Boom! Bam! Goes the sound of a cannon killing many people in battle during the Civil war. Among those that were killed or injured were many women. Hundreds of women would join the war. They did it for the thrill of battle because it seemed exciting. Many women joined because of loved ones serving. Loreta Janeta Velazquez is an example of this. Loretta’s early life began when she lived in Cuba. Her early life includes living on a plantation to an aristocratic family. Loretta’s father alone would own other plantations in Chile. The family hoped that Loreta would become a lady that would marry a Cuban husband. She betrayed that dream. In New Orleans, she would fall in love with a Texan soldier. They would soon wed. This action caused her parents…show more content… Both sides were worn out by all of the fighting and the North was suffering tremendously. They suffered tremendously to the point that the south had to call for reinforcements. The north was being backed up by the Union army at Henry’s mill in summary, the battle would end with the southerner’s success and the Northern army would be showering away. Loreta like many of the voices in the south were proud of the achievement. Her second major battle would be at Fort Donelson from February 12-16, 1862. This battle is even more gruesome then the battle at Shiloh. Thousands of soldiers died on the southern side. Loreta in her memoir states that ‘dead bodies were lined up to the point that people could step on them’. There would be even more deaths at the battle at Shiloh on April 6, 1862. Her personal memoir describes that she met up with her former regiment from Arkansas. They were under the command of William J. Hardee. Their mission was to attack a union camp and let the attack be surprise. They did just that. The union soldiers when attacked were ‘half-dressed and had to grab anything they could use for a weapon’, all of this mission was a success. Loreta would then describe that her regiment would take over the camp. It made morale rise up even more to the point that they would still left over from the camps. The importance of these battles provides how gruesome war is. It is only about that, Loretta’s illustrates how difficult it was to hide her gender. Loreta would almost be caught two times. One instance is when she got injured at the battle at Fort Donelson. Her injury involves her getting almost caught by a doctor that was healing her foot. Before she got caught, Loreta escaped to New Orleans. She was arrested for dressing up as a man in New Orleans. She was eventually released with a fine. These details make Loreta unique too since she kept her identity secret for up to two years of the
