History 269 The Civil War and Reconstruction
Uncommon Valor: Women Soldiers in the Civil War
Sarah Edmonds (alias Frank Thompson)
2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Three million soldiers served in the War Between the States. The vast majority on both sides were volunteers. Why did they rush to join the army? That is a simple question but the answer is not at all simple. They joined for many different reasons: patriotism, political ambition, bravado, peer pressure, financial gain, and a thirst for adventure. At first it was, indeed, a great adventure: a chance to prove one’s metal in what was expected to be a 90-day war. But before long, certainly by the time of Shiloh in February 1862, soldiers no longer had stars in their eyes. It was a horribly nasty business and everyone knew it. Still they kept on volunteering and fighting, month after month, year after year.The North had a population advantage from the start: 4.6 million to 1.1 million adult white males. Before long, manpower shortages began to plague the Confederate Army, and the Confederate Congress enacted a conscription law in April 1862. Men age 18-35 were drafted for three years' service. Exempted were civil servants (government employees and politicians), clergymen, apothecaries, teachers, militia officers, and workers in war-production jobs. A second conscription law exempted planters with twenty or more slaves and allowed drafted men to hire substitutes (thus the phrase, "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"). Several increasingly strong conscription laws followed as the South's manpower needs became more desperate, and reluctance to voluntary enlistment steadily increased (as did the number of deserters). Likewise in the North, enthusiasm for war soon turned into weariness. Secretary of War Stanton tried to stimulate volunteering with the threat of conscription if quotas weren't met, and this helped for about six months. Then in March 1863 Congress passed the Enrollment Act, making all able-bodied citizens age 20-45 eligible for the draft. The federal government also offered a $300 bounty for three-year enlistments. Unlike the Confederate draft, there were no exemptions for selected occupations, but the law did allow for the hiring of substitutes.
In the Confederate Army, from beginning to end, there were 610,000 volunteers, 120,000 draftees, and 70,000 paid substitutes. About 100,000 Confederate soldiers were immigrants. Records indicate that 61 percent came from farms, 14 percent were skilled laborers, 9 percent were unskilled laborers, 12 percent were professionals (doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers, managers, etc.), and 4 percent were in other or unknown occupations. On the Union side, there were 2 million volunteers, 120,000 paid substitutes, and 50,000 draftees. Approximately 500,000 Union troops were immigrants, and 190,000 were African-Americans. Their occupational breakdown was similar to the Confederates: 48 percent of all Union soldiers were from farms, 25 percent were skilled laborers, 16 percent were unskilled laborers, 8 percent were professionals, and 3 percent were in other or unknown occupations. In the end, a total of 620,000 soldiers died in the war: 360,000 Federals and 260,000 Confederates. Most of the deaths (400,000) were due to illness. A total of 700,000 soldiers were wounded in battle, including 200,000 fatalities.
Buried somewhere in all of these statistics are perhaps 500 or more women soldiers. Women were not allowed to serve in either army, officially, so there are few records, mostly anecdotal evidence from letters, diaries, and contemporary newspapers. Once discovered, usually during treatment for illness or battle wounds, they were promptly discharged. What motivated these women to masquerade as men and endure the hardships and horrors of wartime military service? How did they get in? How did they perform? It is a fascinating and, until recently, largely untold story.
Traditional accounts of the Civil War depict women as “self-sacrificing nurses, romantic spies, or brave ladies maintaining the home front in the absence of their men. Men were not the only ones to march off to war. Women bore arms and charged into battle, too. Women lived in germ-ridden camps, languished in appalling prisons, and died miserably, but honorably, for their country and cause just as men did.” Why did women defy social convention and sneak into the army? We need to look no further than the reasons men were inspired to enlist: patriotism, war fever, escape from home, for the bounties and pay, or for the adventure. (Blanton and Cook, They Fought Like Demons)
In addition, a large number of women joined the army to be with loved ones: a husband, sweetheart, brother, or father. Sarah Malinda Blalock enlisted with her husband Keith in the 26th North Carolina Infantry. Lucy Thompson Gauss went to war with her husband Bryant, both serving in the 18th North Carolina Infantry. She went home in the advanced stages of pregnancy, and her husband died of wounds received at Fredericksburg. After giving birth to their daughter, she returned to the Confederate army in an unsuccessful effort to retrieve her husband’s body and take it home for burial. Melverina Peppercorn joined the Confederate army with her twin brother Alexander. She quit the army when Alexander was shot in the leg and sent to a hospital. She went with him as his nurse; then both returned to the army when his leg was healed. Frances Hook, who used the alias Frank Miller, enlisted in the Union army with her brother, as did Sarah Collins, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl, who went to war with her brother Mason. Jane Perkins, captured by Union troops in the spring of 1864, said she enlisted in the Confederate army with her brother. A woman who took the alias Pvt. Joseph Davidson went to war with her father, and both fought at Chickamauga, where he was killed. She continued in the army following his death and served for a total of three years. A majority of women soldiers came from working-class, farming, or frontier backgrounds. One exception was Mary Ann Clark, the college-educated daughter of a prosperous Southern minister, who joined the Confederate army under an assumed name.
