The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-07-27
WOMEN ENLISTED
DISGUISED AS MEN, THEY FOUGHT IN
THE CIVIL WAR.
Their Sex Discovered in Most Cases
Only When They Were Wounded
Others Thought to Have Served
Undetected-Girls Who Followed
Sweethearts to War.

WASHINGTON, July 25.-It may be safe
ly assumed that no woman is wearing the
blue and shouldering rifle with the Amer
lean volunteers in the present war. The
methods of physical examination employed
in the selection Of volunteers preclude such
a possibility.
Physical examinations during the civil
war did not amount to much more than the
recruiting officers eye measurement OF the
applicants inches. If the applicant approx
imated five feet in height, and was not
obviously blind, halt, lame or deaf and
dumb, instant admission to the ranks was
given The wonder does not, therefore,
seem so great that considerable number
OF women actually soldiered uniformed
men during the civil A majority of
these adventurous women enlisted on the
Union stde and their sex in most cases
was only revealed when they were wounded
In action. There were. no doubt. a great
many more women who enlisted In the
Northern army men than the records
shoW-Women, who, having escaped wounds
and detection, were mustered out at the
close of their enlistments or at the con-
clusion of the war without their sex be-
coming known to their officers or comrades
1t seems almost incredible that some of
these women, whose cases are well authen-
tlcated, ShOul1 have carried out their de-
ception with success under difficult circum-
stances, but the fact remains that very few
Of them were discovered to be women
through their poor acting of their Soldiery
roles.
Washington man who has been in the
war department for forty years and during
the civil war, kept record Of all the cases
that came to his notice wherein women
were discovered under arms in both services
federal and confederate, gave the reporter
access to his Women Soldiers scrapbook
the other day, and the following stories are
presented as showing that the girls Of the
early sixties aspired to more venturesome
work in wal than that of nursing sick or
wounded soldiers.
A girl Of -, named Frances Hook, who is
described of about medium height, with
dark hazel eyes, dark brown hair, rounded
features and feminine voice and appear
ance,' enlisted, with her brother, in the 65th
Illinois Home Guards shortly after the be-
gning of the civil war. She and her brother
were orphans. In enlisting, the girl as
sumed the name of Frank Miller. She
served three months and was mustered out,
without the slightest suspicion OF her sex
having arisen. Her brother was killed in
, action soon after he enlisted After reCeiv-
ing her three months discharge the girl
Frank Miller re-enlisted in the Union army,
this time in the 90th Illinois. She was taken
prisoner in battle near Chattanooga. In
attempting to escape she was shot through
The calf OF the right leg. The Confederate
soldiers who picked her up searched her Tor
papers, and discovered her sex. The Con-
federates respected her and gave her a
separate room in the military prison at At
lanta. The girl claimed that during her
captivity she received a letter from Jelfer-
son Davis, Offering her heutenant's COM
mission ii she would enlist in the Confed-
crate service. This, however, was not es-
tablished. The girl had no home and
relatives, but she said she preferred to fight
as private soldier for the stars and stripes
than TO accept any commission up to that CT
lieutenant general in the Confederate army.
She was finally exchanged. She said upon
reaching the North, her captors tried to
extort from her promise that she would
go home and not enter the service again.
GO home?" she replied. Go home and
my brother, the only relative had i'll the
world, killed by my side at Pittsburg Land
ing? I've got no home to go to- and l
would not go to it even if l had one until
the war is over
The betrothed of a young Ohio girl had
enlisted and she determined to join HIM.
She was inspected, accepted and sworn in
with the rest of her company. The company
marched to Camp Jackson, Ohio, and drilled
there for several days, when the girl was
sent with the 3rd Ohio regiment to Camp
Dennison near Cincinnati. Here she assisted
in all the duties Of forming a new camp
handling lumber, doing sentry duty, ETC.
for a couple OF weeks, when, ascertaining
for the first time that there were two Camp
Dennisons, and that her betrothed was sta
toned in the other one near Lancaster Pa
she went to her commanding officer COL
Morrow, and requested to be transferred to
the Camp Dennison in Pennsylvania, giving
as her reason that she preferred to asso-
ciate with Americans and that most of the
men in the outfit which she was at
! tached were foreigners. Col Morrow,
shrewd man, discovered the girls sex and
dismissed her from the camp.
A girl named Fanny Wilson enlisted in the
tn bar
sweetheart, who was member of the same
regiment into the field. He knew nothing Of
her action, but she saw him every day, and
came near to being assigned to the same
mess tent with him. The 24.h New JERSEY
fought through the first campaign in west
ern Virginia, the girl soldier carrying herself
valantly. Then the regiment was orered be-
fore Vicksburg. The girls lover was wound
ed, and without revealing her sex, Miss Will
son nursed him. She only made herself
known to him just before he died. The girl
herself became i'll when her lover was laid
away, and, with large number of sick and
wounded, was sent to Cairo, ILL., Here her
sex was revealed, and, upon her recovery
she was dismissed from the service She
was thrown upon her own resources in
Cairo and for time she served an engage
| ment as ballet girl. Then she went to
Memphis and enlisted again, this time in a
| cavalry regiment, the Srd Illinois. Her sex
was discovered after a couple of weeks She
! was stopped by the guard and arrested for
being a woman in mans clothing She was
| taken to the office of the commanding Off
! Ger, it being suspected that she might be
); a Confederate spy, but she made it clear
| that she was a good, loyal Federal soldier
| She was provided with an outfit of woman's
| clothes and sent back north
| young woman named Mary Owens of
! Danville, Montour county, Pa, enlisted in
| order 10 be with her husband. The girls
father was violently opposed to her mar
riage. The couple were married secretly
/ and the young wife donned the United
! States uniform, enlisted under the name CT
| John Evans in the same company with her
| husband endured all of the hardships of
| the camp and the dangers of the field saw
her husband fall dead by her side. and re-
| turned home wounded. Her sex was not
| discovered while she was in the service
for