WOMEN
SOLDIERS, SPIES AND VIVANDIERES:
Articles from Civil War Newspapers
CHARLESTON MERCURY, May
14, 1861, p. 4, c. 3
Thirty women were discovered in Ellsworth's zouaves after the regiment
arrived in Washington. They were
sent home. The Zouaves, we fear,
are not all of the highest moral character.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, May
23, 1861, p. 1, c. 7
The Vivandiere of the Monroe Rifles.--A noble spirited young lady--Miss
Leona Neville--has volunteered her aid and services as nurse to the ranks of the
Monroe Rifles, attached to Col. Hunt's Regiment.
The ceremony of her formal reception to this sturdy band of soldiers took
place at their headquarters on Julia street last evening, and was witnessed by a
large number of ladies and gentlemen. She
was presented to Lieut. Hinckly, of the Rifles, by their commander, Capt.
Benjamin, in a very excellent and impressive speech, and the Lieutenant formally
presented her to the soldiers, who welcomed her with all the deference and
respect which careful, soldierly training can instill into the military man. The young lady had of her own free will chosen to brave the
dangers of the battle-field, and must indeed be nerved by the fortitude of a--we
like to have said, "hero"--well, "hero" be it, for she
looked the hero, with her nicely-fitting black alapaca [sic] uniform.--N. O.
Delta, 16th.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 28, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
Two-Hundred Colt's Revolvers Under a Pretty Woman's Hoop.—A
correspondent writes from Kentucky to a Cincinnati paper:
Over two hundred of the finest Colt revolvers I ever saw have been
purchased in Cincinnati, at various times and places, within the last two weeks
(no thanks to the Eggleston vigilance mob) and conveyed out of the city under
the hoops of one of the fairest and most distinguished of Kentucky's daughters,
and sent by trusty agents to her friends in the interior of the State.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, June 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 3
An Amazon.—Mary W. Dennis, six feet two inches high, is 1st
Lieutenant of the Stillwater company, Minnesota regiment.
She baffled even the inspection of the surgeon of the regiment in
discovering her sex, but was recognized by a St. Paul printer, who became
shockingly frightened at her threats of vengeance upon him if he exposed her,
and he decamped.
CAIRO
[IL] CITY WEEKLY NEWS, June 13, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
An Incident of the War.--The following incident occurring, as related, at
Camp Dennison, Ohio, probably has its parallel, at many other camps, even if not
yet discovered:
"At Camp Dennison, the other day, a remarkably soft voiced young
soldier begged the Colonel of his regiment to exchange him from a company in one
letter of the alphabet to another. His
associations were not pleasant.
Something in the demeanor of this young soldier interested the
Colonel.--For a moment he scanned him with the eyes of the American eagle--and
this, since the secession dust is no longer thrown in his eyes, is a very
sharp-sighted bird--and thus said:
"Young man, you are a woman!"
The young woman burst into tears, and confessed that she was not what she
seemed to be. It is not a strange
story to be true! [sic?] She
volunteered that she might follow her lover to the wars.
She had been in camp three weeks, performing all the duties of a soldier.
She had passed surgical inspection, and was regularly sworn into the
service."
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE,
June 15, 1861, p. 4, c. 1
NEW USE FOR HOOPS.--A correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes the
following:
Women,
Pistols and Strategy!--Abolition Republicans are frightened at the shadow of a
ghost, as was Lieutenant Jones at Harper's Ferry, and Commodore Pendergrast at
Norfolk, the proof of which is now historic record. Let such men know that a fierce and bloody rencounter [sic]
awaits them, when, I tell you that over two hundred of the finest Colt's
revolvers I ever saw have been purchased in Cincinnati, at various times and
places, within the last two weeks, (no thanks to the Eggleston vigilance mob)
and conveyed out of the city under the hoops of one of the fairest and most
distinguished of Kentucky's daughters, and sent by trusty agents to her friends
in the interior of the State. Oh,
crinoline, thou art a jewel!
A Kentucky Subscriber.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], June 25, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
This evening I had the pleasure of seeing two young ladies from
Northwestern Virginia, who are worthy to be the sisters of these heroes.
They are Miss Mary McLeod and Miss Addie Kerr, of Fairmount, in Marion
county. Hearing that the enemy had
reached Fairmount, en route to Philippa, they informed themselves of the number
of his forces and the hour of his departure, and then mounted their horses and
rode day and night, unattended, until they reached the doomed town.
They were frequently stopped on the road, and various difficulties were
thrown in their way, but brave and resolute as Nancy Hart, they surmounted every
obstacle, and at last arrived at Philippa, having ridden a distance of
thirty-five miles without once stopping for food or rest.
Had their timely warning been heeded, Philippa might have been saved.
But disastrous as the affair at that place was, it might have been much
worse; for it has been ascertained, that but for the heroic conduct of these
brave girls--not yet out of their teens--the whole Confederate force at Philippa
would have been captured.
All honor to Mary McLeod and Addie Kerr!
A.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August
4, 1861, p.3, c. 2
Female Hessian and Her Companion.--Capt. Fremaux and Wm. S. Read, of the 8th
Louisiana Regiment, arrived on Wednesday evening, with the first female
prisoner, a Mrs. Curtis, who was captured at Fall's Church on Sunday last,
dressed in military clothes. She
belongs, it appears, to the 2d N. Y. Regiment.
The woman was on horseback at the time.--Richmond Dispatch, 2d.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, August 6, 1861, p. 1, c. 3
The Yankee "Spy."—The female prisoner, brought to this city
Wednesday, proves to be a Mrs. Curtis, of Rochester, N. Y., sister of a member
of the Rochester Regiment. She is
quite young, but by no means prepossessing.—The sleeves of her dress are
ornamented with yellow tape chevrons, and the jocky [sic] hat which she wears is
tucked upon one side with a brass bugle, indicating military associations. She is quite talkative, and does not disguise her animosity
against the South. Lodgings have
been provided for her in a private house.
[Richmond Whig.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August
7, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
A Female Spy.--A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, writing from
Western Virginia, says: "A female spy has been discovered in the first Kentucky
regiment. She is from Georgia, and
enlisted at Cincinnati. She was
detected by writing information in regard to the movements of our troops to the
enemy. She is a member of the
Knights of the Golden Circle, says she knows the punishment of a spy is death,
and is ready for her fate. She is
to be sent to Columbus.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], August 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 3
A Female Spy.--The correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, writing
from Western Virginia, says a female spy has been discovered in the First
Kentucky Regiment. She is from Georgia, and enlisted at Cincinnati.
She was detected by writing information in regard to the movements of our
troops to the enemy. She is a member of the Knights of Golden Circle, says she
knows the punishment of a spy is death, and is ready for her fate.
She is to be sent to Columbus.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, August 8, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
Don't Hurt That Woman.—The papers speak of a
Georgia woman who has been detected in what is known as the "First
Kentucky Regiment," (Lincoln,) in Western Virginia, and arrested as a spy.
When interrogated as to her object, she boldly avowed that she was in the
service of her native and beloved South, and desired the vengeance of its
invaders; she knew her fate, and as a patriot she was ready to meet it.
She was sent to Columbus, Ohio.
We hope our Government will see to it that this patriotic woman does not
suffer the penalty of death, whatever may be the ransom.
Spare two spies on our side, or exchange five hundred prisoners of war,
before a hair of her head shall be touched.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, September 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Among the ladies recently arrested and now in Lincoln's dungeons at
Washington, is Miss Mary J. Windle, a lady of cultivated literary tastes and a
well known contributor to the newspaper and periodical literature.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], October
10, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
A Vivandiere.--A really beautiful and exquisitely formed lady, a
vivandiere, of the 14th Louisiana regiment, was in the city this morning and
created considerable curiosity on the streets.
She is in company with several officers of the regiment.
She is dressed in full costume--short dress, &c.,--and is very
beautiful. She is en route for
Virginia.--Mont. Mail, 7th.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], October 26, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
Col. Simkins and the Vivandiere.
Col. Arthur Simkins, Editor of the Edgefield Advertiser, has a very
pleasant and noticeable feature in his sprightly paper.
He prepared each week a column or so of lively gossip for the soldiers
who are at the wars, written in an [illegible] and racy style, which, from the
local news it gives, must prove as valuable to many of them as a letter from
home. We read this column with a
real relish. The extract which
follows is the Colonel's latest. The
Vivandiere referred to is the same
lady whom we mentioned recently as being in Augusta. It seems she has committed matrimony during her sojourn in
Edgefield:
But while we are in a joking way, suffer us to tell you the upshot of the
Vivandiere exhibition, of which we forewarned our readers last week, and which
came of in due time. And a pretty
"come off" it was. Having
two excitable boys in charge we went early--Hall lightey--old friend Sherry at
the door--"nobody come yet?"--"not yet"--"where is the
Vivandiere?"--"behind the scenes"--waited and waited--a goodly
number of boys gradually congregated and three or four seniors--but where was
the music?--it had entirely failed--never do to give it up so--"come in,
boys, the curtain's about to rise"--chink, chink sounded the quarters in
Sherry's open palm--"how much in hand?"--"about six and a
half"--"good, she must go it on that"--"rap away boys,"
and out she came--flung around the stage in high style without
music--tremendous applause--sung a song insisting that some special member
of the swine family should persistently continue to upturn the earth with his
proboscis or perish in the effort--uproarious shouts of approbation--flung
around the stage again without music,
bringing up in the centre [sic] with one of the fastest shuffles you never
didn't see--bang, bang, slap, dash, over went a table amid screams of
delight--came on again--threw a knife at a plant three times--hit it of course
and retired amid the most deafening and diversified demonstrations from Young
Edgefield--the whole performance having occupied the space of eleven
minutes and two seconds.
Have you ever laughed until it hurt you?
Such was our predicament that night.
But this was not all. Just
as we had climbed into our wagon and were clucking to arouse old grey, up rushed
our good friend, E. M. P., earnestly exclaiming "hold on there--its not all
over yet--make haste here--quick." Thinking
that at the least a monkey was to be choked or a kangaroo harnessed, we
half-fell out of the wagon, hurried after our file-leader and soon found ourself
entering the Planter's Hotel with a small and shady party.
In the mean time our guide had whispered "hush, you'll see it
directly--that's the Squire ahead--come along."
The fire was burning low in the bar-room of the Planter's as we entered,
with slow and softened tread;--the proprietor seemed to be dozing in his chair
and somebody in another chair was nodding as well as we could see by the dying
embers.
Through the bar room into the dining hall, and all was pitch dark.
"Which way?" "Here,
come on, follow me." So
we did, very cautiously. At length
a door-hinge squeals, the lights from a chamber breaks forth upon us, we enter,
and there they stood in bridal array. "Would
you believe it? the Vivandiere,
Miss Lavinia Williams, still in costume, and her charge, Mr. Silas Washington,
late of Brooks, ready and a-waiting to commit matrimony!
We hereby take pleasure in entering upon the record that the knot was
duly tied by Squire J. Abney, who accompanied the ceremony with some appropriate
remarks. He [illegible] we help
exclaiming with Turnus in the Aeneid, "Livinia est tua conjux."
But here ends the joke, for "marriage is honorable in all," and
it was with respect and a certain degree of esteem that we severally wished them
well and quietly took our leave.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 16, 1862, p. 4, c. 1
A young widow woman named McDonald, was discharged from Col. Boone's
Regiment, at Paraquet Springs, Kentucky last week, where she had been serving as
a private, dressed in regimentals, for some time.
This was her second offence, she having once before been discharged from
a regiment.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, January 16, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
A Female Spy on Horseback.—The Washington correspondent of the New York
Post relates the following incidents:
A horseman, clad in a sort of cavalry costume with a heavy overcoat and
slouched hat, had been noticed for some time dashing about the city in rather a
conspicuous manner. At last the
authorities felt themselves warranted in arresting him, and accordingly, one
morning, when trotting down Pennsylvania avenue, he found himself suddenly
surrounded by a file of soldiers, and was carried off to prison.
But the funniest part was to come. The
investigation that followed resulted not only in the discovery of certain
papers, but also of the fact that the cavalier was a woman.
How long she had been at the game it is impossible to guess.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 17, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
A
Female Spy on Horseback
The Washington correspondent of the New York Post relates the following
incident:
A horseman, clad in a sort of cavalry costume, with a heavy overcoat and
slouched hat, had been noticed for some time dashing about the city in rather a
suspicious manner. At last the
authorities felt themselves warranted in arresting him, and accordingly, one
morning, when trotting down Pennsylvania avenue, he found himself suddenly
surrounded by a file of soldiers, and was carried off to prison.
But the funniest part was to come. The
investigation that followed resulted not only in the discovery of certain
papers, but also of the fact that the cavalier was a woman.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, January 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
A Female Spy on Horseback.—The Washington correspondent of the New York
Post relates the following incident:
A horseman, clad in a sort of cavalry costume, with a heavy overcoat and
slouched hat, had been noticed for some time dashing about the city in rather a
suspicious manner. At last the
authorities felt themselves warranted in arresting him, and accordingly one
morning, when trotting down Pennsylvania Avenue, he found himself suddenly
surrounded by a file of soldiers, and was carried off to prison.
But the funniest part was yet to come.
The investigation resulted not only in the discovery of certain papers,
but also of the fact that the cavalier was a woman.
How long she had been at the game it is impossible to guess.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE,
February 22, 1862, p. 4, c. 3
The distress among the poor at the North is so great that their papers give
account of women, dressed in men's clothes, enlisting as privates in the army.
A widow McDonald has been detected in several regiments and discharged as
many times--Arkansas True Democrat.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], March 6, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Railroad Accident--A Sad Romance.--An accident occurred on Wednesday
evening, on the E. T. & Ga. Railroad,
by which several persons were injured, one fatally.
The train which was bringing the 23d Alabama Regiment to this city, ran
off the track, a few miles this side of Cleveland, wrecking the train badly.
A girl, in uniform, who was with the rest of the soldiers without
revealing her sex, but who did not belong to this regiment, was sitting on the
platform of one of the cars, and had her legs so badly crushed that amputation
was necessary, and both were taken off, but without avail; and death put an end
to her sufferings last night. She
gave her name as Lilly White, and told a sad story of woman's wrongs.
She had disguised herself in male attire, and joined this regiment with
the expectation of finding her deceiver, who is in the army, and avenging her
shame. A few of the soldiers were
slightly wounded but none others seriously.
This poor girl's fate is another warning against the danger of sitting on
the platforms of railroad cars in traveling.--Knox. Reg. Feb. 28th.
DUBUQUE
HERALD, April 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
A Female Acting as Lieutenant on the Potomac.--The Troy Budget learns from a
private correspondence that one of the companies on the Potomac has been for a
short time in command of a good-looking Lieutenant, who turns out to be a lady
from that city. Being a woman she
could not well put away womanish ways, and she was arraigned before a military
tribunal, where she plead guilty to the charge of belonging to what is generally
denominated the softer sex. It
would seem that she was engaged to the Captain of the company and adopted what
she considered the best, if not the most proper way of manifesting her
attachment to him. We presume that she was tendered leave of absence as a result
of the investigation.
CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, April 18, 1862, p. 4, c. 2
A Romantic Female.
On Sunday evening as an officer of the North Division was patrolling his
beat at a late hour of the night, his attention was called to a woman found
standing at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Clark streets, having a small
bundle in her arms. He accosted
her, learned that she had no place to stay and kindly took her to the station
house, where she was transferred to the Police Court, told her story, and was
discharged, there being no testimony adduced that she was other than a poor but
honest girl. Yesterday forenoon the
same policeman, as he was passing along Rush street, near the bridge, had his
curiosity considerably excited by something peculiar in the appearance of a man
dressed in soldier's uniform, walking ahead of him.
