Women Soldiers in the American Civil War

[erpowers]

An episode of Mercy Street, a Civil War drama on PBS started me thinking about the issue of female soldiers during the American Civil War. In the episode, a Union soldier walked into a Union hospital and demanded that the hospital staff help his friend. Eventually, it came out that the male soldier who brought in his friend was actually a female, who had fallen in love with the male soldier she brought to the hospital.

For years I had heard that women disguised themselves as men in order to fight in the American Civil War. After seeing that episode I decided to do a little more research about the issue. I was able to find a Washington Post article that claimed women had in fact served in the Civil War. However, the evidence the article presented seemed a little thin. The article states that an estimated 400-1000 women fought in the Civil War. However, the article also stated that only one woman's letters (Rosetta Wakeman) are still available. Wakeman's letters were only published in 1994 after a dust up over a female historian being told that she could not participate in a Civil War reenactment because she was a female. If 400-1000 women served in the Civil War why is only one record remaining? It seems there are multiple letters and diaries from men who fought in the Civil War. Why were Wakeman's letters only published after a dustup over a female participating in a Civil War reenactment?

I am not out to debunk the idea of women fighting in the Civil War. I would be okay if it were proven that women had fought in the Civil War. I just wonder if the stories are true. Is there really that much valid information supporting the idea that women actually fought in the Civil War?

So, do DUer believe women actually fought in the Civil War? I realize that we as a country are dealing with bigger issues, but I would still like to talk about women and the Civil War.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/women-soldiers-fought-bled-and-died-in-the-civil-war-then-were-forgotten/2013/04/26/fa722dba-a1a2-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html?utm_term=.948fbd229442#comments

[Doreen]

1. I have heard little side stories of women who disguised themselves

and fought in the Civil War but I do not know if they were factual and I do not remember the specific stories. I am not sure what the men would have done to the women if they found out that the soldier that was fighting well next to them was a woman. We know what they did to Joan of Arc for being a woman and fighting.

[Warpy]

2. Women in drag have fought in all wars

It was just easier back in the bad old days of low literacy and no birth certificates or other paperwork. Women also served as sailors, doing the jobs usually done by boys like the dangerous powder monkey job.

You will find scant historical references because staying hidden was the name of the game. With marriage, the church, and the street being the only employment for women, it's no wonder some took the chance to do a boy's job and get away with it as long as possible.

[kiranerys]

3. Maybe not many women's letters were archived, but there are records

I was reading about this a few months ago actually, and read that a number of soldiers' bodies found at Antietam were female.

Oh, here's a page from a civil war forum that I'd came across at that time, with scans of period newspaper clips about wounded soldiers who'd been discovered to be women: http://civilwartalk.com/threads/female-soldiers-eight-at-south-mountain.116583/

And here's from the National Archives, including quoting from accounts of the day, and a photo of a female soldier. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-1.html

[MyMission]

4. I thought you were talking about the current civil war

When I clicked on your post, I thought of the women's march and activism that has followed. (LOL)
We have always been warriors when the need arose. Mostly women had to dress and act like men in order to be a soldier, but there are many stories of heroic women.
This made me wonder if women had been able to vote and participate in politics back then, what might have been different. I enjoy hearing about women who take actions to make things happen. It's inspiring.