Sarah Emma Edmonds

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Sarah Emma Edmonds

Sarah Emma Edmonds (born December 1841 in Magaguadavic Ridge , New Brunswick , British North America , † September 5, 1898 in La Porte , Texas ) served as a disguised man in the Union Army during the Civil War . After the war, she published her memoirs and was the only woman to be accepted into the Grand Army of the Republic 's veterans' association .

Childhood and youth

Sarah Emma Edmonds was established in December 1841 the area around the Magaguadavic Ridge in New Brunswick born, then still a British colony. She was the youngest of five children, all girls. Edmonds' father had been hoping for a boy to one day help the family on the farm and treated them extremely badly. To escape her father and avoid an arranged marriage, Edmonds fled the farm with her mother's help. Edmonds ended up dressing as a man because it made it easier for her to travel and be independent. She crossed today's border with the United States and found a job as a Bible seller in Hartford, Connecticut .

Civil War

Edmond's interest in adventure was inspired by a book called Fanny Campbell, the Female Pirate Captain by Maturin Murray Ballou , which she read in her youth. The book tells the adventures of Fanny Campbell, who had been dressed as a man during the American Revolution . Fanny stayed in her male role for more adventures, a story which Edmonds attributes to her desire to crossdress .

During the Civil War, on May 25, 1861, Edmonds enlisted in Company F of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment . Edmonds called herself Franklin Flint Thompson , possibly the middle name Flint came from the place she volunteered: Flint, Michigan . Edmonds felt obliged to serve their country and was extremely patriotic towards their new home. Initially, Edmonds served as a field surgeon and participated in a number of battles under George B. McClellan , including the first and second battles at Bull Run , Antietam , Fredericksburg, and more. However, some historians have suggested that these accounts place Edmonds in different locations at the same time.

Edmond's duties changed when a Union spy was exposed and executed in Richmond, Virginia; a friend of Edmond's James Vesey was shot dead in an ambush. Edmonds applied for the vacancy to avenge her friend and was accepted as a spy as Franklin Thompson. Although there is no evidence in military records of spy activity, she wrote extensively about her experiences as a spy during the war. Edmonds used a number of different disguises in their travels into enemy territory. On one disguise, Edmonds dyed his skin black with silver nitrate , wore a black wig, and entered the Confederation as a black man named Cuff . Another time Edmonds disguised himself as an Irish peddler named Bridget O'Shea and claimed to be selling apples and soap to the soldiers. She later allegedly worked as a black laundress for the Confederates, and a package of official papers fell out of an officer's jacket. When Edmonds returned to the Union with it, the generals were delighted. Another time she was working as a detective in Kentucky under the name Charles Mayberry , uncovering the identity of a Confederate agent.

Edmond's career as Frank Thompson ended when she took a shortcut to Berry's Brigade to deliver mail. Her mule threw her off and she fell into a ditch before reaching the brigade. Edmonds suffered a number of serious injuries and was unable to continue on their journey. Fearing that her real identity would be revealed in a military hospital, she left the army and went to a civilian hospital. She intended to return to her post after her recovery. When Edmonds recovered, she saw Frank Thompson listed as a deserter on public statements. She didn't want to risk being executed as a deserter, so she decided to work as a woman and nurse in Washington, DC to care for wounded Union soldiers. There has been speculation that Edmonds might want to desert because of John William Reid's dismissal. There is evidence in Edmond's diary that she had considered leaving the army before she got malaria. Her comrades praised her efforts, and even after her disguised as a man was discovered, her comrades considered her good soldiers. Edmonds was described as a fearless soldier who took an active part in every battle their unit fought.

memoirs

In 1864, Boston publisher DeWolfe, Fiske & Co. published Edmonds' report of their military experiences under the title The Female Spy of the Union Army . A year later the story was reprinted by a publisher in Hartford under the title Nurse and Spy in the Union Army . It was a very successful book, with around 175,000 copies sold. Edmonds donated the proceeds from her memoirs to various military aid organizations.

Private life

In 1867 Edmonds married Linus. H. Seelye, a childhood mechanic and friend. They had three children together who died early. The couple then adopted two sons. After her memoir was published in 1883, Edmonds became an editor.

End of life

Beginning in 1886, Edmonds received a government pension of $ 12 a month for military service. After a campaign, the desertion charges were dropped and Edmonds was ultimately honored. In 1897, Edmonds was the only woman to become a member of the veterans' organization Grand Army of the Republic . Edmonds died on September 5, 1898 in La Porte , Texas , and was buried in the Grand Army of the Republic division of Washington Cemetery in Houston . She was buried again in 1901, this time with full military honors.

Publications

Honor and memory

A number of fictional accounts of Edmond's life were written in the 20th century, especially for young adults. In 1992 Edmonds was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame .

literature

  • Julie Wheelwright: Amazons and military maids: women who dressed as men in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness , Pandora, 1999 ISBN 978-0-04-440494-1 . (English)
  • Sylvia GL Dannett: She rode with the generals: the true and incredible story of Sarah Emma Seelye, alias Franklin Thompson Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1960.
  • Laura Leedy Gansler: The Mysterious Private Thompson: The Double Life of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Civil War Soldier University of Nebraska Press, 2007 ISBN 978-0-8032-5988-1 . (English)

Web links

Commons : Sarah Emma Edmundson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ National Park Service: Sarah Emma Edmonds (English) accessed July 22, 2020
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Bonnie Tsui: She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7627-4384-1 (English)
  3. ^ Maturin Murray Ballou: Fanny Campbell, the female pirate captain: a tale of the revolution F. Gleason, 1845 (English)
  4. ↑ Larry G. Eggleston: Women in the Civil War: Extraordinary Stories of Soldiers, Spies, Nurses, Doctors, Crusaders, and Others McFarland & Company, 2003, ISBN 0786414936 (English) p. 25.
  5. ^ S. Emma Edmonds: Nurse and Spy in the Union Army: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields . WS Williams, 1865. OCLC 170538 Chapter XV (English)
  6. ^ Larry G. Eggleston: Women in the Civil War: Extraordinary Stories of Soldiers, Spies, Nurses, Doctors, Crusaders, and Others . McFarland & Company, 2003 ISBN 0786414936 (English) p. 29.
  7. ↑ a b c DeAnne Blanton: Women Soldiers of the Civil War, Part 2 in Prologue Magazine: Selected Articles, 1993, Volume 25, Issue 1 (English)
  8. ^ Larry G. Eggleston: Women in the Civil War: Extraordinary Stories of Soldiers, Spies, Nurses, Doctors, Crusaders, and Others . McFarland & Company, 2003 ISBN 0786414936 (English) pp. 23, 30
  9. ↑ Michigan Women Forward: Sarah Emma Edmonds: Michigan Women's Hall of Fame (English) accessed July 22, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Edmonds, Sarah Emma
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Union nurse and cross dresser
DATE OF BIRTH December 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Magaguadavic Ridge , New Brunswick , British North America
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1898
Place of death La Porte , Texas