List of wartime cross-dressers

Last updated July 13, 2019

Hannah Snell (1723-1792) was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier HannahSnell.jpg — Hannah Snell (1723–1792) was a British woman who disguised herself as a man and became a soldier

Many people have engaged in cross-dressing during wartime under various circumstances and for various motives. This has been especially true of women, whether while serving as a soldier in otherwise all-male armies, while protecting themselves or disguising their identity in dangerous circumstances, or for other purposes.

Cross-dressing is the act of wearing items of clothing and other accoutrements commonly associated with the opposite sex within a particular society. Cross-dressing has been used for purposes of disguise, comfort, and self-expression in modern times and throughout history.

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.

Historical

Antiquity

Epipole of Carystus was a Greek woman described by Chennos as having joined the Greek army during the Trojan War.^[1]^{[ clarification needed ]}
Achilles was a Greek hero in the Trojan War. After hearing from an Oracle that her son would die in battle, his mother, Thetis, hid him in woman's clothing to prevent him from being taken to war.^[2]

In Greek mythology, Epipole was a daughter of Trachion, of Carystus in Euboea. In the disguise of a man she went with the Greeks against Troy. But when Palamedes discovered her sex, she was stoned to death by the Greek army. The only ancient source for this information is Ptolemaeus Chennus, quoted by Photios in his Bibliotheca.

Ptolemaeus Chennus or Chennos ("quail"), of Alexandria, was a Greek grammarian during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian.

Early Middle Ages

Hua Mulan was, according to a famous Chinese poem, a woman who joined the Chinese army in her father's stead.^[1]^{[ clarification needed ]}

Hua Mulan is a legendary Chinese warrior from the Northern and Southern dynasties period (420–589) of Chinese history, originally described in the Ballad of Mulan. In the ballad, Hua Mulan, disguised as a man, takes her aged father's place in the army. Mulan fought for twelve years and gained high merit, but she refused any reward and retired to her hometown.

Fourteenth century

Joanna of Flanders (c. 1295–1374) led the Montfortist faction in Brittany in the 1340s after the capture of her husband left her as the titular head of the family. She wore male dress at engagements such as the siege of Hennebont.

Joanna of Flanders was Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John of Montfort. Much of her life was taken up in defence of the rights of her husband and, later, son to the dukedom, which was challenged by the House of Blois during the War of the Breton Succession. Known for her fiery personality, Joanna led the Montfortist cause after her husband had been captured, and began the fight-back, showing considerable skill as a military leader.

Hennebont is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France.

Fifteenth century

Onorata Rodiani (1403–1452) was an Italian mercenary who served as a cavalry soldier, disguised in male clothing and with a male name, under a condottieri (freelance commander) named Oldrado Lampugnano beginning in 1423.^[3]
Jacqueline of Wittelsbach, Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland (1401–1436) led the Hoek faction (the aristocratic faction) in Holland. Jacqueline and one of her servants disguised themselves as soldiers to escape confinement in Ghent.^[4]
Joan of Arc (1412–1431) is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in what is now eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by her enemies, she was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old. She journeyed through hostile Burgundian territory disguised as a male soldier.

Onorata Rodiani (1403–1452) was a "semi-legendary" Italian painter and condottiere. She was born at Castelleone near Cremona, and also later died there.

Jacqueline, was a Duchess of Bavaria-Straubing, Countess of Holland and Zeeland and Countess of Hainaut from 1417 to 1433. She was also Dauphine of France for a short time between 1415 and 1417 and Duchess of Gloucester in the 1420s, if her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, is accepted as valid.

The Hook and Cod wars comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the bourgeois in the cities against the ruling nobility.

