Soldiers In Petticoats

Abandoned by her father, orphaned by her mother, left behind with strangers... One woman puts aside her dresses and her womanly chores and answers the call to arms. In a bid to reunite with her brothers fighting for the Union somewhere down South, this determined young woman disguises her gender and discovers alongside her fellow soldiers, a camaraderie and sense of purpose she has never known. Until the day she rescues a wounded Southern solder, who turns upside down everything she though she knew about war and loyalty...

Profiles girls and women who participated in the American Revolution by refusing to buy British merchandise, collecting money, and even going to war as wives, nurses, spies, or soldiers.

Sophia Sawyer, Emily Prudden, and Martha Berry encountered sexism, prejudice, financial hardship, discrimination, challenging travel conditions, exclusion from the right to vote, and social complacency. On one occasion two militiamen showed up at the school door and threatened to arrest the teacher if she continued teaching black children to read. Another instructor dealt with murder and mayhem, violence, loss of life, and racial hostility. And a third was shunned by her neighbors because she associated with poor mountaineers and “begged” to keep her school open. Their victories against overwhelming obstacles on behalf of struggling youth in the Southern Appalachian region, as well as in Oklahoma and Arkansas, led each into a deeper Christian life. With vision, audacity, and resolution these teachers enabled students to succeed. Their accomplishments as educators and as Christians provide inspiration for today’s readers. Sawyer, Prudden, and Berry were viewed in their culture as weak. However, they battled ignorance, bias, superstition, and even dirt, as they effectively changed the lives of thousands of children and adults.