He followed the person into a saloon and there recognized the quasi
soldier as the girl he had taken to the station on Sunday night. Of course he arrested here, charging that she was a woman in
man's attire, which was at first stoutly denied, but afterwards confessed.
Yesterday afternoon she was again brought to the Armory and upon being
questioned, gave her name as Mary Fitzallan, said she was eighteen years of ate,
unmarried, a native of Kentucky, and had under the title of Harry Fitzallan worn
male habiliments for the past seven months, four of which she had passed as a
Union volunteer in the 23d Kentucky regiment, and previously working as a hired
hand on a farm near Newport, Kentucky. When
asked as to her former history and what made her dress in clothes unbecoming her
sex, she refused to be communicative, but answered that she had her peculiar
reasons, and that her history would be of no avail to the Court.
She is a girl of medium size, rather embonpoint, with heavy and not
wholly unhandsome face, her features being more masculine than otherwise, and
hair black, cut short in the present style, and parted on one side.
Her eyes are blue. Her hands
betray evidences of manual labor. She
stood in the presence of the Magistrate with not a bold but confident air,
answered the few questions she wished to respond to deliberately, and apparently
truthfully, betraying but little of the modesty and shrinking nature we have
been the habit of attributing to the share of the gentler sex.
Justice Akin, after giving the young woman some sound advice, fined her
$20, under the ordinance, but suspended execution to allow her to get of the
city, and she made her exit from the court room in her male attire, and
deliberately walked down into the street. Whether
she will take her departure for Canada, or remain here, hunting up a friend--or
lover--and again get arrested, remains for the future to solve.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, April 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
A
Scene among the Female State Pris-
oners at Washington.
A Washington correspondent of the Baltimore News Sheet,
communicates the following, which is rich enough:
While I think of it, I must mention a remarkable ride which occurred in
the prison yard the day before yesterday. The
lady prisoners are allowed a half hour's exercise in the narrow yard surrounding
the prison every day. Mrs. Greenhow,
who is remarkable for her cool courage and self possession, proposed to seize
and appropriate the horse and market wagon of the Superintendent, which stood in
one corner of the enclosure, and enjoy the novelty of a ride.
The suggestion was instantly adopted, and the ladies, unmindful of the
remonstrances of the sentinels, jumped into the wagon and whipped up.
Mrs. Morris had been making a large and beautiful Confederate flag, and
she stood now in the front of the wagon, waving it over the heads of the enraged
sentinels, who followed the flying party around the enclosure, shouting and
cursing, and making lunges at the horse with their bayonets, which only
increased the mirth of the gay riders, and frightened the horse to his utmost
speed. The uproar became terrible.
First came the captain of the guard, shouting, at the top of his lungs,
"stop that vehicle; it's contrary to the rules."
All in vain. Mrs. Greenhow whipped up the harder, and cried out,
"it's the Southern wagon—clear the way."
Then the officer of the day rushed in, shouting, "What's all
this?" followed by the soldiers from the neighboring guard house, who
rushed madly forward to stop the flying animal. It was a scene altogether ludicrous and indescribable in the
extreme and has made more comment in Washington than a little.
The evacuation of Manassas is nothing to be compared to it.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], April
30, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Female Soldier.--Yesterday a female, dressed in soldier's clothes,
surrendered herself to the mayor, and was sent before the provost-marshal.
She gave Arnold as her name.
We had not the pleasure of an introduction to this female patriot, but
learn from those who were fortunate, that she appears to be a woman of
intelligence and gentle breeding. She
gave the names of respectable houses here in the city who knew her in her proper
sphere, when she resided in Arkansas, where she says she owns a plantation.
Her story is quite a romantic one.
She asserts that she was arrested at Richmond on suspicion of being
unfriendly to the South, but was treated very civilly while held as a prisoner.
She claims to have been in the battles of Manassas and Belmont, and to
have been with the army in Kentucky.
She says she left here in response to the call of Gen. Beauregard for
ninety days' volunteers, and that she was in the battles of the 6th and 7th, in
which she was wounded in the foot and hand.
She came back to the city with the wounded.
Her reason for the course she has adopted is, that she is collecting
material for a history of the war, and that she adopted male attire as the plan
best calculated to enable her to carry out her design.
She has no desire to abandon her project if permitted to prosecute it in
her own way. There are others
engaged with her, but their names she deems proper to withhold.
That she is an extraordinary woman there is no question, and our
curiosity is excited to know more of her history and her adventures in male
attire.
DUBUQUE HERALD, May 1, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
A Woman Appointed Major.
From the Peoria Transcript.
Governor Yates has paid a rather unusual but well merited compliment to
Mrs. Reynolds, wife of Lieut. Reynolds, of Co. A, 17th Illinois, and a resident
of this city. Mrs. Reynolds has
accompanied her husband through the greater part of the campaign through which
the 17th has passed, sharing with him the dangers of a soldier's life.
She was present at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and like a
ministering angel, attended to the wants of as many of the wounded and dying
soldiers as she could, thus winning the gratitude and esteem of the brave
fellows by whom she was surrounded.
Gov. Yates, hearing of her heroic and praiseworthy conduct, presented her
with a commission as Major in the army, the document conferring the well-merited
honor being made out with all due formality, and having attached the great seal
of the State. Probably no lady in
America will ever again have such a distinguished military honor conferred upon
her. Mrs. Reynolds is now in this
city, and leaves to join her regiment in a day or two.
CHICAGO
DAILY TRIBUNE, May 6, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
A Woman in Soldier's Clothes--Very Natural Surprise of a Reporter. [From the
Detroit Advertiser, Saturday.]
Yesterday morning one of our vigilant police officers arrested a soldier dressed
in the uniform of the Federal army, on Atwater street, in a state of blissful
intoxication. He was conveyed to
the lock-up, and placed in one of the cells.
Our reporter happened to be present, and observing that the soldier
appeared to be in an unconscious state, he feared that life had become extinct,
and, opening the bosom of the apparently inanimate form to see if there was any
appearance of life, the reader can judge of his astonishment on finding that it
was--a woman. A few hours after she
awoke from her deep sleep, and gave the following romantic account of her
wanderings. She is a native of
Scotland, but for many years lived with her family at London, C. W., where they
now reside. About five years ago
she left home and went to Kentucky, where, on the breaking out of the war, she
became enamored with the military display and enlisted in a Kentucky regiment.
She served in the army three months, she was present and took part in the
battle of Somerset, and saw Gen. Zollicoffer fall.
During her term of service she was often ordered to do extra service, and
used frequently to steal out of camp at nights and fight on her own hook.
At last she became tired of the drudgery she was called upon to perform,
and made known her sex. She was
immediately discharged, and arrived in our city on Thursday night.
SOUTHERN
WATCHMAN [ATHENS, GA], May 14, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
FEMALE SOLDIER.--Yesterday a female dressed in soldier's clothes surrendered
herself to the Mayor and was sent before the provost-marshal. She gave Arnold as her name.
We had
not the pleasure of an introduction to this female patriot, but learn from those
who were more fortunate, that she appears to be a woman of intelligence and
gentle breeding. She gave the names
of respectable houses here in the city who knew her in her proper sphere, when
she resided in Arkansas, where she says she owns a plantation.
Her story is quite a romantic one.
She
asserts that she was arrested at Richmond on suspicion of being unfriendly to
the South, but was treated very civilly while held a prisoner.
She claims to have been in the battles of Manassas and Belmont, and to
have been with the army in Kentucky.
She
says she left here in response to the call of Gen. Beauregard for ninety-days
volunteers, and that she was in the battle of the 6th, and 7th, in which she was
wounded in the foot and hand. She
came back to the city with the wounded.
Her
reason for making known her [sex] at this time was the fear of detection, and
consequent trouble. She was before
the provost-marshal yesterday, and is to have another interview with that
functionary to-day.
Her
reason the cause she has adopted is that she is collecting material for a
history of the war, and that she adopted male attire as the plan best calculated
to enable her to carry our her design.
She has
no desire to abandon her project if permitted to prosecute it in her own way.
There are others engaged with her, but their names she deems proper to
withhold. That she is an ordinary
woman there is no question, and our curiosity is excited to know more of her
history and her adventures in male attire.--New Orleans True Delta.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], May 15,
1862, p. 2, c. 2
A North Carolina Amazon.--The Charlotte Democrat has been informed by a
soldier from Kinston, of rather a novel incident which occurred there recently.
A short time ago some recruits were brought into camp for a company from
Caldwell county, among whom was a man named Blaylow, who was drafted in
Caldwell. Week before last Blaylow
got a discharge, and immediately another soldier applied for a discharge,
stating that he (or she) was the lawful wife of Blaylow.
It appears that when Blaylow was drafted his wife cut her hair off, put
on men's clothing and went with him into camps and enlisted for the war.
She drilled with the company and was learning fast, when it became
necessary to make her sex known in order to accompany her husband home.
The boys were sorry to part with such a good soldier, but they are unable
to determine which she loved best, Blaylow or the Confederacy; but it was
unanimously voted that Mrs. Blayblow [sic?] was "some
pumpkins."--Richmond Whig.
CHICAGO
TIMES, May 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Mrs.
Major Belle Reynolds, whose portrait we publish above, from a photography by
Cole, of Peoria, Ill., is the wife of Lieutenant Reynolds, of Company A,
Seventeenth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and the daughter of W. K. Macumber,
Esq. Her native place is Shelbourne
Falls, Massachusetts. The Seventeenth, to which her husband belongs, is one of the
most popular regiments in our western army, being one of the earliest in the
field, and during the whole war has been in active service. They met the enemy in a terrible encounter, and vanquished
him, at Frederickstown, Missouri. They
early took possession of Cape Girardeau; they also bore a prominent part, and
were terribly cut up at the battle of Fort Donelson, and were in the thickest of
the fight at the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing. In these last two battles Lieutenant Reynolds was Acting
Adjutant. During the greater part
of the campaign Mrs. Reynolds has shared with her husband a soldier's fare in
camp; many a night, while on long marches, sleeping upon the ground in the open
air, with no covering other than her blanket, and frequently drenched with rain;
and oftimes, to the order "Fall in," she has hurriedly mounted her
horse in the darkness of the night, and made long marches without rest or food
except such as she might have had with her. She has at all times exhibited a degree of heroism that has
endeared her to the brave soldiers of the Seventeenth and other regiments that
have been associated with them and to the officers of the army with whom she is
acquainted.
Gov.
Yates, of Illinois, and his staff were at Pittsburg Landing to look after the
Illinois troops, who suffered so severely in that fearful struggle, and learning
of Mrs. Reynolds' heroic conduct on the field, and untiring efforts in behalf of
the wounded soldiers, he commissioned her Daughter of the Regiment, to take rank
as a Major, "for meritorious conduct on the bloody battle-field of
Pittsburg Landing." Mrs. R.
left Pittsburg Landing a few days after the battle to attend some wounded
soldiers to their homes by the rivers, leaving the last one at Peoria--Capt.
Swain, of Illinois, who died as the boat touched the wharf at Peoria.
She remained at Peoria a few days to recover from her fatigue, and has
left again to rejoin the army.
The
following letter has been addressed to Gov. Yates by citizens of Peoria:
"Peoria, April 27, 1862.
To his Excellency Richard Yates, Governor, etc. Springfield, Illinois.
Dear Sir--Permit us to thank you for the honor conferred upon Peoria by
your voluntary act in commissioning Mrs. Belle Reynolds, of this city, to take
rank as Major of Illinois State Militia, showing your appreciation of valuable
services so nobly rendered by a lady on the bloody battle-field of Pittsburg
Landing.
And we
take pleasure in bearing testimony to the high moral and Christian character of
the Major, believing that in whatever circumstances she may be placed she will
ever honor her commission and the worthy Executive who gave it.
Respectfully yours,
CHICAGO TIMES, May 20, 1862, p. 4, c. 1
The Woman Major--A Row in the Family.
We have appropriately chronicled the fact that Gov. Yates
has commissioned as Major in one of the Illinois regiments with Gen. Halleck the
wife of a Lieutenant, who had shown both courage and devotion to the cause of
humanity among the sick and wounded on the field in and after the battle of
Pittsburg Landing. The
correspondent of the Cincinnati Times tells us something further of her and the
consequence of her appointment:
"I
am sorry to inform you that there is at present some apprehension of a domestic
difficulty, originating out of the late commission of a female to the rank of
Major in the United States army.
"This worthy lady, whose bravery and Samaritan kindness to our wounded
soldiers on the battle-field of Shiloh has won her the love and esteem of an
appreciating public, and who has been promoted to rank by a grateful government
is, I fear, about to fall victim to that most dreaded of delusions--jealousy.
This lady is at present holding her headquarters on board on of the
hospital steamers now lying at Pittsburg Landing, anxiously awaiting for the
expected battle, to again render that comfort and aid known only to exist in the
presence of angels and the attentions of lovely woman.
"But what is mot unhappy in the case of this lady Major is, that her once
adoring and loving husband, who now holds the rank of Lieutenant, insists on
being made a Colonel, and gives as a reason that his wife now commands him, from
the virtue of her rank--being a Major--and that this is directly contrary to the
original understanding existing between them at the day of their nuptials.
From this protest of the Lieutenant I fear that all law abiding wives
will hold up their hands and exclaim, "Oh! the brute."
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 23, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
A North Carolina Amazon.—The Charlotte Democrat has been informed by a
soldier from Kinston, of rather a novel incident which occurred there recently.
A short time ago some recruits were brought into camp for a company from
Caldwell county, among whom was a man named Blaylow, who was drafted in
Caldwell. Week before last Blaylow
got a discharge, and immediately another soldier applied for a discharge,
stating that he (or she) was the lawful wife of Blaylow.
It appears that when Blaylow was drafted, his wife cut her hair off, put
on men's clothing and went with him into camps and enlisted for the war.
She drilled with the company and was learning fast, when it became
necessary to make her sex known in order to accompany her husband home.
The boys were sorry to part with such a good soldier, but they were
unable to determine which she loved best, Blaylow or the Confederacy; but it was
unanimously voted that Mrs. Blaylow is "some pumpkins."
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], May 23, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Our Special Correspondence from Rome.
Rome, Ga., May 15, 1862.
. . . A female woman arrived in our city a few days since, dressed in the
male uniform of a Confederate soldier, accompanied by a gentleman who
represented himself as an officer in the Confederate army.
Suspicions were excited and the parties arrested and examined, when they
told a plausible tale about being in pursuit of a spy, &c., and were
released. I learn that they have
since been arrested in Chattanooga, Tenn., and are now held in limbo. I am teetotally opposed to women "wearing the
breeches," and hope our city authorities will permit no more feminines to
pass through the city in that sort of disguise. It is an infringement upon the "rights of men" that
ought not for a moment to be tolerated. . . .
What Not.
CHICAGO
TIMES, May 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Special Dispatch to The Chicago Times.
Cairo, May 23.
No news
of importance from Pittsburg. ...
Gov.
Yates and Mrs. Major Reynolds have arrived as passengers on the City of Alton.
DUBUQUE
HERALD, May 25, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Latest from Halleck's Army.--Gen. Halleck has recently ordered all
newspaper correspondents from his camp. The
reason for this step is not clear, but we will inquire if there is not a family
by the name of Irwin residing at Savannah, Tenn., which has among its members
three sisters who are very beautiful, and whose brothers are in the rebel army? Is not a
correspondent of a certain paper in love with one of these sisters, and has he
not furnished them will full information of General Halleck's movements, to be
given to Beauregard? Who is
this correspondent? Gen.
Halleck has his hand on him.--Chicago Journal.
CHICAGO
TIMES, May 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Cairo, May 26.