Sixteenth century

Brita Olofsdotter, widow of soldier Nils Simonsson, dressed as a man and enlisted in the Finnish unit in the Swedish cavalry in Livonia. She was killed in battle, and King John III of Sweden ordered her salary to be paid to her family.^[5]

Seventeenth century

Catalina de Erauso (1592–1650), the Nun Lieutenant, was a semilegendary Spanish adventurer.
Aal de Dragoner (died before 1710), served as a Dutch dragoon. After death her body was put on display in an anatomical theatre.
Christian Davies (1667–1739), "Mother Ross", served in the 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys).^[6]

Eighteenth century

Louise Antonini (1771—1861) was a French woman who disguised herself as a male to join the French Navy during the revolutionary period and the Napoleonic wars.^[7]^:168
Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720–1788) dressed as Flora MacDonald's maid servant, Betty Burke, to escape the Battle of Culloden for the island of Skye in 1746.^[8]
Chevalier d'Éon (1728–1810) fought with the French dragoons during the Seven Years' War. In 1777 d'Éon began dressing full time as a woman and lived as such until death. When d’Éon died in London in 1810, the body was examined by physicians and discovered to be genitally anatomically male.
Francina Broese Gunningh (1783—1824) was a Dutch soldier, in service of the French, Prussian and Dutch army.
Phoebe Hessel (1713–1821) enlisted in the British Army's 5th Regiment of Foot. She fought in the Battle of Fontenoy and was wounded in action.
Anna Maria Lane (1755–1810) dressed as a man to join the Continental Army in 1776 and fight in the American Revolutionary War with her husband until 1781, later received a pension for her courage in The Battle of Germantown.
Deborah Sampson (1760–1827) of Massachusetts was the first known American woman who disguised herself as a man (“Robert Shurtliff”) to enlist as an infantry soldier. She served in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.^[5]
Hannah Snell (1723–1792) was an Englishwoman who entered military service under the name "James Gray", initially for the purpose of searching for her missing husband. She served in General Guise's regiment in the army of the Duke of Northumberland, and then in the marines.
Ulrika Eleonora Stålhammar (1688–1733) was a Swedish female soldier during the Great Northern War, later put on trial for having served in the military posing as a man.
Joanna Żubr (1770–1852) was a Polish soldier of the Napoleonic Wars and the first woman to receive the Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military order.

Nineteenth century

Albert Cashier (1843–1915), born Jennie Irene Hodgers, was an Irish-born woman served three years in the Union Army during the American Civil War as a male soldier, and lived the next fifty years as a man.
Maria Quitéria (1792–1853) was a heroine in the independence of Brazil, when she fought against the Portuguese troops in Bahia. Later, she was awarded by the Emperor Dom Pedro I.
Jane Dieulafoy (1851–1916) was a French woman who, when her husband enlisted during the Franco-Prussian War, dressed as a man and fought alongside him.
Nadezhda Durova (1783–1866) was a decorated Russian cavalry soldier of the Napoleonic Wars who spent nine years disguised as a man.
Eleonore Prochaska (1785–1813) was a German woman soldier who fought in the Lützow Free Corps during the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Friederike Krüger (1789–1848) was a soldier in the Prussian army.
James Barry (c. 1792–1795 – 25 July 1865) was a military surgeon in the British Army who is widely believed to have been born female and named Margaret Ann Bulkley.
Anna Lühring (1796–1866) (sometimes wrongly referred to as Anna Lührmann) was a German soldier in the Lützow Free Corps during the Napoleonic Wars.
Nathaniel Lyon (1818–1861) General for the Union during the American Civil War, allegedly dressed as a woman to spy on an enemy encampment.
Giuseppa Bolognara Calcagno (1826–1884) was a heroine in the liberation of Catania in support of Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand; she wore only men's clothing, lived like a man among the male soldiers, and was awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor.
Frances Clayton (c. 1830 – after 1863) was an American woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Union Army in the American Civil War.
Mária Lebstück (1831–1892) was a Hussar officer during the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848 and 1849 under the name Károly Lebstück.
Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (1843-1864) served with the Union Army in the American Civil War under the Alias of Lyons Wakeman and Edwin R. Wakeman. Her letters remain one of the few surviving primary accounts of female soldiers in the American Civil War. ^[9]

Sarah Emma Edmonds (1841–1898) served with the Union Army in the American Civil War disguised as a man named Frank Thompson.
Mollie Bean served with the Confederate Army in the American Civil War under the alias Melvin Bean.
Mary and Molly Bell, cousins who both served with the Confederate Army in the American Civil War.
Cathay Williams (1844–1892) was a former slave who became the first recorded African-American woman in the U.S. Army.
Loreta Janeta Velazquez a.k.a. "Lieutenant Harry Buford" (June 26, 1842 – c. 1897) – A Cuban woman who donned Confederate garb and served as a Confederate officer and spy during the war.^[10]^[11]
Rani of Jhansi (1828–1858) fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 by dressing as a sowar on behalf of her adopted son. Her identity was revealed when she was slain in battle.

