Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Aged Woman Bares Secret of Youth; She was a Drummer Boy in Union Army

From: Logansport Pharos Tribune (Logansport, Indiana) Apr 11, 1921

OAKLAND, Cal. — For 58 years Mrs. Anna Glud, of this city, has nursed a romantic secret.


And then, on her 68th birthday, with a family group about her, the white haired old lady revealed the amazing story of how, at the outbreak of the civil war, she had cut her hair, donned the uniform of a Union fighter and gone to the war as Tom Hunley a drummer boy.

That she had not previously bared her secret was due partially to the fact that her family had been divided on the war issues and she waited for time to heal the wounds; partially because of a somewhat natural reluctance.

But she did not wish the secret to go to the grave with her and so the story of Tom Hunley came to light.

Two persons had known her secret — Jermiah Hunley, her father and Gen. Grant, in whose charge her father had placed her.

The Hunley’s lived in a “border” state. Two sons went with the Union forces and two with the Confederate. Then the father was called.

Father Cuts Hair.
The prospect of leaving his little girl among strangers, unprotected and uncared for, was too much, so he dressed her in the uniform of a drummer boy, cut off her hair, told her to always remember her name was “Tom,” and joined the regiment.

For two years “Tom” Hunley and “his” father served with the Union forces in the bloodiest battles of the civil war. Never once was the identity of the little “drummer boy” suspected. There came a day, however, when Jeremiah was forced to reveal the secret of his daughter’s masquerade. General Grant inspected the regiment and seeing the diminutive “drummer boy” decided “he” was too young for active service, and ordered “him” mustered out. Thereupon Jermiah told him the story of the motherless little girl. The General swore himself to secrecy and ordered “Tom” Hunley’s retention in the service.

Reminiscing, the former “Tom” Hunley said: “During all that time though many remarked that I looked more like a girl than a boy, not one soldier discovered that I was a girl. Father and I kept together so constantly that I was always protected. Had I not had his assistance at all times, I doubt that I could have stood the rigors of a soldier’s life during those two dreadful years.

Feet Red With Blood.
“Why, in a battle near Davisville, when 7000 confederates and northerners were killed, our little body of men literally had to climb over the bodies of dead soldiers in order to fight our way out. My little feet were red with blood. And when we were mustered out in the fall of 1864 there were but 17 members of our company left.”

The war over, Jermiah and “Tom” Hunley settled down in Indiana. But the rigors of war were too much for the father and in six months time he followed his wife and four sons into the Beyond, leaving his little girl, now re-attired in the dress of her sex, to continue life under the guidance of newly-made friends.

Twenty years later, General Grant died without having revealed the secret of “Tom” Hunley, and a secret it has remained until recently when Mrs. Glud revealed it.

From: yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com


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