Born: 1842 Died: 1897 Biography: Loretta Janeta Velazquez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1842. He father was a Spanish government official who owned plantations in Mexico and Cuba. When Loretta was 14 years old she was sent to New Orleans to get her education. She ran away soon after arriving in America, and married an American officer named William. Together they had 3 children, all of whom died only 4 years later. When the Civil War broke out Loretta's husband William resigned and joined the Confederate Army. Try as she might, she was unable to convince her husband into letting her join with him. So she left and went to Arkansas where she acquired two uniforms and changed her name. She disguised herself as a man by flattening her breasts with wire shields and braces and wearing an Army uniform. Calling herself Harry T Buford, she adopted a manly swagger as she walked, perfected the ability to spit, and organized a company of soldiers, the "Arkansas Grays". As a Lieutenant in the company, Velazquez fought in several battles. The first battle was at Bull Run, then Balls' Buff, and Shiloh. In 1863, her husband had been killed in an accident while demonstrating the use of weapons to his troops. She grew tired of camp life and donned women's clothing and went to Washington, D.C. When she returned South, she was assigned to the detective corps but she left for Tennessee instead. While in Tennessee, she fought in the siege of Fort Donelson until the surrender. She was wounded in battle but her sex was not exposed, and she fled to New Orleans, where she was arrested, suspected of being a Union spy and a female in disguise. After she was released, she enlisted to get away from the city. At Shiloh, she found the battalion she had raised in Arkansas, and fought with her men in the battle of Shiloh. She was wounded by a stray shell while she was burying the dead. An Army doctor examined her wounds and found that she was a woman. She again fled to New Orleans and saw Major General Benjamin F. Butler take command of the city. She gave up her uniform at that point and traveled to Richmond, Va. While in Richmond, the authorities hired her to become a spy. She traveled all over the country, across enemy lines, providing information for the Confederacy. It was at this time that she married Doctor Thomas DeCaulp, but he died soon afterwards in a Chattanooga hospital. After the war, she traveled throughout Europe and the South. She wrote her book, The Woman in Battle, and then headed west. In Omaha, Nebraska, she talked General W.S. Harney into giving her a revolver, a buffalo robe, and a pair of blankets. She then traveled to the mining town of Austin, Nevada, where she married a wealthy man and happily settled down. She died in Austin, Nevada, in 1897.