She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War

by Bonnie Tsui

Women Soldiers of the Civil War profiles several substantiated cases of female soldiers during the American Civil War, including Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (aka Private Lyons Wakeman, Union); Sarah Emma Edmonds (aka Private Frank Thompson, Union); Loreta Janeta Velazquez (aka Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, Confederate); and Jennie Hodgers (aka Private Albert D. J. Cashier, Union). Also featured are those women who may not have posed as male soldiers but who nonetheless pushed gender boundaries to act boldly in related military capacities, as spies, nurses, and vivandieres ("daughters of the regiment") who bore the flag in battle, rallied troops, and cared for the wounded.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Civil War, American Civil War, Historical

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Bonnie Tsui is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and the bestselling author of Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Time magazine and NPR Best Book of the Year; it has been translated into ten languages and was a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist in Science. Bonnie is also the author of American Chinatown, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and Sarah and the Big Wave, a children’s book about the first woman to surf Mavericks and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. She is a consultant for the Hulu television series Interior Chinatown. Her new book, On Muscle, will be published in April 2025. Her work has been recognized and supported by Harvard University, the National Press Foundation, the Mesa Refuge, and the Best American Essays series. She lives, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area. 

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short book about women who fought on both sides of the Civil War. One thing mentioned is that women working as nurses were much better at identifying women as soldiers than males who worked with them.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It reads a bit like a report, no life is gone into in any depth (as other reviews have noted), but it does a good job of highlighting the roles that women played in the Civil War - both by disguising themselves as men and as women undisguised.

It's enough to pique curiosity and encourage further research and reading, and since she cited many sources, there is a lot of material to search out.

[Deborah Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some perspectives I had never considered as well as bits of information that were quite fascinating.
Major issues were there were parts that were too vague, like insinuating to a Civil War event like it was well known. Or some things were given too much detail that didn’t add to the research

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good overview of women who took part in the American Civil War. It's not just about those women who disguised themselves as men to fight, but also daughters of the regiment, nurses and spies. It's an easy read and draws on many resources including diaries, letters and journals. There is a good bibliography too for follow up reading.

[Alyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, high-level intro to women who served as soldiers, spies, nurses, and daughters of the regiment in the civil war. I added several books to my reading list that were referenced in this book. It's a quick read and I hadn't heard of most of the women in the book!

I only wish the secondary and tertiary sources weren't directly quoted as much and we're footnoted rather than credited directly in the text.

[RK Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

wanted to like this book more and probably would have had it contained even one note of the irony of women joining the Confederate Army because in contrast to the constricting role of women in that era's society, they felt "freedom".

[Carolyn Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction into women in the Civil War including disguised soldiers and nurses. A great few pages on the greatest of them all Harriet Tubman. What this book really did is just make my to-read list longer!

[Cynthia Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay this was fascinating. Woman actually putting their lives at stake in battle on the fields somewhat disguised as men. Totally amazed this has not been made into a film.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprising educational read filled with gender-bending folks who involved themselves in the Civil War.

[Margaret H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, quick overview. The first third focuses on three women who hide themselves as men. It does not go into depth. The rest are about spies and nurses with an even quicker overview. It's as almost as if this book introduces you to the names of these women and then you can go and find a better book about them. I am glad I picked up this book for the simple introduction.

[Siena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful non-fiction written very well, however not very captivating. I went to Gettysburg and was interested in women Civil War spies and soldiers. I did find the part on vivianderies interesting though.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good, brief overview of the women soldiers, but it doesn't go into depth about any of them.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

stories of women who fought or otherwise helped out in the Civil War

[Denise Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! I never knew so many women were in battle back then. I used this book as part of my research for a novel idea.