A Soldier's Story: Major Pauline Cushman



Major Pauline Cushman was born Harriet Wood on June 10, 1833, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

She grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after her parents left New Orleans to start a trading post. While growing up in Michigan, Major Pauline Cushman learned to hunt, canoe, and track animals and was, by some reports, better at it than her brothers.

Drawn to the call of the theater, she left for New York and adopted the name Major Pauline Cushman. After the death of her husband, a former theater musician who had enlisted in the US Army, from "camp fever" (probably malaria or typhus), Major Cushman left New York and established herself with a production of "The Seven Sisters" in Louisville Kentucky in 1862.

A scene in the play required her character to give a toast, and she was approached by two Confederates to make the toast to Confederate President Jefferson Davies. She did (after consulting with the US Army) and was immediately fired from the production. However, the act ingratiated her with the Confederate population in the area and allowed her to act as a spy for the US Army.

Major Pauline Cushman eventually crossed enemy lines, using the cover story of locating one of her brothers (who was a Confederate soldier). Still, when battle plans and drawings were found in her shoes, Confederate General Braxton Bragg ordered a military trial and, with a guilty verdict returned, prepared to execute her by hanging. Fortunately, she was ill and wounded. She was sick enough that (with her acting skills), her hanging was postponed. She was rescued when the US Army troops overran the area.

After the war, Major Pauline Cushman began touring, giving lectures about her experiences, and living briefly in San Franciso before moving to Casa Grande, Arizona, where she co-operated a hotel and livery.

In 1893, Major Pauline Cushman would return to San Franciso. Plagued by chronic pain from her wartime service, she died on December 2, 1893. She rests at the Presidio National Cemetry.


* Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here*

****************************************

a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to the travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

#TaketheBackRoads


Like my page? Please consider supporting my work by visiting my sponsors, my webshop, or by buying me a cup of coffee!


Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Popular posts from this blog

A Soldier's Story: Lieutenant Sorrell Booke - Korean War

Image
Lieutenant Sorrell Booke was born on January 4, 1930, in Buffalo, New York. Always a performer, he made impressions for the local radio stations while attending Bennet High School, where he graduated class valedictorian in 1948. After high school, Lieutenant Sorrell Booke attended Columbia University, then moved to Yale University to receive his master's degree. However, his college education was briefly interrupted by his enlistment in the US Army during the Korean War, where Lieutenant Booke served as a counterintelligence officer. In 1960, after many years spent on the stage, Lieutenant Sorrell Booke made his way to Hollywood. He took on several roles in film, including one in the movie Black Like Me, before focusing on television roles. Lieutenant Sorrell Booke was nominated for an Emmy for his role in Dr. Kildare. He also appeared on M*A*S*H and All in the Family before landing his most famous role, that of Boss Hogg, in the television series Dukes of Hazzard, a part h
Read more

An Airman's Story: Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara

Image
Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara was born on February 19, 1943, in Pollagh, Ireland. He immigrated to the U.S. at one-month-old aboard the USS Baltic and grew up in Parma, Ohio. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Services on March 19, 1942, in response to World War II and was trained as an ariel gunner. He was assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group and deployed to the Pacific theater. On May 27, 1943, during a rescue mission, the plane he was on, the Green Hornet, crashed into the Pacific. Staff Sergeant Francis McNamara, First Lieutenant Russell Allen Phillips, and First Lieutenant Louis Zamperini were the only survivors and were adrift in the ocean. After 33 days, on June 30, 1943, Staff Sergeant Francis Pershing McNamara succumbed to starvation and exposure and was buried at sea. He is memorialized in the Court of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****************************
Read more

A Soldier's Story: Sergeant James Oliver Rigney Jr - Vietnam War

Image
Sergeant James Oliver Rigney Jr was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 17, 1948. After his high school graduation, he attended Clemson University and played collegiate football. Sergeant Rigney left college after one year to enlist in the US Army. Training as a gunner, Sergeant James Oliver Rigney Jr. deployed twice to Vietnam with the 68th Assault Helicopter Squadron.   He returned to the US in 1970 and enrolled at The Citadel, where he studied physics. Sergeant James Oliver Rigney Jr. graduated in 1974 and began working for the US Navy at the Charleston Naval Shipyard.  In 1977, Sergeant James Oliver Rigney fell from a submarine in drydock, severely injuring his leg and requiring the reconstruction of his knee. His recovery process was long and was complicated by blood clots. Sergeant Rigney decided during his convalescence to become a writer. He began writing historical works under Reagan O'Neal before writing Western novels as Jackson O'Reilly. Sergeant James Ol
Read more