A careful examination of unpublished prisoner diaries from the time of the Florence Stockade fails to reveal any mention of a female soldier. This is especially significant given that the most outrageous rumors were regularly repeated as fact by the prisoners in their diaries. Numerous official Confederate reports also survive from this time period, none of which make any mention of the discovery of a female soldier.
One should probably conclude that her tentmates kept her secret, and that her identity was only discovered by the burial crew. Her remains were placed in a trench amid the bodies of other soldiers. An early twentieth-century postcard showing the marble posts that originally marked the graves of the Unknown reveals that a discreet space was left on either side of Florena's body, doubtlessly as a final act of respect.
A careful examination of unpublished prisoner diaries from the time of the Florence Stockade fails to reveal any mention of a female soldier. This is especially significant given that the most outrageous rumors were regularly repeated as fact by the prisoners in their diaries. Numerous official Confederate reports also survive from this time period, none of which make any mention of the discovery of a female soldier.
One should probably conclude that her tentmates kept her secret, and that her identity was only discovered by the burial crew. Her remains were placed in a trench amid the bodies of other soldiers. An early twentieth-century postcard showing the marble posts that originally marked the graves of the Unknown reveals that a discreet space was left on either side of Florena's body, doubtlessly as a final act of respect.
Bio by: Albert Ledoux
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