Finding Jennie Jenkins: Minnesota's Woman Soldier Who Wasn't

 The amazing account of Pvt. Jennie Jenkins has been documented previously in secondary sources.  Apparently, she enlisted openly as a woman in the Butternut Valley Guards.  This was in 1862, and I began to wonder if this is the first instance of a female serving under her true identity as a documented soldier in the ranks in our country's history.

This article will detail my adventure in researching Jennie Jenkins, which will serve as another installment in my Finding series.  Other women soldiers I have previously included in the series include Elizabeth Quinn (Frances Hook), "William Bradley," and Sophronia Hunt Smith.

Brave as a Lion:Alfred J. Luther....Or Someone Else?

On April 6th, 1863, while stationed at Lake Providence, Louisiana with the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery, Fred L. Haywood wrote to his sister, Loesa,

"One of the members of the 1st Kansas Reg't died in the Hospital yesterday after a very short illness.  After death the somewhat startling discovery was made by those preparing the body for burial, that their companion, beside whom they had marched and fought for nearly two years was a woman.  You can imagine their astonishment.  The Reg't is camped near us and I went to the Hospital and saw her.  She was of pretty good size for a woman with rather masculine features.  She must have been very shrewd to keep her secret for so long when she was surrounded by several hundred men.  The 1st Kansas was one of the first Regiments that entered the service two years ago.  This girl enlisted when they went to Missouri, so they knew nothing of her early history.  She doubtless served under an assumed name.  Poor girl!  Who knows what trouble, grief, or persecution drove her to embrace the hardships of a soldier's life.  She had always sustained an excellent reputation in the Regiment.  She was brave as a Lion in battle and never flinched from the severest fatigues or the hardest duties.  She had been in more than a dozen battles and skirmishes.  She was a Sergeant when she died.  The men in the company all speak of her in terms of respect and affection  She would have been promoted to a Lieutenancy in a few days if she had lived."