History's attics hide remarkable stories, and few are as compelling as Sarah Rosetta Wakeman's. At just 19, this strong-minded woman from rural New York made a decision that defied every convention of her time—she cut her hair, put on men's clothing, and became Lyons Wakeman.

The eldest of nine children born to struggling tenant farmers in 1843, Rosetta faced limited options. Marriage wasn't in the cards, and her family's crushing debt demanded all hands working. When she discovered that coal hauling on the Chenango Canal paid better than any "women's work," she embraced a male identity that offered both financial stability and personal freedom.

But when Union Army recruiters appeared offering a $152 enlistment bounty (worth over $3,000 today), Rosetta saw an opportunity she couldn't pass up. As Private Lyons Wakeman of the 153rd New York Infantry, she performed every soldier's duty—standing guard, drilling with precision, even engaging in fistfights—all while maintaining her secret identity. Her letters home reveal a practical motivation far removed from patriotic fervor: "I am as independent as a hog on ice," she wrote, proud of her $13 monthly salary that helped sustain her family back home.

For almost two years, Rosetta served without detection, first in Washington DC and later in Louisiana during the brutal Red River Campaign. She survived the Battle of Pleasant Hill only to fall victim to dysentery, dying at 21 in a New Orleans hospital where not even the attending doctors discovered her biological sex. Buried under her male identity, her remarkable story remained hidden until her letters were discovered a century later.

Dive into this incredible story of a woman who challenged 19th-century gender expectations not through protest, but through quiet, determined action. Her surviving letters paint a vivid picture of Civil War life and reveal a pragmatic spirit who saw male disguise not as political statement but as a practical path to independence. Subscribe to hear more hidden stories from history that will change how you see the past—and perhaps the present too.

• • An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864 by Sarah Rosetta Wakeman https://amzn.to/463jhcu
  • Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta – Civil War letters and biography. An overview by the American Battlefield Trustbattlefields.orgbattlefields.orgbattlefields.org.
  • Bierle, Sarah Kay – “From History’s Shadows: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman.” Emerging Civil War (Mar. 30, 2024) – Analysis of Wakeman’s letters and life

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