Turns out there were a lot of gay soldiers in the Confederacy & they were probably all boinking

We know there have always been queer people throughout history. But if we are to believe that fact, it means accepting an uncomfortable truth: not all of them were good!

As much as we would like to think that belonging to an oppressed group requires one to carry empathy for others, that’s not always the reality. Some gay people side with the oppressors, and actively fight on their behalf.

A publication called the Milwaukee Independent recently explored this phenomenon in regards to the Civil War, and the possible queer identities of Confederate Army leaders. Given the contemptuous attitudes about homosexuality in the 19th century, extracting any concrete clues about the queerness of Civil War figures is a challenge.

How about we take this to the next level?

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Adding to the difficulty, men from that era often wrote to their male friends in flowery and grandiloquent language, which we would now associate with romance.

Still, those obstacles haven’t stopped historians from trying. One Confederate figure known for his flamboyant flair was J.E.B. Stuart, a general who wore a “red-lined gray cape” and his “hat cocked to the side with an ostrich plume,” along with a “red flower in his lapel.”

Stuart’s ostentatious garb solidified his reputation as a “Gay Cavalier,” though his peers thought he was trying to attract the female eye.

Riiiiight.

Stuart was “fond of show and with much personal vanity, craving admiration in the parlor as well as on the field, with a taste for music and poetry and song, desiring as much the admiration of handsome women with full appreciation of his won well-won eminence,” according to a description written by a member of Stonewall Jackson’s staff.

One of those “handsome women” was Stuart’s wife, with whom he owned slaves. He died in 1864 at 31 years of age with his wife, Flora, by his side.

Five years ago, Stuart’s name was back in the news, when his statue was removed from a park in Richmond, Virginia.

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Though nearly all commanders for the Confederate and Union armies were partnered, one notable bachelor was Richard S. Ewell, who curiously didn’t marry until late in life. Ewell eventually wed a friend of his from high school, who cared for him after his amputation in 1863.

While some reject attempts to glean the sexual identities of malevolent actors, the Milwaukee Independent argues the exercise helps construct a more complete historical picture.

“The exploration of sexuality [doesn’t] serve as an endorsement of the Confederate cause,” the article says. “Rather, if it pushes the public to acknowledge that historical narratives are messy and filled with contradictions, it might serve an instructive purpose. LGBTQ+ history is broad and complicated, spanning every social class, race, and creed.”

With that in mind, it’s worth mentioning there were also probably queer figures on the Union side, including one very famous leader.

While we can’t definitively say Abraham Lincoln was gay, we’re pretty certain he shared his bed with men on multiple occasions. The documentary Lover Of Men: The Untold History Of Abraham Lincoln explores our 16th president’s bond with his close male companions.

Then again, as the doc explains, our world was much more homosocial back then. Men and women socialized separately, which meant it was more common for male relationships to be intimate and physical.

“In combing through Civil War battle records of Confederate and Union soldiers, I find, they were not only slaughtering one another–many were also loving one another,” writes Reverend Irene Monroe in her 2016 retrospective, “The untold history of gay Civil War soldiers.“

Telling their stories helps broaden our understanding of history, and how queerness is interwoven in our nation’s fabric through the good and the bad.

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