| Mary Burns | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mary Burns |
| Other name(s) | John Burns |
| Unit | 7th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment |
Mary Burns or John Burns was an American woman who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the American Civil War. 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 ten days after being recognized by an acquaintance, before her company had left Detroit. She was arrested in uniform, held in the city jail, charged with masquerading as a man, and sent home. The account of the incident in the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune (February 25, 1863) described the defendant as "a very pretty woman".
See also
References
- Nofi, Albert A. (22 March 1995). A Civil War Treasury: Being A Miscellany Of Arms And Artillery, Facts And Figures, Legends And Lore, Muses And Minstrels And Personalities And People. Hachette Books. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-306-80622-3. OCLC 31078934.
- DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. LSU Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8071-2806-6, pp. 31 and 124.
- Leonard, Elizabeth D. (1999). All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 208. ISBN 0393047121.
- Mary Elizabeth Massey, Women in the Civil War. University of Nebraska Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8032-8213-3. p. 80, citing the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, February 25, 1863. Available on Google books. Accessed 8 January 2008.
- Cited in Michigan Women in the Civil War. Michigan, 1963. p. 33.
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