“Nothing Ventured Nothing Have:”

Female Soldiers in the American Civil War

Junior Division Paper

Emily Phillips

2,472 words

Nothing Ventured Nothing Have

The American Civil War was fought between 1861 to 1865. It was the bloodiest

conflict in U.S. history, with more soldiers killed or wounded than in any other war.

About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil War, and it required immense bravery to

stand up in the line of fire and see the barrel of a gun on the opposite side, knowing that

you could be dead in minutes. There were more than 400 women who disguised

themselves as men and fought alongside their male comrades. Female soldiers in the

Civil War were motivated by their conviction to the cause. Some women wanted to stay

with their loved one, whereas others wanted to be a part of the action. Encounters with

the terrors of war required women to show bravery beyond what was expected of

women in the nineteenth century. The women also encountered gender discrimination.

Although they didn’t have a major impact on the outcome of the war and little was

written about these women until recent times, the stories of these women changed

society’s typical stereotype of white women in the 1800s.

Soldiers in both the Union and the Confederate armies suffered tremendous

hardships. The soldiers were constantly under orders, working hard until nightfall. If a

soldier disobeyed orders, they were tried, resulting in imprisonment, suspension from

the military and in extreme cases, execution. They constantly drilled in battlefield

formations, target shooting, and keeping their rifles in top shape. In the camps, many

soldiers got sick, and were sent to the camp doctor. However, many did not report,

sharing the same view of an Alabama private that “the doctors kill more than they cure,”

because conditions were extremely unsanitary. “In the first five months of the war, 1

more soldiers died from diseases (such as dysentery, measles, blood poisoning, typhoid

and cholera) than out on the battlefield.” When the soldiers went into combat, they 2

often had to march long distances to get to the battlefield. The average march was 20

miles, and made the soldiers exhausted and wore them down for battle. 3

Fighting in the Civil War was not something most soldiers enjoyed, it came with a

very big risk‒ their lives. Why would women want to fight, if they weren’t even required

(or permitted) to fight in the first place? Some women who enlisted into the army

followed their husbands into war. They didn’t want their husband to go to war alone, and

figured that if he had to cope with the hardships of war, so should she. She would rather

die alongside her husband than be without him. Other women who fought in the army

had strong convictions to either the Confederate or the Union cause. The Confederate’s

fought to keep slavery, and seceded from the Union to become their separate country,

where slavery was permitted. Like men, many women felt strongly about slavery, and

wanted to keep the idea of slavery alive. On the other hand, the Union fought to keep

the United States as one country. They fought to keep the south from seceding, and

thought that enslaving another human being was inhumane. Many women shared this

1Anderson, Dale. A Soldier's Life in the Civil War. Vol. 6 of A Soldier's Life in the Civil War. World Almanac Library of The Civil War. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004. 2 DeFord, Deborah. The Civil War. Wars That Changed American History. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2007. 3 Kent, Zachary. The Civil War: From Fort Sumter to Appomattox. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated, 2011.

view. They wanted to be a part of the struggle to reunite the country, and wanted to

grant African Americans equal rights.

Women who wanted to enlist into a regiment had to undergo certain

transformations to blend in with their male counterparts. For example, the women had to

change their physical features. They used special padding to hide their body shape and

bound their breasts to look flat chested. Women not only changed clothes, but also had

to cut their hair short. One woman recalled that “The hardest thing for me to do was cut

my hair. But that was a sacrifice I was willing to make to be part of war cause.” 4

Women not only had to undergo physical transformations, but they also had to

adapt many mental and emotional behaviors that were considered masculine behavior.

Boys without beards had entered the ranks, so women did not have to pretend to shave.

However, they did need to adapt to other behaviors such as drinking alcohol, chewing

tobacco, and gambling. Women struggled to learn and perfect these unfamiliar

behaviors. At the time, women were expected to be polite and formal, so if they wanted

to enlist in a regiment, the behavior they had to adapt was the complete opposite of how

they had been reared. Many women started practicing “masculine” behaviors before

they joined the

army. 5

Another factor key to disguising their identities was the need to be strong enough

to handle the physical labor that came along with soldiering. Additionally, they needed

4 Hall, Richard. Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company, 1993. 5 Tsui, Bonnie. She Went to the Field; Woman Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2006.

to have experience with handling and shooting rifles. Failing to portray these essential

behaviors could get the women discovered and thrown out of the ranks. One woman's

identity was discovered because of the way she polished her shoes. Fortunately for 6

women, Civil War soldiers did not change their clothes frequently. They wore the same

clothes to bed as they did in the daytime, so it was rare for women to be discovered

because of undressing.

