1. Civil War Women
Bellringer: Study this illustration from an 1862 issue of the magazine Harper’s Weekly. What roles do you see women playing in the Civil War, based on this illustration? How do you think the artist felt about the “influence of women” in the war effort? Are their any roles that you think are missing?

2. Women played a vital role in the war effort in both the North and South
Kept “the home fires burning”
Nurses
Fundraisers
Authors
Advocates
Laundresses, camp helpers
Spies
Soldiers.....and many more

3. We will simplify this into 4 broad categories:
Homefront
Healing
Helping
Heroines
Instruct students to label each quarter of their graphic Organizers with these terms. Discuss briefly that because the spaces are small, they will need to focus on main ideas and form generalizations. Explain the backside of the G.O. if you are using it.

4. Homefront
After the Emancipation Proc. went into effect i January 1863, thousands of Black soldiers, many of them former slaves, joind the Union Army to bring about a “new birth of freedom”

5. Possible Discussion: What are these women doing
Possible Discussion: What are these women doing? How can sewing help fight a war? Answers: Women made uniforms – which was especially important in the South were they had fewer textile factories to mass produce them. Women also turned laundry lint into bandages for the Army medical teams, and buoyed men’s spirits by sending homemade items likes socks and underwear – which were not provided by the army.

7. Love letters and hardships
July 14, 1861 My very dear Sarah: I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt
.... something whispers to me... that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed.
If I do not my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again . . .
Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the first Battle of Bull Run, July 21, Suggestion: Have a student read the letter out loud. Especially fun if you have 2 students that are dating in class. Literacy rates during the Civil War were very high – so we have a treasure trove of letters sent back and forth during the Civil War. It is important knowing, when you are on the battlefield, that there is someone waiting for you when you come home. Southern men often describe that they feel that by fighting the war, they are protecting their way of life – which included an idealized image of womanhood.

8. “Keep the home fires burning”
When soldier’s left home to fight, women had to pick up the slack – taking over in the fields and factories in the North.
In the South as the war dragged on and the Anaconda Plan and “Total War” came into play, women of the slaveholding elite, unused to hard labor, found themselves working the fields alongside of the slaves as food in the south dwindled and people began to starve. Poor women picked up factory work and competed with slaves for low-paying jobs. Food shortages lead to high inflation and even rioting.

9. Southern Hardships
The first panel shows Southern women encouraging their men to join the war effort. The second panel shows the effect of this decision: Specifically, the Richmond Bread Riots on April 2, "We celebrate our right to live! We are starving!" Others heard a chant of "Bread or blood!" The mob then began attacking government warehouses, grocery stores, and various mercantile establishments, seizing food, clothing, and wagons, as well as jewelry and other luxury goods. Only after troops were deployed and authorities threatened to fire on the mob did the rioters disperse. More than sixty men and women were arrested and tried for their actions during the riot.” (

11. Poor Southern women suffered the most from the destruction of the South – they did not have money to pay for food and other necessities as inflation drove prices up 1000%
As the war stretched into 1864 and 1865, they began to encourage their husbands to desert, and they did, an average of 200 a day.
Large numbers of Widows create long-lasting social problems, especially in areas where women have few employment opportunities
The role Southern women played – helping Grant wage a “war of attrition” by encouraging men to desert.

12. The Impact of War
Women faced the psychological impact of war as their loved ones left home – perhaps never to return
Women sewed, knitted stockings, and saved their lint to make bandages for the wounded.
Women in areas in the path of the great armies faced tremendous hardships as their homes and fields were destroyed
They also faced the threat of rape and “dishonor”

13. http://www. harpweek. com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon. asp

14. Helping

15. Fund Raising Women held benefits to raise money for the troops
In Chicago, a group of women raised over $100,000 for the US Sanitary Commission – a fortune in those days
In the South, a group of women raised enough money to build an ironclad warship!

16. Hair was used as a packing material for artillery shells
Hair was used as a packing material for artillery shells. Women could sell or donate their hair to help the war effort.

17. African American Women
Many black women could not participate in support organizations , so they formed their own benevolent societies to serve the troops and the war effort.
For example: St. Thomas’s African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia had it’s own Ladies Sanitary Association , supporting Black Regiments. After 1865, these organizations supported the ex-slaves transitioning to freedom.
IN the South, many slaves helped the Union War effort by running away and offering their services to the troops (cooking, cleaning, nursing, etc, passing along information, or refusing to work/working less on the plantations.
Black women in the South filled in jobs left by men in factories and fields. They worked under white supervisors and were usually given the hardest or “dirtiest” jobs. When the labor shortage was at it’s peak, some were even able to claim wages for their work!

