This is one of the great legends of the Civil War.

A newspaper article on January 9th, 1864 from the Louisville Democrat (state of Kentucky) told the story of a 16 year old girl who had been discharged from the 11th Kentucky Calvary to which she belonged for several months. Her total service in Union forces, according to her own words was eighteen months, during which time her sex was discovered seven times, and each time she was mustered out of service, she re-enlisted under an assumed name. Wounded twice in battle, once at Fredericksburg, and once at the Green River Bridge fight on the 4th of July. She told the commanding officer her home town was London, Canada West, and that here parents still lived there. The commanding officer had her locked up at this time, awaiting orders, but no further information is made of her, she disappears into history. She may have lied about her hometown, but very few people at this time ever heard of London, Canada West, so its hard to imagine why she would lie about it. For example, if lying, why not say you were from Toronto, Montreal, or even New York?

Civil War Veterans Buried in London, Ontario, Canada