When women fought as soldiers, they encountered gender discrimination as well

as the terrors of war. There were laws prohibiting women to serve in the army. If a

woman wanted to fight, she had to acquire fake papers and maintain a male identity. If

she was discovered, she was immediately discharged. It did not matter how nobly she 7

had fought or what rank she had achieved.

Research suggests over 400 women put their lives at risk to help either the Union

or the Confederate army. They became spies, soldiers and nurses. Nurses didn’t have

to disguise themselves. Their work was extremely difficult, but did not require the added

burden of disguise. Thousands of other women did not fight on the battlefront, but

helped out at home, running factories and working on plantations for their husbands

who had gone to war.

Interestingly, many women who participated in the Civil War kept records of their

accounts. Some kept a journal when they were at war or wrote narratives after they

6 Silvey, Anita. I'll Pass for Your Comrade. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008 7 "Discharge Document for a Soldier With 'Sexual Incompatibility.'" Prologue Magazine. Last modified September 10, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2016. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/

returned. Others told stories about their accounts, but some women did not keep any

records at all. A few stories are very well known to Civil War historians.

A significant example of this comes from Loreta Janeta Velazquez. She was

convinced of the Confederate cause, and when her husband went off to war, she

wanted to go too, however, her husband prohibited her to join. She snuck off and

entered an Arkansas volunteer regiment, under the alias of Harry Buford. Loreta

Velazquez was a very bold person. She states in her narrative that “My motto is ‘nothing

ventured, nothing have.’ If you don’t take risks, you can’t experiences the thrills that you

were sent into this world to experience.” She wanted an opportunity to fight against the 8

Union to defend the Southern cause. Velazquez fought in the First Battle of Bull Run

and the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. She then went to Washington D.C. and gained valuable

information to help the Confederacy. When she returned to the South, she became a

member of the detective corps. Velazquez’s career as a soldier ended when she got

injured in battle and her true identity was discovered. However, she did not want to sit

out of the war. She went to Richmond to present her services as a spy, where she was

able to pass on secret information to the Confederacy.

Another woman who exemplified strong will to serve was Frances Clayton. She

disguised herself as Jack Williams in order to fight for the Union Army. She followed 9

her husband into the war, and adapted those many qualities needed to conceal her true

identity. She learned how to chew tobacco, drink alcohol, gamble and even learned how

8 Velazquez, Loreta Janeta. The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T Buford, Confederate States Army. Edited by C. J. Worthington. Rev. ed. Richmond, VA: Dustin, Gilman and Company, 1876. 9 Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought like Demons. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

to walk like a man. Over the course of about two years, Clayton was taken prisoner

once and wounded three times. She fought in an unknown Missouri regiment alongside

her husband for 18 battles. However, on December 31st, in the Battle of Stones River

(located in Middle Tennessee,) her husband was killed right in front of her eyes. That

didn’t stop Clayton. She stepped right over her husband’s body and bravely fought the

oncoming Confederate soldiers. In this same battle, she was wounded in the hip, and

when she received medical care, her gender was revealed, resulting in her discharge. 10

After Frances separated from the army, she tried to enlist in a different Missouri

regiment but she couldn’t acquire new papers, and was thus unable to join. Prevented

from enlisting again, Clayton went to Maryland to support the North by taking part in

campaigns and rallies. She wanted to make sure that even though she wasn’t in the

army, she still helped the Union cause.

10 Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought like Demons. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

Another example is Maria Isabelle “Belle” Boyd. She did not serve as a soldier

but rather as a spy. In fact, Boyd was one of the Confederacy’s most notorious spies.

Unlike other women, she did not disguise her gender. She used her youth and female

charms to guide Union officers into her confidence. Belle befriended a Union officer 11

who often shared military secrets with her. She passed this information to Southern

Officers. Throughout the span of the Civil War, Belle sent secret messages to J. E. B.

