"BEALTIFUI., DAUGHTER OF THE STARS7':WOMEN
OF THE VALLEY DURING THE CIVIL WAR
A Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of Graduate Studies
of
The University of Guelph
by
ELIZABETH CHRISTINA THOMSON
In partial fulfilment of requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
April, 1999
O Elizabeth Christina Thomson, 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services sewices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 OttawaON K1AON4 canada Canada
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The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT
"BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF THE STARS": WOMEN
OF THE VALLEY DURING THE CIVIL WAR
Elizabeth Christina Thomson Advisor: University of Guelph, 1999 Professor Richard R. Reid
This thesis is an investigation of white middie and upper ciass women from the
Shenandoah Valley during the Arnerican Civil War. Utilizing the theoretical tool of the
"fernale consciousness" the present work explores the wartime experiences, activities, and politicization of women in the Valley.
Chapter One explains the methodology of the present work and includes a treatment of the current historiography on Southem women's role in the Civil War and a historicai background of the Shenandoah Valley. Chapter Two investigates the individual experiences of women in the region discussing their efforts to aid soldiers and to protect their families. The third chapter analyzes women's collective activities during the war, focusing on local Soldier's Aid Societies and wornen's care of sick and wounded soldiers by the wayside and in nearby hospitals. The final chapter expands the area of study to the state of Virginia, and explores the content and discourse styles of women's letters to the Governor during the war. Table of Contents
htroduction
Chapter 1
"Beautiful Daughter of the Stars during the Civil War"
Chapter 2
"Valley Ladies on the Homefront: The Compelling Records Left Behind"
Chapter 3
"The Valley's Daughters Shining Brightly in the Public Arena"
Chapter 4
"Excuse an anxious Mother for tresspassing upon your 98 time.. .: Virginia Women's Letters to the Governor"
Conclusion
Appendix A
Bibliography Introduction
Cornmencing with the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12~1861, the Civil War
created an important arena for the increased political involvement and public activities of
Southem women. Using the Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, as a specific locale, this
study will assess the impact of war on middle and upper class white wornen. Women dl
over Arnerica contnbuted to the war effort, but in the South, and especially in Virginia,
and more drarnatically in the Valley, women were confronted with dl the hardships of a
war fought in their own comrnunities. When discussing any culture, it is necessary to
realize that it has many layers, some aspects that extend nationally, and other
characteristics that are regional. Through the analysis of a locale, employing the
techniques of micro-history, this study will explore some of the shared cultural values in
the Shenandoah Valley and emphasize the unique experiences of women in this region
during the Civil War. It will be argued that women's service to the 'Cause' was
motivated by a distinct female consciousness that served to propel them into many new
and active roles. Politicization occurred on several Ievels, as the home and traditional domestic tasks took on a new magnitude, and as women became more politically aware of the important events around them1. Moreover, women increasingly pressed into the public sphere, through organizing Soldier's Aid Societies, through helping the sick and wounded as nurses, and by petitioning state officiais for aid. Gender roles were blurred
I Lois W. Banner notes "that power not only is centered in the public realm of politics and the professions but that it can also permeate the domestic realm to structure gender relations in ways U.S women's historians have not really explored," "A Repty to "Culture et Pouvoir" from the Perspective of United States' Women's History," Journal of Women's Hisrory, Vol, 1, 1, (1989), p. 102. The phrase 'politicalIy aware' in this study, rneans that women of the ValIey, read and wrote about, and discussed the political crisis of independence. Moreover it wiiI be shown that these women also became cnticai poIitica1 thinkers, and renegotiated to serve the needs of war, demonstrated not only by the above activities, but also by the few women who secretly participated in purchasing contraband supplies for the Confederate amies, while under federal occupation, and by women who became spies. Moreover, some women took assertive and aggressive actions to defend their homes against Yankee invaders, and thereby, for a bnef time, took on the male role of protector '. After the war, however, women retumed to the home and resumed their traditiond roles and du ties. Southeni newspapers and books celebrated their 'ladies' loyalty and patriotic 'sacrifice' in serving the Confederate cause. But in rnany ways this celebration served as post-war 'propaganda', couched in a language of domesticity, to deny the threat of women's wartime public activities, and to encourage women to return to pre-war roles. This study will chart Southem wornen's lives in the Shenandoah Valley from 1858 to 1865 and follow the fluctuations of women's participation in their communities before, and dunng the Civil War.
In order to understand this study's theoretical analysis, severai key operational definitions need to be explained. The concept of female consciousness as an analytical tool in women's history is borrowed from the work of Ternrna Kaplan, who has applied this type of malysis to grass roots women's movements. Kaplan states that
Fernale consciousness centers upon the rights of gender, on social concerns, on survival. Those with female consciousness accept the gender system of their society: indeed, such consciousness emerges from the division of labour by sex, which
assessing political situations occurring in their midst, and drawing their own concIusions as to what kinds of implications these events had for the South. Richard Hall's work. Parriors in Disguise, is dedicated to celebrating and recognizing the women who fought in the Civil War, for both the Federal and Confederate Causes. Several women were found in this book to have come from Virginia, and two women soldiers were caught right in the Shenandoah Valley, in General Juba1 Eariy's arrny. Hall, Patriors in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War, (New York, 1994), p. 103, 104. assigns women the responsibility of preserving life3.
The main premises of female consciousness fit ont0 women's Civil Wuexperience in the
South. By no means were women under the period of study consciously challenging
Southern society in hope for ferninist reforms. In fact, most middle and upper class
Southem wornen deplored Northem women's politicai activities and demands for equality which they felt tamished and perverted the image of the 'lady'. But this does not mean that women did not ovemde or alter some prescrÏptions of Southem society in order to meet the demands of war. Moreover, Southern women7s duties before and during the war were, in many ways, confined to the task of 'preserving life'. Whether in reproduction, childcare, household management and distribution of social resources, or in war-time efforts of nursing, Soldiers Aid Societies, or fighting for the cause, Southern women were preserving life and seeking to preserve their way of life.
Kaplan also notes that women with female consciousness demand the rights that their obligations necessitate. The collective drive, and 1 would add the individual's drive, to ascertain those rights "that result from the division of labour, sometimes has revolutionary consequences, insofar as it politicizes the networks of everyday lifeV4. Ln the Civil War context, the collective drive was contained within the war effort, and both the Confederate govemment and Southem women insisted on upholding their responsibilities on the home front. The Natchez Weekly Courier assured women of the
South that "the destinies of the Southem Confederacy" rested "in your contr01"~. And one woman wrote into a newspaper: "...do irnpress upon the soldiers that they are
Temma Kaplan. '.Fernale Consciousness and Collective Action: The Case of Barcelona. 19 10-19 18". Sigris. vol. 7, 3, (Spring, 1982), p.545. ' Ibid., p.545. constantly in our thoughts, that we are working for them, while they arefighting for us - and that their wants shall be supplied, as long as there is a woman or a dollar in the
Southern ~onfederac~"~.It can be argued that the mere act of writing into a newspaper signified the politicization of the 'networks' of life. Southem women were highly discouraged from speaking or writinp in the public sphere before the conflict, and yet during the war numerous newspapers and state officids received women's letters.
The concept of fernale consciousness has rnany advantages in its application to this topic. It will allow this study to analyze Southem women, without placing their
'conservative' nature alongside the 'radical' achievements of northern feminists. Mainly because female consciousness accepts that Southem women believed and participated in the predominant ideologies of the South and that their primary motivation for their activities during the war was to 'preserve life'. Finally, this anaiytical tool alIows the historian to cornrnend Southern women for their agency and accompIishments without assipning a 'ferninist--whig1 framework to the period. Lebsock refers to the Terninist-- whig' framework as the tendency to write history focusing on the progress of feminism as the "feature story". The major downfall of this technique is that "the importance of organized benevolence is reckoned pnrnarily according to the magnitude of its impact, for good or for ill, on feminist thinking and ~r~anization"'.Unfortunately, this form of analysis has figured considerably in the historiography of this topic, a point which will be treated later in this study.
Natchez Weekfy Corrrier. March 12, 1862. as cited in Faust, "Altars of Sacrifice", p.177. ' ~~ri~nstaChrorricle and Sentinef, Ianuary 9, 1863, as cited in LeeAnn Whites, 'The Civil War as a Gender Crisis", Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War, eds. Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber, (New York and Oxford, 1992), p. 17. ' Suzanne Lebsock, The Free Wornen of Petersburg: Srarrts and Cuiture in a Sorrthenr Town, 1784-1860, (New York and London, 1984), p.197. The term 'politicization' in this study has a broad operational definition, combining the literai meaning of the word with its historical value in the nineteenth century. The term "to politicize" is literdly defined as "to make political in character or awareness" andor "to take part in politicai discussion or activityf18. Evidence of this is considerable for Southern wornen when they ensued in political discussions in their homes. diaries, and letters. Moreover, during the war women dl over the South begm to write to Confederate goveniment officiais, in order to draw attention to their plight and in the hopes of receiving aid. However, the literal definition of politicization does not even begin io envelop the activities of women in the Confederacy; a more expansive vision mus t be incorporated.
Paula Barker, in her work on American women, defines politics "in a relatively broad sense to indude any action, formal or informal, taken to affect the course of behavior of govemment or the cornrn~nit~"~.What is important in Barker's interpretation for this study, is that it perrnits the inclusion of 'informal' political activi ties. in the nineteenth century, traditional politics was understood as partisan politics, and involved the franchise; areas in which women were barred from participating. Moreover, by including the cornmunity, wornen's activities can receive greater attention, since women's war effort was based largely upon community ties and heavily relied upon wornen's dedication and involvement.
Politicization in a nineteenth century American setting also needs to be explored in order to place the term in its historical context. The 'separate sphere' ideology divided
8 The Collins Paperback English Dicrionary, 1990 edition, p.654. 9 Paula Barker, ''The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780- 1930," Unequal Sisrers: A Mrtlticrtltural Reader Nz U.S Wamerr 's Hisror)', eds. Ellen Carol DuBois and Vicki L Ruiz, (New York and London), p.67. space into private and public sectors, assigning wornen the private or domestic sphere, and men the public or political sphere. As women pressed into greater public roles during the war, they made inroads into the political environment of their society. PoLitics was largely understood as a contest of power arnong men in the public sphere and women were ncw, through their increased presence in the public domain, challenging and threatening that power. The ladies of occupied Winchester demonstrate their entrance into this contest, by their public resistance to Yankee occupation. Another example can be seen in the nursing occupation, where male physicians and nurses constantly sought to
Iimit women's roles. Their continued efforts succeeded in forcing women out of the profession after the war. FinaiIy, this is illustrated in women's letters to the governors, as they began to see political officiais as an outlet to voice their domestic problems.
Although this study, in some ways, readily accepts the 'separate sphere' dichotomy as an historical tool of analysis, historians of women's history have found that in many cases it cm be a fdse and limiting vision. The work of Barbara Welter, Nancy
Cott, and Caroil Smith-Rosenburg were dl instrumental in creating the lens of separate spheres as a method of viewing women in American hist~r~'~.Welter's work identified a new gender ideology in the antebellum period, which defined women as pure, virtuous, domestic and subrnissive. Cott related the development of domestic ideology with the distinct separation of men and women to different "spheres of activity". Finally, Smith-
Rosenburg located a "woman7s culture" within the domestic sphere that created a dynamic "worid of love and ritual" prescribed by a particular set of values. The
10 Refer to Barbara Welter, 'The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820- 1860," American Quarterly, XVIII, (Summer, 1966), IS 1-64, 17 1-4; Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Wornanhood: ' Woman 'sSphere ' in New Englarid, 1780-1835, (New Haven, 1977); Carroll Smith-Rosenburg, 'The FemaIe World of Love and Ritual: Relations between Women in Nineteenth-century America," Signs, 1, (Autumn, 1975), p-1-29. culmination of these works created what Nancy A. Hewitt has called the me womad
separate spheres/ woman's culture triad, and has become the "most widely used
framework for women's history in the United tat tes"". However, recent historïcal
schoIarship has recognized the limitations that this methodology creates and observes that the triad does not fit neatly upon al1 Amencan women.
When the additional criteria of race and class is imposed on the separate sphere frarnework, its wectknesses become readily apparent. Lower cIass women in the North, or yeomen farm women in the South, did not have the luxury of remaining in the home or household, and occupied traditional male terrain in working in factones or in the fields.
The division of labour that the triad strictly defines into public and private does not always hold tme for al1 women. Moreover, Lebsock notes that slave women did not see themselves in a distinct category opposite of their men and concludes, "black wornanhood was not an extension of white wornanhood"". While Hewitt rïghtly asserts that if "women's historians now accept that ideology as the bais for cross-class and inter-racial sisterhood, we only extend the hegernony of the antebelhm b~ur~eoisie"'~.
As a result, the separate sphere framework must be used with caution and historians must accept that the model, in its rigid form, does not fit unifonnly the axperiences of al1 women. In this study, the focus on white women of the rniddle and upper classes will inhibit many of the dangers associated with this fonn of analysis, but additional qualifications need to be made. Linda Kerber has discussed many of the
Il Nancy A. Hewitt, "Beyond the Search for Sisterhood: American Women's History in the 1980s," Social History, Vol. 10, 3, (1985), p.301. Summaries of Welter, Cott, and Smith-Rosenburg's works also located in Hewitt, p.300-30 1. '' Lebsock, Free Women of Petersburg, p. 139-40; Fox- Genovese States the "history of slave women demonstrates. .. how dangerous it can be to study women in isoIation from the interiocking systems of gender, class and race relations", Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old Sortth, (Chape1 Hill, 1988), p.48. implications of the sepmte sphere ideology in the nineteenth century, recognizing its role to "camouflage" the unequally shared benefits of econornic and social services". In the nineteenth century men and wornen in the South, indeed in America, did not share economic and social services equally. This cm be seen in property laws, economic restrictions placed upon women, the consistent undervaluing of women's work, and the socid limitations prescribed in the 'proper' behavior of the 'lady'. Furthemore, Kerber correctiy identifies historians' use of the separate sphere metaphor. which "often interchangeably" referred to "an ideology imposed on women, a culture crented by women, and a set of boundaries rxpected ro be observed by ~ornen"'~.Al1 of these implications correlate with and describe the experiences of white middle and upper class women in the South. The Civil War provides a pivotal point in which to study how women's domestic sphere was altered by the war, and how women's war tirne activities and society's perceptions of them, blurred and renegotiated the boundaries of both spheres. Domestic ideology also figured significantly in post-war prescriptions and descriptions of Southern wornen's role in the war and in the New southI6. Ln light of the strengths and weakness immersed in the 'separate sphere' ideology, for this study it will be a useful tool for analyzing Southern women in the Civil War.
This study will draw upon evidence from letters and diaries of middle and upper class white women, and newspapers produced largely within the Shenandoah Valley.
Fortunately, several diaries of wornen from the valley have been published, and many
------13 Hewitt, "Beyond the Sisterhood", p.3 16. '" Linda K. Kerber, "Separate Spheres. Female Worlds, Woman's Place: The Rhetoric of Women's History", The Jorrrrial of Arnerican Hisror)., Vol. 75,(June, 1988), p. 14. l5 Ibid., p. 17. 16 In Iight of this phenornenon, Ruth Pierson asserts that, "Historians of women thus recognize the necessity of going beyond the prescription of and debate over roles whenever possible, in order to examine transcnpts have survived and found their way to local libraries. A few towns in the
Valley were able to continue printing newspapers during the war, leaving a wealth of
information found in the local presses. The newspapers in Winchester, a town of much
interest to this study because of its continual occupation and reoccupation, have not survived throughout the war, but analyzing three ocher newspapers from Harrisonburg and Staunton has compensated this. Letters between soldier's and families have not been readiiy incorporated into this study because it is believed that Southern women would be more honest in their private joumals about their wartime expenences than they would be in correspondence to their male relations .
As historical sources diaries and joumals can hold inherent dangers for any period. Many works were published long afier the war, subjected to the power of hindsight and in some cases they undenvent severe editing, with an eye for publication.
The most documented case of this is the diary of Mary Chestnut. Although an original journal was written during the war, revision of the work occurred in the 1870s and again in the l88Os, sometimes resulting in extreme alterations. C. Vann Woodward notes that the dating of the manuscript raises questions for histonans, and how they have utilized the diaryI7. Noticeable changes include the changing of dates, "entries telescoped, speakers switched, and words and ideas originally attributed to the writer herself are put in the mouths of others"18. However, the dangers of diaries in this regard cm be avoided by relying on diaries and joumals that were published immediately after the war, or
women's actual behavior and lives through whatever sources are available," Feminism and the Writing and Teaching of History," Arlanris, Vol. 7, 2, (Spring, 1982), p.4 1. 17 Mary Chesnut, Mary Chesriut's Civil War,ed. C. Vann Woodward, (New Haven and London, 1987). p. xvi. 18 Ibid., p. xxv. where there is proof that the diary remained in its original form. Works of a more
susceptible nature wiil be treated with caution.
Newspapers provide less of a problem in this regard, but a danger of accepting the
information given at face value does persist. Nineteenth century newspapers, even more
than today, were at various times used as propaganda, and during the war to protect the
interests of the govemment. The case of the Richmond bread riot provides an excellent
example, where women's radical behavior had to be suppressed and later redefined. The
Richmond Exntniner did end up releasing a story which clearly denounced the outbreak.
Women who were married to factory workers, artisans, and farmers, and who were
protesting war-time conditions, becarne
A handful of prostitutes, professional thieves, lrish and Yankee hags, gallow-birds from al1 lands but Our own.. .swearing they would have goods "at government prices" they broke open half a dozen stores.. .and robbed them of everything but bread which was just the thing they wanted leasti9.
In order to prevent such outbreaks in other Confederate cities, the government had to
nullify the threats such an event evoked. By looking deeper into the rhetoric of Southern
newspapers, interesting insights into the perceptions of women's roles in the Confederacy can be found.
