Mary Tepe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 24, 1834 Brest, France |
| Died |
May 24, 1901 (aged 66) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Vivandière |
Marie Tepe (1834–1901),[1] known as "French Mary," was a French-born vivandière who fought for the Union army during the American Civil War.[2] Tepe served with the 27th and 114th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments.[3][4]
Early life[]
Little is known of Tepe's early life. Born Marie Brose, Tepe was born in Brest, France, on August 24, 1834. Her father was Turkish and her mother was French.[5] It is unknown exactly when she (and potentially her family) immigrated to the United States, but it is estimated that she potentially immigrated at fifteen years old.[6] Around 1854 she married a tailor from Philadelphia named Bernhard Tepe.[5]
Civil War service[]
Tepe's husband enlisted in the 27th Pennsylvania Infantry as a private. He wanted Tepe to stay behind and run their tailor shop during his service, but Tepe enlisted herself.[5] She enlisted in the 27th as well. While the unit marched to Philadelphia, Tepe was responsible for carrying a 1.5 gallon keg for whiskey or water. While at camp, Tepe sold various goods to the soldiers until the first Battle of Bull Run when she worked in the regimental hospital.[5] Tepe's time with the 27th Infantry ended when her husband and his friends, while intoxicated, stole $1,600 from Tepe.[5]
The opportunity to be a vivandière called Tepe back into the service. She joined Charles H.T. Collis and his regiment of Zouaves d’Afrique, the 114th Pennsylvania.[6] In this regiment, she received a soldier's pay with an addition twenty-five cents for each day spent working at the hospital. She became the "daughter of the regiment."[5] She worked alongside the 114th Pennsylvania as a sutler as well as cooking, and washing and mending clothing.[6] After a particularly deadly Battle of Chancellorsville, Tepe began working with a field hospital. Tepe and Annie Etheridge were awarded the Kearny Cross on May 16, 1863, after their work in the Battle of Chancellorsville, though Tepe refused the award.[2][5] They were the only women awarded out of 300 medal recipients.[2]
Tepe joined the 114th on numerous campaigns, and was for the most part spared of injury.[5] She was reported to be wounded in the ankle during the Battle of Fredericksburg but otherwise had good luck.[3][4] By one account, Tepe came under fire a total of thirteen times. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Tepe endured particularly hazardous conditions to bring water to exhausted troops.[7] Tepe's regiment was present at the first battle of Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania.[6]
Post-war life[]
After the war, she married a Civil War veteran named Richard Leonard; her previous husband had died at Gettysburg. Certain records report that the two met during the Petersburg Campaign and married in Culpeper, Virginia.[5] She and Leonard divorced in March 1897, with Tepe citing "general abuse" as the cause of the split.[5] Tepe was awarded the Kearny Cross for her courageous service at Chancellorsville.[4] In 1898, a newspaper reported that Tepe attempted to receive pension for her military service, yet no records indicate that she received this pension.[5] As a result, she became destitute later in life, developing rheumatism and still suffering from her ankle injury incurred during the war.[5] She committed suicide May 24, 1901 by drinking a lethal dose of "Paris Green," a kind of paint pigment.[1][5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Marie Brose Tepe Leonard". http://pacivilwar150.com/ThroughPeople/Women/MarieBroseTepeLeonard.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tsui, Bonnie (2006). She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford: TwoDot. p. 83. ISBN 0762743840.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tsui, Bonnie (2006). She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Guilford: TwoDot. p. 123. ISBN 0762743840.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hall, Richard H. (2006). Women on the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 259. ISBN 9780700614370.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 "Fearless French Mary" (in en). http://www.historynet.com/fearless-french-mary.htm.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Leonard, Elizabeth D.. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York: W.W.Norton and Company. p. 150. ISBN 0393047121.
- ↑ Leonard, Elizabeth D.. All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies. New York: W.W.Norton and Company. p. 151. ISBN 0393047121.
The original article can be found at Marie Tepe and the edit history here.