Will I be discovered, will my life end tonight, or will I save thousands of Union soldiers lives with the valuable confederate plans that I have hidden in the sole of my shoe? That is a moment of my life in the civil war as Pvt. Franklin Thompson. But my real name is Sarah Emma Edmonds. I was born in December in 1841 and I lived in Canada. My mother died when I was very young so there was no one to protect my siblings and me from our dad so he abused us and made us work in the fields(Sullivan 49; Knight 31)
I ran away from my dad and an arranged marriage at the age of 16; I dressed as a boy and named myself Franklin Thompson. Then I got a job as a Bible Salesman. Once I earned enough money I moved to the US(Sullivan 50; Knight 31-32). When the war started in 1861 I was 20 years old and I felt a need to help fight in the war. So I enlisted and became a field nurse. In the 2nd Michigan Volunteer group(Reit 7), I was a nurse in the 1st battle of Bull Run. Later my group was moved into General George McClellan's army who was going to try and take
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After a long stay I got better and was disposed to go back into the army but I found my name on the list of desert soldiers. I could no longer go back or my secret would have been revealed(Reit 101-107). So for the rest of the war I helped nurse under my rightful name. I rejoiced for all the Union victories and cried for all the lost lives. After the war I wrote a book called Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. A few years later I moved back to Canada and fell in love with a childhood friend, Linus Seelge, got married, and had three kids(Knight 44). Later I asked the government for my military rights to be restored, including back pay and an honorable discharge. After it was debated I got all that I asked for(Sullivan 59-61). I died on September 5, 1898 and was buried in the military section of Washington Cemetery(Reit