Women who disguised themselves as men and went to war

[RJNorton]

Back in the days when I was teaching I used to mention to the class that a few women dressed as men and served in the Civil War. Regarding the actual number, I believe my textbook said something like "a handful." But there is an article on the Smithsonian website that says the actual number was about 400. I had no idea the number was that high. The article is here.

[BettyO]

Interesting article - but found at least one error to wit:

The Confederacy never actually established an age requirement.

The Confederacy DID have an obvious age requirement - one had to be 18 years old and a lot of boys claimed that they were "over 18" while standing on a piece of paper marked "18" placed inside their shoe. Lew Powell was one who had to receive parental permission in order to enlist at age 17.

However, the fact of female enlistment in the Union army seemed to be more prevalent or better documented than that in the Confederate army. There are many instances where women successfully "pulled off" their enlistment and managed to hide it from just about everyone. One woman (I think it was Francis Clayton) comes to mind as she maintained her "male ruse" years after the war and was not discovered until she was struck by an auto in the early years of the 20th Century, injured and taken to the hospital where her actual sex was discovered.

Women still continued to "battle" for their respective sanctions - North and South as women, working as spies as well. This seemed more prevalent in the South than in the North....

One who insisted on wearing quasi-male costume (i.e. "Bloomer" Costume - still ultimately feminine dress despite it's connotations) was of course, Dr. Mary Walker. Although she insisted on wearing controversial dress and riding astride as only men did in the Victorian era, a divorced woman, (also scandalous for that era) she did NOT pass as male. Later in the century, however, she insisted strictly on male dress; i.e. complete male three-piece suits.

[Laurie Verge]

I know that over the past decade or so more research has been done and the documented evidence has pushed the numbers of women who served as soldiers upwards. One of the Surratt Society members (and a wonderful speaker), Dr. Elizabeth Leonard of Colby College in Maine, wrote a book entitled All the Daring of a Soldier about the women in uniform. Another author, whose name I can't remember as usual, wrote something similar.

One of our volunteers at Surratt House is researching a female who was a prisoner at Point Lookout in Maryland and actually gave birth to a son during her incarceration as a soldier POW.

[Laurie Verge]

My brain is back in gear. The other author and book that I was trying to remember is They Fought Like Demons, written by DeAnne Blanton and Lauren Cook. DeAnne also spoke at a Surratt meeting and was very good.

Most of you are probably familiar with Sarah Edmonds's book on her exploits as a "male" soldier, nurse, and spy in a Michigan unit. I also ran across reference to a fairly recent book (2008) entitled I'll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, written by Anita Silvey.

[LincolnMan]

Being a military veteran myself it is hard to imagine how a female could accomplish such a feat-much less 400 of them!

[HerbS]

In the book-"Secret Missions of the Civil War"by Philip Van Doren Stern.He writes of women in the Civil War dressed as men and also being spys.This book is very interesting and useful!

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BettyO-Dr.Mary Walker was a piece of "work"until the day she died!

[MaddieM]

This page reveals some stories. I laughed at this particular one.

Some women went out of the way to practice acting "masculine" in order to conceal their gender. Loreta Janeta Velazquez wore a false mustache and practiced a swagger. She also wore a chain-metal corset-like affair to disguise her form. In her memoirs she reports ruefully that her specially designed outfit kept getting "out of order" and she was frequently stopped and questioned.

nothing worse that disobedient underwear.

http://www.cevsite.com/civilwomen.htm