Through the use of newspapers, surviving evidence of women's public life can be explored. Advertisements placed in the press by women for 'Ladies Meetings' and
articles describing women's activities have already been found in 7ke Spectntor of
19 Richmond E-r~rniner,quoted in The Spectator, of Staunton. Va.. on April 7'h, 1863, p.2, c. 1. al1 references to this newspaper are from: continually to request and encourage women's involvement. In an article entitied "The Sick in Staunton", the editor asked the "sisters of the South" to "contribute their mites [sic] to the relief of the suffering soldiers" and noted that "A dozen nurses could find ample and useful employment in the ~os~ital"'~.Stones of women defending their homes, becorning spies, and organizing to aid soldiers also appearX. As stated earlier, this study will focus specificdly on women of the Shenandoah Valley. The Valley has been chosen as a focal point for severai reasons. This area experienced a continual pattern of invasion, occupation and liberation. Women faced battles and occupation within their own communities, and it was the responses to such turmoil that is of interest to this study. It is felt that through the benefits of micro-history, the specific events and expenences that affected women of the region can be explored, and that the sense of a cornrnunity fighting for survival in the midst of a sectional conflict cm be retrieved. Moreover, the sirnilarities and the subtle and grave differences between the war in the Valley compared to the rest of the South cmte discovered and analyzed. Chapter One treats the current historiographical thought on wornen's place in Southern culture, and their role in the Civil Wx. Historians' interpretations of the importance of Southern wornen's wartime activities are sumrnarized and criticaily discussed. Problematic theoreticai frarneworks of earlier history on this topic are analyzed and the successes of recent publications in treating the topic are highlighted. Finally the chapter closes with a discussion of the Valley as a locale, exploring its 'O The Spectator, August 20, 186 1, p. 1 ,c.6. '1 The Spectator, Staunton, Va. For examples of the following :the defense of homes, May 3, 1864, p.2, c.2, and August 1 1, 1863; soldiers and spies, refer to, July 2 1, 1863, p.2, c.6, and September 12, 1863, p. i, c.7; organizations, Iook at June 30, 1863, p.2, CS,April 26, 1864, p.?, c. 1, and June 18, 186 1, p. 1, c.2 geographical setting, initial settlement, and developments previous to the war. A bnef summary is dso included about the rnilitary activity in the region during the war, to provide a point of reference for later discussions of women's involvement and expenences in the Valley. Chapter Two explores individual women's actions and lives during the war, relying on their diaries and letters as a source of records. Evidence of women's politicization is found in their joumals, where they discussed upcorning candidates, the northem government, and critical public events. Moreover, the public resistance to Yankee troops in their towns and houses reflected some women's political suppon of the Confederacy and their determination to protect their property. The radical activities of smuggling and spying are also treated and alongside women's public resistance, explored in the context of nineteenth century gender relations. The third chapter focuses on the organizational efforts of women in the Shenandoah Valley, analyzing their public roles in Soldier's Aid Societies and hospital work. Women's public work illustrated politicization as domestic tasks and skills were revarnped and dedicated to the service of the Confederacy. Analyzing mainly the three towns of Winchester, Harrisonburg and Staunton. this section catalogues women's organization and participation in the female consciousness from the period just before the war commenced to 1865. Lastly, Chapter Four expands the area of study to the state of Virginia, and examines wornen's wartime letters to the Governor. This discussion argues that women letter wnters were working within the female consciousness and their decision to write state officiais revealed a heightened relation to the politicai world. Virginia women's petitions are analyzed for their content, revealing that most letters sought the release of their husbands and bondsmen, or aid in the form of food and supplies for their families and neighbors. Women's rhetoncal strategies, are treated, arguing that both wornen in the South and the North rely upon their roles as mothers and wives, their patriotisrn, and numerous other tactics to convince the Governor their requests deserve attention. A brief discussion is also given on the govemment's responses to such pleas. The wornen of the Shenandoah Valley were active participants in the Civil War in a number of capacities. As historical actors, Southern women's efforts and organizations in aiding soldiers, local cornrnunities and their own families earned a significant place in modem history, that has only begun to be investigated in the last forty years. However, in this short time historians' expIorations of women's activities in modern war, has been extensive, creating a greater understanding and more detailed picture of women7sroIes in the stniggles of nations. Chapter 1 Beautiful Daughters of the Stars during the Civil War "Two Annies" When Heaven shall blow the trump of peace, And bid this weary warfare cease, Their several missions nobly done, The triumph grasped, the freedom won, Both annies, from their toils at rest, Aiike may daim the victor7screst. Henry ~imrod'. Timrod7spoem discusses the two Confederate amiies, the soldiers in gray, and the women in calico, who both fought for Southern independence during the American Civil War. Recognizing the efforts of both women and men, and granting them equal claim to victory, the poem ernphasizes that the Civil War was a sîruggle fought on the fields of battle and on the home front. One area in the South that particularly displays the concept of two armies working for the war effort is the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where women fipured considerably in the war effort. The word Shenandoah, in what J. Lewis Peyton termed "Indian tongue," rneans 'beautiful daughter of the stars', and in the Valley there were many Confederate 'dauphters' who sought ambitiously to "preserve life" as individuals and as part of organizations. Wornen formed their own 'my' designed to make clothes, raise money, gather supplies, and provide food for local regiments and for visiting troops fighting in the theatre of Virginia. These sme women were also active in nursinp from their homes or in local hospitals, donating suppties, and organizing - . - -. - I Henry Timrod, 'Two Armies", H.M.Wharton, War Songs and Poerns of the Solirhenr Confederacy, 1861- 1865, (Philadelphia, 1904), p.315 as cited in Drew Gilpin Faust, "Altars of Sacrifice: Confederate Women and the Narratives of War", Divided fionses: Gerider and the Civil War, eds., Catherine CIinton and Nina impromptu medical stations in public buildings or by the sides of major turnpikes. Al1 of these activities reflected women's efforts to care for the thousands of sick and wounded soldiers who entered their cornrnunities after serious campaigns. Timrod recognized the crucial contributions of women in the Confederate war effort, and this study identifies and explores the women's 'army' in the Shenandoah Valley. The Civil War for Southerners was, in many ways, a conservative reaction, seeking to maintain the Southem way of Me, including slavery, and many of the original ide& of the American Revolution. During the antebellum penod, the South developed a distinct culture frorn the North. The economic and cultural characteristics of that society deserve some attention in order to understand where and how wornen participated in the OId South and the Civil War. Keeping in rnind that the Shenandoah Valley was a part of the South and therefore influenced by the predominant cultural values of that region, Virginia and the Valley pctrticularly were also greatly affected by their proxirnity and economic relations with the North. This point will be developed later in this chapter, when discussing the Shenandoah Valley as a geographical region. However, understanding Southern society and the prescribed gender roles of that culture cm provide some insight into Valley wornen's place in their society and their roles in the Civil War. Below the Mason-Dixie line, various rural economies thrived, with many utilizing the plantation slave system, predominantly producing agrïcultural products for export and some materials for industries. Maintained by a patriarchal and paternalistic social system, slavery provided a large and profitable labour force, while significantly adding Silber, (New York and Oxford, i992), p. 173. The earliest pubkation date found of the poem was in the second edition of Sortrherrr poems of the War,ed. Miss Emily Mason, (Baltimore, 1868), p. 190. the cnteria of race to understanding Southem people. Rural life in the South also cultivated a unique identity from its interdependent kin connections, which Friedman argues was reinforced by local evangelical churches, and carried over into urban centres'. Both a plantation's business and farnily life were embodied into the household, which therefore was the dominant unit of production and reproduction. As such, the Southem household differed significantly from the northern 'bourgeoisie' notion of the 'homev3. Ali of these characteristics of Southern society had profound implications for white wornen and contributed to the significant differences between them and their northern sisters. The rural nature of the Southern economy had an important impact on white women's lives, isolating their existence to the household, and limiting their contact to kin, neighbors, and servants. Whereas women in towns or urban centres encountered lesser degrees of isolation because they would naturally have more contact with neighbors and their comrnunities in the settings of town life. Moreover, by the time of the Civil War Virginia was the most urbanized region of the South. While local evangelical churches served as a source of interaction and community, many historians have argued that Southern society discouraged opportunities for networks, bonds and voluntary associations arnongst women4. However, as Chapter Two will discuss, women in the towns of Winchester, Harrisonburg and Staunton did have group activities, rnknly 'Jean E. Friedman. The Enclosed Garden: Women and Community in the Evangelical South 1830-1900. (Chape1 Hill and London, 1985), p. xiii. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Wirhin the Plantation Househoid: Bfack and White women of the Old South. (U.S.A., 1988)- p.38-39. 4 Fox- Genovese, Within the Planration Household, p. 8 1; Friedman, The Enclosed Garden, p. xi ; George C. Rable, Civil Wars: Worneri and the Crisis of Sourhern Nationalism, (Urbana and Chicago, 199 l), p.2; Robert E. May, "Southern Elite Women, Sectional Extremism, and the Male Political Sphere: The Case of John A. Quitman's Wife and Female Descendents, 1847-193 l", Jorirnal of Mississippi History, Vol. L, 4, (November, 1988), p.25 1. confined to fund-raisers associated with their local church. The Southem cult of domesticity further buttressed women's isolation by deeming women's roles to be contained witilin the private sphere. Unlike Northerners, Southemers did not view the household or family as the sole domain for women, but as the "terrain that contained women's spheresW5.As the mistress of the plantation, slaveowner's wives were subordinated to the authority of the master, and were in charge of the children and slave management within the household. In the North, sirnilar limitations were placed on women's roles, confining their sphere to the home, and caring for their families. However authority and privilege for southern women were derived from the patriarchal power of the master, via the control and maintenance of slavery as the primary social and economic system. Southern white women, therefore, were less likely to challenge their subordinate position to men, or the institution of slavery, for to do so was to undermine the very structure of their own status as mistress. Although slavery did not take hold as the predominant form of labour in the Valley, the power of patriarchy did still have a powerful influence on the region, as it did dl over America in the nineteenth century. This influence affected the lives of middle and upper class Valley women, containing their identities to roles of motherhood and wives, and limiting their access to the public sphere. Fox-Genovese explains that for slave holding women and in essence for al1 Southern white woma the self came wrapped in gender, and gender wrapped in class and race. Everything in her society conspired to reinforce her identity as a woman. Everything discouraged her from thinking of herself as an individual in the abstract6. Fox-Genovese, Wirhin the Planrarion Honsehold, p. 195. 6 Ibid., p.372. Education for Southern women was influenced by 'republican motherhood' and 'evangelicalism', which sought to create competent mothers. These influences were designed to insure the moral elevation of the region and coming generations, but also to preserve woman's delicacy, submissiveness, and "simplicity of spint" in a society controlled by the power of men7. The historiography of women in the Civil War, and the South. is vast and multi- faceted, composing a complex and sophisticated picture of women in the nineteenth century. Considering the mass of materiai that has been written on this topic, the historïopraphicai treatment of it here will be brief- Mary Elizabeth Massey's work, originaily published in 1966, as Bonnet Brigades, was a forerunner of the work to corne. Massey argued that the wuserved for wornen as a "spnngboard from which they Ieaped beyond the circumscribed 'iwornan's sphere" into that heretofore reserved for men"'. Moreover, women in the North and the South gained formidable benefits from the war, economicaily, socially, and politically, which prepared them for the women's movernent to corne9. Massey's work provides vaiuable evidence for this study and maintains that the war did politicize women. Her work, however, neglects to emphasize the backlash after the war, and sees women's progression as continual right through the Reconstruction period. This may well be the case for northem women, but in the South this daim leads to a large overstatement of the war's impact upon slaveowning womenlO. 7 Sally G. McMillen, Sorrthern Women: Black and White in the Old South, (Arlinzton Heights, 1992). p. 80. Mary Elizabeth Massey, Wornen in rhe Civil War. (Lincoln. 1994), reprint of Bonnet Brigades, (1966). p.367. '' Ibid.. p.259, 340. Massey states that 'The economic ernancipation of women was the most important single factor in ber social, intellectual, and political advancement, and the war did more in four years to change her econornic status than had been accomplished in any preceding generation", p.340. 10 Rekr to George C. Rable, Civil Wars, p-227,230,239,285; Mcmillen, Southern Women, p. 136; Catherine Clinton, The Other Civil WacArnerican women in the Nirtereenth Century, (New York, 1984), p.95. Utilizinp the 'ferninist--whig7 framework, Massey's work falis into the trap of being too concerned with finding a natural advancement in women's status, instead of identifying the real fluctuations of wornen's Iives in the South. Anne Firor Scott's work, The Southem Lady, reveals similar problems. Scott argues that many women found their sphere "too confining", which was expressed in their hatred for slavery and their want for educationl1. Bent on supplying evidence for this argument, Scott relies heavily upon diaries and rerniniscences published long after the war, ignoring the power of hindsightI2. Many women sought publication, realizing that their joumals and diaries could bring them posterity, and by the tum of the century it was fashionable to claim a hatred for slavery and support ferninist ideals. Scott does not take this into consideration, and therefore paints a false portrait of what Southern women were feeling at the tirne by overstating their enlightenment to radical thinking13. Scott also agrees with Massey in asserting that "defeat and post-war conditions in the South undemiined the patriarchy," a point with which most recent historical scholarship disagrees. Scott's work follows the 'southeni lady' up to 1930 and like Massey, seeks a continuity for southem women that does not seem to exist. By utilizing the 'ferninist-- whig' framework Scott exaggerates the influence of the Civil War on women's status. George C. Rable has pushed the histonography of this topic to the other extrerne, charting Southern women's failure to challenge the patriarchai institutions of their II Anne Firor Scott, The Sorithern Lady: From Pedesral to Polirics 1830-1930, (Chicago and London, I970), p.46. IZ Ibid., p.49. Scott lists quote after quote deploring slavery, but the publication dates of these sources are alrnost al1 after 1900, and frorn the titles it is clear that many were written decades after the war. l3 Among the more recent historical scholarship Fox-Genovese argues convincingly that '5 laveholding women participated in their political and cultural class.. . [their] behavior and attitudes reflected and contributed to the ideology and maintained their station., . [they] reinforced it as they reforrnulated it in a fernale guise", Wirhin the Plantation Horrsehold, p.4445. society. Rable undermines Southern women's wartime efforts by continuaily cataloguing their activities as anti-ferninist. When wornen and young girls .. .dashed about the towns and cities with subscnption lists for flags and uniforms. they struck no blows for the emancipation of their sex. Instead their efforts becarne the subject matter of much post-war Confederate hagiography, a mernonal to women who not ody served the South but who also knew their place'J. Rable also readily accepts male definitions of women's role in the war, quoting several newspapers and concluding without question that "Loyalty, piety, and stoicism-al1 the oId feminine virtues-therefore still defined womm7s place in a Southem world on the brink of chaos"''. By failing to look beyond the rhetoric of contemporaries, Rable forgoes any possibility that the discussions of women's participation in the war were laced with prescriptions of how their actions should be interpreted. In discussing women's cnticism of politics during and after the war, Rable notes that "attacks on male politicians did not evolve into more general assaults against a male-dominated political order. Disillusioned women did not translate their fury into activism.. ."! Although providing substantial evidence of women's politicization, Rable is plagued by an agenda to dispel any notion that southem women were interested in changing their status in Southern society. Through concentrating on their motives -- to preserve the Confederacy -- as anti-feminist, and by continudly remarking how gender roles remained intact, and subscribing to Confederate war and post-war propaganda, Rable refuses to see women's war-tirne If Rable, Civil Wars, p.46. l5 Ibid.? p.48. The North was also using propaganda in newspapers during and long afier the war. Nina Silber notes that "northern joumalists, noveiists and dramatists, men and even some women, returned to the themes of weakened southern manhood, and southern female intransigence, throughout the late 19" century," "Intemperate Men, Spiteful Women, and Jefferson Davis," Divided Houses, p.284. l6 Ibid.. p.235. activities extending beyond their traditional roles17. In this process Rable follows the 'feminist--whig' framework and gauges women's efforts in the 'Cause' according to their failure to make ferninist inroads in Southern society. The cntical review of these works has been designed to illustrate the problems in writing history with ferninism as the "feature story". It should not be overlooked that these particuiar works contribute significmtly to Civii War histonography on Southem women, and provide considerable exarnples of women's participation in community politics and wartime activities. It is hoped that through the use of the concept of 'fernale consciousness' that much of the shortcomings discussed in Massey, Scott, and Rable's work will be bridged. Moreover, by accepting the prernise that positive change in women's status, no matter how short-lived, cm occur without the presence of feminist thinking or organization, it is believed that women's wartime efforts cm be studied in their proper historical contextI8. During the war, women' s greater autonomy over their day to day lives, largely due to the absent status of their menfolk, and their increased involvement in organizational activity in the public sphere did not occur because of feminist inroads in Southem society. Through acknowledging the absence of ferninism, women's agency and achievements cm be rewarded with the significance they deserve, without misunderstanding the histoncal context of the period. Additional works which deserve discussion here are the contributions of Fox- Genovese, Friedman, Lebsock, and Whites. Following Fox-Genovese, although ending her study of white and black women in 1860, stresses the importance of the househoid 17 Michael Fellrnan argues that the South hetd an "ambivalence toward convention, which in any event had been largely undermined by culiural chaos, led women as weIl as men into contexts where they were compelled at least to consider dangerousIy new conceptions of self and others," "Women and Guerilla Warfare," Divided Houses, p. 155. and its role in a distinct Southem culture. Transcending the ngid nature of a 'separate sphere' methodology, Fox-Genovese deconstnicts Southem women' s identity by emphasizing the import of class and race on women's gender roles, and reveals the interactive role of Southem men in the construction of that identityI9. The main emphasis of her book is the Southern household and its hnction within plantation society. In contrast, Friedman's work focuses on different characteristics of Southem women's lives, articulating the influence of kin-ship networks and evangelical culture on women. Friedman argues that the very nature of Southem culture "inhibited the formation of women's consciousness, collective identity, and self-assertion, and at the same time discouraged female a~sociation"'~. Stressing the marginal authonty women held in evangelical churches, the rural character of the South, and the dedication of women to Family organization, Friedman feels that the benevolent societies that laid the foundation for northern ferninisrn could not occur in the south". Furthemore, before the war Southem society did not allow debates over social structures, the explicit challenge of much Northem refom work, because to do so would have imperiled the institution of slavery. Friedman also concludes that the Civil War did "not disturb the kinship systems or greatly alter women's consciousness"2'. In many ways Friedman provides an example of 'female consciousness' by illustrating how women's collective action in the war effort, such as bread riots, demonstrated women's actions were on behalf of their familiesZ3. However, Friedman neglects the possibility that benevoient organizations or a woman's culture could begin with the connections of kin and move to enfold other '' A point that Suzanne Lebsock makes in her work. The Free Wornen of Petersburg. p.240. IO Fox-Genovese, Within the Plantation Household. p.372, 373. Friedman. The Enclosed Garden. p-xi. " Ibid., p.37.92, 128. women into their circle", a point that Lebsock makes clear in her analysis of the Petersburg comrnunity . Lebsock's micro-historïcal study of Petersburg's wornen argues that a woman' s culture did indeed exist, and contributed to the community. The work demonstrates that sometimes "it takes immersion in local detail to arrive at suficiently refined answers to the questions of why organizations were created and how they served their mernbersV->. Lebsock notes that the organization of the Female Orphan Society in 18 13 was created by a "dense network of relationships with other wornen.. .based on kinship, neighborhood, and cornmon experïence ...'"6. The close quarters of town life might have aided the development of a 'wornan's culture', but it is important to note that wornen's organizations did exist before the war and were based upon improving and preserving community life. Finally, LeeAnn Whites' article, "The CiviI War as a Crisis in Gender", lends important insight into how the war affected men and women's pnder identity. Whites correctly asserts that the Civil War constituted not only a fight for Southern independence but also a defense of Southern manhood against the Northern threat of abolition and feminism. The war was not merely a "test of the white man's courage on the battlefield, it was also a test of his dependent's loyalty on which the courage was built"". This rnay help to explain the Confederacy's exoneration of southrrn women's dedication to the cause, but it also explains the unique opportunity presented to women. Through their ------77 Ibid.. p. 129. Ibid.. p. 129. '' Friedman States that "because their lives bound them to kin rather than to each other, women identifïed most stron~tywith community rather than with alien women's groups", The Enclosed Garden, p. 128. -> Lebsock. The Free Women of Petersburg, p. 197. '' Ibid., p.209. " Whites. 