Re-Enactors Discuss Women Who Fought Civil War In Disguise

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Two women who disguise themselves as male soldiers at Civil War events are discussing the real-life stories of women who served in the War Between the States.

Audrey Scanlan-Teller and Tracey McIntire are the featured speakers Saturday afternoon at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick.

Researchers have documented more than 200 cases of women who took up arms despite a prohibition on female fighters.

Modern women have sometimes had to fight for the right to present themselves as Civil War soldiers. Scanlan-Teller was initially denied a role in the 2011 sesquicentennial of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, because of her gender. She was allowed in after citing a 1993 federal court decision barring gender discrimination at National Park Service events.

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