Governor Morton, of Indiana, arrived this morning from Pittsburg Landing, and is
stopping at the St. Charles Hotel.
Mrs. Major Reynolds is a guest of the St. Charles Hotel in this city, awaiting
the return of Governor Yates, or the event of a battle near Corinth, it is not
definitely known which.
CHICAGO
TIMES, May 28, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Cairo, May 28.
Mrs. Major Reynolds made a sudden departure to-day for St. Louis.
Her tarry here, it is said, was the occasion of too much remark to please
her.
CHICAGO
TIMES, May 31, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
From the N.Y. Tribune of Thursday.
It is
now well understood that "unauthorized hangers-on" were excluded from
the Army of Tennessee by Gen. Halleck, because the rebels managed to obtain
intelligence of the disposition of our forces through some one with the army.
The leaky individual, according to the correspondence of the Cincinnati
Times, is a brother of Gov. Yates, of Illinois.
The rebel agents, two fascinating sisters named Irwin, whose father owns
any amount of broad acres and almost countless contrabands, and who have the
enviable reputation of being the "most elegant ladies in Tennessee,"
reside at Savannah, and since the occupation of the lace they have professed
strong Union sentiments, and their parlor has been a general rendezvous for all
the young gallants in the service.
No one
questioned their loyalty, and in course of time they became as familiar with our
position and strength as our own Generals.
The principal portion of this intelligence was imparted by a brother of
Gov. Yates, of Illinois. Immediately
after an introduction to the Misses Irwin, he became fascinated, and from that
moment his attentions to both in general, and one in particular, became
unremitting, and the consideration he received, which he attributed to the high
position of his brother and his own personal charms, led him to an indiscreet,
not to say criminal, revelation of all he knew about the plans of the campaign
and the strength of the army. He is
reported as a vain man, and flattery rendered him loquacious, until the whole
story was known to the sisters.
In the
meantime the "erring brother" found the means of visiting his
"loyal sisters" nightly, and what they learned during a day was known
to Beauregard before a second dawned. Our
authorities soon discovered that there was a leak somewhere, and the result was,
a sort of persecution was instituted against newspaper correspondents, who are
made to shoulder all the fatherless sins floating about the army.
But after a while the whole matter was revealed, and the gallant young
man found it very convenient to omit all further attention to the damsels, and
seek a healthier climate further north.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], May 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A North Carolina Amazon.--The Charlotte Democrat has been informed by a
soldier from Kinston, of rather a novel incident which occurred there recently.
A short time ago some recruits were brought into camp for a company from
Caldwell county, among whom was a man named Blaylow, who was drafted in
Caldwell. Week before last Blaylow
got a discharge, and immediately another soldier applied for a discharge,
stating that he (or she) was the lawful wife of Blaylow. It appears that when Blaylow was drafted, his wife cut her
hair off, put on men's clothing, and went with him into camps and enlisted for
the war. She drilled with the
company and was learning fast when it became necessary to make her sex known in
order to accompany her husband home. The
boys were sorry to part with such a good soldier, but they were unable to
determine which she loved best, Blaylow or the Confederacy; but it was
unanimously voted that Mrs. Blaylow is "some pumpkins."
CHICAGO
TIMES, June 6, 1862, p. 1, c. 8
Mrs.
Major Reynolds.--Mrs. Major Belle Reynolds, who has been on Gov. Yates' staff,
seems to be having rather a rough time. The
recent reports concerning her and Yates have caused them to part company for the
present, and she was last heard of in Missouri.
The Hannibal Herald says that on Thursday evening, the 29th, two rowdies,
formerly under Price's command, then under the influence of whisky, appeared at
the quarters of Mrs. Major Belle Reynolds, at Hannibal, and demanded "an
unconditional surrender," which was "declined." After taking another drink they proceeded to make "a
regular investment of the Major's entrenchments," and, "having gained
favorable positions," commenced an attack with brickbats and paving stones.
While thus amusing themselves they were set upon by a detachment of
police, captured and placed in limbo. The
next morning the Major appeared against the miscreants, and they were fined
according to their demerits.--Rock Island Argus.
CHICAGO
DAILY TRIBUNE, June 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
The Enchantresses--A Times Sensation Knocked in the Head.
[Correspondence of the Chicago Tribune.]
Bloomington, June 5, 1862.
Seeing in your issue of yesterday an article copied from the Cin. Times in regard to Halleck's order excluding all civilians, and the
cause of said order, I take the liberty to give you a few facts.
There is an old saying, "Give the devil his due."
So say I in regard to the Miss Irwins.
They have been the fair damsels who have lured
the true patriot to perform deeds of treason.
Poor man, he is to be pitied! Could
not withstand the fascinating Miss
Irwins.
Any one would think these young ladies to be, not only beautiful beyond
description, but to possess powers seldom given to any, a certain indescribable
something, by the use of which they could convert almost instantaneously, the
purest hearted patriot into the most despicable rebel.
From my knowledge of the young ladies, I think they are slightly
over-estimated. That they are
rebels, every one knows who ever entered their household. There are five sisters, one brother and their mother, these
with two brothers in the rebel army constitute the family. The father who, according to the New York Times, "owns the broad acres," has been dead some years.
The sisters are and always have been, outspoken in their views, telling
everybody that visited them of their strong love for the South and hatred for
the North. The only truth contained in the article, is that the house
was the resort for our officers; to a certain extent this was true.
It was a curiosity, to most, to find anything like civilization on the
Tennessee River. Here was not only
some passably educated feminines, but they were secesh, sang southern songs,
drank Jeff. Davis' coffee, and while entertaining you, told you every night they
prayed for your overthrow. The
novelty of the scene called a good many there, and if they ever obtained any
information it was from those who, like some Chicago correspondent, were ever
ready to show them that they had sympathisers [sic] in the North.
The author of the article either never was in Savannah or wrote what he
knew to be false, for the purpose of injuring one who is dearer to the Illinois
soldiers than any other--Gov. Yates.
M.
CHICAGO
TIMES, June 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Cairo, June 9.
Mrs. Major Reynolds arrived here to-day, en route from the Tennessee River to
St. Louis. The Governor was not
with her.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, June 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
A Female Prisoner.—Some excitement was created on Thursday by the
arrival of a female prisoner, in the uniform of a Fille du Regiment.
She is said to have been for some months following the Third Regiment of
East Tennessee Renegades in Kentucky. Her
name we learn is Sallie Taylor; she is from Anderson county, where she has
respectable relations. She was
captured somewhere in the neighborhood of Jacksonboro.
An examination before the Provost Marshall, we understand, elicited some
valuable information from this romantic damsel, in regard to the movement of the
enemy.
[Knoxville Register.
CHICAGO
TIMES, August 14, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
One day last week the Washington Provost Marshal had before him two soldiers in
uniform, of a light form, who excited his suspicions.
After being questioned they admitted that they were females, and had been
serving as privates in a regiment now in Pope's army for many months.
They were furnished with proper apparel and sent northward.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, August 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 6
A Female Volunteer:--In calling the roll of a regiment of conscripts who
had just entered the camp of instruction at Raleigh, N.C., last week, one more
"man" was present than called for by the list.
The Winston Sentinel says:
This, of course, involved an investigation, when it was discovered that
the features of one claimed to be a conscript were quite too fair and fine for
one of the sterner sex. The soldier
was charged of being a female, when she confessed the truth and acknowledged
that she had determined to accompany her friends in the perils of war, and
avenge the death of a brother who fell in the fight near Richmond.
We have heard nothing in any degree to implicate the good character and
standing of this gallant heroine.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE,
October 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
Another "Dangerous" Woman.—The special correspondent of the
Philadelphia Press at Fort McHenry, gives the following information about Miss
Susan Archer Tally, another of thee female spies:
Among the recent prisoners at this fort, has been until the 28th
of June last, a lady, a Miss Susan Archer Tally, of Norfolk who attempted last
year to take a coffin full of percussion caps through our lines to Richmond,
alleging that the body of her brother was in it.
Suspicion excited, the coffin was opened, and the lady incarcerated.
It was afterwards found that she had acted as a spy between the pickets
of the two armies. She was closely
confined in her room during the day, with the exception of a walk in the balcony
before her window, and a stroll around the ramparts, for an hour daily, with the
officer of the day. She was about
thirty years of age, and a very good amateur artist.
She took from memory a very good crayon portrait of Gen. Morris,
commanding the fort and presented it to him.
Liberty having been given to her, she has gone to her home near Norfolk.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, November 6, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Treason
in Petticoats.
The New York Times' Washington correspondent telegraphed day
before yesterday the following rather remarkable instance of female strategy:
We are informed that some employee in the War Department has forged a
pass, permitting three men and a loaded wagon and a team to pass our lines.
The wagon is said to be loaded with quinine and other articles of
especial value to the rebels. It is
expected that an effort has been made to capture the party.
LATER.—We have gained additional information in regard to the
circumstances before mentioned of a wagon, with contraband goods, having gone
through our lines, yesterday, towards Richmond.
The precise facts are as follows:
The parties to the speculation are a person named Buck Bailey, who
preached in one of the churches here on Sunday, and Miss Buckner, daughter of
Mrs. Turner, who resides at Rectorville, Va., near Thoroughfare Gap.—These
parties, who are related to one of the highest officers of the government, so
worked upon his confidence as to procure his good offices in securing a pass for
themselves, with which they succeeded in getting through our lines and within
six miles of home before overtaken by the officers put on their track.
On being arrested, which was accomplished about five o'clock this
morning, Miss Buckner was consigned to the charge of some females in a dwelling
near by, and searched. This
proceeding resulted in discovering, in her bustle, of one hundred and seven
ounces of quinine, together with a rebel mail—all intended for Richmond; and a
further search at Fairfax Court-house brought to light a letter in secret
cipher, concealed in her petticoat.
Mr. Bailey and Miss Buckner have been consigned to the old capitol
prison, and Miss Turner, who is believed to be innocent, is permitted to remain
in the family of her relatives.
Altogether, considering the high official character of three or four
parties who have been unsuspectingly drawn into the affair, it is one of the
most astonishing which has occurred during the rebellion.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, November 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Adventures
of a Loyal Maiden Among the Secesh.
Miss Fanny Britten some time since received a communication from the
colonel of an Ohio regiment, then stationed at Lebanon Ky., to visit her brother
there, who was in his command. Fanny
was a resident of Cleveland, and availing herself of an opportunity to embrace a
cherished relative, she made up a small bundle, put what she thought would be
sufficient money in her purse, and started for the "debatable ground."
Arrived at Lebanon she found that the regiment to which he belonged had
changed its location, and uncertain how to proceed, she remained for a couple of
weeks, until her money was almost exhausted, when she made up her mind to return
homeward, and set out on foot for Paris, which, travel worn, she arrived at late
in the evening, to find it in the hands of a large body of the enemy's cavalry. An entire stranger, she was taken into custody, and it being
soon learned that she was an Ohioan, she was arrested as a spy and detained in
the apartment of a house in the second story.
The guard, however, was rather loosely kept, and the next morning Fanny
contrived to explore another room, where she contrived to discover a suit of
masculine apparel, which she appropriated and found a tolerable fit.
Thus disguised she made her way to the roof of the house, from which she
managed to descend by means of a gutter-spout, when she went to an adjoining
stable, and selected one of the best of a fine lot of blooded horses, with which
she made her way undetected out of town.
She did not allow the grass to grow under the feet of her gallant steed,
with which she soon reached Mayville, where she took a packet, and with her
prize arrived safely in this city. Here
she applied to the mayor to whom she related her adventures, and who recommended
her to the Dennison House, where she was taken under the protection of the
ladies, who supplied her with apparel suitable to her sex.
She is a good looking, dashing girl, just such a one as it would be safe
to bet upon coming out of a difficulty with eclat and enacting the role
of a bold and fearless heroine. In
the meantime the mayor, who has charge of the horse, which is a valuable
Bucephalus, is in a muddle. It is a
Bulwerian question, "what will be done with it?" but as we think the
animal was, undoubtedly, at the time she captured him, in the hands of the
secesh, he is Fanny's by all the articles of war.
Let her carry him back to Cleveland as a trophy of her womanhood and
daring.—Cincinnati Enquirer.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, November 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Charleston, Va., Nov. 14,1862.
. . . One of the phenomena of this [fold in paper] the development of an intense
hate towards our troops and government exhibited by the female rebels.
I am led to this statement from the positive evidences of the fact
witnessed by me since my arrival there. These
females have generally descended from the high and dignified spheres of the
social circle and domestic fireside, and metamorphosed themselves into the shape
and status of politicians, columniators and traducers of their country and its
flag. Nor does the picture end
here. It is from these females, who
have played the successful scouts and spies, that the rebel leaders have
gathered their best information. These
women, practising a deception on our own generals, sometimes in the guise of
ladies and again in the disguise of the rustic, have been permitted to pass our
lines, visit our camps, and those of the first named have been feted by
our officers. It is unnecessary to
individualise instances of this kind in passing the subject.
I will only mention the names of Belle Boyd and Mrs. Greenhow as heading
the list of one hundred female rebels who have made for themselves infamous
reputations. I have an instance
fresh to my mind which was related to me recently by an officer of worth, who
told me of a case in which one of our two star generals was deceived most
egregiously by one of these female rebel adepts.
He was enchanted, as it were, by her personal beauty, her volubility of
language and innocent manner. She
was allowed the liberty of the camp for several days; but suddenly she was non
est inventus. She gained the
information she came for, and her departure was as mysterious as her advent.
I will forbear to mention names or localities, as that general soon
discovered his mistake, and has repented sincerely for his fatuity.
In justice to the officers of this department I will say the affair did
not occur in Western Virginia. To
explain the phenomenon I have referred to still further, I will add from my own
experience that I have seen young ladies in this town who at a superficial view,
from their appearance, apparent intellectuality and exterior accomplishments,
seemed an honor to their sex. Presto,
and the scene is changed, the social picture is robbed of its charms, when I
have seen some of them contort and set all sorts of gyrations with their faces,
as an officer would pass along the road, in token of their depreciation of the
defenders of our flag. The grimaces
of these rebel ladies have been followed with scurrilous and low remarks, which
in some stances would disgrace a cyprian. There
is a family in town, the head of which once held a federal position.
This gentleman is known here as a Union man, but his example has not
comported to his professions. This
gentleman has a son in the rebel army who recently resigned his commission and
returned home. He has another
child, a daughter of twenty summers. This
young lady (?) is proverbially known throughout Charleston as a rabid
secessionist.
Last winter, while a portion of our army was in town, her father
frequently gave social parties to Federal officers.
On these occasions she used to make them serve her to give vent to her
secession proclivities, by innuendo and at times by downright insult to her
father's guests. On other
occasions, when Federal officers would visit her father's house, she would hide
herself until they had retired. This
young lady is considered a Virginian of the first water.
She is known here as the mouthpiece of the whole family.
The loyalty of all is very much questioned.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, December 17, 1862, p. 3, c. 2
The
Adventures of a Rebel Female.
The New Orleans Delta tells the following curious story of the
adventures of a rebel woman:
A day or two since an adventurous female named Anne Williams was brought
before the provost court for trial. She
is quite a character. It appears
that she resided in this city several years ago in a house of questionable
character, but managed by some defective arts, which are best known to women, to
win the affections of an Arkansas planter, who married her.
She soon tired of married life, however, left him, and next appeared with
our army at Utah, where she became acquainted with many under the name of Mrs.
Arnold.
The rebellion broke out and Mrs. Arnold, alias Mrs. Williams, was next
found doing the duty of a private soldier in the battle of Manassas as a member
of the 7th Louisiana regiment. She
was brought into public notice again last spring, just after the battle of
Shiloh, having been wounded in the engagement as a member of the 11th
Louisiana. On that occasion she
visited this city, and was arrested for appearing in male attire, but on account
of what was then called her patriotic conduct she was dismissed with honor.
