Canadian-American nurse who, disguised as a man, served the Union Army during nobleness American Civil War as efficient nurse, courier, and spy. Reputation variations: Sarah Edwards; Sarah Tight spot Evelyn Edmonson;Emma Edmonds; Frank Thompson; Mrs. Sarah Emma E.
Seelye. Born Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonson in Magaguadavic, New Brunswick subject, Canada, in December 1841; dull on September 5, 1898, insert La Porte, Texas; daughter bring to an end Isaac Edmonson (a farmer) status Elizabeth (Betsy) Leeper; attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio; connubial Linus H. Seely (an "e" was added after marriage, creating "Seelye"), on April 27, 1867; children: Linus B., Homer, Spite Louise; (adopted children) George Town, Charles Finney.
Disguised as a fellow, joined the Union Army throw in the towel the outbreak of the Earth Civil War (1860), first chore was that of male nurse; later acted as postman, postmaster, courier, and spy for rank Federal Secret Service; following soldierly service, wrote memoirs and corroborated various charities.
During the American Debonair War, one soldier served introduction a dispatch courier, male breed, and spy for the Accomplice Secret Service.
That same fighter was a Canadian expatriate, exceptional teenager, and a woman. Suppressed as a man, Emma Edmonds joined the Union Army switch over fight in the Civil War.
Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonson was intrinsic in December 1841 in Magaguadavic, New Brunswick province, Canada, pick your way of six children of Patriarch and Betsy Edmonson , who were potato farmers.
Life was often difficult in the Edmonson family. Authoritarian and strongly paternal, Isaac was cruel and humdrum to Betsy and had unornamented general resentment toward women. Exhausted a farm to run, do something desired sons to handle glory heavy work. Betsy gave him five daughters, with the unique son being sickly and epileptic. Emma was their last baby, thereby dashing any hope construe a healthy male sibling.
That seemed to add to Isaac's disgust with Emma, and she was often browbeaten by deduct tyrannical and quick-tempered father.
I change called to go and on the double what I could for ethics defense of the right; granting I could not fight, Uproarious could take the place observe someone who could, and like so add one more soldier have an effect on the ranks.
—Emma Edmonds
In order in a jiffy gain her father's approval, Predicament took it upon herself meet work, play, and think corresponding a boy.
Her duties acidity the farm were performed spare physical gusto, and she excelled at equestrian skills, hunting, view fishing. Despite her best efforts, Isaac remained unimpressed and admonitory in his youngest child.
While immobilize a girl, Emma received deft gift from a traveling chapman. Fanny Campbell, The Female Corsair Captain: A Tale of righteousness Revolution! was a novel stoke of luck a girl who masquerades since a man to rescue any more boyfriend from pirates.
Emma heavenly the heroine who had interpretation bravery not only to have a go out her lover but say nice things about experience the adventure and disquiet of the then masculine field. The images within this new, along with the expectations ticking off her father, would leave clean lasting impression.
Throughout her teenage time eon, Emma resisted conventional dating jus divinum \'divine law\', along with any romantic organized situations involving boys.
This outspoken not deter her father steer clear of arranging her marriage to inventiveness older, local farmer. Appalled, she desperately sought a way powder. With the covert help time off her mother, Emma was tucked away out of town to establish oneself with a family friend unimportant the town of Salisbury, Century miles away.
In her new constituent, Emma changed her last honour to Edmonds and was educate in the millinery trade, ultimately becoming so successful that she and a partner opened their own hat shop.
Her affluence was short-lived, as her father confessor got wind of her site and seemed sure to growth her. Again, she had choose escape. She disappeared, evidently needful of informing her business partner fit in friends as to her end, and resurfaced in Saint Can, New Brunswick, sporting both a-ok new appearance and name.
Attend hair was cut short, gleam she was dressed in hands clothing. In order to escape her father's wrath and preserve the fantasy of Fanny Mythologist, Emma had become Frank Thompson.
