Essay On The Role Of Women In The Civil War
Dyke 2
Women in the Civil War
Name
Class
Professor
Date
Women in the Civil War The role of women in the Civil War was multifaceted and diverse on both sides of the battle lines. For whatever reason women decided to enlist in the army, they faced more hurdles than their male counterparts, and for this reason, remain significant.[footnoteRef:1] During the Civil War, there were specific roles tailored for and occupied by women, such as the role of ““vivandieres” or Daughters of the Regiment”[footnoteRef:2] These “paramilitary roles”[footnoteRef:3] were most often than not, created by women themselves, and they served as “morale-boosters and sources of comfort and inspiration.”[footnoteRef:4] These women, the so called Daughters of the Regiment, suffered the same difficulties as their male …show more content…
counterparts, such grueling marches, the ruggedness of camp life, and at times they were required to go into battle (Daughters of the Regiment). These women were perceived as “a sort of mascot for their regiment or company”.[footnoteRef:5] In addition, women also served as what were known as, “ministering [angels],” or in other words, nurses and caretakers on the battlefield.[footnoteRef:6] Women occupying such roles tended to dress like men while on the battlefield, however they were not required to do so;[footnoteRef:7] and there is evidence of specific cases in which women served in the Confederate army openly.[footnoteRef:8] [1: Jodlowski , Margaret . "Clothing, Identity, and Combat: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman and Cross-Dress in the American Civil War ." (Primary Source 2, no.), 31.] [2: Ibid. ] [3: Ibid. ] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid.] [6: Ibid. ] [7: Ibid.] [8: Ibid. ]
In reality, multitudes of female soldiers served on the front lines during the civil war.[footnoteRef:9] Due to the fact that serving in the army was a clandestine matter for women, it is nearly impossible to come up with an accurate count of how many women actually fought in battle alongside their male counterparts.[footnoteRef:10] However, some estimates vary between 400 and 750 female soldiers, and scholars believe that what motivated these women to risk their lives in battle is no different than what motivated their male counterparts.[footnoteRef:11]According to scholars, some women were motivated to go to war in order to “share in the trials of their loved ones.”[footnoteRef:12] Others however, like many male solders, were motivated by a burning patriotism, the promise of a reliable wage, or by a yearning for adventure.[footnoteRef:13] In the words of one female solder of the 2nd Michigan Infantry named, Sarah Edmonds Seelye: “I could only thank God that was free and could go forward and work, and I was not obliged to stay home and sweep”.[footnoteRef:14] Further, Jennie Hodgers of the 95th Illinois Infantry, who was known as Albert Cashier, “participated in more than forty engagements”.[footnoteRef:15] Thus, the scholarship points to a trend in which women were both proud and eager to fight in the American Civil War, and in fact, some of these women stand out in particular as result of their exploits on the battle field. [9: Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [10: Ibid. ] [11: Ibid] [12: Ibid. ] [13: Ibid. ] [14: Ibid. ] [15: Ibid. ]
Aside from the aforementioned roles performed by women during the Civil War, there were women who broke the mold. For example, a Cuban born female soldier named Loreta Janeta Velazquez, motivated by her husband’s joining of the confederate army after Texas’ separation from the Union in 1861, fashioned a uniform and went into battle disguised as a man.[footnoteRef:16] Eventually, Velazquez, imitating a lieutenant, formed a band of volunteer soldiers in Arkansas.[footnoteRef:17] Later, Velazquez located her husband in Florida, and joined him with her regiment of soldiers, presenting herself as “their commanding officer”.[footnoteRef:18] After fighting in the North at the Battle of First Manassas, and the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, she began a career as a spy for the Confederacy, infiltrating herself as a woman and gathering intelligence in Washington DC.[footnoteRef:19] Velazquez continued serving as a spy, moving undetected as both male and female between the Northern and Southern lines.[footnoteRef:20] [16: "Loreta Janeta Velazquez: Lieutenant." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [17: Ibid. ] [18: Ibid. ] [19: Ibid.] [20: Ibid. ]