Twentieth century

Viktoria Savs joined the Austrian army during World War I.
Flora Sandes joined the Serbian army during World War I.^[12]
Wanda Gertz (1896–1958) joined the Polish Legion in World War I to fight on the Eastern Front while posing as "Kazimierz Zuchowicz". Later she joined the Women's Voluntary Legion, and during World War II she commanded an all-woman sabotage unit of the Home Army.
Dorothy Lawrence (1896–1964) was a British reporter who served as a man in the army during World War I.
Zoya Smirnow (1897/98 – after 1916) was a Russian schoolgirl who along with 11 other friends ran away from their Moscow school and disguised themselves as men and joined the Russian army where they fought in Galicia and the Carpathians during World War I. After a death and number of injuries in the group, Smirnow's sex was discovered. She recounted their story to the English press.^[13]^[14]^[15]
Frieda Belinfante (1904–1995) was a prominent musician and World War II Dutch Resistance fighter who disguised herself as a man for 6 months to avoid capture by the Gestapo.
Henk Jonker (1912–2002) was a member of the Dutch resistance who disguised himself as a woman.^[16]
Ehud Barak (b. 1942), the later prime minister of Israel, disguised himself as a woman to assassinate members of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut during the 1973 covert mission Operation Spring of Youth.^[17]

As a major plot device in fiction

In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings , Éowyn, the White Lady of Rohan, pretends to be a man and slips off to combat the forces of Mordor. When confronting the Lord of the Nazgûl over her father's body, he tells her that "no man will kill me", at which point she laughs, casts aside her helmet to reveal her long hair, and kills him, with the help of a hobbit.
In All the Queen's Men , a 2001 comedy set during WWII, cross-dressing is a central plot device.
Terry Pratchett's novel Monstrous Regiment is a satirical look at the phenomenon.
I Was a Male War Bride is a comedy where the male French officer, played by Cary Grant, must dress like a woman to return as a war bride of his American military wife.
One of the running gags of the TV series M*A*S*H is Klinger's attempts to get discharged from military service by crossdressing.
In the Disney film Mulan , which is based on the story of Hua Mulan, Mulan dresses as a male to save her father from being drafted.
In Tamora Pierce's The Song of the Lioness quartet of books, Alanna of Trebond disguises herself as a boy to train to become a royal knight, a position only given to noble-born boys.
Genesis Climber Mospeada was perhaps the first anime series to feature a regular crossdresser, Yellow Belmont, amongst the main protagonists.
H. E. Bates's novel The Triple Echo is about a World War II army deserter who cross-dresses to avoid arrest. This was made into a film in 1972.
Mary "Jacky" Faber does this as the titular heroine of the Bloody Jack series of novels, fighting in the Napoleonic Wars.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, a steampunk novel in which Deryn "Dylan" Sharp disguises herself so she can join the Royal Air Service.
In the manga and subsequent television series The Rose of Versailles , Lady Oscar François de Jarjayes acts as the head of the Versailles royal guards and the personal bodyguard of Princess, later Queen, Marie Antoinette during the years leading up to the French Revolution. What is unique about her cross-dressing is that, while Oscar wears men's clothing full-time and conducts herself as a man, she is open about being female.
The Shadow Campaigns novel series by Django Wexler has a female main character rise through the ranks of an army while disguised as a man.

Related Research Articles

Sarah Emma Edmonds, was a Canadian-born woman who is known for serving as a man with the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1992, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.

Loreta Janeta Velázquez, was a Cuban-born woman who masqueraded as a male Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. After her soldier husband's accidental death, she enlisted in the Confederate States Army in 1861. She then fought at Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, and Fort Donelson, but was discharged when her gender was discovered while in New Orleans. Undeterred, she reenlisted and fought at Shiloh, until unmasked once more. She then became a Confederate spy, working in both male and female guises, and as a double agent also reporting to the U.S. Secret Service. She remarried three more times, being widowed in each instance. According to William C. Davis, she died in January 1923 under the name Loretta J. Beard after many years away from the public eye in a public psychiatric facility, St. Elizabeths Hospital. She spied on the Union for about 5 years.

