Sophronia Smith Hunt (; October 1846—August 1, 1928) was an American woman who disguised herself as a man and secretly served as a soldier in the
Union Army during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.
Her first soldier husband died after he was wounded at the
Battle of Jenkins' Ferry
The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, also known as the Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, was fought on April 30, 1864, in Hot Spring and Saline counties (present-day Grant County), Arkansas, during the American Civil War
The American Civil War ...
. They served in the
29th Iowa Infantry Regiment.
Early life and education
Sophronia Allen, daughter of Cyrus and Eunice (née Lewis) Allen, was born in October 1846, probably in Illinois.
She had a rudimentary education.
She married James Andrew Jackson Smith on September 4, 1863.
Civil War service
DeAnne Blanton writes that the existence of women soldiers such as Hunt "was no secret during or after the Civil War"; however, newspaper articles about them provided "few specific details about the individual woman's army career".
[ ] According to the ''
Sioux City Journal
The ''Sioux City Journal'' is the daily newspaper and website of Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1864, the publication now covers northwestern Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota.
The Journal has won numerous state, regional and nation ...
'', "Hunt was one of an estimated 400 women who dressed as a man and served on the front lines for the Union Army during the Civil War."
She enlisted in Company C, 29th Iowa Infantry Regiment, alongside her husband, in January 1864.
After being found out about a month later, she was allowed to remain with the regiment as a battlefield nurse.
The 29th Iowa Infantry regiment fought at the
Battle of Jenkins Ferry at the end of April 1864,
where her husband lost a leg in battle
and subsequently died as a POW.
She left the army,
never having been wounded in battle.
Later life, death, and memorial
After mustering out, she married John Hunt,
another Iowa veteran of the war.
The couple had eight children, only one of whom survived her.
She died August 1, 1928, at
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...
, at age 81 years, 10 months.
Installed 88 years after her death, her
headstone
A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...
carries the words: "Civil War Veteran."
Tim Gallagher writes in the ''Sioux City Journal'':
See also
*
Bibliography of works on wartime cross-dressing
*
List of female American Civil War soldiers
Numerous women enlisted and fought as men in the American Civil War.
Historian Elizabeth D. Leonard writes that, according to various estimates, between five hundred and one thousand women enlisted as soldiers on both sides of the war, disguis ...
*
Timeline of women in war in the United States, Pre-1945
Notes
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Sophronia
1846 births
1928 deaths
Female wartime cross-dressers in the American Civil War
Women in the United States Army
American Civil War nurses
People of Iowa in the American Civil War