Women in the Civil War

by Larry G. Eggleston

  Albert Cashier enlisted for three years or the duration of the war. She served with the 95th Regiment from August 3, 1862, until the regiment was mustered out on August 17, 1865. She holds the record for the longest length of service for a woman soldier in the Civil War.

  On November 4, 1862, after two months of intense training, the 95th Regiment was sent to Jackson, Tennessee, to become part of General Grant’s Army of Tennessee. The 95th Regiment served in the western theater for the duration of the war and participated in over 40 battles and skirmishes. Among these battles was the Siege of Vicksburg.

  Shortly after Christmas 1862, the 95th infantry was ordered to march to Memphis to board steamships bound for Vicksburg, Mississippi, to join General Grant’s forces in their assault on Vicksburg. On January 19, 1863, a fleet of 15 steamships left Memphis for Vicksburg. The 95th regiment sailed aboard the steamship Marie Denning, along with the 11th Iowa, 17th Wisconsin, and the 2nd Illinois Infantry regiments. Since the ships were vulnerable to being fired on from the riverbanks, they only sailed at night.

  The Union forces disembarked 15 miles north of Vicksburg at a place called Milliken’s Bend on January 26. They then marched down river to Grand Gulf where they began to meet resistance from the Confederate forces. These skirmishes continued the rest of the way to Vicksburg.

  During one of these skirmishes, Pvt. Albert Cashier was captured by Confederate troops. While under guard, she managed to seize the guard’s rifle and knock him down with it. She then fled to the safety of the Union lines. On another occasion when the 95th was pinned down behind a group of fallen trees, Pvt. Cashier is reported to have jumped up on the fallen tree and shouted at the Confederate soldiers to show themselves. She also is reported to have scaled a tall tree during a battle to replace the Union flag which the Confederate troops had shot down. Pvt. Cashier was well thought of by the soldiers of the 95th. They considered him to be dependable and resourceful. They knew him as a brave soldier. Pvt. Cashier was often called on for foraging and skirmishing duties.

  After the two costly assaults on the Confederate earthworks at Vicksburg, General Grant began a siege. This siege reduced the Confederate forces, by starvation and disease, to the breaking point. On July 4, 1863, they were forced to surrender.

  Pvt. Cashier was stricken with chronic diarrhea during the Vicksburg campaign. She reported to the regimental hospital and talked the doctors into treating her as an outpatient, thus avoiding the chance of her gender being discovered. The doctors agreed and somehow she made a miraculous recovery and was able to continue serving with her regiment.

  The 95th Illinois Infantry sustained heavy losses at Vicksburg with 25 soldiers killed in battle, 124 soldiers wounded and 10 soldiers missing. A monument has been erected at the Vicksburg Battlefield to honor all the Illinois soldiers who fought there. The Illinois monument lists over 36,000 names including Cashier, Albert D. J. Pvt.

  After Vicksburg, the 95th fought many other battles including the Siege of Atlanta, the Red River Campaign, the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, the Battle of Nashville, the Siege of Mobile and many more.

  Jennie Hodgers (right) with an unknown comrade. From the Frank Crawford Collection, U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

  Pvt. Albert Cashier fought bravely in these battles without ever being wounded. By the end of the war the 95th Illinois had sustained total losses of 289 soldiers, 84 killed in battle and 205 dead from disease.

  At the end of the war, the 95th Illinois Infantry returned to Springfield, Illinois, where on August 17, 1865, they were mustered out of Federal service. Pvt. Cashier had served the entire time the regiment was in existence without her gender ever being discovered or even being under suspicion.

  Albert Cashier returned to Belvidere, Illinois, and worked as a laborer. She spent two years in Belvidere and two and one half years in Pontiac before finally settling in Saunemin in 1869. Saunemin, Illinois, is a small town south of Chicago.

  Albert Cashier found employment with Joshua Chesbro herding cattle and doing chores around Chesbro’s farm. He was allowed to live at the farm as part of his wages. Albert later moved into town to take an evening job in addition to his farm work. He worked cleaning Cording’s Hardware store after it closed. He was allowed to sleep in the store as part of his wages. This arrangement did not last long because Albert developed a great fear of the store being burglarized while he was sleeping there.

