Mary Burns (soldier) explained
Mary Burns or John Burns was an American woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the American Civil War.[1] She enlisted in the 7th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment in order not to be parted from her lover, who was in the same regiment.[2] Her sex was discovered ten days after being recognized by an acquaintance,[3] before her company had left Detroit.[4] She was arrested in uniform, held in the city jail, charged with masquerading as a man, and sent home. The account of the incident in the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune (February 25, 1863) described the defendant as "a very pretty woman".[5]
See also
Notes and References
- Book: Nofi, Albert A. . A Civil War Treasury: Being A Miscellany Of Arms And Artillery, Facts And Figures, Legends And Lore, Muses And Minstrels And Personalities And People . 22 March 1995 . Hachette Books . 978-0-306-80622-3 . 357 . 31078934.
- DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. LSU Press, 2002., pp. 31 and 124.
- Book: Leonard, Elizabeth D.. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. W. W. Norton & Company. 1999. 0393047121. New York, NY. 208. registration.
- Mary Elizabeth Massey, Women in the Civil War. University of Nebraska Press, 1994. . p. 80, citing the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, February 25, 1863. Available on Google books. Accessed 8 January 2008.
- Cited in Michigan Women in the Civil War. Michigan, 1963. p. 33.
