Frances L. Clayton, who dressed like a male, reputedly enlisted with her husband in a Missouri regiment in the fall of 1861. In order to disguise her gender, she took to the manly vices of drinking, smoking, chewing and gambling, and was described as an “accomplished horseman.” She fought alongside her husband at the Battle of Stones River, where he was killed. She was later wounded and her true gender discovered.

Clayton was discharged from the service at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1863. One report, written after her discharge, stated, “She stood guard, went on picket duty, in rain or storm, and fought on the field with the rest, and was considered a good fighting man.”