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Female re-enactors raise awareness of Civil War women who fought disguised as men

Hoop skirts and washboards don't appeal much to Joyce Henry, so she found another way to relive the Civil War - as a man.

With her breasts tightly bound, shoulder-length red hair tucked under a shaggy auburn wig and upper lip hidden by a drooping mustache, Henry impersonates Confederate Lt. Harry T. Buford.

Buford, too, was a woman. His fictional character was invented by Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a Cuban-born woman from New Orleans who fought as a man in a series of Civil War battles including the First Battle of Bull Run, according to her autobiography.

Today, a small number of women follow suit by donning blue and gray uniforms as Civil War re-enactors.

A century and a half ago, women weren't allowed into military service; masquerading as men was the only way in for those who weren't satisfied with supporting the war effort from home or following their husbands' military units. Lauren Wike and DeAnne Blanton documented 240 female Civil War soldiers in their 2002 volume, "They Fought Like Demons." The book is treasured by many of today's female re-enactors.

Some of these women are easily spotted by their lack of attention to detail. Others go to great lengths and expense to avoid detection. Henry, of Williamsburg, Va., spent nearly $3,500 on her Civil War outfit and gear, including an $850, custom-tailored, gray wool frock coat. She even got an FBI expert to teach her to apply facial hair.

"My goal has always been to be as authentic as possible," said Henry, head coachman at Colonial Williamsburg.

But just having the right accouterments isn't enough. To pass muster as a man, the normally exuberant Henry says she "flatlines" herself: "You have to alter your mannerisms, the way you speak, the way you use your hands, the way you walk, the way you use your facial expressions."

Most of the female re-enactors are history buffs who want to know firsthand what Civil War fighters, often their own ancestors, experienced.

Though none of the women interviewed for this story said they dress up as men to press an agenda, Wilke says she objects to the U.S. military ban on women in combat and infantry roles.

"It's ridiculous that there are still barriers to women in today's military," she said. "I think the only reason that women were successful as soldiers during the Civil War is because nobody knew that they were women. They were disguised, so all of the prejudices, all the stereotyping, was not a factor. And that's the only reason women are barred from combat today."

She started researching women who fought in the Civil War after a ranger ejected her from a 1989 living-history event at Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, Md. She sued the National Park Service and won a federal court victory in 1993. Now the agency incorporates into its biennial training for living-history staffers a reminder that excluding women who portray male soldiers isn't just unconstitutional - it's historically inaccurate.

Some women just find a uniform more convenient than wearing period women's clothing. Elizabeth Charlton of Lawrence, Mass., wore bright red trousers and a navy coat and cap as she carried the colors of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia 6th Regiment Company I down Pratt Street in Baltimore last spring. The parade commemorated the four Massachusetts soldiers and 12 civilians who died April 19, 1861, when Southern sympathizers attacked federal troops passing through the city en route to Washington.

Charlton, a married mother of three, said she started re-enacting more than 10 years ago, portraying the wife of a soldier killed in Baltimore. When her local military re-enactor unit had an opening in the color guard, she volunteered and found pants preferable to a hoop skirt.

"It's much easier to get dressed," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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