Carroll, Anna Ella (1815-1893)

US political writer. During the US Civil War, she wrote in favour of the Union cause with such pamphlets as War Powers of the Central Government (1861). After the war she claimed she had suggested General Ulysses S Grant's Tennessee River strategy of 1862, which led to victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson, but many historians have questioned this claim.

She was born near Pocomoke County, Maryland. Descended from old Maryland families, she was taught primarily by her father, Thomas Carroll, who served as governor 1830-31; the family fell on hard times by 1837 and for some 15 years her activities are vague. In 1854 she emerged as a supporter of the Know-Nothing Party, publishing books and articles attacking the Catholics.