An Irish immigrant, Albert Cashier served for three years in the Union Army (the North) during the Civil War. When interviewed about his life, Cashier was already suffering from dementia, but it is known he lived as a man for over 53 years.

As a soldier he was known for bravery as well as cunning, as he is documented to have climbed a tree and rehung the American Flag when it was shot down off its flag post during a battle, dodging sniper fire. He also escaped after capture by seizing the weapon of his captors and outrunning the enemy until he reached his Union army comrades.

After the War, Albert remained unmarried, lived in Illinois, and worked various labor jobs as a farm hand, janitor, lamplighter, cemetery worker and handyman. It was not until old age when he suffered from severe dementia symptoms and had to be taken care of in a mental hospital that his birth sex was known to others who did not respect his gender expression. He protested being told to wear women’s garments and even tripped and broke his hip when forced to wear a skirt in the hospital. He was one of many soldiers who served in the Civil War that were assigned female at birth, and who kept their birth sex private for various reasons; historians believe his reason was that he was a trans man.

There is a musical and various works based on Cashier’s life, the musical is called The Civility of Albert Cashier, which the Chicago Tribute called “a timely musical about a trans soldier.”