Karen abbott civil war battles

War, like politics, was men’s work, and women were supposed to be among its victims, not its perpetrators. Women’s loyalty was assumed, regarded as a prime attribute of femininity itself.

In Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, Karen Abbott (American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare, the Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Leeand Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul) introduces readers to women who were anything but victims during wartime.

Canadian native Emma Edmonds left her abusive home for Michigan and had been living as Frank Thompson before the war even began.

After enlisting with the Union army, she worked as a field medic, courier, and spy – after all, Frank Thompson’s slight build made him the perfect candidate to slip in and out of Confederate camps while disguised as a woman.

Belle Boyd shot a Union soldier in the front hall of her home and then ran with