History is written by the victors, mainly male victors, leaving the tales of heroic women buried in the sands of time. A simple search for female spies led me to a hundred different heroines whose stories deserve to be told.  I present a few of the most fascinating. 1. Mary Bowser and Elizabeth Van Lew Mary was born a slave on a plantation in Richmond, Virginia owned by the Van Lews. Upon Mr. Van Lew's death, Mary was freed but remained as a servant of the household. She was sent to the Philadelphia School for Negroes by Elizabeth Van Lew and learned how to read and write. That would make a riveting literary tale, but it gets better. Elizabeth was unpopular for her Union sympathizing and pretended to be crazy to deflect from her efforts to aid a spy ring and hide escaped soldiers on her estate. Mary adopted the pose of a feeble minded servant to spy on Jefferson Davis in his own home. These two actress activists deserve at least fifteen minutes of fame. 2. Belle Boyd Be...