Women During The Civil War

It is not known how many women actually participated in battle; however, the number seems to be higher than anyone expected. These women played the role of the warrior and literally gave up their gender to fight. One such case is Amy Clark. She dressed like a man to serve in the Confederate army with her husband. After his death, she continued her service and was wounded and captured by the Union. Once the North discovered her true identity, they released her back into the Southern army and insisted that she wear a dress. Some say that Amy Clark may have worn lieutenant's bars on her uniform. Another women who dressed as a man to fight was Malenda Blalock, who posed as a brother to her husband. Another southern female warrior was Madame

As she could not be near the actual battlefield and with the other nurses that were

If the women’s secret had been discovered, the soldiers did not do much except send the women back home. Some women treated soldiers who were wounded or sick coming from the battlefield, and they supplied the men with the equipment and other necessities they would need on the field. During the Civil War, Columbus, Mississippi became a well-known hospital town, taking in hundreds of the wounded. Women offered to become spies for the Confederacy to help the military gain useful information about the opposing side, and men did not commonly consider women, such as Rose O’Neal Greenhow capable of doing acts such as spying. Some Southern Democratically-involved women turned their noses from the Northern women in disgust, thinking it unbecoming to be around Republicans, and they continued this attitude for quite some time. But not all Southern women wanted the war, and they did not want to be rude to the “enemy”. One woman, Sarah Morgan, who had been treated well by the enemy said, “Fine, noble-looking men they were. One cannot help but admire such foes! . . .” In these cases where the enemy showed such acts of kindness, many Southern women felt respect and sympathy towards the Union soldiers. Though many of these opportunities for new roles for women opened up during the war, most women stayed at home and took care of their house and children.

The Civil War was the first time that women had ever had a major role in combat. They signed up for volunteer brigades, and many went to work as nurses for the soldiers. More than 400 adventurous women actually put on disguises

Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,

“There were just shy of 400 documented cases of women who served as soldiers during the Civil War, according to the records of the Sanitary Commission.” (Brown, 2012)

When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are

The Civil War were extremely affected the lives of American women. Many handful are disguised as men and jointed the fight, over served aspies and nurses. Many women took the role at home after their husband , brother, and father, were at the war. Thousands of women were enslaved began transition to freedom, beginning new lives surrounded by the war.

On the eve of the Civil War, most ladies in the United States lived in provincial ranges and frequently performed depleting, physical work in and around their homes. It is little ponder, then, that a few ladies, in the same way as other men, jumped at the open door for enterprise by volunteering to battle when the Civil War broke out. Around 250 female Civil War officers have been reported by students of history, and there were without a doubt more. They participated in each real fight; at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, for instance, no less than six ladies battled, including Confederate Loreta Velazquez, who had additionally been at Fort Donelson. Most female troopers signed up with a male relative or life partner. Like male warriors, ladies were propelled by an assortment of elements. Notwithstanding the hunger for experience and the longing to go with their friends and family, ladies served out of devotion to a cause and out of the need to acquire cash for their families. Most female fighters stayed undetected as ladies unless they were injured or

When you hear women in the civil war, what do you think? Some people think can that really be, women are not meant for war, all they are needed for is cooking and cleaning and taking care of their children. Well everyone who stereotypes women of that is wrong, because just like men women did have some part of the civil war. Although they may have not fought in the war, they did help with the recovery of the injured men so that they can go back and fight in the war. Being a union nurse is not the only way they were apart of the war, some women did things that went down in history. Just like Harriet Tubman, who made history because she was the creator of the Underground Railroad. She was not the only women who was part of the army and made a

During the Civil war,women played very important parts. 400 women and more disguised themselves as men and fought in the Union and Confederate armies. A good amount of women served as spies and nurses. A handful of them disguised themselves as men and joined the war. The women at home took on the husband, brother, and father roles. In the past generations, women improved their educational standing, acquired greater access to manufactured goods, and secured additional legal rights by the mid-1800s. A majority of American women led daily lives that was focused mainly on their families, households, gardens, and crops. There was about 250 female Civil War soldiers that have been documented by historians and there was probably more. Women took

Up until the U.S. Civil war women were focused on making their homes a private and comfortable place for their families (History.com Staff). However the coming war would push women into the public eye with lots of women joining volunteer brigades and working as nurses. This was the first time in American history Women played such an important part in the war effort (History.com Staff).

During the Civil War, women found themselves in a world outside of their homes. While their fathers, husbands, and brothers fought for what they believed in, women longed to play vital roles while being faced with different opportunities and trials. Issues that women put up with during times of war were hardships on the home front, struggles with the economy, and risks associated with women simply being at war. So what was life like for these women? What effect did men in battle have on women to create a sense of obligation for them to help as much as possible? Perhaps it’s the new circumstances that are changing the lives of women drastically to a measure that they did not have options to choose these actions.

Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,

Women during the Civil War were thought to be those who supplied food and clothing for their men. Some made a difference by becoming nurses, yet some women strived for more. They wanted to be able to see first hand on the front line what kind of war they were really fighting. Women brave enough to risk their lives would disguise themselves as men and fight. Other women tried to find papers and try to understand truthfully what was happening, and the urge to know if they were winning took over their minds.