Philadelphia resident Florena Budwin was not even 20 years old when she and her husband joined the Union Army. Since women were not permitted to join the military forces, she disguised herself as a man. In this appearance, she was captured and for a long time managed to conceal her gender. Unfortunately, the harsh conditions of captivity were fatal for her. The brave young woman found her final resting place at the Florence National Cemetery. We are going to tell you more about her role in the war. Find out more at philadelphianka.
War and captivity
When the American Civil War broke out, Philadelphia resident Florena Budwin chose to join her husband at the front lines. She was able to disguise herself as a young man, and in this form, she began active service. Her partner was an artillery captain, and Florena became an ordinary soldier.
Their military service did not last for long. They were soon captured by the Confederate Army and taken to Andersonville Prison south of Georgia, where they were held among other prisoners. This POW camp was one of the worst:
- it was erected in 1864 and was constantly replenished with prisoners
- up to 400 individuals were brought here every month
- by the middle of the year, there were 26,000 people in the camp, which was designed for 10,000 prisoners.
In August 1864, the number of captives had reached 33,000, including Florena, who still had to hide the fact that she was a woman.
The Confederate government was unable to provide shelter, clothing, food and proper medical treatment to those imprisoned. Economic conditions were deteriorating, the transportation system was barely functional and the Confederate Army needed food and supplies itself. More than 13,000 people died as a result of poor confinement conditions during the first year at Andersonville.
New camp, new suffering
In the fall of 1864, General Sherman began his campaign, which was aimed at reaching the sea through Georgia. The Confederate government assumed that Sherman would also want to free prisoners of war, so they began transporting them from Andersonville to other camps.
Florena Budwin was one of those set out on this difficult journey. Her new destination was near the city of Florence, South Carolina. However, the girl had no idea where she was headed since the prisoners were not given any explanations. They were placed in freight cars, with guards bringing meals twice a day and throwing those who died out of the cars.
Florence had a fairly large railway junction, so it was chosen to house captives who could be easily transported there. The prison was being built in a hurry and barely completed when the first 6,000 prisoners, including Florena, arrived in the city.
According to the girl’s memoirs, they spent the first night in a cornfield before walking 10 miles to their new camp. It looked exactly like Andersonville. Four walls enclosed 15 acres of land, a tiny stream ran through the territory and there was only one gate in the western wall. For the guards, there was an embankment surrounding the walls. They occasionally enticed prisoners to cross the border and then shot them there.
The prisoners, just like in the previous camp, became ill with yellow fever and smallpox, as well as suffered from exhaustion and hunger. In addition, winter was approaching, and they lacked warm clothing and blankets. Pests were a significant problem. Local women frequently came to mock those imprisoned.
In October, there were 12,000 captives in the camp. Every day, at least twenty people died. The Union Sanitary Commission eventually sent clothes and warm things to the area. In addition, a hospital was set up on the camp’s grounds. Many of the captives severed their frostbitten limbs to save their lives.
Disclosure of Florena’s identity and her death
After the hospital was constructed, the camp was inspected and they discovered that Florena was a woman. She was taken aback by being treated well, given a separate sleeping place and provided with clothes and special rations. Additionally, she was hired at the hospital, where she attempted to improve the conditions of prisoners by at least offering them a kind word.
However, she was feeling worse. Florena noted in her diary that winter was going to last longer than she would. In the hospital, she caught pneumonia, which spread through the camp. For weeks, the girl remained practically immobile. The pain and death she witnessed in the camps made her lose faith in humanity. She no longer wanted to fight, and exhaustion and severe illness gave her no choice.
Florena died on January 25, 1865. A month later, the Florence prison was closed down and the prisoners were transferred to North Carolina. There, many of them were granted conditional release and the opportunity to continue their lives.
In total, more than 16,000 individuals were imprisoned at the Florence camp from the fall of 1864 until the beginning of 1865. During this time, more than 2,000 of them died from hunger and diseases. The owner of a plantation adjacent to the prison let them be buried on his land. Later, this land was converted into the Florence National Cemetery. There is also a plain marble tombstone with Florena Budwin’s name and the date of her death. The brave girl became one of the first women to join the army and the first to be buried in a military cemetery.