The Woman in Battle

A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and Travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, Confederate States Army

By Janeta Velazquez, Edited by C. J. Worthington

The Woman in Battle

630 pp., 6 x 9, 43 halftones

  • Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-3319-0
    Published: May 2017
  • E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-3320-6
    Published: May 2017
  • E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-5434-6
    Published: May 2017

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A DocSouth Book, Distributed for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library

Loreta Janeta Velázquez was the daughter of a Spanish official living in Cuba. As a young girl she was sent to school in New Orleans, where she ran away and married a U.S. Army officer. After the outbreak of the war, she persuaded her husband to renounce his commission and to join the Confederate forces. After he was killed in battle, Velazquez disguised herself as a man so that she could serve, eventually doing so as an officer, a spy, and a blockade runner. The Woman in Battle tells the amazing story of Velázquez’s experiences in a male-dominated world, offering a unique perspective on life as a soldier and detailing her many adventures, including fighting in the First Battle of Bull Run and Shiloh, where she was allegedly wounded. Upon the book’s publication in 1876, its veracity was questioned, and it continues to be debated by contemporary historians to this day.

A DOCSOUTH BOOK. This collaboration between UNC Press and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library brings classic works from the digital library of Documenting the American South back into print. DocSouth Books uses the latest digital technologies to make these works available in paperback and e-book formats. Each book contains a short summary and is otherwise unaltered from the original publication. DocSouth Books provide affordable and easily accessible editions to a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers.

About the Author

Loreta Janeta Velázquez (1842–c. 1902) was born in Havana, Cuba. She was married and widowed three more times before her death, the circumstances of which are unknown.
For more information about Janeta Velazquez, visit the Author Page.