The pair successfully managed to keep their gender hidden from their fellow soldiers and the military for two years while fighting in several major battles, until they were discovered and incarcerated.
[2] In the fall of 1862, the girls' uncle decided to leave home to fight for the Union, based on his belief that the Confederacy would lose the war.
[2] In order to compensate for their uncle's disloyalty, twenty-two-year-old Molly, the more passionate and impulsive leader of the two, devised a plan for the pair to disguise themselves as men and enlist in the Confederate States Army.
[2][3] The women disguised themselves by cutting their hair, wearing thick woolen shirts to conceal their figures, lowering their voices and walking like men.
[citation needed] The girls chose a young captain as their confidante, who protected them from physical exams and other duties which could have put them at risk of discovery.
[2] Mary and Molly decided they needed to quickly confide in another officer and selected a young lieutenant who had recently been placed in command of their company.
[3] The Bells, along with other women discovered, were accused by the Richmond Daily Examiner as only assuming their disguises to "follow the army and hide their iniquity," and were even blamed for General Early's failure in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign.
"[3] Even extreme conservative activist Edmund Ruffin thought Mary and Molly Bell "proved themselves fine soldiers... and should be allowed to stay in the service.