A story of a nineteen-year-old woman who disguised herself as a man to avoid an unwanted marriage and who distinguished herself as a male nurse during the Civil War, and later as a spy for the Union Army.

Details the lives of six women who fought to preserve the Confederacy and the Southern way of life by serving as spies during the Civil War.

Sarah Emma Edmonds enlisted because she believed in the Union cause; Melverina Peppercorn joined to stay near her twin brother. Although women were not allowed to enlist as soldiers in the Civil War, many disguised themselves as men and fought anyway.

"By the time she arrived in Belvidere, Illinois, and started working as a farmhand, Jennie had a new name and a new identity . . . Albert D. J. Cashier. In 1861, the winds of war blew through the United States. Jennie Hodgers, a young immigrant from Ireland, moved west to Illinois and soon had a new name and a new identity--Albert D. J. Cashier. Like many other young men, Albert joined the Union Army. Though the smallest soldier in his company, Albert...