Another brave woman who broke the mold, however for the Union army, provided a handwritten account of her exploits. Born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1838, Sarah Thompson, motivated by her husband’s death at the hands of the Confederates, served the Union by way of acting as a spy.[footnoteRef:21] Thompson’s bravery led to the capture and death of CSA General John Hunt Morgan in Greeneville, after sneaking away undetected from the Confederate camp, and alerting Union forces of Hunt’s location.[footnoteRef:22] Further, Thompson writes about her exploits in a diary entry marked, “march 4 1863 sumerset key”[footnoteRef:23] Thompson’s diary entries clearly depict a woman who was afraid of very little, and who was always willing to take the risks necessary to serve the Union. For example, Thompson writes: [21: Duke University Special Collections Library. (December 1996).] [22: Ibid. ] [23: Sarah Thompson Papers – (Duke University Special Collections Library. December 1996). ]
“I reseved a call from a rebel man as I thote for I had camping and as my friend was in disgise he knew the repstasan of the party at my house in simithy with the othe side he asked for somthing to eat and cursed the damed union and got me as mad as a wet hen ane pade for his diner in green back which was a sufrance [?] to a grate meny peple for it was not in circlasan in the soth in 1863 his excuse for paying me then was he said he knew I was a unon woman and he did not wante to bee pesterd with it for the rebell mony was as good”[footnoteRef:24] [24: Ibid. ]
The information in the diary entry both exposes Thompson’s allegiance to the Union as a spy, as well as her tactfulness in the line of duty. Thompson writes about an incident in which a “rebel man”,[footnoteRef:25] comes to her house for a party, and seemingly attempts to provoke her into exposing herself as a Union woman by way of cursing the “damned union,[footnoteRef:26] as well as paying for his meal with Union currency of which was not in circulation in the South, according to the accounts.[footnoteRef:27] [25: Ibid.] [26: Ibid. ] [27: Ibid. ]
Furthermore, Thompson’s diary entries recount her bravery in the face of imminent danger when she was tasked with crossing Rebel lines in order to deliver information when she writes:
“at the the time I speke of it was with dificuty az it cold bee crost fore you mudt bar in minde this was in rebell lins and it was with a grat risked and danger that union men cold cross at all and while he went to cure a crosen he wanted me to goo to the nex conty which was washing conty and see his wife and take hare some thing and to cary some male and deliver it to good union familys and to gav to gorge glispy and see a colord man which was call alf…”[footnoteRef:28] [28: Ibid. ]
This entry elucidates the fact that Thompson physically crossed Rebel lines, despite how treacherous the journey was. Thompson mentions the difficulty Union soldiers face when crossing the river in her diary, and at one point she writes about in incident in which she is “in tirly suronded by rebells”.[footnoteRef:29] At one point the story turns grim and Thompson faces danger, writing: [29: Ibid. ]
“By one Mr Scruge and asked whar I was goane I tolde him I was not gone any whar so he said mac it gode back too the hase and I tolde him I wold not and he said I shold and I dost not refuse and dost a pistill at my brest and said he wold shute me thae if I did did not goo and I ask him what he wanted at my hase he said he wante my husband I tolde him [he] was nothar I wold gave him my word he cald me a damn laer and if I did not goo he wold shute me…”[footnoteRef:30] [30: Ibid. ]
At this point, another man comes through the door and “stud with a pistol in each hand and too in a belt”,[footnoteRef:31] and soon later a gunfight ensues.[footnoteRef:32] The diary entries depict a woman who despite several brushes with death steadfastly devotes herself as a Union spy in the face of danger. Thompson’s role in the defeat of General John Hunt Morgan is contained in her diary entry dated from September 3 1864.[footnoteRef:33] [31: Ibid. ] [32: Ibid. ] [33: Ibid. ]
Thompson encounters Morgan in Greenville, Tennessee, where she went to a house in which General Morgan was staying.[footnoteRef:34] Thompson successfully infiltrates the meeting and recounts the experience writing: [34: Ibid. ]
“he came in and sat neare the dore and smoked his pipe it was not the pipe of pese thoe the pipe of ware and strife he tility his chare back neare the dore and said he was goan to to knoxville to change guests with generl carter and when he wold get thare he wold change things and one thing he wold doo wold bee to sende for me and give me a close home for the reste of the ware and see that my develes moute was stoped for if I was as good a rebell as I was a D_ _ Union woming I wold make some rebell a good wife and used a grate deele of flatery as it made mad…”[footnoteRef:35] [35: Ibid. ]
Again, Thomson’s tactfulness and composure is notably present in her recounting of this encounter. Not only is she face to face with a Rebel General, in Rebel territory, but Morgan is provoking her, and despite his provocation she remains composed and successfully completes her task as a spy.[footnoteRef:36] Furthermore, Thompson’s story is only one of many in which women on both sides of the battle lines, either fought in battle, served as spies, or in other capacities during the Civil War. [36: Ibid.]