'The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender," p. 13. efforts, Whites feels, "they could enter the heart of the struggle and like their men define themselves as "independent southern w~rnen"'~. Whites supports the tenet of women's wartime politicization by noting that domestic manufacturing took on new import, and women's organizations allowed previously privatized labor to meet the large demands of war-3 9 . Whites work inspires a deeper investigation of how gender was integrated into Southern society and how it was affected by the Civil War. More recent publications that focus on the war as a period of potential change for white women in the South, and which pay more attention to the war's impact on gender roles, include the combined efforts of several historians in A Woman's War: Southem Women, Civil War, and the Confederate Legacy, and Drew Gilpin Faust's Mothers of Invention. The first work, while paying considerable attention to the experiences of poor white women, and black women, also gives important analysis to the South's slaveowning women. A Womnn 's War, significantly recognizes the transitionai nature of the war in regards to contemporary gender ideology. Faust, Rable, and Thavolia Glymph assert that The war did not simplify the place of gender in the South. hstead, it complicated the issue in ways never imagined. The war sometimes forced, sometimes aided change, bringing with it new perspectives and a new debate over the contributions and potential of black and white ~ornen~~. This debate often revolved around the degree to which respectable white wornen could participate in the war effort and the public sphere. Women's initiative paved the way for cntics like the government, and the press, to support their actions, as the pressing needs of war demanded their aid, in providing food, clothing, and nursing. But. as Joan E. Cashin in her chapter on the refugee experience has noted the "antebellum bargain" was broken during the war. This unspoken contract entitled white wornen who gave up their autonomy to male protection3'. However, increasingly, southern men and the Confederate army could not protect their wives and farnilies from Yankee invasions and subsequently forced women to provide their own protection. In some ways, this resulted in increased autonomy for women. Drew Gilpin Faust's book, Mothers of Invention, is a celebration of the wartime achievements of Southem women. Faust is quick to note that in order for the Confederacy to succeed "women had to become patriotic, had to assume some of the politicai interests of men, and had to repress certain womanly feelings and expectations for the good of the aus se"^'. This assertion supports the tenet of wartime politicization without attaching any judgement to whether it is significant to the feminist rnovement, an important tenet of this study. The work also contributes a brief analysis of women's wartinie lrtters to political officiais, sustaining the present work's argument that these petitions signify women's increased connection to the politicai ~orld'~.Finally, Faust offers a wealth of information on Southem white women's efforts in organizations and nursing, and retrieves the individual voices of many women who experienced the tragedy of the American Civil War. - -- - 30 Drew Gilpin Faust, Thavolia Gylrnph and George C. Rable, "A Woman's War: Southern Women in the Civil War." A Wornan's War: Southern Women, Civil War, and the Confederate Legacy, eds. Edward D.C. CampbeIl Jr., and Kym S. Rice, (Richmond, 1996). p.27 " Joan E. Cashin, "Into the Trackless Wilderness: The Refugee Experience in the Civil War." A Wornan's War, p.32 Drew Gil pin Faust, Morhers of Invention: Wornen of the Slaveholding South in the Arnerican Civil War. (Chape1 Hill and London, 1W6), p. 17 33 Ibid., p.88-89 The interests of military history, focusing on the major campaigns of 1862 and 1864, have predominantly dictated the historiography discussing the Shenandoah Valley as a region during the Civil wd4. A few works have, however, explored the impact of the war on civilians and their communities in the Valley. Garland R. Quarles' Occupied Winchester 1861-65 charts the experiences of Winchester's citizens tfiroughout the waves of continual occupations md batties. Quarles includes significant segments of women's diaries supported by biographical information on each individual, and highlights women's efforts in the town to aid the Confederate cause. Another contribution to the wartime social history of the Valley is Edward K. Phiilip's Ph.D. dissertation, which discusses the impact of the war on civilians and civil institutions in the Lower Valley. Phillips explores the collapse of local governments, courts and mailing systems; the affects of the poorly organized state and federal governments and conscription laws on civilians; and the morale of the people and their work for the Cause. Emphasizing the failure of the Valley's infrastructure, Phillips lends important insights into the lives of civilians in the Valley during the Civil War. Finally, as stated earlier, this study will focus specifically on women of the Shenandoah Valley. Therefore the Valley needs to be discussed as a region and put in histoncal context for this study. The Shenandoah Valley lies near the current northwestem border of the state of Virginia, between the Blue Ridge mountains and the first ranges of the Aileghenies. The average width of the Valley is between 25 to 30 34 Examples of this type of history are: Robert G. Tanner, Storrewall in the Valley, (Garden City, New York, 1976); Gary W. GalIagher, Srriiggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 Valley Carnpaign, Kent and London, 199 1); James Edward Stackpoie, Sheridan in the Shenandoah; Jribal Early's Nemesis; George E. Pond, Shenandoah Valley in 1864. Other works with rnilitary interests incorporating some sociaf history include, Richard R. Duncan, Alexander Neil and the Late Shenandoah Valley Campaign: Letters of an Amy Surgeon ro his Family, 1864, (Shippensburg, PA, 1996) and Mark Grimsley, The hard hand of \var: Union militcrg policy toward Southern civilians, 186 1- 1865, (Cambridge, i 995). miles, while its length, measured frorn the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry to the town of Lexington, is over 150 miles3'. Geographically the Massanutten Mountain running down the rniddle of the region divides the Valley into two areas, the Lower and the Upper. The Lower Valley consists of Frederick, Clarke, Shenandoah Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. The latter two counties became a part of the new state of West Virginia during the war. The northern neck of the Vdley closes just before the Pennsylvania border, creating close contact with the North. For this study, Frederick County is the most useful, due to the number of diaries and letters surviving from the town of Winchester. Moreover, Winchester changed hands over seventy tirnes during the war, forcing civilians to contend with alternating conditions of freedom and occupation. The Upper Valley contains Warren, Page. Rockingham, and Augusta Counties. Greater attention is given to the latter two counties in this study. again largely due to the availability of sources. However. evidence found in other areas of the valley have also been included. (Refer to Appendix A) The Shenandoah Valley's settlernent began in the early eighteenth century. The valley was a "large area of broadly undulating, well-watered fertile land, suitable for agriculture"; lacking any permanent aboriginal village, and "located between two large mountain ranges," it was "perfect for ~ettlement"~?Jacob Stover, who acquired lands on the south fork of the Shenandoah River, initiated the earliest settlement. By December of 1733, Stover had patented two 5000 acre tracts of land and by the end of the year fifty- 35 John Walter Wayland, The Cerman Eleinenr of the Shenandoah Valley of Virgirria, (Harrisonburg, 1978), 1907 1" edition, p. 1; Voices of the Civil War,eds. Time Life Books, (Alexandria), p.9 36 Robert D. Mitchell, Commercialism and Frorrtiec Perspectives on the EnrShenandoah Valley, (Charlottesville, 1977), p. 19 one German settlers were settled on the upper tracr". Jost Hite had purchased another large land tract and by 1735 setded sixty-seven families on these lands in Frederick and Berkeley countie~~~.Land gants for the future counties of Augusta and Rockbridge were obtained in 1736 and 1739 respectively and by 1740 had given 539,000 acres within the Shenandoah Valley granted by the govemment of Virginia to eight individuals or partnerships39. By 1750, there was still no continuous settlement line through the Valley; rather pockets of settlement were spread out, reflecting the disorganized system of early land survey in frontier regions. The ethnic background of early settlers in the Valley was a combination of German, Scots-Irish, and English. Germans and Scots-Irish, who had corne from Pennsylvania through Maryland, mainly settled the Upper Valley. The population of the Lower Valley consisted in part of the same ethnic origins plus a good portion of Tidewater aristocrats attracted to the fertile land opponunities available in the valleyJO. Early settlement patterns were largely dictated by ethnic background but Robert D. Mitchell has argued that "such traditional separation of national groups was rarely maintained over the long term. The residential rnixing of ethnically diverse populations was the most dominant trend by the end of the colonial pe~iod"~'.Nonetheless, an important characteristic created by the large popuIation of German settlers in the valley, 37 Ibid.. p.37 38 fbid., p-29 39 Land Ofice Records. no. 29, Orange Co., Book 1754. Virginia State Library ; Manning C. Voorhis, 'The Land Grant Policy of Colonial Virginia, 1607- 1774" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 1940), p. 162, both sources cited in Mitchell, Commercialism and Fronrier, p.3 1, 3 1-32. JO By 1775, Shenandoah County held 22% English, 10% Scotch-Irish, 60% German, and 8% Dutch, and Swiss settlers. Frederick County contained, 40% English, 25% Scotch-Irish, 30% German, 5% Dutch settlers. Finally, Augusta County had 20% English, 30% Scotch-Irish, 43% German, 3% Dutch and Swiss settlers. Corrnty Order Books, Deed Books, and WiefBooks, 1775-82; Land TuRecords, 1782-83 as cited in MitcheIl, Commercialism and Fronrier, p.43 '" MitcheI1, Cornrnercialism and Fronrier, p.45 that distinguished it from the Tidewater and Piedmont regions of Virginia, was the minimal reliance on slave labour. In 1790 approximately 23,000 out of a total white population of 63, 686 in the valley were of German origin? John W. Wayland, a historian who has published numerous books on the Shenandoah Valley, has claimed that Germans and Quakers did not keep slaves and this is reflected histoncally in the low population of slaves in the all le^^^. The 1850 census reveals that Virginia7s total slave population was 472, 528, but that the three counties of interest to this study in the Shenandoah Valley only contained 9, 678 slaves collectively, compared to a white population of 49, 248? By 1860 this number had increased to 10, 262 slaves out of a statewide population of 490, 865, while the white population had increased to 55, 1 15~;. Explained in another way, in 1860, there were 3,233 slaveholders in Virginia, but only 104 resided in the counties of Frederick, Augusta and ~ockin~harn''~.This information becomes extremely important in a historiographical discussion to corne on the Soldier's Aid Societies in the Valley. Urban development in the Valley cm in part be understood by looking at the growth of Winchester, the largest town in the Valley by the beginning of the Civil War. By 1800, there was a population of aimost 84,000 people residing in the Valley, and most towns founded b y this point were county administration centres, which Mitchell argues " Ibid.. 1" Census of the U.S. 2 790, p.98, 99. " John W. Wayland, 25 Chaprers on the Shenandonh VaHey. (Strasburg. 1957). p.83: Jean Gottmann. Virgirzirr in Our Cenrrtry, (Charlottesville, 1955), p. 102. Gottmann states that in the Valley ". ..Negoes were few, and the labor of the slave had never been accepted as the final solution to agricultural". Garland R. Quarles claims that the "holding of slaves among most of the people was either something new or something forbidden," (refening to the large popu1ation of Mennonites and Quakers in the Valley), Occlipied Winchester 1861-65, (Winchester, 1976), p.2 U By the 1840s, Winchester was a thriving town that boasted a modem courthouse which sported the town dock, a jail, market house, fire station and tobacco warehouse. As the decade progressed, Winchester opened a medical school, installed gas streetlights and raised sidewaiks, and supported three drarna societies, and a ~ibrar~~~.Numerous private schools for the education of both men and women, were located in the town. A variety of different churches allowed Winchester citizens, who were mainly Protestant, places of worship while also providing an arena for women's group activitiesï'. By 1860 the town had a population of 4403 people, of which 3040 were white, 655 freedmen, and 708 slave". During the 1840s and 1850s, the Valley experienced a time of growth and prospenty. A dozen or more tumpikes were begun in the 1830s including the farnous Valley turnpike from Winchester to Staunton w-hich was begun in 1834 and completed by 1840. The northem Piedmont region and the Valley specialized in wheat - many sources often refer to the Valley as the "bread basket" of the ~onfederac~~~.By the 1850s, orchards had been established dong the foothills of the Blue Ridge, producing a variety 47 Mitchell, Comrnercialisrn and Fronrier, p. 14 Robert G. Tanner, Sto~rewalfin the Valley, (New York, 1976), p. 17 49 Ibid.. p. 17 "' Ibid.. p. 18 Similar developrnent occurred in Staunton and Harrisonburg. 51 Quart es, Occrrpied Winchester, p.2 53 Jacob R. Hildebrand, Mennonite Journal, 1862-65: A father's account of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley, ed. John R. Hildebrand, (1996), p. x of fmits, while dm famiing was considered a specidty of the all le^^^. Moreover, the Valley was a prime hone and mule region, only nvaled by states like Tennessee and ~entuck~~'.As railroad production increased in the 1850s powerful regional links were created with the North. The Baltimore and Ohio railroads in the north tied the northwestern section of Virginia more closely to Baltimore, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, than to the intenor of virginias6. With these kinds of economic connections to the north, it is no surprise that before Lincoln's call for troops the Valley rernained a stronghold of Union sentiment5'. Hence the Valley as a geogrraphical region, although influenced by the predorninant ideologies of Southern culture, was also tied extensively to the North by transportation networks and econornic interests. Every county in the Valley during the 1860 presidential election had a majority of votes for the southem moderates, John Bell or John C. Breki~dge,both of whom voiced a distinct pro-Union sentiment? As the crisis of secession approached, the Valley elected delegates for a speciai session of the Virginia legislature, which met in Richmond in January 186 1. This session continued right through to April 17, 1861, when Virginia decided her interests and future lay with the Confederacy. However, the first vote on secession was a definitive Union victory, while the second passed only after Lincoln's cal1 for volunteers to put down the "rebellion". Even then Confederate supporters won '' Jean Gottrnann. Virginiri in our Centun.. p. 103. 104 55 Tanner, Stonewali in rhe Valley, p. 18 56 Ibid., p. 109. Edward H. PhiIlips notes that by the 1830s the "whole economy of the lower valley had become increasingly linked to Baltimore and dependent on the railroad," 'The Lower Shenandoah Valley dunng the Civil War: The Impact of the War upon the CiviIian Population and upon Civil Institutions," Ph.D. dissertation, (Chape1 Hill, 1958), p. 108 " Phillips argues that "in this border region the great southern staples were foreign. Its economy was meshed into that of the Northeast. In their sociaI and poIitica1 relationships its people had connections with the Northeast and the West that were as binding as those with deep South ...Its Virginianism was intense; but one could find here before 1859 little evidence of the growth Southern Nationalism", Ibid., p.3 58 Tanner. Stoneivaif in the Valley, p. 25 only by 88 votes to 55". But how did men of the Valley vote in the Ordinance for Secession on April 17? Out of the 17 delegates from the Shenandoah Valley, five voted for secession, while 12 voted against. Representatives from Frederick County voted two against; Augusta three against; and finaily Rockingharn County one for and two againdo. It becarne clear then that in April of 1861 the Valley, probably due to its econornic business with the north, and its low investment in slavery, still supported the Union. Although men of the Valley believed in the constitutional right to secede, they wished to preserve the Union, and remain a part of Arnerica. However, once the war cornrnenced valley men formed numerous companies and Valley women worked hard to supply them, in order to fight for southern independence. The Shenandoah Valley was strategically of great military importance to both annies in the Civil War. Because of its large production of staples, such as wheat, Hoor, hay, and livestock, the valley became a significant supplier for the Confederate aimies and the populace of Virginia. Due to the difficulty of the Confederate government to fully supply its armies, the Valley people had to try and compensate, by providing uniforms, knapsacks, blankets, and most importantly food. Phillips has correctly noted that the Soldier became "dependent on his own resources, upon his home, and upon the charity of the c~mrnunit~"~'.Moreover, because of the constant rnilitary action in the Valiey, Phillips argues that "in few wars have the soldiers maintained as intimate contact with their homes and communities hmwhich they came as did the Valley soldiersW6'. Soldier's reliance on their families and communities placed significant demands on 59 Garland, Occupied Winchester, p. 2 60 Ibid.. p.2 6' Phillips, "The brver Sherrandoah Valley During the Civil War," p. 76 61 Ibid civilians' resources, while at the sarne time it created a medium for the people, and especially women, to becorne actively involved in contributing to the war effort. A second reason for the rnilitary importance of the Valley was the crucial location of transportation connections found in towns such as Staunton and Winchester, located at either end of the valley. Staunton was located on the southern end of the Valley Pike and on the Virginia Centrai Railroad, the main line of raiiroad access to Richmond and the Piedmont region to the east6). Moreover, the Virginia-Tennessee railroad, which aiso converged at Staunton, Iinked Richmond with the Confederate West as far the Mississippi River. To the north Winchester, located at the northem neck of the Valley, was the last stop on a sheltered route for Confederate annies to approach dangerously close to points near the Union capital. Washington was a mere fifty miles from the Shenandoah Valley's most northern tip. This is one reason why Winchester was a spot of continual action, where both arrnies contested for control ail throughout the war. If the Federals controlled the Valley they could "cross the Blue Ridge by any [ofj its passes to invade Virginia's Piedmont region and head straight for Richmond, one hundred miles away"". Understanding the significance of the Shenandoah Valley's logistical vdue and its strategic position in the Civil War sheds light on why this area experienced so much rniiitary action throughout the war. Finally, in order to completely comprehend the experiences of women in the Vailey, a bief surnmary will be included here of the many battles which took place near and in the comrnunities these women cailed home. On October 7, 1861, Stonewail Jackson was made Major-General in the Confederate army and in November he returned 63 Jacob R. Hildebrand, Mennonite Journal, p. x Voices of the Civil War,eds. Time Life, p.9 to the Valley where his operations were focused around Winchester and where he set up his headquarters until the spnng of 1862. Nonetheless, the year 1861 closed without any major military activity in the Valley, quietly awaiting the victonous carnpaign to corne in 1862- The Stonewall Brigade consisted of the 2nd, 4h, 5", 27'h, and 33'<' Virginia Infantry, largely composed of Valley men, plus a battery of light artillery from ~exin~ton? Jackson engaged the federal troops of Generals Banks and Fields at Harpers Ferry, Charles Town and Martinsburg in April of 1862. However, his famous VaIley campaign stretched from March to June in 1862, beginning with the Confederate loss at the Battle of Kemstown, just outside of Winchester. On May 23rd,Jackson would successfully oust LOO0 federal troops from Front Royal, followed by victory at the First Battle of Winchester just two days later. Ji June, Jackson and his troops moved south down the Valley battling at Hamisonbug on the 6'h, and although the Confederates won, General Turner Ashby was killed, a Valley man of great repute. Engagements occurred on the gthat Crosskeys and the next day at Port Republic, where Confederate losses were dear and the 1862 Valley campaign completed. The impact of al1 these battles on the comrnunities of the Valley is hard to imagine. The destruction of property, the drain on resources, loss of lives, and the need to care for the wounded affected the daily routines of most civilians. Often the Confederate soldiers' treatment of Southem Unionists could have retaliatory consequences for local residents. In May, 1862, a Maine regiment learned that some of Jackson's men had pillaged Union merchant's stores in Martinsburg. Captain John Mead wrote, "it was not long before the soldiers ...retumed the compliment upon a rebel shopkeeper"". These kinds of incidents were relatively mild in the beginning of the war, but they continued to escalate as the struggle progressed. The confiscation of food and supplies from local citizens also became more frequent as Union soldiers' supplies diminished later in the war. However, Jackson's carnpaign of 1862 was a huge victory. He succeeded in foiling Union plans to capture Richmond by keeping possession of the Valley, Jackson was able to boost the Confederacy7s morale to carry on the bloody conflict. On September 15, 1862 Jackson captured Harper's Ferry and two days later participated in the temble Battle of Sharpsburg another town very near to Winchester. After being prornoted to Lieutenant-General, Jackson remained in the Valley, maneuvering between Winchester, and Manassas Gap, around Berryville, Millwood, White Post, and Front Royal, in the first three weeks of November, and then proceeded across the Blue Ridge to leave the Valley for good. The year 1863 saw many small skirmishes and conflicts between moving bodies of gray and blue troops, and one major battle at Winchester on June 14. General Lee drove Milroy out of the town, freeing the civilims from federal occupation for the first time in almost six months. This year was one of the relatively limited fighting in the Valley. This respite from military contests on their land, however, was short-lived and Valley residents were il1 prepared to face the severe carnpaigns of the following year. By 1864, northen rnilitary policy had drastically changed and called for the devastation of the Valley. The destructive forces of Generals Hunter and Sheridan ravaged the region. The first major engagement, the Battle of New Market on May 15, - - 65 WayIand, Trventy-five Chapters on rhe Shenandoah Valley, p.357 brought Confederate victory. Then on June 5 Hunter moved into the Valley, defeating General Jones at Piedmont, and entering Staunton the next day. A few days later his forces captured Lexington, buming the Virginia Military Institute and many homes of local citizens. Hunter's destructive capabiiities reached far and wide in the Valley and earned the scornful letter of Mrs. Henrietta B. Lee, whose home was bumed by his order, in Jefferson County. She wrote, You have had the satisfaction ere this of receiving from him [Captain Martindale, Hunter's officer] the information that your orders were fulfilled to the letter; the dwelling and every out-building, seven in number, with their contents, being burned. 1, therefore, a helpless wornan whom you have cruelly wronged, address you, a Major-General of the United States Army, and dernmd why this was d~ne?~'. By 1864, the concept of a "civilized war" was becoming blurred by random acts of destruction and violence and the concept of "hard war" in place resulting in the systematic min of the Valley's resources accomplished by Generai Sheridan iater that Under General Grant's orders to lay waste to the Valley's resources, Generai Sheridan in August destroyed farrns, houses and livestock, leaving the people desolate for want of food. Sheridan reported that he had destroyed over 2000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming irnplements; over seventy rnills filled with flour and wheat; have driven in the front of over 4000 head of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops not less than 3000 sheep.. .the Valley, from Winchester up to Staunton, ninety-two miles, will have -- - - 66 John Gould Mead. Hirrory of the Firsr-Tenrh-Tbventy-r1i11thMaine Regiment. (Portland. MES. Berry. 187 1, p. 146 as cited in Gnmsley, The hard hand of ivar, p.43. 67 Mrs. fienrierra B. Lee's Letter to General Hunter on the Burnirig of her Hause, July 7oh, 1864, copy made from Eieanor S. Brokenbrough Library, the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA. Mrs. Lee's letter ends with this passage: "Your narne wiII stand on history's page as the Hunter of weak women and innocent children, the Hunter to destroy defenceless villages and refined beautifid homes; to torture afresh the agonized hemof widows ...the Hunter with the relectless [sic] hem of a wild beast, the face of a fiend and the form of a man. Oh, Earth, behold the monster!". little in it for man or bead8. Alexander Neil, a Union surgeon in the Potomac my, commented in bis diary in October that "thousands of Refugees are fleeing north daily, as nothing but starvation would stare them in the face to stay in this valley the coming inter"^^. On September 19. the third and final Battle of Winchester took place, where the Federals gained control of the town until the end of the war. From September 27 to October 5, Confederate General EarIy skirrnished with Union soldiers from Port Republic to Waynesboro, and then at Mt. Sidney and Mt. Crawford. Just two days before Early's 1st skirrnish, a federal officer of Sheridan's was killed by a Confederate soldier, spawning Sheridan's cruel order to destroy everything within a five mile radius of his death near Edinburg. Houses, mills, farms were ail bumed to the ground to punish civilians for a casualty of war. Finaily, on October 19, at the Battle of Cedar Creek Sheridan destroying Early's army as an effective fighting force, and for al1 "practical purposes the war in the valley was over.. .,770 . Although greater conflicts occurred in the campaigns of 1862 and 1864, military activity was constant in the Shenandoah Valley throughout the entire war. The region saw "over a dozen pitched battles, hundreds of skirmishes, and chronic gue~lla activity.. .that escalated in 1864 to the point of retaliatory hangings"71. Women in the Valley lived with death, destruction, and sometimes starvation for almost four years, yet they survived and more importantly continued to help their soldiers, their families, and 68 O.R., Ser. , 1, Vol. 43, pt. 1, p.30-3 1,as cited in James M. McPherson, Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconsrnrcrion, 2"' edi tion, (U.S.A., 1BS), p.444 69 Duncan, Alexander Neil and the Last Shenanduaiz Valley Campaign, Letter to his parents, October 5, 1864, p.68. McPherson, Ordeal By Fire, p.446 7' Gailagher. Stn'ggle for the Shenandoah. p.3. their comunities despite, and perhaps because of, the continuai violent environment of War. Henry Tirnrod's poem celebrated two armies fighting for the South in the Civil War. Without the aid of women, in their many faculties, the Confederacy would have faced a much harder and more tragic war. The efforts of wornen enlisted, fed, clothed, supported, and nursed the ranks of the Confederate army. A few women even fought, spied, organized home rniiitary units, and defended their own homes with any weapons they could find. Southern women adarnantly defended the Cause and desired independence from Northern hegemony as rnuch as their menfok. Stemrning from a 'female consciousness7, in defense of home and children and within the framework of the southern way of life, wives, mothers and daughters sought to preserve their lives, their families' lives, and their cornrnunities. Despite conservative motivation, women's actions Ied to renegotiations of gender roIes for the duration of the war. Politicization occurred on many fronts, and women expanded the traditional duties of wives and mothers to suit the needs of a society at war. Chapter 2 Vallev Ladies on the Homefront: The Compellin~Records Left Behind A number of women in the Shenandoah Valley, like many others throughout the South, chronicled the events of the war in the persond pages of their diaries. These documents offer a rare insight into the individual expenences, activities, and responses of women who were faced with the continual tragedies of warfare on the very lands they cailed home. Traditional, time-honoured codes of behavior for Southern women were evoked, altered and in some cases shed in their entirety, as gender roles defined for Southern society were changed in response to the extenuating circumstances of Yankee occupations, and invasions of their homes. Women's interest in politics and cornmunity affûirs are recorded in their private journals when they described and criticized politicai decisions, and by their actions in the public world. Diaries as a histoncal source cannot only reveal the inner deliberations of southen women, but can also offer a record of the events and daiIy occurrences of women's lives. Political opinions were expressed openly and publicly when ladies in occupied towns, such as Winchester, waved Confederate flags, insulted occupying soldiers and generals, and participated in contraband activities. The female consciousness found expression in caring for men in the my, by taking in sick soldiers and feeding passing troops from their very homes. Women of the Shenandoah Valley also had to contend with the constant invasion of their domestic sphere, as inspecting, raiding, and occupying soldiers violated the sanctity of their homes. Many women, when confronted with the destruction and defilement of their property, did not idly stand by as victims but aggressively defended their families and land with words and weapons. In doing so they filled the male role of protector. Others learned to play upon the chivalrous nature of Yankee officiais and demand a guard from occupying arrnies to protect their homes and families. Finally, a few women of the Shenandoah Valley becarne involved in radical activities such as srnuggiing, using msagainst Union troops, and spying for both Confederate and Union generals in order to help their battle plans. Wornen of the Valley were active participants in aiding and protecting their comrnunities frorn the conflict and upheavd of a civil war. This chapter seeks to recapture the distinct voices of these women, by focusing on their politicization, expressions of fernale consciousness, and agencyl during the Civil War. For most women, the impending Civil War represented the gravest and grandest political cnsis of their lives. In early 1861, the front pages of local newspapers were filled with articles discussing the imminent war of independence. Farnily parlors were dorninated with tdk of the 1860 elections, Southern rights, and approaching northern aggression. Women in the Valley did not observe these overwheiming events without comment or opinion, and often they revealed their political stances in their diaries. One anonymous girl, known today only as the "Virginia Schoolrnistress", discussed the political candidates of the 1860 election in her journal, disclosing her political opinion and identifying herself as a "subrnissive Whig". She indicates a dilernma felt by many individuais in the South who had lost their political party but still believed in the political Whig principles. She wrote: What 1am to understand by the declaration that 1 am a Whig and will submit to anything? Lf submitting to the election of Lincoln I Agency in this study is specifically refening to Valley women's refusal to be victims of Yankee invasions of their homes. Many women agressively defended their property with words and weapons defying contemporary gender prescriptions which defined women as passive and subrnissive figures in Southern culture. because Bell could not be elected is a crime in me (worthy of acrimonious censure) 1 must plead "guilty," for upon the whole 1 must decide in favor of Lincoln i.e. in cornparison with Breck- inridge2. This wornan expressed a cornmon southem feeling of dissatisfaction with the available candidates, dthough atypically, she favored Lincoln as the best selection. It is significant in that it reflects a great deal of thought, in weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each political representative. It must have been fmstrating to many women, who heid strong feelings on secession, to have no say in their state's decision but this did not stop some women from having strong political opinions. Judith McGuire, a woman from Alexandna, Virginia, who spent tirne during the war living in the Valley as a refugee, quietly observed the irnpending decision of secession in her journal. She wrote: 1, who so dearly loved this Union.. .now must hope that the voice of Virginia may give no uncertain sound; that she may leave it with a shout. 