Major Belle Reynolds

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
Not sure what to think about the entire story. Don't get me wrong, I'm crazy about Belle! Another Civil War nurse who went on to study medicine, became Dr. Belle Reynolds, these stories are wonderful. The bottom line would be there's no proof on Major Belle other than she did what she did, provided invaluable service, was a capable, stubborn and independent woman. It's a great story- she was a great woman.

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So no good deed goes unpunished;

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A tepid apology for this kind of affront....... and from copious digging, I can find nothing but innuendo as proof for this stuff. Really cannot- a lot of pious outrage, nothing to prove that a married couple traveling in the company of a professional man was some cover for him taking his mistress along. Maybe there is some, just have not found it.
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Okay, JPK. I am lost with this post. Are you telling us that after she had helped with all the wounded, some newspaper, implied or whatever, that she was actually Yates' mistress?
 
Okay, JPK. I am lost with this post. Are you telling us that after she had helped with all the wounded, some newspaper, implied or whatever, that she was actually Yates' mistress?

Well it's both. Major Belle deserved her accolades- it does transpire she did incredible work with wounded. Seems to me probably became frustrated at not being able to do more hence one, more female who became a doctor post-war. I'd been looking for articles on her and bumped into some nastiness. There are quite a few implying she was Yate's mistress, her husband a willing dupe. Implying heck- at least 2 papers say it outright. She did not bother to sue, at least cannot find anything.

The rumors died in the face of this woman's continued career.

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Perhaps she never responded because she didn't feel the comments were worth responding to. Are there dates for the negative articles?
 
I have personified Belle a number of times. Below is a link to YouTube that was my first formal presentation taken at the Illinois State Military Museum in April 2014. I had been doing this informally on the fly but rarely in entirety at reenactments for small groups of spectators on an impromptu basis prior.

I recently attended a Zoom meeting by history professor, James Fuller titled "The Lady Major and the War Governor: Belle Reynolds, Richard Yates, and the Politics of a Civil War Sex Scandal
http://historicelsah.org/2020/08/th...-and-the-politics-of-a-civil-war-sex-scandal/
It's important to note that Gov Yates had political rivals that authored the negative articles (ie copperheads). Belle was Christian and educated enough to see where it was headed and left with her dignity in tact to return to her nursing mission as primary objective. She was respected by the troops before and after the stupid media event. I respect her. I also believe she was humble but knew that the title of "Major" was a big morale booster among the soldiers she cared for.
 
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