By William L. Post, Jr. 

"In 1876 Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez published a 600-page memoir, The Woman in Battle, which recounted her exhilarating adventures in the American Civil War disguised as a Rebel soldier, alias Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. She claimed she fought valiantly at the Battles of Bull Run, Ball's Bluff and Shiloh. Her male soldier disguise fooled generals time and again, but she was found out and thrown in Castle Thunder Prison! She reinvented herself into a slippery female Confederate spy who tricked U.S. Secret Service Chief Lafayette Baker when he hired her to find herself. Some historians and writers have been unsure whether to believe true all Velazquez claimed, but others have become her advocate. One documentarian said it is "one of the most dramatic untold stories of Latino American contributions to a pivotal event of American history- the American Civil War." Because of Velazquez's unbelievable claims, dispute has followed her autobiography, but regardless, every new generation is mesmerized by it. An Imposter of No Ordinary Rank tells the true story of the unique, legendary and controversial Madame Velazquez. She was captivatingly loquacious, intelligent and energetic... but she had a dark side. Mark...

By William L. Post, Jr. 

"In 1876 Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez published a 600-page memoir, The Woman in Battle, which recounted her exhilarating adventures in the American Civil War disguised as a Rebel soldier, alias Lieutenant Harry T. Buford. She claimed she fought valiantly at the Battles of Bull Run, Ball's Bluff and Shiloh. Her male soldier disguise fooled generals time and again, but she was found out and thrown in Castle Thunder Prison! She reinvented herself into a slippery female Confederate spy who tricked U.S. Secret Service Chief Lafayette Baker when he hired her to find herself. Some historians and writers have been unsure whether to believe true all Velazquez claimed, but others have become her advocate. One documentarian said it is "one of the most dramatic untold stories of Latino American contributions to a pivotal event of American history- the American Civil War." Because of Velazquez's unbelievable claims, dispute has followed her autobiography, but regardless, every new generation is mesmerized by it. An Imposter of No Ordinary Rank tells the true story of the unique, legendary and controversial Madame Velazquez. She was captivatingly loquacious, intelligent and energetic... but she had a dark side. Mark Twain denounced her. She was exposed in the New York National Police Gazette when she had a public quarrel with "her husband" who wasn't her husband. Velazquez married many husbands (6 plus), one of which she killed off under false circumstances in her storyline, and she had several children. An Imposter of No Ordinary Rank will be of interest to all readers, especially those partial to biographies, Civil War and U.S. history, the Old West, confidence women and travel adventure."

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