In a world where the population is approximately 7.4 billion people, and approximately 50% of those people are female, there are a lot of stories that have gone untold. This cache series recognizes some amazing women and girls, and highlights their contributions to our planet...some large, some small, but all very important. Do you know all of these Mighty Girls? I hope that someone in this series is a new name to you, and that you will help to share these stories, and many more! I also look forward to hearing your own Mighty Girl stories!
A Mighty Girl 6: Sarah Emma Edmonds
Sarah Emma Edmonds was born in December of 1841, and is known as a “master of disguise”. In fact, she...a Canadian-born woman...served as a man with the Union Army during the American Civil War! She enlisted after leaving New Brunswick and going to Michigan to avoid an arranged marriage. As “Franklin Thompson” she served as a nurse, mail carrier, foot soldier, and cavalry soldier during a number of important battles. She also sometimes served as a spy, “disguised” as “Bridget O’Shea”, as a boy, and as both a man and a woman of colour. According to womenshistory.about.com, she helped at least one other female soldier to disguise her identity. Hard to verify, but a great story!
In 1863, still as “Franklin Thompson”, Edmonds contracted malaria and requested a furlough. This was denied, and she disappeared in order to avoid having her identity discovered when seeking medical attention. She was then charged with desertion.
Sarah Edmonds married Linus Seelye in 1867 and they had three children. In 1876, she attended a reunion of the 2nd Michigan and was warmly received by her comrades, who aided her in having the charge of desertion removed from her military records and supported her application for a military pension. After an eight year battle and an Act of Congress, “Franklin Thompson” was cleared of desertion charges and awarded a pension in 1884.
In 1897, Edmonds was admitted into the Grand Army of the Republic, the only woman member. One year later, on September 5, 1898, Edmonds died at her home in La Porte, Texas. In 1901, she was re-buried with military honors at Washington Cemetery in Houston.