caption serviceyears death_date birth_place allegiance image_size birth_date rank image article_title name
loreta disguised as `` lieutenant harry buford '' -lrb- left -rrb- janeta velázquez as herself -lrb- right -rrb- and 1861-1865 c. 1902 havana , cuba csa confederate army 150 june 26 , 1842 35px second lieutenant -lrb- u.s. -rrb- loreta janeta velazquez . jpg loreta janeta velázquez
 loreta janeta velázquez a.k.a. `` lieutenant harry buford ''
loreta janeta velázquez

loreta janeta velázquez -lrb- june 26 , 1842 -- c. 1902 -rrb- , was a cuban-born woman who claimed that she masqueraded as a male confederate soldier during the american civil war .
according to her memoirs , she enlisted in the confederate states army in 1861 , without her soldier-husband 's knowledge .
she then supposedly fought at bull run , ball 's bluff and fort donelson , but was discharged when her gender was discovered while in new orleans .
undeterred , she apparently reenlisted and fought at shiloh , until unmasked once more .
she then became a confederate spy , working in both male and female guises , supposedly as a double agent also reporting to the u.s. secret service .
her husband died during the war and she remarried three more times ; being widowed in each instance .
the circumstances of her own death are unknown .
