In 1863, Sarah Edmonds contracted malaria and tried to get a leave but was denied. She did not want to receive medical attention because she was afraid she would be discovered. She left her comrades and “Franklin Thompson” was charged with desertion.
Edmonds worked with the United States Christian Commission as a nurse from June 1863 to the end of the war. She published her memoir “Nurse and Spy in the Union Army” and donated the proceeds from the book to various soldier groups.