In writing the first two novels of my Civil War series, Yankee Tigress, I explored the little-known fact that women disguised themselves as men to fight in the bloodiest American war in our nation’s history. [For further details, please refer to the article “Female Soldiers of the Civil War” on WWW.DakotaOrlando.com under the ‘Extras’ menu.]
The first novel, Yankee Tigress: Attorney at Law, follows the first female attorney in the country to pass a state bar exam (Maryland) and practice law. In book two, she joins the Army, disguised as a male captain. During my research, I suspected that some women might have been transgendered men living their true gender.
In the second novel, Yankee Tigress: Tiger Burning Bright, Samantha Lee, Esquire, clandestinely known as Captain Samuel Lee, serves as a company commander in a Union regiment. Later, as a Lieutenant Colonel, she is reassigned to Washington to become a general’s assistant on President Lincoln’s staff.
Until 1863, the Union army attempted to stop women from serving by sending female soldiers home. Many women, however, re-enlisted despite these measures.
In 1863, a decision was made to select an individual with three prior offences for a publicly displayed trial extensively covered by newspapers. The intent was to proceed with criminal fraud charges against the woman to scare other women into staying away from the army. Rather than opting for a military court, they chose to conduct an open civilian trial.
The army formed a prosecutorial team but needed to establish a fair and balanced defense. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Lee, a licensed Maryland attorney, was selected for the job because the trial was scheduled to take place in nearby Baltimore, a city divided lying outside Washington’s purview.
The majority of my research was focused on the defense’s testimonial witnesses. It is important to note that Samuel Lee, referred to as Sam, conduct the defense. Under the guise of Samuel, he falsely claims that his cousin, Samantha, also a lawyer, and now Mrs. Samantha Hannagan, will act as a research assistant behind the scenes. Subsequently, Mrs. Hannagan announces that her cousin, Samuel, has been summoned back to Washington on military business. Samantha receives permission to continue in his stead.
Samantha’s motive is to demonstrate in the widely publicized trial that a woman is capable of practicing law equal to any man. She seeks to gain public acceptance to continue her legal practice after the war.
{NOTE: You will find that the spoken English of the 1860s differs slightly from that of today. Great pains were taken to capture its flavor. Both novels are written in first person from Samantha Lee’s point of view.}
Samuel Lee, Esq. Attorney at Law
First up for the defense is Mr. Green, the librarian for the Mercantile Library Association of Baltimore, with a history of women serving in the military going back to the Revolutionary War. None of this concerns any information about the transgendered. It wasn’t until January of 1863, six months earlier, that a professional paper was published in Europe that suggested homosexuality and transgendered may be a matter of nature and not deviant choice. That will be covered shortly.
Mr. Green first tells of a book in his library titled, The Female Volunteer; or the Life; and Wonderful Adventures of Eliza Allen, a Young Lady of Eastport, Maine. This the account of a woman who follows her fiancé into the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) to be near him.
Another book titled, The Female Marine or the Adventures of Miss Lucy Brewer, tells of a woman joining the crew of the U.S.S. Constitution to fight in the War of 1812.
Did any woman fight in the Revolutionary War? Yes! Mr. Green tells of a book in his library titled, The Female Review; or, Memoirs of an American Young Lady. Deborah Sampson not only fought in the war, but she was recognized as a woman and honorably discharged at West Point.
All the books mentioned are part of our real history. The female warriors were not fictitious.
Now for a scene:
Scene premise: Lieutenant Commander Samuel Lee, Esquire has been recalled to Washington and Samantha Lee Hannagan, Esquire, has taken over the defense as herself.
“Your Honor, the defense calls Professor Joseph Roby.” After the professor took the stand and the bailiff swore him in, I approached, holding my cousin’s notes. “Professor Roby, at which educational institution do you teach?”
“The University of Maryland.”
“And what do you teach?”
“Anatomy and physiology.”
Mr. Price rose. “Your Honor, I object. Of what relevance is this to a case concerning the matter of fraud?”
“I do not know, Mr. District Attorney,” Judge Giles said, “but do you not have a notion to find out?” Mr. Price retook his seat, and the judge continued, “Overruled.”
I stepped closer to the witness and folded my arms. “Are you considered an expert in the new scientific field known as sexology, sir?”
Mr. Price jumped up. “Your Honor, this is ludicrous. My objection this time will go to the fact that there is no such science.”
