Finding Mercy
Page 29
Clara Barton exhibited patriotism, compassion, and bravery when she was on the battlefield tending to those soldiers who needed her. But there was another group of women, not as well documented as the nurses, who were driven by their own patriotism and bravery, and it is that group of women who served as part of the inspiration behind Mercy, our protagonist in Traces of Mercy and Finding Mercy.
Even though it was illegal at that time for a woman to enlist in the army, it is estimated by historians that over four hundred women disguised themselves as men and fought for both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War. Besides patriotism, women had a variety of reasons for going to such extreme measures to participate in the fighting. Some did it for love—to remain close to a husband, fiancé, father, or brother. Some did it for the money. An army private during the war made thirteen dollars a month for soldiering, an amount nearly double what a housekeeper, cook, or seamstress would have made at that time. Most of the women went undetected in their disguises—living, sleeping, and fighting next to their fellow soldiers. They were skilled and brave; they could shoot as well as the men and ride a horse with equal expertise; and they suffered the same hunger, fear, and dread as anyone else in the company to which they were assigned.
The documented cases of discovery among the female soldiers are small. Seven were found out because they were wounded and required medical care (as was the case with Mercy), seven were taken to prisoner-of-war camps, at least six disguised female soldiers shocked everyone and gave birth in the field, and nine more lost their lives during battle. Teenager Lizzie Compton, who was known as Jack to fellow soldiers, was discovered to be a woman after she was wounded during a battle. When a military doctor treated her, he discovered her secret and she was sent home. Not to be dissuaded, Lizzie went on to reenlist in six more regiments. Each time she was discovered to be a woman, she was discharged and she reenlisted with a different regiment. Lizzie served in the Union army for eighteen months of the war.
Some of the women who donned men’s clothes and fought actually had permanent changes to their personalities. Frances Clayton joined the cause with her husband in 1861. She enlisted with the name Jack Williams and served in the Missouri artillery and cavalry units. It’s been reported that before her time in the army was over, Frances (aka Jack) took up gambling, cursing, and cigar smoking.
New Orleans resident Loreta Velázquez is another woman who couldn’t seem to endure sending her husband off to fight in the war alone. It is reported Loreta dressed as Lieutenant Harry T Buford to accompany her husband and served briefly as a company commander under Confederate Brigadier General Barnard Bee at Manassas. She kept her secret for nearly a year and wrote in her own memoirs that once discovered by her fellow soldiers, she left the company and became a secret agent.
Jennie Hodgers, known in the military as Albert Cashier, enlisted in the Ninety-fifth Illinois Regiment and fought at Vicksburg, Nashville, and Mobile. She spent the duration of the war in disguise without being discovered, and then after the war, she went on to live as Albert Cashier for fifty more years. Some accounts say it was an automobile accident that Cashier was involved in that led to the discovery that the Civil War veteran known as Albert Cashier was actually Jennie Hodgers. The 1913 revelation made newspaper headlines across the country.
Union soldier Private Franklin Thompson enlisted in the Second Michigan Infantry on May 14, 1861. He was for all intents and purposes a soldier like anyone else, but in actuality Franklin Thompson was Sarah Edmonds. While Sarah survived the battle of Antietam, she was unfortunately struck with a case of malaria a few months later. She knew that a doctor’s care and hospitalization would lead to the discovery of her secret identity, so she deserted her company. When she was once again in good health, Sarah donned another disguise—this one as a male Negro slave—and worked as a spy, delivering dispatches under enemy fire for Union General Orlando Poe. In 1884 Sarah attended a regimental reunion as Franklin Thompson and told her old comrades her story. Those same fellow soldiers are said to have helped her persuade the government to drop her conviction as a deserter and file for a veteran’s pension. It is widely held that she was successful on both counts because in some records she is the only recorded female member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
While their reasons for disguising themselves as men and fighting during the Civil War were varied, these women, who fought in one of the most tumultuous wars in American history, were brave, showed remarkable courage and gumption, and in many cases, demonstrated grace under fire.
Speaking about the war, President Lincoln said:
The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party—and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true—that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.
Although Abraham Lincoln was most certainly referring to the men who were fighting, his words ring just as true for the women who fought right by their side.
The contest lasted four agonizing years, and during it all, the women who enlisted in disguise sought neither recognition nor medals, and they were right there until the very end.
FINDING MERCY
Published by David C Cook
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David C Cook Distribution Canada
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David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications
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The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.
All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, resold, or distributed by or through any print or electronic medium without written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed solely for the personal and noncommercial use of the original authorized purchaser, subject to the terms of use under which it was purchased. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.
LCCN 2014943147
ISBN 978-0-7814-0870-7
eISBN 978-0-7814-1241-4
© 2014 Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley
The Team: Alex Field, Jamie Chavez, Amy Konyndyk, Nick Lee, Helen Macdonald, Karen Athen
Cover Design: DogEared Design, Kirk DouPonce
First Edition 2014
Photo by Gary Dorsey
Michael Landon Jr., son of television legend Michael Landon, is an award-winning storyteller, first in television and film and now in books. His print works include One More Sunrise, cowritten with Tracie Peterson.
Cindy Kelley is an author and screenwriter who worked with Landon on the Love Comes Softly television film and cowrote the novel The Silent Gift with Landon.
Visit DCCeBooks.com for more great reads.
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