When the War Between the States broke out in 1861, 23-year-old Antonia Ford (1838-1871) was living a life of quiet comfort in Fairfax, Virginia. Her father Edward, whose family had long been established in the Old Dominion, was a prosperous merchant and
the foremost citizen of the little community surrounding the country court house. Antonia's brother Charles enlisted in the Confederate Army, serving as a lieutenant in J E B Stuart's Horse Artillery before losing his life in combat at the Battle of Brandy Station, and the family opened its home to Southern troops stationed near the court house. When the Army of the Potomac moved out of Washington, DC, in June of 1861 on its way to what would become the Battle of First
Manassas, its path led through Fairfax Court House. An intense skirmish with Confederate troops near the court house resulted in the death of John Quincy Marr, the first Confederate officer to die in battle. Southern troops evacuated Fairfax following the skirmish, and Union troops occupied the town. Federal soldiers moved in to the Ford home and used it much as their Confederate counterparts had done.
The presence of Federal officers under her roof did nothing to diminish Antonia's enthusiasm for the Southern cause. She listened carefully to all that was said and watched all that was done and reported as much as she could to J E B STUART, whose troops were
in the area of Fairfax Court House. On at least one occasion, just before the Battle of Second Manassas in August 1862, she saved Southern troops from certain disaster by reporting a Union plan to use Confederate colors to draw them away from assigned positions.
Because no one could be prevailed upon to deliver the message for her, she drove herself 20 miles by carriage through the rain and past Union troops to deliver the intelligence to Stuart.
In recognition of this exploit and of her other many services, Stuart awarded her a commission as an honorary aide-de-camp on October 7, 1861. In December of 1862, with his infantry at Fairfax Station and his cavalry in nearby Vienna, Union Brigadier General Edwin
Stoughton established his headquarters at Fairfax Court House. Antonia monitored the movements of Union troops and officers as well as she could and reported to Stuart and to John Singleton Mosby, a commander of irregulars whose men had been raiding Union supplies and otherwise harassing Northern troops for some time.
Antonia, suspected of spying for the Confederacy was deceived by Lafayette Baker (Frankie Abel), a female agent posing as a refugee from New Orleans. She was given the task of gaining Antonia's confidence.
Dressed in faded calico, Frankie Abel fooled the residents of Fairfax as well as Antonia. She was taken in by the Fords, who gave her stylish clothes to wear and a place to stay. She and Antonio
traded stories of their service to the Confederacy. After Frankie's departure for New Orleans a few days later, Federal agents moved in quickly and placed Antonia and her father under arrest. The elder Ford was released shortly thereafter, but Antonia was held until
May 20, when she was exchanged. She was, however, soon rearrested and escorted to Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Ironically, the Union officer who had delivered her to the prison, Major Joseph Willard, had been quite taken with Antonia before her arrest and had been courting her. During her confinement, Major Willard worked diligently to win her release and in the wake of his eventual success proposed to Antonia.
Willard resigned his Army commission, and on March 10, 1864, he and Antonia were married. After just seven years of marriage and the birth of three children, Antonia passed away and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Many were convinced that her untimely death was a direct result of her confinement in Old Capitol. Joseph never remarried and died a recluse in 1897.