Nurse and Spy in the Union Army (Cosimo Classics History)

While in the Secret Service as a Spy which is one of the most hazardous positions in the army-she penetrated the enemys lines in various disguises no less than eleven times; always with complete success and without detection. Her efficient labors in the different Hospitals as well as her arduous duties as Field Nurse embrace many thrilling and touching incidents which are here most graphically described. -from the original Publishers Notice It sounds like the stuff of pulp fiction but its all true. Or mostly true at least. Sarah Edmonds disguised as Franklin Thompson enlisted in the Union Army in 1861; saw combat at the Battle of Blackburns Ford First Bull Run/Manassas the Peninsular Campaign Antietam and Fredericksburg; and sometimes served as a spy disguised as a woman! Afraid of her secret being discovered Franklin went AWOL and Sarah rejoined the cause as a nurse. These thrilling adventures of a daring woman in the Civil War have been accused of being fanciful but thats just the beginning of their charm. SARAH EMMA EDMONDS SEELYE (1841-1898) was born in New Brunswick Canada ran away from home at 17 disguised as a boy. An 1884 congressional bill recognized her service to the Union and granted her a military pension. She died in Texas and her remains today are housed in a Grand Army of the Republic plot in Houston.