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Women in the Civil War

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Women in the Civil War
Of the 3,211,067 people involved in the Civil War, about 23,000 of them were women paid to be nurses or spies. These numbers don’t even include the women who stayed back and were the support on the home front. Women such as Elizabeth Van Lew, Clara Barton, Elizabeth Blackwell and so many more are the kind of women that changed the events of this war. Without spies that gave crucial information like Elizabeth Van Lew, nurses who gave live saving care like Clara Barton and supporters that gave necessary supplies like Elizabeth Blackwell the Civil war could not have been won Spies and women in battle made a big impact on the war effort. Women would hide in the army by disguising themselves as men. These women may not have added in numbers but they represented something that was only found in a few other places. They offered a pure desire to no matter what fight in a war for what they believe in which is why the civil war even started. In the union army there were more than 400 women that held all ranks. One of the most famous was Jennie Hodgers or as she went by back then Albert Cashier. She fought in over 40 engagements and was enlisted for 3 years. She was never discovered as a man because the only way women were discovered was due to injury or capture. Women were also a part of the war effort by being spies. Elizabeth van Lew and her spy network had some of the most successful Union spies. The one that really made a difference was Ellen Bond, Van Lew’s former slave. Bond went to work for Jefferson Davis, the confederate president, as a slave. She was very smart and had a great memory so she gathered a lot of information while working there which gave a lot of information to the union. These women contributed a great deal to the Union army by either adding to the armed forces or supplying them with information. Other women that contributed to the Union army were the nurses. “Women expressed their patriotism in an untraditional way, defying prejudices about


Cited: Blanton, Deeann. "Women Soldiers of the Civil War." Prologue: Selected Articles. National Archives, 1993. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. Roark, James L. "Women and Work on the Home Front." Understanding the American Promise: A Brief History. Vol. 1. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 416-17. Print. Rosenberg, Aaron. The Civil War. New York: Scholastic, 2011. Print. "US Sanitary Commission." The National Civil War Association. The National Civil War Association, 2012. Web. Wilson, Camilla. Civil War Spies: Behind Enemy Lines. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print. "Women 's Role in the Civil War." Rose Melnick Medical Museum. Rose Melnick Medical Museum, 16 Nov. 2011. Web.
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