"Enlisting was surprisingly easy. All a woman had to do was cut her hair short, don male clothing, pick an alias, and find the nearest recruiter, regiment, or army camp." (In the 19th century individuals did not carry personal identification. Indeed, most people did not even have a birth certificate. Both men and women were free to assume any identity they chose simply by moving to a place where no one knew them and creating a new persona.) All recruits were subjected to a physical examination prior to being mustered into service, but in truth, the Civil War medical exam was frequently circumvented with the large number of volunteers and pressure to quickly fill regimental ranks. Officially, army regulations dictated that doctors thoroughly check each recruit for signs of illness or disability, but physical exams were often cursory at best. For the most part, "recruiters and physicians only looked for reasonable height, at least a partial set of teeth with which to tear open powder cartridges, and the presence of a trigger finger. All but the obviously deaf, blind and lame were usually accepted into the service." (Blanton and Cook)
It has been estimated that approximately 300 women served in the Union Army and 200 served in the Confederate Army. In such small numbers they certainly did not alter the course of the war. Their importance lies in the fact that they were there even though they were not supposed to be. And by all accounts they performed successfully with remarkable courage and honor. Fifteen percent of women soldiers sustained battle wounds; eleven percent died while in military service. Interestingly, three out of four deaths were due to combat rather than disease, the inverse ratio to that of men. Women had a combined casualty rate of 44 percent (compared to 30 percent for men). Eighteen percent of women soldiers were captured by the enemy. Remarkably, their promotion rate of 14 percent was higher than that of men (10 percent). The average length of service for women soldiers was sixteen months. Seventy-two percent of women soldiers were discovered as casualties or by accident, 17 percent eventually served openly as women, and 10 percent of the known women soldiers were never discovered while in the service. In their performance as soldiers, women differed little from their male comrades. They received no special consideration due to their gender and, posing as men, were given the same assignments in camp life and on the battlefield as men.
Women soldiers are known to have been present as combatants in numerous battles and skirmishes throughout the war. Louisa Hoffman, Frances Jamieson, Sarah Emma Edmonds (alias Union Pvt. Franklin Thompson), and Loreta Janet Velazquez (alias Confederate Lt. Harry Buford) were present at First Manassas. Edmonds also fought in the entire Seven Days’ Battles, Second Manassas, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. At least two women were at Fort Donelson in Tennessee: Union soldier Frances Louisa Clayton and the intrepid "Lt. Buford" (who also fought at Shiloh). Eight women are known to have fought in the Battle of Antietam. At least three women fought at Stones River, including one Union sergeant who was five months pregnant! Marian McKenzie, a fair, blue-eyed private who stood just five feet two inches tall, served throughout the Shenandoah Valley campaign under the alias Henry Fitzallen. Jennie Hodgers, alias Albert Cashiers of the 95th Illinois, fought in at least forty battles or skirmishes. Five women are known to have fought at Gettysburg: two Union and three Confederate. One of the Confederate women was shot and captured. Her secret was revealed when Union medical staff removed her pants for surgical amputation of her wounded leg. The other two were casualties of Pickett’s charge. Their gender was discovered by the Union burial detail. Their names are unknown.
On Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, General Lee signed the formal terms for surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. After the surrender, a Union soldier made the following entry in his journal: “The remains of a woman in Confederate uniform were found between the lines near the Appomattox River.” She was killed just one day before her comrades lay down their arms. Who she was, how long she served, and how many more women died in combat, their bodies hastily buried without the discovery of their gender, remains a mystery.
© 2006 David C. Hanson, Virginia Western Community College
