My Last Skirt - The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier

Jennie Hodgers dressed as a boy for the first time in order to help support her impoverished Irish family with a shepherd’s wages. Then her arrival in America confirmed her belief that the world offers better opportunities to young men than to young women. So Jennie maintained her outward identity as Albert Cashier, serving as a grocery clerk in Queens, New York; as a farmhand in Ohio; and as a recruit in the 95th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. Not only did she survive three years in combat with her true identity undiscovered, she chose to continue living as Albert for nearly all of her life.

Combining careful research with vivid insight, Lynda Durrant portrays Albert Cashier as a soldier who served his adopted country and his comrades with loyalty and heroism, and Jennie Hodgers as a woman of a woman of astonishing strength, courage, and adaptability—a woman sometimes at war with her own secrets. Author’s note, bibliography.

How does a young woman survive in a world made for men, from the front lines of the Civil War to the quiet loneliness of a life built on a lie?

A Woman Disguised as a Man: Follow Irish immigrant Jennie Hodgers as she becomes Albert Cashier, trading a life of poverty for the freedom and danger of living as a man in 19th-century America. American Civil War Fiction: Experience the grit and camaraderie of the 95th Illinois Infantry through Albert’s eyes, from grueling marches to the historic Siege of Vicksburg. A Lifelong Secret: Discover why, even after the war ended, Albert chose to live out his life as a man, guarding the truth for nearly fifty years. Courage and Survival: A gripping and emotional novel about the fight for identity, the meaning of bravery, and the incredible strength of a woman determined to live on her own terms.