Blue and gray clad soldiers engaged in epic struggles on the field of battle is the image that comes to many people’s minds when they think of the American Civil War. Women often are relegated to a role on the sidelines by this version of the story. They are celebrated as stalwart keepers of the home fire, bandage rollers, and occasionally as nurses – all work that was directly in line with their domestic role as homemakers, wives, and mothers. Occasionally, Women also are portrayed as victims of wartime deprivations and violence at the hands of enemy forces. In reality, women’s part in the war is much more complex than the images suggest, especially in the trans-Mississippi theater where their contributions were vital to the war’s outcome.
White women’s experiences of the war largely depended on their geographic location and their own and their family’s political decisions. Although there were always some individuals who supported the other side, most citizens of Kansas were loyal to the Union, while those in southern Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas sided with the Confederacy. Missouri and northern Arkansas were deeply divided, however, resulting in a toxic mixture of those who supported the Union, those who favored secession, and some who attempted to remain neutral. By mid-way through the war, the Union army controlled large areas of the trans-Mississippi West, forcing the Confederate civilians who remained to accommodate to the constraints placed on them by military occupation. Throughout the region, even in locations relatively untouched by the war, such as Texas, women’s lives changed dramatically.
Women expanded their domestic role and put their labor and talents to use on behalf of the war cause. In many cases this work fit well within mid-nineteenth century Americans’ ideas about proper gender roles. The middle and upper class women of St. Louis, many who had roots in northeastern states, went to work for both the Western Sanitary Commission and the Ladies’ Union Aid Society. Both organizations were involved with the care of wounded Union soldiers and Unionist refugees, including former slaves. They raised money to fund these efforts by organizing tableaux and bazaars, including the Grand Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair of 1864. Both Union and Confederate women spun, wove, sewed, and darned for their enlisted relatives and neighbors and they occasionally worked for the army for pay doing piece work or as laundresses... Continue reading »
