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| Franklin F. Thompson born Sarah Emma Edmonds |
Sarah Edmonds was one of an estimated 200 women who disguised themselves as men and served as soldiers in the Civil War, but that's just one of her remarkable feats. When a childhood friend was captured as a spy and executed by the Confederates, she, then a soldier known as “Franklin Thompson”, volunteered to take his place. She dyed her skin dark with silver nitrate and passed herself off as a young black man, probably the only transsexual, transracial spy in history. The ruse worked – no white person at the time would claim to be black, and no Confederate officers paid attention to “Cuff”, the young Negro waiting attentively beside the table as they discussed battle plans.
At other times, she was an Irish peddler woman, a Negro seamstress, and a white Rebel soldier. There must have been times when she would have to stop and recall whether she was a man or a woman, a Yank or a Reb, a white or a black person today.
Her spy career came to an end when she contracted malaria. Unable to check into a military hospital – Franklin Thompson couldn't pass a physical – she went into a civilian hospital. When she was discharged, she saw posters proclaiming Franklin Thompson a deserter. She then gave up her career as a spy, a soldier and a man, and served as an Army nurse for the remainder of the war.
She published her memoirs while the war was still on. The tales she told seemed lurid, even incredible, but they have held up to scrutiny by historians. She eventually got an honorable discharge and a pension of $12 a month.
Sarah Edmonds was the inspiration for the character of Clarabel Emmer in Above the Fray, a Novel of the Union Balloon Corps by Kris Jackson. Kris Jackson is a writer and artist living in Massachusetts. You may also be interested in Albert D.J. Cashier.