Nothing more was heard of her until about two weeks since, when a
complaint was lodged to the effect that she had robbed a lady in whose house she
had been furnished an asylum, of a gold watch and chain and a gold thimble.
The police at once got on her track, and officer Coner finally succeeded
in arresting her at Camp Lewis, where she was living as the wife of a soldier
named Williams. She is a little passe,
but still quite a handsome woman, with a very masculine nature. She spoke right sharply in her own defence before the
court—said that although she had been to Richmond and in the rebel army, and
participated in several battles, she had never descended to play the spy.
She declared that she was now strong for the Union, and was raising her
children up to revere the old flag. The
police accuse her of having been engaged frequently to run the blockade with
letters by parties in the city, and say that she is a very dangerous character.
The judge, after hearing the evidence in regard to the robbery of which
she stood accused, concluded that she was guilty of the crime charged, and
accordingly sent her to the Parish prison for six months.
This is a rather unromantic termination to a most romantic career.
WASHINGTON [ARK.] TELEGRAPH, December 24, 1862
DIANA SMITH, THE HEROINE OF THE NORTHWEST.
A friend has kindly furnished us with some interesting particulars in the
history of this young heroine.
She was born and raised in the county of Jackson.
Her father is a consistent and pious member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was leading a quiet, peaceful, and useful life, until his country
was invaded, when he called his country-men to arms, and raised the first
company of guerrillas, which he commanded until his fall, when, by fraud and
treachery he was captured, and ever since has been confined in a loathsome
dungeon at Camp Chase, Ohio, without hope of delivery, unless our Government
should interpose and procure his release.
Diana, his only daughter, is a beautiful girl, and has been tenderly
raised, and well educated. She is
also a member of the M. E. Church, and has always been regarded as very pious
and exemplary. She is descended
from a race of unflinching nerve, and satisfied with nothing less than freedom
as unrestrained as the pure air of their mountain home.
Her devotion to the cause of Southern rights, in which her father had
nobly engaged, has caused her, too, to feel the oppressor's power.
Although a tender and delicate flower, upon whose cheek the bloom of
sixteen summers yet lingers, she has been five times captured by the Yankees,
and marched sometimes on foot, in manacles, a prisoner; once a considerable
distance to Ohio, at which time she made her escape.
She was never released, but in each instance managed to escape from her
guard. She, too, has been in
service; she was in several battles in which her father engaged the enemy.
She has seen blood flow like water.
Her trusty rifle has made more than one of the vile Yankees bite the
dust. She left her home in company
with the Moccasin Rangers, (Captain Kelser,) and came through the enemy's line
in safety, and is now at the Blue Sulphur Springs.
She was accompanied by Miss Duskie, who has earned the proud distinction
of a heroine. On one occasion this fearless girl was surrounded by fifty
Yankees and Union men, when she went rushing through their ranks with a daring
that struck terror to their craven hearts.
With her rifle lashed across her shoulders, she swam the west fork of the
Kanhawa river, and made her way to the Mountain Rangers; preferring to trust her
safety to those brave spirits, well knowing that her sex would entitle her to
protection from those brave mountaineers. These
young ladies have lain in the mountains for months, with no bed but the earth,
and no covering but the canopy of heaven. They
have shared the soldier's rough fare, and his dangers, his hopes, and his joys.
CAIRO [IL] CITY WEEKLY NEWS, December 25, 1862, p. 1, c. 5-6
A Confederate Romance--History of Mrs. Anna Clark.
A Cairo correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes:
Among the prisoners brought here is a young person wearing the uniform of
a private in the Confederate army.--Not above medium height, rather slight in
build, features effeminate but eye full of resolution and spirit, the party is
not disagreeable to look upon. The
descriptive roll calls him Richard Anderson.
A note to Gen. Tuttle, however, from the Provost Marshal at another
point, explained that, for once, "Richard was not himself," but
another personage altogether. In
fact, that Richard Anderson was no less a personage than Mrs. Anna Clark, wife
of the late Walter Clark. When
requested to tell her story, she revealed the following incidents in her
history. They may be true or
untrue, but the relator appeared perfectly truthful and candid in her recital.
Mrs. Clark is a native of Iuka, Tennessee.
Early in the war her husband joined a regiment, and left her at home to
manage as best she could. She did
not manage as a prudent wife should. She
fell in love with a gallant hussar, belonging to a Louisiana regiment.
She determined to follow this love.
She dressed as a trooper, procured a horse, and enlisted in his company.
For four months she remained attached to the cavalry service of the
Confederate army, but the fatigues of that department were more than she could
bear, and after one or two narrow escapes from serious fits of sickness, she
resolved to leave the mounted service and enter the infantry branch, for which,
she argued, she was by nature better fitted.
Her exchange was effected. She
left her trooper's command and joined a company in the Eleventh Tennessee
infantry. In this regiment she
served under the name of Richard Anderson, until the battle of Richmond,
Kentucky, where she with others was made prisoner.
Her husband was killed at Shiloh or Donelson, she never knew which.
At the former battle, Mrs. Clark, according to her own story, performed
prodigies of valor, frequently having to stand upon the dead body of a comrade
to obtain a sight of the enemy, upon whom she continually emptied the contents
of her musket.
Thus, for over ten months, as cavalry, and then as infantryman, then as
prisoner of war, this woman endured the brunt war.
The latter sphere she found irksome enough, and she desired nothing
better than to be sent to Vicksburg, there to be returned to her friends,
promising that she had had enough of this latter life, and would there again
assume her apparel and the condition of her sex.
Some benevolent ladies and gentlemen contributed to her purchase of a
dress and other suitable clothing, and yesterday she was a woman once more.
She was sent to the department of the Provost Marshal, and Gen. Tuttle
will undoubtedly forward her to Vicksburg with the next batch of prisoners. Mrs.
Clark is not yet thirty years of age, and dressed in the costume of a lady is
not by any means an unpresentable woman. She
is well informed upon politics, literature, and other general topics, and has
less of the rowdy in her conversation and air than one would expect from her
late associations.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, January 4, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
A
Female Soldier.
From the St. Paul
Press.
Not long since there appeared a squad of men at Fort Snelling for the
purpose of joining the regiment of Mounted Rangers, for Indian fighting.
The Orderly in charge was very boyish looking, but of singularly neat and
soldier-like appearance. The
morning reports from this squad were neatly and correctly made out, and were
always the first received at the headquarters of the Colonel, the young orderly
taking them up and delivering them without a word, but giving always the proper
salute in the most graceful manner. In
like manner, too, the clothing and provision returns were also made out, and the
necessary amount of food and raiment drawn by this young soldier for the squad
he represented. Of course such
apparently extreme youth and soldierly qualities did not escape the vigilant eye
of the Colonel, who, believing the young soldier under eighteen, on two or three
occasions, remarked to that effect; but the young man assured him that he was
over eighteen, though he admitted, on further questioning to not being
twenty-one. The Colonel made up his
mind that he had run away from his parents, and so told him, but he assured him
he would yet obtain the written consent to the enlistment.
Thus matters passed along for several days.
About this time the highly esteemed daughter of a well to do and highly
respectable farmer in an interior county in this State, suddenly disappeared,
and no traces of her could be found. From
remarks that she had made to her mother, wishing that she was a man, so that she
could volunteer and hunt down the Indians, a suspicion was aroused that she had
undertaken to carry her wishes into effect.
Her father proceeded to Fort Snelling, where, in the person of our hero,
he found his daughter. But how to
bring her away was the next question, as neither of them wished the fact of her
sex publicly proclaimed; so the old gentleman went to the colonel to get his son
discharged on account of being under age; but the colonel told him he would have
to take certain legal steps before she could be discharged.
This would not do, as they would no sooner disclose her sex in court than
in camp. As a last resort, the
young man was introduced to the colonel as the daughter of the old gentleman,
and she was then promptly discharged. The
colonel has, however, kept their secret, and to this day the soldiers forming
her squad don't know the facts about their young Orderly.
DALLAS HERALD, January 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
Diana Smith, the Heroine of the Northwest.
A friend has kindly furnished us with some interesting particulars in the
history of this young heroine.
She was born and raised in the county of Jackson.
Her father is a consistent and pious member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was leading a quiet, peaceful and useful life, until his country was
invaded, when he called his countrymen to arms, and raised the first company of
guerrillas, which he commanded until this fall, when, by fraud and treachery he
was captured, and ever since has been confined in a loathsome dungeon at Camp
Chase, Ohio, without hope of delivery, unless our Government should interpose
and procure his release.
Diana, his only daughter, is a beautiful girl, and has been tenderly
raised, and well educated. She is
also a member of the M. E. Church, and has always been regarded as very pious
and exemplary. She is descended
from a race of unflinching nerve, and satisfied with nothing less than freedom
as unrestrained as the pure air of their mountain home.
Her devotion to the cause of Southern rights, in which her father had
nobly engaged, has caused her, too, to feel the oppressor's power.
Although a tender and delicate flower, upon whose cheek the bloom of
sixteen summers yet lingers, she has been five times captured by the Yankees,
and marched sometimes on foot, in manacles, a prisoner, once a considerable
distance to Ohio, at which time she made her escape.
She was never released, but in each instance managed to escape from her
guard. She, too, has been in service; she was in several battles in
which her father engaged the enemy. She
has seen blood flow like water. Her
trusty rifle has made more than one of the vile Yankees bite the dust.
She left her home in company with the Moccasin Rangers, (Captain Kelser,)
and came through the enemy's line in safety, and is now at the Blue Sulphur
Springs. She was accompanied by Miss Duskie, who has earned the proud
distinction of a heroine. On one
occasion this fearless girl was surrounded by fifty Yankees and Union men, when
she went rushing through their ranks with a daring that struck terror to their
craven hearts. With her rifle
lashed across her shoulders, she swam the west fork of the Kanhawa river, and
made her way to the Mountain Rangers; preferring to trust her safety to those
brave spirits, well knowing that her sex would entitle her to protections from
those brave mountaineers. These
young ladies have lain in the mountains for months, with no bed but the earth,
and no covering but the canopy of heaven. They
have shared the soldier's rough fare, and its dangers, his hopes, and his
joys.—Virginia paper.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 8, 1863, . 1, c. 4
A Female Soldier.--Among the strange, heroic, and self-sacrificing acts
of women in this struggle for our independence, we have heard of none which
exceeds the bravery displayed and hardships endured by the subject of this
notice, Mrs. Amy Clarke. Mrs.
Clarke volunteered with her husband as a private, fought through the battles of
Shiloh, where Mr. Clarke was killed--she performing the rites of burial with her
own hands. She then continued
with Bragg's army in Kentucky, fighting in the ranks as a common soldier, until
she was twice wounded--once in the ankle and then in the breast, when she fell a
prisoner into the hands of the Yankees. Her
sex was discovered by the Federals, and he was regularly paroled as a prisoner
of war, but they did not permit her to return until she had donned female
apparel. Mrs. C. was in our city on
Sunday last, en route for Bragg's command.
Jackson Mississippian.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], January 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 1
A Female Soldier.--Among the strange, heroic and self sacrificing acts of
woman in this struggle for our independence, we have heard of none which exceeds
the bravery displayed and hardships endured by the subject of this notice, Mrs.
Amy Clarke. Mrs. Clarke volunteered
with her husband as a private, fought through the battles of Shiloh, where Mr.
Clarke was killed--she performing the rites of burial with her own hands.
She then continued with Bragg's army in Kentucky, fighting in the ranks
as a common soldier, until she was twice wounded--once in the ankle and then in
the breast, when she fell a prisoner into the hands of the Yankees.
Her sex was discovered by the Federals, and she was regularly paroled as
a prisoner of war, but they did not permit her to return until she had donned
female apparel. Mrs. C. was in our
city on Sunday last, en route for Bragg's command.--Jackson Mississippian, Dec.
30.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, February 14, 1863, p. 3, c. 2
A girl soldier has been discovered in the camp of the 10th
Ohio cavalry at Cleveland. She gave
her name as Henrietta Spencer, and said that her home was in Oberlin, and that
she enlisted to avenge her father and brother, who fell at Murfreesboro.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, March 3, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
Letters
from "J. T. G."
Knoxville, Feb. 21st, 1863.
Editor Enquirer: Since the
departure of the important personages that have enlivened "all"
Knoxville for the past ten days, the denizens have lapsed into their usual ways. However, the attractive, "dashing" Belle Boyd, once
an inmate of Fortress Monroe upon the charge of being a Confederate spy,
perambulates Gay Street in all her glory. . . .
J.T.G.
SOUTHERN
CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], April 2, 1863, p. 2, c. 4
A Female Aid-De-Camp.--The Baltimore Clipper says Antonia J. Ford was the
principal spy and guide for Capt. Mosby in his recent raid on Fairfax Court
House, and aided in planning the arrest of Gen. Slaughter, Wyndham and others.
She was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison, on Sunday last,
with $1,000 Confederate money on her person.
The following is a copy of her commission:
To all whom it may concern: Know
ye that, reposing special confidence in the patriotism, fidelity and ability of
Antonia J. Ford, I, J. E. B. Stuart, by virtue of power vested in me as
Brigadier General, Provisional Army Confederate States, hereby appoint and
commission her my Honorable Aid de Camp, to rank as such from this date.
She will be obeyed, respected and admired
by all lovers of a noble nature.
Given under my hand and seal, Headquarters Cavalry Brigade, at Camp
Beverly, 7th October, 1861, and first year of our Independence.
J. E. B. Stuart.
By the General:
L. T. Bryan, A.A.G.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, April 7, 1863, p. 3, c. 4
A Female Aid-de-Camp.—The Baltimore Clipper says Antonia J. Ford was
the principal spy and guide for Captain Mosby in his recent raid on Fairfax C.
H., and aided in planning the arrest of Gen. Slaughter, Wyndham and others.
She was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison, on Sunday last,
with $1,000 Confederate money on her person.
The following is a copy of her commission:
To all whom it may concern: Know
ye that, reposing special confidence in patriotism, fidelity and ability of
Antonio J. Ford, I, J. E. B. Stuart, by virtue of power vested in me as
Brigadier General, Provisional Army Confederate States, hereby appoint and
commission her my Honorable Aid-de-Camp, to rank as such from this date.
She will be obeyed, respected, and admired by all lovers of a noble
nature.
Given under my hand and seal, Headquarters, Cavalry Brigade, at Camp
Beverly, 7th October, 1861, and first year of our Independence.
J. E. B. Stuart.
By the General,
L. T. Bryan, A. A. G.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
April 16, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
A young woman has just returned to Altoona, Pa., after a service of
eighteen months in the army without having her sex discovered.
She took part in three battles, and was wounded twice, first about the
eye and then in the arm, the latter wound compelling her to disclose her sex.
PEORIA (IL) MORNING
MAIL, May 16, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Female Soldiers.—A Pennsylvania girl, who has been serving as a soldier
in the Army of the West for ten months, says that she has discovered a great
many females among the soldiers, one of whom is now a Lieutenant.
She has assisted in burying three female soldiers at different times,
whose sex was unknown to any one but herself.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
May 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Capture
of Female Rebels.
From the Baltimore
American, May 6.
Jennie D. Hart is the third party, and for some time past has been acting as the
orderly sergeant of company D, Jenkins' cavalry, commanded by Captain White. She provided herself with male attire, and being rather
masculine in her appearance, deceived the rebel recruiting officer, and was
enlisted in the service...Jennie De hart was arrested about the first of April,
in Fayetteville, Virginia...
