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- Feb 5, 2017
This is from FB "Winchester Tales" This story could go in a number of places! It is fascinating!
The uniform was hot, the linen wrapped around her chest was tighter still, and the handcuffs had only just been fastened around her wrists. As the transport steamed down the James River toward City Point in the spring of 1865, someone aboard finally realized that Private Lizzie Hoffman of the 45th United States Colored Infantry was not the young man everyone believed her to be. Born in Winchester into slavery, Hoffman had seized her chance after West Virginia entered the Union in 1863. Carrying a pass to travel toward Romney, she slipped away, reached Clarksburg, disguised herself as a man, and enlisted in what became the first United States Colored Troops regiment organized in West Virginia.
For nearly two years, her secret held. She trained at Camp William Penn, marched through Virginia, fought at Chaffin's Farm, Fort Harrison, Fair Oaks, Hatcher's Run, the fall of Petersburg, and the pursuit of Lee to Appomattox. While serving near General Grant's headquarters at City Point, her identity was discovered. Lizzie was arrested then ordered to leave the army and resume civilian dress, she disappeared from the historical record. We do not know where she went, what name she later used, or how the rest of her life unfolded. But we do know this: an enslaved woman from Winchester risked everything to fight for the freedom of others, and her courage deserves to be remembered alongside the soldiers with whom she served.v
The uniform was hot, the linen wrapped around her chest was tighter still, and the handcuffs had only just been fastened around her wrists. As the transport steamed down the James River toward City Point in the spring of 1865, someone aboard finally realized that Private Lizzie Hoffman of the 45th United States Colored Infantry was not the young man everyone believed her to be. Born in Winchester into slavery, Hoffman had seized her chance after West Virginia entered the Union in 1863. Carrying a pass to travel toward Romney, she slipped away, reached Clarksburg, disguised herself as a man, and enlisted in what became the first United States Colored Troops regiment organized in West Virginia.
For nearly two years, her secret held. She trained at Camp William Penn, marched through Virginia, fought at Chaffin's Farm, Fort Harrison, Fair Oaks, Hatcher's Run, the fall of Petersburg, and the pursuit of Lee to Appomattox. While serving near General Grant's headquarters at City Point, her identity was discovered. Lizzie was arrested then ordered to leave the army and resume civilian dress, she disappeared from the historical record. We do not know where she went, what name she later used, or how the rest of her life unfolded. But we do know this: an enslaved woman from Winchester risked everything to fight for the freedom of others, and her courage deserves to be remembered alongside the soldiers with whom she served.v
Bringing the