Loreta Janeta Velázquez Essay

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Loreta Janeta Velázquez was a woman of great ambition, skill, and courage who lived and fought during the American Civil War. She disguised herself as a man so that she could join a nearby regiment in the Confederacy and later became a spy to scout out Union strategies and other information that would be useful. All of Velázquez’s experiences are described in her autobiography, 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.

Loreta Janeta Velázquez was born in Cuba in 1842. At the age of seven, she moved to New Orleans for schooling, and seven years later she eloped with an officer in Texas. He was a part of
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and became a spy. She dropped the male persona for the time being. She brought important information to the Confederate leaders in D.C. By being a spy, Velázquez and many others showed that women can be useful in wars and other jobs.

Throughout the rest of the war, Velázquez aided the Confederate side in many ways. She continues to serve as a spy, and she also fought in the Battle of Fort Donelson and the Battle of Shiloh. However, after being injured at Shiloh, a battle nurse discovered Velázquez’s true gender. After this situation, Velázquez decided to return home for the rest of the war.

Velázquez’s book is where all of the information about her experiences in the Civil War is found. Much of the information is skeptical and cannot be proven. Only some has been verified. Some people believe that the whole story surrounding the Confederate war hero that was Loreta Janeta Velázquez is make-believe. Other people believe that she was an inspiration and a very courageous woman of her time.

After the war, Velázquez married a fourth husband (her three formal spouses had died). She had a son and they immigrated to Venezuela. After a while they moved back to the U.S. and she published her

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