Disguised and Determined: Challenging Historical Assumptions About Women in the Civil War

When we picture the American Civil War, our minds naturally gravitate toward familiar visual tropes: columns of blue and grey infantrymen marching through the mud, cannon smoke billowing across blood-soaked fields, and generals poring over maps by candlelight. For generations, historical narratives have painted the Civil War as an exclusively male theater of conflict. Men fought, men died, and women remained safely at home, tending to farms, knitting socks, and nursing the wounded in makeshift hospitals far from the front lines. But like so many traditional historical assumptions, this neat separation of gender roles is built more on myth and Victorian ideals than on historical reality.

Recent historical research and brilliant works of historical fiction have begun to tear down these rigid boundaries, revealing a much more complex and gritty truth. Women were not merely passive observers of the nineteenth-century's defining conflict; they were active participants, spies, nurses, saboteurs, and, astonishingly, soldiers. By altering their appearances, cutting their hair, and adopting masculine names, hundreds of women stepped directly onto the battlefield. To explore this fascinating topic further, make sure to listen to our Medicine Creek Claim: Frontier Women, Homesteading & the Dakota Frontier | CK Van Dam episode, where we dive deep into the gritty realities of historical women with author CK Van Dam.

From Fiction to Fact: The Inspiration Behind Charlotte Ward

Characters in historical fiction often feel larger than life, but the most compelling ones are usually rooted in hard, verifiable truth. In CK Van Dam's novel Medicine Creek Claim, readers are introduced to unforgettable characters, including the fiercely determined Charlotte Ward. Charlotte is a woman who refuses to be constrained by the societal limitations of her era, embodying a grit and resourcefulness that allowed many nineteenth-century women to survive harrowing circumstances.

When writers like Van Dam craft characters who disguise themselves as men or take on roles traditionally reserved for their male counterparts, critics sometimes dismiss these narrative choices as modern sensibilities projected backward into the past. However, as historical records continually demonstrate, fiction is often simply catching up to reality. The inspiration behind characters like Charlotte Ward comes from a long, documented line of real women who laced up heavy boots, shouldered muskets, and marched alongside their brothers, husbands, and strangers into the jaws of battle. By examining the lives of these women, we begin to see that the historical record is far richer, stranger, and more inspiring than standard textbooks ever let on.

Breaking the Mould: Why Women Disguised Themselves as Men

To understand why a woman would choose to disguise herself as a man and enlist in the military during the Civil War, we have to look past modern understandings of gender and immerse ourselves in the psychological and social landscape of the 1860s. Why would anyone risk discovery, imprisonment, social ostracization, and the constant threat of violent death?

For many, the primary motivation was economic survival. In an era where women had severely limited employment opportunities—often restricted to domestic service, teaching, or low-wage textile work—a soldier's monthly pay was a lifeline. Enlisting meant regular wages, rations, and a measure of financial independence that was otherwise virtually unattainable.

Beyond economics, patriotism and ideological conviction played massive roles. Women felt the same fierce pull of loyalty to the Union or the Confederacy as their male peers. They watched fathers, brothers, and sweethearts march off to war and felt an irresistible urge to contribute directly to the cause. Furthermore, romantic attachments drove many into the ranks. Countless documented female soldiers enlisted simply to stay close to their husbands or fiances who had been drafted or volunteered. In an age before reliable communication networks, the battlefield was the only place to ensure a loved one's survival—or to mourn them properly if the worst occurred.

Surviving the Ranks: Daily Realities of Soldiers in Disguise

Enlisting was only the first hurdle; surviving day-to-day life as a soldier in disguise required immense cunning, endurance, and extraordinary luck. Imagine living in close quarters with dozens of other soldiers in a tent, marching for miles in woolen uniforms, sharing cramped campfires, and participating in chaotic, brutal combat—all while maintaining a massive secret.

Female soldiers had to master the mannerisms, speech patterns, and physical posture of nineteenth-century men. They bound their chests with strips of cloth, adopted deeper vocal inflections, and learned to find privacy for bathing and bodily functions in environments designed for communal living. Discovery was a constant, terrifying threat. A wound on the battlefield meant immediate exposure, as field surgeons and medical personnel would strip away uniforms to treat injuries. Many female soldiers who were wounded chose to hide their injuries, treat themselves in secret, or desert rather than face the humiliation, discharge, and potential criminal charges that awaited discovery.

Despite these staggering challenges, many female soldiers served for months or even years without their comrades ever suspecting the truth. They fought in major engagements, endured prisoner-of-war camps, and suffered from the same dysentery, malaria, and exhaustion that plagued the rest of the army.

Uncovering the Overlooked: What Historical Records Reveal

For decades, popular history treated female soldiers as mere urban legends or sensationalized newspaper anecdotes from the yellow journalism of the nineteenth century. However, modern historians and archivists have combed through pension records, military service files, diaries, and hospital admissions, uncovering concrete proof that hundreds—and potentially over a thousand—women served in the Union and Confederate armies.

Figures like Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, who enlisted under the alias Lyons Wakeman in the 153rd New York State Volunteers, left behind letters home detailing her daily life, the exhaustion of marching, and her pride in doing a soldier's job. Similarly, Loreta Janeta Velazquez claimed to have fought at Bull Run, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh before serving as a spy. While some accounts by female soldiers contain exaggerations typical of nineteenth-century memoirs, the sheer volume of official military documentation leaves no doubt about the reality of their service.

These historical records act as a window into the past, shattering the monolithic view of nineteenth-century womanhood. They prove that courage, endurance, and a desire to alter one's destiny were not traits exclusive to any single gender.

The Broader Impact: Women Shaping the Frontier and Wartime History

The resilience required to disguise oneself and fight in the Civil War is part of a broader continuum of female strength that defined the nineteenth-century American experience. Whether disguised as soldiers on eastern battlefields or carving out homesteads on the harsh Dakota frontier, women were constantly breaking molds and defying expectations.

The skills forged in the crucible of war—adaptability, physical endurance, emotional fortitude, and self-reliance—mirrored the traits needed by female homesteaders building lives in the American West. As discussed in our conversation with CK Van Dam, the frontier was not built by men alone; women claimed it, survived it, and shaped it through sheer force of will. These women faced brutal winters, isolation, and economic hardship, yet they laid the foundations of communities that would span a continent.

By studying both the female soldiers of the Civil War and the pioneering homesteaders of the frontier, we gain a much more holistic, accurate understanding of American history. We begin to see a past driven forward not just by traditional heroes, but by individuals who had to fight twice as hard just to be recognized.

Conclusion: Why Remembering These Untold Stories Matters Today

History is not merely a collection of dates and battle names; it is the story of human experience in all its messy, complex, and diverse reality. When we overlook the contributions of women who disguised themselves as soldiers during the Civil War, or the tenacious homesteaders who tamed the Dakota frontier, we do a disservice to the historical record. We miss out on profound stories of courage, sacrifice, and human agency.

Uncovering these hidden histories matters because it challenges us to look closer at the world around us and question the narratives we are handed. It reminds us that strength and determination have never been tied to a single gender. To dive deeper into these themes of frontier resilience, historical research, and the remarkable women who shaped America's past, be sure to listen to our full conversation with CK Van Dam in the Medicine Creek Claim: Frontier Women, Homesteading & the Dakota Frontier | CK Van Dam episode. These stories shaped our history, and remembering them ensures that the true architects of our past are never forgotten.