European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Focus women in combat Rosetta Wakeman fought and died with the . Infantry 130 years ago Sarah Rosetta Wakeman was one of about 400 women who disguised themselves As men to fight in the civil War. By Eileen Loh the associated press from 1862 to 64, a Union army private wrote to Kinfolk Back Home in new York describing strange Southern lands drills and duty loneliness and an itch to go into Battle. Quot i am Well and Tough As a Bear Quot Lyons Wakeman wrote Quot i have got so that i can Drill just As Well As any Man there is in my Wakeman died of dysentery after fighting in Louisiana s red River Campaign in 1864. The 21-year-old Soldier was Laid to rest in Chalmette National cemetery near St. Barnard la., just one among the 654,000 killed during the four year War. Wakeman though died harbouring a secret guarded with the vigilance of a sentry at Post. Lyons Wakeman was actually Sarah Rosetta Wakeman who left Home at 19 to find the Freedom in breeches that she could t enjoy in a dress. She Cut her hair bound her breasts put on a uniform and in 1862 enlisted in the 153rd regiment new York state volunteers. Wakeman was t alone of the 3 million Union and. Confederate soldiers in the civil War some 400 women Are known to have posed As men so they could fight. Quot probably Many Many More Quot lie under Graves bearing their male a cases says Lauren Cook Burgess civil War historian and editor of the uncommon Soldier a collection of Wakeman s letters. Quot Well never a there s nothing to distinguish Wakeman s grave from the other 15,000 thick Stone markers at the Chalmette cemetery just outside new Orleans. Her Tombstone reads simply "4066 Lyons Wakeman a it was t so hard for Wakeman to keep her secret while alive either historians say. The urgency for More soldiers meant that physical examinations of new recruits were spotty at Best. Sometimes All that was required of an enlisted was a trigger Finger that worked and two opposing Teeth Strong enough to rip open a Minie Ball Cartridge. In her Memoir nurse and spy Sarah Emma e. Edwards who posed As pvt. Franklin Thompson for the 2nd Michigan volunteers described her physical Entrance exam As Quot a firm a also so Many teen age and pre adolescent boys fought in uniform that it was unusual to see a Small smooth faced Soldier with a High voice. Wakeman often sent Money Home to Afton n.y., to keep the farm going though her Defiance so embarrassed her parents that they told siblings too Young to remember her that she was a boy. Quot i am enjoying my self summer than i Ever. Did before in this world Quot she told them in june of 1863. Quot. I will dress As i am a mind to for All anyone else car Sand if they Don t let me alone they will be sorry for a a. A a younger sister born after Wakeman died found her letters in the attic along with her ring and a Daguerreotype of Wakeman in uniform. It was the first time Catherine Wakeman realized her Quot brother Quot Lyons was a woman her great great grand Niece Ruth Woodier of Chipley fla., said in an. Interview. A Quot it was talked about Quot Woodier says. Quot the younger ones did t know about it it was just not discussed because it was not the kind of thing women did. They sort of brushed it under the Linda Grant de Pauw president of the Minerva Center on women in the military in Pasadena md., says Quot people said it was disgraceful when the other Side did it. But when their girls did it it was . Woodier told Burgess about her great great aunt when she read a newspaper article about the historian s Awn gender conflict. Burgess had been portraying a male Soldier in 1989 for a re enactment of the Battle of Antietam and was spotted leaving the ladies room. Authorities at Antietam National Park in Sharpsburg md., told her she could t join any More living histories a because they wanted to preserve. The authenticity of the 1862 Battle. ,. Quot i was taken Aback Quot Burgess said explaining that Quot it was a pretty Well known fact in historian circles Quot that five women posing As men fought at Antietam two were a Corporal was promoted to sergeant for Gallant conduct at the Battle of Fredericksburg since which time the sergeant has become the Mother of a a Union col. Elijah . Cavins wounded one killed. She sued the National Park service for sexual discrimination and won. Rosetta Wakeman s letters a the most important Cache to Date on female soldiers in the civil War a show that she Felt a deep responsibility toward her family particularly helping pay her father s debts. "1 knew that i could help you More to leave Home than to stay there with you Quot she wrote. Quot we speculated in the family about Why she did it Quot Woodier said. Quot we decided she did it for the . Economics was Only one reason women gave up their identity to enlist Burgess says. Like men Quot they were patriots of course. They wanted to strike a blow against the enemy. The. Third reason is for adventure to gain a measure of social and Legal and economic Independence not available to others accompanied husbands lovers or Brothers into Battle. Some were discovered when they were treated for. Illness or wounds a few became pregnant. Quot a Corporal was promoted to sergeant for Gallant conduct at the Battle of Fredericksburg Quot wrote Union col. Elijah . Cavins Quot since which time the sergeant has become the Mother of a child Quot Many women kept their disguise successfully. Throughout the War. A. A when Albert , cashier of the 95th Illinois infantry regiment was hospitalized Long after the War doctors found that Quot he was really Jennie Hodgers. After her secret was discovered Hodgers continued to. pension and lived out her last years in a soldiers Home pension Bureau Quot made her dress like a woman Quot Burgess said. Quot she was t very Happy about cashier s name appears on a Monument to the Illinois. Soldiers who fought at Vicksburg miss. Wakeman got her wish to see Battle during the red River Campaign. She survived its fiercest engagement the Battle of pleasant Hill and marched about 400 Miles in. Louisiana s subtropical weather on a meager diet. Accounts show she equated a and some might say exceeded a a her male counterparts in skill bravery and toughness. A Quot i Don t feel afraid to go into Battle Quot she wrote in i August of 1863. Quot i Don t believe there Are any rebel s Bullet made for me yet. Nor i Don t care that there is. I am As Independent As a hog on the ice. If it is cod s will for me to fall in the Field of Battle it is my will to go and never return Homo. A a a. Quot Good by for this time from yours respectful Quot miss Rosetta fila top Confederate Belle Boyd known As la Belle Rebelle was one of Many women Active As spies. Above Frances Calin was a woman who served in the cavalry of the Missouri militia. National Parks Ranger Dominick Caronna reviews papers showing where Lyons Wakeman is buried at the Chalmette National cemetery in St. Barnard la