Cross-dressing in motion pictures began in the early days of the silent films. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel brought the tradition of female impersonation in the English music halls when they came to America with Fred Karno's comedy troupe in 1910. Both Chaplin and Laurel occasionally dressed as women in their films. Even the beefy American actor Wallace Beery appeared in a series of silent films as a Swedish woman. The Three Stooges, especially Curly, sometimes appeared in drag in their short films. The tradition has continued for many years, usually played for laughs. Only in recent decades have there been dramatic films in which cross-dressing was included, possibly because of strict censorship of American films until the mid-1960s. One early exception was the murderer, a transvestite who wears particularly frilly dresses and petticoats, in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Murder!. Cross-gender acting, on the other hand, refers to actors or actresses portraying a character of the opposite gender.

Frances Louisa Clayton, also recorded as Frances Clalin, was an American woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Union Army in the American Civil War. Under the alias Jack Williams, she enlisted in a Missouri regiment along with her husband, and fought in several battles. She left the army soon after her husband died at Stones River.

Active warfare throughout history has mainly been a matter for men, but women have also played a role, often a leading one. While women rulers conducting warfare was common, women who participated in active warfare were rare. The following list of prominent women in war and their exploits from about 1500 AD up to about 1700 AD.

Active warfare throughout recorded history has predominantly involved male combatants; however, women have also contributed to military activities including as combatants. The following list describes women known to have participated in military actions in the 18th century. For women in warfare in the United States at this time, please see Timeline of women in war in the United States, Pre-1945.

Women in World War I were mobilized in unprecedented numbers on all sides. The vast majority of these women were drafted into the civilian work force to replace conscripted men or work in greatly expanded munitions factories. Thousands served in the military in support roles, e.g. as nurses, but in Russia some saw combat as well.

Brita Christina Hagberg, née Nilsdotter, alias Petter Hagberg,, was a woman who served as a soldier in the Swedish army during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790). She is one of two confirmed women to have been decorated for bravery in battle in Sweden before women were allowed into the military in the 20th century.

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman Gender-nonconforming individual who was assigned female at birth and fought in the American Civil War as a man

Sarah Rosetta Wakeman was a woman who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War under the male name of Lyons Wakeman. Wakeman served with Company H, 153rd New York Volunteer Infantry. Her letters written during her service remained unread for nearly a century because they were stored in the attic of her relatives.

During the American Civil War, sexual behavior and attitudes, like many other aspects of life, were affected by the conflict. The advent of photography and easier media distribution, for example, allowed for greater access to sexual material for the common soldier.

Cross-dressing as a literary motif is well attested in older literature but is becoming increasingly popular in modern literature as well. It is often associated with character nonconformity and sexuality rather than gender identity.

Mulan Jr. is a one-act stage musical based on the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan, which in turn was based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan and the story "Fa Mulan" by Robert D. San Souci. The adaptation mixes songs featured in the 1998 film as well as deleted songs from the film, including the revival of songs written by Stephen Schwartz, who was the original composer for the 1998 film before leaving to work on The Prince of Egypt. The musical is G-rated, any mature content from the sources it is based on having been deleted in the adaptation. The cast includes 26 roles plus an ensemble.

This article details the history of cross-dressing, the act of wearing the clothes of the sex or gender one does not identify with.

The Female Marine, or The Adventures of Lucy Brewer, was first published in 1815 as a series of pamphlets sold in Boston. The series is the supposedly autobiographical account of Lucy Brewer, although controversy has surrounded the true authorship of the story as some believe it was in fact written by Nathaniel Hill Wright.

Charlotte Hatfield, also known as Charley Hatfield or "Mountain Charley", was a female soldier for the Union Army during the American Civil War.

This is a timeline of women in warfare in the United States up until the end of World War II. It encompasses the colonial era and indigenous peoples, as well as the entire geographical modern United States, even though some of the areas mentioned were not incorporated into the United States during the time periods that they were mentioned.

This is a list of works on the subject of wartime cross-dressing.

