On the cover of my latest book, Civil War Baptism of Fire: First Battle of Bull Run, which notes that many major Civil War figures first stepped on the Civil War stage at that battle, I placed a relatively-minor figure, Kady Brownell, in the center. This is because she was unique.
That is, while an estimated 400 women disguised as men fought in the Civil War, at the First Battle of Bull Run, everyone in her regiment, the 1st Rhode Island, knew Kady was a woman. Further, she actually engaged in the fighting. As one author put it, “wearing a red sash with big tassels and letting her long hair flow freely over her shoulders and back, the color-bearer of the 1st Rhode Island advanced boldly with her men.”(Webb Garrison, Amazing Women of the Civil War).
Later, Kady would be the only woman officially discharged from the army, and she would be granted a military pension.
You can read more about Kady and the other 49 personalities in the book, available at:
GENE SCHMIEL, CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND LECTURER 