“On the contrary ….” The professor turned to the judge. “Your Honor, it is a very new field of study … and an exciting one at that.”
Judge Giles leaned his arms on the tabletop. “I am always open to new advances in science. I do believe we ought to hear the professor before deciding. Overruled. Proceed, Professor Roby … I am every inch an ear.”
The professor faced me. “It is the study of the psyche as it applies to maleness and femaleness.”
Judge Giles drummed his fingers on one arm. “But does not physiology define sex? Males and females are made differently, in the physical sense.”
Professor Roby glanced at the judge. “It is more than that. The suspicion is that the brain has a good deal to do with a person’s sex. There are male brains … and there are female brains. We are endeavoring to discover the differences and how they are formed to define sex. Sex is physiology. Gender is psyche.”
The judge furrowed his brow. “Fascinating.” He looked at me. “Continue, please.”
“Professor Roby, do you know what Karl Heinrich Ulrich is about?”
“Of course. He is the German lawyer who first explored defiant feelings against assigned sex by studying his own. He penned a paper under the alias of Numa Numantius.”
I lowered my arms. “And does not that translate from the Latin to ‘gender non-conformity?’”
“Yes, it does, which is what he thought of himself.”
“I have an objection, Your Honor.” Mr. Price sprang to his feet.
“I will rule on your objection by and by after we have heard everything the professor has to say on this new science.” He extended a hand towards the witness. “Proceed, please.”
“Yes, Your Honor.” Professor Roby watched Mr. Price reseat himself, then turned his head to face me. “Ulrich believed that men attracted to other men, whom he called ‘urns,’ might be physically male at birth, but they identified most with female inclinations … it comes in varying degrees, of course.”
“So, some of these men who feel their brains are not altogether male …,” I stepped back and spread my arms out to either side, “they want to be drawn towards female tendencies more so than other men. Is that correct?”
“It is not so much as want. These men feel that some parts of themselves are female, although the external genitals show no indication of it.”
A buzz started in the middle of the gallery and worked its way to both sides until it engulfed its entirety.
Judge Giles gaveled them into submission. “Please, be considerate and give the professor leave to finish his testimony.” He stretched a hand towards me. “Continue, Mrs. Hannigan.”
I skirted past the witness as I spoke. “So, you are saying something is happening inside their brains, making them ‘feel’ they are at least partly female?”
“That is one way of putting it,” the professor said. “It seems to come in two forms—”
I drew my hands to my bosom. “Excuse me, Professor, but does this feeling of wanting to be the opposite gender work the same for people born externally female?”
“Of course. As in men, some women, though physiologically born female, have it in their minds, to varying degrees, that they feel male. They, doubtless, ought to have been born as such.”
“What were you about to say on the matter of this gender confusion coming in two forms?”
“Some men and women feel comfortable being their sex but are still drawn to interact intimately with the same gender. This condition we call ‘Gender Non-conformity.’ The other form is the people who think as one gender but whose bodies display the opposite gender. We call them ‘Gender Inverted.’”
Mr. Price rose. “Please, Your Honor, will you rule now on my objection?”
“I will not. Sit down and give the man leave to finish.”
“I have one more question, Your Honor,” I said, “then I will move on.”
“Good!” Mr. Price snapped. “Enough time wasted on nonsense.”
“Mr. District Attorney … you know better than that.” Judge Giles tapped the gavel down lightly. “Now, sit down, please.”
He reseated himself.
The judge looked at me. “Ask your question.”
I bustled to the witness stand rail. “Professor Roby, in essence, are you not telling us that ‘gender inverted’ females, though they are born female and are physiologically normal functioning females, are inhabited by a male soul?”
The courtroom erupted, forcing the judge to stand and continuously bang his gavel. “Order! Order! There will be order in my court.” He pointed at a man in an unwonted uniform. “Sergeant of Arms, count to ten, and those still bustling about,” he whipped an arm towards the gallery entrance, “escort them out of my courtroom.” The man moved to the middle of the court, and all the bustling ceased. Those standing swiftly plopped onto their seats.
“It gladdens me to see everyone’s demeanor on the mend.” Judge Giles sat down again. “One more display of barbaric interruption shall motivate me to clear the courtroom.” He looked at Mr. Price. “Mr. District Attorney, your objection is overruled. Professor Roby’s indubitable testimony so far is admissible.” He locked eyes with me. “Proceed, Mrs. Hannigan.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.” I strolled towards the jury. “Professor Roby, are you familiar with the term ‘hermaphrodite’?”
