In episode 7 of season 3 (2005), the History Detectives traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit Tom Pressly who claimed that the Civil War soldier in a photo that he owned was a woman in disguise.
Tom mentions that the photo appeared in a book called
Even More Confederate Faces published in 1983 and that the caption claims that the soldier is an unidentified member of the 2nd Louisiana.
Ultimately, it was decided was that the photo is legitimate, but that this soldier was more than likely male due to measurements taken of the face and that the height was calculated using the rifle as a reference to be 6'.
I was not able to find a video of the episode, but you can read the transcript
here.
I have to agree that the soldier is a male. After reenacting so long.. I look at the hands. His hands are relatively large. A woman's would tend to be a bit smaller. IMHO.
ReplyDeleteYes, hands are a good indicator but not always perfect. Look at Rosetta Wakeman's. They are rather large.
ReplyDeleteAs for the height, woman soldier Mary Dennis of Minnesota was reported to have been over six feet tall.
With that being said, I agree with you, Wendy, that this soldier is more than likely a male. There's just something about the face, jaw, and chin.
I'll add the service records of the 2nd Louisiana to my long list of research items.