1am thank-fut that she did not take so important a step hastily, but that she set an exarnple of patience . . .and made an earnest effort to maintain peace; but as al1 her efforts have been rejected with scom, and she has been required to give her quota of men to fight and destroy her brethen of the South, 1 tmst that she rnay now speak decidedly3. Judith McGuire had carefully watched the politicai maneuvers of her state and cornrnended the cautious movements it made, but like most of her fellow statesmen, she felt now was the time to act and Virginia must confidently make her motion for Southern independence. Lucy Rebecca Buck, a resident of Front Royal, knew why secession was Glenn Curtiss Smith, ed.. "Diary of a Virginia Schoolmistress 1860- 1863," Madisotz Quanerly. vol. 9. 2. (March, 1949). September 25. 1 860, p.32. Annette K. Baxtor and Leon Stein, Diary of a Suuthertz Refrrgee During rhe War, (New York, 1972), May 21, l861, p.16-17. the only reasonable course of action for Virginia to take. After Lincoln's cal1 for troops, she proclaimed that I saw it [government] trarnple upon the laws, desecrate the symbols and outrage every principle upon which this governrnent was founded. Then I saw the oppressed rise up and assert its rights. I saw it plead with the oppressor for equd privileges as brothers of one house-hold. I saw concessions made and efforts for compromise, but the strong would have none of it. Might was right... 4 . Buck's repetitive and poetic use of the phrase "1 saw" lays personal claim to the events she describes, while strengthening the adamant convictions of this passage, and leaving the reader no doubt that these are her own political sentiments. Observations made by individual women in the Valley were gathered from reading the local news and by paying attention to the consequences the American political environment. Mary Greenhow Lee, a woman in Winchester active in the Confederate cause, was aware of the political importance of foreign aid. She noted that a letter from Drougnde de Hugo to Mercier showed the French Emperor's persistent efforts at mediation. Lee concluded that "he will force Lincoln to accept or reject [mediation] and in either case, our recognition will be the ~onse~uence"~.Cornelia McDonald, another resident of Winchester, was aware of the political implications of Napoleon III activities in Mexico and his possible threats to Texas. She hoped that Napoleon's threats to the northem govemment would prove fruitful enough to "make those cunning and unscrupulous spirits at Washington to tumble for their own safety. They know well that 4 Elizabeth R. Baer. Shadows on my heart: The Civil War Diar-y of Lucy Rebecca Buck. (Athens and London, 1997). Drcernber 3 1. 1861.p.9. The ernphasis placed on ''1 saw" is mine, but the 1st phrase is the author's. Mary Greenhow Lee, Diary, excerpt copied by the Handley Regional Library, Winchester, Va., February 14, 1863, p. 3 14. they will have to answer to the people they have duped for plunging them into two wars at the same timen6. McDonald realized that disturbances in Mexico could aid the Confederacy by undemiining northem support for a govemment that could not lirnit the number of conflicts it undertook. Moreover, McDonaid recognized the powerful tactic of scapegoating military oficials for lost battles. In April 1863, Adrniral Dupont, a northem naval officer, failed to capture Charleston and was attacked by the northem press. Critical of such actions, McDonald wrote ...as usual the sacrifice of a great man must be made to appease the angry gods. Admirai Dupont is the victim this time selected, [because] Admira. Dupont did not set aside ail the expenence in naval affairs that he had acquired in a life of service. .. Che] exercised his own cornrnon sense and for that he is set aside'. Mrs. Macdonald reveals an ability to look at the North and distinguish between politicai bodies, their motives, and rnilitary figures. The North, in her mind, was not simply a mass of Yankee %and&' but contained distinct individuals striving to do the best they could in their assigned positions. These passages help to illustrate that women in the Shenandoah Valley were aware of the politicai events, both in the Valley and in the wider world. However, more importantly, some of these women could rise to be critical political thinkers, through deciding on the best political candidate, and by analyzing military events and understanding their political significance for the cause of Southern independence. By arriving at their own political opinions about various events, these women illustrate the ability to examine and evaiuate the political world. ~inrnroseC. Gwin, A Woman's Civil War: A Diary, rvith Reminiscences of rhe War.from March 1862, (Wisconsin, 1992), January 20, 1863, p. 1 16 ' Ibid., April 16, 1863, p. 140 Another venue in which wornen of the Shenandoah Valley expressed their wartime politicization and secessionist suppoa was in their flagrant disrespect of Union soldiers in the occupied town of Winchester. Histonans have often quoted General Butier's order No. 28, issued in 1862 against the ladies of occupied New Orleans. which stated that any wornan who insulted Union soldiers would be "regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation"'. Butler's order made headlines al across the South because the traditional respect of ladies was being violated by a northern officer, who associated their behavior with the occupation of prostitution. New Orleans's centrality in the war and Butler's notoriety ensured public attention and titillation. Sirnilar politically motivated, disrespectful treatment of Yankee soldiers by women in Winchester has received little attention by historians. A luxury that Generals Milroy, Sigel, and Sheridan, the occupying officers during the war, could il1 afford to take dunng the war, and as the present discussion reveals; wornen in Winchester refused to be ignored. In many ways, the importance of women's actions and behavior in Winchester cm be gauged by the subsequent reactions of Union soldiers and officiais. Simple statements made with articles of clothing meant to express support of the Confederacy, could take on larger import when such acts were banned and prohibited by Union generals. For example, in the spring of 1863, Mary Greenhow Lee designed a "crape rosette, with a Virginia button in the center as a badge of rnourning for Generd ~ackson"~.Several women of the town began to Wear them and on May 20, 1863, Federal officers issued a warning, stating that any woman found donning one of these 8 James M. McPherson, Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction, 2" edition, (United States, 1992), p.382 rosettes was to be arrested. Mrs. Lee replied in her diary to the threat by writing, "1 have wom and shall continue to Wear Julia Chase, a unionist and resident of Winchester, commented in her diary that "the Secessionist ladies have al1 adopted sun- bonnets, and some with long curtains called Ieff Davis bonnets. They put on many airs and frowns and sneers, and try in every way to put down Union people. They are certainly very bold and impudent"ll. The very same day, Laura Lee, a member of Mrs. Lee's househoid, recorded in her journal that, "Our sovereign Master Provost Phillibom says that these secessionist women shall not Wear calico sunbonnets on the street, as they are intended as a disrespect to the soldiers..."". Although in sorne ways these activities could be interpreted as being conventionai and mild acts of resistance, the very fact that Confederate women would purposely express their sentiments in these ingenious ways while under the occupation of enemy troops made these actions political and seditious. The ladies of Winchester found other and more extreme ways designed to express resistance to Yankee presence in their town. Kate Sperry, an eighteen year old, told how the girls of the neighborhood refused to walk under the Union flag put up at the little brick office. In retaliation, federal soldiers "flung their largest sized flag al1 the way across the street...". Rather than walk under the flag, Sperry and her friends "walked round the back street and the whole gang of them hissed and cursed us to everything .. [sic]"". Mary Greenhow Lee refused to walk on the sidewalks where 9 Garland R. Quarles, Occupied Winchester 1861-65, (Winchester, L976), p. 17 I0 Ibid.. p. 17. May 20, 1 863, Mary Greenhoiv Lee Dia7 II Julia Chase, War TheDias. of Miss Julia Chase, May 16, 1862, p.40. Photocopy received from the Handley Regionai Library, Winchester, VA. " Laura Lee, Diary of Loura Lee, May 16, 1862, as cited in Kym S. Rice, Edward D. C. Campbell, "Voices from the Ternpest: Southern Women's Wartime Experiences," CVornen ar War, p.83 13 Kate S. Sperry, Diary of Kate Sperry. 1862, as ccited in Voices of the Civil War, by the editors of Time- Life Books, (Alexandria), p.36. Alice Parkins, a lady living outside Winchester, wote her cousin that Yankee soldiers stood and instead she "walked down the rniddle of the street" and said in a loud voice "that it was hard we had to give up the pavement to such ~reatures"'~. Moreover, when a Mr. Dosh in his payer, at the local Lutheran Church, "caiied for blessings on the strangen in the strange land," a reference included for the many Yankee soldiers sitting in the pews, Mrs. Lee was so offended that she raised her head to show that she did not support any "such homd policy"'5. In late February of 1863, during a Yankee celebration of George Washington's birthday, Mrs. Lee and her household stood on the porch, cheerïng for the "Southem Confederacy, Jeff Davis", and "Washington, the first Virginia Rebel" as the cavalry procession passed. One of the stragglers heard and commented that "those are the ddst women I ever saw"I6. In many ways, the women of Winchester were, and in some cases, their actions were met by serious repercussions. During the war, tensions increased and patience wore thin. General Milroy. who occupied Winchester from Decernber to rnid-June in 1863, began to show a no tolerance policy towards insubordinate citizens in early February. Cornelia McDonald recorded in her journal that Milroy was Screwing the engine tighter every day. One day he will not let us buy anything; another he forbids more than two fernale rebels to talk together on the street. He now employs spies to enter houses and report what women tdk about or if the children play with Confederate flags, or shout for Jeff avis". During Union occupation, many generals enforced orders ensuring that local citizens were not allowed to purchase any goods that could be put to contraband use. One of the - -- - 'They arrest ladies because they will not walk under the Union flag." as cited in Laura Virginia Hale, Four Valiant Years in the Lobver Sherlandoah Valley 1861-65, (Strasburg, 1968). p. L77 14 Mary Greenhow Lee, Mury Greenhow Lee Diary, February 13. 1863, p.309 l5 Ibid. 16 Ibid., February 23, 1863, p.3 19 " Gwin. A Womart 's Civil War, February 9. 1863. p. 120 ways Confederate citizens could regain the privilege to buy goods was to take the Union oath. Mrs. McDonald would not succumb to such a dernand and went to Milroy personally to obtain permission to buy necessities for her large farnily. After explaining her position and concluding that it "could not be a matter of importance what women thought or wished on the subject", Milroy listed his objections. McDonald wrote that He said it was a matter of great importance and rather fiercely observed that if it had not been for the women the men would have long ago given up, [sic] he fdybelieved, that their pride and obstinacy prevailed over the good sense and sober judgrnent of the men, who knew they were fighting in vain'8. General Milroy placed a great deal of significance on women's political opinions and influence. In kt, they were important enough to pursue legai actions against civilian women. Before discussing some of the serious consequences women faced, it is useful to look at one interesting altercation which occurred between Mrs. Baldwin and General Milroy with rather surprising results. During the confrontation, Mrs. Baldwin infonned the general that "John Brown was the cause of the war," and in response, Miiroy "said it was a Lie". Mrs. Baldwin was enraged and replied in a vicious tone, "don't you say 1lie". She was immediately told to ~eave'~.The next day Cornelia McDonald, backed by the encouragement of her friends, decided to send Milroy a watercolor valentine, as a form of revenge for Mrs. Baldwin. Mrs. McDonald describes the painting in her journal. So I made a grey headed offker in uniform seated in a chair, and inviting two Negro women to take seats, while with a frown he was repelling a handsorne young lady (not Mrs. Baldwin) àressed in stnpes of red and white, with grey muff and tippet. 1heard he received it, and he rnight have done so, for he ordered 18 Ibid., February 26, 1863, p. 126 13 Mary Greenhow Lee, Mary Greenhorv Lee Diary, Febmary 13, 1863, as cited in, ed. Margaretta Barton Colt, Defend the Valley: A Shenandoah Fantily in the Civil War, (New York, 1994). p.2 17 a search and prosecution immediatelyX. One of the many insults conveyed in the painting was an attack on Milroy's abolitionist support, a cause that any tme Southern women did not embrace. The valentine represents another example of women's ingenious ability to take traditional means of communication and transform them into a political act, whereby their political views could be expressed in what they feit was an acceptable format. However, occupying generals grew less and less tolerant of wornen's public and pnvate resistance and contraband activities and when caught, some women faced arrest and or expulsion from town. Judith McGuire heard of such an incident during her stay in Richmond. A Fnend had written a letter from Winchester during an occupation to relatives in the north, expressing her sentiments "rather impudently". Unfortunately, the letter was intercepted and the woman arrested, irnrnediateiy followed by her removal from town "through the enemy's lines to our picket post, where she was deposited by the roadside"". Two other wornen, Miss Mary McGill and Miss Helen Duncan were also rernoved from Winchester for writing letters which criticized Milroy's occupation". Finally Mary Greenhow Lee, her household, and the Sherrard ladies, after many warnings and threats, were arrested for the charge of "constant annoyance" and forced to ieave town. Manha Baldwin wrote in a letter that "We were not a little surprised and disrnayed at seeing the Lees and Sherrards sent through yesterday. .. Various charges brought against them - one was trying to gain " Gwin, Diary of Cornelia McDonald. February 19, 1863, as cited in ed. Margaretta Barton Colt, Defend the Valley, p.2 18-2 19 " Baxtor and Stein. Diary of a Soirthern Refigee, August 12. 1864, p.285 Laura Virginia Hale, Four Valianr Years. 2 18 notoriety by cornrnunicating contraband intelligence.. ."? Mrs. Lee's charges were well earned by her active support of the Confederacy through her hostile behavior, and by smuggling letters and contraband supplies - accomptishrnents that will be discussed later in this chapter. The political activities of Winchester's women during the war are vitai in supporting the contention of wartime politicization. Within the lirnited prescriptions of a lady's behavior, subscnbed to by most Southern women, the ladies of Winchester developed a repertoire of methods to voice their political resistance to federal occupation. These methods ranged from subtle ploys of defiance to overt and aggressive expressions of their political views in a hostile environment. Women cheering for Jeff Davis, publicly scorning Yankee soldiers, politicizing their clothing, or sending a valentine, took on new political currency in a town under the control of enemy troops. George C. Rable has argued in reference to women in New Orleans, that With unquestioned propriety women could sew flags, but to display them in occupied New Orleans was a distinctly political act in a society where women's political opinions, to the extent they should be expressed at dl, belonged in the home? Union generals' reactions to women's behavior support the contention that the actions of women were inportant enouph to be perceived as a threat to political federal authority. Therefore, officers like Milroy took aggressive action to shut down women's insubordination or in the extreme cases, simply removed the problem beyond federal jurisdiction. In many respects, these events can be interpreted as a chess game in '' Letter of Martha B- Baldwin to Robert T. Barton, February 26, 1864, as cited in ed. Margaretta Barton Colt, Defend the Valley, p.356. Another incident of citizens being forced out of town was recorded by Laura Lee. Mrs. Logan and her three daughters and one son were expeIled out of their home on a few hours notice "without any charge against them except a suspicion of having goods concealed", Diary of chivalry, as Southem ladies pushed and stretched the boundaries of their gender and federal generals tried to respond within the confines of a respectable gentleman. Wartime activities that were more traditional can be seen in the aid individual women in the Shenandoah Valley rendered to soldiers from their homes. Through feeding and supplying soldiers, women clearly expressed the femaie consciousness. Margaret Junkin Preston, a famous Confederate poet and resident of Lexington, recorded numerous efforts of her household in feeding passing Conf'ederate troops. On December 19, 1863, she wrote that they were "busy dl forenoon getting breakfasts for soldiers and filling haversacks"". Lucy Rebecca Buck often had Southem soldiers fed on her father7s plantation. just outside of Front Royal. She wrote on September 17, 1862, that "as usual had soldiers for breakfast. Poor souis! They7ve almost starved and the inhabitants will soon have nothing to give them. I have written to Aunt Lizzie for her and her country neighbors to send supplies to the hospital in town for their benefit and know she will do it.. ."? The town of Winchester experienced waves of Confederate soldiers, and Mrs. Lee fed the troops "as long as [she] had a mouthful of food. One day, "while the brigades were passing through, we were getting up lunches for the men to take with them. Larira Lee, April7, 1863, as cited in Kym S. Rice and Edward D.C. Campbell Jr., "Voices from the Tempest," A Womarr 's War, p.87 " George C. Rable, "'Missing in Action': Women of the Confederacy". Divided Houses. p. 141 Elizabeth Randolph Allan, The Life and Lerters of Margaret Junkin Preston. (Boston and New York. 1903), p. 174. Additional references of feeding soldiers are written on January 2, 1864, May 11, 1864, and June 7, 1863. '6 Baer, Shadoivs on my Hearr. September 17. 1862. p. 148. Additional references found on May 26. 1862. June 16, 1862, Novernber 5, 1862, and June 17, 1863. 1 was on the pavement with our flag in my band"". Women's nunuring skills were not only invoked for the preparation of food but also to meet the needs of wounded so~diers'~ Individual men often received the caring attention and comfort of local women's homes. Cornelia McDonaid observed "a paie face looking out from a pile a straw in an wagon, and went up and asked if he had a place to go to 2'.She then inforrned the driver co take the poor man to her house, dong "with another who was in the same wagon"'g. A Confederate soldier. sick with pneunonia recorded in his diary the extrerne efforts put forth by his nurses to protect hirn. When Yankee troops would approach the .. .My lady friends formed a picket line dong the southside of Stony Creek. The road was on the north side of the creek and they could pass the news from one to the other by signs. Some other ladies fixed the bed 1 was in so it looked like a "spare bed" as they cdIed it and arranged it so 1 could breathe [sic] some fresh air frorn the side next to the wall then told me they would notify me when the enerny came into the house3'. Margaret Junkin Preston had a cadet who was very il1 moved to her house, and organized "to have the library carpet lifted, and a room prepared for hm". Later in the war, Mrs. Preston reciprocated for the care given to her stepson Frank by Mrs. Williams from Winchester, by caring for the Winchester mother's son, John J. Williams, until he was )' C.A. Porter Hopkins, "An Extract from the Journal of Mrs. Hugh H. Lee [Mary Greenhow Lee] of Va.. May 23-3 1, 1862," Maryland iiistorical Magazine, Vol. 53, (1958), May 27, 1862, p.386, and May 3 1, 1862. p.392 " An example incorporating both of these tasks was found in the journal of Mary Greenhow Lee. In July of 1864, "Mrs. Conrad sent me word she would be ready at nine to go to the battlefield; 1 fixed up my supplies of buttered bread, hm, stewed apples, pickIe, strong tea, and whiskey and a basket of clothes and Mrs. C had ampie supplies also. The wounded men have been collected together at three houses in the field.. .when we drove up, 1 was astonished to see such a swmm of women; there were four of five to each man and the greatest profusion of eatables," Mary Greenhow Lee Diar)., July 22, 1864, as cited in. Quarles, Occupied Winchester, p.48. '' Gwin, A Woman's Civil War, July 28. 1862, p.74 30 1. Norval Baker, Diary and Recollections ofl. Norval Baker, as cited in Diaries, Letters and Recollections of the War Between the States, ed. Garland R. Quarles, (Winchester, 1955), p.104 restored to heaIth3'. This latter example speaks to the newly developed networks of Confederate women who aided soldiers from distant States and fellow mothers experiencing the hardships of war. Moreover, in some cases northem troops could benefit from the humane and caring treatment of Confederate women. The need to prevent suffering and offer the necessities of Me could also extend to the enemy. Mrs. Lee, an ardent rebel, felt compassion for Yankee prisoners being held in Winchester. She wrote, in July of 1864 that she went, To church this evening, then to ascertain the tmth of the report that the Yankee prisoners have nothing to eat for several days; it made me miserable to think of the creatures being starved3'. Lucy Rebecca Buck, believed her help to a Yankee soldier who "begged for a little thickened rnilk for a sick-friend was due to her "humanity" and admitted to herself that she could only do it because "they were in retreat, but had the case been otherwise r would not have done it ... w33 . Many women had to overcome their hatred for enemy troops, and give in to the need to help human beings that were starving or sick. Mollie Hansford, a resident of Newton, did not question giving aid to any man and relayed this incident of visiting wounded soldiers in her diary. One got my attention and I gave him a baked apple.. .He was really surpnsed and wanted to know what 1 would be rninistering to a Yankee. 1 told him that he was wounded and needed help and that 1always did what 1could for the wounded of either army3'. The next day she returned to see the federal soldier because she had prornised to wnte his mother a letter, and "sat by him until his last breath and then went home crying7735.These 3 1 AIlan, The Lijë and Letters, June 7, 1864, p. 186, and p.206 " Mary Greenhow Lee, May Greetrhoiv Lee Diary, as cited in. Quarles, Occupied WNichesrer, p.654 33 ~aer.Shadows on my Hean, June 16. 1862, p. 105 34 Molk Hansford and Victoria Hansford, Civil War ,Mernoirs of Two Rebel Sisrers, 2" edition, (Charleston, 1990) p.52 kinds of examples illustrate the powerful need of women experiencing female consciousness to preserve life, which ofien could extend even to their enernies. Women who nursed dying soldiers would often write to their farnilies in order to send the son's last words and offer comfort to a grievinp mother. One letter from Charlottesville Virpinia, a town in the Piedmont region, iilustrated the needs that nursing women hoped to fulfill for faraway relatives. Catherine V. Brand, a resident of the town, who was taking care of an Alabama soldier, wrote the following letter. .. .I do deeply syrnpathize with you, for your son won the respect of many. He had every kind attention shown him. 1 found him a gentleman.. .He spoke of his pious mother and is now 1trust in Heaven, so weep not as those without hope.. .May God bless the Father, Mother, Sisters and brothers, is the wish of you and your sons friend~~~. It was important for Miss Brand to inform this soldier's rnother that he was a good Christian moving ont0 a better place and that his last thoughts were of his family. These types of letters, found in many areas of the South, support the tenet of larger women's networks working under a female consciousness, designed to aid one mother, soldiers, and the Confederate cause. Similar acts are found in the efforts of Soldier's Aid Societies, which will be discussed in the next chapter. One arena of the war where wornen of the Shenandoah Valley enacted powerful agency, was in.the defense of their homes and property. Many women during the war were left without male protection and had to confront enemy soldiers pillaging for food. searching for Confederate troops and contraband supplies. Ann C. R. Jones, a resident of the Valley, wrote a letter to a friend descnbing the horrors of 1864. Yankee soldiers were "taking Stone fencing, Rails, planks, tearing down uninhabited houses whenever it suits them and using everything they need, the whole neighborhood nearly seems tumed out of doors ...Houses are searched, things stolen, food taken, but they are strangely kind in giving guards ~ften"~~.Miss Jones recounts the demands and activities of occupying armies but also reveals the confusion everyone felt during the Civil War, as the very concept of a "civilized" war was in transition. One moment enemy troops would pillage homes and insult civilian women, and the next, officers would invoke the practice of a "gentlemen's war" by providing protection. The violation these women experienced, as armed men literally invaded the sanctities of their homes, is hard to comprehend. Fortunately, many women of the Valley left telling accounts of how they chailenged, and sometimes successfully repelled threats to their pnvacy and farnily property. Sorne women tned to invoke Southern chivairy as a defense against soldiers' presence in their homes. Clara Strayer, a nineteen-year-old daughter living near Poa Republic, witnessed and confronted Yankee soldiers' entering her house. She wrote, They next came to the house in search of Rebels.. .