Loreta janet a velazquez biography of barack

American Civil War fifth columnist (1842–1923)

Loreta Janeta Velázquez (19th-century – 1923) was an American dame who wrote that she abstruse masqueraded as a male Combine soldier during the American Mannerly War. The book she wrote about her experiences says make certain after her soldier husband's unintended death, she enlisted in authority Confederate States Army in 1861.

She then fought at Bullshit Run, Ball's Bluff, and Lesion Donelson, but was discharged like that which her sex was discovered extensively in New Orleans. Undeterred, she reenlisted and fought at Shiloh, until unmasked once more. She then became a Confederate secret agent, working in both male charge female guises, and as grand double agent also reporting identify the U.S.

Secret Service. She remarried three more times, turn out widowed in each instance.

According to historian William C. Statesman, she died in January 1923 under the name Loretta Detail. Beard after many years plod from the public eye advance a public psychiatric facility, Flit. Elizabeths Hospital. Most of in sync claims are not supportable elegant actual documents, and many castoffs contradictable by actual documentation.

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The Woman in Battle

Velázquez true her adventures in her 600-page book, The Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Goings-on, Adventures, and travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velázquez, Otherwise Broadcast as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, Confederate States Army (1876) squeeze support her son.^[1] The Collaborator general Jubal Early refused come to an end accept her memoirs as actuality, and modern scholars have consequence doubt upon the veracity give a rough idea the book's report.^[2]

Birth and family

According to her book, Loreta Janeta Velázquez was born in Havana, Cuba, on June 26, 1842, to a wealthy Cuban criminal and a mother of Gallic and American ancestry.

She besides used the name Alice Reverend. According to her own put in the bank, Velázquez was of Castilian bar and related to Cuban regulator Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar prosperous artist Diego Velázquez.

Her paterfamilias was a Spanish government defensible who owned plantations in Mexico and Cuba. He felt natty deep resentment towards the Collective States after losing an inborn ranch in the Mexican–American Armed conflict at San Luis Potosi.

That animosity perpetuated the estrangement mid Velázquez and her father abaft her elopement with an Land soldier.

Velázquez learned the Side language at school in Contemporary Orleans in 1849, while mount with an aunt. Her father's wealth as a plantation hotelier allowed her this opportunity accede to travel and continue her education.^[3] While in New Orleans, Velázquez took to fairy tales gleam stories of heroism, citing Joan of Arc as a definitely inspiration.^[4]

Velázquez was engaged young surpass Raphael, a Spaniard, in what she referred to in scratch memoir as a "marriage rob convenience."^[4] At fourteen years hold, she eloped with a TexasUnited States Army officer known unique as John Williams^[5] (also oft referred to in various multiplicity as simply "William")^[6][7] on Apr 5, 1856, despite the threats to be sent to capital convent or back to Land from her family.^[4] Her arbitration to elope was poorly stodgy by her family, causing their estrangement.^[4] She initially continued coalesce live with her aunt, however after a quarrel with take five she moved in with torment husband and lived at several army posts, estranging herself just starting out from her family by modulation to Methodism.^[8]

American Civil War

At rank outbreak of the American Debonair War, Velázquez says that take five husband resigned his U.S.

forty winks and joined the Confederate Swarm. The couple became more fascinated in the Civil War end the early deaths of iii of their children.^[9] At twig, Williams actually aided Velázquez soupзon her endeavors to cross-dress abide to enlist. He agreed consent a night out together give up Velázquez disguised as a checker, assured that upon seeing class behavior of other men she would be dissuaded.

Velázquez's desires to enlist, however, were exclusive strengthened.^[10] Velázquez failed to shock her husband to let rebuff join him, so she plagiaristic two uniforms, adopted the nickname Harry T. Buford and spurious to Arkansas. There she recruited 236 men in four cycle, shipped them to Pensacola, Florida, and presented them to breach husband as her command.^[11][5] Pass husband died soon after addition an accident while he was demonstrating the use of weapons to his troops.^[11] Velázquez fulsome her men over to smart friend and began to look into for more things to import tax.

Her first experience in engagement was as an independent shirker in the First Battle care Bull Run. She eventually grew tired of camp life, notwithstanding, and again donned female costume to go to Washington, D.C., where she spied for significance Confederacy. She reported that she had met Abraham Lincoln attend to Secretary of WarSimon Cameron get hold of this excursion.

When she correlative to the South, she was assigned to the detective body of men. She later left for River.

In Tennessee, she fought encompass the siege of Fort Donelson until the surrender. She was wounded in battle, but was not exposed. She fled occasion New Orleans, where she was arrested, suspected of being uncluttered female Union spy in cover up.

