The Role of Women During

the Civil War

What impact did women have on the outcome

of the American Civil War?

What roles did womenactually have during

the war?

Listen to Civil War song: “The Girl I Left Behind Me”-Midi File Sequenced by John Renfro Davis

By

Paul Biron

Have you ever wondered what women did during the Civil War and how their lives changed? Wives, mothers,

daughters, and grandmothers impacted the War both at home and on the battlefield. Their lives changed in many

ways with the onset of the Civil War.

 

 

It is an accepted convention that the Civil War was a man's fight. Images of women during that conflict center on self-sacrificing nurses, romantic spies, or brave ladies maintaining the home front in the absence of their men. The men, of course, marched off to war, lived in germ-ridden camps, engaged in heinous battle, languished in appalling prison camps, and died horribly, yet heroically. This conventional picture of gender roles during the Civil War does not tell the entire story.

Frances Clayton

Here is a picture of Frances Clayton disguised as a soldier.

Listen to Civil War song:“When Johnny Comes Marching Home“ -Midi File Sequenced by Anon

Men were not the only ones to fight that war. Women bore arms and charged into battle, too. Like the

men, there were women who lived in camp, suffered in prisons, and died

for their respective causes.

Women were not allowed to be soldiers. So they had to disguise themselves as men.

Listen to Civil War song:"The Battle Hymn of the Republic"     -Midi File Sequenced by Anon.

The women of the war formed groups like the Sick Soldier's Relief Society and the Soldier's Aid Society. In the South and in the North too, women made bandages for the wounded and knit socks to kept he soldiers' feet warm and dry. A few, Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, among them, volunteered to nurse the wounded.

Nurses and Caregivers

Nursing the Wounded

Nursing the wounded in a

Civil War field hospital.

Clara Barton entered the war as

a field hospital nurse. After the

war she would go on to found The American Red

Cross.

Even the most menial tasks were performed in the battlefield camps by women. Here a laundress washes the soldiers’ uniforms.

Women worked to manufacture arms, ammunition, uniforms, and other supplies for the soldiers. Prior to its destruction, women in the Fayetteville arsenal made some 900,000 rounds of small arms munitions in 1864. People were grateful for the contributions of women in the war, and newspapers reported their accomplishments. Many other services and supplies were also needed for the war effort.

Arms Manufacture

Another common job for a woman during the civil war was to become a spy. Since legally they could not serve on the battlefield, some woman anxious to help the war efforts would engage in espionage. One famous spy during that time was Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Since she socialized in political circles she was able to gather and pass along information.

Spies

Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow

Confederate Spy

Listen to Civil War song: "The Red River Valley"   -Midi File Sequenced by Barry Taylor

Being a spy was a very dangerous

contribution to the war effort. If

discovered you could be killed or disowned.

"Major" Pauline Cushman claimed Confederate sympathy yet she actually spied for the Union, often as an actress. Her many adventures were capitalized upon by P.T. Barnum who advised her tours.

One of the most famous of Confederate spies, Belle Boyd served the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. She was caught and imprisoned in 1862.

Citations and Sources

1. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-1.html Women Soldiers of the Civil War By DeAnne Blanton

2. http://americancivilwar.com/women/harriet_tubman.html

3. http://www.hallrichard.com/civilwomen.htm "KNOWN BUT TO GOD": FEMALE SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR By Richard Hall

4. http://americancivilwar.com/women/women.html Women of the American Civil War

5. http://home.att.net/~dmercado/music.htm Civil War Music