By almost any standards, the Civil War was the greatest catastrophe in U.S. history. Destruction pervaded the South and led to its economic ruin. More than 600,000 soldiers died in the conflict, and the war left a disputatious legacy of racial and sectional bitterness that would last for more than a century. Yet the Civil War also left another legacy. It opened the way for American women to serve with honor in war. For the first time in U.S. history, scores of women, from the North and the South, actively took part in the war effort.
With the onslaught of battle, women came forward in droves to pitch in on the soldiers’ behalf. Some, like Sally Tompkins, established small hospitals. Others, like Mary Livermore and Mary Ann Bickerdyke, organized or ran chapters of soldiers’ aid
societies. Even the famous Dorothea Dix, known for being prudent in her care of the mentally ill, took charge of the nursing services for all the Federal armies. A great number of women also looked after their farms or took jobs formerly held by men.
Many women, particularly nurses, came dangerously close to the fighting. Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross, regularly put her life on the line while tending a wounded soldier. Some Northern women disguised themselves as men so that they could fight with Union regiments. For some, the incentive was patriotism. For other women, it was to be with their husbands.
Regardless of the role they played in the war, women demonstrated loyalty, bravery, and skill. They also showed that the Civil War was not just a man’s war. It was also a war in which women could serve both on the battlefield and on the home front.