Blount and Beyond Online Magazine - Magazine - Page 29
Tennessee Women in the Civil War
Women were not legally allowed to fight in the Civil War many did. Women dressed as men, went to war. Both
the Union and Confederate armies had women soldiers. Women served as nurses but were not allowed to serve
in combat. That did not keep some women from disguising themselves and enlisting as men.
You might wonder why a woman would want to fight during the Civil War. There could have been many
reasons, like the men, they supported the cause, they might have joined for the adventure, or it was a way to get
away from home. Some women joined to be with their husbands, boyfriends, or brothers.
We are going to look first at a couple, husband and wife John and Betsy Sullivan, from Pulaski, Tennessee.
They joined Company K of the Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Betsy marched alongside her husband, and she
did everything the men did including fighting in the war. The Sullivans fought in West Virginia and northern
Virginia under Stonewall Jackson.
John Sullivan was wounded in the battle of Perryville in Kentucky. He was captured and became a prisoner of
war. Betsy accompanied her husband to prison. Records were not kept of Betsy9s time in prison so very little is
known about her after this.
During the Civil War it has been estimated that about four-hundred and maybe as many as seven-hundred-fifty
women disguised themselves as men and left home to fight in the war. On the battlefield the women were
accepted and respected amongst their peers.
After the battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1863, a Union burial detail made a startling discovery
near Cemetery Ridge. The burial detail found the body of a woman, wearing the uniform of a Confederate
private among the dead.
Very little is known about Madame Collier. She was a federal soldier, disguised as a man, from East Tennessee.
She fought and was captured. Collier was imprisoned at Belle Isle, Virginia. She kept her gender a secret and
decided to make the best of being in prison. Another prisoner discovered her gender and reported it to the
Confederate authorities. They sent her North to the Union lines under a flag of truce.
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Civil War Facts
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More soldiers from Tennessee volunteered during the War of 1812 than any other state, which led to its
nickname, "The Volunteer State."
Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War and the first state readmitted.
Only Virginia saw more fighting than Tennessee during the Civil War