Women in the Civil War

Women in the Civil War

Lamia Dyckes

HIS/110

November 8, 2011

Instructor: John Roberts

There are many instances in United States history that exclude the important role that women played in war and combat. The Civil War is no different; many of the images and literature from this time frame portray women, dressed in Victorian fashion waiting on porches in the south or by the mail boxes in the north waiting for their soldiers to come home. However, women actually played an instrumental role in many areas of combat, whether it is in the form of nurses on the most gruesome of battlefields, abolitionist who used the war to spread anti-slavery messages and aided runaways in the north to become soldiers or surprisingly as soldiers themselves.

There are many similarities between the role of women in the north and south during the civil war. For example, neither the union nor the confederate armies allowed women to enlist in the army. They were encouraged on both sides of the war to participate by supporting troops in more traditional ways like sewing uniforms and flags or making bandages. Many women showed their support by creating care packages and forming support organizations for wives, mothers and children, much like they do in modern society. (Blanton, n.d.).

With these similarities there were many differences. The quality of life changed dramatically for women in the south as opposed to northern women. Many southern women had to discard the delicate life in which they were accustomed to take care of themselves and their families. They lived in a predominately agricultural society, which meant that women had to work the fields and plantations, which became less possible as supply lines were cut off by the union army. The maintenance of the farms became difficult for several reasons. The first being that the Civil War was mostly fought in the south, and therefore was occupied by union soldiers who showed little respect for southern life and property.

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