[and] poured in every door,. .. They carne into Our chamber, and when 1 remarked, "This is a lady's chamber and as such will be respected by gentlemen."38 Several of the soldiers were "insolent" to Clara's father, and in his defense she appealed to a Yankee officer who "drove them from the h~use"~~.Cornelia McDondd, a rnother of nine children, felt it was best not to resist Yankees who were staying on her property in Winchester. However, she firmiy negotiated the terrns of that presence and stood her ground when necessary, hoping for the respect a gentleman would render a lady. When 36 Letter of Catherine V. Brand, as cited in Voices of the Civil Wat; p. 156 37 Letter of Ann C. R. Jones to Lucy R. Parkhill, November 30, 1864, Colt, Defend the Valley, p.350 38 Clara S trayer, as cited in Voices of the Civil War, p. 142 an Union flag was raised above her front her door, she asked the officer if would "confer a favor on me ... if you will have that flag removed from the front door if you must rernain. as while it is there, 1 shall be obliged to enter at the back of the h~use"~~.Later that day Mrs. McDonald noted in her diary that the flag had been removed "some distance from the house". in the defense of her fnend's property, Mrs. McDondd insisted on going to speak with an officer because "if he is a gentleman or a man either he will rnake the soldiers give them upm4'. Upon that visit, Captain Hampton, promised to have the articles retumed, but Mrs. McDonald not trusting his word, remained outside of his office until she forced the Yankees, by her mere presence, to turn words into actions? Women's appeals to Yankee officers were in sorne ways traditional appeals to their right for protection. However, when determined women asked for that right, they demonstrated their refusal to be victirnized and demanded a safety to which they felt they were entitled. Southem conventions sometimes had to be treated as a luxury il1 suited to the demands of war. Such an instance cm be seen when women fought against Yankee invasions with everything they had. Margaret Iunkin Preston was determined to maintain her control dunng an attack on her home. When soldiers began to pour in every door, she "ordered them out of the kitchen, half a dozen at a time" and "protested against their pillage". Although the troops succeeded in obtaining an abundant arnount of food, Mrs. " Ibid., p. 142 40 Gwin, A Woman's Civil War, March, 1862. p.28 41 Ibid., July 28, 1862, p.69 '' Ibid.. p.69. A similar incident is recorded in the diary of Lucy Rebecca Buck. A girl's pony was confiscated by federal soldiers, and she "went to the captain in person dernanding its restoration and enforcing her clairns until he was compelled in self defense to comply with them.. .", Baer, Shadows an my Heart, May 20, 1862, p.90 Preston prevailed in "keeping them out of the house" and damagïng her property"3. Mrs. Lee comrnented on how the war had transforrned sorne women who had risen to the task of confronting the encroachment of the enemy. She remarked that "the tirnid, retiring women, such as Susan Jones, Mrs. Mary Jones and many others.. .who have kept off the Yankees, defended their property, and where depredations were committed have gone alone to Banks or Shields for redress'j4. Ann C. Jones told of one of the confrontations Mary Jones faced in a personai letter. Mary "had to face the bmnt alone. Her courage rose with the cal1 for it.. .They demanded the keys, she refused to give them, but said she would open any door they pleased ...There was part of a bottle of whiskey, which Mary took in her hand.. .told them it was for medicine, and they should not have it.. .,945 . Right from the beginning, although done and disadvantaged, Mary negotiated some control in this conflict by refusing to hand over the keys. The symbolic power of the keys was mediated by offering to open any door the soldiers' wished. Nevertheless, with that control Mary dictated what would be taken and what would remain, and succeeded in keeping the whiskey. Other wornen of the Valley exhibited physicd action by using weapons or by stmggling with Yankee soldiers. In Front Royal, Dr. Letch sent his son off with their horse, and the boy was captured by federd troops. When a Miss Lizzie heard of the incident she went to the camp and begged for the return of both the boy and the horse. Her courage and tears probably aided her cause, and she succeeded in invoking the soldier7s syrnpathy. However, Lucy Rebecca Buck reports that another girl "led the horse into the dining room where holding him by the reins-holding in her hand a pistol 43 Allan, The Life and Letrers, June 1 1, 1864, p. 189 W Mary Greenhow Lee, Diary, April 5, 1863, as cited in, Colt, Defend the Valley, p. 166 and keeping at bay the rniscreants who came to take l~irn''~~.Tears proved not be enough in this case and more aggressive action was needed to ensure the horse's safety. In another case in August 1864, Fannie, a relation of Miss Buck, refused to accept the demand of Yankee soldiers who entered her home. The soldier drew his pistol and taking deliberate aim he swore he would shoot her if she did not deliver it. She never quailed.. .He then fired.. . rather snapped a cap right full in her face without producinp any impression. Rushing forward he attempted to gain possession of the coveted box and a rough hmd to hand scuffle ensued in which Fannie dealt the rniscreant such a blow as sent hirn reeling from her47. Finally, Harry Gilmor, an observer of Hunter's destruction in the Valley, wrote of a lady who defended her remaining animai stock by "collecting them together in a small yard" and "with a revolver. she threaten[ed] to shoot the first man who should corne invJ8. These women's brave acts are instructive in showing that Confederate women were not passive victims to Yankee aggression, and that some, albeit few, relied upon their own strength and agency to protect and resist federal incursions on the domestic sphere. A group of women from Harrisonburg were so adarnant in providing protection for their cornrnunity that they wrote to the Secretary of War to obtain permission to form a Company of the 'fairer portion'. These Iadies were not satisfied with sitting and waiting for the next Yankee onslaught and offered to raise "a full regiment of Ladies between the ages of 16 and 30 - medand equipped to perform reguiar service in the Army of the 45 Letter of Ann C. R. Jones to Harriet Parkhill, May I8. 1863, Colt. Defend the Valley, p.25 1-252 46 Baer, Shadows on rny Heart, January 3, 1864, p.263 47 Ibid., August 18, 1864, p.298. The story continued in Buck's diary, with Fannie following the soldiers outside and trying to stop them from taking their carriage. She "endeavored to twitch the bridle out of the Yankee's hand. Both of the wretches endeavored to ride over her but she sprang into the carriage house door and picking up a rock struck the wretch a telling blow on the shoulder with it. He was angry but the captured colt was restive and he hadn't time to give vent to his anger". 48 Laura Virsinia Hale, Four Valiant Years, p.376 Shenandoah all le^''^^. They had experienced visits "time and again by the vandai foe - many of them (the women of the area) ...subjected to every conceivable outrage and suffering and this we believe is owing to the incornpetence of the Confederate army upon which we depend for defen~e"~'. These women refused to be subjugated to federd harassment and decided that the only way to obtain the protection they needed for their community was to provide it themselves. They had said that they had aiready "enlist[ed] troops" completed the "selection of field officers" and proclaimed "we now only wait to the approvai of the war department"? The women of Harrisonburg no longer placed the trust of their safety in their menfolk or in the army, but aimed to unite and furnish their own protection. Elizabeth R. Baer has argued that the virtud intrusion of enemy troops into the private sphere "created an environment in which southern white women could not feign weakness, could not shrink from the public gaze, and couId not assume the presence of protection that was supposedly their rightM5'. Instead, women had to face the danger and despair brought on by the war and attempt to recreate or preserve safe spaces for their familiess3. The very definitions of warfare have always defined women as witnesses and victims of tragedy because they do not hold weapons or Wear uniforms. Under these rules, therefore, they cannot partake in war. Irene Matthews has argued persuasively that women do participate, but the narrative of war has not allowed women's actions to be defined as agency. Matthews holds that a woman's "agency becomes active and vital as JO Annie Samuels et ai. to Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon, December 2, 1863, LR-CSW, Record Group 109, reel 122, B692,as cited in Kym S. Rice and D. C. Campbell Jr., "Voices of the Tempest," Womerr at War,p.95 50 Ibid., p.95 '' Ibid., p.95 " Elizabeth R. Baer, Shadows on my Hean, p.xxxi 53 Minrose C. Gwin, A Woman's Civil War,p.3 she participates in the scenes of battle" through nursing, challenging enemy troops and officers, and by surviving the horrors of war with 'helpless children at her feet'". Women's active defense of the domestic sphere or home from invading soldiers constituted their participation in war. Records of women's appeals to officers in the Valley seem to be contained to the year 1862, probably reflecting their belief in the concept of a "civilized war". Interestingly, rnost of the examples cited relating to wornen's physical reactions to invading Yankees, and the Harrïsonburg women's letter to the Secretary of War, transpired in the latter years of the warTmainly in 1864. It cari be speculated that as the war changed from a "civilized" conflict to a "hard war", Valley women's responses also escdated in order to meet the more aggessive actions of the enemy. Nonetheless, women who either invoked the rights of a lady or altered the expectations of their gender role to meet the conditions of warfare successfully retained their control in the dornestic sphere. Although most women of the Shenandoah Valley rernained conservative actors, in terms of class and gender, in the war, some wornen took part in the much more radical activities of smuggling and spying for the Confederate cause. As previously mentioned, Mary Greenhow Lee became vigorously involved in contraband activities, early in 1862. in the occupied town of Winchester. Mrs. Lee would often write letters to Confederate officiais in camps nearby to relay information on the Union army, and on one occasion she was very fearful of being caught because the Provost Marshal had seized the local 54 lrene Matthews, "Daughtering in War: Two "Case Studies" from Mexico and Guatemala," Gerzdering War Talk, eds. Miriam Cooke and Angela Wollacott, (New Jersey, 1993), p. 15 1. Matthews goes on to state that "the mother tïgure, the epitome of nurturance. is shown to be astute, persuasive, even cunning, as well as physicaIIy and morafly strong". Although the mother because she is weaponless should be powerless, this is not the case for "Mama's power goes beyond the simple strength of resistance; she takes the initiative and she takes risks, Iike a proper hero", p. 15 1 mail. This placed Mrs. Lee in an uncornfortable situation for "the possibility of being arrested for treasonable correspondence" was imminent. Fearing possible arrest, she "arranged to pack a trunk, to be ready in any e~ner~enc~"~~.Mrs. Lee also sent letters north to southern sympathizers in order in get money to buy contraband goods for Confederate soldiers. Once she received the money, she took grave nsks in buying supplies to be used for men in the army, from the town storekeepers, because she did not have a permit, nor had she taken the Union oath. Sometimes Mrs. Lee wondered if she had "fallen into a trap" and realized that if "Milroy knew my occupation I would be sent to Fort ~elaware"? Eventually Mrs. Lee was apprehended for her aid to the Confederate cause, and was removed, dong with her family outside of federal lines. Miss Emma Cassandra Reily, on a retuming trip from Luny, was carrying letters to deliver in Winchester. Upon her arriva1 she was forced to go to General White's office where she was searched. Before being caught, however, she managed to slip the letters to a friend and avoid arrest5'. Canying information, letters, and goods were common parts of travelling in the Confederacy, and some women were willing to take the risks these actions involved. One famous risk-taker of the Valley was Belle Boyd, a renowned Confederate spy. Boyd was born in Martinsburg, Virginia, but had relatives in Front Royal with whom she often stayed during the war. Before reaching the age of twenty-one she had been irnprisoned twice, arrested on six or seven occasions, and reported to Union officiais 55 Mary Greenhow Lee, Diary, March 27, 1862, as cited in Colt, Defend the Valley, p.416, footnote # 43 56 Mary Greenhow Lee, Diary, February 9, 1863, p.304, March 1, 1863, p.323, and Febniary 24. 1863, p.320. Fort Delaware was a Union prison for traitors. '' Quarles, Occupied Winchester, p.25 nearly thirty tir ne^^^. Her most famous exploit of espionage was conducted in her uncle's hotel in Front Royal. After learning there would be a meeting of Federal officiais there, Boyd hid upstairs listening through a knothole floor. Here she acquired information about McCle1lan7s Peninsula Campaign, a plan to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital, by an attack up to the peninsula. Leaving at one o'clock in the moming, Miss Boyd rode over fifteen miles to relay the news to Colonel Ashby, so that General Stonewali Jackson could be informed. She successfully crossed two federai sentries with forged passes and retumed to her bed by dawd9. At another time before the battle of Front Royal, Belle Boyd gained knowledge regarding federal battle plans from a Yankee soldier. Knowing the information was crucial to General Jackson's success Miss Boyd, ran through a battle in progress. She described the event in her diary: numerous bu1Iets whistled by my ears, several actually pierced different parts of my clothing, but not one reached rny body.. .I was exposed to the cross-fire from the Federai and Confederate artillery, whose shot and shell flew whistling over my head60. For her efforts and vital information, Stonewall Jackson commissioned her a captain and made her an honorary aide on his staff? Belle Boyd's exploits continued until the end of the war when she sailed to England to avoid further imprisonment, where she wrote her book which was published in 1865. Another spy of the Valley, this time for the Union, was Rebecca Wright, a young Quaker schoolteacher. Wright provided Generai Sheridan with information that helped 58 Hamett T.Kane, Spies for the Blue and Gray, (Garden City, 1954). p. 13 I 59 Laura Virginia Hale, Four Valimit Years. p. 14 1 Belle Boyd, Belle Boyd, In Camp and Prison, (London, I865). p. 132 6' Laum Virginia Hale. Belle Boyd: Sourhern Spy of the Shenandoah, (Front Royal). pamphlet him defeat General Early at Winchester in 1864. Two years after the war, Sheridan sent Miss Wright a watch, and in 1868, after she had lost her position as a teacher, Sheridan found her a job in a govemment office in washington6'. Both of these acts were a measure of how valuable Sheridan believed that her aid was during the war. Although few women participated in the Civil War as spies, their very existence represents one of the extreme roles that women could perform. In an a age where chivalry still had an influence, these women could invoke the respect of a lady as a tool to acquire information, sneak through enemy lines, and yet receive lesser punishrnents for their acts than men would receive, representing another exarnple where women exploited chivalrous codes for their own needs. Belle Boyd, although arrested and imprisoned, could have been executed for treason but the etiquette of the day would not allow such drastic measures against a lady, even if she underrnined federal plans by spying for the enemy. This chapter has argued that women of the Shenandoah Valley were active participants in the Civil War, and displayed growing politicization, the female consciousness at work, and powerful agency. Through the exploration of personal diaries, individual women's thoughts, accomplishrnents, determination, and exploits have been highlighted to retrieve their war experiences. As critical political commentators, women like the "Virginia Schoolrnistress" and Miss Buck observed and cornmented on the political events surrounding their lives in their private diaries. Whereas the female members of the occupied comrnunity of Winchester creatively, publicly, and aggressively sought to convey their politicai views even at the risk of arrest and banishment from their 6' 6' Anon, The Loyal Girl of Winchester." Scrapbook, John Page Nicholson Collection. Henry E. Huntington Library, as cited in Mary Massey, Womerr in the Civil War,p. IO3 homes. Each of these exarnples offer evidence for an increased wartirne politicization of women, and illustrate that some women of the Valley felt strongly enough about secession to become politically involved. The fernale consciousness found its greatest expression in feeding and caring for both Confederate and Federal soldiers. The will of sorne women to preserve life was strong enough to overcome their patriotism for the Confederacy and their hatred for the enemy. Consideration of faraway families and mothers created long distance women's networks of mutual aid and cornfort, whereby letters fulfilled women's needs for gneving iost sons and husbands. Several women of the Valley, like Mrs. Greenhow Lee and Mn. Preston, confronted their own despair with the war and continued to lend aid to soldiers in their midst as late as 1864. Findly women in the Shenandoah Valley exhibited a wide range of responses to the invasion of their homes by enemy troops. Women's initiative and agency, in defending their homes. are seen by their appeal to the chivalrous nature of Yankee officers for protection, and through aggressively guarding their own property and families. Whether these ladies physically combated Federd invaders, or sought to organize their own regiment, the women in the Shenandoah Valley came to reaiize by 1864 that they should rely on their own strength and perseverance to survive. Smuggling and espionage represented the extreme role women could adopt for the Confederate cause and illustrated the risks some women were willing to take for their country's independence. The Southern "lady" of nerve, defiance, strength and ingenuity was not a creation of the press, nor of the nostalgie histories to corne; she lived and breathed in the Shenandoah Valley, and survives today in the hords of her Confederate sisters. Chapter 3 The Vallev's Daughters Shining Brightlv in the PubIic Arena As an integral part of a society at war, the women of the Shenandoah Valley answered the cal1 of patr-iotism by becorning increasingly involved in activities outside of the home. Like southern women elsewhere, these women fonned Soldier's Aïd Societies, fund-raised, worked in hospitals, contributed supplies, and nursed and fed soldiers found in their communities. Aithough the governent and locd press came to encourage an increased role for women in the Confederate cause, in most cases in the Valley women had already risen to the task before these pleas were heard. They realized that their domestic skills transferred into the public sphere could assist thelr menfolk, and be of service to the great drive for Southern independence. Women's rnobilization into groups answered a practical demand that not only compensated for the inadequacies of a newly formed govemment, but also reflected a deep cornmitment and determination of rnany individuais who reaiized the necessity of pooling their resources to meet overwhelming responsibilities. This chapter will explore women's public roles in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War, and argue that their initiative and pursuit of greater public activity illustrates women's increased wartime politicization and expresses the femde consciousness' purpose to "preserve life". Women's roles in society in the Shenandoah Valley were dictated by their functions as rnothers and wives. Education was provided to women so chat mothers could raise strong American citizens. Reverend Andrew Davidson spoke to a young audience of ladies in Harrisonburg in 18 13, and informed them that mothers should see the offices of both civil and reiigious, filled with men, sound in head and virtuous in heart. Thus would a people arise, mighty in themselves, inspiring awe and respect and among the nations of the earthl. Lebsock notes that education was designed to train wornen to be "intelligent coinpanions for their husbands" and "virtuous mothers.. .Young women were encouraged to think no further"'. An editor of the local Harrisonburg newspaper felt confident in assuring bis readership that "A good wife exhibits her love for her husband by trying to promote his welfare.. .A poor wife "dears" and "Ioves" her husband, and wouldn7tsew a button on bis coat.. .A sensible wife looks for her employment at home-a silly one abr~ad"~.Women were to remain in the home, respect their husbands, and care for their families. Finally, a description by another editor Fiyroots the characteristics of men and women in the context of their society. The Winchester Virginian wrote Man is strong - wornan is beautiful. Man is daring in conduct - wornan is diffident and unassuming. Man shines abroad - wornan at home. Man talks to convince - woman to persuade and please. Man has a rugged heart; woman a soft tender one. Man prevents misery; woman relieves it. Man has science - woman taste. Man has judgement - woman sensibility. Man is a being of justice - woman of mercy4. These descriptions of gender roles informed women of the behavior codes they should follow and specifically lirnited the types of activities they could perform in the public sphere. Before the commencement of the War between the States, women living in the Vdley reserved their presence in the public community to hoiding various fund-raisers, I Reverend Andrew Davidson, "Religion and Accomplishmenr: A Ser7non Preached tu the Yorrrlg Ladies of Harrisonburg," January 24", 18 13, (Harrisonburg, 18 13), p.32-33 as cited in Suzanne Lebsock, A Share of Honorrr: Virginia Women 1600-1945, (Richmond, 1984), p.7 1. Lebsock. A Shore of Honoirr, p. 67. Rockinghum Register, Iune 26, 1863 ' Winchesrer Virginian, May 23, 1 860 mainly for the local churches, in the forms of Ladies Fairs and Tableaux vivants5. The lirnited existing records, however, suggest that women in towns, most likely from the rniddle class, were quite active in these types of public activity. Advertisements for these events are found in the local newspapers as an encouragement for members of the community to patronize women' efforts. One such ad was found in the Staunton Republicnn Vindicator, announcing the "Fourth of July and Ladies Fair". The editor inforrns his readers that The Ladies of the Methodist Episcopal Church will hold their annuai Fair at Union Hall, in Staunton, on the 4" and 5" of July.. . the proceeds of the Fair, Supper, etc., will be strictly appropriated to aid us in the erection of a new Methodist E. Church in Staunton.. .6 . hediately after the Fair, the Vindicator published a bnef article reporting the Ladies' success in realizing the "handsorne sum of $466.. . Much credit is due thern for their efforts.. .377 . Sirnilar benevoient activity was found in Harrisonburg, advertised in the Rockinghnm Register. Women were active in fund-raising for the local Lutheran Church, the M.E. Church, the Presbyterian Church, and for the ~asons~.In Winchester, the Ladies of the Lutheran Sewing Society were "holding a FAIR, on Christmas Eve" in Tableaux Vivants were performances done on stage, where women in costumes would enact representations or familiar themes, by posing as in still life wich a musical background; described by Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of Invenrion, p.26 Reprrblican Vindicator, June 1 1, 1859. Al1 such references to this paper are from: ~http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow21 news/ cwnews/ cwnews.html> 7 Reprtblican Vindicaror. July 8, 1959, p. 2, c. 2, Ibid. Similar ads were found in the Vindicator, for Febniary 12, 1859, and December 16, 1859. The first was a Fair organized by the "Ladies" for the West Augusta Guard. a new volunteer Company, While the latter was conducted by the women of the Protestant Episcopal Church, although the notice does not state what the "ladies" are fund-raising for, it was probably for the church. 8 Rockingham Register, December 23, 1859, Febmary 25, 1859, December 28, 1860. and JuIy 4, 1860 respectively, Harrisonburg, Microfilm 244, Reel 17, courtesy of the Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA. order to raise money for "taking Gas into their churchWg. Although these examples are instructive of women's organization in churches and reveal that women were conscious of thernselves as a group before the Civil War, several factors distinguish these organizations from wartime benevolence. First, dl the advertisements located always refer to 'the Ladies', never naming individual women, a practice that changes during the war when leaders of Soldier's Aid Society's and individuai contributors of supplies are listedI0. This may dernonstrate a greater acceptance or respect of women's presence in the public sphere. Secondly, dthough, fairs, dinners, and tableaus are still utilized during the war, Soldier's Aid Societies encompass a more expansive and complicated repertoire of organization involving labour task-forces, raw materials and supplies, and the transportation of goods l . Pre-war church organizations, however, were an important training gr~undfor the more elaborate and widespread organizations of the war and in many cases the impetus for Soldier's Aid societies. Nevertheless, the spontaneous mobilization of women to meet the demands of hundreds of wounded soldiers on short notice, attests to - - Winchesrer Republican, Decernber 14, 1855. another ad for a "Fair and Oyster Supper" by the ladies of the Winchester M.E. Church to fund the painting of their church was found in the Winchester Virginian, December 26. 1860. Both newspapers were studied on microfiim, Box # 574, courtesy of the Library of Virginia, Richmond VA. 10 Suzanne Lebsock notes in The Free Wornen of Petersburg, that newspapers never reported names of managers of female asylums, nor of women's religious benevolence societies. Moreover, Lebsock argues that Amencan men atlowed women to "amuse thernselves with benevolent enterprises precisety because [they] by and large, did not think religion and charity mattered very much", illustrated by the fact that men continually did not list wornen's collective contributions in the church records, p-230,224,225. Drew Gilpin Faust supports the concept of Southern ladies' anonymity by stating "[dlelicacy and propnety enjoined ladies from speaking in public, from signing their names in print, and even permining their names to be mentioned in public press", Mothers of Invention, p.27 " Suzanne Lebsock might disagree with this assertion because in her work, A Share of Honour: Virginia Women 1600-1945, (Richmond, 1984) she has argued that prewar organizations were quite complex and developed. She describes women's accomplishments in collective work: 'They wrote constitutions, elected oficers, appointed task forces, raised money, buiIt institutions, and sometimes hired staff members," p.80. Similar achievements characterize wartime work, but certainly, Lebsock would not dispute the fact that the war by and large incorporated more women into benevolent activity to meet the greater demands of a community in crisis. the organizational ability of wornen, who could band together outside of their church affiliation and work to preserve the community in cnsis". Findly, the most profound difference between pre-war activities and women's contributions to the war effort lies in women's motivation to form collective groups. Previous to the war wornen sought to contribute to their community by raising money for building and maintaining their churches". Wartime organizations worked for the patriotic and political cause of Southern independence, and most importantly from women's desire to help preserve Me. The majonty of people in the Valley, as discussed earlier, supported the Union, until Lincoln's cal1 for 75.000 troops from al1 loyal States. However, several women of Harrisonburg had publicly noted their support of Southern independence in March of 186 1, and attracted the attention of the local press. The editor writes. "our citizens were surprised on Wednesday morning last, at seeing a flag of the Confederate States of America floating from the top of the Exchange HoteLthe work of a portion of the gallant ladies of our town who are in favor of uniting their destinies with the chivalrous tat tes'"'. Although well received by the newspaper, it appears that not al1 citizens of Harrisonburg agreed with the opinion that the "ladies led the way in this spirited and ------" After the Battle of Sharpsburg, Sept. 17. 1862. Laura Lee records in her diary that "Mrs. Lee and other wornen fell to again, and organized nursing and donations of rnoney food, and clothing to attempt to provide for those in the impromptu hospitals" as cited in Margaretta Barton Colt, Defend the Valley: A Shenandoah Family iri the Civit War, (New York, 1994) p. 183. Anne Firor Scott, Natural Allies: Women 's Associations in American Hisror)., (Urbana and Chicago, 199 l), p.69. Scott notes that church societies converted themselves into soldier's aid societies and overcame denominational exclusiveness in their organizations. l3 Other types of public activity that did not occur in Valley were found in Fredericksburg, where women forrned a boarding school for daughters of the poor in 1803. Additional schoots and orphmages were opened up for impoverished girls in Norfolk, 1804, Richmond, 1805, Petersburg 18 1 1, and Alexandria in 18 12, Suzanne Lebsock, A Share of Honour: Virginia Women 1600-1945, (Richmond, 1984), p.63-67. Femaie Seminary schools. for the middle and upper classes, were set up in Winchester, Harrisonburg, and Staunton, but no evidence was found to indicate that these schools were estabIished by women. 