How civil war changed families - Assignment Example

?How civil war changed families. Hundreds of women on both sides in the American Civil War took on male s and appearances, so that they could join the fight for their respective sides. Some saw it as an adventure, but there was also the question of pay and freedom. Why should only men be able to fight for what they believed in? Also of course a soldier earned roughly double what any woman, whatever her profession or trade, could earn at the time. A ‘man’ had freedom which a woman could not enjoy, so some of these women kept up the pretence for the rest of their lives, although the majority were spotted at some early point. Jenny Hodgers was one of the women who believed that there were more opportunities given to young men than would ever be available to women at that time. It is even possible that she saw it as the only way she could survive in her adopted country. Righthand gives an estimate of about 400 such women who actually served as soldiers. ( Righthand 2011) Yet in 1909 the United States Army issued a statement, saying that they denied the fact :- Any woman was ever enlisted in the military service of the United States as a member of any organization of the Regular or Volunteer Army at any time during the period of the civil war. (quoted by Johnson, 2009). Jennie Irene Hodgers was one such woman. Born in Ireland into a poor family she somehow managed to survive the famine and eventually arrived in America, perhaps from Belfast. The date is uncertain, but she possibly already dressed as a man. Crombie suggests that she was a stowaway ( Crombie , 2005). One suggestion is that her step father made her dress as a boy in order that she could earn the family necessary money ( Vicksburg National Park , undated). She took work as a labourer, as a shepherd and as a farmhand, but America was already split by war, and had been so since 1861. Aged only 19 in 1862 she enlisted in the 95th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment ( O Coisdealha, 2010). There was a medical examination, but this was only concerned with the eyes and ears of the new recruits. She didn’t even have to commit forgery as she could neither read or write, so just made her mark (Crombie, 2005). There was no space on the form for writing male or female. It simply wasn’t considered as a possibility. There followed a month or so of basic military training and then the company marched off to Kentucky and their real war began. During the next three years Jennie would march some 10,000 miles back and forth as the war progressed. Despite being only 5’ 3”, and so one of the shortest people in the regiment , she held her own in some 40 battles under the leadership of General Ulysses S.Grant. She was simply thought of as a bit of a loner , as when he /she sought privacy for such things as bathing. It is believed that the other soldiers were unaware of her true gender. This she was able to keep up even when she had a severe attack of diarrhea (Vicksberg National Park, undated). She was captured at the siege of Vicksburg, but escaped by knocking her guard cold. She managed to get through the whole war without serious injury, although there were times when many around her suffered serious wounds. This meant her body was never examined closely all that time . Years later when her true identity was finally revealed one of her former messmates would say :- “I never suspected at any time all through the service that Cashier was a woman.” There was agreement that she pulled her weight as well as any other soldier. The men slept in the clothing they had worn all day. Sometimes they would go weeks without undressing and bathing. All of this would help Jenny to keep up her deception. The war was over at last in August 1965, and she, along with all the other soldiers, was demustered with an honourable discharge. She was then left to make her own way ion life , as were all the other veterans. Faced with an uncertain future she decided to keep up the disguise. She returned to the one place she knew well, Illinois , where of course she was already thought of as male. Mention has been made of letters from Illinois asking when Albert would buy a new dress for his ‘sweetheart’ ( Vicksburg National Park, undated). She worked as a farm hand, as a janitor, town lamp lighter and then as a dry goods clerk. She lived in a one roomed house , supplied by one of her employers, which is at present being renovated as a landmark. One day a year she would once more put on her uniform and join in the town parade on Decoration Day. Also once a year she did what no other woman in town was able to do – she voted. It seems during the next forty years Jenny always remained nervous of strangers and often changed the locks on her house for instance, and even at times nailed the windows of her house shut tight. In 1911 she was involved in a car accident when her employer accidently ran her down while she was bending down to pick up sticks. Aged 68, she suffered a broken hip as a result of the collision, and had to be taken to hospital. As her injury was examined at last her identity was revealed to someone, but she pleaded with the doctor not to give her away. It would have meant she lost her pension, as well as having to live as a woman . She had earned that pension by her hard work and bravery, never shying away from dangerous missions while in the war. She would never fully recover from this accident, and possibly was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. At first she lived in a Veteran’s hospital where the pretence was maintained, even though it seems that staff were aware of what was going on, but as her mind deteriorated to the point where she needed a greater degree of care, she was transferred to the Watertown State Hospital for the Insane, where her identity was revealed once more. Newspapers leaked the secret and word was about. According to Vicksburg National Park ( undated ) at this point the story became an item in the newspapers and the government then decided to charge Jenny Hodgers with fraud in order to receive a pension. An investigation followed , but fortunately former comrades from the 95th Illinois rallied round their fellow soldier and testified that this was not in fact Jenny Hodgers at all, but rather Albert Cashier, a brave soldier. She was however forced by the hospital staff to wear female clothing for the remainder of her life. On her death though, she once again was allowed to wear her full uniform, a matter important both to her and her fellow veterans, and as she wished. She was buried in it with full military honors, with the American flag draping her coffin. Male or female, she deserved that as a true and brave Civil War veteran soldier and a brave one. . The town’s people of that small community of Saunemin still remember Albert /Jenny and each Memorial day her grave is decorated with flowers. Moss ( 2012) describes her as a ‘trans man.’ It is not difficult to come up with a reason why a young woman travelling steerage , or even as a stowaway , would want to protect herself by dressing as a man. It was only a step perhaps to join the army. After the war her male identity was well established. Unless she wanted marriage and children perhaps she saw no reason to change back at a time when being female was also to be at a disadvantage. When she died in 1915 she was given a full military funeral as an honoured veteran and a gravestone was erected to her as a veteran under the name of Private First Class Albert Cashier, even though it was well known that she was actually Miss Jenny Hodgers. But Jenny Hodgers hadn’t fought in all those battles. Albert Cashier had done that. Only later was another memorial stone erected bearing both names. The secret was out at last. References Crombie, W. ,“Jenny Hodgers, Civil War Soldier, History’s Women, the unsung heroines, 2005 , online 23rd April 2013, “http://www.historyswomen.com/earlyamerica/jennyhodgers.html Johnson, E. ,“Seven Civil War Stories You Didn’t Hear at School” 2009, online 23rd April 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124482937162110493.html Moss, C., “Transmen in the Military : Albert D.J. Cashier/Jenny Irene Hodgers,” 2012, online, 23rd April 2013 , http://dodfedglobe.ning.com/profiles/blogs/transmen-in-the-military-albert-d-j-cashier-jennie-irene-hodgers O Coisdealha, T., “Jenny Irene Hodgers, 1843 – 1915,” Fenian Graves, 2010, online 23rd April 2013, http://irishfreedom.net/Fenian%20graves/Jennie%20Hodgers/Hodgers%20,%20Jennie%20--%20%20Bio.htm Righthand J., “The Women who fought in the Civil War “, Smithsonian . com, 8th April 2011, online 24th April 2013, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Women-Who-Fought-in-the-Civil-War.html Vicksburg National Park, “Jenny Hodgers, aka Private Albert Cashier”, National Park Service, undated, online 23rd April 2013 http://www.nps.gov/resources/story.htm?id=187 Read More