Women Soldiers of the 95th Illinois at Camp Fuller

Camp Fuller was established at Rockford, Illinois in 1862, following Lincoln's call for volunteers to serve the Union.  Soldiers began arriving in August.  In all, four regiments trained at the camp before being sent to the front.   One was the 95th Illinois Infantry which was mustered into service there on September 4th and began making preparations for war.  Camp Fuller "...became busy with the hum and tramp..." of "Squad drills, company and battalion drills, [and] dress parades...."   The 95th remained there until November 4th, 1862, when it was ordered initially to Cairo, Illinois, and thence to the front.    When the unit left Rockford, there were at least two, possibly three, women in the ranks.


Jennie Hodgers, alias "Albert Cashier," was one of them.  If you conduct an on-line search for women soldiers, you will readily find information about her.  She is perhaps the best known.  But it is relatively unknown that she wasn't the only one in the 95th Illinois.    

Thomas Hannah

After departing Rockford, the unit made its way to the Volunteer State.  While in camp near Jackson, Tennessee on November 17th, 1862, Private Thomas Hannah of company G penned a letter to his wife detailing the discovery of a woman in the ranks.  "We have just discovered one of our soulders (sic) belonging to this rigment (sic) is a women (sic) and she is found out and sent home[.] [S]he is one of those loose coractors [characters] that used to run around camp in Rockford[.] [S]he put on men[']s clothes and enlisted just before we started[.]


This account brings up several questions.  Was this woman indeed a prostitute as Hannah hinted?  It was a common presumption soldiers made when a woman was discovered in the ranks because they couldn't understand why one would want to defy societal norms.  So she must be up to no good.  At this time, there is no proof that the woman was indeed a "soiled dove."  This may have been merely Hannah's perception.  Even if she was, she may have been using the army to escape the institution.  As a "man," she would have freedom to control her own life, something she certainly lacked as a prostitute.  On the other hand, one must ask why did she not show up to the camp already in male disguise if she had sincerely desired to be a soldier.  It appears that this was a spontaneous decision perhaps prompted by a male soldier.  Regardless of her motives, she would have performed the same duties as any other male soldier during the three months she was with the regiment.

Hannah didn't specify which company this unknown woman was with, but what he didn't realize was that he was serving with one within his own company, Jennie Hodgers, who was not a "loose coractor."

Also in company G was Sergeant Charles W. Ives who related the story of one other woman soldier whose mannerisms gave her away.  The colonel got wind of the woman but could not pick her out.  So he devised a plan. "He [the colonel] had several of them lined up and had apples thrown to them for the catch.  Naturally, she made a grab as if to catch it with her apron, and that was a giveaway."

What an amusing sight that must have been!

There has been some confusion as to how many women were involved in this apple-throwing incident.  Ten years after Ives originally shared this story, he stated in another article that there had been two.  I believe this was due to faulty memory and that there was only one who was outed and sent home due to her inability to catch an apple like a man.


It is unknown when the woman Ives mentioned enlisted.  But he did say that she was discovered "from the first."  This implies that she was at Camp Fuller with the others.  If this is the case, that means at least three women soldiers trained at Camp Fuller in Rockford with the 95th Illinois. 

To read more about Camp Fuller, click on the link below.
https://midwayvillagemuseumcollections.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/rockfords-camp-fuller/

There is a marker that was supposedly placed at the camp's entrance.  

Photos by Aaron Rowland

However, one researcher claimed it was in the wrong place.

http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/02/22/guest-column-camp-fuller-marker-is-in-the-wrong-place-new-marker-needed/

It was moved last fall but not to the location where the researcher claimed to be the correct spot.

 https://www.facebook.com/logancamp26/photos/pcb.521613264655476/521613194655483/?type=3&theater&__mref=message_bubble

I guess we can say that these women were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Until next formation....rest.


Image of Thomas Hannah:   http://historic-memphis.com/biographies/thomas-hannah/thomas-hannah.html