Episode 54 - Hidden in the Ranks: Women Who Went to War as Men

What makes someone a soldier: the name on the muster roll, or the hardship they endured beside their comrades?In Episode 54 of The Rum Ration Podcast, Rejoy and Colin explore the remarkable stories of women who disguised themselves as men to serve as soldiers, sailors, surgeons, and cavalry troopers in worlds officially closed to them. Using Canadian-born Sarah Emma Edmonds—who served in the American Civil War as Franklin Thompson—as the focal point, the episode ranges from Cathay Williams, the only documented female Buffalo Soldier, to William Brown of the Royal Navy, Nadezhda Durova of the Russian cavalry, Christian Davies of the British Army, and the legendary figure of Mulan.These stories are not about costumes or curiosities. They are about endurance, competence, comradeship, and the uncomfortable truth that many institutions only recognized ability after the work had already been done.