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 21, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Miss Fanny C. James, daughter of Mr. John James, of Baltimore, has been
arrested in that city and committed to the Baltimore jail to be tried by the
civil authorities under the treason act of Maryland, under the charge of giving
aid and comfort to the rebels, in corresponding with a lady friend in the South.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 22, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
The Arrest of Miss James.—The following is a copy of the letter to Miss
James, of Baltimore, intercepted by the Federals, and upon which she is
imprisoned in the Baltimore jail:
Richmond, Va., March 15, }
Tuesday Noon.
}
My Dear Fannie:--Your letters have just been received, and the pleasure
it gave us you cannot imagine. Harry
was perfectly delighted with his uniform. The
goods you spoke of in your last have been received, and were a perfect God send. The quinine and liquors were very much needed.
Those I presented to our Government as you desired, and the other things
were sold at cost. Will you please forward goods to the amount of the enclosed
order immediately? We have great
demands for several items in the list, as they are needed by our Government, and
knowing your promptness in filling all such orders, we can rely on your
dispatching the goods at the earliest possible moment.
I received the carte de visite of ________, whom you suspect as a
spy, and have given it to our authorities.
There will be a strict eye on him.
*
*
*
They request me to tell you, Fanny, to keep quiet, and don't let them
have anything on you, as you can do much more for us where you are; and if they
should find you out, why—take the Yankee oath three times a day if they wish
it, just before every meal. You
have taken many a bitter dose of medicine, and it won't taste a bit worse than
the rest.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 23, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
Released.—We are happy to record the arrival at this place of Mrs. Mary
Samuel, her two daughters and son, who have recently been released from
confinement in the bastille of the North, where they were subjected to treatment
of the most brutal and outrageous character.
Mrs. Samuel and her daughters were arrested on the first of February, and
her son was seized by the United States authorities on the 1st of
January, 1863. They were dragged
from their home in Nashville, while peacefully attending to their legitimate
business, and without trial and upon a mere suspicion of disloyalty to the
United States government, were incarcerated at Camp Chase, Ohio, for three
months. They were afterwards
transferred to Columbus, and from thence to Washington, D. C.
At each of these places they experienced the worst of ill usage, poor
fare, miserable accommodations, deprived of all clothing excepting such apparel
as they wore, insulted by insolent and depraved soldiery, and made the objects
of every indignity.
While in Washington, Mrs. Samuel had a guard stationed in her chamber
night and day, and they were paraded in company with others three successive
days through the streets of the city to induce the belief that new lots of
prisoners had at each time arrived.
The family is destitute. Every
thing valuable, money, clothes, jewelry—all has been taken.
They have come to cast their destiny among us rather than dwell with a
people lost to every feeling of honor and humanity.—Atlanta Confederacy.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
May 22, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
The Louisville Journal of yesterday says: A
female soldier, who has been in service twenty-two months, reported at
headquarters yesterday, for transportation to Minnesota, where she resides.
She was in the battles of Shiloh and Stone River, and twice wounded
severely. She enlisted in the same company with her husband, and was
with him up to the time of his death, which occurred at Murfreesboro', when she
concluded to leave the army and return to her friends.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
June 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
An
Incident of the War.
A
letter from Lake Providence, La., gives the following account of the adventures
of a woman soldier:
The
1st Kansas regiment, of which I have spoken before, is encamped near us.
One of the members of that regiment, a sergeant, died in the hospital two
weeks ago. After death his comrades
discovered that their companion, by the side of whom they had marched and fought
for almost two years, was a--woman. You
may imagine their surprise at the discovery.
I went to the hospital and saw the body after it was prepared for burial,
and made some inquiries about her. She
was of rather more than average size for a
woman, with strongly marked features, so that, with the aid of man's attire, she
had quite a masculine look. She
enlisted in the regiment after they went to Missouri, and consequently they know
nothing of her early history. She
probably served under an assumed name. She
was in the battle of Springfield, where General Lyon was killed, and has fought
in a dozen battles and skirmishes. She
always sustained an excellent reputation, both as a man and a soldier,
and the men all speak of her in terms of respect and affection.
She was brave as a lion in battle, and never flinched from any duty or
hardships that fell to her lot. She
must have been very shrewd to have lived in the regiment so long and preserved
her secret so well! Poor girl!
She was worthy of a better fate. Who
knows what grief, trouble, or persecution induced her to embrace such a life!
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, June 22, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
Shelbyville, June 18th.
. . . Forrest's forces on Friday last went in pursuit of a woman to whom
suspicion had been attached. She
had reached the Yankee pickets in front of Franklin when they came in sight, but
on they dashed, driving in the Yankees and capturing their "booty."
She proved to be a Miss Cushman, a theatre actress, claiming relationship
with the celebrated Charlotte, and had upon her person plans and drawings of our
fortifications, and the disposition made of the latter.
It is said that she was a crinoline scout for McClellan in Virginia, and
performed valuable services. Her
fine talents are, doubtless, occupied at present time in planning an escape from
Columbia, where she is under guard. . . .
N.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
June 24, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
[Article on Mary Walker--"A Female Surgeon in Male Attire"]
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, June 30, 1863, p. 2, c. 7
Forrest's forces on Friday last went in pursuit of a woman to whom
suspicion had been attached. She
had reached the Yankee pickets in front of Franklin when they came in sight, but
on they dashed, driving in the Yankees and capturing their "booty."
She proved to be a Miss Cushman, a theatre actress, claiming relationship
with the celebrated Charlotte, and had upon her person plans and drawings of our
fortifications, and the disposition made of the latter.
It is said that she was a crinoline scout for McClellan in Virginia, and
performed valuable services. Her
fine talents are doubtless occupied at the present time in planning an escape
from Columbia, where she is under guard.—Chatta. Rebel.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, June 30, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
Career
of a Female Volunteer.
Among the registered enemies of the Unites States government who have
been recently sent across the lines from New Orleans, there is now in Jackson,
Mississippi, a lady whose adventures place her in the ranks of the Mollie
Pitchers of the present revolution. At
the breaking out of the war Mrs. Laura J. Williams was a resident of Arkansas.
Like most of the women of the South, her whole soul was enlisted in the
struggle for independence. Her
husband was a Northern man by birth and education, and a strong Union man.
After Arkansas seceded from the Union he went to Connecticut, he said, to
see his relations and settle up some business.
Mrs. Williams suspected his purpose and finally she received information
that he had joined the Yankee army. The
Jackson Mississippian gives the rest of her history:
She disguised herself in a Confederate uniform, and adopting the name of
"Henry Benford," she proceeded to Texas, where she raised and equipped
an independent company and went to Virginia with it as 1st
Lieutenant. She was in the battle
of Leesburg and several skirmishes, but finally, her sex having been discovered
by the surgeon of the regiment—the 5th Texas Volunteers, to which
the company had been attached—she returned to her home in Arkansas. After remaining there a short time she proceeded to Corinth,
and was in the battle of Shiloh, where she displayed great coolness and courage.
She saw her father on the field, but, of course, he did not recognize her
and she did not make herself known to him.
In the second day's fighting she was wounded in the head, and was ordered
to the rear. She wrote to her
father, and then came on down to Grenada, where she waited for some time, but
never saw or heard from him.
She then visited New Orleans, was taken sick, and while sick the city was
captured. On recovery she retired to the coast, where she employed
herself in carrying communications and assisting parties to run the blockade
with drugs and cloths for uniforms. She
was informed on by a negro and arrested and brought before Gen. Butler.
She made her appearance before Gen. B. in a Southern homespun dress.
She refused to take the oath—told him she gloried in being a
rebel—had fought side by side with Southern men for Southern rights,
and if she ever lived to see "Dixie" she would do it again.
Butler denounced her as the most incorrigible she rebel he had ever met
with. By order of the Beast she was
placed in confinement, where she remained three months.
Some time after her release she was arrested for carrying on
"contraband correspondence," and kept in a dungeon fourteen days on
bread and water, at the expiration of which time she was placed in the State
Prison as a dangerous enemy. Her husband, it so happened, was a Lieutenant in the 13th
Conn. regiment, and on duty as provost guard in the city.
He accidentally found her out and asked if she wanted to see him.
She sent him word she never wanted to see him so long as he wore the
Yankee uniform. But he forced
himself upon her, tried to persuade her to take the oath, and get a release,
when he said he would resign and take her to his relations in Connecticut.
She indignantly spurned his proposition, and he left her to her fate.
When Gen. Banks assumed command he released a great many prisoners, but
kept her in confinement until the 17th of May last, when she was sent
across the lines to Meadesville with the registered enemies.
An article was recently published in the New York World in relation to
the part Mrs. Williams has played in the war, but the above is, we are assured,
a true account of her remarkable career. We
understand she has attached herself to the medical staff of a brigade now in
this city, and will render all the assistance in her power to the wounded in the
approaching struggle for possession of the great Valley of the Mississippi.
DALLAS HERALD, July 1, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Adventures of a Young Lady in the Army.
Among the registered enemies of the United States government who have
been recently sent across the lines from New Orleans, there is now in this city
a lady whose adventures place her in the ranks of the Molly Pitchers of the
present revolution.
At the breaking out of the war, Mrs. James J. Williams (the lady of whom
we alluded) was a resident of Arkansas. Like
most of the women of the South, her whole soul was enlisted for the struggle for
independence. Her husband was a
Northern man by birth and education and a strong Union man.
After Arkansas seceded from the Union he went to Connecticut, he said, to
see his relations and settle upon some business.
Mrs. Williams suspected his purpose, and finally she received information
that he had joined the Yankee army. Possessing
little of the characteristic weakness of the sex, either in body or mind, Mrs.
W. vowed to offer her life upon the altar of her country, disguising herself in
a Confederate uniform, and adopting the name of Henry Benford, she proceeded to
Texas where she raised and equipped an independent company and went to Virginia
with it as first Lieutenant. She
was in the battle of Leesburg and several skirmishes, but finally her sex having
been discovered by the surgeon of the regiment—the 5th Texas
Volunteers to which the company had been attached—she returned to her home in
Arkansas. After remaining there a
short time she proceeded to Corinth and was in the battle of Shiloh where she
displayed great coolness and courage. She
saw her father on the field but, of course, he did not recognize her, and she
did not make herself known to him. In the second day's fighting she was wounded in the head and
was ordered to the rear. She wrote
to her father and then came off down to Grenada where she waited for some time,
but never saw or heard from him.
She then visited New Orleans, was taken sick and while sick the city was
captured. On recovery she retired
to the coast, where she employed herself in conveying communications, assisting
parties to run the blockade with drugs and clothes and uniforms.
She was informed on by a negro and arrested and brought before Gen.
Butler. She made her appearance
before Gen. B. in a Southern homespun dress.
She refused to take the oath, told him she gloried in being a rebel—had
fought side by side with Southern men
for Southern rights, and if she ever lived to see "Dixie" she would do
it again. Butler denounced her as the most incorrigible she-rebel he
had ever met with. By order of the
Beast she was placed in confinement, where she remained three months.
Some time after her release, she was arrested again for carrying on
"contraband correspondence," and kept in a dungeon fourteen days on
bread and water, at the expiration of which time she was placed in the State
prison as a dangerous enemy. Her
husband it so happened, was a lieutenant in the 13th Connecticut
Regiment, and on duty as Provost Guard in the city.
He accidentally found her out and asked if she wanted to see him.
She sent him word she never wanted to see him as long as he wore the
Yankee uniform. But he forced
himself upon her, tried to persuade her to take the oath, get a release, when he
said he would resign and take her to his relations in Connecticut.
She indignantly spurned his proposition, and he left her to her fate.
When General Banks resumed command, he released a great many prisoners,
but kept her in confinement until the 17th of May last, when she was
sent across the lines to Meadesville with the registered enemies.
An article was recently published in the New York World in relation to
the part Mrs. Williams has played in this war, but the above is, we are assured,
a true account of her remarkable career. We
understand she has attached herself to the medical staff of a brigade now in
this city, and will render all the assistance in her power to our wounded in the
approaching struggle for possession of the great Valley of the Mississippi.
Jackson, Miss., June 6, 1863.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
July 11, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
Cupid
and Mars--The Adventures of a Female Soldier.
A few
weeks ago a young woman arrived in Chicago from Louisville, Ky., whose history
is thus recorded in the Post, of that city:
She
gave her name as Annie Lillybridge, of Detroit, and stated that her parents
reside in Hamilton, Canada. Last
spring she was employed in a dry goods store in Detroit, where she became
acquainted with a Lieutenant W-----, of one of the Michigan regiments, and an
intimacy immediately sprang up between them.
They corresponded for some time, and became much attached to each other.
Some time during last summer Lieutenant W------ was appointed to a
position in the Twenty-first Michigan Infantry, then rendezvousing in Ionia
county. The thought of parting from
the gay lieutenant nearly drove her mad, and she resolved to share his dangers
and be near him. No sooner had she
resolved upon this course than she proceeded to act.
Purchasing male attire, she visited Ionia, enlisted in Captain Kavanagh's
company, twenty-first regiment. While
in camp she managed to keep her secret from all--not even the object of her
attachment, who met her every day, was aware
of her presence so near him.
Annie
left with her regiment for Kentucky, passed through all the dangers and
temptations of a camp life, endured long marches and sleeping on the cold
ground, without a murmur. At last,
the night before the battle of Pea Ridge, (or Prairie Grove,) in which her
regiment took part, her sex was discovered by a member of her company, but she
enjoined secrecy upon him, after relating her previous history.
On the following day she was under fire, and from a letter she has in her
possession it appears she behaved with marked gallantry, and by her own hand
shot a rebel captain who was in the act of firing upon Lieutenant W-----.
But the fear of revealing her sex continually haunted her. After the battle she was sent out with others to collect the
wounded, and one of the first corpses found by her was the soldier who had
discovered her sex.
Days
and weeks passed on, and she became a universal favorite with the regiment, so
much so that her Colonel (Stephens) frequently detailed her as regimental
clerk--a position that brought her in close contact with her lover, who at this
time, was major or adjutant of the regiment.
A few weeks subsequently she was out on picket duty, when she received a
shot in the arm that disabled her, and, notwithstanding the efforts of the
surgeon, her wound continually grew worse.
She was sent to the hospital at Louisville, where she has been ever since
until a few weeks ago, when she was discharged by the post surgeon, as her arm
was stiffened and rendered useless for life. She implored to be permitted to return to her regiment, but
the surgeon was unyielding and discharged her.
Annie immediately hurried towards home, and by the aid of benevolent
strangers reached this city. At
Cincinnati she told a benevolent lady her secret, and was supplied with female
attire. She declares that she will
enlist in her old regiment again if there is a recruiting officer for the
twenty-third in Michigan. She still
clings to the Lieutenant, and says she must be near him if he falls or is taken
down sick, that where he goes she will go; and when he dies she will end her
life by her own hands.
SAVANNAH
[GA] REPUBLICAN, July 15, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
The Female Lieutenant.—"Lieutenant Buford," the female
Lieutenant from the South, arrived in this city, and sent to Castle Thunder, has
been released by General Winder. The
charge of being a Yankee spy was never alleged against her, and she is indignant
that such a thing was ever insinuated. She
persists in sporting her military costume, and it was this that got her into
trouble with the Richmond authorities. Her
real name is Mrs. S. T. Williams, and her husband is a 1st Lieutenant
in company E, 13th Connecticut regiment, under Banks, in Louisiana.
Her father is Major J. S Roche, of Mississippi, but she was born in the
West Indies. Her people were
wealthy, and her annual income before the war was $20,000, most of which she
spent in getting medicines for the Confederate Government.
Her penchant was to follow the army in a private ambulance with
medicines, bandages, and servant, and apply herself to the relief of the
wounded, though she was known to lend a helping hand with the musket at several
battles in which she participated.—Richmond Examiner.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, July 24, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
A Woman Among the Prisoners.—"Lieut. Buford," alias Mrs.
