Memoirs of a Soldier, Nurse, and Spy: A Woman's Adventures in the Union Army

Not a historically perfect account of the author's experiences during the Civil War, but it is a very interesting look at her service from her own perspective. Besides that, it is a very interesting window into what life at that time was generally like for the people involved in the war. The author wasn't the most polished writer, but her prose is reasonably clear and easier to read than a lot of other writing from that era.

This is a first-person account of a woman who enlisted in the Army of the Potomac in 1861, presenting herself as a man, to serve as a field nurse. She says little about why she did so. She became ill and left the field in 1863, and this was published a year or two later.

The book is typical of its time in being heavily padded with lengthy quotations from other published sources, contemporary sentimental poetry, and religious digressions both passionate and naive.

It reads as if the chapters were made for periodical serialization: each of the thirty chapters is approximately the same length. Also typical is that it appears to be factually unreliable; but in many cases it's ambiguous whether she's actually claiming to have been somewhere show more (such as Antietam), or innocently reporting other people's stories.

In spite of these flaws, it's more than reasonably well-written and has significant antiquarian interest. For those interested in finding out more about the author herself, there's a modern biography available (The Mysterious Private Thompson, by Laura Leedy Gansler). show less

As an infantry soldier and "male nurse", Sarah Edmonds chronicles the horrors of Civil War hospitals and the simple pastimes of camp life. Throughout her memoirs, this storyteller reveals her courage, dedication to the Union, and resourcefulness in sustaining her complicated masquerade.

Read only part--in online edition