Figure 1. Six volunteer nurses during the Civil War. Retrieved from: https://pinterest.com
The Backbones of the Civil War In April of 1861, America would experience the single most important event in shaping what America is today. This event changed everything from abolishing slavery to the invention of the can opener. This event would be the kick-starter to many ideas that are still being fought over in modern-day America. Of course, this transformative event was none other than the Civil War. The Civil War started in April of 1861 and ended in May of 1865. It was credited to being the turning point of America’s thoughts and ideas. Most Americans study and learn about the Civil War in school, but most were never taught about one of the real heroes of the Civil War: Women. The idea of women being a part of the Civil War is something that most people don’t even realize happened, when in fact women were the backbone of the Civil War. While their husbands, brothers and other male relatives went off to fight in the war, women were left at home and felt the need of a way to volunteer to help the ongoing war. Some of the many ways women assisted in the war effort were becoming nurses, volunteering their skills and possessions, and even dressing as men to fight in the war. All of these actions relieved the continuing war and made it possible for women to be apart of something that was not considered a typical women’s role. Because of the inability of the North and South to reach a compromise when it came to their differences regarding slavery, over 620,000 Americas lost their lives and thousands more were left with life threatening injuries. This devastating loss lead to an extreme need for doctors and nurses to enlist their skills so they could help the injured soldiers. Despite some women having no prior experience when it came to performing as nurses, many women took this as an act of patriotism and stepped forward to help in any way they could. Out of the 3,000 women who volunteered their services, the two most well known volunteer nurse were Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton. Both these women risked their lives daily to help those in need.
Figure 2. A portrait of Clara Barton. Retrieved from: https://www.americancivilwar.com/
The first well known female nurse was Dorothea Dix, otherwise known as “Dragon Dix”. According to author Marica Amidon Lusted (2011), Dix got her nickname and reputation “because she was stern and focused on her work, but she carefully monitored the welfare of both her patients and her nurses” (pg 1). These personality traits were needed when, men especially, gave her an attitude and doubted her ability when it came to facing the tragedy of war. Later during the war, she was promoted to Superintendent of Female Nurses where she had no pay and was given no specific job duties. Despite the lack of faith in her abilities as a female nurse, Dix still persevered and never gave up, even when the government refused to give her medical supplies and she was forced to get them from private sources. (Lusted 2011) Dorothea Dix not only cared for each individual that came under her care, but she also helped save many lives. Similar to Dorothea Dix’s life saving skills, Clara Barton was the most well known of the nurses from the Civil War. She is renowned in her work because of all the selfless things she did for those who fought in the war. Clara spent her whole life caring for other, sometimes even before thinking about her own well-being. Troubled by the violence and agony that the Civil War brought onto soldiers and their families, Barton decided to join the war efforts. This lead her to put herself in danger by putting herself directly on the battlefield. She decided on this treacherous idea because she wanted to be closer to the wounded soldiers, so that she would be able to be their to comfort them in what was sometimes their last moments on earth. An example of her bravery and self-sacrifice was when, as reported by author Mike Weinstein (2001), “Clara was walking across a bridge when a cannonball tore through her skirt. Unshaken, she kept moving forward in to the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia to help wounded soldiers” (pg 1) Clara Barton was undoubtedly a extremely strong woman. Barton showed this courage and strength while watching the “crude medical care during the Civil War. There was no electricity, no X-rays, and no antibiotics. Many wounded soldiers were left to die. If a soldier was wounded in the arm or leg, the doctors usually sawed off the limb” (Weintstein, 2001). One of the things that aided the soldiers the most was the constant comfort that Barton showed to each individual patient. Because of her bravery, love and comfort, Barton was gifted the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield.” After the Civil War ended, Barton continued her heroic journey by helping the families of lost soldiers look for their lost loved ones. Barton eventually traveled to France where she discovered the organization, The Red Cross, an organization to help victims of war. When she returned to American, she organized what may be her most well known accomplishment, The American Red Cross, where she could help Americans soldiers affected by the war. Clara Barton is still to this day known as the most generous people in America’s history, and many soldiers owe their lives to her.