14 Rockingham Regisrer, March 29, 186 1 appropriate manifestation of genuine patriotic fee~ing"'~.The editor complained that "Some ill-natured and very ungallant men folks have been disposed to abuse the fair ladies of Our town, because they have seen proper in the exercise of their unquestioned rights and privileges, to erect a Secession flag..."L6. It seems likeiy that the men's disapproval was not directed at the women's public display of political opinion but at their secessionist support and reflected a deep-seated polarization in the town of Harrisonburg over the issue of Southem independence. However, it becarne clear that these women's actions held negative consequences for thern in their cornrnunity. It was severe enough that the local press carne to the defense of the ladies' flag and to "stand between the gentle sex and their assailants.. .,717 . Additional support of the ladies political actions was given in the press by a Charlottesville correspondent who applauded the Harrisonburg Confederate flag and described the similar work of Miss Benson. a young lady in their town. This flag is the "E Pluribus Unum" here.. .Six stars are arranged in a circle on the back-ground, and in the center of the circle stands the seventh, thus beautifully representing a compact, Confederate Govemment. Another star, the eighth, appears as if just entering the blue ground, lying half in the blue ground and half in the white stripe that runs through the whole length of the 8ag. The position of this half admitted star, is intended to represent it just in the act of casting its destiny with the other seven.. .this half-admitted star means virginiaIg. Rockingham Register, Apri15, 186 1 l6 Ibid. l7 Ibid. l8 Rockingham Register, April5, 186 1, the article is dated March 30" 186 1. the day after the erection of the Harrisonburg flag. The writer continues his interpretation of the flag's symboiic representations, and says that "White is an emblem of prtriry, and blrte, is emblematical offideliv. That lone star occupies a position covering a portion of white and a portion of blue ground, as if holding the two together. Thus representing Virginia as exhibiting and combining purity of intention in al1 actions, and fidelity to al1 her obligations, While the proper behavior of a lady prohibited public speaking and involvement in politics, these women expressed their secessionist sentiments through the ingenious creation of Confederate flags and entered the political discussion of Southern independence several weeks before Virginia seceded frorn the Union on Apd 17, 1861 19. The women of Staunton were dso in favour of secession and earned the cornmendation of their local newspaper when the editor wrote, "the ladies are always quicker in their apprehension than the men, and hence al1 of them nearly are in favor of Virginia uniting with the ou th'^. After the surrender of Fort Sumter, the citizens of Harrisonburg erected additional Confederate flags in the town representing the "intensified Southern sentiment of our people"". The ladies' politicai support of the Confederacy was also expressed at a c C very large and enthusiastic meeting of the people [men and women] of Mt. Crawford and vicinity" where they lent "their countenances and encouragement to the great cause in which we are al1 so much interested"". Once the war had begun, some women of the Valley were active in encouraging their men to support and volunteer for the Confederate whether constitutional or fraternal. And in the discharge of these obligations, she is moving slowly, but steadily and resolutely, to join her destiny with her seven sisters of the sunny South". l9 Marjorie Spruill Wheeler. writes that the southern lady's traditional role was to "inspire: to suggest - not CO influence politics directly," "Divided Legacy: The Civil War, Tradition, and the Woman Question, 1870- 1920," A Wornan's War,p. 167. The Harrisonburg women's flag could be interpreted as a suggestion, considering that Virginia had not decided to secede yet. However, in light of certain townsmen's reaction to the flag. 1 would argue that their move to put up Confederate tlag in public, was a bold statement of political opinion. -" Sraimon Vindicaror, Apd 5, 1861, as cited in Elizabeth Regine Varon. "'We mean to be counted': White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia", Ph.D. Dissertation, (Yale University, 1993)' p.437 " Rockingham Register. Apd 19, 186 1 Rockingham RegLter, May 17, 186 1. Elizabeth Varon has argued convincinply that Virginia women were seriously involved in party politics during the antebellum period in, "'We mean to be counted': White women and politics in Antebellum Virginia," refer to p.265-305. Moreover, she maintains that the war did not politicize women but articutated a new form of political participation, what she calls Confederate Womanhood, This work is an important contribution to our understanding of women's reIationship to politics previous to the Civil Wx, however, the present work does not argue that the Civil War initiated women's poIitical role but instead hopes to illustrate a more widespread and increased politicization during the war period. army. In Columbia Furnace, a town in Shenandoah county, "sone of the men evinced a backwardness at first" so the women began to "'Ml in' and fil1 out the Company; and in a few moments a number were in line. This brought the gentlemen to the scratch..."? In al1 likelihood, these women were not intending to join the army, but by stepping in line they succeeded in threatening the male role of protector and thereby compelled the men to become soldiers'". The wornen of the Valley were not unique in this activity. Sara Emma Edmonds, a northern nurse and spy, reported that southern women "were the best recruiting officers," declining "to tolerate, or admit to their society any young man who refuses to enlist"". Women's support of men's enlistment revealed their own cornmitment to the Confederate cause, and their willingness to publicly display that support. This type of encouragement, however, was not only directed at men but also to the larger community of women. The Confederacy was largely unprepared to commence a war on such a large scale, and the centrai government's inability to supply the army efficiently with food and clothing left soldiers heavily reliant on their families and communities for resources. Women's organizations were motivated by the need to compensate for their govemment's deficiency and to provide their men with the necessities for survival. During the war over LOO0 women's aid groups surfaced across the South, appearing in alrnost every county? Several general assumptions have been made by historians " Rockingham Register, May 3 1, 186 1 '' George C. Rable supports this tenet in his article. "'Missing in Action"': Wornen of the Confederacy". Divided Houses. Rable argues that Southern women who humiliated men publicly shamed them to do their mascuIine duty, p. 135-6. 25 Sara Emma Edmonds, Nrirse and Spy in the Union Amy: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Haspitais, Camps, and Battlefields, (Hartford, 1865)- p. 33 1 -32, as ci ted in Massey , Wornen iti the Civil War, p.27 26 Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of invention, p.24; Anne Firor Scott, Narural Allies: Women 'sAssociations in American History. (Urbana and Chicago, 1991). p.69 studying southern women's aid organizations that do not hold under the scrutiny of micro history for the Shenandoah Vailey. First, historians have maintained that southem women's aid societies were "intent on providing for the men from home" and paid meager attention to the hardships of soldier7swives and families". In the Shenandoah Valley, women's groups did focus on men from their communities but additional evidence was found showing aid being given indiscriminately to a number of Confederate soldiers who were not from their neighborhoods. Moreover, ladies from the Valley were quite active in raising money for refugee families entering their towns, the victirns of the Battle of Freciericksburg, and for local- soldier's families. Secondly, the consensus arnong historians that wornen's groups dedicated to the cause were discontinued by the year 1862, especially in areas where slavery was not prorninent, does not hold true for the all le^'^. George C. Rable has argued that "civilian morale not only rose and fell with news from the battlefields but wavered and finally plurnrneted when food shortages appeared" in 1862 and 1863 - &ter 1862 only the "extremely dedicated remained"'g. Using these assumptions 1 would have to conclude that the Shenandoah Vailey, despite its low investment in slavery, and the fact it was the centre of rnilitary activity and al1 its repercussions in 1862, and L864, evidently represents an exception to these rules. Women's Soldier's Aid Societies were " Anne Firor Scott. Narural Allies, p.70; Edwin B. Coddington. "Soldier's Relief in the Seaboard States of the Southern Confederacy," The Mississippi Valley Historical Revierv, p. 23; Mary Elizabeth Massey. Women irr the Civil War, p.32 These include: Drew Gilpin Faust, Thavolia Gylmph and George C. Rable. "A Wornan's War: Southem Women in the Civil War," A Woman 's Wac Solithern Women. Civil War. and the Confederare Legacy, (Richmond, 1996). p. 1 1; Anne Firor Scott notes that "in some phces as material to be made up became scarce and family needs more pressing, the women's organizations gave up. in others they continued doggedly to the end; some then transformed themselves into mernorial societies, obsessed with commemorating the Confederate dead," Natural Allies, p.72. If any area was pressed by shortages and family desperation, certainly it was the Shenandoah Valley after Hunter's and Sheridan's waves of destruction in 1864, but soldier's aid activity was still going as late as 1865. still active as late as 1864 and 1865 in Augusta County, and fund-raising events were still being put on by wornen in Rockingharn County in 1864. Finaily, few historians have credited southern women with their own initiative, failing to note how women who participated in aid societies and caring for the wounded often carne to the task before the local newspapers or the Confederate govemment asked or condoned their help. Ladies in the Valley were organizing and nursing actively in the public sphere long before male authorities solicited their aid. Before President Davis issued his cail to Confederate women and before the local newspapers sought women's aid in the cause, the women of Richmond encouraged their Virginia sisters to rnobilize into Soldiers' Aid Societies. These ladies were certainly the most visible activists, requesting their appeal to be published across al1 of Virginia, but were not the first to organize, a point that wiIl be discussed shortly. Addressing themselves as the Soldier's Aid Society of Virginia, which consisted of delegates from different churches in Richmond, these women represent a perfect exarnple of Soldier's Aid work resulting and growing from previously existing church groups. They felt that despite the best efforts of the State and Confederate govemment, the women "of the State should render to our authorities ail possible assistance in this work" and that in "every county and every community societies should be fomed at once ...,930 . Vdley papers reported that the Richmond ladies believed that they and their Virginia sisters were ideally suited to do "a great deal for the bodily and spiritual comfort of those who may endure the pain and suffenng for us and Our country"". This could be accomplished by organizing to procure supplies "which the medical department of the best organized arrny " George C. Rabie. Civil Wars, p.99, 96. and 142. 30 Rockingharn Register. Aupust 16. 186 1 could not be expected to provide," and by relying on the nunuring and caring skilIs for the sick and wounded "which readily occur to the minds of rnothers, wives, and sis ter^"^'. In essence these women sought to expand their local networks into a larger body of dedicated women striving to provide the necessary supplies, food, and medical care in order to preserve and maintain the lives of Confederate soldiers. in other words, the women of Richmond were articulating, and other women were reading about. the female consciousness within their patriotic duty for the Confederacy. This assertion is congruent with Kaplan's argument that fernale consciousness "appears as the expression of communal tradition altered in response to economic developments and political confli~ts"~~.Women's church groups adapted themselves to meet the cnsis of impending war, expressing female consciousness when 'the sumival of the community was at stake,' Valley wornen were equally quick to organize their duties of preserving the community and the life within it during the penod of crisis. In order to ensure that soldiers were properly provided for amidst the new challenge of war, Soldier's Aid Societies were formed to procure supplies, provide clothing and food, and help to take care of the sick and wounded. Tasks that normally befell the mother and the wife were expanded, mobilized into collectives, and benefited primarily men of their own cornmunity, but dso aided many Confederate soldiers within their reach. 31 Ibid. '' rbid It is most likely that the women who fist organized Soldier's Aid Societies were from the middle and upper classes. Historically, women in voluntary organizations have had to have the resources and fiee time to dedicate their efforts for a cause, whether it was for the church or a Iocal charity. However, during the war, in the cases of town rnobilization to meet large nurnbers of incoming wounded, 1 would argue that women of ail cIasses were activeIy invotved in answering the immediate crisis because of the situation's desperate need. 33 Kaplan, "Fernale Consciousness and Collective Action," p.550. Moreover. Kaplan States that women with female consciousness create "networks devoted to preserving life by providing food, clothing, and med-care to households [and beyond] become instruments used to transform social Iife," p.55 1. Even before their Richmond sisters issued the cal1 to form societies, wornen of the Shenandoah Valley, narnely in Winchester and Staunton, had already organized. In May 186 1, women in Winchester had created sewing and knitting circles, producing socks, jackets, caps, bandages, lint, and flags34. When the army gathered at Harpers Ferry, these ladies made and sent hundreds of mattresses to ensure their comf~rt'~.It is difficult to follow ail of the activities of Soldier's Aid Societies in Winchester because local newspapers had halted publication as a consequence of the continuai waves of occupation by the Federal army. However, the struggle and work of Winchester wornen cm be found in the diaries and reminiscences of men and women in the Valley during the war who chronicled their continued active work. Edwin Eustace Bryant revealed in his work on the 3'* Wisconsin Regiment, that during Jackson's carnpaign of 1862, the starving Stonewall Brigade entered Winchester. Many women had anticipated the soldiers' arrivai and had been preparing food dl night. In the rnidst of a battle on their streets, these women handed out food from their doorways and sorne even ventured out onto the road to give food to the ~oldiers'~.Mary Greenhow Lee, a resident of occupied Winchester, described in her diary the efforts put forth to obtain supplies when only those citizens who had taken the Union oath were ailowed to purchase potential contraband supplies from local storekeepers. S he writes .. .Lute and I went off on a shopping expedition - shopping these days means buying boots, shoes, drawers &c. &c. for the soldiers and provisions to keep us from starving.. . Et 34 Winchesrer Virginian, May 8, 186 1, as cited in Edward H. Phillips, ''The Lower Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War: The Impact of War upon the Civilian Population and upon Civil Institutions," Ph.D. dissertation, (Chape1 Hill, 1958). p. 77 35 Winchester Virginian, May 8, 186 1, as cited in Phillips, 'The Lower Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War," p. 77 36 Edwin Eustace Bryant, Hisrory of the 3"'Regiment of Wisconsin Vereran Volurzteer irfantry, 1861-65, (Wisconsin, 189 l), p.62 as cited in Edward H. Phillips, "The Lower Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War," p.87 requires no little management to spend so rnuch money judiciously and to coLiect such treasonable supplies, without exciting suspicion37 . Mrs. Lee's detemination to work for the war effort, never wavered and brought her a great deal of satisfaction. In the fa11 of 1862, she supervised a "cooking room" and believed that she had found her c'peculiar vocation (that of feeding people)"38. Although, only a few exarnples were found in personal documents, they illustrate some of the efforts put forth by Winchester women to provide food for hungry soldiers. Winchester women's hospital work is better documented and will be discussed after studying the organizations of women in the towns and surrounding areas of Harrisonburg and S taunton. The ladies of Mt. Jackson, a town located in Shenandoah county, initiated their "Ladies' Soldier's Relief and Aid Association" in November of 186 1. The society was proclaimed to be formed in direct response to their perception of northem hegemony, a bitter foe, who publicly proclaim.. .that they corne to burn our homes, pillage our fields, sack our cities: to destroy the peace and security of our firesides, assail the honor, virtue and chenshed faith of our households, and to take from us at once and forever the life, liberties, honor and independence of our people39. Through invoking the Ianguage of their revolutionary forefathers, these women acknowledged their strong-willed desire to fight for the preservation of their community. Seven resolutions followed this bold staternent, setting up the guidelines of a society '' Diary of Mary Greenhow Lee, February 24, 1863. p.320. Taken from a photocopy issued by the Handley Library, Winchester, Va. 38 Diary of Mary Greenhow Lee. September 27, 1862, as cited in Gilpin Faust. Morhers of Invenrion, p. 107 39 ~ocki~i~hamRegister, November 1, 186 1. An earlier gathering of the women of Mt. Jackson. occurred in May of the same year to "make uniforms and other outfits for the Company gratuitous - The old brick Churc h has been secured as the place where they wilI meet for their laudabie object.. .," Rockingham Register, May 29, 186 1. It was probably here that the women of Mt. Jackson began planning their society. whose declared object was to "supply the necessary articles of clothing, and to fumish the various hospital stores ...740 . How successful and how long this organization remained intact is unclear, because no further information appeared in the Register during the war. Organized benevolent activity in Hanisonburg followed almost immediately after the Soldier's Aid Society of Virginia's cal1 was published in the local press on August 16, 1861. Further encouragement was given by a "correspondent of the Register" in September, who suggested that the "ladies form societies (as they have done in other places) for the collection of articles" to help the Charlottesville ~os~ital~'.Two weeks after this request, a Soldier's Aid Society led by president A.M Newman, appointed Rev. D.C. Irwin, Rev. Thos. Hildebrand, Miss Margeret Herring, Miss Jeanette Conrad, and Miss Margeret Byrd to run the association4'. By the beginning of the next rnonth, Miss Conrad and Miss Byrd appear to have left this group and instituted another Soldier's Aid Society, whose members were al1 wornen. This probably resulted out of their desire to have leadership and control of an organization. On October 4, 1861, the women of Harrisonburg gathered and professed their intentions and goals in the Rockingham Register. They had organized not only the women of the town and elected the perspective officers of President, Miss Jeanette Conrad, Vice President, Mrs. Amanda Keenle, Res. Sec. Miss M. Byrd, but had ais0 assigned managers from al1 over the county. The duties are listed below. 1" To secure contributions in aid of the object of this organization. 2d.To keep a Depository where al1 contributions shall be deposited. JO Ibid. Some of the other resolutions included creating a cornmittee of five offrcers who would draw up a Constitution and set of By-laws for the society. This group agreed to meet the first Saturday of every month. The three elected ofCicers were listed at the end of their article: those being the President, Mrs. A.R. Meem. the General Superintendent, Mrs. L. Triplett, and the Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. M. Kendrick. 4 1 Rockingham Register, September 6, 186 1 42 Rockingham Register, September 20, 186 1 3dTo fumish out of the funds of the Society material to be made up under their direction. 4?~odirect the packing and the distribution of al1 supplies to theïr proper de~tination~~. Following these instructions, ail of the manager's names of Rockingham County were listed and the women were asked to 'cornmence at once; and that the ladies of the county rnay have the information requisite to prepare for future contributions'"? Notices of two meetings for Soldier's Aid Societies were listed in the press; one to be held at the Masons Hall (most likely the CO-edgroup) on October 11, 1861, and another, (in al1 probability the ladies group), to be held at the Southern M. E. Church on December 3". 18614'. In February of 1862, the Iast advertisement of the women's group was listed, telling of a Concert to be given at the Southem M. E. Church, for the "benefit of the soldiers of ~ockin~ham"~~.Until the end of the war, it appears that wornen's efforts in making clothes and socks, fund-raising'', and gathering donations were incorporated under a new organization composed only of men, called the Soldier's Aïd ~ornrnittee~~. Why the women of Harrisonburg Iost the leadership of their benevolent activity remains obscure. This is complicated by the fact that from February to August of 1862 only sporadic issues of the Rockingham Register survive, with penods of no publication whatsoever. This was the result of the Valley Carnpaigns of that surnmer. Throughout 43 ~ockin~lrawRegisrer, October 1. 186 1 " Wd. I5Rockingham Register. October 1 1, 186 1. and November 29. 186 1. The above assumptions are made based on the fact that women's pre-war organizations were based directly from the local churches, while the Masons group was strictly a male organization, sometimes supported by fund-raisers performed by members wives and families. 46 Rockingham Register, February 14, 1862 47 Noted specitically in work for the "Association for the relief of Maimed Soldiers", an organization working out of Richmond with an affiliation in Harrisonburg run by local townsmen. The Iadies were assigned to "to solicit subscriptions" and succeeded in collecting "a very handsome sum of (3000) dollars," Rockingham Register. March 1 1, 1864. the rest of the war, Harrisonburg's women were requested to attend by the "Soldier's Aid Cornmittee.. .to work for the soldiers," by knitting socks and gloves, or cutting out cloth to be made into garments49. However, as individuals and in small groups, their work was stili active in fund-raising, and in the local hospital as volunteers. These fund-raising ventures were sirnilar to women7s pre-war work in the Valley. A Tableaux Vivants was perforrned in January of 1862 for the sufferers in Charleston, South Carolina who experienced a "calamitous fire". One interesting scene in the performance was the representation of the state of Maryland. It was described by the editor. "One of our most beautiful and attractive young ladies, dressed in rnouming, with chains upon her hands, and a rope and yoke about her neck.. .[while] a soldier with a drawn sword stood guard over herW5O. Similar to the Confederate flag in Charlottesville, these women expressed their interpretation of Maryland's politicd situation through a traditional, and inventive venue, the Tableaux Vivants. The 'Ladies of Bridgewater', a town just outside Harrisonburg, kept their association going as late as 1864, and were also active in fund-raising through Tableaux Vivants, successfully earning over $600 dollars for the 'soldier7s families' in their vicinity5'. George C. Rable has cornrnented that Tableaux Vivants, the most lucrative fund-raiser, was often under attack for being "extravagant and sinful" dunng the wx. Women who organized this entertainment had to "flout religious," and masculine "authonty in staging tableauxs" and subsequently had to defend thern as necessary wartime benefits5'. Finally, the neighboring county of Augusta will be examined, focusing on wornen in the Staunton area, where, unlike Rockingharn Regisrer, November 2 1, 1 862 " Ibid.. December 26, 1862. Sanuary 2. 1863, and Novernber 6, 1863. " Rockinghnrn Regisrer, January 17, 1862 *' Ibid., May 8, 1863; Ianuary 29, 1864 Harrisonburg, women's Soldier's Aid Societies remained active and strong right up to the end of the war. As early as May 1861, women in Staunton had formed "Ladies Soldier's Relief Associations" to try and cloth and supply their local regimentss3. Alansa Rounds Sterrett, a wornan of Staunton, recorded in her memoirs for April 186 1, that she had been busy making knapsacks for rebel troopers. Ladies here cutting cutting out and making uniforms for the Churchville Calvary Company. Work at Old Feilow's Hall early and late". Al1 throughout 1861, lists of contributions from women are published in the local newspaper to commend women for their efforts and to encourage more activity. By the beginning of 1862, rnilitary comrnanders were steadily sending in letters of thanks to the "Ladies of Augusta" for the provisions sent to their regimentsss. The hard work of Staunton and Augusta women received considerable attention in the press, as "the ladies of this place have done so much for the comfort and clothing of the soldiers" through their sewing, ministering to sick soldiers, and raising money so that the Confederacy cm build an iron-clad shipS6. NO evidence was found for this area in the Valley, of CO-ed organizations or of al1 men groups - Augusta County was a hotbed of activity, dorninated by female leadership and perseverance. 51 George C. Rable, Civil Wars, p. 142 53 Sraiinton Spectator. May 7, 186 1. Al1 rekrences to the paper are from: chttp://jefferson.villa~e.virginia.edu/vshadow 2/ newsl cwnewsl cwnews.html> Another Croup of women in Rockbridge County, south of Augusta, had formed the Ladies Soldier's Aid Society of Natural Bridge, who invited wounded Confederate soldiers to recover in their members' homes, Augusta Weekly Constirutionafisr, September 4, 186 1, as cited in Faust, Mothers of Invention, p.94 '' Mernoir of Atmsa Rounds Sterrett. c. 1859- 2865. April26. 18 6 1 ~http://jefferson.village~c.~irginia.edu/vshadow2/ cwletters.html> '' Lists of contributions found in Staunton Spectator, September 24, 186 1. October 15, 186 1, October 22, 186 1, November, 5, 1g6 1, November 12, 186 1, December 10, 186 1. December 24, 186 1. On January 14, 1862, Hugh Sheffey reported the donations of money fiom the ladies of the Soldier's Aid Association to the soldiers at Camp Allegheny. In addition, on Febniary 1 1, 1862, Camp Allegheny sent a letter to the Startnron Spectator, thanking the ladies of Augusta for donations of clothing. 5"ta~nton Spectator, June I 1, 186 1, ApriI 15,1862 Evidence of Soldier's Aid Societies in Augusta County was found for women in Churchville, Greenville, Waynesboro, and of course Staunton. The achievements of these groups is impressive when measured by the Iength of time they were in operation and the number of different regiments they actually helped. The ladies in Staunton who were active al1 throughout the war, began in 1861 by organizing a Ladies Fair to earn money to purchase tents and knapsacks for the West Augusta ~uard~'.As soon as the war began the young ladies at the Virginia Female Institute had "manufactured three or four hundred, if not more; jackets after the sailor fashion for the use of the un-uniformed volunteers frorn the country"5S. By June of 1861, the women of Staunton had accomplished enough to receive considerable praise from their local newspaper. The editor informed his town that "[tlhe ladies deserve as rnuch credit as the men. They are doing al1 that they cm within their sphere to promote the cause of liberty and independence. Their zeal is unflagging and their labors ~nrernitting"~~.Such statements of war rhetoric would become readily proven again and again as the war years progressed and as women's work endured and answered the tragedies of war. Dunng the years of 1863 and 1864, the women of Augusta were extremely active in raising money through fairs and concerts and by distributing supplies to regiments in the area. Concerts in Staunton were held at the Episcopal Institute, Fellows Hall, and the Presbyterian Church, in February and March, to raise money for the soldiers". In early 1863, the men of the 3 1" Virginia Regiment wrote one of many letters of thanks, for the 57 Republican Vindicaror, Sanuary 18. 186 1 58 Republican Vilzdicator,April26. 186 1 Srauntotz Specrator. June 1 1, 186 1 60 Stautiton Spectator. February 24'. 