Civil War: Women faced danger in roles as spies

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http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=10015

By Shirley Farris Jones

Second of three parts

When one thinks of a Civil War soldier, a male image usually comes to mind. And, the war was fought largely, but not exclusively, by men.

Long ago, someone arrived at a ballpark figure of about 300 women who actually fought in either blue or gray. That figure cannot be documented or even confirmed, but the truth of the matter is that no one really knows just how many women on either side bound their bosoms and fought along side their male counterparts. Some accompanied their husbands or sweethearts into battle.

And, many of them were never even discovered. It certainly must have been a shock to an attending physician on the battlefield when one of these women was wounded and their true identity discovered.

Sarah Edmonds, aka Frank Thompson, had a varied wartime experience and was a nurse and a spy, as well as a soldier. In later life, she drew a pension of $144 per year for 14 years as a Civil War veteran.

Sarah was a 16-year-old who had run away from her abusive father and was working in a millinery shop in Flint, Mich. trying to earn a living when she heard the call for volunteers to “help whip the slaveholders of the South.”

Being both an excellent shot and skilled rider, this sounded like a great way to have a lot of fun for the next 90 days. She decided to become “Frank Thompson” and offered her services.

Although told that “at only five feet six inches he was too short and too delicate”, “he” was none the less accepted into Company F of the Second Regiment of Michigan Volunteers as a private.

Because of his size, he was assigned to the hospital as a nurse and was soon caring for men suffering from severe dysentery, or “bloody flux”, mumps, and typhoid fever. Then came the Battle of Manassas and there were more wounded and mangled soldiers than Frank ever though possible.

Shortly afterward, Frank was told that his “skull had the proper configuration to indicate that he would make a proper spy.”

Word reached his superiors and Frank was told to go behind enemy lines and gather as much information as possible. With blackened exposed body parts and wearing a woolly wig, away “he” went. Thompson returned in a few days “with blistered hands and a head full of hastily gathered information about Rebel positions and plans.

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1. I loved reading about women spies during the Civil War when I was a girl.

Rose O’Neal Greenhow and Emma Edmonds (South and North respectively) were my favorites.

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2. Read about Belle Boyd

You will love her