Many of the women who went into battle had little to fear in being discovered, as the majority of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War were “”citizen soldiers” with no prior military training”,[footnoteRef:37] therefore both men and women learned how to be soldiers at the same time.[footnoteRef:38] Furthermore, the common Puritanical norms that prevailed at the time, prompted soldiers to sleep in their clothes, and to avoid bathing together, and therefore women had little to fear in potentially being outed.[footnoteRef:39] Further, soldiers were issued poorly fitting and oversized uniforms of which made it difficult to identity a woman’s body, and “the inability to grow a beard would usually be attributed to youth” .[footnoteRef:40] However, some women did get discovered, typically following an incident in which they were wounded, in which they were transferred to hospitals.[footnoteRef:41] While typically women were not punished after being discovered on the battlefield, some would be sent home and imprisoned, or institutionalized.[footnoteRef:42] [37: Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [38: Ibid. ] [39: Ibid. ] [40: Ibid.] [41: Ibid.] [42: Ibid.]
Generally speaking, women who attempted to join the army were not looked down upon, but to the contrary, were seen as heroic by those around them. For example, an excerpt from an issue of the Weekly Enquirer of Columbus, Georgia from 1862, details a story in which an investigation ensued following a roll call of military conscripts that came up one “man” too many.[footnoteRef:43] After the odd “man” out was found to be a woman she confessed that she was motivated to fight alongside her friends and suffer the “perils of war” ,[footnoteRef:44] as well as to “avenge the death of her brother” .[footnoteRef:45] The Weekly Enquirer then concludes the piece by claiming, “We have heard nothing in any degree to implicate the good character and standing of this gallant heroine” .[footnoteRef:46] In this sense, the woman’s bravery was acknowledged by the press, and her honor as publically preserved, however it is unknown whether or not she was permitted to go into battle. [43: "Women in the Ranks: Concealed Identities in Civil War Era North Carolina." (North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. 2017).] [44: Ibid. ] [45: Ibid. ] [46: Ibid. ]
Conversely however, other women who were discovered were not treated so gently. In the case of a young woman named Mollie Bean, who had served in the 47th North Carolina Regiment for more than two years, her story did not go as well.[footnoteRef:47] The story about Molly Bean’s being discovered as a woman and promptly arrested, appeared in a variety of newspapers from Richmond, to Charlotte of which refereed to her as a “poor creature”[footnoteRef:48] who was said to be “from her record, manifestly crazy”.[footnoteRef:49] [47: Ibid. ] [48: Ibid. ] [49: Ibid. ]
Therefore it is clear that woman occupied a major and important role in the process of the Civil War.
