Sarah Emma Edmonds

The male nurse (1841 to 1898) Being male was not a dream for Sarah Emma Edmondson, but a life she had to live since childhood to escape mistreatment from her father and to be able to serve her adopted country, the United States of America. Emma left New Brunswick, her homeland, to flee her abusive father who wanted a son, not a daughter. She was in New England, when she answered the call for Union enlisters. After four tries, Emma succeeded to enter the Union Army as Private Franklin Flint Thompson, a male nurse in the Civil War. Franklin Thompson began serving at the hospital unit of the 2nd Michigan Volunteers on April 25, 1861. Emma had no problem maintaining masculine masquerade since shes been doing it almost all her life already. But with the death of James Vesey, a friend back in Canada, on patrol, and the need of intelligence agent for McClellan changed Emmas life forever. She volunteered and impressed the staff with all the things she gained knowledge of by herself about weaponry, tactics, local geography and military personalities. Even without any military experience, Frank (Emma) got the position as spy of the Union Army.