18. Slaves escaping across Union lines and freedom

19. The African American Church played an important role in supporting the war effort – helping soldiers, families, and contraband slaves.

20. In Camp
Some officer’s wives stayed in camp with their husbands, setting up a “home away from home.”
Other women set up business, sometimes with husbands, sometimes independently – as laundresses, cooks, and as suppliers of hard to find items.

21. Battles are typically only fought in late spring, summer, and early f all – when roads are dry. Therefore, the majority of a soldier's time was spent in camp. Clearly this soldier is setting up for a long stay! His wife probably helped take care of the other men as well, perhaps earning money by cooking and doing laundry.

23. Officers had better quarters – instead of a tent, a semi-permanent structure to call home.

24. Healing

25. The Nurse Before the Civil War, nursing was not a profession for women
The Civil War opened this as an opportunity for women as thousands of wounded and sick men strained the army surgical capabilities beyond their limit
Most female nurses served in hospitals, largely out of harms way.

26. Nuns stepped into the role as healers in many church-funded hospitals.

27. Other nurses, like Clara Barton, became famous for their merciful care of the wounded on the battlefield
Clara Barton gained experience as a wartime nurse during the Crimean War in Europe.

28. Dorthea “Dragon” Dix Before the war, an advocate for the mentally ill
Appointed superintendant in charge of all female nurses in the Union Army in 1861

29. Dorthea Dix on Nurses’ requirements
“No woman under 30 years of age need apply to serve in government hospitals. All nurses are required to be very plain looking women. Their dresses must be brown or black, with no bows, no curls, no jewelry and no hoop skirts.”
Discussion: Why would Dix have limited who could participate as nurses? (She did not want women who were looking for romance or adventure – women were stepping out in the public sphere in an unprecedented way – she wanted to make sure women did not behave in a way that would dishonor or disgrace this new profession) Keep in mind, Dix did not control all nurses in the war, just those actually attached to the official union army hospitals. Later in the war as the demand for women increased, these restrictions were followed less and less.

30. Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Chief of nursing under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant.
When someone complained about her to Union Gen. William T. Sherman, he told him, "She ranks me.”
The common soldier loved her and nicknamed her "Mother" Bickerdyke
When a surgeon asked her on whose authority did she think she could boss him around, she replied, "On the authority of Lord God Almighty, have you anything that outranks that?”
What does it mean to “rank” someone in the army? What did Sherman mean by this statement?

32. Sally Thompkins
Southern woman in Virginia who ran a private hospital and a staff of 6
Cared for 1333 wounded Confederate soldiers, losing only 73 – a record unmatched by any hospital during the war
Sadly, most Southern hospitals had much lower survival rates. Except for this private hospital, Southern soldiers fared MUCH more poorly than Union soldiers in hospitals.

33. US Sanitary Commission
“The war was fought at the end of the medical middle ages.” – Union Surgeon General
Surgeons didn’t disinfect instruments, didn’t know anything about germs or proper sanitation.
I have a great lesson on Civil War medicine if you are interested – just ask. Germ theory was not widely accepted in the US until the 1880’s.

34. The United States Sanitary Commission was a government agency, created to organize, coordinate , and control the volunteer efforts of women who wanted to help the war effort

35. The volunteers raised money ($25 million), collected donations, worked as nurses, ran kitchens in the Army camps, administered hospital ships, made uniforms, and organized Sanitary Fairs to support the Federal army with funds and supplies.
Inspected camps and hospitals and made suggestions for improvement

37. Cut deaths by disease, infection –2/3 of deaths during the war was from disease – yet this is actually an improvement over statistics from the Crimean War in Europe the decade before.

38. “Public Women” or camp followers...
Prostitution became widespread during the Civil War, especially in large cities where there were high populations of soldiers like Washington, DC and Nashville.
It was an occupation of “last resort” for women struggling to support themselves or their families during the war
Obviously you can take this slide out if you feel this is not an appropriate discussion, but usually someone asks about it or brings it up. VD was a huge issue during the war. Hooker was, shall we say, a “fun time Charlie” and his camp was notorious for prostitution, hence the “job title” “hookers”. I have read in one place that the term existed before the Civil War, but even that author acknowledged that Hooker’s reputation added to the term becoming widespread.
General Joe Hooker

39. Heroines

40. Southern Spies
Rose O’Neal Greenhow - A popular society hostess in Washington, DC, she used her contacts to gain information to pass to the Confederacy.
Imprisoned for a time for her espionage
Died when the blockade runner she was traveling on was sunk by Union ships.
A Washington Socialite, Greenhow was a Southern Sympathizer. She stayed in Washington after the start of the war and continued to host popular parties attended by Officers and politicians, then passed the information along. This picture is of Greenhow and her 8 year old daughter while they were held in prison in Washington, DC. She was released and went to England to great acclaim, before dying in an attempt to return to the South. Her body was weighed down by $2000 in gold.

