“Deftly weaving lushly dramatized scenes of Loreta’s riveting tale with historical commentary and archival material, the documentary explores the story of a complex woman, a myth and the politics of national memory.”
July 14, 2013
Examiner
The Entertainment Report: Petrucelli picks the week’s top CDs, DVDs and Books
DVD QUICK PICKS
Shrouded in mystery and long the subject of debate, the amazing story of Loreta Velazquez is
one of the Civil War’s most gripping forgotten narratives. While the U.S. military may have
recently lifted the ban on women in combat the Cuban immigrant from New Orleans was
fighting in battle 150 years ago–one of the estimated 1,000 women who secretly served as
soldiers during the American Civil War. Who was she? Why did she fight? And what made her
so dangerous that she has been virtually erased from history?
These and many other questions are answered in the riveting Rebel (PBS Distribution). Deftly
weaving lushly dramatized scenes of Loreta’s riveting tale with historical commentary and
archival material, the documentary explores the story of a complex woman, a myth and the
politics of national memory. Rebel chronicles Loreta’s rebellious relationship with her traditional
family and her early marriage to an American soldier known only as William. After the
devastating sudden death of William and her three young children, Loreta turned her grief into
transformation. She embarked on a new secret life, disguising herself as a man and, under the
name of Harry T. Buford, served first as a soldier in the Confederate Army and later as a Union
spy.