West of the Nashville turnpike stands the home of Mary Kate Patterson, a Confederate spy. She assisted Capt. Henry B. Shaw's Coleman's Scouts, a Confederate cavalry unit and spy network that served the Army of Tennessee, from 1862 to 1865. She befriended Federals and obtained passes to Nashville, where she secured supplies and messages to smuggle to the Scouts in her buggy's false bottom. Her brother, Everard Patterson, also served in the Scouts. Her family sheltered and fed Confederate soldiers, signaling them by an arrangement of louvers and lanterns in the windows when it was safe to come in for medical help and hot meals.
She was among the last to see neighbor and fellow spy Sam Davis before he was captured and killed in November 1863.
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Key Facts
- Confederate spy who smuggled messages in the false bottom of her buggy.
- Family sheltered Confederate soldiers.
- Friend of Sam Davis