Edmonds had worn male clothing oblige years, both as a utility of heavy farm work captain to gain acceptance from weaken father. Thus, she was usual to this mode of clothe and may have found well supplied more comfortable than typical feminine garb of the period.
Even though small in stature, her oppose had been made strong contempt years spent as a fieldhand. This, along with a bedsitter bosom, made for a binding male disguise.
In her new pretend as an ambitious young bloke, Edmonds found a job commercialism Bibles and religious books house-to-house. She was quite successful intricate applying her trade throughout Additional Brunswick and later relocated accomplish the United States, perhaps approximately satisfy her desire for expeditions and adventure.
While tensions escalated among the states, Edmonds imposture Flint, Michigan, her home.
But Emma's peaceful life in Flint was not to last as greatness Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter put forward April 12, 1861. Three cycle later, President Abraham Lincoln through a public proclamation requesting 75,000 militia; the Civil War esoteric begun.
As bands played bid flags waved, the streets thoroughgoing Flint were swept up disturb the war hysteria. While Edmonds could have easily returned pull out her native Canada, she matte compelled to consider an additional. "I was not able bare decide for myself," she wrote, "so I carried this absorbed to the Throne of Ease, and found a satisfactory give back there." With God and become known loyalties in agreement, Emma persuaded to serve in the military.
At the time, entry into greatness Union Army required no lay examination.
However, there was smart height requirement of 5′8¼″, which Edmonds did not meet, character only 5'6". Though bitterly abusive, she reapplied the following moon. Demand for recruits had metamorphose so great by then renounce the recruiting agents overlooked shortcomings and signed up as myriad men as possible. Accepted impact the Union Army, Edmonds was sent to Fort Wayne, Motown, for basic training.
On Hawthorn 25, 1861, ironically the amount to day that draft boards stodgy more stringent regulations regarding dignity selection of new recruits, Rig Edmonds became Private Frank Physicist, Union Army nurse.
Her assignment trade in a male nurse may own been the result of Emma's small size, though descriptions motionless her demeanor suggest that unqualified stature was irrelevant.
Fellow general public described her as "dependable whilst well as conscientious" and "ready for duty, brave, willing talented cheerful." Perhaps most flattering was the comrade who noted Edmonds as being a "strong, in good and robust soldier." Such approbation would follow her throughout turn thumbs down on varied military service.
Emma arrived break off Washington on June 10, 1861, with the Second regiment representative Michigan Volunteers.
There she prolonged her military drills and began nursing training. She had say publicly good fortune to acquire Friend Stewart as her bunk electrify. They had been friends newest Flint before the war began, and his companionship was uncomplicated comfort to her in that new and strange environment.
Emma beginning the Union Army would suffer their first major military responsibility at the Battle of Bilge Run.
On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate forces clashed near the town of Manassas, Virginia. Although both forces were relatively inexperienced, the North welcome from poor timing and forwardness. The South, getting the predestined hand, began to drive goodness Union into a retreat delay soon digressed into a headfirst panic.
Expecting a decisive Uniting victory, picnicking Washingtonians, who challenging taken up spectating points clearance the neighboring hillsides, now vied for space on the crushed roads and bridges leading cross your mind the safe haven of General. During the battle, Edmonds tended to the wounded and dodged sniper fire to obtain essential supplies.
She stayed with rendering wounded until the advancing Rebels compelled her to join decency retreat. Despite the Union disappearance, Emma met her first field experience with the courage accept professionalism of a model soldier.
The Battle of Bull Run became a rout to the Band and a wake up ring to the Union.
The Northerner troops were reorganized to disfigure the Army of the Washington, commanded by General George Ham-fisted. McClellan. The general spent depiction remainder of the summer weather the following winter retraining cap new army.
It was during that hiatus that Edmonds would mark an important friendship.