Stuart, a Confederate General, with information she thought would be valuable to the

Confederate cause. In a small battle that occurred just shortly after the battle for

11 Hergesheimer, Joseph. Swords and Roses. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf, 1929.

Shenandoah Valley, Belle performed a particularly daring action. Eavesdropping on a

Union officer’s discussion, Belle uncovered that Union troops were outnumbered and

planned to burn down bridges during their retreat from battle. This plan would give the

Union forces more time to reconnect with other troops nearby and then attack Southern

General Stonewall Jackson as he tried to cross the river. Belle realized that if Jackson

acted quickly enough, he would be able to save the bridges and continue his advance.

With the information she acquired, she sprinted past Union forces and out of town,

which raised suspicion. Union soldiers started shooting at her and Belle recalls that “the

bullets flew thick and fast about me.” Despite such perils, she delivered the message 12

to the Confederate forces unharmed. As a result of her actions, Jackson followed up on

the information and managed to save the bridges, allowing him to continue his attack on

Union forces.

Such encounters with the terrors of war pushed these women far past

conventional limits and changed historians’ views of nineteenth century women. In the

nineteenth century, women were expected to be proper and act with manners and

grace. Women couldn’t get a proper education, let alone fight in combat. White women

in the 1800s were just starting to fight for equal rights. Abolitionists led rallies protesting

the lack of rights for women. Some schools admitted women, but many schools did not,

saying that they weren't fit to learn. Women could not vote, and many did not have jobs.

Most worked at homes cooking, cleaning and taking care of children while their husband

went to go fight in the war. Some even had to work on plantations and farms. Men were

12 Abbott, Karen. Liar Temptress Soldier Spy. Broadway, NY: HarperCollins, 2014.

perceived by society as being superior to women. It didn’t occur to men that women

could be strong enough to fight in bloody battles, where thousands of men did not make

it out alive. One female soldier, Sarah Emma Edmonds, described these perils when

she wrote that “people were collapsing before me. Some men screamed. Others just sat

there silently, on the verge of death. Some people were crying, begging for mercy from

God. I told myself that I can’t concentrate on the bloody hell all around me.” She 13

clearly possessed the toughness of the strongest men.

Any soldier who fought in a war encountered terrors. Imagine standing in a

battlefield, getting shot at by another human being. It took great courage not to run

away from the battlefield and the cause. When men fell in all directions, blood gushing

from their bodies, one could only think about one’s own fate.

It takes great courage for a man to join the army, knowing that they might never

see their family again. Why would women want to enlist in a regiment, knowing they

would encounter terrors that they would never be able to forget? Why would they want

to be solider when they weren’t even permitted to enlist? Female soldiers had to be as

brave as their male comrades, while also worrying about the pressures of disguise.

Women who were nurses on the battlefield nobly risked their lives to recover and save

wounded soldiers, risking getting hit by a stray bullet. Women who were spies risked

being caught or captured. As Richard Hall states in his account,, “There is no doubt

these women are brave. They weren’t forced to be acquainted with the terrors of war. It

13 Edmonds, Sarah Emma. Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. Hartford, CT: W.S Williams and Co., 1865.

was their choice to go fight alongside men in what would soon be the Bloodiest War in

US History.” 14

“War is cruel and you cannot refine it.” ~General William Tecumseh Sherman, 1864 15

It is true that the military service of women did not affect the outcome of

campaigns or battles in the Civil War. Compared with the number of men who fought,

the efforts of the women are statistically insignificant. Women who fought for the Union

and Confederate armies weren’t supposed to fight in the first place. Rather, they were

supposed to be at home, taking care of their children and working around the house.

However, the actions of these women who took part in the Civil War effort proved that

women were not weak. To the contrary, they were rebellious and willing to stand up for

what they believe in. The actions of all women in the Civil War women rejects the

nineteenth century society’s characterization of white women as being frail, subordinate,

passive and not interested in the public realm. “Recent findings on these women made

Civil War historians question the typical stereotype of women in the nineteenth century.”

16

Since December 2015, more than 150 years after the Civil War, women are

eligible to fight in front line combat roles. “There will be no exceptions,” says Secretary

14 Hall, Richard. Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company, 1993. 15 Kent, Zachary. The Civil War: From Fort Sumter to Appomattox. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated, 2011. 16 Majerol, Veronica. "Cross­Dressers of the Civil War." Upfront, January 2015, 18­21.