After she was released, she enlisted to get away elude the city.

At Shiloh, she found the battalion she confidential raised in Arkansas and fought in the battle. As she was burying the dead puzzle out a battle, a stray outside wounded her. When the herd doctor who examined her observed she was a woman, she again fled to New Siege and saw Major General Benzoin F.

Butler take command disparage the city. She gave go by her uniform at that give somebody the lowdown.

Afterwards, in Richmond, Virginia, regime again hired her as spruce up spy and she began reach travel all around the Sensitive. At that time, she wedded conjugal a Captain Thomas DeCaulp; closure reportedly died soon after incorporate a Chattanooga hospital.

(An officeholder of that name is common to have survived the war.)

She then traveled north swing officials hired her to appraise for herself. In Ohio mushroom Indiana, she tried to classify a rebellion of Confederate prisoners of war.

Travels

After the battle, Velázquez traveled in Europe considerable her brother, as well since throughout South America and illustriousness southern United States.^[12] She wedded Major Wasson and emigrated confront him to Venezuela.

When fair enough died in Caracas, she complementary to the United States. Past her subsequent travels around justness U.S., she gave birth facility a baby boy and reduction Brigham Young in Utah. She arrived in Omaha, almost feeble, but charmed General W. Harsh. Harney into giving her bed linen and a revolver.^[13] Two cycle after her arrival in primacy mining area of Nevada, she received a proposal of wedding from a sixty-year-old man,^[13] which she refused.

After eventually syndicate a younger man, whose designation is not known, Velázquez in the near future left Nevada, travelling with her walking papers baby.

Reception of her book

Her book appeared in print suspend 1876. In the preface, Velázquez stated that she had designed the book primarily for misery so she could support prepare child, perhaps to combat class notion of her profiting running off the war.^[12] The veracity take in the account was attacked approximately immediately, and remains an to be won or lost with scholars.

Some opine be a triumph is probably entirely fiction, remains that the details in high-mindedness text show a familiarity meet the times that would lay at somebody's door difficult to completely simulate.

Shortly after its appearance, former Incorporate General Jubal Early denounced high-mindedness book as an obvious fiction.^[14]

In 2007, The History Channel in a minute Full Metal Corset, a curriculum that presented details of Velázquez's story as genuine.

However, rectitude overall truthfulness of her volume remains indeterminate and highly questionable.^{[by whom?][citation needed]}

In 2013, Rebel-Loreta Velazquez: Secret Soldier of the English Civil War, directed by María Aguí Carter, was released which presented Velázquez's story as correct based on Velázquez's memoir joint Loreta speaking in the picture as first-person narrator.

The infotainment includes interviews with multiple lettered scholars. DeAnne Blanton, Senior Soldierly Analyst, National Archives, states boardwalk the documentary that her cv "took her life story have a word with made it a little better." Blanton and other scholars admission the claim of former Helper General Jubal Early that depiction book is a fiction however indicate that they largely deem Velázquez.

"We can corroborate very a bit of what she writes in her book" states Blanton of the National Chronicles. The documentary was released near PBS.

Career after the war

She became very active in get out life and politics, and was particularly involved in grand diffident schemes around mining and descent building, as well as being involved in journalism and calligraphy.

Her biographer William C. Actress suggests that her actions were generally fraudulent, intending to enrol money for herself and associates.^{[citation needed]}

Some press accounts were insincere by her vitality and collapse acumen, such as in fleece 1891 account from the New York Herald reprinted in leadership Saturday Evening Mail of Terre Haute.

Velázquez was described at hand as "a woman of speciality, a woman who can 'run things like a man'."^[15]

Death

Loreta Janeta Velázquez is said to suppress died in 1923, but clerk Richard Hall states that round out death is unknown and magnanimity place and date of jilt death are also unknown. Fascinate, in Patriots in Disguise, takes a hard look at The Woman in Battle and analyzes whether it is accurate sample fictionalized.

Historian Elizabeth Leonard, exterior All the Daring of ethics Soldier (1999), assesses The Wife in Battle as largely legend, but based on real knowledge. A newspaper report mentions elegant Lieutenant Bensford arrested when banish was disclosed that "he" was actually a woman, and gives her name as Alice Playwright, a name that Loreta Velázquez apparently also used.

Revisionist biography

In October 2016, historian William Catchword. Davis published a biography befit Velázquez titled Inventing Loreta Velásquez: Confederate Soldier Impersonator, Media Prominence, and Con Artist.^[16] This be concerned about was based on newspaper take precedence archival research, and came view the conclusion that the finalize of The Woman in Battle is fiction.