1863. The following week a report of the successful Soldier's Bal1 held at Fe1 lows Hall, was pnnted, alongside the outcome of the Presbyterian Churc h's concert, which realized a sum of $400 for the soldiers, Staunton Spectator, March 3, 1863. donations sent to their camp near Port ~o~a.1~'.The winter and spring of 1864 brought another wave of appreciative notes to the women of Augusta who maintained their efforts to clothe and feed the soldien. The Soldier's Aid Society's of Staunton, Churchville, Greenville, and Waynesboro were penonally thanked, by nearby regiments, cataloguing the societies' survival, determination, and high morale late in the war6'. Organized activity in the forms of societies did not falter but persevered through the hardships of food shortages, inflationary prices, and the turmoii of war. In fact, despite the arguments of histonans discussed earlier, the ladies in Staunton and Churchville were still trying to help their men in the army through organizations as late as ~865~~. The needs of soldiers were not the only concerns of women in the Shenandoah Valley. Because the war had such impact on the Valley. aid to civilians becarne an important concem for women seeking to help their cornrnunities. Severai references have survived that tell of women's efforts to help soldier's wives and families, exiles and refugees created by the destruction of war. In Staunton, a Centrai Cornmittee was established to deal with exiled farnilies entering the town. Although managed by men, a 61 Stnurzron Spectutor, February 24, 1863. Additional findings for the year of 1863, include: Staunton women working on a Cornmittee for the relief of exiled families, Reprtblican Vindicaror, June 5, 1863; fund-raising concert held at the Augusta Female Seminar, for the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers, Staunrorz Spectator, June 30, 1863; soldiers of the 3 lsL,theJ~ Brigade, 5* Virginia Infantry. and Camp Staunton; perspective groups thanking the ladies of Augusta for donations, Starozton Spectator, Ianuary 13, 1863, February 1863, February 24". 1863. 61 Starcnton Specraror, Jan 26, 1864: mentions wornen of Staunton; the Soldier's Aid Society at Zion's church in Staunton both of which helped the 25" Virginia Regiment; the Soldier's Aid Societies of the women in Brownsburg, Rockbridge county, and Newport, Page county, both in the Shenandoah Valley, who aided companies F and H, in the 3 1" Virginia Regiment; Staunton Specrator, February, 2, 1864; the 3 1" thanks the Soldier's Aid Society of the Zion Church, in Waynesboro, for supplies sent to his troops; Sraunron Spectator, February 9, 1864; Colonel William S. Jackson's Brigade tfianks the women of the Churchville and Hebron (located outside of the Valley) Soldier's Aid Societies; Srarurton Spectaror, March 29. 1864. Company A, of the 25" Virginia Regiment thanks the ladies of Augusta for supplying them with food and clothing; Stauntorr Spectator, April 12. 1864, Company's L and G. of the 25" Virginia Regiment. send appreciation to the ladies of Greenville and Brownsburg for provisions. 63 Repblican Viiidicntor, Febmary 3, 1865; the Staunton Artillery expressed thanks to the ladies of Augusta for a meal prepared for the on Ianuary 29; Republican Vindicator, February 10, 1865; the 5znd working committee of women was assigned to meet and assess the needs of incorning familiesM. More than one "Sabbath School Exhibition" was held in Staunton for the benefit of local indigent soldier's fa mi lie^^^. Finally, severai pieces of evidence exist that women in the Shenandoah Valley specifically were concerned about the Fredericksburg people left desolate after the battle fought here in December 1862. Two young ladies of Staunton collected $850, while the "Churchville Ladies Association for the Soldiers" perforrned an entertainment two weeks in a row, earning a total of $400 for the Fredericksburg suffered6. Lucy Rebecca Buck, from Front Royal, dong with her aunt solicited members in her cornmunity and gathered $259. Miss Buck commented that she was glad to see that "our citizens out of the little they have left are yet willing to do their part toward relieving those more destitute than themse~ves"~'. This type of benevolent activity supports the argument that an active female consciousness was at work in the Valley, because the recipients are not only Confederate soldiers, but also the victims of war: the aged, the wives and mothers left behind, and their children. To preserve Me in a threatened community is not only to help those protecting it, but also to help those who have lost dl protection. Furthermore, the Fredericksburg example illustrates that women of the Valley were willing to aid people frorn outside their own immediate community. Although, Confederate women everywhere in the South sought first and foremost to help those from their own vicinity, efforts were also made to help people cf other counties and States. Virginia Regiment wrote a letter to the Ladies of ChurchviIle SoIdier's Aid Society, thanking them for the second dinner prepared on their behalf. Repub lican Virrdicator, June 5, 1863 Staunton Spectator, October 20, 1863 66 Staunton Spectarer, December 30, 1862; Memoir of Alansa Roitnd Sterretr, December 3 1. 1862. 67 Elizabeth R. Baer, Shadows on my hean: The Civil War Diary of Lucy Rebecca Buck, (Athens and London, 1997), January 9, 1863, p. 176 One exarnple has already been cited where the women of Harrisonburg collected money frorn a Tableaux Vivants for victims of the fire in Charleston, SC. A soldier from Company H in the 13" Regiment of Virginia Volunteers asked the people in a letter to the Winchester Virginian, to "particularly rernernber" those soldiers who's "parents and fnends lived in other States," in fumishing supplies for the upcoming winter ~arn~ai~n~~. Aid was also given to neighboring counties in the Valley. In 1862, the Lexington Gazette, gave notice that the ladies in Rockbridge planned to send a 'wagon of supplies' to Staunton for the poor soldiers in the h~s~ital~~.While inter-communal efforts were made to help those places most in need, scattered attempts due to poor organization left many areas in dire conditions. Most women's groups in the South failed to communicate with each other, making it difficult to provide for those most in need. Edwin B. Coddington argues in his article on Soldier's Aid Societies that "groups in the same county showed little disposition to cooperate with each other or with a central body, which might coordinate their work"". No statewide voluntary organization ever appeared in Virginia like those of Georgia and South Carolina, for two good reasons. First, the demands of the Confederate govemment placed too great a drain on Virginia's resources and secondly, the fact that large areas of the state served as battlegrounds or were under federal occupation made any efforts to organize on a larger scale extremely difficult in virginia7'. Both of these reasons also contributed to problems of shipping supplies to necessary destinations. Despite these difficulties, women in the Shenandoah Valley 68 Winchesrer Virginian, September 26, 186 1 69 Published in the Stalrnron Specraror, October 2 1, 1862 Edward B. Coddington, "SoIdiersl Relief in the Seaboard Sates of the Southern Confederacy," Misrissippi Valley Hisrorical Review, 37 (June L gSO), p.23-24 contributed a good deal of tirne, money, food and provisions to ensure that their soldiers, and their cornmunities survived to the best of their ability. Studying the accomplishments of wornen's Soldier's Aid Societies in the Shenandoah Valley can illustrate some of the ways that women dealt with the crisis of war in their own neighborhoods. Their work represented a determined cornmitment to the Confederacy and their contributions were both "highly practical and nchly symbolic" of their roles in the Southern community7'. The Confederate government calcdated that gifis for the army of Virginia "registered by the passport office in Richmond, during 186 1-62, were estimated to be worth more than $1, 500,000 at current pnces"73. This estimation, however, did not include unregistered donations or supplies for armies in other areas'! Unfortunately, records were not kept for civilian contributions for the rest of the war. Nevertheless, Virginia women's efforts cm be in part judged by a resolution passed by the state legislature on March 26, 1863, which cornrnended "the patriotic fortitude and devotion displayed by Virginia women from the beginning of the ~ar"~~. Moreover, letters from regiments and editor's comments in local newspapers catalogued above, attest to the signifiant contributions women of the Shenandoah Valley made for the war effort. During the conflict, wornen's sacrifice was revamped to suit the demands of war, shifting the emphasis of their role from the family to the Cause; in this "redefinition women's role changed to serve public needsW7! The domestic tasks of sewing, preparing 7' Ibid., p.32 71 Drew Gilpin Faust, Thavolia Glyrnph, and George C. RabIe, "'A Woman's War," A Woman's War, p.5 73 Ofccial Records, Ser. IV, Vol. 1, p.884, as cited in Edwin B. Coddington, " Soldier's Relief in the Seaboard States," p.23 74 Oflcial Records, Ser. IV,Vol. II, p.405,as cited in Ibid., p.22 75 Virginia. Acts, 1863 Adj. Sess., Resolutions, No. 2, as cited in Ibid., p.32 76 Faust, Morhers of Invention, p. 17 food and provisions for the anny took on a new political importance as these means provided women an avenue to fight for their independence. In turn, it dlowed women greater access to the public sphere, as their "privatized.- prsuits were now thrust ont0 the center stage of southern life" and "were not in violation of their subordinated domestic status"". The demands for women's domestic skills forced those who wanted to provide aid as efficiently as possible to organize into larger bodies. These groups constituted women's "version of political participation and expression" for the Confederate cause78. Through the desire to aid the cause of the Confederacy, and through the expression of a female consciousness, women in the Shenandoah Valley organized and displayed initiative, energy, persistence, and above al1 success in helping those in need around them. Through analyzing the impact of the war on a locale, this study has shown that general assumptions on southern women's organized efforts in the Civil War do not always apply to every region in the South. The fact that Soldier's Aïd Societies in the Shenandoah Valley survived till the end of the war, and sought to help not only soldiers, but the civilian victims of war, defies current historiographica. thought on the subject. Furthemore, women in the Valley extended their aid, beyond their own immediate comrnunity and even strove to help those in need outside of the state, an aspect of women's voluntary work that historians have paid little attention to in the South. Distinctions like these, can be accounted for when historical study is submerged in local 77 LeeAnn Whites, 'The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender," Divided Houses, p. 15, supported by Mary Elizabeth Massey, Bonnet Brigades, (New York, 1966), p. 367. Rachel Filine Seidman. "Beyond Sacrifice: Women and Politics on the Pennsylvania Homefront During the Civil War," Ph.D. dissertation, (Yale University, 1995). p.84-85. Although Seidman is studying northern women, 1 feel this line of argument also supports southern wornen who were involved in aid societies. detail, discovering that specific regions in the South experienced and reacted to the war differentiy. One main reason, the Vaiiey could differ from other regions was because the area expenenced so much military activity and destruction that these women had to continue their enterprises to insure the survival of their cornrnunities. Nonetheless, the conclusions of this study, in regard to women's aid societies, illustrates the advantage of micro-history in retrieving the unique expenences of particular locales within a greater area of historical study. Another important way women of the Valley entered the public sphere and supported the Confederacy was in their work for and in local hospitals. These women exhibited the fernale consciousness, through their work in feeding, nurtunng, and supplying sick and wounded soldiers. Dr. Thomas Ashby recalls that women of the Shenandoah Valley were active in many capacities in the hospitals; they went into kitchens and prepared dainties, visited the wards and gave personal attention to the sick, looked after beds and bedding, and in many ways added to the cornfort of the hospitai inmates. in their patriotism and unselfish service no act of self-sacrifice was neglected. But for our women, these sick soldiers would have fared badly; for the overcrowding and inefficient hospital service were at times deplorable79. Although this statement echoes wartime propaganda, it is instructive in seveaiing the generai duties that women performed in this time of crisis and the ways in which they compensated for a medical service which was both unprepared and at times incornpetentgO. Moreover, it speaks from a time when women's presence in hospitals had become generally accepted, condoned by a needy government and pushed for by the local 79 aura Virginia Hale, Four Valiant Years in the Lower Shertandoah Valle). 1861-65, (Strasburg, VA., 1968), p.50, quoted from, The Valley Campaigns. presses. But in order to understand the daring but necessary step, women in hospital work took, it is imperative to understand the nature of nursing before the war, and the state of the Confederate medical system. Pnor to the commencement of the Civil War, hospitai work in the South was regarded as inappropriate for ladies of respectability, and was reserved for the Iower classes, slaves and men. It was deemed improper for a self-respecting woman to pursue an occupation that involved such intimate contact with strange men. As a result young single women from reputable families were the most discouraged from this pursuitsi. In spite of Southem society's perceptions of nursing, women in the Shenandoah Valley after 186 1, pushed into hospital work and within a incredibly short period of time had gained the appreciation of their local townsmen and their encouragement. The transformation by which the government, surgeons and hospital stewards undenuent in accepting women's work in hospitals is understandable when one looks at the casualty lists for Virginia. The battles of the early war overloaded an inadequate medical system with sick and wounded. During a fifteen-month period from January 1862 to March 1863, 113,9 14 soldiers were treated for diseases and wounds in Virginia's lirnited hospitals, exclusive of those in and around Richmond8'. In fact, in 1863 alone, the Staunton general hospitals treated 8,390 soldier~~~.Confederate medical officers have estimated that the Southern army totaled 900,000 men, and that during the war each one of theçe "fell victirn to disease and wounds approximately 6 times"". The South was not mobilized to meet the waves of sick and wounded soldiers that the war created, and 8 1 Francis B. Simkins, and James W. Patton, 'The Work of Southern Women Among the Sick and Wounded of the Confederate Artnies," Journal of Sorrthern Histor-y, vol. 1, (1935), p.484 *' H.H. Cunningham, Docrors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service, (Mass.. reprint, 1970). p.4 83 Ibid., p.4 impromptu hospitals, set-up in churches, courthouses, homes, and warehouses attempted to serve the armies' needs in the fxst two years. Appropriations set aside for Confederate hospitals, initially set at a dollar a day per each soldier, and rising as high as $2.50 by 1864, also proved to be insufficient. Infiationary prices and difficulty in procunng supplies due to a combination of high dernands and the effects of the Union blockade made the contributions of local women imperative to keeping men alive. Cornplaints about shortages of food, beds, bedding, hospital shirts and drawers, surgicai dressinps, and alcoholic stimulants were repeatedly found in reference to Confederate ho~~itals~~. In light of these conditions, and following an investigation conducted in 1861, the government began to pass legislation that would incorporate greater roles for wornen in Confederate hospitals. Because of the growinp criticism Confederate medical care, the Confederate Congress ordered a cornmittee to examine the prevailing conditions. It concluded that there were significant problems in the nursing services offered and a grave shortage of medical manpower. Moreover, the cornmittee commended the efforts of those whose "...tendemess and generosity of their sex" had given considerable service, supplies, and money to Confederate hospitalss6. By 1862, a cornmittee's investigation conducted in Kentucky concluded that "the superiority of female nurses as compared with males" were without doubt and that "when males have charge the mortality averages 8J Ibid.. p.3 '' Ibid.. p. 158, refer to footnote 16. 86 US. War Departmeni, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Oficial Records of the Union and Confederare Armies, 127 vols. and index (Washington D.C., 1880-190 l), series 1,3:883,as cited in Faust, Morhers of Invention, p.96 ten per cent; where females manage, it is only five per centm8'. These statistics could not be ignored, and in September of 1862, Congress passed legislation entitled, "An act to better provide for the sick and wounded of the army in hospitals." The act created the positions of "two matrons, two assistant matrons, two matrons for each ward, such other nurses and cooks as rnight be needed, and a ward master for each ward, giving preference in al1 cases to fernales where their services may best subserve the purpose"88. Not only did the Confederate Congress sanction women's presence in iumy hospitals but it also sought to encourage its medical departments to include a preater involvement of women in the management of their hospitais. Moreover, the creation of these positions were important enough to the government to expend on rnatron's salaries alone, on average an additional $500,000 a year for the last three years of the warg9. Although no diaries have survived of full-time fernale hospital nurses or matrons in the Valley, information on women7svolunteer work, fund-raising, nursing from homes and aid in impromptu hospitals is well documented in local newspapers and personal diaries. As early as the fa11 of 186 1, long before widespread acceptance occurred in the South, correspondents of the Rackingham Register were discussing the admirable suitability of older ladies as hospitd nurses. One writer from Camp Blar believed that he had "never yet seen one [a male nurse] capable of taking the place of one of the old matrons who hatumed my attention to the subject of nursing, -- and who that haraised a family of children has n~t?"~'.After praising the work of Mrs. Eliza Hutchinson from 87 "Journal of Confederate Congress, First Congress, Second Session," in So~ithernHisrorka1 Society Papers, (Richmond, 1928), 46: 237, Senate, September 25, 1862, as cited in Faust, Mothers of Invention, 'iyunningham. Docrors in Gray, p.73 89 Cunningham, Doctor's in Gray, appendix 1, "Wartime appropriations to the army Medical Department," for the years of 1863, 1864, and 1865. 90 Rockingham Regisrer, September 27, 1 86 1 Edinburg, Shenandoah County, for her lone volunteer services to the soldiers, the correspondent went on to state that women should not "permit false notions of delicacy to prevent you from rnaking this sacrifice --This is women's pecuiiar sphere of usefulness, to smooth the pillow of affli~tion"~'.An editor echoed this man's sentiments in Staunton, proclaiming that "The female sex can do a great deai to alleviate the suffenng necessarily consequent upon a bloody war, and we have the most implicit confidence that the ladies will act the part of 'rninistering angels"'g2. Women of the Shenandoah Valley answered these men's urging and began nursing sick and wounded soldiers in their homes and in the hospitals. Dr. Ashby, while in Front Royal, described the town's rnobilization to meet the dernands of the wounded. He told of a place, in December 186 1, which was "...full of activity. With four hospitals filled with the sick and many private homes caring for the convalescents, there was little room for trar~~uilit~"~~.Winchester women, in July of 186 1 faced sirnilar circumstances. Judith McGuire adrnired their work with the wounded and wrote in her diary that No one can imagine the degree of self-sacrificing attention the ladies pay them; they attend to their comfort in every respect; their nounshment is prepared at pnvate houses. ..This house has been a kind of hospital for the last rnonth. Several sick soldiers here now, men of whom they know nothing about except that they are soldiers in the confederacyg4. In the early years of the war women often took soldiers into their homes and opened their private and domestic worlds to the needs of wounded men, who in many cases were complete strangers. " Ibid. 92 Stamron Spectator, June 18, 186 1 93 Laura Virginia Hale, Four Valianr Years, p.92. Front Royal. before its hospitals were abandoned. could hold about 750 wounded men, p.53. Like women's work with Soldier's Aid Societies, inter-community aid was present in women's benevolent activity in the hospitals. In August 186 1, the Rockinghanl Register, reported that the "Hospital is now one of the institutions of our town. It was founded by the ladies of Culpeper some two months since for the use of the sick soldiers, and they furnished the General Hospital, on Carneron Street, at their own e~~ense"'~.The demands on Winchester were so great in the summer of 1861 that the town appealed to the nearby county of Rockingham to send supplies. The article informed women of Harrisonburg that "Hundreds of our soldiers are sick in Winchester.. .the ladies.. .are doing their best, but they need help.. .such as bed and body linen, half-worn clothing, towels, rags, Cotton, and linen ...jelly and articles of diet for the sick. Send speedily whatever you have, much or littleWg6.Prescriptions for the proper behavior of ladies had to be ignored, by both men and women, because a society at war afforded no such In 1862, five major battles would occur in Virginia, placing heavy clairns on al1 civilians in the state. After the Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, the ladies of Winchester were again busy at work trying to accornmodate the never-ending influx of wounded soldiers. In a letter written by Anne C. R. Jones, a local resident, the local women's efforts were described. You couid scarcely believe the number of the wounded that have passed through and remained since the Sharpsburg battle. Many, ntnny, sick are dying here, 1fear to say how many were buried today. The Ladies are active in doing what they cm.. .Susy cornes into town, every Wednesday 1 believe to aid at the cooking establishment ...The ladies of the town who can, attend on different days, al1 the 94 Annette K. Baxtor and Leon Stein, Diaries of a Soirthern Refiigee During the War, (New York, 197?'.. -3 1,44. Entries dated July 18, 186 1, and July 29, 1 86 1. Rockingharn Regisrer, August 9, 186 1 '96 Rockingham Register, July 12, 186 t time, even on Sunday.. .97 . These women pooled their time, resources and labour into an organized schedule to rneet the demands of both supporting their families and caring for wounded soldiers in times of cnsis. The cooking room allowed many wornen to contribute more efficiently to the task of feeding and caring for hundreds of soldiers. Mollie Hansford, a doctor's wife living in Newton, seven miles from Winchester, set up a wayside hospital on the Valley turnpike for the soldiers retuming from the Battle of Antietarn. She wrote an account of the enterprise in her wartime diary. We had a smaü empty building near the roadside.. -1got some other ladies to help and we cleaned out the place and furnished it with washbowls, towels, and plenty of old linen. We would stand at the door as the walking wounded passed and bring in the ones we thought we could help. We helped them wash up dressed their wounds and let them rest awhile. Many of them had never even had their wounds looked at-.Some would stay until our little hospital would get so full they would have to move ong8. The wayside hospitai represents one of the rnost imaginative and practical creations invented by Southern womeng9. Valley women observed and heard the suffering of soldiers returning from battle, and often took them into their homes. The wayside hospital was an extension of that practice and illustrates another exarnple where women working together could provide and aid more soldiers than they could acting as '' Letter of Ann C.R. Jones to Harriet Parkhill. October ~3~~.1862. Margaretta Barton Colt. Defend rhe Valley, p. 188, 189. This is the same cooking roorn rnentioned previously involving Mrs. Lee. Laura Lee another woman actively working at the room, lamented on September, 2 1-23. and 24-28,1862, that "Days of incessant and rnost painful exertion. Every pIace is crowded.. -and the one idea of al1 is to try and do sornething to alleviate the suRering. .. Constantly busy at the cooking roorn and hospitals. ..There are now 7000 [sick] and wounded in an around this place," Kyrn S. Rice and Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr., "Voices frorn the Tempest: Southern Women's Wartime Experiences," A Womarr 's War, p.86-87. 98 Mollie Hansford. Civil War Mernoirs of Two Rebel Sisrers. (Charleston. W.Va., 2"' edition, 1990). p.49 During the later years of the war, the women of the Valley continued in their roles as providers and caregivers of soldiers. In August of 1863, editors wrote of women's ongoing efforts in Augusta and Frederick counties. The women in Winchester "after the meridian may be seen ...matemal, and juvenile, winding their way to the York Hospital; with baskets and kettles ...," while the ladies of Greenville, after fumishing the sick soldiers with provisions, earned the declaration that "this would be a poor world without the kind ministrations of the ladies"[o0. The Rockinghnrn Register reported that at the Hamisonburg hospitai The ladies who fil1 the responsible positions of matrons seem to thoroughly understand their duties - That part of the institution under their supervision is most admirably managed -Neatness, cleanliness, order and system are everywhere observable.. .IO[ . Both local women who volunteered their time as well as their provisions, plus the employees of hospitals in their cornrnunities received the positive attention of the press. John Worsham of the 2 1'' Virginia Regiment recdled that after the Battle of Winchester in 1864, the soldiers haited at a church in Woodstock, where "the ladies brought fruit, flowers, eatables, water and bandages and made themselves very useful to two or three hundred ~ounded'''~~. Soldiers and editors of newspapers were not the only men who appreciated women's labour with injured soldiers. Charles H. Harris, Assistant Surgeon in charge of the Field Infirrnary in Augusta County, wrote a letter to the ladies of New Hope and " For more information on the development and extensive use of wayside hospitals throughout the South, rekr to Francis B. Simkins and James W. Patten, 'The Work of Southern Women Among the Sick and Wounded of the Confederate Arrnies," p.49 1-494. 100 Rockingham Regisrer, August 2 1, 1863, and Staunron Specraror, August 1 1, 1863 'O' Rockingfzam Regisrer, January 8, 1 8 64 thanked them for their "kind attentions and invaluable service". He went on to list the narnes of ten wornedo3. William McChesney, an amy surgeon, expressed his thanks to the ladies of Staunton "for the kindness they showed to wounded soldiers when they were in the area"'04. Women of the Valley were also active in providing supplies for hospitals and regiments where they helped to aid sick and injured soldiers. As was the case with Soldier's Aid Societies, who were often invotved in such donations, regiments sent letters to the local press to thank the la die^''^^. Both the women who worked in Soldier's Aid Societies, as well as those women who made an individual cornmitment to help preserve the lives of il1 and injured soldiers, could feel a deep sense of usefulness and accomplishment in their work. Faced with the horrors of serious wounds, amputations, and disease, women's inexperience in carhg for the wounded was compensated by the nurturing skills acquired dunng a Iifetime of practice with nursing their families. One recollection of a wornan in the Valley reveals that how the duties of wives and mothers for generations in caring for their families were implemented for the needs of war. Sarah Page Andrews, in a letter to her son, described this scene of a few women who acted collectively in an attempt to Save the lives of those They have opened the warehouses and swept thern and filled thern with the sick and wounded - dressed their wounds with their own hands. 1saw Fanny just now dressing a man's foot at the style - it is wonderful what they accomplish. Anne is making shirts for them and helping me to attend on those here. 1O? Haie, Four Valiant Years, p.413. 