Frances Clayton

Under the alias Jack Williams, she claimed to have enlisted in a Missouri regiment along with her husband, and fought in several battles.

[5] Following the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, the Claytons decided to enlist in the Union Army, with Frances disguising herself as a man named Jack Williams.

[8] She was further able to convincingly pass as a man through her "masculine stride in walking" and "erect and soldierly carriage", as well as by adopting male vices such as drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco, swearing, and gambling.

Thereafter, she traveled from Missouri to Minnesota, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and finally to Quincy, Illinois, where a collection was held to help her on her trip.

[12] The series of photos of Clayton, taken in Boston at S. Masury’s studio, has become the most well-known images of a female Civil War soldier.

However, the only knowledge of Clayton’s story beyond these photos is her own words as told through a few periodical articles from 1863, primarily the short-lived Philadelphia political pamphlet, "Fincher's Trades' Review."

[16] None of the military units in which Clayton claimed to have served contain any record of a Jack Williams, or her husband, or any possible derivation of their names.

[17] It is possible that Frances Clayton simply fabricated her story and posed in a photographer's prop uniform (to include a non-standard infantry jacket and officer's sword) in an effort profit from the war via donations and a fraudulent pension application.