of Confederate Army soldiers of the
Pigott met and fell in love with a Confederate Army private, Stokes McRae. Born to a farm family in
Pigott had camp-followed the 26th North Carolina to
McCrae's Confederate Army 26th North Carolina fought in Virginia. Then, returned to eastern North Carolina to guard the Confederate States capital, Richmond, Virginia, from reclaiming by the United States. In May 1863, McCrae's regiment was attached to the Confederate States Army of Northern Virginia and headed north. On July 1, 1863 the regiment fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, where U.S. Army General Meade's forces defeated Confederate States Army General R. E. Lee's. McRae, then a sergeant major, was hospitalized with a shattered thigh. He died on August 2, 1863.
In December 1863, Pigott made her way back to
Spying on the United States Army
Pigott organized enemy fishermen to spy for her. She passed this military intelligence to the Confederate Army. Pigott also entertained U.S. Army soldiers at her parents' farm, distracting them so her sister, Abigail's, husband, Rufus Bell, could carry food into the nearby woods for the Confederate Army soldiers in hiding.
In February 1865, United States Army Provost Marshal Major Graves arrested Pigott
Trial
The U.S. Army transported Pigott to New Berne to stand trial. They permitted her cousin, Mrs. Levi Woodburg Pigott, to accompany her. The U.S. Army jailed the two in the Jones House in New Berne. (It stands, today.) The women claimed one night someone tried to kill them with chloroform. They said that they broke a window in their room and took turns breathing fresh air until they were able to summon the guards' attention.
Over the next month, the Provost Marshall scheduled Piggott for trial on several occasions, but she was never brought to trial. The U.S. Provost Marshall unexpectedly released Pigott to return home. After her release, the United States Army maintained surveillance over her activities until the Confederate States Army's defeat in 1865.[citation needed].
Later life
Pigott never married and continued to live in her homeplace.
Emeline Jamison Pigott is buried near Emeline Place (street) in Morehead City.[3] Her gravesite is guarded by a padlocked fence. As is a statue representing her Confederate Army Sgt. McRae, an artillery-shot away in Beaufort, NC.
References
- ^ N.C. Dept. of Cultural Resources, Beaufort, NC local newspaper, February 18, 1865, "Beaufort Waiflets."
- ^ Ruth Royal Barnes. Pigott, Emeline Jamison, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography
- ISBN 978-0-7627-7653-5.
Further reading
- Canon, Jill. (2000). Civil War Heroines. Santa Barbara: Bellerphon Books. ISBN 978-0-88388-147-7.
- Kent, Scotti; Cohn, Scotti. (2000). More Than Petticoats: Remarkable North Carolina Women. TwoDot Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56044-900-3.
- Lisa Tendrich Frank (17 January 2013). An Encyclopedia of American Women at War: From the Home Front to the Battlefields. ABC-CLIO. pp. 443–. ISBN 978-1-59884-444-3.
- Lucy Worth London Anderson (1926). North Carolina Women of the Confederacy. Cumberland Printing Company, North Carolina.
- Peeling, Ruth L. (1959). Bonnie Blue sweetheart: historical drama based on the life of Emeline Pigott, Confederate spy. OCLC 43649627.
External links
- Emeline Jamison Pigott at Find a Grave
- Emeline Jamison Pigott: A Confederate Heroine, The North Carolina Civil War and Reconstruction History Center