Biography sarah emma edmonds movie

Sarah Emma Edmonds was a female soldier and spy in the Civil War. When her father tried to marry her off to a neighbor at age 16, she ran away from home, changed her name to Emma Edmonds and got a job as a salesgirl in a millinery shop, according to the book More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Michigan Women:. In Emma Edmonds fled again. This time she changed more than her name.

She was hired and began her life as Frank Thompson.

Why was sarah emma edmonds important

In her memoir, Edmonds stated that while working as a bible salesman in Flint, Michigan, she was sitting in a train station when she heard the news about the outbreak of the Civil War and knew she had to take action:. But these were not the thoughts which occupied my mind. It was not my intention, or desire, to seek my own personal ease and comfort while so much sorrow and distress filled the land.

But the great question to be decided, was, what can I do? What part am I to act in this great drama? I was not able to decided for myself — so I carried this question to the Throne of Grace and found a satisfactory answer there. Edmonds continued her hospital work for many months until March of , when she was reassigned as a mail carrier for her regiment.

This was an important question for me to consider ere I proceeded further. I did consider it thoroughly, and made up my mind to accept it with all of its fearful responsibilities. While there, she helped build ramparts and worked in the kitchen where she eavesdropped on conversations. Edmonds returned from the trip with valuable military information as well as a beautiful horse and a wound on her arm where the horse had bit her while she was retrieving medical supplies from the saddlebags.

Edmonds stated that she was present at many historic battles, such as the Battle of Antietam in September of , during which she nursed a mortally wounded soldier who confessed to Edmonds that he was a actually a woman in disguise, according to Edmonds memoir:.