commanding colonel shouted orders to his men a bullet zoomed past his head nearly striking him That bullet shot a hole in Thompson's flask No place was safe By the time the gunfire stopped wounded dying or already dead soldiers covered nearly every inch of the field Thompson described the scene The sight of that field is perfectly appalling legs arms and bodies are crushed and broken as if smitten by thunder bolts the ground is crimson with blood it is terrible to witness 1 For Thompson that day at Bull Run would merge with many other brutal gruesome days on the battlefield But Thompson was no ordinary soldier Franklin Thompson was actually Sarah Emma Edmonds For Edmonds dodging gunfire and witnessing the death of fellow soldiers would become commonplace And she was not alone in her experience as a woman on the battlefield Edmonds was one of a few hundred women who disguised their identities to fight with the Union or the Confederacy in the Civil War She and other American women would serve in a variety of roles including field nurse and spy all of them doing what they could to support their side in a conflict that divided the United States and its citizens NORTH VERSUS SOUTH The Civil War had been going on for three months when Edmonds experienced that unforgettable day at Bull Run The war started before sunrise on
April 12 1861 At 4 30 a m that day a ten inch 25 cm mortar round exploded 100 feet 30 m above Fort Sumter in South Carolina With a loud blast this bomb brought to life a conflict that had been brewing in American politics for many years The Confederate attack did not surprise the Union troops in command at the fort On December 20 1860 South Carolina had seceded from the Union and the Union held fort defended Charleston Harbor a strategic port for the South In January 1861 Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia and Louisiana joined South Carolina in secession These states formed their own nation the Confederate States of America in February More Residents of Charleston South Carolina walch the attack on Fort Sumter
states would join over the next few months Now with the nation divided into North and South an attack seemed imminent After enduring 34 hours of continuous shelling Union major Robert Anderson STATES SECEDE surrendered Fort Sumter to Confederate Following Abraham Lincoln's election to the US brigadier general P G T Beauregard presidency in November 1860 Southern states began to secede from the Union over the next on April 13 In the hours that followed several months Confederate supporters gathered in South Carolina December 20 1860 Mississippi January 9 1861 Charleston South Carolina to celebrate Florida January 10 1861 and cheer as boats in the harbor blared Alabama January 11 1861 Georgia January 19 1861 their horns in support Louisiana January 26 1861 News of the surrender shocked Texas February 1 1861 Virginia April 17 1861 Northerners Still the mood in Northern Arkansas May 6 1861 cities was patriotic and upbeat President North Carolina May 20 1861 Abraham Lincoln immediately called for Tennessee June 8 1861 75 000 volunteer soldiers to join the fight against the Southern rebellion and Northerners responded quickly In Boston Massachusetts journalist Mary Livermore witnessed support for the men who agreed to serve She noted how windows were flung up and women leaned out into the rain waving flags and
Minnesota BRITISH NORTH AMERICA New Hampshire Vermont Maine Michigan Wisconsin Massachusetts New York Oregon Dakota Territory Washington Territory Rhode Island Connecticut Nebraska Territory Nevada Territory Iowa Pennsylvania Utah Ohio Illinois New Jersey Delaware Maryland Territory Colorado Indiana Territory Kansas West Virginia Virginia Missouri Kentucky California North Carolina Tennessee Indian Territory New Mexico Territory Arkansas Pacific Ocean South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Atlantic Texas Mississippi Louisiana Ocean THE BAHAMAS Union states without slavery Union states and regions with slavery Confederate states MEXICO Territories Guif of Medico South Carolina's secession in December 1960 divided the nation and led to ten more states seceding by the middle of 1961 handkerchiefs as volunteer soldiers made their way through the streets to report for duty