Ash Carter, “That means as long as they are qualified and meet the standards, women

will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before. They will be

allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, lead infantry soldiers into combat.” 17

However, women had been fighting undercover in the U.S. Military since the

Revolutionary War. The most inspiring accounts of such actions came from women in

the Civil War, where they encountered unforgettable terrors, as well as gender

discrimination. Their bravery played a role in changing the stereotypical characterization

of nineteenth century women.

17 Bowman, Tom. Pentagon Opens All Combat Positions to Women. NPR.org. All Things Considered. Dec.3, 2015 accessed Feb. 5, 2016

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“Discharge Document for a Soldier With ‘Sexual Incompatibility.’” Prologue Magazine. Last modified September 10, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2016. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women­in­the­civil­war­2.html.

This is a discharge document for a nineteen year old soldier enlisted in the Seventeenth Missouri Infantry from April 20th, 1862. This document helped understand how the women were discharged, and how they didn’t have a chance to prove themselves worthy of being in the army after their gender was discovered, as they were immediately discharged.

Edmonds, Sarah Emma. Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. Hartford, CT: W.S Williams and Co., 1865.

This was really helpful in my research about Sarah Emma Edmonds, since it was written by her. Although I ended up not putting Sarah Emma Edmonds in my paper, it helped me gain general background on women in the Civil War, and how tough it was to maintain disguise and fight in the war.

Hawley, J. R. Home Guard. March 9, 1863. Photograph. Library of Congress. Accessed April 1, 2016. http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/nhnycw/aj/aj88/aj88001v.jpg.

This photo represented the hard work that the women put in at home. Even though they weren’t holding guns out on the battlefield, the women who did not fight had to take care of plantations, run businesses and do jobs that were normally their husband’s if he went off to join the army. Her dress showed how they helped the country up by keeping the economy running while their husbands were off at war. This picture was helpful to understand the role of women who did not serve in the army, but still had a very important role.

New York Times (New York, NY). “A Missouri Woman as a Cavalry Soldier.” December

31, 1863. Accessed December 18, 2015.

https://ezproxy.uwgb.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/92264198?accountid=14788. This helped me realize that when women were discharged, the news that a woman was fighting undercover in the army was very surprising. It helped me realize that people didn’t expect women to be hiding their identities to fight in the army.

New York Times. “Personal.” New York Times (New York, NY), August 14, 1864. Accessed December 18, 2015. https://ezproxy.uwgb.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/91846661?accountid=14788.

This article told me about two women who were discovered in the ranks. The perspective of this article was towards these women being brave and courageous wanting to fight in the army.

———“Two Women Found in the Union Uniform.” New York Times (New York, NY), August 26, 1864. Accessed December 18, 2015. http://search.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/91757003/citation/D56E9ACC75324042PQ/1?accountid=14788.

Since this was a newspaper article from the middle of the Civil War, it showed me when women were discovered, people thought of them as insane for entering the ranks. It also told me that when women were discovered, it was a big deal among cities. It showed me that society was aware that women had entered the army disguised as men.

Velazquez, Loreta Janeta. The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T Buford, Confederate States Army. Edited by C. J. Worthington. Rev. ed. Richmond, VA: Dustin, Gilman and Company, 1876.

This book was really helpful in my research about Loreta Janeta Velazquez because it was written by her. It provided helpful information about her early life, and what experiences she had with war. It enhanced my research about Loreta Janeta Velazquez and help prove my thesis.

Secondary Sources

Abbott, Karen. Liar Temptress Soldier Spy. Broadway, NY: HarperCollins, 2014.

I used this book to find specific information on Belle Boyd. It told me about her life as a child and how she got motivation to help the Confederate cause.

Anderson, Dale. A Soldier’s Life in the Civil War. Vol. 6 of A Soldier’s Life in the Civil War. World Almanac Library of The Civil War. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004.

This helped me gain background knowledge about what the Civil War was about. It gave me insights on how tough a life of a soldier was, and helped me understand how much the men and women had to go through.

Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought like Demons. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

This was really helpful for finding information on what women had to go through to enlist in a regiment. It also had many helpful stories from the women who were in war, which ultimately helped me narrow down the women I wanted to focus on for my paper.

DeFord, Deborah. The Civil War. Wars That Changed American History. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2007.

This source was helpful to get background on why the Civil War started and the conflicts soldiers and the country faced when in war. It gave background on the battles of the war and the daily life of a soldier.

