Personal Accounts of Women From the Civil War

¶ … Civil War many people from both sides of the battle lines (the Unions and the Confederates) endured hardships. While men fought, women worked in various ways to help the cause. Whether they assisted in the home, as nurses, or in other positions, the women of the Civil War were an important part of its history. Some women like Clara Barton went to the field and worked as a nurse, tending to soldiers. Born December 25, 1821, she founded the American Red Cross and took on the job of patent clerk and teacher.

In a poem she wrote of her experiences as a nurse during the Civil War, she highlights the reactions some had when seeing blood. 'They would faint at the first drop of blood, in their sight.' (Barton) She also shares how the women were the, 'consolers, saviors of men', always there to help and heal. Women's roles in the Civil War were important and Barton's poem shares that. While Barton highlighted the role of women as active participants in the war, other women showed the suffering the war brought.

Another woman by the name of Sue Carter wrote a letter to her cousin lamenting about the pain of separation from her family during the Civil War and how her faith helped give her assurance that they would reunite. 'Lord's will, that our once prosperous & happy nation must be divided; and where peace & happiness, once Shed their smile to gladen the hearts of the people, now civil war is devastating our land.' (Carter) So many families were separated during the Civil War with many having had to face the permanent loss of a loved one. Soldiers dying and both sides incurring thousands of casualties, it proved very difficult for those waiting at home. Carter provided a much needed look at the pain such a war had on the country and its people.