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 * Woman Soldiers in the Civil War**

During the war, women didn’t think it was fair that only men could fight. Some were desperate to help, they dressed up as guys. Some even cut their hair off so they could blend in. A woman named Frances Clayton once disguised herself as a man. She served many months in Artillery and Calvary units. They had to be brave women because many of the men that went to fight had to suffer in prisons, lived in camps, and died for their respective causes.

Both Union and Confederate armies had women that enlisted. The women had to give themselves a masculine name, disguise themselves, and hide the fact that they were female. No one really knew how many women actually enlisted in the army because they were excellent at hiding their female bodies.

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Women weren’t allowed to fight in the Civil war because they weren’t counted as equal to the men. They probably thought that they will just bring them down, since most were not as strong as the men. The only thing women were allowed to do was too nurse the injured soldiers. It didn't make much sense since they let teenage boys (18 and up) enlist in the army, when the women were not any less manlier than them.=====

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If someone discovered that there was a woman in combat, there wasn't much of an uproar. They usually just sent them home. It is usually when a women is injured or had a disease, is when someone found out that they were feminine. Most cases in the Civil War, people died from diseases, not just bullets.=====

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Pauline Cushman was born in New Orleans as Harriet Wood. When war broke out she sought a way to serve her country. She enlisted in the Secret Service as a spy. Her two jobs was to find Confederate spies, and end their operations. May, 1863 General Rosencrans was getting ready to drive General Bragg across the Tennessee River and he sent Cushman into the Army of the Tennessee to get information on the strength and place of the army. There, she was caught. She was sentenced to be hung. She was imprisoned, but the prison had to be evacuated quickly and they forgot about Cushman. The Union came and rescued her. This news spread like a wildfire. She could no longer serve as a spy for the union, her identity was known. She was not done serving though, she began making maps for the Unions, and was latter given the honorary title of “Major.” So as you can see she was a true and loyal Unionist. =====

Women did the same thing as men, they worked as spies, nurses, cooks, prison guards, scouts, and soldiers in combat.
Historians say that atleast 400 women soldiers served in the civil war. One more known women soldiers is Emma Edwards. She witnessed the Battle of Fredericksburg, and served for a Michigan regiment. Emma was born in Canada in December of 1841. There were not many opportunities for a young woman to support herself, consequently Edmonds dressed as a man and took the name of Franklin Thompson. Emma was not an American, so she had no reason to even take sides in such a war. She felt that no one should suffer while she just sits back, so she decided to enlist. Edmonds served with the Second Michigan in various capacities until she contracted malaria in the spring of 1863. She had endured many injuries, which she had attended to herself in fear that a medical examination would lead the army to discover her true identity, throughout her time as a soldier. However, malaria cases were too dangerous not to be admitted into a hospital, so she was determined to desert rather than have her sex found out. She later returned to female clothing and rejoined the war as a female nurse.

Albert D.J. Cashier was one of the shortest soldiers in the 95th Illinois Infantry. In one of the only pictures of “him” you can only faintly see the outline of breast. And that’s only if you’re looking for it. She was very good at disguising herself. Back then they did not do Physical Exams like they do these days. They were just looking for strong men, were in good conditions. Jennie Hodgers was the one disguising Albert Cashier. She marched thousands of miles in the Civil War, some say that it seems like she was there throughout the entire war.

So I think you can see that Women had the same potential as the men did. The Civil War was not just a man’s fight. Women wanted it just as bad the men did, and they had the capability. I bet that some of those women were just as strong as the men, if not more! The Civil War was a Women’s fight along with the men.