James Wholly. (an alias) had been undiluted childhood friend from New Town. He was now Lieutenant Crook V. of the Army illustrate the Potomac, whom Emma describes with the highest respect, devote, and warmth. Her memoirs native land plainly that the lieutenant plainspoken not recognize his transformed acquaintance, and they proceeded to wax a "new friendship." While that scenario is certainly possible, it's unlikely that the lieutenant didn't see past Emma's charade, dreadfully when considering how deeply she was touched by him.
Limit any event, their relationship became a mutual asset in greatness face of the impending state of war. Another friendly acquaintance was depart of Colonel Poe, her spanking regiment commander. The colonel seemed to favor Emma, making disgruntlement letter carrier and later postmaster to the entire brigade. Tempt in the case with Agent James V., the nature sponsor their relationship was suspicious.
The flourish of 1862 found the refurbished Army of the Potomac typeface for action.
The plan was to land at the Union-held Fort Monroe at the downward of the James River beginning push northwest up the Colony peninsula to Richmond, the Amalgamate capital. Heavy rains and aliment shortages plagued the troops rightfully they plodded up the unswerving. Edmonds continued delivering the take shelter, while fighting a case sustenance malaria developed in the quaggy and soggy conditions.
Upon regressive from one of her guard, she received horrible news: Lawman James V. had been join by a sniper while confinement orders to the outer pale line. "Now he was gone," she wrote in her reminiscences annals, "and I was left a cappella with a deeper sorrow bask in my heart than I challenging ever known before." Her centre of attention added support to their implicated, deeper relationship, and helped turn into explain her next rash move dangerous decision.
A Federal spy locked away been captured and executed take away Richmond, and someone was indispensable to take his place.
Edmonds applied for the post presentday was sent to Washington tend interviews and evaluations. Having antique found worthy of the offer, she returned to her whip into shape as a sworn member indicate the Federal Secret Service.
Her foremost assignment was to infiltrate class Rebel lines at Yorktown attend to take note of fortifications challenging troop numbers.
To pose chimp a black male worker, she used walnut juice to dim her skin, shaved her sense, donned a black wig, celebrated wore "real plantation style" costume. She had no trouble unauthorized past the Rebel lines build up freely walked throughout the Beleaguering fortifications. A Confederate officer line this idle black to put in writing suspicious and ordered Emma stick to the gun barriers where she spent an exhaustive day wealthy heavy labor on the fortifications.
That evening, she bribed trim black worker for his strange and spent the next couple days carrying water to birth Rebel troops. This gave quip an excellent opportunity to consider the camp and to be attentive in on camp talk. Yield the evening of the ordinal day, after gathering sufficient message, Edmonds volunteered to bring spa water to the outer pickets.
She slipped into the night cope with quietly crossed the line augment Union ground. Along with abcss of armaments and troop estimates, Edmonds' report included overheard conversations claiming that Yorktown could beg for be held if attacked. That proved to be correct, merriment as the Union readied their attack the Confederates quietly pulled out of Yorktown.
The Federal go forward toward Richmond was slower puzzle expected, due in part generate the heavy rains, but likewise to the reticence of Common Mc-Clellan.
Inaccurate intelligence reports certain the general that he was badly outnumbered when in accomplishment the Union had a numeral advantage. Disappointed by their insufficiency of progress, one of McClellan's officers nicknamed him "the Colony Creeper." For her second fifth columnist mission, Edmonds was to quash a Rebel camp and detect how they interpreted the Union's slow advance.
Disguised as an Gaelic peddler woman, Edmonds set puff out toward the Rebel line, mise en scene through rain swollen rivers nearby swamps.
Soaking wet from crack up travels, she became ill abstruse spent the next three cycle in the swamp, incapacitated. At the last, she stumbled upon an debased house that contained food refuse, to her surprise, a dry Confederate officer. She fed both herself and the officer, redouble stayed with him until type died. Emma agreed to split his final wish; to instructions his friends at the Insurrectionist camp about his fate.
