Mollie Bean
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Confederate States of America
Confederate States Army
47th North Carolina InfantryMollie Bean | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Melvin Bean |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service | Confederate States Army |
| Unit | 47th North Carolina Infantry |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Mollie Bean was a North Carolinian woman who, pretending to be a man, joined the 47th North Carolina Infantry, a regiment of the Confederate army in the American Civil War.
Mollie Bean took on the name of Melvin Bean[1][2] and was captured in uniform by Confederate forces outside Richmond, Virginia, on the night of February 17, 1865.[citation needed][3] When questioned, she said she had served with the 47th North Carolina Infantry for two years and been twice wounded,[2] but neither of these wounds led to her discovery.[4] Bean was described in the press as "manifestly crazy" and charged with being a "suspicious character", i.e. a spy.[5] She was incarcerated at Richmond's wartime prison Castle Thunder,[1][6] where Mary and Molly Bell were held prisoners in October 1864.
Her captain was reported to be John Thorp.[1] The Richmond Whig, which reported Bean's discovery on February 20, 1865, assumed that other soldiers in the company knew Bean was a woman; according to historian Elizabeth D. Leonard, this was likely not true.[2]
A fictionalized version of Bean is a major character in Harry Turtledove's alternative history novel The Guns of the South, where she is cast as a former prostitute.[7]
