Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
Frances Hook, of Illinois, enlisted with her brother in the 65th Home
Guards, assuming the name of "Frank Miller." She served three months,
and was mustered out without her sex being discovered. She then
enlisted in the 90th Illinois, and was taken prisoner in a battle near
Chattanooga. Attempting to escape she was shot through one of her
limbs. The rebels in searching her person for papers, discovered her
sex. They respected her as a woman, giving her a separate room while
she was in prison at Atlanta, Ga. During her captivity, Jeff. Davis
wrote her a letter, offering her a lieutenant's commission if she
would enlist in the rebel army, but she preferred to fight as a
private soldier for the stars and stripes, rather than accept a
commission from the rebels. This young lady was educated in a superior
manner, possessing all the modern accomplishments. After her release
from the rebel prison, she again enlisted in the 2d East Tennessee
Cavalry. She was in the thickest of the fight at Murfreesboro, and was
severely wounded in the shoulder, but fought gallantly and waded the
Stone River into Murfreesboro on that memorable Sunday when the Union
forces were driven back. Her sex was again disclosed upon the dressing
of her wound, and General Rosecrans was informed, who caused her to be
mustered out of the service, notwithstanding her earnest entreaty to
be allowed to serve the cause she loved so well. The General was
favorably impressed with her daring bravery, and himself superintended
the arrangements for her transmission home. She left the army of the
Cumberland, resolved to enlist again in the first regiment she met.
The _Louisville Journal_ gave the following account of her under the
head of
"MUSTERED OUT.--'Frank Miller,' the young lady soldier, now at
Barracks No. 1, will be mustered out of the service in accordance with
the army regulations which prohibit the enlistment of females in the
army, and sent to her parents in Pennsylvania. This will be sad news
to Frances, who has cherished the fond hope that she would be
permitted to serve the Union cause during the war. She has been of
great service as a scout to the army of the Cumberland, and her place
will not be easily filled. She is a true patriot and a gallant
soldier."
"Frank," found the 8th Michigan at Bowling Green, in which she again
enlisted, remaining connected with this company. She said she had
discovered a great many women in the army, one of them holding a
lieutenant's commission, and had at different times assisted in
burying three women soldiers, whose sex was unknown to any but
herself.
The _St. Louis Times_, sometime after the war, referring to a girl
called as a witness before the Police Court of that city, says:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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