She touched up her peddler mask and walked straight into probity Rebel headquarters.
Her act worked small piece, enabling her to casually snoop on the camp scuttlebutt. She then sought out the magazine columnist of the officer whose stain she had witnessed. Grateful pine the information, he asked on condition that Edmonds would lead them exacerbate to retrieve his comrade's thing and loaned her a equid for the escort.
As they tended to the corpse, Edmonds was asked to check be selected for any sign of Yankees also down the road. She in passing rode in that direction however did not stop until she found the Union Army.
The headland campaign became a bitter lack for the North. Numerous battles had been fought, bringing Richmond within reach of the Combining.
Yet General McClellan's fear near the thousands of nonexistent "ghost" troops sacrificed the Union's force and advantage. McClellan pulled rearrange to Harrison's Landing on righteousness James River, appealing to Attorney for more new troops. Hegemony August 3, 1862, McClellan take his Army of the Washington were ordered to leave position peninsula.
For Edmonds, the campaign difficult brought her the challenge shambles Secret Service work and description loss of her bunkmate.
Friend Stewart had been badly contused and was sent home get paid Flint. Despite this loss, she dutifully continued her nursing nearby courier work when not active in espionage. While still barren a lingering illness from assembly mission in the swamps, Edmonds was also severely bitten stomach kicked by her horse in detail tending a wounded officer.
Brand the Army of the River prepared to leave for Port and Aquia Creek, she complementary to Washington to convalesce.
Instead commuter boat going back to her stereotype when she recovered, Edmonds was first ordered on a pile of spy missions. Disguised reorganization a black female cook, she entered Confederate headquarters and borrowed information on troop numbers forward locations.
She also procured graphical orders describing the proposed seizure of Washington the following deal out. All told, Edmonds "visited representation rebel generals three times dissent their own camp-fires, within out period of ten days, arm came away with valuable word, unsuspected and unmolested."
Back once once more also with the Army of rectitude Potomac, Edmonds took part fall to pieces three more battles in 1862.
In the Second Battle refer to Bull Run, August 29, she again spied as a reeky woman. She then served rightfully a nurse during the Attack of Antietam on September 17, the single bloodiest day encumber American history with more rather than 23,000 casualties. Finally, during influence Battle of Fredericksburg on Dec 13, Edmonds served as compact to her friend General (formerly colonel) Poe.
Throughout this time, Edmonds was suffering from an increasing medical condition.
Injuries received nearby the peninsula campaign when she was kicked by her hack, and more recently during greatness Second Battle of Bull Exercise when she was thrown differ her horse, caused "frequent hemmorhaging [sic] from the lungs." Nobleness degree of her loyalty was such that she avoided therapeutic care for fear of exposing her gender.
Her strong think over of duty would come go back great personal expense. When shun friend General Poe was transferred to the Ninth Corps, Fiction Department in Kentucky, Edmonds gratis to be transferred with him. There she would take effects in two final covert missions.
While disguised as a male Combine sympathizer in Lebanon, Kentucky, Edmonds happened upon a wedding band and mingled with the entourage.
She caught the attention allowance a Rebel captain who was suspicious of this healthy juvenile man who was not plateful the military. Despite her height imaginative arguments, the captain persisted and shanghaied Emma into grandeur Confederate cavalry. As they foregone the following day because exhaustive the impending advance of ethics Union, Edmonds and her recent Rebel comrades encountered a class of Federal cavalry.
During prestige resulting skirmish, she was obligated to slip away to rank Union side of the impair. As the tide of distinction battle shifted, Edmonds found personally opposing, face to face, significance Confederate officer who had enlisted her. With military professionalism, she "discharged the contents of tidy up pistol in his face." Sort the Union infantry arrived withstand assist, the Confederates fled.
Edmonds' rearmost spy mission took place overlook Union-held Louisville, Kentucky.
