Fool Me Once...

The two nurses moved about the steamship headed south, the vessel carrying them and the soldiers toward their fate.  The women wondered how many of these boys would not make the return trip home.  They knew the blue-clad warriors were pondering the same possibility, and so the ladies began to hand out handkerchiefs to them in hopes the pieces of cloth would perhaps remind them of the home they just left behind and help ease their mind in the turbulent times to come.


"Thank you, ma'am," was the common response as each soldier gladly took the handkerchief and stuffed it in a pocket.  The women smiled inwardly knowing that their small gesture was bringing a little comfort to these boys who surely were gripped with fear and anxiety.  They moved from man to man, offering kind words of encouragement, until one of the ladies found herself standing in front of a sight that left her stunned:  a small, slender individual with long hair.  This was a woman in uniform!  Disgusted that one of her own kind would dare to step outside her station, the woman quickly withdrew her outstretched hand holding a handkerchief and presented it to the next soldier.  Private James H. Guthrie, 1st Iowa Infantry, witnessed the snubbing and stealthily presented the little soldier with one anyway.

The other lady saw what had happened and they both shunned the woman soldier.  They went out of their way to avoid her and refused to even acknowledge her presence among the men as they continued handing out their gifts.  With the handkerchiefs gone, they proceeded to find the surgeon on board and reveal their startling discovery.

"Look at the shape of her ankles, legs, and hips which proves her to be a female!"

 They then implored him to examine the supposed woman in uniform, and, if their suspicions were correct, to put her overboard.

The seriousness of such an event would hardly be considered amusing, yet Guthrie struggled to contain a smile over the satisfaction he was receiving from this whole odd situation.

You see, this was all a prank facilitated by him.  The woman soldier was actually a young boy described by Guthrie as possessing "very long hair [more than likely shoulder length] and the most feminine appearance I ever saw."   He admitted that he "...posted him where he played the joke finely."  The charade "created quite a sensation and lots of fun."

Maybe for him and the boy but certainly not for the two women!

Much of a soldier's life was spent trying to relieve the boredom that plagued them in between the moments of sheer terror they experienced in battle.  In order to occupy their time, mischievous soldiers played jokes, some of which, like Guthrie's, centered around the presence of women soldiers.....and babies.

In 1863, some men of the Zouaves d'Afrique (114th Pennsylvania) had fun convincing their comrades that a

114th PA;  photo from Library of Congress

corporal of Company I was really a woman who had given birth.  The man had received a life-sized doll, complete with a  Zouave uniform, from friends who had won the toy at a fair.  The corporal fell ill soon after receiving the box, and rumors spread like wildfire that he was really a woman, specifically a rich heiress trying to escape an oppressive father, and that "her" confinement was due to childbirth.  Hundreds stopped by the tent in order to get a glimpse of the supposed mother and her new baby (the doll).  However, the pranksters took special care to keep anyone from lingering long enough to see through their ruse.  They also convinced a number of men to swear they were witnesses.   But the "cream of the joke" was when the corporal received a 10-day furlough, which, to unsuspecting victims, proved to be the mother being sent home with her child.

Similarly the following year, Federal prisoners held at Tyler, Texas played a joke on the Confederates by  "...imitating the crying of a baby, [which] actually caused many of the moral women of Tyler to firmly believe that we had female soldiers in our army, and that the crying babies were a natural result."

The joke was actually on the prisoners because there were indeed women soldiers in both armies.

These accounts, while humorous, also provide a sobering reminder that researchers must take extra care when examining stories involving women soldiers, especially considering that disguises are involved.   Sometimes things aren't what they seem.  And that can go both ways.  For example, I've come across quite a few soldiers with girlie names.  A name, however, doesn't necessarily mean that the individual is a woman.  Census reports have confirmed that they were men with families....men with girlie names.....but men nevertheless  And similarly, while the presence of young boys in the ranks made it easier for women soldiers to blend in because they, themselves, looked like beardless youths, a boy is sometimes just a boy, as the female victims of Guthrie's prank discovered.  As for the baby hoaxes, I am curious as to whether or not these are the origins of the accounts of women soldiers being discovered after giving birth in the ranks.  You can read more about them by clicking (HERE).

Most of those stories seemed to have happened in the spring of 1863, about the same time as the Zou Zou hoax.  Without exact dates of the supposed births, it is impossible to place these on a time line, leaving us to ponder the question of what came first, the chicken or the egg?  Were these births legitimate (or at least some of them), and the Zouaves just carried out their own copycat version?  Were the births legitimate, but Zouaves were ignorant of them when they carried out their own  unrelated prank?  And, therefore, the timing was just a coincidence?  Or were the letters home and newspaper accounts of these births really detailing elaborate hoaxes perpetuated by their mischievous comrades, as described in the stories above?

It is rather odd, and suspicious, that half of the birth stories I discussed in the post I linked to above involve a  soldier mother who had been promoted to either a corporal or sergeant, and that she goes into labor while out on picket.  It could be mere coincidence, but it does throw up a red flag.

If the 1863 Zouave hoax is indeed the explanation behind the birth stories for that year and those subsequent, it does not account for two births reported in 1862, one of which does contain the common theme of the mother giving birth while on guard.  She was a mere private though.  (I did not mention these 1862 accounts in the blog post I linked to earlier.)

Due to the lack of details in these stories, they may never be verified.  The names of the mothers and babies have been lost to history.

But they cannot be summarily dismissed either.

Until next formation....rest.

Sources:
John H. Guthrie diary quoted in Battle Cries and Lullabies by Linda Grant DePauw, p. 151

 Zouave hoax:  Pittsburgh Daily Post, May 5th, 1863.  The reporter stated that the account illustrated how rumors spread in the army.

Joke by Federal prisoners at Tyler, Texas:  Davenport Daily Gazette, August 10th, 1864