Customer Reviews

An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lauren Cook Burgess has given us an important look into the heart of one (of what is turning out to be many)woman's story who fought dressed as a man in the American Civil War. Crossing the gender line was not just a daytime exercise for these women and Wakeman's revelations about what it was like for her to live as a man amongst men who were serving their country.

Driven more by economics than patriotism, Wakeman's letters reveal a woman who desired to be economically self-sufficient and who embraced one of the few options available to women in the 1860s by cross-dressing. It is a fascinating read for what it tells us about gender, war, comraderie, and the economic stresses that women from poor backgrounds faced in the 19th century.

It is a miracle to have this information, scant as it may be, so that we can celebrate women's achievements in this bloody war that claimed so many young lives and literally changed the course of U.S. History.

If you want to know what it would of been like to have been poor and chose to go into the Army, this is the book. The amazing part is that this book reminds us how gender has nothing to do with duty and honor. I have read a lot of Civil War books and this one I will always remember. I can still picture her guarding the unfinished capitol building. You cheer her all the way through the book. The honor she is paid is all that she would have asked. We owe so much to those like her, men and women. The author should be commended for sharing Sarah Wakeman'experience with us.

"An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153d Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864" is edited by Lauren Cook Burgess and contains a foreword by James M. McPherson. The book collects the letters of a young woman who disguised herself as a man in order to enlist in the Union army during the United States Civil War.

In her letters Sarah discusses the draft, army training, pay, troops' living conditions, and her relationship with her family. Along the way she reveals interesting facts about army life. But her letters do more than just convey facts. We also learn of her religious faith, her pride as a soldier, and her hopes for the future. Her letters reveal a courageous, determined, and feisty personality.

The book is full of illuminating features. There are many period photos that help bring Sarah and her world to life. There are even photos of her handwritten letters and of army records that document her military career. Also included in the book are maps of relevant military sites, a history of her army unit, her family genealogy, a comprehensive bibliography, and an index.

The book's introduction, which notes that hundreds of women masqueraded as men in order to fight in the Civil War, helps put these letters in perspective. Also fascinating is McPherson's foreword, which relates the ironic story of editor Burgess' experience as a "Civil War reenactor." I was deeply moved by this book. It's a poignant and inspiring human document. In the end I came away with a great feeling of admiration for this remarkable soldier. As a veteran of another century's war, I salute Private Wakeman and thank Burgess for her outstanding work. Recommended companion text: the novel "Girl in Blue," by Ann Rinaldi.

Lauren Cook Burgess has given women and civil war enthusiasts a thorough and dignified work to read. I was especially grateful for the attention to detail and refrain from "second guessing" Sarah. As a woman and historian I am proud of the professional presentation and background information provided to the reader. This is one more work to smash the "myths" that women do not belong in combat or in war. As a writer, I am thankful to Ms. Burgess for her treatment of these letters, as they are a piece of history that can not be replaced. Thank you for bringing Sarah's life and story to the public, daughters and sisters need hero's too.

I did not know women served in the military in the civil war and found this book quite interesting. It was short and easy to read. It carried a powerful message.

Very thin book, so a very quick read, but a fascinating one. Almost worth picking up for the introduction alone, which provides lots of fascinating background on the 400 or so (known) women who dressed up as men and fought in the Civil War. I especially appreciated the social commentary on how exactly they could hope to get away with it -- cursory physical exams, badly fitting uniforms, dependence on clothing to indicate gender ("if it wears pants, it's male"), presence of lots of young boys in the Army whose voices haven't changed yet and weren't shaving, and of course, the extreme modesty of the society at the time, which didn't make it at all unusual for a young soldier to choose to bathe alone and shy away from using the public latrines. The funniest moment for me was the description of the soldier who wrote home to say that his sergeant, who had been sharing a tent with his Captain had had a child. (paraphrasing a bit...) "What need have we of women, when we soldiers can have children of our own?" How much that was tongue in cheek and how much sheer willful obtuseness isn't clear from the introduction. My 2008 self declares that he must have been joking, but the editor of these letters believes that he may actually have just been expressing the extreme denial so many Army men had ("no woman could possibly handle this") that protected these women from discovery. I very much enjoyed this book.

The book is great and Lauren Cook Burgess does a superb job of compiling and explaining this book. However, she does appear to be entirely unfamiliar with gender identity issues and makes no distinctions between Wakeman and his truly female counterparts. I would never see Wakeman as a woman and it certainly sounds like he didn't view himself as one either. Although many women did disguise themselves as men to join the war out of a sense of patriotism or to follow a husband or boyfriend or as a spy, Wakeman was already living as a male before joining the war. He referred to the "other boys" receiving packages which indicates that he saw himself as one as well. (Albert Cashier is another Civil War soldier whom I believe identified as male. He went on to live as male for the rest of his life.) Wakeman wrote of owning a farm one day far from home which indicates that his neighbors were not very accepting of his gender differences. This sounds to me like it was a lifelong issue, which is true of being transgendered. Wakeman writes in the voice of a male. If you didn't know about his gender differences, you would assume he was male - which I believe that he was, in spite of his having been born in a female body.

I work in the New York State Archives and would like to use the photograph of Sara Rosetta Wakeman and need to get in touch with Mr. Jackson Doane, owner of said photo. Does anyone have his address and phone number where I could reach hi

The book started very well. It flowed very smoothly, but the gripe that I have is the style that Rosetta used in writting. I know this is not the editors fault by any means, but the author stumbled into a rut of constantly complaining, saying how she would never make it back home and the fact that she didn't want to come home, due to it not beeing right to live there. I understand that life was expected to be short lived when joining either side. I just didn't expect the letters to be filled with mortal mindedness. Just seemed like she complained more then she had something good to say. This is all my opinion and you can take it however you like.