How a Virginian Aided the Union Cause as ‘Lincoln’s Lady Spymaster’

Fox Business’s Gerri Willis tells the rarely told story of Elizabeth Van Lew and her efforts during the Civil War.

News anchor and writer Gerri Willis presents a new book on lesser-known Civil War personas in "Lincoln's Lady Spymaster."

Those who know their history will recall how American women helped sustain the war effort in World War II by working in factories and shipyards. It may surprise some people to know that a similar societal shift occurred during the Civil War.

Women played such a vital role in the war between the states that Abraham Lincoln commented  on March 18, 1864: “I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say, that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America.”