¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Loreta Janeta Velázquez!
Born June 26, 1842. Died c.1897.
She was a Cuban-born woman who claimed to have fought in the American Civil War while she was disguised as a male Confederate soldier named Harry Buford. According to her memoirs, she enlisted without the knowledge or permission of her soldier-husband. She allegedly fought at Bull's Run and other battles but was then arrested and discharged when her true gender was uncovered while she was in New Orleans and she was suspected of being a female Union spy in disguise. She then re-enlisted and fought at Shiloh before she was revealed once more to be a woman. She then became a spy who posed as both men and women depending on the assignment. Eventually she became a widow and remarried, only to become a widow again. She remarried two more times and became a widow each time. Eventually she became a member of the U.S. Secret Service and a double agent for the Confederacy. The circumstances of her death are unknown though she did give birth to a baby boy.
Everything known about her comes from her book, The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velázquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T Buford, Confederate States Army. She claimed in the book's preface to have written the book in order to earn money to support her child. The accuracy of said book is still disputed by historians so it could be that Ms. Velázquez was little more than a very imaginative woman. Then again maybe she was more than that.
Stranger things have happened in history. Until additional evidence comes in, Ms. Velázquez is perhaps best ranked with such legendary figures as Lady Godiva, figures whose stories seem too interesting to be true and yet not fictional enough to be entirely dismissed. Then again if her life story were totally made up, I doubt she would deliberately choose to mention fighting for the losing side of one of the U.S.'s most hard-fought wars. As it stands, her story is so paradoxical that part of me wishes that it were true. Then again I am no fan of the Confederacy so part of me also hopes that it is untrue. Time will tell.
Born June 26, 1842. Died c.1897.
She was a Cuban-born woman who claimed to have fought in the American Civil War while she was disguised as a male Confederate soldier named Harry Buford. According to her memoirs, she enlisted without the knowledge or permission of her soldier-husband. She allegedly fought at Bull's Run and other battles but was then arrested and discharged when her true gender was uncovered while she was in New Orleans and she was suspected of being a female Union spy in disguise. She then re-enlisted and fought at Shiloh before she was revealed once more to be a woman. She then became a spy who posed as both men and women depending on the assignment. Eventually she became a widow and remarried, only to become a widow again. She remarried two more times and became a widow each time. Eventually she became a member of the U.S. Secret Service and a double agent for the Confederacy. The circumstances of her death are unknown though she did give birth to a baby boy.
Everything known about her comes from her book, The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velázquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T Buford, Confederate States Army. She claimed in the book's preface to have written the book in order to earn money to support her child. The accuracy of said book is still disputed by historians so it could be that Ms. Velázquez was little more than a very imaginative woman. Then again maybe she was more than that.
Stranger things have happened in history. Until additional evidence comes in, Ms. Velázquez is perhaps best ranked with such legendary figures as Lady Godiva, figures whose stories seem too interesting to be true and yet not fictional enough to be entirely dismissed. Then again if her life story were totally made up, I doubt she would deliberately choose to mention fighting for the losing side of one of the U.S.'s most hard-fought wars. As it stands, her story is so paradoxical that part of me wishes that it were true. Then again I am no fan of the Confederacy so part of me also hopes that it is untrue. Time will tell.
Labels: Cubanas y Cubanos, El Sur, Estados Confederados de América, Feliz Cumpleaños, Historia, Iconos, Mujeres Guerreras, Soldados
posted by Tonio Kruger at 1:21 PM
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