What Role Did Southern Children Play In The Civil War

Role of Southern Children and Women in American Civil War
The American civil war which is widely known in the united states as the civil war was fought between the year 1861 to 1875 .it was a war between the confederates who were mainly seven states supporting the idea of slavery. The southern was made up of the seven states formed a coalition called the conferades states of America and were supporting slave trade. The conferades fought against the north union which were opposed to the slavery. The war had its own consequences resulting to the death of about 750000 people from the two factions. It also almost tore the American unity and plunged the country in one of its most turbulent time. This paper will examine the role of the southern children
and women in the war. It will look at their contribution towards helping the southern in the war.
The war broke out and led children taking up the responsibility and joining it. This formed what is known children in the home front. After their fathers and brothers left their homes to join the war the children took up the responsibilities in their homes. The war led to lack of food and as Carrie Berry of Atlanta was quoted saying “I was ten years old today I did not have a cake. I hope that by my next birthday there will be peace in our land” there were shortage of basic needs such as soap especially at the less developed south .as the war continued food became such a rare necessity and many participated in the Southern Bread Riots of 1863. Children formed looting groups to steal bread from bakeries to acquire food for their families. The children were forced to work in the farms looking after their families. They tended their livestock and cultivated crops as a means to support their mothers who had been abandoned by their fathers. Though patriotism was high in the classes as the school going children sung patriotic war songs. Despite this many children had to drop out of school in order to help their parents with household chores while others studied from home when some schools were closed due to lack of funding. Some schools had to be closed too after the headmasters left their jobs and headed to the war.

As the war progressed children found themselves directly involved in the war as drummer boys and messengers.
The boys were recruited in by their headmasters in their schools or powerful ministers. Some even lied about their ages just to get the chance to join the war. Once the boys were enlisted some enlisted as soldiers, musicians messengers or runners to rely information, hospital caretakers water carriers etc. The boys played drums which was a daily routine in the camp signalling reveille time for assembly, when an officer is sick. The music was also source of entertainment for the troops and during parades reviews for the soldiers. But their most important role in the war was to use their music to communicate orders during the battle. The beats could transfer commands further and faster than the messengers. The drums were also clear than the human voice. The boys had learnt over 40 different beats to signal the different calls used in the battle. The senior boys in the camp were assigned the role of Powder boy powder monkey. The powder boys were supposed to be chosen on their speed rather than age with a legal requirement of four feet, eight inches to be able to perform their task but short enough to hide behind the ships gunwale as they ran back and forth between the space between their assigned gun and muzzle. They were paid $10 a month but were not official part of the crew but they played a huge role in the sea battle. Once signed in the war the boys faced many
challenges into adopting into the camp life. The young soldiers often suffered from homesickness and many had the consolation that they had left their families behind. Some were too young to understand where they were and what was happening around them. Another challenge was finding their fitting uniforms. The uniform sizes had been standardized and it was difficult to find the smaller sizes. Sometimes a soldier would favour a small boy and issue him with some funny outfit. The enlisted boys had to survive on supplies like any other paid soldier but they could not afford the basic supplies such as socks or shoes. Abel sheeks one of the young boys who had run away from home to join the war had to rely on the clothes he had run away from home with. He recalls having to scavenge through dead bodies of fellow soldiers looking for a uniform. The drum boys also had to cope carrying the drums as they were bigger than their sizes.
Before the emergence of the civil war American women were merely stay home wives commonly referred by historians as “the Cult of True Womanhood” taking care of their children and nurturing their home for their husbands and children.
The war broke them out of this as they actively took part in the war. More than 400 women disguised themselves as men and fought in the union and confederate armies. Led by Florence nightingale women took a more active role in the war and they disguised themselves as men and fought in the Crimean war. The white women in south put as much effort as their northern counterparts . Though the Confederacy had les resources than the Union, they did much of the work by their own means or relief aids from the society. They cooked and mended clothes for their children and supplied uniforms sand bags blankets for the entire troops. They also wrote letters to the soldiers and worked as untrained nurses in makeshift hospitals. Some went up the extent of caring of the injured soldiers in their own
homesteads.
Conclusion
The southern children and women really tried to help in the war though they had lesser resources than their northern counterparts. These children sacrificed their normal lives to actively be involved in the war. The women left their homes to join the husbands in the war sacrificing their resources and time to help their troops. Though they were not funded they did their best to assist in the best way possible to make their troops have their best in the war.