The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-10-30
A Confederate Amazon.
EXPLOITS ON THE TENTED FIELD OF MRS
BONNER, ALIAS LIEUTENANT HARRY
BUFORD-HER SUCCESS AS A
NEW MEXICAN MINER.
From the Mobile Register, Aug. 25.l

known throughout the South as Lieu
tenant Harry I. Buford, arrived in this
city from New Orleans, on route to New
York. This distinguished lady has, per-
haps, gone through more hardships and
done more for the Confederate States
during the " late unpleasantness" than
, any woman within the borders of the
section so designated. Like all our
Southern women, Mrs. Bonner was filled
with that unprecedented love of coun-
try and patriotism, so beautifully ex-
emplltied by the women of the South
during the war, and unwilling to See
those whom she held most dear march
to the front, she made preparation, not
Wlthstandlng her sex, to participate ac-
lively IN the strife. During the month
of june, 1861, she left New Orleans, in
the full uniform of a recruiting officer,
and went direct to Arkansas, where she
o succeeded in raising a company Of
veterans. AS first lieutenant, under
Captain WeatherfOrd, she left Arkansas
with the company and went to Key
west: Here she was reluctantly COM
PEELED to leave the command which she
had organized, and to which she became
80 much attached, on the ground of in
competency, as alleged by the comman-
der of that post. Determined to allow
no impeachment to make herswerVe from
the line OF duty marked out by herself,
she at once proceeded to Virginia, and
joined DreW's battalion Of New Orleans
the day previous to the first battle of
Manassas, and participated in that mem
Orablc struggle. A short time after this
she joined the 8th Louisiana, and for
the first time her sex was questioned,
and she was arrested and ordered to as
III I fnNSntn nt{Trn D-, J~l-
OF amusing adventures perhaps the best
with which she was connected took
place during the time Of her imprisOn-
ment after this arrest. A committee Of
ladies waited upon her by order of the
commander, for the purpose of settling
the .ve1ed Question, but after seeing the
dashlng looking young officer they con-
Guided not TO perform their mission.
She was taken before the Mayor, releas-
ed, allowed to retain her uniform, and
at once commissioned to perform any
services for the COnfedcracy which she
Nigh the called upon to perform. AS her
sex had been questioned, if not known,
she resolved to leave Richmond, and re-
jOiced when Gen. Winder ordered her to
the Western army for the purpose of
scouting in the vicinity of Oklahoma, Mis-
Slsslppi. The reliability of the daring
young recruit was soon recognized and
appreciated, and General Quantrell sent
her with dispatches as q spy into Mis-
souri,. After rendering inestimable ser
wee III this capacity she went to MisSis-
slppl, and from there back to New Or
leans, where she joined the 2Ist Louis
lana Regiment, then being organized,
and reported to General Villipigue. Re-
celvlng her commission as First Lieuten
ant, she went to Memphis, and from
there to Shiloh, where she was badly
wounded in the right shoulder on the
first day of the battle, April 6, 1869.
While recovering from the effect of her
wound her sex was again discovered, to
her modification, and General Beaure-
gard and others were astOnishcd to find
that the gallant young officer was
not OF the stronger sex. Unable to dis
suade her from participating in active
warfare, she was commissioned to go to
Atlanta, pass through the lines, and act
a spy. Upon reaching Atlanta she
was compelled to wait several days for
further orders, and instead of staying
in that city, she ran up to Dalton and
Chattanooga, and participated actively
IN both tights, returning to Atlanta a
day or two before the necessary orders
arrived. From this section of the cOun-
try she was ordered aboard of block
aders from different Southern ports to
the Indies, and often was the bearer of
important dispatches to foreign ports
for the Florida and Shenandoah. She
seized every opportunity, whether in the
South, in the North, or in a foreign land,
to render assistance to the Southern Con- |
federacy. She has a receipt now in her
possession for $3.50, which she collected
from the United States soldiers of Com
m0dOre Brissel's feet, then at Bridge
port, Barbados, and sent to Southern
hospitals, although the money was sup
posed to have been given for the bene- |
fit of Federal soldiers. She was now
sent to San Diego and Havana for the
purpose of buying coffee and sugar for |
C~onfederacy, and from there, after
making the necessary purchases, she
went to South America, in the interest
2f the Confederate Government, with
Prlce's expedition. From South America |
proceeded to the West Indies, charg-
ed with some important mission for the
country which she loved 80 well and
so faithfully. The deeds of this
noble women are we'll known through
out the South, and have been recited on
many a hearthstOne by we'll SCARED
veterans and inmates of Federal dun
yeOns. The starved, inhumanly- treated
prisoners of Camp Chase have every
reason to remember her who nursed
hem, fed them and furnished them with
Every cent she could spare, day after
lay.
She is in possession of genuine docu-
nents, given her every step she has
made, and from all of them it can be
'een that she was trusted unhesitatingly,
bore an unblemished character from
he beginning to the close of the war.
Even after her sexhOod had been CUES
throughout the entire war-be it
Iaid to the credit of the men of the
south--that not a syllable was ever re-
leated In her hearing unfit to repeat in
he presence OF the most reserved lady.
drs. Bonner removed to New Mexico,
Ifter her adventurous life, and engaged
Ii mining SpeculatiOns, and has realized
handsome fortune from her invest
nents. She has been well employed
otherwise, and has finished a book Civ
ng a truthful account of her adventures
her connection with the Con-
ederacy.- She is an intelligent-looking
ady, of about thirty-five years of age,
md has a particularly refined appear
for one who has experienced the
lardships of camp life and performed
lie duties of a man for more than four
ears.
She is on her way to New York, and
las a number OF letters of introduction
0 prominent gentlemen of many South
I'm and Northern cities, and other evil
of an irreproachable reputation.
While here she called upon several of
'ur distinguished citizens, whose con.
lection with the wal rendered her de-
Of forming their acquaintance,
nd to many of whom she brought let
nf nHrnh,nE.n,,