The Often Overlooked Role of Women in War

Most accounts of war focus on men and military battles. Women are overlooked. Yet during the Civil War (1861–1865), women on the home front took on unprecedented roles, managing farms, running businesses, and working in factories to sustain the economy and war effort. They formed aid societies, nursed wounded soldiers, and acted as spies, while some disguised themselves as men to fight.

                                        Richmond, Virginia Food Riot

A quickly emerging issue in war is food shortages. In the South, the breakdown of railroad transportation, blockades, high inflationary food prices all led to possible starvation. Confederate women found food substitutes replacing wheat flour with rice which was plentiful in the South, substituted bacon grease for butter, sorghum for sweetener, and coffee was made from chicory..

Southerners had a few advantages which helped ensure their survival:

1. Yankees often overlooked the patches of sweet potatoes, thinking they were weeds.

2. Southerners knew their local terrain better than did the Yankees. They knew its hiding places, and hid livestock such as pigs, in swamps and forests, and gold and silver in wells.

A common image of the Southern woman is the plantation mistress. An image of the lady of leisure hosting elaborate dinners and parties comes to mind, her main labor simply directing the duties of her house slaves.

The war changed everything. Women tried to manage large plantations, overwhelmed and frightened. Simply managing overseers challenged them. In the final days slaves ran off, some husbands never returned, it’s difficult to imagine their plight.

And yet they endured, adapted, fed their children. War is more than firing bullets or throwing and dropping bombs. It’s a populace faced with insurmountable challenges, often left in the responsibility of women.