Research Material

Julie Johnson

First Draft Excerpt -- "Women and the Confederacy"

Women in the Confederacy had a great impact on the Civil War. They had had many significant roles during this time of war.

The life of a plantation mistress changed drastically once her husband left to join the Confederacy. Many women stayed on the land to take care of it and their slaves (Clinton 109). Not only did the women stay busy trying to keep their home safe, but they also kept up-to-date on news concerning the war (Robertson 36).

Many Southern women read the newspapers on a regular basis. Some, however, were much closer to the battlefield than they would have liked. Lucy Breckinridge wrote in her diary how she could hear the cannons over the mountains (East 162). Sarah Morgan went to the levees in Baton Rouge to watch the battles firsthand even though it was against her mother's wishes (Roberston 136). Some women did more than that and actually participated in the fighting.

It is not known just how exactly how many women fought in the battles. These women played the role of the warrior, breaking every gender rule possible. One such case is Amy Clark. She dressed like a man to serve in the Confederate army with her husband (Depauw 78). Some say that she may have worn lietenant's bars on her uniform (Clinton 180). Another woman soldier was Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, know to her comrads as Lieutenant Henry Buford. She raised her own calvary and fought in the Battle of Bull Run. After being wounded twice, she became involved in espionage (Hall 81).

Confederate women helped out their fellow men by being "covert operatives" (Depauw 78). Rose Greenhow passed vital information to

Beauregard during the Battle of Bull Run (Clinton 90). Belle Boyd overheard Union soldiers and reported that information to General Stonewall Jackson (Clinton 95). If these women spies and smugglers were caught by the Union, they were briefly imprisoned and then sent back to the South (Woodward 664). The Union didn't realize how helpful Southern women were to the Confederacy, especially to the wounded soldiers.

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