Sarah Rosetta Wakeman

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (January 16, 1843–June 19, 1863) was an American woman who posed as a man and fought in the American Civil War. Born in New York, she was the eldest child of Harvey and Emily Wakeman. By the time Sarah was 18, she had discovered that she could earn more money if she disguised herself as a male. Before the war she worked, dressed as a male, as a coal handler on a canal boat. In 1862, she enlisted under the alias of Private Lyons Wakeman and served in the 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Her complete letters describing her experiences as a female soldier in the Union Army are reproduced in the book, An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864.^[1] She died of dysentery and was buried at Chalmette National Cemetery in Chalmette, Louisiana.

References

1. ^ Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta, and Lauren M. Cook. 1994. An uncommon soldier the Civil War letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Private Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers. Pasadena, Md: The Minerva Center.

External links

• "Sarah Rosetta Wakeman". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11079398. Retrieved 2009-05-11. 

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