Women's Role In The Civil War

Throughout history, women have played pivotal roles in many parts of history as well as create their own history by advocating for women’s rights. Women were not able to be much other than housewives during the times before the Civil War, however, when the Civil War came, women were promoted to many new positions. As the Kelvin and Laurie Hillstrom said in their academic journal titled, Women in the Civil War published in 2000, “In order to serve their country, these women had to overcome traditional attitudes that had limited them to roles as homemakers and mothers in the past” (Hillstrom). In addition, Nayani Melegoda’s academic journal titled, Southern Women in the American Civil War, 1861-1865 published in 2007, “From the beginning to the
When the war first began, women were particularly concerned about the health and well being of the soldiers as many of them had never been involved in battle before and were very clueless when it came to self-protection. Women petitioned to be involved by selecting one hundred out of a thousand women to work in army hospitals. Lincoln approved, but with apprehension as stated from the oratory of Josiah H. Benton Jr. on Decoration Day of 1894 titled What Women Did for the War and What the War Did for Women. “The consent of the government to the establishment of this commission was very reluctant, and President Lincoln said he feared it might be the "fifth wheel of the coach;" but within twenty-four hours from the time it was authorized it was actively at work. Its membership was increased first to twenty-one, and subsequently to over five hundred” (Benton). Women clearly were very eager to help in as many ways as possible. This group, which expanded to 7,000 members, was known as The Sanitary Commission. Their goal was to reduced soldier’s death due to disease. Women in the Civil War stated, “Before it’s inception, four soldiers died of disease for every one who fell in battle. The Sanitary reduced this ratio by half. By one estimate, it saved
Nurses were one of the most essential and influential parts of the Civil War. As mentioned above, The Sanitary Union was a group of female nurses who strived to keep hospitals and work areas clean to prevent diseases and improve health of the injured soldiers. Their efforts definitely paid off. According to Women on the Battlefield in the Gale Library of Life: American Civil War printed in 2008, “Fewer than four thousand women served as paid nurses for the Union Army. Neither the number of paid Confederate nurses nor the women on both sides who nursed without compensation is recorded with any accuracy” (Women on the Battlefield). This behavior may of nursing was an act of love from some women who followed their husbands to battle. Jo Ann Carrigan’s account of war nurses ttitled Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women In the Civil War / Angels of Mercy: An Eyewitness Account of the Civil War and Yellow Fever published in 1999 stated, “Many women followed husbands into service, occasionally leaving young children with relatives. Sometimes when a soldier was wounded, his wife went to the base hospital to care for him and stayed on, after his recovery or his death, to nurse other sick and wounded soldiers” (Carrigan). Clearly, these women were very brave and expedient with their care of their men and soldiers. Women were very involved especially in that area because young