In the summer of 1862, Katherine (Kate) Chase, 22, was the toast of Washington. “The Belle of the North,” she hosted parties that brought together the leading Republican politicians and the Union’s military brass. General Carl Schurz declared that there was “something imperial in the pose of the head, and all her movements possessed an exquisite natural charm. No wonder that she came to be admired as a great beauty and broke many hearts. After the usual commonplaces, the conversation at the breakfast table, in which Miss Kate took a lively and remarkably intelligent part, soon turned itself upon politics.”
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