| The 95th Illinois Infantry Regiment compiled an impressive record as a
hard-fighting and oft-bloodied unit. In the Vicksburg Campaign it was among the 10 Federal
regiments suffering the greatest casualties. In the Federal assault of May 19, 1863, the
95th Illinois was the only regiment of General James B. McPherson's XVII Corps to directly
assail the Confederate defense line. Driving forward in the area 700 yards south of the
Stockade Redan, the 95th Illinois crossed Glass Bayou, scrambled up a steep slope, and
weathered blistering fire to reach a point less than 100 yards from the enemy position.
Here the unit remained until ordered to withdraw the following morning. In this action the
unit suffered 62 casualties. In the major Federal assault, which took place on May 22,
1863, the 95th Illinois advanced against the defense perimeter just south of the present
day Missouri Memorial. A murderous fire checked the drive close to the enemy works. That
day's action cost the regiment 109 casualties.
A year later the 95th Illinois was engulfed in the rout of the Federal forces at
Brice's Crossroads in Northern Mississippi. In this debacle the unit lost its colonel, and
three captains who successively commanded the unit. The 95th Illinois returned to Memphis,
Tennessee, depleted and demoralized under the command of a captain its fifth commanding
officer during this brief campaign.
The 95th Illinois also participated in the ensuing Red River and Nashville Campaigns,
closing out the war in operations at Mobile, Alabama. The regiment is reported to have
traveled over 9,000 miles in its three years of service.
Private Cashier was one of those fortunate soldiers who apparently escaped the ravages
of combat and disease. The record does not indicate this private was ever wounded,
seriously sick, or captured during the war. Barely 5-feet tall, thin, laconic, Cashier
made no effort to mingle with peers, and preferred to sit apart from the others while
smoking a pipe in contemplative silence. Members of the unit characterized Cashier as one
who was always ready for duty, never sick and capable of enduring long marches. In return
for assistance in tasks involving heavy lifting, Cashier would sew on buttons and mend
torn clothing.
At the end of the war Cashier was mustered out with the remainder of the regiment on
August 17, 1865 after serving for three years and 11 days in the ranks. Settling down in
Saunemin, a village lying 75 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois, Cashier eked out a
living with a variety of jobs. The years rolled by, transforming the youthful veteran into
a bent sexagenarian. Cashier continued to adhere to a hard-working, lonely life style;
occasionally being jolted out of silence by brash youngsters shouting, "Drummer Boy,
Drummer Boy." The old veteran would turn on the tormenters and rage, "I was no
drummer boy, I was a fighting infantryman." In the preceding years Cashier had joined
the Grand Army of the Republic -- the largest organization of Union veterans. In 1899,
Cashier applied for a pension. After being examined by three surgeons in connection with
the claim was deemed eligible for a veteran's pension.
In 1911, almost 50 years after the Vicksburg Campaign, Cashier was struck by an
automobile. A physician, summoned to the scene examined the old soldier, noted a broken
leg, then looked for other injuries. Much to his astonishment he discovered that Cashier
was a woman. She prevailed upon the physician to maintain her secret intact.
After this incident everything seemed to go downhill for the old veteran. Within three
months, failing health compelled her to reside at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in
Quincy, Illinois. Crippled and bedridden she still clung to the fiction of masculinity.
Three years later a deteriorating mental condition led to her confinement in an insane
asylum at Watertown, Illinois. There she was finally compelled to wear female attire.
Albert D. J. Cashier passed away on October 10, 1915. She carried to her grave the
reasons why the disguise. The Grand Army of the Republic provided an impressive military
funeral. Upon the headstone over her grave in Sunny Slope Cemetery was inscribed the same
masculine name she carried into battle and bore throughout her life. She left a small
estate largely emanating from her military pension. In the absence of valid claims from
relatives, the county treasurer still continues to hold these funds.
In the 1980's measures were taken to correctly identify the grave site. Visitors will
now find two headstones in place -- the original veteran marker and a larger memorial
stone inscribed:
Albert D.J. Cashier
Co.G,95 ILL Inf Civil War
Born : Jennie Hodgers, In Clogher Head, Ireland
1843 - 1915 |
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