Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-10
WOMEN IN THE ARMY


Once again that old moss-grown yarn has
been revived which Nrecounts that ICON
siderable number'% OF adventurous young
women are soldering in the ranks of the
American army dowp In the Philippines
Every time regimental outfit comes up to
the states from the far islands this fairy
tale finds renewed circulation. The story
is generally sprung by the mischievous re-
turning bucks just for the fun of observing
and studying the credulity of the Juniper
civilian listeners. The girls in uniform
are solemnly said to have followed their
soldering sweethearss, down to the Philip
pines and to have donfed the government,
straights'' so as to be near their fighting
beaus. All of these narratives, it is hardly
necessary to say, are the purest nonsense
No applicant breaks into the United States
army nowadays without the severest sort
of a physical fexaminatton-which Is all
that requires to be said to dispose of these
uniformed girls stories of the present
day. o.
But 1t was very different during the civil
war. Physical examinations during the
civil war did not,s as a rule, amount to
much more than the recruiting officers
eye measurement of the applicants 1nches
and general physical condition. If the ap-
plicant Appropriated five feet or so In
height, and was not obviously blind. halt
lame or deaf and dumb, instant admission
to the ranks was given. The wonder, there
fore, does not seem so. great that a mum
Der of women actually 'soldiered as uni
formed men during the civil war. A ma
1orlty OF these sure-enough adventurous
women enlisted on the Union side, and
their sex in most cases was only revealed
when they were wounded in action There
were, no doubt great many more women
who enlisted as men on both sides of the
gigantic conflict than the records show
women who. having escaped wounds and
detect1on, We're mustered out at the close
of their enliStments or at the conclusion
of the war without their sex. becoming
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 circum-
stances, but the fact remains that very
few of them were discovered to be women
through their poor acting of their soldierly
roles.
A girl of twenty-five, named Frances
Hook, who Is described as of "about me-
dunn height, with dark hazel eyes. dark
brown hair, rounded features and feminine
voice and appearance" enlisted. with her
brother. in the Goth Illinois Home
Guards shortly after the beginning of the
civil war. She and her brother were or
phans. In enlisting the girl assumed the
name of Frank Miller. She served for 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 receiving her three
months discharge the girl Frank Miller re-
enlisted in the Union army, this time in the
Goth Illinois She was taken prisoner
in a skirmish near Chattanooga In at
tempting to escape she was shot through
the calf of the right leg. The confederate
soldiers who picked her up searched her
FOR papers and discovered her sex. They
treated the girl with chivalrous respect,
and she was given a separate room in the
military prison at Atlanta. She was finally
exchanged.
The betrothed of young Ohio girl had
enlisted, and she determined to follow him.
She was inspected, accepted and sworn in
with the rest of the company to which she
applied for enlistment The company
marched to Camp Jackson, Ohio and drilled
there for several days when the girl was
sent with the Sd Ohio Regiment to Camp
sisted in all of the duties of forming a new
camp. handling lumber. doing sentry 60
and so one. for a couple of weeks when
ascertaining for the first time that there
were two Camp ,DenniSonS, and that her
betrothed was stationed at the other one,
near Lancaster, Pa, she went to her com
handing officer Col Morrow, and requested
to be transferred to the Camp Dennison In
PENNSYLVANIA. giving as her reason that
she preferred to associate with Americans
and that most of the men in the outfit to
which she was attached were foreigners
Col Morrow discovered the girls sex and
dismissed her from the camp.
A girl named Fanny Wilson enlisted in
the oath New Jersey in order to follow her
sweetheart, who was a 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 assign
ed to the same mess with him. The 24th
New Jersey fought through the first cam
paign in western Virginia, the girl carrying
herself valianiIy. Then the regiment was
ordered before Vicksburg. The girls lover
was wounded and, without revealing her
sex, Miss Wilson nursed him. She only
made herself known to him just before ne
died. She herself became i'll when her
lover was laid away, and, with a large
number OF sick and wounded, was sent tc
Cairo, Ill Here her sex was revealed
Upon her recovery she was dismissed from
the service. The girl was thrown upon he,
own resources in Cairo and for a time she
served an engagement as a ballet girl
Then she went to Memphis and enlisted
again. this time in a cavalry regiment the
Sd Illinois. Her sex was discovered after
couple of weeks. She iwas stopped by the
guard and arrested Erfor being a woman ir
mans clothing" She was taken to The
headquarters of the commanding officer II
being suspected that she might be a con
federate spy. but she made it clear thai
she was a good, loyal federal soldier. She
was provided with an outfit of women
clothes and sent back north.
A young woman named Mary Owens n
Danville, Montour county. Pa, enlisted /,
order to be with her husband The girl
father had been violently opposed to he
marriage. The couple had been married
| secretly. and the young woman donned tn
United States uniform, enlisted under th
name of John Evans in the same compan,
with her husband. endured all of the hard
ships of the camp and the dangers of tn
field, saw her husband fall dead by he
side and returned home wounded herself
Her sex was not discovered while she wa
in the service She was in the army fo
eighteen months. took part in three bat
ties, and was wounded twice. both time
in her arms. She dressed the wounds her
self in order to preserve the secret of he
| sex. She was Welsh girl, and pretty an,
| clever
| A bright little girl but twelve wears n
age enlisted as a drummer boy in one n
| the Pennsylvania regiments In the earl
! period of the war. She gave the name n
| Charles Martin. She was of good stool
| apparently, and had evidently entoyed tn
| advantages of an education, for she wrot
| an excellent hand, and she made berseI
| useful to the officers of the regiment in IN
| capacity of a clerk. She was Involved =
| the chances of five battles, but escane
| unhurt. The officers never dreamed Of ar
question as to the childs sex Che uya
| finally seized with typhoid fever and 70