Mary Burns (US Civil War soldier)
Encyclopedia
Mary Burns was an American woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the American Civil War
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She enlisted in the 7th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
in order not to be parted from her lover, who was in the same regiment.
Her sex was discovered within a few days, before her company had left Detroit.
She was arrested in uniform, held in the city jail, and charged with masquerading as a man. The account of the incident in the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune (February 25, 1863) described the defendant as "a very pretty woman".
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
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She enlisted in the 7th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
7th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
The 7th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Cavalry was an cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a part of the famed Michigan Brigade, commanded for a time by Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer.-Service:...
in order not to be parted from her lover, who was in the same regiment.
Her sex was discovered within a few days, before her company had left Detroit.
She was arrested in uniform, held in the city jail, and charged with masquerading as a man. The account of the incident in the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune (February 25, 1863) described the defendant as "a very pretty woman".