Fry, Steve. “Women Who Posed as Men in the Civil War.” Lawrence Journal World (Lawrence, KS), September 6, 2003, 6. http://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/kansas/lawrence/lawrence­journal­world/2003/09­06/page­6?tag=women+soldiers+american+civil+war&rtserp=tags/women­soldiers­american­civil­war?psb=relavance.

This newspaper helped me realize the view that historians had on the women who fought in the Civil War. It helped me gain information about the effect women had with the war, and how it affects historias thinking today.

Gardner, Karen. “Lead, Blood and Tears.” Frederick News Post (Frederick, MD), June 25, 1997.

This newspaper was helpful to find out what effect the women had on the war. It made me realize how the historian’s point of view on women in the 1860s had changed because of these women who fought.

Groh, Mary Lou. “Maria ‘Belle’ Boyd.” Civil War Trust. Last modified May 3, 2014. Accessed November 18, 2015. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/maria­belle­boyd.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/.

I used this website to gain background information about Belle Boyd. It was helpful to find information about her childhood and what her motivation was to become a Southern spy.

Hall, Richard. Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War. New York, NY: Marlowe & Company, 1993.

This book was helpful for finding information about Loreta Janeta Velazquez. It gave details from her early life and what motivated her to fight in the army. This book was also helpful to find general information about the female soldiers as a whole, such as why the majority of them wanted to fight.

Hergesheimer, Joseph. Swords and Roses. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf, 1929.

This book was really helpful to find information about the bravery that the women who fought had to show while going into war. It also provided really helpful information about women who didn’t fight or work on battlefields, but helped out at home on plantations, for example, because their husbands were out at war.

Kent, Zachary. The Civil War: From Fort Sumter to Appomattox. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Incorporated, 2011.

This book helped me gain background knowledge on the Civil War. I learned what it was like to be fighting on the battlefield. I also learned about causes of the war, and how the economy was like at the time.

Loh, Eileen. “Women in Combat Dates Back to Civil War.” Elyria Chronicle Telegram (Elyria, OH), August 7, 1994.

This source told me about what society thought of these women. It told me a little bit about what legacy the women had, even if it didn’t impact many people.

Majerol, Veronica. “Cross­Dressers of the Civil War.” Upfront, January 2015, 18­21.

This article was helpful to find out some general information about women who fought, such as how they enlisted into the regiments and how they disguised themselves. The article also told about the legacy of these women, and how they impacted people’s view about nineteenth century women.

Miles, Rosalind, and Robin Cross. Hell Hath No Fury: The Stories of Women at War From Antiquity to Iraq. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2008.

This book was helpful to find general information about women who fought in the Civil War and what they went through to enlist into regiments. It gave a couple stories from women as well, which helped enhance my learned about the topic. This book was also the first time I heard about Belle Boyd.

Samuelson, Nancy B. “Employment of Female Spies in the American Civil War.” ProQuest 5000. Last modified May 31, 2007. Accessed December 18, 2015. https://ezproxy.uwgb.edu:2443/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/222837441?accountid=14788.

This database helped me find specific information about Belle Boyd, and what her role was in the American Civil War. It also helped me learn general information about spies in the Civil War, and the importance of the spies for both sides.

Silvey, Anita. I’ll Pass for Your Comrade. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.

I read this book to get background information of what it was like for a women to enlist in a regiment. This book went into detail with the enlistment process, and how women prepared themselves so they could pass as men.

Smith, Sam. “Female Soldiers in the Civil War.” Civil War Trust. Accessed October 19, 2015. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/untold­stories/female­soldiers­in­the­civil.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/.

This website was really helpful to get some background knowledge on my topic and to get some general statistics and facts about the women. I also found out about Frances Clayton through this site, which made me want to research her more, which later helped me prove my thesis.

Tsui, Bonnie. She Went to the Field; Woman Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2006.

This was helpful to find lots of stories from some women who took place it the war. It not only featured the women who posed as soldiers, but also women who were nurses and spies. It gave me information about all three women who I featured in my paper, which was very helpful, as the information was detailed and reliable.

Weaver, Mark. “Belle Boyd.” American Civil War Story. Last modified April 8, 2012. Accessed December 14, 2015. http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/belle­boyd.html.

This gave me very valuable information about Belle Boyd. It told me about her experiences in the war, and how she helped General Stonewall Jackson’s army.