Guts for Glory: The Story of Civil War Soldier Rosetta Wakeman – written and illustrated by Joanna Lapati
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024
A young woman is determined to serve in the army during wartime. She disguises herself as a man and fulfills her dream. This story is the stuff of both history and folklore. In Joanna Lapati’s unusual picture book, the example of this choice is Rosetta Wakeman, who created the male identity of Lyons Wakeman, donned a uniform, passed a cursory physical, and became a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. What dream was she fulfilling? The book assumes the perspective of Rosetta herself; Lapati does not attempt to impose ideological commitments that may or may not have motivated the transformation. Instead, readers are immersed in Rosetta’s consciousness, as she joins the 153rd New York State Volunteers and confronts the enemy in battle.
The glimpses into Rosetta’s state of mind are brief. Third-person narration is interspersed with brief selections from her letters home. She assiduously avoids taking off her uniform. She sends her pay home to her family, directing them to use it for food and clothing. When her comrades in training become “a little rowdy,” Rosetta asserts in one letter: “I haven’t been punished Since I have been in service. I never got to fighting but once…” Lapati’s text reflects the terse and incomplete mode of expression that Rosetta adopts in her letters. Readers may imagine what that “but once,” represents, whether Rosetta is being honest, evasive, or just sticking to the minimal information she deems necessary. Her story is about the daily life of a soldier, not the larger vision behind the Civil War, nor the limitations of gender roles.
Lapati’s artwork is exceptional. As she explains in an afterword, she has recreated the style of 19th century wood engravings, using scratchboard. There is more detail about the process, which reinforces the sense of her commitment to accuracy and to designing a complete and immersive production. Rosetta is depicted sitting on the ground while writing a letter, her eyes covered by the brim of her military cap. We see her in a line of soldiers, ready to raise and aim her weapon. We observe her taking her oath of allegiance to the United States of America, where she is revealingly, but not too revealingly, the shortest man in the group. While the book does not glorify war, it certainly does not apologize for Rosetta’s chosen identity as a fighter.
A sense of ambiguity follows on this deliberate reticence. Was Rosetta’s life one of defiance of restrictions on women? Would she today have identified as transgender? Did she assume that slavery was the underlying reason for her enlistment, or was it secondary to some personal desire? Extensive backmatter gives more information about Rosetta’s life, which sadly ended when she died, not in combat, but of dysentery. Ultimately, readers learn about one woman’s unusual, but not unique, decision, but also consider the many intersecting ways in which she fit into history.
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