Williams, was sent from Richmond to Atlanta on the 16th.
The Examiner says: "She
quite took Castle Thunder before she left.
She got acquainted with every [illegible] about, and by her bustling
manner and [illegible] ways threw the commandant quite in the [illegible].
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, July 28, 1863, p. 3, c. 2
Detection
and Arrest of an Alleged
Female Spy of Northern Birth—She
writes "Letters of Instruction" to
the Yankee Government—Interest-
ing Developments.
An arrest, which is whispered to be of great political importance, was
consummated in this city, on Friday last, by the military authorities, in the
person of a woman of wealth, but of Northern birth and sentiments, on the charge
of communicating to the public enemy treasonable information of the military
status and movements in the South. The
authorities, though for some time aware that such communication existed, were
unable to discover the source until a few days since, when certain facts reached
Gen. Winder, the Commandant of the Department of Henrico, which led to the
arrest of Mrs. Allen, of Ohio, married abroad to Patrick Allen, son, we believe,
of a respectable Scotch merchant who made a fortune in Richmond.
It was not until after evidence the most incontrovertible and conclusive
had been obtained, in the shape of letters, that the arrest was determined upon.
On Friday afternoon, detective George Clackner with a guard was
dispatched to the residence of Rev. E. M. Hoge, corner of Fifth and Main
streets, where Mrs. Allen was a guest. The
detective was instructed to arrest and bring her at once before General Winder.
The officials found the corpse of a child lying in the house awaiting
interment, and, as the funeral was soon to take place, the forebore to disturb
the privacy and grief of the family; and in compliance with orders from General
Winder, postponed the arrest; kept watch and ward over the house, and the
movements of the object of their visit, who was made acquainted with the nature
of their business, and instructed to consider herself within the meshes of
military law. The lady preserved
unusual sang froid under the circumstances, and after the departure of
the funeral cortege she was placed in a carriage and driven to the headquarters
of General Winder, on Main street. At
the examination, which was only partially entered into, several intercepted
letters were produced. She at first
denied their authorship, but afterwards admitted that she had written one of
them, but as they were all in the same writing, her confession or denial was of
little consequence.
Enough having been elicited to warrant her commitment on the charge of
being a spy, it was so ordered, but instead of being sent to Castle Thunder, the
prepared receptacle of such persons, the commandant saw proper to commit Mrs.
Allan to the maternal and religious care of the Sisters of Charity, at the
Asylum St. Francis de Sales, Brooks Avenue, where she is kept under
surveillance.—The letters intercepted and examined are evidently not the first
productions of this woman's pen sent the same direction, and for the same
purpose.
The manner in which she operated to conceal the real character of her
correspondence was to inclose [sic] the letter addressed to the person for whom
it was intended in an outside envelope, directed to some female in the North, on
intimate terms and of like sentiments with the writer, to be mailed to its
proper address. One of the envelopes "and a few lines" addressed to
a young female in Baltimore, contained a long letter, directed "Rev. Morgan
Dix, New York," the brother of Major General Dix, the ninth and last
"On to Richmond" General. In
this letter she imparts the names of prominent clergymen of New York city, and
the names and connexions [sic] of a lady, high in Southern circles in Baltimore,
all of whom she accuses of sympathizing with the rebellion.
Availing herself of the family secrets, in whose bosom she was then
reposing, the writer betrays this confidence reposed in her, and makes a
malicious attack upon Rev. Dr. Hoge, now in England upon a philanthropic
mission.
The writer affirms the Doctor's mission to Europe was undertaken with the
sanction, and by the authority of the Confederate Government, and that his
ostentatious object, given out to be the purchase of bibles and religious works,
is all "gammon" and a "blind."
She designates about the time, and by what steamer he expects to return,
and considers his arrest and imprisonment in a Northern bastile, during the
continuance of the war as an object worth being attained, at some hazard [sic],
by the capture of the steamer in which he sails for home.
The names of owners, and the location of a number of plantations on the
James river are given with minuteness. She
suggests that they ought to be destroyed, names prominent points commanding for
artillery, &c., &c. She
expresses a strong hope that the "rebels' may soon all be "crushed
out," and concludes the letter thus: "If
the United States does not suppress the rebellion, they do not merit the respect
of the world."
A second letter, addressed to her sister, "Miss Jennie V.
Wilson, Cincinnati, Ohio," gossiped over the Stoneman raid around
Richmond, the practicability of which was first doubtless communicated to the
Lincoln Government in some of her previous letters.
In the letter to her sister, the writer expresses great petulance over
what she terms the "failures of General Stoneman to devastate and destroy
as he went." She styles him
"a white gloved General," and thinks he was "too easy and timid
with the rebels." She is
downright mad with him, and blames him for not burning the residence of the Hon.
James A. Seddon, "the rebel Secretary of War" whose plantation is in
Goochland, near one owned by her husband.
The above are, in substance the main points of the letter named.
It will not be denied that, if proven, they are sufficient to consign the
writer, whether man or woman, whether degraded in society or exalted in the
social scale, to the fate of the spy. The
power of wealth ought to be, and will be, we trust, powerless to destroy the
equipose [sic] of justice. But
there are circumstances, which, instead of mitigating the crime of this woman,
stamps it with almost incredible baseness and malignity. Through the sacred amenities of friendship expressed for a
worthy Minister of the Gospel and his household, Mrs. Allan was received into
the family—the deadly Northern asp into the garden of Southern hospitality.
Her intervals of visits were frequent, and her stay protracted, the more
perfectly to probe into secrets of political significance of which she knew Dr.
Hoge, as the associate of public men, and his family and visitors, through him,
were more or less cognizant. Here the lamented Jackson visited, and its roof often
sheltered his head when in the city; here his wife and afterwards his widow,
made her temporary home. Though it
is not to be presumed that Jackson ever imparted military movements to his
nearest and dearest companions, the fact of the presence of such a woman in such
a place, sacred to Southern honor and integrity, makes it too plain to be denied
that the treacherous spy sought it out as a most convenient and peculiarly
adapted point from whence to operate.
Again, while the Stoneman raid was in progress, Mrs. Allan was not an
inmate of Dr. Hoge's family, but happened to be absent at her husband's
plantation in the line of Stoneman's route.
It is said Stoneman himself alighted with his staff as he passed down,
and did the honor of a visit. However
this may be, certain members of his cavalry corps are known to have stopped
there and refreshed themselves, and departed without injuring a blade of grass
except those their horses trod upon and eat.
So much for the circumstances, and they are decidedly against the subject
of this sketch.
We have no desire to probe further than in necessary into the hideous
business, but the subjoined we deem essential to a clear conception of the case.
The maiden name of the accused is Mary Wilson, and she was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was a steam doctor, but died abroad poor, with his
family about him. A few years ago,
while travelling in Europe, with his mother, Mr. Allan met the Wilson family in
Rome, Italy, and becoming enamored of Miss Mary, married her.
His wealth immediately placed the family in a competency, and the two
families returned to this country, Mr. Allan bringing his wife to Richmond, his
place of residence. Since that
time, Mrs. Allan, though a Northern lady, has held a decent position in society.
She has chosen to prostitute that position to the basest of crimes,
ignoring all the honorable conditions of life, in the hope of advancing in the
South the triumph of an accursed purpose held at the North, her birthplace.
The letters written by Mrs. Allan reached the North—if any ever did
reach there—by the circumlocution officers and the "underground
railroad." For instance, she would send a letter by a servant's hand,
addressed to a well known gentleman of undoubted loyalty, whom we shall not
name, with an enclosed note running in this wise:
"Please send this letter (or letters) North by some reliable man.
They affect me and a very dear friend only."
The letters would be given into the hands of another party, also of
undoubted loyalty, who knew a professional "blockade runner," and here
our tracing cease. One of the
letters overhauled and produced in evidence against her was dispatched by
express messenger, a negro boy, to a point on James river, to the care of a
party who would communicate with the Federal gunboats.
The messenger was captured by the Confederate pickets, and the letter
with him, and both the negro and the letter were consigned to the custody of
Gen. Winder.—Richmond Examiner.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
September 15, 1863,p. 2, c. 1
FEMALE
SPY.--On Saturday last a female was brought to Nashville under guard from the
front, charged with being a spy. An
examination into the case, left the military authorities as much in the dark as
before they questioned her, and she was consigned to the workhouse, to remain
under the care of Mr. Dodd until further orders.
We visited her yesterday, and learn from her that her full name is Serina
Tabor, a native of Georgia, 27 years old, and unmarried.
She has been laboring under a severe sickness for several weeks, and
looks considerably emaciated; she represents that she was captured by the
Federal troops on Wednesday night last, at Trenton, Ga., where she was
sojourning a few days preparatory to visiting the springs for the benefit of her
health. She does not pretend to be
anything but "a staunch rebel," and says she thinks she "has a
right to be a rebel if she chooses." When
taken she was in full Confederate uniform, but she had with her female apparel,
her homespun shawl representing the stars and bars of the Confederate flag in
all but the colors. She has the
appearance of having been an intelligent woman, but her rambling conversation,
her restless manner, and the eccentricities of her dress denote an unsound mind,
although occasionally she talks quite sensibly.
We would judge the hospital or lunatic asylum to be the most appropriate
place for her, at least at the present time.
She appears to be disgusted with the obscene and blasphemous conversation
of the workhouse women, and expresses a willingness to go anywhere among decent
women. In course of conversation,
Miss Tabor informed us that she lectured in Nashville two years ago on the great
topic of the day, and that she had a copy of her lecture in her carpet sack, but
"the darned Yankees took it from her!"
We have not found any person who heard the lecture referred to.
DAILY
INTELLIGENCER, [ATLANTA, GA], September 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
Charley
Green.--Mrs. Irvin, or "Charley Green," the young girl who has been
fighting, in nearly all of the big battles of the war, has at length, through
the benevolence of a lady, resumed the dress of her sex, and hereafter will, if
she is allowed, spend her time in the hospitals, nursing the soldiers.--Whatever
may have been this girl's life previous to her enlistment and during her service
as a soldier, she does not seem to have lost the finer points of her sex--and we
are glad to be able to announce her redemption from a position that sooner or
later would have demoralized her beyond all reach.
Although she was in thirteen battles, she was wounded but once.
She was also a prisoner at Alton, where her sex was never
discovered.--Mobile Reg.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
September 22, 1863, p. 4, c. 2
[Long
article on Women and War--Adventures of Major Annie Jones.
Correspondence of the New York Herald.
Possible Confederate spy with General Stahel]
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, September 25, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
The female Lieutenant, "Harry Bufford," nee Mrs.
Williams, whose history in connection with this war is full of romance, has, it
is said, married a gentleman of Georgia by the name of DeCaulp, and has been
commissioned with the rank of Captain. She
is a native of Mississippi.
WEEKLY COLUMBUS
[GA] ENQUIRER, October 6, 1863, p. 3, c. 3
The
Female Lieutenant.
The public will remember the numerous paragraphs published concerning one
"Lieut. Harry Buford," nee Mrs. Williams, with a history
romantic in war as that of Joan of Arc. Last
summer the Lieutenant got into Castle Thunder, her sex not corresponding with
the dashing uniform she wore. She
was released, and went from Richmond to Chattanooga, where she joined Gen.
Bragg's army, got upon the staff of Gen.
A. P. Stewart, and for a time was employed in the secret service, effecting
important arrests of spies, and dong some very daring things.
The other day she visited Richmond again, not as the gay Lieutenant, but
in the garments more becoming her sex, and bearing the name of Jeruth DeCaulp,
she having, in the interval, married an officer of the Confederate States
Provisional army of that name, first obtaining a divorce from her first husband,
Williams, who is in the army of General Grant.
In consideration of her services the Confederate Government has
commissioned Mrs. DeCaulp with the rank of Captain, and since her arrival in
Richmond, she has drawn $1,800 back pay.—She is now at the Ballard House, en
route for Georgia, and the home of her new husband.
The heroine of this sketch is a native of Mississippi, and a devoted
Southern woman.—Richm. Ex.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
October 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 6
Adventures
of a Soldier Woman,
From the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Eagle
Mrs.
Frances Louisa Clayton, called at the Provost marshal's office, in this city,
Thursday, with letters from officers, to procure a pass to her home in
Minnesota. Mrs. Clayton enlisted as
a private, with her husband, in a Minnesota regiment, some two years since.
She was in Rosecrans' army, and did full duty as a soldier nearly a year
before her sex was discovered. While
in the army, the better to conceal her sex, she learned to drink, smoke, chew
and swear with the best or worst of the soldiers.
She stood guard, went on picket duty, in rain and storm, and fought on
the field with the rest, and was considered a good fighting man.
At the
battle of Stone river, while making a charge, her husband was instantly killed
by a ball, just five paces in front of her, in the front rank.
She charged over his body with the rear line, driving the rebels with the
bayonet, but was soon struck with a ball in the hip, and conveyed to the
hospital, where her sex was, of course, discovered.
On recovering sufficiently to travel she was discharged, on the 3d of
January last, and sent North. On
the way between Nashville and Louisville a guerrilla party attacked the train
and robbed her of her papers, money, etc. After
reaching home and recovering from her wound, Mrs. Clayton started for the army
again, to recover the papers belonging to her husband, but was turned back at
Louisville, and ordered home. By
mistake her pass carried her to Kalamazoo instead of Chicago, and she was
compelled to apply to the Provost Marshal there, who sent her through this way.
She is
a very tall, masculine looking woman, bronzed by exposure to the weather, and
attracted universal attention by her masculine stride in walking, erect and
soldierly carriage, and generally outre appearance. Some soldiers following her rather too familiarly, Thursday
evening, she drew a revolver and promptly scattered the crowd.
She was recognized as an old acquaintance by the keeper of an eating
house on Monroe street, who knew her before her marriage, and knew of her
disappearance when her husband enlisted, and who provided food and shelter for
her Thursday night.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, October 30, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
A
Young Girl Killed on the Battle
Field of Chickamauga.
The Brooklyn (N.Y.) News relates the following remarkable incident of the
war:
About a twelvemonth since, when disaster everywhere overtook the Union
arms, and our gallant sons were falling fast, under that marvelous sword of
rebellion, a young lady, scarce nineteen, just from an academy in a sister
State, conceived the idea that she was destined by Providence to head our arms
to victory, and our nation through successful war.
It was at first thought by her parents, a highly respectable family in
Willoughby street, that her mind was weakened simply by reading accounts of
continued reverses in our arms, and they treated her as they would a sick child.
This only had the effect of making her more demonstrative, and her
enthusiastic declaration and apparent sincerity, gave the family great anxiety.
Dr. B. was consulted, the minister was spoken to, friends advised, and
family meetings held, interviews with the young lady by her former companions in
the academy were frequent, but nothing could shake the feeling which had
possessed her.
It was finally resolved to take her to Michigan.
An old maiden aunt accompanied the fair enthusiast, and for a few weeks
Ann Arbor became their home. The
stern command of her aunt alone prevented her from making her way to Washington
to solicit an interview with the President for the purpose of getting command of
the United States army. Finally it
was found necessary to restrain her from seeing any but her own family, and her
private parlor became her prison.
To a high spirited girl this would be unendurable at any time, but to a
young lady filled with such a hallucination it was worse than death.
She resolved to elude her friends, and succeeded, leaving them
clandestinely, and although the most distinguished detectives of the East and
the West were employed to find her whereabouts, it was unavailing.
None could even conjecture the hiding place.
