A sergeant in Louisiana, 1863
In early 1863, a sergeant in the First Kansas Volunteers died in Lake Providence, Louisiana:
“The War On the Mississippi: Interesting Letter from a Soldier.” New York Times [New York, New York] 22 May 1863; p. 1.
The following extracts from a private letter written by a soldier in Gen. McArthur’s division of Gen. Grant’s army, have been handed to us for publication. The letter is dated Lake Providence, La., April 16:
…
[“]The First Kansas regiment, of which I have spoken before, is encamped near us. One of the members of that regiment, a Sergeant, died in the hospital two weeks ago. After death his comrades discovered that their companion, by the side of whom they had marched and fought for almost two years, was a—woman. You may imagine their surprise at the discovery. I went to the hospital and saw the body after it was prepared for burial, and made some inquiries about her. She was of rather more than average size for a woman, with rather strongly marked features, so that with the aid of man’s attire she had quite a masculine look. She enlisted in the regiment after they went to Missouri; and consequently they know nothing of her early history. She probably served under an assumed name. She was in the battle of Springfield, where Gen. Lyon was killed, and has fought in a dozen battles and skirmishes. She always sustained an excellent reputation both as a man and a soldier, and the men all speak of her in terms of respect and affection. She was brave as a lion in battle, and never flinched from any duty or hardship that fell to her lot. She must have been very shrewd to have lived in the regiment so long, and preserve her secret so well. Poor girl! she was worthy of a better fate. Who knows what grief, trouble or persecution induced her to embrace such a life!”
The extract was reprinted in newspapers and magazines.
Who was this person? The individual has been identified as Sergeant Daniel Mullhattan, Company C, 1st Kansas Infantry, who died at Lake Providence, Louisiana, but on 20 July 1863—too late for the letter. (Though Mulhattan enlisted in Leavenworth, Kansas, I’ve been unable to find Daniel Mulhattan in the U. S. census for 1850 or 1860, which implies that it actually could have been assumed name.)
First Sergeant Daniel H. Dow, Company F, 1st Kansas Infantry, died at Lake Providence, Louisiana, on 10 February 1863; his father applied for his pension on 21 April 1871. D. H. Dow appears in the U. S. census for 1860, a male laborer born in New York around 1833. (1860 U. S. census, M653 roll #349; for Palmyra, Douglas County, Kansas Territory; p. 87, line 39)
DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook have identified the sergeant as Sergeant Alfred J. Luther, Company A, 1st Kansas Infantry, who enlisted in Elwood, Kansas, and who died at Lake Providence, Louisiana, of varioloid (a mild-ish form of smallpox) on 22 March 1863; Luther is mentioned in a letter from Frederick L. Haywood to his sister, dated 6 April 1863.
There was, in fact, a male Alfred J. Luther born in Massachusetts around 1836 who appears to be related to Charles F. Luther, born in Massachusetts around 1835 and moved to Elwood, Kansas Territory, before 1860; Alfred Luther lived in Elwood, Kansas, at the time of enlistment. (1850 U. S. census, M432 roll #308; for Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts; p. 187: Charles on line 11; Alfred on line 19; both were living with branches of the Jenney family. 1860 U. S. census, M653 roll #347; for Elwood, Doniphan County, Kansas Territory; p. 911; line 24)
Whatever the name, the New-York Daily Reformer [Watertown, New York] called the soldier “an American heroine.” (See 23 May 1863; p. 2.) It’s clear that the men who fought with the unnamed sergeant would agree.
[In my research, I used DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. (Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2002)]
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