Nurse and Spy in the Union Army

The most remarkable woman you never learned about in history class. Sarah Emma Edmonds masqueraded as a man to fight for the Union, serving over two years in the Civil War as soldier, nurse, and spy. She went behind Confederate lines eleven times in disguises ranging from a Southern belle to an elderly Black man, a decision that meant instant execution if discovered. This 1865 memoir captures battles from Bull Run to Antietam through the eyes of someone who lived in constant danger, passing as male while tending the wounded and stealing secrets. Edmonds witnessed the war's bloodiest moments from positions no woman was ever meant to occupy, her blade hidden beneath petticoats and her courage buried beneath a soldier's uniform. It's a document of staggering courage and deception, one woman's secret war fought in plain sight.