This was last April. She was
mourned as lost. The habiliments of
mourning were donned by her grief-stricken parents, and a suicide's grave was
assumed to be hers. But it was not
so. The infatuated girl, finding no sympathy with her friends,
resoled to enter the army disguised as a drummer boy, dreaming, poor girl, that
her destiny would be worked out by such a mode. She joined the drum corps of a Michigan regiment at Detroit,
her sex known only to herself, and succeeded in getting with her regiment to the
army of the Cumberland. How the
poor girl survived the hardships of the Kentucky campaign, where strong men fell
in numbers, must forever remain a mystery.
The regiment to which she was attached had a place in the division of the
gallant Van Cleve, and during the bloody battle of last Sunday the fair girl
fell, pierced in the left side by a minie ball, and when borne to the surgeon's
tent her sex was discovered. She
was told by the surgeon that her wound was mortal, and advised to give her name
that her family might be informed of her fate.
This she finally, though reluctantly, consented to do, and the colonel of
the regiment, although suffering himself from a painful wound, became interested
in her behalf, and prevailed upon her to let him send a despatch to her father.
This she directed in the following manner?
Mr. ____, N______, Willoughby streets, Brooklyn:
Forgive your dying daughter. I
have but a few moments to live. My
native soil drinks my blood. I
expected to deliver my country, but the fates would not have it so.
I am content to die. Pray,
pa, forgive me. Tell ma to kiss my
daguerreotype.
Emily.
P.S.—Give my old watch to little Ephh.
(The youngest brother of the dying girl.)
We are permitted by the afflicted parents to give the despatch as it came
over the wires, suppressing only the family name.
Here, then, is a short incident of war which might read like romance.
But to the unhappy family, who are now bowed down with grief, romance
loses its attraction, and the actual, sad, eventful history of poor Emily will
be a family record for the generation yet to come.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, November 5, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
A Yankee army correspondent, writing from Bealton, Va., says:
"A doctress was here last night, a Miss _____, from Maine, good
looking, and about twenty-five, I should think, wears bloomers, and rides a
horse as men do."
DAILY INTELLIGENCER, [ATLANTA, GA], November 5, 1863, p. 2, c. 4 [note: header may differ, but article is the same]
A
Romantic Incident.
We
have just been put in possession of the facts of a sad case of monomania, which
had a terrible termination. A young
lady residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. about 19 years of age, about a year since
became inspired with the idea that she was a second and modern Joan of Arc,
called by Providence to lead our armies to certain victory in this contest.
The hallucination was a strong one and a change of scene being suggested
by her physician, she was brought to Ann Arbor, in this State.
Her mania, however, increased until it was found necessary to confine her
to her apartment. She, however,
succeeded in making her escape, came to this city and joined the drum corps of a
Michigan regiment, her sex known only to herself, and succeeded in getting with
her regiment to the Army of the Cumberland.
How the poor girl survived the hardships of the Kentucky campaign, where
strong men fell in numbers, must forever remain a mystery.
The regiment to which she was attached had a place in the division of the
gallant Van Cleve, and during the bloody battle of Lookout Mountain, the fair
girl fell, pierced in the left side by a Minie ball, and when borne to the
surgeon's tent her sex was discovered. She
was told by the surgeon that her wound was mortal, and he advised her to give
her name that her family might be informed of her fate.
This she finally, though reluctantly, consented to do, and the colonel of
the regiment, although suffering himself from a painful wound, became interested
in her behalf, and prevailed upon her to let him send a dispatch to her father.
This she dictated in the following manner:
Mr. -------, No. --, Willoughby st. Brooklyn:
Forgive your dying daughter. I have
but a few moments to live. My
native soil drinks my blood. I
expected to deliver my country, but the fates would not have it so.
I am content to die. Pray,
Pa, forgive me. Tell ma to kiss my
daguerreotype.
EMILY.
P. S.--Give my gold watch to little Eph. (The
youngest brother of the dying girl)
The
poor girl was buried on the field on which she fell in the service of her
country, which she fondly hoped to save.
Detroit Tribune.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, November
14, 1863, p. 3, c. 2
There
is a young lady in Barracks No. 1, at Louisville, about seventeen years of age,
and very pretty, who has served in the Union army for two years.
She was recently mustered out of the service, and is now waiting for five
months' pay due her from Uncle Sam.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, December
29, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
Women
and Soldiering.
The
Richmond Examiner has the following account of the discovery of a female
soldier, a member of the sixteenth Maine regiment, in prison at Richmond:
"Yesterday a rather prepossessing looking lass was discovered on Belle
Isle, disguised, among the prisoners of war held there.
She gave her real name as Mary Jane Johnson, belonging to the 16th Maine
regiment, and had been a prisoner some time.
She gave as an excuse for adopting her soldier toggery, that she was
following her lover to shield and protect him when in danger.
He had been killed in battle, and now she should have no objection to
return to the more peaceful sphere for which nature, by her sex, had better
fitted her. The heroine of a novel
yet to be written in Yankeedom was considerably sunburned and toughened by the
hardships she had encountered, but still retained marks of some womanly
comeliness, which would be heightened by a calico frock and crinoline.
Upon the discovery of her sex, Miss Johnson was removed from Belle Isle,
and is now confined at Castle Thunder. She
will probably go North by the next flag of truce.
She is about nineteen years of age."
[there follows a rather long discourse about how the age of Joan of Arc
is dead, that nowadays the good deeds of women bloom like violets...]
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, January 6,
1864, p. 3, c. 1
Two females attired in soldiers' uniform were arrested in Louisville on
Monday by the military and turned over to the civilian authorities; and two
others who had served in the Federal army upwards of one year, were sent away
from Barracks No. 1.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, March 23,
1864, p. 1, c. 7
A
Gallant Female Soldier--Romantic History.
From the Washington
Republican, March 17.
Doctor
Mary E. Walker, who is well known to many of our citizens, writes us from
Chattanooga an account of a singular case of female martial spirit and patriotic
devotion to the flag.
Frances
Hook's parents died when she was only three years old, and left her, with a
brother, in Chicago, Illinois. Soon
after the war commenced she and her brother enlisted in the 65th "Home
Guards," Frances assuming the name of "Frank Miller."
She served three months and was mustered out, without the slightest
suspicion of her sex having arisen. She
then enlisted in the 90th Illinois, and was taken prisoner in a battle near
Chattanooga. She attempted to escape and was shot through the calf of one
of her limbs, while said limbs were doing their duty in the attempt.
The Rebels searched her person for papers and discovered her sex.
The rascals respected her as a woman and gave her a separate room while
in prison at Atlanta, Georgia.
During
her captivity she received a letter from Jeff. Davis offering her a lieutenant's
commission if she would enlist in their army.
She has no home and no relatives, but she said she preferred to fight as
a private soldier for the stars and stripes rather than be honored with a
commission from the Rebs. About two
weeks ago she was exchanged. The
insurgents tried to extort from her a promise that she would go home and not
enter the service again. "Go
home!" she said; "my only brother was killed at Pittsburg Landing, and
I have no home--no friends!"
Doctor
Walker describes Frank as of about medium height, with dark hazel eyes, dark
brown hair, rounded features, and feminine voice and appearance.
Doctor W. is well versed in human nature, as well as anatomy, and she
believes that justice to the young woman in question requires that she should be
commissioned a lieutenant in the army. The
Doctor also argues that Congress should assign women to duty in the army,
averring that patriotism has no sex. Whether
the president will commission Miss Hook as a lieutenant, or Congress will draft
Mrs. Walker's countrywomen into the service we know not, but we are certain that
the "Doctor" is thoroughly in earnest, and the story of her new
protege is an interesting one.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, March 29,
1864, p. 4, c. 2
A BOLD
LOOKING SOLDIER GIRL, attired in the uniform complete, was arrested in
Louisville Sunday, and taken before the Provost Marshal.
Major Fitch was at a loss as to the proper course to pursue in the case,
but finally concluded to turn her over to the military authorities.
Her name is Elizabeth Price. Her
age is about twenty-one years. She
claims that her home is in Cincinnati, and that she has served two years in the
field with an Ohio regiment. Her
lover enlisted in the army, and the desire to follow and share his fortunes
prompted her to don the attire of a soldier and leave the comforts of home.
She thinks that she has seen enough of the service, and desires to return
to her home in Cincinnati.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, May 1,
1864, p. 2, c. 1
A female soldier, who has served over two years with the 34th Indiana regiment,
and participated in several battles, was arrested by the Military Conductor on
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad on Thursday last.
The regiment of which she claims she was a member was in transit over the
road at the time. She was dressed
in full uniform, and displayed the badge which indicates the rank of an orderly
sergeant. The conductor brought her
to Nashville, and reported her to the Provost marshal for disposal.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, May 3,
1864, p. 2, c. 1
In regard to the young lady who was arrested a few days ago on the Louisville
and Nashville Railroad, by Capt. Buck, on suspicion of being a Rebel spy, and
brought back to this city, the Press of yesterday states that "on arriving
here she freely exhibited all her documents and credentials, together with her
pass from Gen. Thomas, to go from Chattanooga to Louisville and was immediately,
without further examination or inquiry, allowed to go whither she listed."
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, May 31,
1864, p. 1, c. 6
Female
Soldiers.
The
official records at Washington state that upward of 150 female recruits have
been discovered since the commencement of the war. It is supposed that nearly all of these were in collusion
with men who were examined and accepted, after which the fair ones managed to
substitute themselves and be mustered into the service.
Over seventy of these martial ladies, when their sex was discovered, were
acting as officers servants. In one
regiment there were seventeen of them in this capacity.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, June 3,
1864, p. 4, c. 3
[Long article entitled "Adventures of Miss Major Pauline Cushman, the
Federal Scout" taken from the Detroit Tribune, May 24]
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, August 18,
1864, p. 2, c. 1
A
FEMALE SOLDIER.--After we left the office of the Provost Marshal on Tuesday
night, our friend of the Press informs us that a good looking soldier
"gal" made her appearance there, dressed in a suit of blue, with
artillery trappings. She was
arrested by Lieutenant Fletcher, who states that she enlisted on Tuesday morning
as a member of Battery C, 1st Tennessee Artillery, under the name of John
Hoffman. "She gives her real name as Louisa Hoffman, says her
father and mother reside in New York city. She further states that she
originally belonged to the first Virginia cavalry and was in both of the Bull
Run fights. Since that she engaged
herself as cook in the first Ohio regiment, becoming tired of which avocation,
she determined to enlist as a soldier in the artillery service.
She makes a very handsome soldier, and it looks like a pity that she
should be denied the privilege of following a life she seems so much devoted
to."
...Louise Hoffman, the pretty "soldier gal" was dressed in feminine
apparel, and sent under guard to Louisville, and thence to her home in NewYork
city.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, August 26,
1864, p. 2, c. 1
ANOTHER
FEMALE SOLDIER.--Lizzie Hodge, a female soldier, was arrested in Bowling Green,
and brought to the Provost marshal's office in this city yesterday.
She will be held until this morning, when she will be sent to her sister.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, August 26,
1864, p. 4, c. 2
FANNY
WILSON, aged 19 years, and an actress in the Memphis Theatre, was arrested a few
days since while attempting to be a soldier.
She had shorn her locks and donned the Federal blue--but it would not do.
She had heard of major Pauline Cushman and panted for military glory and
the romance of a Southern prison.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, September
29, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
It
is stated that Major Pauline Cushman called on President Lincoln a few days ago,
in proper female attire, and preferred her claim for five months of back pay
which had been refused her in the West after being wounded and her sex
discovered. The President wrote a
note to the Paymaster-General, saying that as she had received her pay the
greater part of the time, he could see no reason why she was not entitled to the
remainder, and therefore directed the
payment of the balance.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH, October 18,
1864, p. 2, c. 3
Sarah, alias John Williams, a private in the 2d Kentucky cavalry, was
sent to the to the Post prison, to be held until further orders.
This gay "soldier gal" has served for three years, and her sex
never discovered, (so report saith,) until the present time.
She is a veteran and deserves promotion.
RICHMOND DISPATCH Monday,
October 31, 1864, p. 1 (Contributed by Wendy King)
Women in soldiers’
apparel -The Central cars, on Friday night, brought down two girls, named Mary
Bell and Mollie Bell, who were dressed in soldier clothes. They claim to be
cousins, and state that before the war they lived with their uncle in
Southwestern Virginia; but about two years since he left them and went over to
the Yankees. They them attired themselves in male apparel and were admitted into
a cavalry company, attached to the Confederate service. A few months after their
enlistment they encountered a force of Yankees, were defeated and captured with
the rest of the company; but subsequently, General John H. Morgan, with
reinforcements, overtook the Yankees who had them in charge, causing such a
precipitate retreat that they were compelled to abandon their prisoners. After
three months' service in the cavalry, they joined the Thirty-sixth Virginia
infantry, and have been with it up to the present time.
On one occasion Mollie killed three Yankees while on picket, and on her
return to the brigade was promoted for gallantry to corporalcy.
The corporal has missed but one battle -- that of Cedar creek -- she
having been sent off on duty at the time. Once
she was slightly wounded in the arm by a piece of shell.
From the time these girls entered the service up to the day of the fight
which took place between Early and Sheridan on the 19th instant, the secret of
their sex was only known to the captain of the company to which they belonged.
At this battle he was taken prisoner, and they then, finding it necessary
to have some protector confided their secret to the lieutenant commanding the
company; but he did not keep it two days before he reported it to General Early
himself, who ordered them to be taken to Richmond.
In the interview with the General, which ensued in consequence of the
information imparted to him by said lieutenant, Mollie stated that there were
six other females in disguise in the army; but she refused to tell who or where
they were.
These girls were known in the army by the names of Tom Parker and Bob
Morgan, and were acknowledged by all the soldiers with whom they were associated
to be valiant soldiers, having never been known to straggle or shirk duty.
As they appeared in the Chief -of-police
office on Friday night, there was nothing in their appearance to excite
suspicion that they were other than what they appeared to be, confederate
soldiers. They are modest in demeanor, and were always known as quiet
and orderly members of their command. Mollie,
alias Bob Morgan, did most of the
talking and displayed evident marks of education and refinement; Mary, alias
Tom Parker, was taciturn and moody, but yet not altogether uninteresting. Mollie says that "Tom" as she called her cousin was
never intended to be a soldier; she is too modest and backward.
They were both committed to Castle Thunder to await
further arrangements for their welfare.
RICHMOND DAILY EXAMINER, October 31, 1864, p. 2
(Contributed by Wendy King)
Pants versus Petticoats.--
Two women, habimented as soldiers, who gave their names as Molly Bell and Mary
Bell, of Pulaski county, Virginia, were received at the Provost Marshall's
office from General Early's army of the Valley on Friday evening, and turned
over to the solitude of Castle Thunder by Captain MacCubbin.
Their cognomens in the ranks were Bob Martin and Tom Parker.
Molly is seventeen and good looking.
Mary is twenty-four and scrawny. it
was said by some of their advocates that the girls have been serving in the army
for two years, and done good service as soldiers without at all exciting the
suspicions of their captain or their comrades as to their sex.
The girls rather plumed themselves of the figure they cut, and boasted
that if all the women of the Confederacy were as patriotic as they the country
would have been free long ago.
We are compelled to spoil the romance of the whole matter, and we do so on the
authority of the captain of the company, under whose commitment they were sent
from the valley. The Captain asserts that the women were common camp followers,
and that they have been the means of demoralizing several hundred men in his
command. They adopted the disguise of soldiers the better to follow
the army and hide their iniquity. Beyond
a doubt they had been with the army some time, and we have reason to believe
that more of the same sort are left in the ranks, marked by a Confederate
uniform.
The country had here an insight into one of the probable causes of the utter
worthlessness and inefficiency of some of the commands in the valley. Hidden in Early's camp like the stolen Babylonian garment and
silver in the camp of the Hebrews, defeat and disaster ever follows, and ever
will continue to cling to it, like the shirt of Nemish until purged of the
unclean presence
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
December 4, 1864, p. 4, c. 3
Romance
of the War.
