Driven by a spark for adventure, Sarah Emma Edmonds, of New Brunswick, enlisted in the American Army disguised as a man, and also served as a spy for the Union during the American Civil War. This is the story of a trailblazer and a woman who defied her times.
Sarah was born in December 1841 near Magaguadavic Lake, New Brunswick. At the age of 15, she fled from her home with the aid of her mother to escape her abusive father and to avoid an arranged marriage.
She first adopted the guise of Franklin Thompson, to make travel easier and avoid detection by her father. Edmonds eventually crossed into the United States and worked as a book seller for a brief stint before she enlisted in Company F of the 2nd Michigan Infantry on May 25, 1861. She served as a field nurse under General McClellan and participated in campaigns such as the First and Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and others.
According to her memoir, when an American spy in Richmond, Virginia was discovered and put before a firing squad, it provided an opening and opportunity to Edmonds to avenge the death of her friend, James Visey by becoming a spy, herself.
She took on several aliases as a spy for the Union. To infiltrate the Confederacy, Edmonds dyed her skin with silver nitrate, taking on an identity of Black man named Cuff. She also disguised herself as an Irish peddler named Bridget O’Shea, claiming to be selling soap and apples to the soldiers. While posing as a Black laundress, she was able to recover a packet of official papers that fell out of an officer’s jacket. Additionally, while operating in counterintelligence as ‘Charles Mayberry’, Edmonds discovered a Confederate spy in Kentucky.
In 1863, she contracted malaria. To avoid being found out as a woman, she abandoned her post in the army and checked into a private hospital. She intended to return to the military after recovery, but soon discovered that her alias, Franklin Thompson, was wanted for desertion. She decided to serve as a female nurse, instead, under her real name at a Washington, D.C. hospital.
She was spoken of in high regard by the men she served with even after her identity was revealed. She eventually married Linus H. Seelye in 1867, with whom she had three children. In 1897, she became the second woman to be inducted into the Civil War Union Army Veteran’s organization. Due to complications from malaria that she contracted in 1863, Sarah Edmonds died in La Port, Texas on September 5, 1898, at the age of 56.
Sarah Thompson was a trailblazer for women’s progress. She defied the gender norms of her times and carved out a legacy that continues to inspire people today. On this International Women’s Day, 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown and the Canadian Armed Forces honours her bravery in military service, and courage in challenging cultural norms.
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PHOTO CREDIT: NEW BRUNSWICK MILITARY HISTORY MUSEM DND©2024