De Anne Blanton

Before reading this book, I was aware of one or two women who fought in the U.S. Civil War disguised as men. After reading this book, I now know that there were many more than one or two. It seems like women soldiers were an open secret during the war, and many, if not most, of the combatants were aware that there were women in their midst.

With few surviving letters or journals written by women soldiers, the authors pieced together mentions of women soldiers from official records, newspaper accounts, letters and journals written by men who served, and memoirs and recollections of war veterans. The bibliography and end notes show evidence of extensive research, yet much of the evidence is indirect. The authors accepted at face value the account of Melverina Elverina Peppercorn’s service as recounted in the 1916 memoir of Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, yet Melverina and her brother Alexander the Great don’t appear in contemporary censuses, Find-a-grave memorials, etc. It seems more likely that Melverina was either a pseudonym for someone whose identity Meriwether wanted to protect or a composite of women who served in the Civil War.… (plus d'informations)

The authors' research into the topic shows that many more women fought in combat roles in the United States Civil War on both sides of the conflict that most of us suspect. Being caught usually meant they were sent home, but sometimes they were moved to non-combative roles such as the nursing. The authors also acknowledge that because so many used assumed male names, we may never know the true extent of the female battlefield presence. Excavations at battlefields such as Shiloh show women's bodies among the corpses. While the authors used some official records, they also used "recollections." In the case of one unusual name who allegedly fought from Tennessee, all references were to such a source. Not once did the authors attempt to prove the person or her brother's existence through the census or through official records. Another LibraryThing user and I attempted to find traces and concluded this person should have been omitted until existence could be proven. While the book is eye-opening about the extent of female involvement in combat, the reliance upon less trustworthy documents sometimes weakens it.… (plus d'informations)