African americans in the civil war
Famous female soldiers in the civil war
Civil war female soldiers in disguise!
A total of eight women, disguised as male soldiers, fought in the historic Battle of Antietam in September of 1862.
The battle was a decisive one for the Union, as its victory spurred Abraham Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in Union-occupied areas of seceded states and laid the groundwork for the passage of the 13th amendment.
According to the book They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War, seven of these women at Antietam were Union soldiers and one was a Confederate.
Several, although not all, of the female Union soldiers who participated in the battle have been identified but the sole female Confederate’s identity remains a mystery due to the Confederate’s notorious lack of record-keeping.
Secret soldier Sarah Emma Edmonds
These female Union soldiers included Sarah Emma Edmonds of the 2nd Michigan Infantry, Catherine Davidson of the 28th Ohio Infantry, Mary Galloway, an unidentified pregnant woman from New Jerse
