Transcript Women and the Civil War

Women and the Civil War
By: Courtney Dahl
Women Soldiers
With the start of the Civil War came the
recruitment of men in to the Union and
Confederate armies. Fathers, husbands,
sons, and brothers all left their women
forgotten at home. Women, feeling
neglected and alone, wanted to support
the war effort and be with their husbands
so many disguised themselves as men
and enlisted in the military.
How did they do it?
Because of the poor health examination standards,
women could easily be allowed in to the army and would
use cloths to bind their chests as well as padding around
their middles to appear more muscular. Because women
were registered under male names, it is unclear how
many women soldiers there really were. A rough
estimate is around 400 while some say the number was
many times larger than that. Women were represented in
all three main branches of the army (infantry, cavalry,
and artillery), a surprising number of them advancing
through the ranks to become sergeants, and in some
cases officers, until wounded, killed, or being found out
through some other extreme circumstance. Many women
were even discovered because their mannerisms gave
them away. The way they tied their shoes or wrung out a
dish towel were all tell tale signs of their true gender.
Civil War Nurses
Approximately two-thousand women in the
Union and the Confederacy served as
volunteer nurses during the Civil War.
Seeking direct involvement in the war,
women dedicated their time to caring for
the wounded and the sick on and off the
battlefield.
The Angels of the Battlefield
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In the beginning men were outraged at the very thought of
women working as nurses in the Civil War. They thought it
inappropriate for women to see male naked bodies and to
be surrounded by the gore of the battlefield. But women
went right on tending to the sick and experienced firsthand
amputated limbs, mutilated bodies, disease and death.
Some of their daily duties included
Tending to and cleaning wounds
Administering medications
Comforting the dying
Searching for wounded on the battlefields
Assisting doctors during operations
Writing letters for the soldiers
Talking to soldiers and building up moral
Transporting and delivering supplies
Overseeing sanitary conditions at various facilities
Important Nurses in the Civil War
Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton were two of the most
influential nurses in that they led a national effort to
organize a nursing corps to care for the war's wounded
and sick. Dorothea Dix was already known for her work
in improving the care for the insane but for the war effort,
she began to recruit women to serve as nurses in the
Army Medical Bureau. Clara Barton, determined to help
in any way she could, took care of the wounded soldiers
who returned to Washington but eventually had the
opportunity to work on the front lines of battle. After the
war, Clara Barton became the founder of the American
Red Cross.
Civil War Women in Espionage
Women proved to be quite valuable when it came to
spying for both the Confederacy and the Union. Their
coy and gentle nature did not make them an easy
suspect and many men would not be caught dead
interrogating a woman. Women would often seduce the
soldiers in to giving out information or often be at the
right place at the right time and overhear useful
information. The fashion of the time period proved to be
useful as well. The large hoop skirts were convenient for
hiding not only messages but goods and packages as
well. Some women even hid letters in the center of their
bun hairdos!
United States Sanitary Commission
For the women looking to support the war effort but not
wanting to hide goods under their skirts, sponge bathe
an amputated leg, or dress like a man, the United States
Sanitary Commission was born. In 1861, President
Lincoln reluctantly signed the bill making the institution
an official agency. He believed that the support from
women was not needed and would just be an
annoyance. He would soon be proved wrong when the
volunteer work of thousands of women would result in
cutting the disease rate of the Union Army in half and
raising around twenty-five million dollars in support of the
Northern war effort.
What exactly was the U.S.S.C.?
The United States Sanitary Commission allowed women to
really get involved in ensuring the comfort and safety of their
soldiers. Women tirelessly asked neighborhoods for
donations, worked as nurses, organized kitchens in the
camps, ran hospital ships, knitted socks & gloves, sewed
blankets & uniforms, baked food, and organized Sanitary
Fairs that raised millions of dollars worth of goods and funds
for the Federal army. Warehouses were set up to repack and
send out all of the goods being shipped in by mothers,
daughters, aunts, and sweethearts who had joined together in
thousands of ladies aid societies all throughout the North.
Sanitary agents scrutinized the camps, inspecting the living
conditions and the hospitals and set standards for the hiring of
medical personnel. After the war, the USSC worked with
Union Veterans to secure their bounties, back pay, and apply
for pensions.
Let’s Sum It All Up Shall We?
The women of the Civil War were
revolutionaries that shattered the
boundaries and limits placed on them by
society in order to help in every way
possible. They deserve a huge amount of
recognition for their contributions to the
Civil War and without their efforts, the Civil
War might have been drastically different.
Sources
http://www.forttejon.org/ussc/ussc.html
http://americancivilwar.com/women/
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/greenhow/1863-07-20/1863-07-20.html
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets2.html
http://www.hallrichard.com/civilwomen.htm
http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarnurses.htm
http://www.dtsk8.org/6_8/8/Civil%20War%20Webpage-RS/indexcivil.html