The Civil War
1861-1865
Clara Barton courageously served while gaining an understanding of the expanded capabilities of women serving.
Photo Source: Wikimedia Common
From the beginning of the Civil War, one thing is clear; whether spies, nurses, combat troops, office workers, or teachers, these positions were the pathway to women’s military service and expansion of their allotted service positions. Public knowledge of women holding these previously male only positions either before or following the war advanced social norms for women and continued to influence ideologies and public perception. Although nursing appeared to be an expansion of the duties women held at home they experienced initial push back to being on the battlefield. This in turn meant less injured men were required to filled the role, having to care for others who had been more severely wounded.
Much like after the Revolutionary War societal push back attempted to cover up the patriotism women had shown to perceived insignificant chores found in the home. Yet, several accounts of women’s service include multiple attempts to join in several brigades only to be discovered as females either before or following an injury. Once discovered they were jailed or released to return home. Not until letters, personal accounts, or burials were uncovered had the extent of female participation been discovered. Estimates have previously tallied upward of seven-hundred women in direct roles but more recent discoveries have suggested many more possibly into the thousands.
Richard H. Hall, “Women on the Civil War Battlefront.” University Press of Kansas (2006) 3.
Dorothy Dix was originally given the responsibility as a volunteer to set up Army hospitals for wounded soldiers. Eventually she oversaw the United States Army Nurses as Superintendent .
Photo Source: Wikimedia Common
Rhonda Goodman, Expanding the Role of Women as Nurses During the American Civil War. Advances in Nursing Science (2009): 38.
Albert Cashier served for the entirety of the war without their gender at birth being discovered. Over the four year period he fought in approximately forty battles but was not discovered to be a woman until years after the war.
Photo Source: Wikimedia Common
DeAnne Blaton. Prologue Magazine: “Women Soldiers of the Civil War” (Vol.25 No. 1/Part 2. Spring 1993) Retrieved from the National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/ spring/ women-in-the-civil-war-1.html.
One of the only women to this day who is a Medal of Honor recipient was Dr. Mary E. Walker. She was awarded the medal for her service as a surgeon and her capture which led to time in a Confederate prison for accusations of being a spy. She volunteered her services to the Union since under Army regulations she was not allowed to join being a women.
When the rules for medal recipients were changed an attempt to reclaim it resulted in a shot gun reception when officials came to her door. She continued to wear the medal until she passed away in 1919. It was not until 1977 that it was officially reinstated, giving her back the honor she originally received from President Andrew Johnson.
Photo Source: Wikimedia Common
Medal of Honor Spotlight: “Dr. Mary Edwards Walker.”. Retrieved from the Military.com:(2021). https://www.military.com/history/dr-mary-edwards-walker.htlm.
Mary Scaberry/ Charles Freeman
One known women to serve in an Ohio regiment enlisted as Charles Freeman, born Mary Scaberry. She enlisted at age seventeen and served in the Fifty-Second Ohio Infantry. She was sent to a hospital in Kentucky for a fever when it was discovered she was a female, and she was released from duty.
Source: Archives .gov
DeAnne Blaton. Prologue Magazine: “Women Soldiers of the Civil War” (Vol.25 No. 1/Part 2. Spring 1993) Retrieved from the National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/ spring/ women-in-the-civil-war-1.html.
7/14/1862 Circular July 4, 1862 gives requirements from Dorothy Dix’s for women who wanted to serve as nurses. Strict age and marriage requirements stemmed from fears that mixing young unmarried women with soldiers would lead to scandal. Dix appointed approximately 3,000 women to nursing positions.
Picture Source: National Archives
Circular No. 8 Regarding Requirements for Female Nursing Applicants; 7/14/1862; MM 1430; Court Martial Case Files, 12/1800 - 10/1894; Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army), Record Group 153; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/circular-no-8-regarding-requirements-for-female-nursing-applicants, December 9, 2021