Thanks to Clara Barton. . .
Women served many roles during war,
soon assuming roles as battlefield nurses

What did women do during the Civil War?

According to documented records, some 400 females disguised themselves as men so they could fight in the conflict. Bugle Staff Writer Judy Pierce has researched and written articles on many of these women. Judy also has provided information on women who served as spies – smuggling goods, information and personnel across enemy lines.

Many women participated as nurses. Prior to the war, the U.S. Army used male nurses almost exclusively. Women initially assisted as volunteers, but as fighting continued, they proved they could do the job and both the Union and Confederacy saw the value in sending male nurses out to fight.

Once they began to be hired in the Army hospitals, female nurses were paid 40 cents a day. An estimated 30,000 women were employed as hospital nurses and untold thousands more served as volunteers.

Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross, was one of the more instrumental forces in establishing women as military nurses. After the first battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in July 1861, Barton established an agency to obtain and distribute supplies to wounded soldiers. A year later, she obtained permission to travel behind the lines, eventually reaching some of the grimmest battlefields of the war and serving during the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond. She delivered aid to soldiers of both the North and South.

At the Battle of Antietam, Clara handed over to surgeons a wagonload of bandages and other medical supplies she personally collected during the past year. She then worked with the wounded, cradling the heads of suffering soldiers, preparing food for them in a local farmhouse and bringing water.

Another role for women in the Civil War was as a laundress, an official part of the Army, both Union and Confederate. They weren’t paid, but got food, a tent, medical care and transportation if the Army moved. Individual soldiers paid the laundresses to do their laundry.

Women also were very active in the U.S. Sanitary Commission, formed early in the war to raise funds for supplies the Army needed to care for its soldiers. Women participated in the Christian Commission as well, which formed in 1861 to promote the welfare of soldiers.

But perhaps the most common role for women was to keep the home fires burning. They kept families together.