While many occupied more traditional roles such as nurses or Daughters of the Regiment, others served as spies, while others actually went into battle alongside their male counterparts. The fact of the matter is, woman who went into battle were forced to conceal themselves, and ultimately pose as men, spending the entire war in disguise. The grit and ingenuity of some of the women discussed in this paper, demonstrate the powerful presence of women during the American Civil War. Women motivated to reunite with their family members at war performed incredible feats in order to find their loved ones while at the same time surviving the gruesome realities of war. Other women single handedly braved danger and death to help their respective sides of war, crossing enemy lines, and gathering or imparting information, and in Thompson’s case, leading to the death of a Confederate General. In the end, the women who served in the Civil War will remain within the pages of history just as valiant, and heroic, if not more so than the men they fought alongside
with.
Bibliography
Jodlowski , Margaret . "Clothing, Identity, and Combat: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman and Cross-Dress in the American Civil War ." Primary Source 2, no. 2. Accessed April 27, 2017. http://www.indiana.edu/~psource/PDF/Archive%20Articles/Spring2012/2012%20- %20Spring%20-%206%20-%20Jodlowski,%20Margaret.pdf.
"Loreta Janeta Velazquez: Lieutenant." Civil War Trust. 2014. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/loreta-janeta- velazquez.html?referrer=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/untold- stories/female-soldiers-in-the- civil.html?referrer=https://www.google.com.ar/?referrer=http://www.civilwar.org/e ducation/history/untold-stories/female-soldiers-in-the-civil.html.
Sarah Thompson Papers - Duke University Special Collections Library. December 1996. Accessed April 27, 2017. http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/thompson/.
Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." Civil War Trust. 2014. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=CF6EB46F4D6E4AE49D597B3F2465446F&CID=1C D23AA8F926694C1B7C30DAF8B6682B&rd=1&h=zyf4qDJuhFP7HxjO2t44rqsC b_Z62IHcnTwToKDT5jw&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.civilwar.org%2f150th- anniversary%2fstate-by-state.pdf&p=DevEx,5082.1.
"Women in the Ranks: Concealed Identities in Civil War Era North Carolina." North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. 2017. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.nccivilwar150.com/features/women/women.htm.
Women in the Civil War
Name
Class
Professor
Date
Women in the Civil War The role of women in the Civil War was multifaceted and diverse on both sides of the battle lines. For whatever reason women decided to enlist in the army, they faced more hurdles than their male counterparts, and for this reason, remain significant.[footnoteRef:1] During the Civil War, there were specific roles tailored for and occupied by women, such as the role of ““vivandieres” or Daughters of the Regiment”[footnoteRef:2] These “paramilitary roles”[footnoteRef:3] were most often than not, created by women themselves, and they served as “morale-boosters and sources of comfort and inspiration.”[footnoteRef:4] These women, the so called Daughters of the Regiment, suffered the same difficulties as their male …show more content…
counterparts, such grueling marches, the ruggedness of camp life, and at times they were required to go into battle (Daughters of the Regiment). These women were perceived as “a sort of mascot for their regiment or company”.[footnoteRef:5] In addition, women also served as what were known as, “ministering [angels],” or in other words, nurses and caretakers on the battlefield.[footnoteRef:6] Women occupying such roles tended to dress like men while on the battlefield, however they were not required to do so;[footnoteRef:7] and there is evidence of specific cases in which women served in the Confederate army openly.[footnoteRef:8] [1: Jodlowski , Margaret . "Clothing, Identity, and Combat: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman and Cross-Dress in the American Civil War ." (Primary Source 2, no.), 31.] [2: Ibid. ] [3: Ibid. ] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid.] [6: Ibid. ] [7: Ibid.] [8: Ibid. ]
