© Kathy Duncan, 2025
In 1862, the wife of Col. J. S. Piper of the Confederate army was arrested in Washington DC and held by the Provost Marshall. The newspapers misreported his name as Col. T. S. Piper, which made her arrest a challenge to find in period newspapers. Plus, the newspapers of 1863 misreported this event as having happened in 1861.
A similar newspaper article published in The New York Herald added the tidbit that "at the time of her arrest several letters from her husband were seized." Based on the events of 1863, this leaves no doubt that the woman arrested was Elizabeth Piper, wife of Col. J. S. Piper. This also confirms that he was with the Confederate army.
It would be interesting to know why Elizabeth Piper had fallen under enough suspicion to arrest her. By August 1862, women were no longer regarded by the military as harmless innocents. Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who operated a spy network of supposedly 48 women in Washington DC, had been released from the Old Capitol prison and sent beyond the Confederate line a couple of months earlier in May 1862. Women in her network had been attending teas and dinners throughout Washington DC, listening carefully, and sending the information they gleaned south to the Confederate army. Elizabeth Piper was certainly in a position to be one of those participants. However, information about the specific women in Greenhow's network is elusive.
To date, I have not found the Provost Marshall's records regarding Elizabeth Piper's arrest - specifically the documents that were generated in 1862. I also don't know how long she was held or the conditions of her release although she was allowed to remain in Washington DC and not sent beyond the Confederate line.
The Washington DC City Directory of 1862 shows the Pipers still in residence at 506 E south. James S. Piper's 14 or 15-year-old son William Piper is listed as the resident. Note that James S. Piper's brother Dr. John R. Piper was living at 373 D north.
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