The Woman Soldier and the Golden Circle

If you watched the last two episodes of Mercy Street, you saw the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) make an appearance.  This secret organization was formed before the war and sought to extend a slave-based empire to territories that stretched around the Gulf of Mexico, down past Mexico and Central America to parts of South America, hence the circle.  Its membership reached to every state in the Union and purportedly included the likes of Sam Houston, John Wilkes Booth, Jesse James, and William Quantrill.

Rosetta's Real Life "Mercy Street" in New Orleans

http://thecivilwarparlor.tumblr.com/

Continuing with the theme of women soldiers and their hospital experiences, this blog post details that of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, whose story has been highly publicized in books, articles, and blogs since Lauren Cook introduced us to the woman warrior in 1994 through her wartime letters in An Uncommon Soldier.

The 5'0" tall, blue-eyed farm girl was financially driven to enlist in the 153rd New York Infantry on August 30th, 1862.  As a "man," she would make more money than she ever would as a woman.  Rosetta sent a portion of her soldier's pay home to Afton, New York in order to help alleviate the debt her family had accrued.  (Uncommon Soldier, p. 9)

In February, 1864, the 153rd was transferred from Washington D.C to Louisiana where they would participate in Major General Nathanial Banks' Red River Campaign.   During the ill-fated venture, Federal troops experienced bad water, bad food and fatigue from hundreds of miles of hard marching in the burning heat and suffocating humidity of Louisiana's subtropical climate.  The stress of dealing with all of these hardships took its toll as soldiers began to succumb to a variety of diseases.  Private Wakeman was one of them.

"Mercy Street" and Women Soldiers: "I Would Rather Have Been Shot Dead"

Did you watch the premier of Mercy Street last night?  This is PBS's new Civil War medical drama.  Of course, I couldn't help but to think about women soldiers and their experiences.  A trip to the "saw bones" typically meant the end of their stint in the military.  They were aware of this and sometimes attempted to evade a trip to the hospital.  After her case of malaria worsened and a furlough to seek treatment was denied, Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias "Franklin Thompson," deserted the 2nd Michigan Infantry rather than risk discovery. Her story would not come to light until she herself came forward with details of her service, which were confirmed by male comrades.

My Talk for Delta Kappa Gamma, 1/14/16

Last April, I spoke at the Delta Kappa Gamma state convention in Olive Branch, Mississippi, which you can read about (HERE).    In attendance was Stacy who then invited me to speak at a meeting for her Sigma Chapter of DKG, which is a professional society of women educators.   I was honored to have been asked. 

Sergeant Jennie Gregg

According to her discharge document (1), Jennie Gregg was 4'10" with a dark complexion, black eyes, and auburn hair.  She enlisted in the 128th Ohio Infantry, Company K, on August 22nd, 1864, and was discharged at Johnson's Island on June 23rd, 1865, due to expiration of service. Her antebellum profession was listed as "lady." During the war, however, she apparently was a sergeant.  Supposedly, there is an accompanying Letter of Recognition and Recommendation also noting her rank as sergeant but lists her unit as company K, 82nd Ohio Infantry.(2)

The Men Were Not to Be Outdone: Male Soldiers Dressing as Women

While women disguised themselves as men in order to enter the service, there were some men who dressed as women to get out of it....precursors to Corporal Max Klinger, if you will.

Does a Woman Soldier Haunt a National Cemetery?

Women soldiers went to extreme measures to blend in while in the ranks, their true identity hidden.  However, there may be one female fighter who is finally trying to make herself visible, an act she so desperately tried to avoid 150 years ago.

Strange Stories From the Cemeteries

(Not woman soldier related)

This installment comes from the Knoxville National Cemetery and concerns an unknown soldier buried in grave 275.

2nd East Tennessee Cavalry

The South wasn't as solidly pro-Confederate as one might be led to believe.  Every state in the Confederacy, except South Carolina, had units in Federal service.  Over 50 of these were raised in Tennessee, an especially divided state.  One of these regiments was the 2nd East Tennessee Cavalry, which was also referred to as the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry.   The following photograph at the Tennessee State Library and Archives shows soldiers of Co. D.  Click to enlarge.

Welcome to Smashville!

Every year at this time, Music City is transformed into Smashville as hockey returns to Bridgestone Arena.  The term is quite accurate to describe what goes on there.  It's a brutal sport where blood is commonly spilled.

Bodies have been banging against the boards since 1998.   The concept of "Smashville" goes back further than that, however.  Over 135 years prior, the city of Nashville was a rough place plagued by violence and vice.  In the surrounding rural areas, savage guerrilla acts were committed by both sides as well as those with no loyalty other than to themselves. An article in the Nashville Daily Union newspaper on September 9, 1862, reported that “companies of outlaws belonging to neither side, taking advantage of the anarchy which prevails in the country, roam about for the sole purpose of plunder. These bandits prey on secessionists and loyalists alike.”