Confederate Army of Northern Virginia cannons at Gettysburg Battlefield
On February 17, 1865, the train guard on the railroad cars between Danville and Richmond demanded to see the papers of a soldier dressed in light-colored corduroy pants, Yankee great coat, and fatigue hat dipped at a jaunty angle, almost touching the wearer’s right ear. The delicate soldier didn’t have any papers signed by the Provost Marshal nor did he seem concerned about the lack of documentation allowing him to ride the cars.
The soldier was arrested and taken to the chief of police. Rigorous questioning revealed an astonishing fact—the soldier was a young woman.
Mollie Bean claimed to be a soldier with the 47th North Carolina State troops. She’d served with them for two years and been wounded twice. Her wounds didn’t give away her disguise so they probably were minor wounds to the head, arms, or legs.
Mollie was taken as prisoner to Castle Thunder.
The reporter of the Richmond Whig didn’t believe her story of being with the 47th North Carolina for two years.
The Charlotte Daily Bulletin called her Mollie Bear, but the other papers noted referred to her as Mollie Bean.
Mollie’s regiment was in winter quarters near Hatcher’s Run when she was arrested.
Her regiment was part of Pickett’s Charge under Brigadier General James Pettigrew at the Battle of Gettysburg. They were at Cold Harbor. They took part in the long Petersburg siege, so Mollie surely experienced difficulties in her two years with the Confederate army.
There’s no record of how long she was held at Castle Thunder or what happened to her when she was released. Who she was and what happened to her remains a mystery.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
“47th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry,” National Park Service, 2019/03/18 https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CNC0047RI.
“Historical Sketch and Roster of the North Carolina 47th Infantry Regiment,” Amazon, 2019/03/18 https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Carolina-Infantry-Regiment-Regimental/dp/1517383056.
“Mollie Bean,” American Civil War Forum, 2019/03/18 https://www.americancivilwarforum.com/mollie-bean-2248424.html.
“Mollie Bean,” Soldier-Women of the America Civil War, 2019/03/18 http://civilwarsoldierwomen.blogspot.com/2011/01/mollie-bean.html.
“Mollie Bean,” Wikipedia, 2019/03/18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollie_Bean
Sandra Merville Hart 
Stories about this awful and terrible war, where brothers and sisters were forced to have bloody wars against each other has always fascinated me, and \i always go on the side of the Confederates . I find this era very sad for all concerned and yet, it really angers me to hear of statues commemorating these brave generals and foot soldiers being destroyed, when the truth about this war, was not solely based on the slave trade. I can never get my head around it, when Afro Americans make demands for money for their ancestors having been slaves , would they rather it had never happened and they were all back in Africa, I probably will be called the most common label in the world now, a (racist), but is this not the truth? White people are being constantly reminded about their slave trade pasts and are being treated very horribly by certain people, when in fact, white folk have given so much to society, the arts, and modern civilization all over the world.
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Thanks for your comments. I am also fascinated by the terrible war where brother fought against brother … and father against son. Tragic war when everyone who fights was so recently part of the same country. I don’t like to see monuments torn down either. What really happened has often been so watered down that we can’t understand why people reacted the way they did. That’s one reason that I read diaries of folks who lived through it to learn varying perspectives. Some died during the war. They wrote their observations, their feelings, and the events of the day. These are part of my research for my Civil War novels. The folks who endured the war and survived never wanted anything like it to happen again. But they now had empty chairs at their tables. Many had their homes burned down. Property destroyed. It was difficult to recover financially and emotionally. Yet too many paid the ultimate price and left it all on the battlefield. The war decided the matter. They walked away. I’d like to honor their sacrifice, their memory, and let them have the final word. In Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, he said, “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
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The series of North and South was a great look into this bloody and very personal time in American history, but was it accurate or was it all made up and fictional?
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I don’t remember much about the series. It deepened my interest in the Civil War but I don’t remember specifics. My guess is that it was a fictional story within the backdrop of historical battles and events.
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I only saw bits of it and the bits I saw were quite good, but as you say, fiction. The reality of people having to go against their own folk, people they already knew would have been very horrible indeed.
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I agree. Such a tragic aspect of that war. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
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Well, lets hope no more statues or memorials are destroyed and will have a look at your books, so thank you for replying. I must learn to control my rants, perhaps I need to read some of your books.Thank You.
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I hope they don’t either. And I really appreciate you commenting. Our interest in the Civil War is something we have in common. It’s so nice that you read these articles. 🙂 And I’d love for you to read my novels if you like. That would be so wonderful! A Musket in My Hands is set in the South and told entirely from the Southern point of view. Two sisters have no choice but to join the men they love and muster into the Confederate army in the fall of 1864–just in time for things to go badly for them in the Battle of Franklin.
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Thank You, this sounds really interesting, I have heard English traditional folk songs, where women have dressed as men, to enter the war efforts, do their bit, as it were. Your book A Musket In My Hands sounds sounds really interesting and will send away for it om EBay, thank you.
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My pleasure! There are about 400 women known to have disguised themselves as Civil War soldiers on either side. Other women likely died in battle or slipped away without being discovered so the numbers are likely much higher.
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