  Revealing these fears prompted his daytime employer Joshua Chesbro to build a small 12 ⨉× 22 house for Cashier. The house was built next to the Christian Church in Saunemin and was home to Albert the rest of his life.

  Albert soon became custodian of the Christian Church next to his house and was responsible for ringing the bell on Sunday and other special occasions. Albert also served the community by lighting the streetlights each night, which required him to carry a ladder around and clean and light the street lamps. He then had to make a second round to turn them off a few hours later. Albert also worked as a handyman and laborer for several of the other families around town. He was often hired by State Senator Ira M. Lish to do household chores and lawn work.

  On Memorial Day, Albert would dress in his Civil War uniform and lead the parade through the town. He would always attend patriotic events and was considered an asset to his community.

  On February 13, 1890, Albert applied for a pension for his service with the 95th Illinois Infantry. He based his early request for a pension on the fact that he was partially disabled, as a result of the chronic diarrhea he experienced at Vicksburg. The request was denied because Albert refused to submit to a physical examination to verify the claim. However, in early 1907, Albert D. J. Cashier was granted the normal pension of $12 per month. He also became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).

  In early 1900 Albert became very ill. Concerned for his welfare, Mrs. Lannon, a close friend, sent a nurse to his home to help him. The nurse was the first to discover that Albert D. J. Cashier was a woman. When she reported the discovery to Mrs. Lannon, they both decided to respect Albert’s privacy and keep his secret.

  Ten years later, while working for Senator Lish, Albert’s secret was again discovered. Mr. Lish was backing his automobile out of his garage when he accidentally hit Albert, breaking his leg just below the hip. Mr. Lish called Doctor C. F. Ross, who, while tending the broken leg, discovered that Albert Cashier was a woman. Albert begged them to keep his secret and they both agreed. Later while attending Albert during his convalescence, Nettie Chesbro, the daughter of Joshua Chesbro, somehow also discovered that Albert Cashier was a woman. The Chesbro family also agreed to keep the secret safe.

  As time passed it became more obvious that the injury to Albert’s leg was disabling and Albert would not be able to continue performing the work he was doing. It was decided that Albert should seek medical care from an institution. With the help of Senator Lish and Dr. Ross, Albert applied and was admitted to the Illinois Soldier’s and Sailor’s home in Quincy. The commandant of the home and the doctors agreed to keep his gender a secret so he could live at the home as Pvt. Albert D. J. Cashier. The secret was kept safe until 1913 when two male nurses tried to give Albert a bath and discovered that he was a woman. Once her secret was made public she revealed that her name was Jennie Hodgers and that she had come to the United States from Ireland as a stowaway on a ship.

  Public disclosure of the story touched off a storm of newspaper articles and stories. She had lived her entire adult life as a man. Because of all the publicity and her secret being revealed, she became erratic and hard to handle. On March 28, 1913, the State of Illinois declared her to be insane. She was transferred to the state asylum at Watertown, Illinois. She was forced to wear woman’s clothing at the asylum. The dresses she was forced to wear were very awkward for her and it wasn’t long before she tripped on a dress and fell down. The fall injured her hip and she never recovered. She died on October 11, 1915, at the age of 72.

  Courtesy of the
Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois.

  While she was in the asylum, the federal government Pension Bureau began an investigation to determine if Jennie Hodgers was in fact Albert D. J. Cashier who had been collecting a pension and if Albert D. J. Cashier really served with the 95th Illinois Regiment. A statement taken from a former comrade is as follows:

  Top: Jennie Hodgers’ (Albert D.J. Cashier’s) tombstone at Sunny Slope Cemetery, Saunemin, Illinois. Photograph by L.G. Eggleston. Bottom: Albert D.J. Cashier’s original tombstone at Sunny Slope Cemetery, Saunemin, Illinois. Photograph by L.G. Eggleston.