From the Detroit Tribune, Nov. 18.
On
Thursday we learned of a very remarkable incident in connection with the first
regiment of Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, which goes far to illustrate the
old proverb that "when a woman will she will, depend on't," etc.
In the Fall of 1861, a young man, whose name it is not necessary to
mention, conceived the idea of joining the above named regiment.
He had previously formed the acquaintance of a young girl living in the
same village, whose proper name is Marian Green, and if fact, became enamored of
her.
They
were engaged to be married, and she protested against his going into the army.
He, however, had made up his mind to go, and go he did.
She threatened to follow, but was finally prevailed upon to remain at
home, but only consented after a solemn promise that her "brave boy in
blue" would ever cherish and regard her as his affianced.
The following December Marian Green bid goodbye to her lover at
Ypsilanti, having gone there to see him "off for the wars."
Letters
passed regularly for months between the parties, but Marian grew tired of being
absent from her lover, and finally resolved to join him.
This time she kept the matter a profound secret.
An opportunity was soon offered, and she set her wits to work to
accomplish her long-desired wish. By
an arrangement, known only to herself and a certain surgeon, she managed to
enlist in a detachment that was subsequently recruited for the regiment, and in
the Summer of 1862 she, together with many other new recruits, joined the main
organization, then engaged in rebuilding some bridges on the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad.
Although Marian had informed her parents that she was going to leave home on a
visit to some friends in Illinois, she was soon missed, and anxious inquiries
were made concerning her prolonged absence from home.
No tidings of her could be learned, and the sorrow-stricken parents
remained unaware of her whereabouts until a few days ago, when she arrived home
safe and sound, having apparently enjoyed soldier life amazingly.
She, owing to her boyish appearance, while with the regiment, managed to
avoid the more arduous labors incident to that organization, and by that means
was enabled to bear up under the fatigue and exertions of a soldier's life.
As
letters written by her lover remained unanswered, save by her parents, he became
sad and lonely. Could she have
deserted him and eloped with another, after having so frequently reassured him
to the contrary. He could not, for
a moment, entertain any such idea. That
she would eventually prove true to her declarations, he felt no doubt.
Strange forebodings, however, crept over his mind, and so worked upon his
feelings that, in the fall, he was taken sick, and was sent to the hospital.
Imagine
his surprise when, after a day or two, a familiar countenance there met his
anxious gaze. It was none other
than that of Marian Green! it is
unnecessary to repeat all that transpired; suffice it to say that mutual
explanations followed, never to reveal the discovery there made. Months followed, and still Marian Green remained in the
hospital, kindly nursing the patients. She
kept her sex a secret for a time, and would doubtless have done so for the whole
term of her enlistment, had not the young man proved recreant to his trust.
He wrote a letter to her parents, informing them of the discovery, and
they soon found means to bring home their long lost daughter.
She was loth to depart for home, but, obedience to her parents, rendered
it necessary that she should do their bidding, especially since her sex had been
discovered.
A few
days since her lover returned home, and Marian Green, learning that a portion of
the regiment had been discharged, came to this city where she met the idol of
her heart. A Justice of the Peace
was visited on Thursday, and the happy pair were made one.
To-day they return home to the inland town from whence they came, with
their hearts full of joy and their pockets full of greenbacks.
NASHVILLE DISPATCH,
January 4, 1865, p. 4, c. 1
The
Government Female Prison at Fitchburg, Mass.--Its Inmates
Since
the year 1863 the National Government has used a portion of the jail to imprison
secesh females, who have been sent to Fitchburg from Washington and other places
for various reasons. These women
are confined in the first and second tiers of cells, on the south side of the
room. In the passage-way off the
corridors, there are a number of pot plants and birds, and this portion of the
building presents a very cheerful appearance. ....
The next received were Annie E. Jones 20
years old, and Mary Jane Johnson, 22, who arrived at the place on the 24th of
March, 1864. They were both camp followers, and suspected of being Rebel
spies. The first one, it will be
recollected, created quite a sensation at the time of her arrest, when she was
known as Major Jones. Some months
ago she was transferred to another jail in this State, and soon afterwards, we
believe, released on her own parole. She
was very lady-like and seemed to be quite well educated.
The "Major" has not yet left the State, and is stopping at one
of our first hotels. ...
Jane A.
Perkins, 28, and Sarah Mitchell, 20, entered the jail October 13th, 1864. They
are prisoners of war. The first one
states that she served in a Confederate battery three years, and has been
wounded twice, once in the foot and again in the ancle [sic].
When captured she was getting water from a spring, being dressed at the
time in a bloomer costume, similar to that worn by a few "high-minded"
females a few years since. She also
says that previous to being sent to Fitchburg she was wounded in the arm by a
ball, from a gun discharged by one of the guard of the prison in which she was
confined, at another woman who was somewhat boisterous in her conduct.
The ball first passed through a book she had in her hands reading, and
then into her arm. Whether her
story is true or not, we don't know, but she exhibits a book with a bullet hole
in it, to prove what she asserts. When
the Mitchell girl was taken prisoner, she was attired in the uniform of a
sergeant of the United States infantry service.
She states that at one time she held a commission of lieutenant in the
Confederate army. They were tried
at Washington. ...
NASHVILLE DAILY UNION,
February 2, 1864, p. 1, c. 7
A
Romantic Incident.
We have just been put in possession of the facts of
a sad case of monomania, which had a terrible termination.
A young lady residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. about 19 years of age, about a
year since became inspired with the idea that she was a second and modern Joan
of Arc, called by Providence to lead our armies to certain victory in this
contest. The hallucination was a
strong one and a change of scene being suggested by her physician, she was
brought to Ann Arbor, in this State. Her
mania, however, increased until it was found necessary to confine her to her
apartment. She, however, succeeded in making her escape, came to this
city and joined the drum corps of a Michigan regiment, her sex known only to
herself, and succeeded in getting with her regiment to the Army of the
Cumberland. How the poor girl
survived the hardships of the Kentucky campaign, where strong men fell in
numbers, must forever remain a mystery. The
regiment to which she was attached had a place in the division of the gallant
Van Cleve, and during the bloody battle of Lookout Mountain, the fair girl fell,
pierced in the left side by a Minie ball, and when borne to the surgeon's tent
her sex was discovered. She was
told by the surgeon that her wound was mortal, and he advised her to give her
name that her family might be informed of her fate.
This she finally, though reluctantly, consented to do, and the colonel of
the regiment, although suffering himself from a painful wound, became interested
in her behalf, and prevailed upon her to let him send a dispatch to her father.
This she dictated in the following manner:
Mr. -------, No. --, Willoughby st. Brooklyn:
Forgive your dying daughter. I have
but a few moments to live. My
native soil drinks my blood. I
expected to deliver my country, but the fates would not have it so.
I am content to die. Pray,
Pa, forgive me. Tell ma to kiss my
daguerreotype.
EMILY.
P. S.--Give my gold watch to little Eph. (The
youngest brother of the dying girl)
The
poor girl was buried on the field on which she fell in the service of her
country, which she fondly hoped to save.
Detroit Tribune.
NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, June 16,
1864, p. 2, c. 2
Female
Soldier Wounded.
Some
two years ago a volunteer was received into an Indiana regiment, and mustered in
under the name of John Wise. John
made a most exemplary soldier, and was in nearly all the engagements in the
Southwest. In the battle of Lookout
Mountain John received a serious wound in the left shoulder, and was conveyed to
the hospital, where the injury was promptly attended to.
Upon removing the shirt bosom by the doctor, preparatory to a surgical
examination, lo! and behold! it was discovered that John belonged to the
feminine gender, and it is said that during her two year's service not the
slightest suspicion of her sex had entered the minds of her comrades in arms.
Miss John Wise was in this city on Saturday, still suffering from the
effect of her wound, in search of her step-mother.
Some gentlemen have raised her a sum of money, and procured
transportation for her to Louisville, where she has received a situation in the
hospital as a nurse. Miss John Wise
is a decided character, and talks as flippantly about the "good times our
boys had" as any male soldier in the army--Pittsburg Commercial.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, August 16, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
A Yankee Surgeoness.—Among the recent captures of Johnston's army was a
female yankee surgeon. A
correspondent of the Macon Confederate thus describes her:
She is apparently of about twenty eight or thirty summers; a little worn,
but still passably good looking. Hair
dark and gathered under a silk net; figure about five feet six and rather thin.
Her costume is as novel as her position.
Bloomer costume of blue broadcloth trimmed with brass buttons; yankee
uniform hat, with cord tassels; surgeon's green silk sash, worn over the right
shoulder and across the breast, fastening on the left side.
Over her front she wore a blue military overcoat and cape.
Lastly she wore boots, (and let me say that, in respect to feet there was
more of her person parallel to the earth than strict rules of beauty would
require,) plain calfskin boots over her dress.
When taken she was near our picket lines with the purpose, as she states,
of sending some letters through our lines.
She was mounted on a small and rather indifferent looking horse (if you
have any tears to shed, prepare to shed them now.)
Yes, sir, I say it—I say she was riding a man's saddle, with—one foot
in each stirrup.
The Doctor, along with her stirrups, got her boot into it this time.
She appeared a little embarrassed—to her credit be it said—but
answered promptly and intelligently.
She has in her face and manner the 'unrectified yankee,' but her manners
are better than those of a majority of her tribe.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, September 27, 1864, p. 2, c. 3
A Female Spy.—Yesterday, Mrs. Alice Gordon Bennett was received in this
city from the front, to be tried as a rebel spy.
It appears that a few days since she made her way through our lines near
Atlanta and under disguise, had several communications with the officers in
command, after which she endeavored to make her way back to the South.
While endeavoring to pass through the lines, she was arrested and sent to
the city under guard. She states that her husband is on the Wynona, one of
Commodore Farragut's fleet, and at her own request she will be sent to New
Orleans for trial.
[Louisville Democrat.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, November 1, 1864, p. 1, c. 2
Marriage of a Confederate Heroine.—On the 25th, a most
interesting ceremony of marriage took place at the church of St. James,
Piccadilly, London. The bridegroom,
Lt. Samuel Wilde Hardinge, who is about 30 years of age, was an officer in the
United States navy, holding the rank of Lt. on board the American war steamer
Connactacu. The lady, who is about
the same age as the gallant bridegroom, was the daughter of Gen. Boyde, of the
army of the Southern States,, who lately expired in prison, having been made a
prisoner by the Federals. The
lady's career is full of the most eventful, heroic, and romantic features. Her father, who possessed vast estates in Virginia, early
embraced the cause of Southern independence, early embraced the cause of
Southern independence [sic] was soon entrusted with command, obtaining the rank
of general. His daughter, the
bride, enthusiastically embraced the cause, followed her father to the field and
accompanied him throughout his campaign with the celebrated
"Stonewall" Jackson, and on two occasions, heroically, as a modern
Joan of Arc led on the troops to battle; She was, however in a skirmish
captured, and made prisoner, and conveyed to Washington where she was
imprisoned. Here she remained 13
months, when she was exchanged for Gen. Cochrane, who had been made prisoner by
the Confederates. On her return to
the South, she went on board the Greyhound, Confederate steamer which was
captured by the Federal steamer Connactacu while running the blockade.
Lt. Hardinge was sent on board the Greyhound as a prizemaster, with his
young heroine as a prisoner. The
result was that they mutually became enamoured and escaped together from the
ship, and found their way to this country, the bride having succeeded in
withdrawing her lover from his allegiance to the United States flag, and
enlisted his sympathies and support for the South.
It is the intention of Lt. Hardinge with his bride to leave this country
at the latter end of Sept. to run the blockade and enter the service of the
Southern States. The marriage
cortege was comparatively private, being confined to the bridesmaid and two or
three lady friends, the bridegroom being attended by a number of American
gentlemen connected with the South. After
the conclusion of the ceremony the parties repaired to the Brunswick Hotel
Jermyn street, where the bridegroom has resided since his sojourn in this
country, and partook of an elegant dejeuner.—London
Paper.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
November 8, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
"Mollie Hayes," a noted female rebel spy, of Forrest's command,
who was captured six months ago, has been sent to the Alton (Illinois) prison.
BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, April 13, 1866, p. 1, c. 2-3
Romance of the War—Thrilling Adventures of a Young and Beautiful Woman.
Among the many thrilling events of the late war, says the St. Louis
Republican, none can exceed the adventures of Mrs. Loretta De Camp, the subject
of this sketch. Mrs. De Camp, whose
maiden name was Roach, was born in the West Indies in 1838, and is now about
twenty-eight years of age. At an
early period her parents moved to the United States and settled in the Parish of
St. James, Louisiana. The current
of her life ran smoothly on until the outbreak of the war for Southern
independence, when, fired by enthusiasm in, as she thought, the cause of
liberty, she donned the male attire, and was among the first to rush to arms. Raising a company of cavalry, and equipping it at her own
expense, she proceeded to Virginia and there served for eight months on the
Peninsula, under the command of the celebrated Colonel Dreux, before her sex was
discovered. When this occurred she
was at once mustered out and ordered home.
Instead of obeying the order, she proceeded to Columbus, Kentucky, and
was serving with General Polk at the evacuation of that place.
She proceeded to Island No. 10, but not being satisfied with the manner
in which affairs were conducted there, she left and went to Fort Pillow, where
she was elected First Lieutenant in Captain Philips' Company of Independent
Tennessee Cavalry. With her company she proceeded to Corinth and reported to
General A. S. Johnston. At the
battle of Shiloh Captain Philips fell mortally wounded, and the command then
devolved on her. While gallantly
leading her company in a charge, she was twice wounded and carried from the
field. After the retreat from
Corinth she was taken to New Orleans for surgical treatment, and when the city
fell into the Federal hands she was among those taken prisoner, after a
confinement of several months she was paroled, and soon after exchanged.
Proceeding at once to Richmond, the disguised female soldier was
commissioned first lieutenant in the Adjutant General's Department, and ordered
to report to General Marcus J. Wright, commanding the district of Atlanta.
Upon reporting, she was assigned to duty with the Provost Marshal, as
chief of detectives and military conductor.
Serving for several months in this capacity, she met Major De Camp of the
Third Arkansas Cavalry, to whom she was engaged to be married previous to the
war. The ceremony was then
performed in Atlanta, and from dashing Lieutenant Roach she was transformed to
the sober Mrs. Major De Camp. From this time her services ceased as an officer in the
field, and she was engaged in secret service—sometimes in the Confederacy,
again in England, and then in Canada. In
1865 she spent several months traveling in the United States, and even went as
far as the Sioux country, in Minnesota. Her
husband, who was taken prisoner in the Fall of 1863, while serving with his
regiment in Georgia, was carried to New York.
After a long and arduous siege she at length succeeded in getting him
paroled in January, 1865, but he lived only eight days after his release from
prison. Subsequent to the death of
her husband (in January, 1865), she proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, to watch over
the interests of Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase.
After the final collapse of the Confederacy, Mrs. De Camp remained in the
North until January, when she returned to her home in Louisiana; but remaining
there only a few days, she proceeded to Memphis, and purchased a stock of goods
which were shipped on the ill-fated steamer Miami, which was blown up on the
Arkansas in February. She was one
of the two ladies who were saved, but with the sacrifice of all her baggage and
goods. By an unfortunate over-sight
on the part of her merchants, her goods were not insured, and, consequently, she
lost her all.
Mrs. De Camp is now in this city, and sojourning at the Southern Hotel.
Many who served in the Confederate army will remember the dashing
Lieutenant Roach, of whom so much was said in Mobile and Selma in 1863.
Our space will not permit a full recital of her adventures.