On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War rang out at the Battle of Fort Sumter. A country was divided. Many citizens didn’t want to participate and protested in “Draft Riots”. Others, however, jumped at the opportunity to enlist. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman was one of these soldiers.

Sarah Wakeman was a young farmer’s daughter from Bainbridge, New York. She had brown hair, blue eyes and was only five-feet tall. After reaching adulthood and assisting her father on the family farm, Sarah eventually decided to leave home. Assuming the personality of “Lyons”, Sarah mascaraed as a male boatman until she crossed paths with recruiters for the New York State Volunteers.

Ultimately Sarah came to the conclusion that enlisting for three years would be beneficial to her family back home. Sarah had eight brothers and sisters (Emily, Lois, Robert, Susan, Sophronia, Mary, Harvey and Catherine) and two parents (Harvey and Emily) to help provide for since her father had run up a debt on the farm. Writing many letters to her family throughout her journey as a member of the 153rd New York State Volunteers, Sarah also enclosed a portion of her salary.

Life as a soldier changed Sarah. As her letters progressed, the young woman began to express more contempt toward her origins. Writing on June 5th, 1863 “I can tell you what made me leave home. It was because I had got tired of stay[ing] in that neighborhood. I knew that I could help you more to leave home that to stay there with you. So I left. I am not sorry that I left you” and later on October 31st, 1863, “Don’t you ever ask me to lend you some money again in this world. If you do I won’t send it to you”, it is obvious that Sarah was becoming more independent.

Sadly, even though Sarah made many plans for after the war (she explains in one of her letters home that she dreams of owning a Wisconsin farm), she was not able to see them through. After partaking in the Battle of Pleasant Hill and Affair at Monett’s Bluff in Louisiana, Wakeman fought another personal battle with “chronic diarrhea” (the most common killer during the Civil War) and unfortunately lost on June 19th, 1864 at Marine U.S.A. General Hospital in New Orleans, LA. It was only after her death that her true identity was uncovered. She is buried at Chalmette National Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana under a headstone reading “Lyons Wakeman” [1].

[1] Lauren Cook Burgess and James M. McPherson, An Uncommon Soldier (Pasadena, Maryland: The Minerva Center, 1994), 1, 8-10, 18, 31, 53, 71, 78, 81-82, 101-102.