Mary Owens

Mary Owens (1843–1881) was a Union soldier during the American Civil War.[1]

Civil War service

Born in Wales, Mary immigrated to Pennsylvania with her parents. She left home, eloping with William Evans, a man disliked by her parents, and married in Montour County, Pennsylvania.[2] Shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, the couple enlisted together in Company K, 9th Cavalry, Mary posing as her husband's brother, "John Evans." Her husband died by her side in combat; she remained in the regiment eighteen months despite his death.[3][4]

Owens fought in three battles with her regiment, and was wounded in each.[5] She dressed her first wounds herself, being wounded above her right eye and on her arm, fearing to be revealed if she went to a hospital.[5] These were likely wounds from an enemy saber.[5] She was discovered after 18 months of service upon being wounded in battle for the third time, in the chest.[1][6]

Local newspapers during the war delighted in stories such as Owens's, involving women soldiers inspired by patriotism or the love of their husbands. According to Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Owens was "described as a woman of considerable beauty, and is said to be the heroine of the neighborhood."[7]

After the war

Mary Owens remarried to Abraham Jenkins, also a native of Wales. They moved to Ohio, living first in Youngstown then in Stark County.[8] She and Abraham had four children. She died in 1881 and was buried in West Brookfield, Ohio. Abraham died in a railroad accident in 1903. The local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic decorated her grave for many years after her death. A headstone was added by the Sons of Union Veterans in 1937 which proclaimed her service to the Union army.[8]

Legacy

The District of Columbia Press, in the post-war years, was interested in preserving the tales of women soldiers. They published pieces about Mary Owens in 1896 and 1901.[8]

References
  1. Tsui, Bonnie (2006). She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford: TwoDot. p. 70.
  2. Blanton, DeAnne; Wike, Laura Cook (2002). They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press. p. 32. ISBN 0807128066.
  3. Blanton, DeAnne; Wike, Laura Cook (2002). They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press. p. 44. ISBN 0807128066.
  4. Hall, Richard H. (2006). Women on the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 244. ISBN 9780700614370.
  5. Blanton, DeAnne; Wike, Laura Cook (2002). They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press. p. 98. ISBN 0807128066.
  6. "Women Soldiers of the Civil War". National Archives. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  7. Blanton, DeAnne; Wike, Laura Cook (2002). They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press. p. 150. ISBN 0807128066.
  8. Blanton, DeAnne; Wike, Laura Cook (2002). They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press. p. 167. ISBN 0807128066.
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