She Was A Soldier Too by Diane Wylie

She Was A Soldier Too
By Diane Wylie
Author of Secrets and Sacrifices

"I am a soldier too."

You may remember those poignant words spoken by Jessica Lynch of the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company when her rescuers came to get her from that Iraqi hospital where she was being held prisoner.

While women today can openly enlist in the military, women of our past had no such freedom. Women were able to serve as nurses or camp followers, and, sometimes, as spies. During the U.S. Civil War, women like Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow became household names due to their daring exploits spying for their chosen armies.

Less known in our history has been the role of a woman as a fighting soldier. What's that you say? There were no women soldiers back then? Not so. Many people don't know about the nineteenth century women who put aside their wide skirts and bonnets, cut their hair, donned trousers and passed themselves off as a man.

How could that happen? Just how would a woman sneak into the army in 1861? I got the answer to that question and many more from a fascinating book called All the Daring of the Soldier-Women of the Civil War Armies by Elizabeth D. Leonard.

First of all, why would a woman enlist in the army, knowing they would be marching off to war? The reasons were many. Like the men, some were called to service by patriotic duty, some to escape their dreary lives, and some to earn a much-needed paycheck. But, unlike the men, some women enlisted to follow their loved one, unable to bear the idea that he should be gone from her side. Bingo! I was hooked by that notion. I had to learn more. As a historical romance novelist, I smelled a great plot idea.

In her book, Leonard claims that "probably somewhere between five hundred and a thousand women, who disguised themselves as men, enlisted as full-fledged soldiers during the Civil War." While Ms. Leonard goes on to cite well-documented cases, complete with names like Deborah Sampson, Sara Edmonds, and Jennie Hodgers, I wanted to know more intimate details.

How could a female enlist in the first place? Wouldn't she be noticed right off, short hair or not? Women are generally smaller in stature, have more highly pitched voices, and are quite beardless. Who would miss that?

To understand how they could enlist, you need to take into consideration mid-nineteenth century military life. So great was the need for recruits on both sides, that a physical examination, if performed at all, was very perfunctory. Sometimes the exam was nothing more than demonstrating the presence of a trigger finger or opening one's mouth to show teeth strong enough to tear open a powder cartridge.

In addition, there were so many young men and boys signing up, some as young as fifteen, that one more smooth-skinned, small boy would not attract undue notice. Because of the way people dressed during that time period, the mentality of the day was, "if it wore pants, it was male."

Okay. Our lady could make it past the enlistment process. What about the physical demands on a soldier of the time? It had to be difficult. The women, just like the raw male recruits had to learn to carry forty to fifty pounds of gear—gun, bayonet, scabbard, ammunition, blanket, canteen, cooking implements, rations, clothing, etc. You can only imagine how many troops had sore muscles, male or female. Since army recruits of the time came from all walks of life, a male clerk struggling to handle his gear would draw no more attention than the young "boy" doing the same.

I still had questions. What about personal hygiene and bodily needs?

Camp life for both Confederate and Union troops, as it turns out, was not terribly restrictive. This would enable a careful woman to take care of her needs by just walking off into the trees and brush, away from prying eyes. In addition, the uniforms of the day were loose fitting to accommodate many different body types…and you normally only received one. Therefore, soldiers of the time rarely changed their clothing. While smelly, another problem for our lady soldier was solved.

Then there was the strictly feminine issue of a young woman's monthly cycle. How did a female soldier deal with that and avoid detection? In her book, Leonard puts forth the argument that many women soldiers probably became lean and athletic from the long arduous marches and simply stopped menstruating. Others might have managed to dispose of the evidence of their menstrual periods by burying it or sneaking it in with the similar-looking cloth from the hospital tents.

With all of these arguments, I became convinced that it could be done…and, in fact, was done. But I had one more question. With all of these ways to escape detection, did the women get caught?

Some were never discovered. Jennie Hodgers, who called herself, "Otto Schaffer," survived the war and lived out the rest of her life as a man. She spent most of her days living as a hermit. The Chicago Times-Herald published the story of "Schaffer," the war veteran's death when a bolt of lightning destroyed "his" cabin. It was the coroner who discovered the old soldier's secret, and "his" identity as a woman was revealed at last.

Other female soldiers were discovered sooner. Some upon being wounded during battle, the most obvious end to her military career. In some cases, however, a female soldier gave herself away by an inadvertent act. One lady aroused suspicion by her "unmasculine manner of putting on her shoes and stockings." Another gave herself away because her table manners were too good!

So ardent were some female soldiers in their desire to remain in the army that some, upon being put out of one regiment, would assume a new name and reenlist in another.

I was fascinated! Now I wanted to create a strong, passionate female character who would enlist in the Confederate army. Thus, Charlotte "Charlie" Garrett was born in my imagination. She would follow her husband to war, and learn to spit, burp, and shoot like a man.

While writing Secrets and Sacrifices, published by Vinspire Publishing, I thoroughly enjoyed the research I needed to bring Charlie and her friends to life. She is my fictional tribute to the brave ladies who fought so many years ago, and to those who continue to do so today.

Reference
Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier-Women of the Civil War Armies, New York, NY, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1999.

Links to purchase Secrets and Sacrifices:

Books-a-million
http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?id=3581654776801&isbn=0978536851

Barnes and Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780978536855&itm=3

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978536851/ref=cm_plog_item_link/104-7187174-1067106?ie=UTF8

Vinspire Publishing

http://www.vrpublishing.com/book_pages/secrets_and_sacrifices.html

For more information you can visit Diane Wylie's website at http://www.dianewylie.com/.