Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women disguised themselves as men and served in the Civil War. I present research, both previously published along with new discoveries, to document the lives and trials of these extraordinary women.
My latest venture into using AI to try to bring women soldiers of the Civil War to life involves working with Almeda Butler Hart who served as a mounted courier for General David Stuart's brigade during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou. Almeda and Henry were newlyweds, and she didn't want to be separated from him when he enlisted.
The audio and video are not perfectly synched. But I think it's still effective in giving life to this extraordinary woman. The picture I used is of a younger Almeda when she was a teenager before the war. She was actually around 25 at the time of Chickasaw Bayou. At the end of the video, I included a picture of her as she was closer to her time of service. I didn't use it in the video throughout because the quality is rather poor.
I have been to Grand Gulf multiple times. The last time was three years before I even considered writing a book. But regardless of how many times you visit a place, it seems you always learn something or notice things that had eluded your attention previously. Or your research yields new information that has connections to artifacts or locations already familiar to you. Such revelations then render the milieu of that space fresh and exciting. Almost like an awakening. This certainly happened during this latest visit to Grand Gulf. A port on the Mississippi River, it was named for a whirlpool and incorporated in 1833.
The 160th anniversary of the Battle of Big Black River slipped past me! It was on May 17th. Here is a video I did last year about a woman killed there. She was the subject of a poem written by an Iowa soldier who was moved to do so after learning about the incident.
Click [here] for a previous blog post I wrote with Parkhurst's poem.
Today marks the 160th anniversary of the landing of William T. Sherman's squadron just north of Vicksburg in an early attempt to capture the important river city. It was a dismal failure for the Federals. Among Sherman's soldiers was Almeda Hart. She was disguised as "James Strong" so that she could accompany her husband, Henry, in the 127th Illinois Infantry. Here is a short video I made showing viewers where Almeda an Henry landed and the area where she was riding as she delivered messages during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou for David Stuart's brigade of Morgan Smith's division. You can read more about Almeda and other women soldiers in my book Behind the Rifle: Women Soldiers in Civil War Mississippi. Also, if you attend my presentations, I open with a reading of the letter Almeda sent to her mother.
With Memorial Day weekend approaching, I thought it appropriate to briefly share the account of one particular woman soldier who lost her life on May 17, 1863, during the Battle of Big Black River Bridge. This was the last action before the Confederates retreated into Vicksburg. I'll have to compose a more detailed account of the engagement itself at a later time.
Yesterday, I visited the site and reflected on this Confederate woman's death and others who shared a similar fate. Like her sister soldiers who perished, her dead body was discovered by her foes. And thus, we don't know anything about her. The scant information available is courtesy Henry Clinton Parkhurst, an Iowa soldier who told of her discovery in his memoirs. She was a "young woman," he said, and that the incident so moved him, that he composed a poem about it.
They buried her, Clint noted, in a grave "upon her field of fame." And thus, she may still be resting there on the other side of this bridge where Confederates took up a defensive position. (This isn't the Big Black River Bridge, by the way.) I wasn't able to get a good picture, so I had to rely on Google Maps.
But just after crossing the bridge, I snapped this one:
It's just trees and brush — a common sight in any rural area — but it shows the location of the Confederate works, now overgrown.
......and perhaps the final resting place of a woman soldier.
Here is a video Mark and I did at Big Black about this unknown woman:
I talk about this woman in my book and shared Parkhurst's poem in full in a previous blog post, which you can read [HERE]. I highly recommend that you do. The ending is quite poignant:
Next time you visit the battlefield in Vicksburg, find the name of "Albert D. J. Cashier" on a tablet inside the Illinois monument. That is the male alias of Jennie Hodgers who served throughout the war in the 95th Illinois Infantry. In this video, I show you where it is. How many more such names do we gaze upon that are actually hidden women?
Today is the 156th anniversary of the Federals' second assault at Vicksburg and the last before Grant laid siege to the river city. During this assault , Brigadier General John M. Thayer attacked a Confederate fort across challenging terrain. Check out the video Mark and I made in which we navigate Thayer's approach. Interestingly, a woman soldier serving in the 3rd Missouri Infantry (US) was among the Federal element of Woods' brigade providing support.
We made this video in October 2018 prior to the release of my book, Behind the Rifle. But now that it's out, you can read all about "Charles Junghaus." She is buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery.
During the summer of 1862, the Dix-Hill Cartel created a system regulating prisoner exchanges. This included enlisted men (and women), officers, civilians, and civilians employed by the military, such as teamsters and sutlers. You can read the details of the agreement by clicking (HERE). One element of this system was establishing sites that would serve as exchange points. City Point was chosen for the east and Vicksburg for the west.
At least one woman was exchanged at Vicksburg under this cartel. Mary Ann Clark was captured in Kentucky in late 1862. The unit she was with and the battle where she was taken vary. Most accounts claim it was Richmond (KY). But I have also seen it listed as Perryville. And then another source says she was captured by a Federal detachment, which indicates she was serving picket, out on a patrol, or foraging, if this had indeed been the situation when she was taken.
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."
I met Ms. Reba Greer in April 2015, when I spoke at the Delta Kappa Gamma state convention in Olive Branch, Mississippi. After that, she worked tirelessly to set up something where I could come speak in Oxford where she lives and volunteers. I wish I had as much energy as she has! So after locating a venue at the Burns-Belfrey Museum and Multicultural Center, the group of sponsors, which included the Oxford Newcomers Club, Cedar Oaks
Guild, and the Oxford-Lafayette County Retiree Attraction Program, set out to promote my presentation. And they did a fabulous job! They advertised by newspaper, social media, radio, and this very nice poster!
