Sarah Wakeman Fought As Lyons

A woman named Sarah Rosetta Wakeman disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Union Army as Lyons Wakeman during the American Civil War. She joined the 153rd New York Volunteer Infantry in 1862, fought at Pleasant Hill during the Red River Campaign, and later contracted chronic diarrhea. Wakeman died at a military hospital in New Orleans on June 19, 1864, without anyone discovering her identity, and the Army buried her with full military honors under her alias. Her story remained hidden until 1976, when relatives found her wartime letters in an attic.

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