  Case of Albert D. J. Cashier Cert No. 1001132 on this 24th day of January 1915 at Huron, County of Beadle State of South Dakota before me J. H. Elmes a special examiner of the Bureau of Pensions, personally appeared Robert D. Hannah who, being by me first, duly sworn to answer truly all interrogatories propounded to him during this Special Examination of aforesaid claim for pension, deposes and says: My age is 75 past P.D. and residence Huron, South Dakota, occupation was a farmer. I have lived here eight years. I served as Corporal Company G 95th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. I enlisted about August 1862 and was discharged about June 1865. You showed me a picture without disclosing the name. I was not able to identity same. Further that the picture looked familiar. Since the name is mentioned, I very well recognize that picture as the picture of Albert D. J. Cashier who was a member of my company. I was with the company until after the capture of Vicksburg. I did not know him before the service. After discharge I saw him very often at Belvidere, Illinois where he was working for Samuel Pepper, now dead. About two years ago I learned that Albert D. J. Cashier is a woman. I never suspected anything of that kind. I know that Cashier was the shortest person in the company. I think he did not have to shave. There has never been any doubt in my mind since it came out that Cashier was a woman but that it is so. I have not seen Cashier since a few years after the war. I am not able to identify the right hand figure in the double picture you showed me. It has been to long ago and fifty years make too many changes in a person for me to identify the right hand figure. I have no doubt about the left hand figure being the picture of Albert D. J. Cashier. Albert D. J. Cashier was very quiet in her manner and she was not easy to get acquainted with. I rather think she did not take part in any of the sports and games of the members of the company. When I was examined for enlistment, I was not stripped and a woman would not have any trouble in passing the orientation. I am not related and have no interest in the prosecution of this claim.

  The Pension Bureau investigation verified that Jennie Hodgers was Albert D. J. Cashier who did serve with the 95th Illinois Regiment. The depositions taken from other members of the 95th confirmed the truth and the pictures of Albert D. J. Cashier which were shown to the former comrades were readily identified.

  The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) arranged for her burial. She was buried in her Civil War uniform with full military honors, including a flag-draped coffin. She was buried in Sunny Slope Cemetery in Saunemin, Illinois. Her headstone simply read “Albert D. J. Cashier Co. G 95th Ill. INF.” In April 1985, an additional headstone was placed on her grave just a few feet behind the original. The new stone reads: “Albert D. J. Cashier Co. G 95th Ill. Inf. Civil War, Born Jennie Hodgers in Clogher Head, Ireland 1843–1915.”

  Albert D. J. Cashier/Jennie Hodgers achieved many extraordinary goals in her life. She was the first known woman to vote in Illinois, and the only woman soldier to receive a pension as a man for her services as a full time soldier. (Other women received pensions, but their gender was known at the time of payment; Jennie Hodgers’ was not.) She holds the record for the longest period of service for a woman soldier in the Civil War, has the only tombstone listing both a man and a woman’s name for the same person, and has the only grave marked with two headstones. On each Memorial Day flowers are placed on her grave along with the graves of other soldiers being honored.

  Jennie Hodgers served her country faithfully without once wavering. Her loyalty and dedication to duty overshadowed her fear as she endured the horrors of war.

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  Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds: Woman Soldier, Spy and Nurse

  The long periods between battles were times when women were most vulnerable to being discovered. Several of the women soldiers would continually volunteer for other duties they could perform between combat engagements. They would volunteer for nursing duties, for courier duties and for espionage missions. These additional duties kept them up late at night or out of camp much of the time, which lessened the chance of their gender being discovered.

  These versatile and courageous women made an enormous contribution to the war effort. Such a woman was Canadian born Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds.

  Sarah Edmonds was born on a rural farm south of Fredericton, New Brunswick, in December 1841. She was the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Edmonds, and was one of five children (four girls and a boy). Since her only brother was frail and sickly, the girls were required to do most of the work on the farm. The girls usually wore boys’ clothing while doing their chores.

