The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-17
THESE WOMEN ENLISTED.
DIS9UISED As MEN THEY FOUGHT IN
THE CIVIL WAR.

shouldering q rife with the American volun.
teers in the present war. Tho methods Of physl-
cal 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 recruit
ing officers eye measurement Of the appli-
cant's inches. II the applicant Appropriated
Ave feet in height. and was not obviously blind,
halt. lame, or deaf and dumb, instant admis-
sion to the ranks was given. The wonder does
not. therefore,. seem so great that a
considerable number OF women actually
soldiered as uniformed men during the
civil war. A majority OF these adventur-
Gus women enlisted on the Union side.
and their sex in most cases was only re-
vealed when they were Wounded In action.
There were no doubt q great many more
women who enlisted in the Northern army as
men than the records show-women who. hay
Ing escaped rounds and detection, were mus.
tered out ut the close OF their enlistments or at
the conclusion 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 authenticated,
should have carried out their deception with
such success under difficult circumstances, but
the fact remains that very few OF them were
discovered TO be women through their poor
wan "a bAO bOAAlCtAl IOiOSs
Washington man who has been In the War
Department for forty years and during the
civil war kept q record Of ali the cases that
came to his notice wherein women were dis
covered 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 show
ing that the girls OF the early sixties aspired to
more venturesome work in war than that Of
nursing sick or Wounded soldiers.
A girl OF %. named Frances Hook, who is
described as of about medium height, with
dark hazel eyes, dark brown hair. rounded
features and feminine voice and appearance"
enlisted. with her brother. In the Sixty fifth
Illinois Home Guards shortly after the begin
ming OF the civil war. She and her brother
were orphans. In enlisting, the girl assumed
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 af-
ter he enlisted. After receiving her three
months discharge the girl Frank Miller re-
enlisted in the Union Army. this time in the
Ninetieth Illinois. She was taken prisoner In
a battle near Chattanooga. In attempting to
escape she was shot through the calf OF
the right leg. Tit Confederate soldiers who
picked her up searched her for papers and
discovered her sex. The Confederates re-
spected her sex and gave her a separate room
in the military prison at Atlanta The girl
claimed that during her captivity she received
u letter from Jefferson Davis Offering her q
Lieutenant's commission IL she would enlist in
the Confederate service. This. however, was
not established. The girl had no homo and no
relatives, but she said she preferred to fight as
O private soldier for the Stars and Stripes than
to accept any commission up to that OF Lieu
tenant General in the Confederate Army. She
was finally exchanged. She said, upon reaching
the North, that her captors tried to extort from
her a promise that she would 60 home and not
enter the service again.
Go home?'s she replied. Go home, and my
brother. the only relative 1 had in the world,
killed by my side at P~ittsburg LandinRp I've
got no home to go to. and l would not 60 co it
even II l had one. until the war Is over"
The betrothed OF a young Ohio girl had en-
listed 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
Third Ohio Regiment to Camp Dennison. near
Cincinnati. Here she assisted in all the duties
ing sentry go. &C.. for a couple OF weeks. when.
ascertaining for the first time that there
betrothed was stationed In the other one near eer
Lancaster, Pa. she went to her commanding
officer, Gel Morrow, and requested 70 be Trans
TERED to the Camp Dennison In PENNSYLVANIA,
giving as her reason that she preferred to asso-
ciate with Americans and that most Of the men
ior Gig HHsn' co. % Y Morro Sne a w shre ssSfG msn, W dise
covered the girls sex and dismissed her from
A girl named Fanny Wilson enlisted in The
Twenty-tourth New Jersey in order to follow
her sweetheart. who was q member Of the. same
her action, but. she saw him every day. and
came near 70 being ASSIGNED to the, same mess
sey fought. through the fiTst campaign In vest
ern Virginia, the girl soldier carrying herself
EydeliaRRtf fE. h Then t As regiment was ordered Be-
n narsq Glh5fi @, s BSSse oal9 MAGE aSs SeFs:e NJ Fno %lIsq %
came Ill when h~erloyer was laid away. and, with
a large mum Der OF sick and wounded, was sent
and sG cS aPon her, hai re asre hs sbs S SSs ES S,s rsySsS9 Ied;
the service. The girl was thrown upon her W
resources In Cairo and for a time she served an
to &emphis and enlisted Giiii : i again nh tRis f tI@s T ie q
cavalry regiment. the Third Illinois. Her sex
was stopped by tho guard and arrested for be-
ing a woman IN mans clothing. She was taken
to the once 20 Of the commanding oflesr. 4 being
loyal Federal soldier. She was provided With an
0I 4 yepn WG woman G nSmsd Nay Shq se owe S%Se 81 NSfF an:
SSille. Ans Mtoptour county Pa, enlisted IN order to
up WIN nor nuSDduus Inc girls father was
violently opposed TO her marriage. The couple
were married secretly. and the young, wife
under the ri pane Of John Evans in the same
hardships OF the camp and the dangers Of the
field. saw her husband fall dead by her aide.
9pd returned home wounded. Her sex was not
discQveSed while she was n the service. She
part In three battles. and was wounded twice.
both times IN her arms. She dressed her
wounds herssli In order e preserve the secret
and clever.
A bright, little girl but IL years Of age en-
listed as q drummer boy in one Of the. Pennsyl-
She gave the name Of Charles Martin. She was
OF good stock, apparently. and had evidently
enjoyed the advantages, Of an education. for she
wrote an excellent hand. and she made herself
cSSpacity Of 4 clerk She was involved 10 the
harmed. The officers never dreamed OF any
question as to her sex. She was fnallytaken III
with typhoid fever and was removed TO the
pennsylyania Hospital In PhIladelphia, Here
and the brave little girl was returned to her
frookIyn RirI whoaa mama "a not oivan