Women Soldiers and Suicide

I tried to compose this post weeks ago.  But other projects kept coming up, and I had to put this one aside.  And then in the matter of a week, I learned that two friends lost their sons to suicide.  The younger one was only sixteen.   They  both succumbed to depression.  I still hurt for them.  My thoughts soon turned back to this post, and I immediately dismissed it as one that needed to remain hidden.  But it kept creeping back into my consciousness, and I relented.

The following women did not meet their fates on a battlefield as others did.  As a matter of fact, only one of them may have encountered the enemy at all.  Instead, the foe these women faced was within themselves, and they either perished by their own hand - or nearly did.  Their stories are tragic and should be told.  We should remember them not completely out of pity, but because they provide us with a connection to our own flawed, mortal, and often wounded psyche.

Shiloh Revisited

You may have read or heard about the woman soldier whose body was discovered at Shiloh in 1934.  I wrote a brief post about her several years ago.  The title was "Woman of Shiloh."  But then I had to change the name to "WOMEN of Shiloh" when I discovered that she was not the only one who had lost her life in that terrible battle.  Click [HERE] to read the post.

When I first started researching women soldiers of the Civil War over ten years ago, I felt that a lot of the accounts were not complete and that there was more to learn.  Dissatisfied, I set out to try to find answers.  And thus, Mark and I have embarked on quite a few adventures.  I'm sure he is growing weary of my incessant queries.  How?  Who?  Where? When? Why?  WHy??  WHY????  It's as if I have regressed back to my toddler days or something.  Thankfully, Mark is very patient and I would not have learned nearly as much as I have without his expertise in everything military.  But, I can't help that I'm inquisitive and enjoy sleuthing.   Naturally, the Mystery Woman of Shiloh has always been on my radar.  And even though she will always remain an enigma, please allow me to indulge in my geekiness nevertheless. 

Laundresses: Warriors of the Washboard

In my last blog post, click [HERE], I talked about orderlies or servants, in which capacity some women served while disguised as men.  Others, however, provided support services while in their true feminine identities.  These women were employed by the military as nurses, cooks, and laundresses. This article will focus on laundresses, also called washerwomen.

Review of "Inventing Loreta Velazquez" by William C. Davis

Published by Southern Illinois University Press in October 2016, William C. "Jack" Davis' book, Inventing Loreta Velazquez:  Confederate Soldier Impersonator, Media Celebrity, & Con Artist, discusses the controversial woman who claimed service in the Confederate army

Women of Shiloh

In 1934, a gardener named Mancil Milligan was working his land which bordered the Shiloh battlefield when he unearthed 9 bodies of soldiers, bits of uniform, and parts of their gear. Scientists were called in to examine the remains. The results were startling. One of the soldiers, they concluded, was a woman.  I spoke with Mancil Milligan, Jr. who said he recalls his father telling him about the scientists visiting his home and telling him about the woman.  He still possesses artifacts from the site which were passed down from his father.

The nine bodies were reburied in the national cemetery in section R, grave, 3633. 

This was not the only woman who met her fate during the bloody battle of Shiloh.  An Illinois soldier on burial detail discovered a female among the dead Confederates.  She had been shot through the head.  Unfortunately, he did not give any more details other than he thought she had been an officer.  Additionally, two laundresses with the 16th Wisconsin were killed while running to the rear during the opening shots of the engagement.

Photo by Mark Hidlebaugh

You can read more about these women at Shiloh by clicking [HERE].