HERstory Women and the Civil War

For women, the Civil War “ represented both burden and opportunity ”

How did women participate in the Civil War?  Ran farms and businesses  Worked in factories  Nurses, teachers, government workers  Served the military forces as messengers, guides, scouts, smugglers, soldiers and spies

Women as soldiers!? Many soldiers were not old enough to shave, so it was easy for a woman to disguise herself as a man. An estimated 400 women, disguised as men, fought in the Civil War.

Loreta Janeta Velazquez

 Disguised as Lt. Harry T. Buford, she fought for the Confederacy at the battle of Bull Run.  After the war she published a memoir of her time as a soldier and a spy.

Rose O’Neal Greenhow  She spied so successfully for the Confederacy that Jefferson Davis credited her with winning the battle of Manassas/Bull Run.  She was imprisoned for her efforts first in her own home and then in the Old Capital Prison. Despite her confinement, Greenhow continued getting messages to the Confederacy by means of cryptic notes.

Dorothea Dix  Dix became the Union's Superintendent of Female Nurses in June 1861, placing her in charge of all women nurses working in army hospitals.  To battle stereotypes she only accepted applicants who were plain looking and older than 30 and authorized a dress code of modest black or brown skirts.  A total of over 3,000 women served as Union army nurses.

Clara Barton  Union Nurse  Known as “the angel of the battlefield,” Barton would follow Union armies into battle.  Began an independent organization to distribute medical supplies to hospitals  Founder of the American Red Cross

Sojourner Truth  Born Isabella Baumfree, Sojourner Truth was one of the earliest and most passionate of female abolitionists--for she herself had once been a slave.  During the war she gathered supplies for black volunteer regiments.  In tribute to her efforts, she was received at the White House by President Lincoln in 1864.

Susie King Taylor  African American woman and former slave  Served with the Union army's "colored" regiments during the second half of the war  Began her military service washing and cooking for the men, but also served as a regimental nurse and reading and writing instructor  After the war she opened a private school for black children

How have women’s roles during war time changed since the Civil War? What has stayed the same?

Where are we now? Just recently (1/24/13), Pentagon policy has changed regarding women in combat. Before, women could not be assigned to a unit whose primary mission was to engage in direct combat. Now, gender is not a consideration in assigning women in the military their roles. Marines assigned to a female engagement team in Afghanistan in 2011, before the women in combat ban was lifted.

Please answer the following questions in your notebook: For women the war was both “a burden and an opportunity.”  How are women burdened in war?  In what ways did the Civil War provide opportunities for women to be “freedom fighters,” both for North and South?  U.S. women are now allowed to engage in direct ground combat. What are your opinions on this policy? Why? For women the war was both “a burden and an opportunity.”  How are women burdened in war?  In what ways did the Civil War provide opportunities for women to be “freedom fighters,” both for North and South?  U.S. women are now allowed to engage in direct ground combat. What are your opinions on this policy? Why?