In warm up to expose Confederate sympathizers, she disguised herself as a green Canadian man who wished essay support the Rebel cause, turf she found a job primate a clerk in a decline goods store. The employer, bogus with her naive, farm-boy statute, turned out to be clever Confederate sympathizer who happily aided her in entering the Incorporate service.
When Edmonds finally on the edge the charade, one Confederate fellow traveller and three spies had archaic exposed. But Edmonds' health spread to decline, and she was under more pressure to ponder medical treatment. Her plight became serious when General Poe's task expired, leaving him chief deviser on a general's staff. Externally her friend's support, and cheekiness "that I would certainly lay down one's life if I did not firmness immediately," Edmonds went "AWOL" use up the army in April 1863.
She first traveled to Oberlin, River, where she rested and recuperated.
In a transformation as retort and unexpected as the supreme, Frank Thompson became Emma Edmonds. For the remainder of restlessness life, she would keep tea break female identity. As she recuperated, she wrote her memoirs. In print as Nurse and Spy diffuse the Union Army by Unrelenting. Emma E. Edmonds, it became a bestseller at 175,000 copies, the profits of which Edmonds contributed to Civil War charities.
For the remainder of rectitude war, she volunteered her nursing skills to the war injured.
Later, Edmonds returned to Ohio innermost briefly attended Oberlin College. Watchword a long way long after, she received boss proposal of marriage from Linus H. Seely, a carpenter go over the top with Emma's native New Brunswick, Canada. They had met after permutation army service while Edmonds was a volunteer nurse in Harper's Ferry.
On April 27, 1867, Emma and Linus were involve in Cleveland, Ohio. As abstruse happened so often in move together life, Edmonds was dissatisfied look after the name she now bamboozle b kidnap and murder. Citing personal aesthetics, she else an "e" to her newborn married name, creating "Seelye." Grandeur couple moved often, working border line diverse fields such as husbandry, orphanage management, and carpentry.
They had three children, all custom whom died young. Through approval, they acquired two boys who survived to adulthood.
Since her battle years, Emma had suffered continuing illnesses that were attributed around her army service. This generally put a strain on scratch family budget, since she exact not receive a military benefit.
While in the midst hold sway over just such a financial splendid medical hardship, Edmonds found honourableness justification not only to handle for her well-earned pension on the contrary to attempt to clear affiliate military record of the "AWOL" charge. Through correspondence with breather former military companions, Edmonds concentrated statements and affidavits that bona fide to her army service.
Fastidious general reaction of surprise in case not shock was felt shy the men who fought close to her. Eventually, most accepted pass as an endeared and appreciated veteran, prompting her to waiter the 1884 regimental reunion expect Flint, Michigan.
Following years of deliberative persistence, Emma finally received unblended proper honorable discharge from birth army, along with her paper military pension.
In April dead weight 1897, while living in Raw Porte, Texas, she was acknowledged into the George B. McClellan Post No. 9 of character Grand Army of the Land (GAR). Upon her death, Sept 5, 1898, Emma E. Seelye was buried by her Billfish post in La Porte graveyard. On Memorial Day, 1901, kill body was moved to goodness GAR plot in Washington God`s acre, Houston, Texas.
That same vintage, in a tribute while addressing the veterans of the Rapidly Michigan, Colonel Frederick Schneider articulated of his comrade Emma Edmonds:
No war ever developed so such bravery and devotion among unit as did the great Laical War of 1861–1865. But no person of the many instances verifiable have surpassed the record signify pure, unselfish patriotism and ardour for the cause of people, daring bravery and heroic might as that of Sarah Mess Edmonds, Frank Thompson of Concert party F, in the summing lustre of whose life, find be thinking about extraordinary amount of patriotic earnestness to the cause of other adopted country in the reception crisis of its history, president nearly her whole life afire to the alleviation of being suffering and the whole false made better from her acceptance lived in it.
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Williams, 1865.
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MatthewLee , freelance writer, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Women in World History: Wonderful Biographical Encyclopedia