Rosetta's Real Life "Mercy Street" in New Orleans

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Continuing with the theme of women soldiers and their hospital experiences, this blog post details that of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, whose story has been highly publicized in books, articles, and blogs since Lauren Cook introduced us to the woman warrior in 1994 through her wartime letters in An Uncommon Soldier.

The 5'0" tall, blue-eyed farm girl was financially driven to enlist in the 153rd New York Infantry on August 30th, 1862.  As a "man," she would make more money than she ever would as a woman.  Rosetta sent a portion of her soldier's pay home to Afton, New York in order to help alleviate the debt her family had accrued.  (Uncommon Soldier, p. 9)

In February, 1864, the 153rd was transferred from Washington D.C to Louisiana where they would participate in Major General Nathanial Banks' Red River Campaign.   During the ill-fated venture, Federal troops experienced bad water, bad food and fatigue from hundreds of miles of hard marching in the burning heat and suffocating humidity of Louisiana's subtropical climate.  The stress of dealing with all of these hardships took its toll as soldiers began to succumb to a variety of diseases.  Private Wakeman was one of them.

"Mercy Street" and Women Soldiers: "I Would Rather Have Been Shot Dead"

Did you watch the premier of Mercy Street last night?  This is PBS's new Civil War medical drama.  Of course, I couldn't help but to think about women soldiers and their experiences.  A trip to the "saw bones" typically meant the end of their stint in the military.  They were aware of this and sometimes attempted to evade a trip to the hospital.  After her case of malaria worsened and a furlough to seek treatment was denied, Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias "Franklin Thompson," deserted the 2nd Michigan Infantry rather than risk discovery. Her story would not come to light until she herself came forward with details of her service, which were confirmed by male comrades.

My Talk for Delta Kappa Gamma, 1/14/16

Last April, I spoke at the Delta Kappa Gamma state convention in Olive Branch, Mississippi, which you can read about (HERE).    In attendance was Stacy who then invited me to speak at a meeting for her Sigma Chapter of DKG, which is a professional society of women educators.   I was honored to have been asked.