In reality, multitudes of female soldiers served on the front lines during the civil war.[footnoteRef:9] Due to the fact that serving in the army was a clandestine matter for women, it is nearly impossible to come up with an accurate count of how many women actually fought in battle alongside their male counterparts.[footnoteRef:10] However, some estimates vary between 400 and 750 female soldiers, and scholars believe that what motivated these women to risk their lives in battle is no different than what motivated their male counterparts.[footnoteRef:11]According to scholars, some women were motivated to go to war in order to “share in the trials of their loved ones.”[footnoteRef:12] Others however, like many male solders, were motivated by a burning patriotism, the promise of a reliable wage, or by a yearning for adventure.[footnoteRef:13] In the words of one female solder of the 2nd Michigan Infantry named, Sarah Edmonds Seelye: “I could only thank God that was free and could go forward and work, and I was not obliged to stay home and sweep”.[footnoteRef:14] Further, Jennie Hodgers of the 95th Illinois Infantry, who was known as Albert Cashier, “participated in more than forty engagements”.[footnoteRef:15] Thus, the scholarship points to a trend in which women were both proud and eager to fight in the American Civil War, and in fact, some of these women stand out in particular as result of their exploits on the battle field. [9: Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [10: Ibid. ] [11: Ibid] [12: Ibid. ] [13: Ibid. ] [14: Ibid. ] [15: Ibid. ]
Aside from the aforementioned roles performed by women during the Civil War, there were women who broke the mold. For example, a Cuban born female soldier named Loreta Janeta Velazquez, motivated by her husband’s joining of the confederate army after Texas’ separation from the Union in 1861, fashioned a uniform and went into battle disguised as a man.[footnoteRef:16] Eventually, Velazquez, imitating a lieutenant, formed a band of volunteer soldiers in Arkansas.[footnoteRef:17] Later, Velazquez located her husband in Florida, and joined him with her regiment of soldiers, presenting herself as “their commanding officer”.[footnoteRef:18] After fighting in the North at the Battle of First Manassas, and the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, she began a career as a spy for the Confederacy, infiltrating herself as a woman and gathering intelligence in Washington DC.[footnoteRef:19] Velazquez continued serving as a spy, moving undetected as both male and female between the Northern and Southern lines.[footnoteRef:20] [16: "Loreta Janeta Velazquez: Lieutenant." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [17: Ibid. ] [18: Ibid. ] [19: Ibid.] [20: Ibid. ]
Another brave woman who broke the mold, however for the Union army, provided a handwritten account of her exploits. Born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1838, Sarah Thompson, motivated by her husband’s death at the hands of the Confederates, served the Union by way of acting as a spy.[footnoteRef:21] Thompson’s bravery led to the capture and death of CSA General John Hunt Morgan in Greeneville, after sneaking away undetected from the Confederate camp, and alerting Union forces of Hunt’s location.[footnoteRef:22] Further, Thompson writes about her exploits in a diary entry marked, “march 4 1863 sumerset key”[footnoteRef:23] Thompson’s diary entries clearly depict a woman who was afraid of very little, and who was always willing to take the risks necessary to serve the Union. For example, Thompson writes: [21: Duke University Special Collections Library. (December 1996).] [22: Ibid. ] [23: Sarah Thompson Papers – (Duke University Special Collections Library. December 1996). ]
“I reseved a call from a rebel man as I thote for I had camping and as my friend was in disgise he knew the repstasan of the party at my house in simithy with the othe side he asked for somthing to eat and cursed the damed union and got me as mad as a wet hen ane pade for his diner in green back which was a sufrance [?] to a grate meny peple for it was not in circlasan in the soth in 1863 his excuse for paying me then was he said he knew I was a unon woman and he did not wante to bee pesterd with it for the rebell mony was as good”[footnoteRef:24] [24: Ibid. ]
The information in the diary entry both exposes Thompson’s allegiance to the Union as a spy, as well as her tactfulness in the line of duty. Thompson writes about an incident in which a “rebel man”,[footnoteRef:25] comes to her house for a party, and seemingly attempts to provoke her into exposing herself as a Union woman by way of cursing the “damned union,[footnoteRef:26] as well as paying for his meal with Union currency of which was not in circulation in the South, according to the accounts.[footnoteRef:27] [25: Ibid.] [26: Ibid. ] [27: Ibid. ]