As some gallery members leaned towards one another, Judge Giles raised his gavel. Watching him, everyone straightened up.
“Yes, Mrs. Hannigan, I am quite familiar with the term.”
“And, to science, what is its meaning?”
“It is any organism, whether it be plant or animal, displaying both male and female characteristics.”
I pivoted towards him. “Are there people who display both sex organs?”
“Yes, there are, and they are called hermaphrodites.”
“So … what sex are they assigned by society’s standards?”
He laughed lightly, then leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees. “They are not assigned. Society knows they exist, but it pretends they do not. It is left to the individual hermaphrodite to decide.”
“Since they have both male and female genitalia, then how can they decide?”
“It has to come down to how they feel.”
“What they think their soul is?”
“Yes. This is why some don female attire, while others wear male clothing.”
I pulled a sheet of paper from my notes and sauntered towards Mr. Price. Handing it to him, I crossed back towards the judge and gave him a newspaper article. “Your Honor, I would like to enter this into evidence. It is another article printed by The Sun … or reprinted, actually, from one that appeared in The Rochester Democrat in Rochester, New York. It is dated the fourth of January, 1862.”
“I have an objection, Your Honor.”
“State the nature of your objection, Mr. District Attorney.”
“Do we not have enough of these articles about women masquerading as men so they can fight in a war?”
Judge Giles stared at me. “Do we?”
I raised my hand. “Your Honor, if the court will allow, this article goes beyond a woman merely disguising herself as a man to fight in a war. It goes to the underlying motivation in some women that they may not even be aware of … the very women that Professor Roby has introduced here today.”
The judge addressed the District Attorney. “We will hear it. Overruled.” He turned towards the bailiff. “We will enter this into the record as … which exhibit?”
The bailiff took the article. “It shall be exhibit H, Your Honor.”
After handing it over, the judge smiled. “Proceed, please.”
I swear he is endeavoring not to be amused. I may have won him over. “Professor, give me leave to read this article into the record, and then I will beg your privilege to comment on it.” I maneuvered to the center of the courtroom and pivoted towards the professor.
HERE IS THE ACTUAL ARTICLE DATED 1/4/1862:
BACK TO PROFESSOR ROBY’S CROSS-EXAMINATION
I eased the article down. “Professor Roby, based on your professional knowledge of the science of sexology, what do you make of this female soldier?”
“Offhand, I would say she definitely displays tendencies of ‘gender inversion.’ She very much is ill at ease with her born sex. She would make a splendid candidate for study.”
“Perhaps you can contact The Rochester Democrat and discover her whereabouts, but your interpretation would be that she is a likely candidate for gender inversion. That is the strong feeling that, although housed in a female body, she feels resolute that she is male, correct?”
“I would agree with that.”
I stepped closer to him. “Is it fair to say that war is a splendid choice for female gender-inverteds because they have the opportunity to live the sex they feel they were born to … that is, male?”
“If she is ‘gender-inverted,’ it, doubtless, would be life-confirming to fight in a war.”
“Can she avail herself in her feelings?”
“A ‘gender-inverted’ person cannot help feeling in a bad way. They need to be first understood, then studied so the general population can comprehend the wretched dilemma they live daily.”
A man in the back of the gallery jumped up. “You lie!” He scooted out to the aisle and pivoted back to the judge. “It is deviant sexuality and a travesty against God! You will all end up in hell!” He bolted from the courtroom. Six women followed him out, but they did not look as if they held the same opinion. It, indeed, seemed more like they were chasing after him to give them pieces of their minds.
THE STRANGE CASE OF ALBERT CASHIER, AKA JENNIE HODGERS, A TRUE TRANSGENDERED HERO
Born female in 1843, he left Ireland for America and joined the Union Army in the summer of 1862. Over the next three years, his Illinois 95th regiment fought in many important battles. He survived the rest of war, and in 1865 earned a pension, never having his birth-assigned gender discovered. He continued the rest of his life disguised as a man, having his secret discovered in a retirement home for military veterans after breaking his leg. He lost his mental faculties as well as his health before 1915, the year of his death, and died never knowing that his secret had been discovered.
There is a musical production of his life popping up in some parts of the country titled, “The Civility of Albert Cashier.”
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