  Sarah became a strong, hard-working farm girl who developed skills in horseback riding, foraging, hunting, shooting, tending live stock, chopping wood, and many other survival skills which would become useful in her later life. In addition, her mother made sure that she did not avoid learning the many tasks and responsibilities of running a home. From her mother she learned how to take care of a home and family, how to prepare home remedies for aches and pains, and the basic nursing practices necessary to care for a sick or injured person. Sarah became very knowledgeable in these areas and found she had a natural knack for nursing and caring for people.

  Sarah Emma Edmonds. Courtesy of the State Archives of Michigan.

  In 1858, when Sarah was 17 years old, her father decided to arrange a marriage for her to an older neighbor who owned a nearby farm. Sarah obeyed her father and accepted the engagement to the elder farmer. Her mother, seeing that Sarah dreaded the idea of marrying the neighbor, helped her escape. Mrs. Edmonds contacted an old friend, Annie Moffitt, in Salisbury, approximately 90 miles east of Fredericton, to arrange for Sarah to become an apprentice in her millinery shop. Her friend was happy to get the help and accepted Sarah as her student.

  Sarah told her best friend, Linus H. Seelye, of her plans for leaving. He provided her with a good set of his clothes to wear on the journey, thinking it would be much safer for her to travel in disguise.

  On a dark, moonless night, while wedding plans were still being made, Sarah quietly slipped out of the house and disappeared without a trace. Within a year Sarah had learned the millinery business and, with her new friend, Henriette Perrigo, had opened a shop ten miles east of Salisbury in Moncton, New Brunswick.

  Soon after the shop was opened, Sarah received a letter from her mother warning her that her father had discovered where she was. She again feared the loss of her freedom and the horror of being forced into an unwanted marriage. She came to the conclusion that changing her identity and disappearing would solve the problem.

  She cut her hair short, changed her name to Franklin Thompson, dressed herself in men’s clothing, had an identifying mole surgically removed from her left cheek and moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, 80 miles south of Fredericton. She found employment as a salesman selling Bibles and other religious books in New Brunswick. She was very successful in this new line of work. This success lasted about one year, when, for some unknown reason, she lost all her money along with all her books and supplies. She had one Bible left, which she sold for $5. She decided to head south into the United States to look for work.

  It was late 1859 and New Brunswick was covered with snow when Sarah set out walking with only $5 in her pocket. With the exception of a few short rides she received along the way, Sarah walked the entire 450 miles to Hartford, Connecticut. She took a job with Hurlburt and Company selling books in Nova Scotia. This job lasted from February 1860 through November 1860,
when Sarah decided to head west. She was living in Flint, Michigan, when the Civil War began.

  While living in Flint, Sarah became a friend to William R. Morse, who was a member of the Flint Union Greys, a voluntary military company organized in 1857. On April 17, 1861, only five days after Fort Sumter was fired upon, Sarah enlisted in the Flint Union Greys under her assumed name of Franklin Thompson. At a company meeting on April 18, 1861, the Flint Union Greys voted to become a volunteer company in the Union army. This action was in response to President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion and reunite the nation. On April 25, 1861, the 2nd Michigan Infantry was formed. It included the Flint Union Greys as Company F under the command of Sarah’s friend Captain William R. Morse. On May 25, 1861, the 2nd Michigan Infantry was mustered into Federal service at Fort Wayne in Detroit, Michigan.

  The 2nd Michigan Infantry was the first three-year regiment mustered in Michigan. The regiment consisted of 1,013 officers and men. By the end of the war, this number had grown to 2,151.

  After two months of training, the 2nd Michigan Infantry left on June 6, 1861, for Washington, D.C. They arrived in Washington on June 10 and were reviewed by President Lincoln prior to going into camp.

  During the Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run on July 21, the 2nd Michigan Infantry was assigned to guard the escape route back to Washington.

  Pvt. Franklin Thompson was on hospital duty in a small stone church between the battlefield and Centerville. Seeing the large amount of wounded soldiers being brought into the makeshift hospital was her first exposure to the horrors of war.