Furthermore, Thompson’s diary entries recount her bravery in the face of imminent danger when she was tasked with crossing Rebel lines in order to deliver information when she writes:
“at the the time I speke of it was with dificuty az it cold bee crost fore you mudt bar in minde this was in rebell lins and it was with a grat risked and danger that union men cold cross at all and while he went to cure a crosen he wanted me to goo to the nex conty which was washing conty and see his wife and take hare some thing and to cary some male and deliver it to good union familys and to gav to gorge glispy and see a colord man which was call alf…”[footnoteRef:28] [28: Ibid. ]
This entry elucidates the fact that Thompson physically crossed Rebel lines, despite how treacherous the journey was. Thompson mentions the difficulty Union soldiers face when crossing the river in her diary, and at one point she writes about in incident in which she is “in tirly suronded by rebells”.[footnoteRef:29] At one point the story turns grim and Thompson faces danger, writing: [29: Ibid. ]
“By one Mr Scruge and asked whar I was goane I tolde him I was not gone any whar so he said mac it gode back too the hase and I tolde him I wold not and he said I shold and I dost not refuse and dost a pistill at my brest and said he wold shute me thae if I did did not goo and I ask him what he wanted at my hase he said he wante my husband I tolde him [he] was nothar I wold gave him my word he cald me a damn laer and if I did not goo he wold shute me…”[footnoteRef:30] [30: Ibid. ]
At this point, another man comes through the door and “stud with a pistol in each hand and too in a belt”,[footnoteRef:31] and soon later a gunfight ensues.[footnoteRef:32] The diary entries depict a woman who despite several brushes with death steadfastly devotes herself as a Union spy in the face of danger. Thompson’s role in the defeat of General John Hunt Morgan is contained in her diary entry dated from September 3 1864.[footnoteRef:33] [31: Ibid. ] [32: Ibid. ] [33: Ibid. ]
Thompson encounters Morgan in Greenville, Tennessee, where she went to a house in which General Morgan was staying.[footnoteRef:34] Thompson successfully infiltrates the meeting and recounts the experience writing: [34: Ibid. ]
“he came in and sat neare the dore and smoked his pipe it was not the pipe of pese thoe the pipe of ware and strife he tility his chare back neare the dore and said he was goan to to knoxville to change guests with generl carter and when he wold get thare he wold change things and one thing he wold doo wold bee to sende for me and give me a close home for the reste of the ware and see that my develes moute was stoped for if I was as good a rebell as I was a D_ _ Union woming I wold make some rebell a good wife and used a grate deele of flatery as it made mad…”[footnoteRef:35] [35: Ibid. ]
Again, Thomson’s tactfulness and composure is notably present in her recounting of this encounter. Not only is she face to face with a Rebel General, in Rebel territory, but Morgan is provoking her, and despite his provocation she remains composed and successfully completes her task as a spy.[footnoteRef:36] Furthermore, Thompson’s story is only one of many in which women on both sides of the battle lines, either fought in battle, served as spies, or in other capacities during the Civil War. [36: Ibid.]
Many of the women who went into battle had little to fear in being discovered, as the majority of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War were “”citizen soldiers” with no prior military training”,[footnoteRef:37] therefore both men and women learned how to be soldiers at the same time.[footnoteRef:38] Furthermore, the common Puritanical norms that prevailed at the time, prompted soldiers to sleep in their clothes, and to avoid bathing together, and therefore women had little to fear in potentially being outed.[footnoteRef:39] Further, soldiers were issued poorly fitting and oversized uniforms of which made it difficult to identity a woman’s body, and “the inability to grow a beard would usually be attributed to youth” .[footnoteRef:40] However, some women did get discovered, typically following an incident in which they were wounded, in which they were transferred to hospitals.[footnoteRef:41] While typically women were not punished after being discovered on the battlefield, some would be sent home and imprisoned, or institutionalized.[footnoteRef:42] [37: Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." (Civil War Trust. 2014).] [38: Ibid. ] [39: Ibid. ] [40: Ibid.] [41: Ibid.] [42: Ibid.]