41. Belle Boyd
Belle Boyd – young, beautiful-She passed information on Union army movements in the Shenandoah to General T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, and was imprisoned as a spy.

42. http://www. harpweek. com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon. asp

43. Northern Spies
Elizabeth Van Lew – abolitionist placed as a spy in Jeff Davis’ house
Harriet Tubman set up a spy network in South Carolina using her skills honed as a conductor on the Underground Railroad

44. Soldiers
“I have the honor to inform you that no official record has been found in the War Department showing specifically that any woman was ever enlisted in the military service of the United States as a member of any organization of the Regular or Volunteer Army at any time during the period of the civil war. “
This was an official response when a reporter asked the War Dept for their records regarding women soldiers in the war. The response is interesting considering numerous war dept records of women imprisoned for being caught on the battlefield as soldiers. Classic cover up.

45. Estimated 400-500 women, North and South, served as soldiers during the Civil War.
How? No medical exams prior to enlistment
Soldiers didn’t undress or use the “facilities” in front of each other – often wore the same clothes for months on end
Some men knew but kept the secret
Poor nutrition and hard labor meant many women did not menstruate

46. Lt. Harry Buford Loretta Velazquez
Southern officer, Cuban born. Enlisted and was discovered to be female at least twice, wounded in battle at least once. Claimed to have also been a spy for the Confederacy.

47. Sarah Edmonds originally dressed as a man to serve as a nurse (remember – nursing was first a “male profession”), later as a soldier and spy. Published a book in the 1880s – Nurse and Spy in the Civil War to raise money (she was living in poverty) and successfully lobbied for and rec’d a military pension.

48. Albert D. Cashier, born Jenny, an Irish immigrant
Albert D. Cashier, born Jenny, an Irish immigrant. Served in the 95th Illinois regiment. Gender never discovered. After the war, continued to live as a man. Gender was not discovered until 1913 when his employer accidentally hit Albert with a car, breaking his hip. His gender was discovered in the hospital and he was forced to dress as a woman, much to his distress.

49. Why did they enlist? Patriotism or desire for adventure
Women working traditional occupations earned about $3/month – soldiers earned $13/month – plus there were enlistment bonuses
To be close to husbands or sweethearts
When discovered – imprisoned and disgraced
Many were not discovered until wounded…or killed.

50. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman from NY. Enlisted to earn better wages
Sarah Rosetta Wakeman from NY. Enlisted to earn better wages. Previously worked on the Erie Canal as a man. Census records show she had previously worked as a housekeeper – low wages drove her to male professions. IN her letters home, she reveals that at least some of her compatriots (s few male cousins and neighbors from back home) knew who she was, visited her, and kept the secret. She beat up one camp bully and describes guarding a female prisoner, captured as a male soldier, at a prison in Washington, DC. Saw action in LA, died of dysentery, and is buried under her male alias in New Orleans. Food for thought: Did she manage to die in a hospital, from a disease like dysentery without being discovered, or did the hospital respect her wishes and keep her secret? Her family saved her letters, which were published under “Uncommon Soldier.” Well worth reading as she has a great sense of humor.

51. In your notebooks....
1. You have decided to join the war effort – now you just have to decide how. Will you....expose yourself to the horrors of war as a soldier or a nurse? Work on inspecting and improving camps for cleanliness? Fundraise for your cause to bring in much needed funds, or work elsewhere?
Write a letter to your mother, who wants you to be a proper lady, explaining what you will do to help the war effort. Provide details about what side you support, how you will support it, why you support it, what joys and hardships you will face, and any other details to make your letter accurate and interesting. or
2. You are a Southern Woman living in Georgia. You have experience running a household, but you have never done any hard labor....until now! Sherman’s Army has destroyed your neighbors’ homes and fields. You have 3 children left, a sick father, and no other men to help you out. Your food is running out and you only have $5 left. Food prices have increased in town 1000% and $5 won’t go far. There is a city 10 miles away – should you stay or should you go and try your luck there?
Your husband is serving in the Confederate Army. Write a letter to him explaining your hardships. What happened to YOU when Sherman came through? What were your fears? What are you going to have to do now to survive? What should your husband do to help?