References

1 2 Spector, Peter (2016-03-01). The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. Naples, Nancy A. Malden, MA. ISBN 9781118905388. OCLC 933432480.
↑ "Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
↑ 1834-1900., Clayton, Ellen Creathorne (1879). Female Warriors : Memorials of Female Valour and Heroism, from the Mythological Ages to the Present Era. Tinsley Brothers. OCLC 963750555.
↑ Vaughan, Richard. Philip the Good. pp. 34–49.
1 2 The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. Naples, Nancy A.,, Hoogland, Renée C., 1960-, Wickramasinghe, Maithree,, Wong, Wai-Ching Angela, 1959-. Malden, MA. 2016-05-09. ISBN 9781405196949. OCLC 933386043.CS1 maint: others (link)
↑ Davies, Christian (1740). The life and adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, commonly called Mother Ross. London.
↑ Dall, Wells Healey Caroline Wells Healey; Dall, Caroline (April 2010). The College, the Market, and the Court. Applewood Books. ISBN 9781429043441.
↑ "Charles Edward Stewart: The Young Pretender". The Scotsman. UK. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
↑ Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta; Burgess, Lauren Cook (1994). An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862–1864. The Minerva Center. ISBN 0963489518. OCLC 30933373.
↑ "Hispanics in the Military". Valerosos.com. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
↑ "The Hispanic Experience – Contributions to America's Defense". Houstonculture.org. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
↑ "Kvinnorna som klippte håret, tog på sig manskläder och tog värvning", Studio Ett , Sveriges Radio, 7 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
↑ Hirschfeld, Magnus (1930). The Sexual History Of The World War (revised edition 1946). Cadillac Publishing. Page 100.
↑ Jones, David E. (2000). Women Warriors: A History. Washington D.C.: Brassey's. p. 134 ISBN 1-57488-206-6
↑ Salmonson, Jessica Amanda (1991). The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House. Page 236. ISBN 1-55778-420-5
↑ Liepman, Ruth (1997). Maybe Luck Isn't Just Chance. Northwestern UP. p. 66. ISBN 9780810112957.
↑ "Profile: A trusted leader". news.bbc.co.uk. January 27, 2000. Retrieved 2008-06-12.

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[auto-1] 1 2 Spector, Peter (2016-03-01). The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. Naples, Nancy A. Malden, MA. ISBN 9781118905388. OCLC 933432480.

[2] "Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-03-15.

[3] 1834-1900., Clayton, Ellen Creathorne (1879). Female Warriors : Memorials of Female Valour and Heroism, from the Mythological Ages to the Present Era. Tinsley Brothers. OCLC 963750555.

[4] Vaughan, Richard. Philip the Good. pp. 34–49.

[auto1-5] 1 2 The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. Naples, Nancy A.,, Hoogland, Renée C., 1960-, Wickramasinghe, Maithree,, Wong, Wai-Ching Angela, 1959-. Malden, MA. 2016-05-09. ISBN 9781405196949. OCLC 933386043.CS1 maint: others (link)

[6] Davies, Christian (1740). The life and adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, commonly called Mother Ross. London.

[Dall-7] Dall, Wells Healey Caroline Wells Healey; Dall, Caroline (April 2010). The College, the Market, and the Court. Applewood Books. ISBN 9781429043441.

[8] "Charles Edward Stewart: The Young Pretender". The Scotsman. UK. Retrieved 5 September 2012.

[9] Wakeman, Sarah Rosetta; Burgess, Lauren Cook (1994). An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862–1864. The Minerva Center. ISBN 0963489518. OCLC 30933373.

[10] "Hispanics in the Military". Valerosos.com. Retrieved 2013-10-22.

[11] "The Hispanic Experience – Contributions to America's Defense". Houstonculture.org. Retrieved 2013-10-22.

[sr-20161007-12] "Kvinnorna som klippte håret, tog på sig manskläder och tog värvning", Studio Ett , Sveriges Radio, 7 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.

[13] Hirschfeld, Magnus (1930). The Sexual History Of The World War (revised edition 1946). Cadillac Publishing. Page 100.

[14] Jones, David E. (2000). Women Warriors: A History. Washington D.C.: Brassey's. p. 134 ISBN 1-57488-206-6

[15] Salmonson, Jessica Amanda (1991). The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House. Page 236. ISBN 1-55778-420-5

[16] Liepman, Ruth (1997). Maybe Luck Isn't Just Chance. Northwestern UP. p. 66. ISBN 9780810112957.

[17] "Profile: A trusted leader". news.bbc.co.uk. January 27, 2000. Retrieved 2008-06-12.