Figure 3. Women knitting socks for the soldiers. Retrieved from: http://www.lib.umd.edu/
With most of the men off to war, not all women could leave their families and homes and become a nurses in the war. Instead this left them with a patriotic opportunity to help the soldiers by becoming volunteers in their communities. In the North, they did everything they could in order to ease the soldiers discomfort. As reported by author Judith Harper (2005), the women started by knitting socks, sewing shirt, uniforms and bedding for the soldiers, and eventually progressed into going door to door asking for donations for the soldiers. With the money that the Northerners graciously donated, the soldiers were able be sent food, medical supplies, and other necessities that they were lacking because of the poor conditions of war. Since most of the War was fought in the South, it caused many declines in the peoples lives, and caused life to be much harder, thus making it almost impossible to volunteer their money and time to the soldiers off at war. For instance, the north blocked the Southern ports, leaving food prices at an all time high. Most Southerners could barely care for their families, so the donations of food and money to the soldiers was not possible in the South. Because of the economic drop in America, both the North and South were struggling, but they were urged to continue donating supplies and money because “they knew that their contributions were making an enormous difference in the health of the troops” (Harper, 2005). The strength and courage that was shown by all the women in this time is very admirable, and is something that continues to inspire others. After the war both the North and the South continued to help the soldiers by donating money and food to the disabled veterans. They even continued to help out the families of the soldiers who were killed during the war. These little acts of charity performed by the people during the war shows how patriotism can make a difference in people’s willingness to help others.
Figure 4. A newspaper describing women dressing as men during the Civil War. Retrieved from: http://library.mtsu.edu/
Unlike the women who stayed at home and volunteered, some women actually ended up on the battlefield fighting along side men. During the memorable Civil war, there were over 250 cases of women cross-dressing in order to fight in the war. The reason why so many kept the cross-dressing secret was because before 1942 women were not allowed to fight in wars, which shows that women and men were not equal until the modern Americas. Before the 1900’s the women had almost no rights for themselves, especially when it came to work. Most women, who were working class, only could work low-paying, dangerous and stressful jobs like seamstresses, maids, and farmers. While women were working just as hard as men, they still got paid a fraction of what men were paid. Many women enrolled in the army because it paid 13 dollars a month, which was much more than what their normal jobs paid. Majerol notes that “the army was no harder than the life they were already living and they were going to make more money” (as cited in Blanton, 2002) Fighting in the war was, to some, was a more desirable job, financially. There was another reason why women risked their lives to be at war, and that is love. Love can do crazy things to a person, and it was no different during the Civil War. Many women followed their husbands, brothers, and other male relatives, into war. An example was Frances Hook, who was one of the most well documented cases of cross-dressing in the military. When she was three years old her parents died, so when her only brother was drafted, she followed him into the trenches war. She couldn’t bear to be apart from the only family member she had left, and in her mind constantly being in danger was worth the risk. Hook was so dedicated to the war that she continued fighting even after her brother was killed. Veronica Majerol (2015) documented that “Hook (aliases Frank Miller, Frank Henderson and Frank Fuller) kept on fighting until Confederate forces capture her in Florence, Alabama, in 1863” (pg 2). This was because, like many other women, France had patriotism and wanted to fight, and possibly die for her country. Frances Hook was privileged to be one of the first woman to experience freedom in a very different way than most women ever experienced in their entire lives. With so many women getting away with fighting as men, the question of how they got away with it comes up. It actually was quite easy for women to basically become men. This was because identifications were not used during the Civil War, so all women had to do was cut their hair and change their name. The only reason women were every caught was because when they went for medical treatment, many doctors would discover their secret. Many women were kicked out of the army while some, at desperate times, were allowed to continue their service. Now in America all women are able to have any position in the army, and this all started from the brave women who started the revolution. Women have always been a underrated part of Americas history, but the Civil War is just another important example of how the history books glance over the involvement of women. The roles of women during the Civil War were to become nurses, volunteer in their communities, and even to dress as men and fight in the war. The Civil War was the first time that women were allowed to step outside their bounties as house wives, and become apart of something bigger. This was shown by the incredible acts of service that the women performed throughout the devastating four years.