Generally speaking, women who attempted to join the army were not looked down upon, but to the contrary, were seen as heroic by those around them. For example, an excerpt from an issue of the Weekly Enquirer of Columbus, Georgia from 1862, details a story in which an investigation ensued following a roll call of military conscripts that came up one “man” too many.[footnoteRef:43] After the odd “man” out was found to be a woman she confessed that she was motivated to fight alongside her friends and suffer the “perils of war” ,[footnoteRef:44] as well as to “avenge the death of her brother” .[footnoteRef:45] The Weekly Enquirer then concludes the piece by claiming, “We have heard nothing in any degree to implicate the good character and standing of this gallant heroine” .[footnoteRef:46] In this sense, the woman’s bravery was acknowledged by the press, and her honor as publically preserved, however it is unknown whether or not she was permitted to go into battle. [43: "Women in the Ranks: Concealed Identities in Civil War Era North Carolina." (North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. 2017).] [44: Ibid. ] [45: Ibid. ] [46: Ibid. ]
Conversely however, other women who were discovered were not treated so gently. In the case of a young woman named Mollie Bean, who had served in the 47th North Carolina Regiment for more than two years, her story did not go as well.[footnoteRef:47] The story about Molly Bean’s being discovered as a woman and promptly arrested, appeared in a variety of newspapers from Richmond, to Charlotte of which refereed to her as a “poor creature”[footnoteRef:48] who was said to be “from her record, manifestly crazy”.[footnoteRef:49] [47: Ibid. ] [48: Ibid. ] [49: Ibid. ]
Therefore it is clear that woman occupied a major and important role in the process of the Civil War.
While many occupied more traditional roles such as nurses or Daughters of the Regiment, others served as spies, while others actually went into battle alongside their male counterparts. The fact of the matter is, woman who went into battle were forced to conceal themselves, and ultimately pose as men, spending the entire war in disguise. The grit and ingenuity of some of the women discussed in this paper, demonstrate the powerful presence of women during the American Civil War. Women motivated to reunite with their family members at war performed incredible feats in order to find their loved ones while at the same time surviving the gruesome realities of war. Other women single handedly braved danger and death to help their respective sides of war, crossing enemy lines, and gathering or imparting information, and in Thompson’s case, leading to the death of a Confederate General. In the end, the women who served in the Civil War will remain within the pages of history just as valiant, and heroic, if not more so than the men they fought alongside
with.
Bibliography
Jodlowski , Margaret . "Clothing, Identity, and Combat: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman and Cross-Dress in the American Civil War ." Primary Source 2, no. 2. Accessed April 27, 2017. http://www.indiana.edu/~psource/PDF/Archive%20Articles/Spring2012/2012%20- %20Spring%20-%206%20-%20Jodlowski,%20Margaret.pdf.
"Loreta Janeta Velazquez: Lieutenant." Civil War Trust. 2014. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/loreta-janeta- velazquez.html?referrer=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/untold- stories/female-soldiers-in-the- civil.html?referrer=https://www.google.com.ar/?referrer=http://www.civilwar.org/e ducation/history/untold-stories/female-soldiers-in-the-civil.html.
Sarah Thompson Papers - Duke University Special Collections Library. December 1996. Accessed April 27, 2017. http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/thompson/.
Smith, Sam. "Female Soldiers in the Civil War: On the Front Lines." Civil War Trust. 2014. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=CF6EB46F4D6E4AE49D597B3F2465446F&CID=1C D23AA8F926694C1B7C30DAF8B6682B&rd=1&h=zyf4qDJuhFP7HxjO2t44rqsC b_Z62IHcnTwToKDT5jw&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.civilwar.org%2f150th- anniversary%2fstate-by-state.pdf&p=DevEx,5082.1.
"Women in the Ranks: Concealed Identities in Civil War Era North Carolina." North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. 2017. Accessed April 28, 2017. http://www.nccivilwar150.com/features/women/women.htm.