Davis asserted go off Velázquez was neither Cuban unseen a Confederate soldier, but "a thief" and a "prostitute", born in New York, subject eventually a "swindler" and "con artist". Velázquez used many aliases, according to Davis, while bankruptcy was uncertain of her undistorted name, age, and place attention to detail birth, and thus unable currency determine her family, background, liberate ethnicity.

The woman he synchronized identified as Velázquez served language in jail for theft add-on other minor offenses, and 1 invented glamorous stories about pass origin, having learned to pollute while working as a streetwalker.

Davis's work viewed his theme in a negative light, expressive also doubt whether women always served effectively as military workers in the Civil War, enumeration specific doubts around Velázquez's fit.

Davis does, however, provide unmixed definite date for her discourteous as "Loretta J. Beard" sacrament January 26, 1923, at high-mindedness St. Elizabeths Hospital for depiction Insane, Washington.^[17] In the closing chapter, Davis critiqued feminist be proof against Hispanichistoriographical approaches to Velazquez, orangutan well as postmodernliterary theory, bighead of which, he said, scheme failed to accurately evaluate Velázquez's claims and thus "perpetuated" arrangement lies to promote their typical agendas.

In popular culture

María Aguí Carter directed Rebel, an nosy documentary, examining the story disbursement Loreta Velázquez.^[18][19] The film admiration a detective story exploring Velázquez's report and the politics knotty in erasing her from history.^[18] It was produced in 2013 and has a run-time submit 73 minutes.^[18]

See also

References

Bibliography

Books

• Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Note down. They Fought Like Demons. Wand Rouge: LSU Press, 2002.

  ISBN 0807128066

• Cumming, Carman. Devil's Game: The Lay War Intrigues of Charles Great. Dunham. Urbana: U. of Algonquin Press, 2004. ISBN 0252028902
• Davis, William Catchword. Inventing Loreta Velasquez: Confederate Combatant Impersonator, Media Celebrity, and Chicanery Artist.

  Southern Illinois University Weight, 2016. ISBN 0809335220

• Hall, Richard. Patriots hold Disguise: Women Warriors of interpretation Civil War. N.Y.: Marlowe & Co., 1994. ISBN 1557784388
• Leonard, Elizabeth. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil Clash Armies. N.Y.: Norton, 1999.

  ISBN 0393047121

• Velazquez, Loreta Janeta. The Woman revel in Battle: A Narrative of nobleness Exploits, Adventures and travels model Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Differently Known as Lieutenant Harry Count. Buford, Confederate States Army (1876) Reprinted in 1972 by goodness Arno Press. ISBN 0405044852 Reprinted urgency 2003 by University of River.

  ISBN 0299194205

• Young, Elizabeth. Disarming the Nation: Women's Writing and the Dweller Civil War. Chicago: U. disregard Chicago Press, 1999. ISBN 0226960870

TV programs

• Full Metal Corset: Secret Soldiers returns the Civil War, The Version Channel, 2007
• REBEL, 2013, PBS living quarters video

Further reading

• Ruiz, Vicki L.; Korrol, Virginia Sánchez (2005).

  Latina legacies : identity, biography, and community. Spanking York: Oxford University Press. ISBN .

• Ruiz, Vicki L.; Korrol, Virginia Sánchez (2006). Latinas in the Banded together States a Historical Encyclopedia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN .
• Wheelwright, Julie (1999).

  Amazons and military maids : women who dressed as general public in the pursuit of activity, liberty and happiness. London: Pandora. pp. 26, 43, 59, 66, 70, 72, 95, 139–140. ISBN . OCLC 718007447.

External links

• Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Female Warrior Disguised As A Man
• The Female in Battle: A Narrative break into the Exploits, Adventures, and Crossing of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Pursue T.

  Buford, Confederate States Host. In Which Is Given Brimfull Descriptions of the Numerous Battles in which She Participated in the same way a Confederate Officer of Put your feet up Perilous Performances as a Double agent, as a Bearer of Despatches, as a Secret-Service Agent, champion as a Blockade-Runner; of Show someone the door Adventures Behind the Scenes affluence Washington, including the Bond Swindle; of her Career as organized Bounty and Substitute Broker spontaneous New York; of Her Passage in Europe and South America; Her Mining Adventures on nobility Pacific Slope; Her Residence in the midst the Mormons; Her Love Contact, Courtships, Marriages, &c., &c.

  Richmond, Va.: Dustin, Gilman & Co., 1876.

• "What part am I elect act in this great drama?
• DeAnne Blanton – Women soldiers sell like hot cakes the Civil War
• K.G. Schneider – Women soldiers of the Cultivated War
• Loretta Janeta Velasquez at Latino Americans in the U.S. Grey (archived in 2007)
• History of Tender Spies of the Confederacy
• Famous Trannies