103 Republican Vindicator. Septernber 9, 1864. A similar list appears in the Srannto~tSpecrator, Febmary 9, 1864, narning thirteen women for being kind to the wounded. '(' Staunron Spectator, October 14, 1862 Rockirzgham Register: Iists of contributions to the hospital, December 27, 1861. January 17, 1862; Republican Vindicator: letter from the surgeon of the 5h Va.. June 5, 1863; editor cornrnents on recent supplies frorn wornen for the hospital, May 13, 1864; Sraurzron Spectator, acknowledgernents of donations for the hospital, October 15, 1861, October 22, 186 1, March 3 1, t 863, August 1 1, 1863. Corn bread and soup is dealing out al1 the time those who corne to the doors and windows to beg for it'". Mary Greenhow Lee for a tirne left her hospitai work, an occupation that she had avidly pursued on a daily basis. She wrote in her diary in November of 1863 that "1 could not have imagined that 1 would miss my Hospital duties so sadly; 1 did not know how interested I was, individually in each man"'". Through preserving the life and lives of their cornrnunity and country, these women contributed their skills peculiar to their roles as wives and mothers, and utilized organizational and management skilis for the cause of secession. The study of Shenandoah Valley women's wartime paiitkipation in Soldier's Aid Societies and hospital work reveals the extraordinary accomplishments of women's presence in the public sphere. Motivated by the desire and determination to aid their communities in a society at war, the women of the Valley displayed agency, initiative. enerpy and perseverance. Forrning out of necessity into collective groups to combat the ovenvhelming needs of the Confederacy, women organized their labour, resources, and time to assist and provide the necessaries of life to soldiers within their reach. These organizations often lasted the duration of the war, overcoming food shortages and low morale. Moreover, the wornen of the Valley realized that soldiers' were not the oniy people in need of aid, and made efforts to help the victims of war in their own cornrnunities and outside of them. Through fund-raising, gatherïng provisions, mobilizing makeshift hospitals, sewing uniforms, and preparing food, women's domestic skills took on new political importance as they supplemented and supported the needs of '" Sarah Page Andrews to son, Manuscripts Letters, Charles W. Andrews Papen. Duke University Library, as cited in James C. Holland, Shenandoah Valley Mernories of the War benveen rhe Srares, (1992). p.89 a public world in crisis. The female consciousness, partly composed of matemal inclinations and women's need to aid suffering, figured prominently in women's work in nursing. Women's duties, normally reserved for their families, took on a new role, portraying women's patriotism, and sacrifice for the Confederacy. Not only were women expected to give up their menfolk, but they were dso expected to sew the clothes in which their men might be killed and roll the bandages that might Save their lives. In these ways, women of the Shenandoah Valley were politicized, as the state, the press, and their fellow sisters of the South asked them to contribute their time, labour, and family to the public and political cause of independence. 1O7 Diary of Mary Greenhow Lee, November 6, 1863, as cited in Faust, Mothers of Invention, p. 108 Chapter 4 "Excuse an anxious Mother for trespassing upon vour time.. .": Virginia Women's Civii War Letters to the Governor The letters written to Virginia's Civil War govemors from the women of the state can act as a pnsm to shed light on the social ideologies of their society. Of course, historians have traditionally used the pages of personal letters to reconstnict and recapture the lives of many generations. Increasingly, however, historians have become as interested in studying the ways in which letters are constmcted, and in the language used as they are with the actual content of the correspondence. The manner and style in which wnters described their problems and petitions often reveal the values. beliefs, and shared assumptions of their society. In a remarkably literate society like the United States in the nineteenth century. the advantage for historians is the capability to retrieve a variety of distinct voices through persona1 letters'. Unfortunately, to date there has been Little study of southem women's wartirne letters to government officials'. Rachel Filine Seidman, however, has dedicated one of the chapten of her dissertation to an analysis of northern women's letters to President Lincoln and Secretq of War stanton3. The - I In the South, the 1850 census reveals that 8.27% of whites, men, and women, above the age of 20 were illiterate. When compared to England and Wales, where 48.1% of women applying for marriage Iicenses in 1846 were incapable of signing their names, the Southern literacy rate can be interpreted as unusually high for the nineteenth century worid. Frank Lawrence Owsley, Plain Folk of rlze Old Sourh (Baton Rouge, La., 1949). p. 146- 147 as cited in Kyrn S. Rice and Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr, "Voices of the Tempest: Southern Women's Wartime Experïences," A Woman 's Wnr: Southern Women. Civil War, and the Cutrfederare Legacy, (Richmond, Va., 1996), p.96. ' A bnef discussion is given in the work of Drew Gilpin Faust. Morhers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding Sortrh in the American Civil War, (Chape1 Hill, N.C., 1996), p. 162- 163, 193- 194 and in George Rable, Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Sourhern Nationalism, (Urbana and Chicago, 199 l), p.63, 75. However, most historical works on the topic of Southern women in the Civil War, utilize southern women's letters to government officials as a primary source, in other words, to retrieve women's writing, but do not give the letters serious analysis. Refer to Kym S. Rice and Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr., "Voices of the Tempest", A Woman 's War, p.79, 8 1,93, as an example. Rachel Filine Seidman, "Beyond Sacrifice: Women and Politics on the Pennsylvania Homefront During the Civil War," Ph.D. dissertation, (Yale University, 1995). present chapter hopes to rectify the lack of attention historians have paid to southem women's correspondence by exploring Virginia women's letters to the Governor Pnvate correspondence dunng the Civil War gave voice to the hopes, demands and needs of a society engaged in an ovenvhelming conflict. Letter writing allowed farnilies or individuals living in a war tom world to maintain contact with loved ones in the army or with relatives and friends in far away States. Correspondence filled politicim's desks, as Southem cornmunities strained to uphold a sense of order while battles raged in the distance. Southem wornen, pressed by growing wartime demands, desperately reached out to men in powemil seats of govemment to find aid. Women, who understood and accepted their traditional position in the Southem home, stepped into a new radical activity in order to preserve their roles in Southem society. The letters that women wrote to the governors of Virginia provide a wealth of information on 19~ century attitudes towards gender roles, family, race, and politicai authority. Where did women's role(s) fit into the struggle of the Civil War and how did they perceive them? What kinds of requests did women feel the Governor could answer? How did women write and tailor their letters in order to be read and to receive the most favorable response? Did letters written from southern women differ significantly from northern women? It is these questions that this article hopes to answer. This chapter uses the state of Virginia as a case study, and analyzes the letters written to Govemor Letcher (1860-63) and Govemor Smith (1864-1865)~by women throughout the state. Because of the lirnited number of letters that were written and 4 The sample of letters used for this study draw from Governor Letcher's Papers, from March to December 1862 and from June to Novernber of 1863. Governor Smith's Papers are studied from June to December 1864, and January to ApriI 1865. Both sets of these papers are located in the archiva1 collection of the Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA. survived, only six letters were located from the Shenandoah Valley. Believing that in this case letters wntten to the Govemor are sirnilar and comparable regardess of where they corne from within the state of Virginia, this part of my study will be opened up to al1 Virginia women. Virginian women faced many of the severest battles of the Civil War, and in some areas, like the Shenandoah Valley, women had to confront a continual pattern of invasion, occupation, and freedom. Families were devastated by waves of impressments5, enemy troops, and conscription acts. The successive drives to recruit soldien left many women alone to contend with slaves, farrning, and food shortages. During the war, hoarding and speculation becarne rampant, while over-production of southern paper money caused inflationary prices to reach exorbitant heights. In a little over a year after the war started the available rnoney retained only one third the purchasing power of a year earlier. In 1863, a barre1 of flour cost $300, while by Christmas 1864 the pnce had nsen to $500. By the war's end flour cost an unprecedented $1200 per barre16. The varied responses to these types of crisis are found in women's letters to government officials. In compiling the sources used for this study, the papers of Governor Letcher were searched from March to December 1862, and from June to November 1863, while Govemor Smith's papers were examined from June to December 1864, and between January to Apnl 1865. These periods were specifically chosen to coincide with conscnption laws, major battles, and in times of food shortages in the hopes of locating female correspondence to the govemor. Al1 such letters are incorporated into this study. Interestingly, wornen only comment on irnpressments of their slaves in their letters. and do not compiain of food and supplies taken by the Confederate governrnent and its armies. 6 James 1. Robertson, Jr., Civil War Virginia: Battlegroundfor a Nation, (CharlottesviIie and London, 1991), p.109. Given the state of Confederate records, it is difficult to ascertain if the sarnple found represents al1 the correspondence that was written. Women's letters and official govemment documents indicate that other letters were written but these original letters have not survived. Furthemore, without a more accumte understanding of how these letters were processed by the govemment, a theme that will be touched on later, the actual number of letters written to the Govemor will always remain obscure. It is argued that al1 of the Ietters speak from a female discourse. That is, women letter writers were relating their situations and problems to the governors in the context of their roles as mothers and wives. Virginia women's letters to the Governor exemplify the female consciousness, as they purposefülly use their positions in southern society to gain sympathy and to prove that they were wonhy of the Govemor's help. In the spring of 1862, Mrs. Saunders, a Lynchburg woman, tried to get an exemption from the draft for her son. She wrote, "My fnends say that you will not notice my appeal but 1 do not believe them. 1 kiiow that you are a Husband and Father and can not be indifferent to an appeal of an aged Mother that has given her dl for her country but one delicate boy.. ."'. Such an appeal was not limited to southem mothers; Seidman argues that northern women's letters related to the ideology of Republican Motherhood, by subscnbing the "links it proposed between motherhood and political participation" and through their sacrifice of male relatives to the greater good, northem women deserved attentions. . - -- 7 Mrs. William L. Saunders to Governor John Letcher, March 15, 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, Mar - Apr i 862, Box 45 1/5 10. 8 Seidman, "Beyond Sacrifice", p.322, 233. Seidman has borrowed this theoretical tool from Linda Kerber's work, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America, (New York and London, 1986) which assigned specific gender roles to men and women in the new RepubIic of Amerka. Women were to preserve the virtue and morality of their families, and were restricted politically to the encouragement of 'civic interest and participation" in their sons, p.283. Women's moral influence held great power, and their contribution in purifying the corrupt nature of men, was given significant importance. Essentially, Republican Motherhood, serves the same purpose, in Seidman's study, as Moreover, the ideology allowed northem women to use "their dependence as a means to press for their rights as they understood them, and as a way to define themselves as patriotic citizens," in the hopes of being rewarded with consideration for their requests9. Both of these tactics are found in the correspondence of southem women, implying a shared national consciousness among women on their roles in Amencan society. Throughout the war, women of Virginia implored the Governor to aid them in their task of 'preserving life'. Martha Binford wrote to Governor Smith to inforrn him "on the conditions of poor soldiers wives. We are in a most distressing situation without the necessarys [sic] of Iife and every thing in the way of provisions and clothing are so very high that we cant get thern and our husbands [are] in ser~ice"'~. Many women stressed their vulnerability, their lack of means, their responsibilities to their children, and in some cases emphasized their inability to maintain their households or duties without assistance. Three women of Amherst County decided to write Govemor Letcher a 'humble petition' together, in order to be 'fumished' with supplies. The govemor was informed that "Martha D. Godfrey has 4 small children and no one at al1 to help her. ..[and] Ann Elizabeth Gilliarn has 1 child, a rnere infant". Their letter was closed with "and not only us three but they do not fumish none in amherst and every thing is so high we will be ablige [sic] to sime. Your obedient servants.. ."". With their husbands in service, these women needed govemment aid in order to feed their children; a need they believed the Govemor could and should fulfill. These examples illustrate the fernale Kaplan's theory of female consciousness does in mine. Both theoretical frameworks, argue similar concepts of materna1 roles, and politicization. 9 Seidman, "Beyond Sacrifice", p.222. IU Martha Binford to Governor Smith. July 18, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept. 1864, Box 463/527. II Eda Gilliam, Ann E. GiIliam, and Martha D. Godfrey to Governor John Letcher, April29, 1863, Governor Letcher's Papers, Mar - April, 1862, Box 45 115 10. discourse, or in other words, the language used by women participating within a fernale consciousness. A distinctive female discourse emphasizes that women's language was significantly related to their gender. Virginia women believed and actively participated in the traditionai values of their society and made claims on the Confederate govemment based on their duties and rights as women and on the absent status of their men. Mothers and wives were taught and believed in their dependency on men for protection and support, a dependent status that was defined legally, socially, and politically. In Henry County, several women wrote in order to have their local wheel wregh (wagon repairer) returned from rnilitary service. Their letter began as, "we the ladies of the neighborhood," and ended with an emotional plea on behalf of his "afflicted wife and seven small children to release their only one for support and protection .. . The Soldier's ~ives"". Southern wornen reaffirmed their roles as wives and mothers during the war, and did not consciously aspire to change them. However, under the exceptional pressures of the war, they were willing to push beyond their traditional role and sphere in order to obtain the means to fulfill those established roles. In some cases, this rneant taking radical actions for conservative goals. Kaplan notes that women with female consciousness demand the rights that their obligations necessitate. The collective drive - and I would add in this study an individual's drive - to ascertain those rights cm result in the politicization of the networks of everyday life. Women, who lacked food, necessities, and protection to maintain their families during the war, pleaded with the state head to provide them with " 'The Ladies of the Neighborhood" to Governor William Smith, November 14, 1864. Governor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec, 1864, Box 464526. the essentiai means for survival. Through the mere act of writing to the Govemor as individuals or as part of collective pleas, wornen illustrated their increased connection to the political world. Drew Gilpin Faust has argued that women's letters to Confederate officials "represented not just an evolution toward a newly vaiued self, but a more explicit and bolder claim to a public voice and a politicai identity"I3. George Rable ernphasizes the difficulty women faced as they entered a "political and logistical labyrinth" which demanded "assertiveness. persistence, luck, and, above ail, influence," if they were to succeed with their petitions". A woman's decision to write to her Govemor reflected the desperate tirnes war brought; a situation that confronted women of al1 classes throughout Virginia. Without an extensive analysis of Viginia's census data for this period, or sirnilar primary sources, it is difficult to establish the rank or class of any particular letter wnter. One of the limited ways to determine the class of any petitioner is to study the content of her letters for clues as to her position in Virginia society, and to examine and judge the wnting skills to ascertain the author's level of literacy. Of course, such an approach has to be used with caution. Nevertheless, in a few cases, it is quite ciear that the wnter ha 13 Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of inventiotz, p. 163. Gilpin Faust notes that during the Civil War, women begin writing to government officials for the first the. However, Elizabeth Regine Varon, has argued convincingIy in her dissertation, that the Civil War did not politicize Virginia women. By the 1840s Virginia women were actively participatint in partisan politics, encouraged by what she calls the concept of Whig womanhood. During the competitive politics of this period the Whig party recruited the support of their wornen, believing that "women were partisans, who should publicly express their ioyalty to their chosen party and mediators who, because of their superior moral virtue and patriotisrn, could temper the worst aspects of partisanship and promote national unity," Varon, '"We mean to be counted"': White women and politics in antebeIlum Virginia," Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1993. p-viii. As sectionaIism grew across America, the South developed the concept of Confederate wornanhood, which called upon the energy, patriotism, and sacrifice of their women folk, and denied the role of mediator in Whig womanhood, professin,a that women were now allowed to take sides and support the independence of the South, p-viii. Varon's study sheds considerable light on southern women's role in politics before the Civil War and lends to the argument that the new role of Confederate womanhood, gave license to an increased connection to the political world, whereby women could individually petition state officiais. '" George Rable, Civil Wars, p.66. received a minimal education, as spelling mistakes and poor punctuation are littered throughout the letter. An excerpt frorn Martha Binford's letter will illustrate this point: .. -1 am bad of for something to eat rny Husband in service and his mother living with me she is eighty years of age almost helpless it is impossible for me to cloth rny fd1y1 cant buy material; or the thing to work with wool and Cotton are so high.. . 15 . [sic] The vast majority of Ietters would seem, because of the levet of literacy, to corne from women of the rniddle and upper classes. Such an assurnption is supported by contextual references to plantations, servants, and husbands' occupations. Certainly, the buik of women writing these letters had a strong command of the English language in its written form, as wiH be seen in the examples quoted below. Of course, it is not surprising that women frorn the upper levels of Southern society would dorninate the correspondence to Virginia7sgovemors. With their educationai background, and social confidence, it would have been a much easier, if not necessarily more agreeable task for them to acc~rn~lish'~. Wornen's individual problems became important enough, their needs desperate enough, to override the 'proper' behavior of a lady, and to lead them to write to important and powerful political figures in the hopes of obtaining aid. Yet, this did not rnean that dl women were cornfortable in this new capacity. Mrs. Buckner, in the fa11 of 1864, started her Ietter by stating "You will be surprised at my addressing a letter to you. But my lonely and unprotected situation [,] my age and infm health must be my apology for l5 Martha Binford to Governor William Smith, July 18, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept, 1864, Box 463/527. At least four of the letters in this study are clearly representative of women from the lower classes. Two of these examples are also quoted in this discussion, refer to Eda GiIIiam et al to Governor Letcher, April 29'. 1862 and Virginia Cmmp ro Governor Smith, Dec. 21". 1864. Mn. Crump's letter is composed of one thirteen-Iine sentence. which is never closed with a period. l6 Further research needs to be conducted throughout the South, in order ta determine accurately the class composition of women who wrote to government officiais. intruding on you.. ."17. Many of the ietters, wntten during the war, express the disquieting position wornen faced, in writing to a political official whom they did not know, and took on the tone of a supplicant. Columbia Hem, from Orange County, began her letter, seeking a furlough for her husband, by "Deeming an apology necessary for intruding on your time and patience, and tiusting to your kindness to pardon my boldness in thus addressing you.. ."18. While Mrs. Triplett asked the Governor to "excuse the liberty I have taken.. .," Elizabeth Camper hoped that he would "pardon a helpless fernale for thus intmding upon your patience"'g. Seidman found in her study of northem women sirnilar statements of apology, and an expression of "ambivalence about their [women's] right to address the ~resident"". Through these opening Iines women expressed their discornfort with stepping outside of the traditional rote of the lady, while they also implicitly acknowledged, what Gilpin Faust claims as "the profound significance - of the dangerous novelty - attached to their decision to take pen to paper to petition state or national officiais"". It was a 'dangerous novelty' born out of need and desperation, but embodied with an ingenuity and cleverness that is and was ever present when women really want something. - - 17 Mrs. Buckner to Governor William Smith, October 24, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec 1864, Box 464536, Columbia Herr to Governor William Smith, November 16. 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, Oct-Dec 1864, Box 464f526. 19 Mrs. Triplett to Govemor William Smith, October 1 1, 1864, and Elizabeth Camper to Governor Smith, Septernber 29, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, Oct-Dec 1864, Box 464/526. 'O Seidman. "Beyond Sacrifice". p.212. " Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothen of lnvenrion, p. 163. Seidman notes that the "self-effacing statements.. .were echoed by men's letters, which sometimes began the same way", "Beyond Sacrifice," p.212. AIthough men would also apologize for bothenng an important government official, nineteenth century prescriptions of women's roIes made this act much more of an intrusion for women than men. Southem women were not supposed to participate in politics, or enter the public sphere; therefore, by writing the Governor women breached embedded societal values of their accepted role, an action that had a greater cafl for "self-effacing" statements. In the majonty of cases, women wrote to the Govemor to request exemptions or discharges for their male relatives and slaves. Almost ail of the letters relied upon the same justifications for the release of their male kin or bondsmen. A cornmon reason expressed in the letters was some physical disability of their men folk or the writer's own poor health. One widowed rnother, writing to get her son an exemption, infomed Govemor Letcher that her son had "the dropsy in the worst form: he ha[d] been under medical treatment for three years and [was] gaduaily declining.. ." while her own state of health was very "decripped" and she could "hardly get about"? The wife of Thomas Crump, believed her husband' s "rnind [wu] very much fracterd.. .[because] he had the brain fever a few years ago and his rnind ha[d] not been right since ...,923 . The daim women made explicitly, and implicitly, was that, a discharge would not hurt the war effort because their husbands could contribute little to the 'cause7 in the army. Several women stressed their own "infirrn state" or "delicate health", and in some cases claimed that they were not "able to attend to [their] household affairs and [their] children", without their men". Women hoped that by describing the poor physical conditions of themselves and their male relations, the Govemor would not ody sympathize but that he would also see the practical difficulties, that their physical disabilities produced, and thereby gant their requests. Seidman has noted in her northem case study that women writing to the President realized that the expectation of trying to take care of their families by themselves existed, at least for the duration of the war, and " Mrs. Elizabeth Burford to Governor John Letcher. June 28. 1862. Governor Letcher's Papers. May - Aug 1862, Box 45215 1 1. zi Virginia Cmmp to Governor William Smith, Decembrr 2 1. 1864, Govemor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec 1864, Box 464/526. '' Pattie I. Pigals[?] to Governor William Smith, date is unclear. 1864. Govemor Smith's Papers, Iune - Sept 1864, Box 463/527. Out of 16 Ietters, which request exemptions, discharges, or release of prisoners, eight of the women stress their own poor health as one of their reasons for their request. therefore they could not "rely solely on their fernininity as an excuse for their need; they claimed to be either too old, or too sick, or too poor to survive on their ownW3. In both the Noah and South, wartime exigencies modified traditional gender assumptions. Many women could nevertheless claim the need for a traditionai male protector. The South had always feared slave uprisings, and without white men on the farms and plantations, who was left to protect white Southern women? Govemor Letcher had occasionally spoken to this cornrnon feu wondenng if "Southern women [were to bel sacrificed to the bmtai passions of the negro"16. Mrs. Elizabeth Burford touched on this fear in her letter to Governor Letcher. "1 am alone widow Lady with one single daughter and Son above mentioned; 1 have twenty five Servants [,] ten Negro men and 1 have no one to see after them but rny Son, my Overseer has gone to the war, and 1 would consider myself in danger to be left alone ..."17. It was both a reference to deep-seated Southem fears and a direct appeal to the Govemor's chivalry. In addition to the "dangerous male slave", Yankees soldiers were also represented as another serious'keat to the lone woman. Bettie Lewis Humphreys, from Locust Hill, wrote in the surnrner of 1864, to describe her ordeals to Governor Smith. She claimed that The Vandals robbed us of every thing we had and desolating our once peaceful and happy home and being cut off from ai1 communications with our brothers, and indeed from our friends we were much the winter without necessary food. We need the care and counsel Rachel Filine Seidman, "Beyond Sacrifice: Women and Politics." p.2 13. '6 F.N. Boney. John Lercher of Virginia: The Srory of Virgink's Civil War Governor, (Alabama, 1966), 141. Pi Mrs. Elizabeth Burford to Governor John Letcher, June 28. 1862. Mrs. Buckner confidently assumes the Governor knows her fears when she writes "you can easily imagine how 1 feel to be left entirely alone with a large family of servants, mostlv women and children.. .," to Governor Smith, October 24, 18M. of some one, being in a very unprotected situation.. .28 - By stressing their vulnerability to the immediate dangers of a war tom country, women tapped into the traditional values of their society - white women were not to be left without protection. In this vein, women hoped that their men folk would be returned by the Confederate authorities. Exemptions and discharges were not the only things that Virginia women sought fiom the govemors. Severai women wrote to obtain positions in the govemment for their husbands and sons, in order to have them near to home in order to protect and provide for their families. Mrs. Harris admitted that 1have hesitated and been almost asharned to write this letter; for myself 1 care not, but when 1 look upon my little innocent, helpless children, and think what they will probably suffer without a father's protecting care, 1 am ready to brave obloquy itself.. .X beg at least that you will secure to Mr. H some position in which he will not be subjected to the hardships and exposure of a private.. .Excuse an anxious mother for trespassing upon your time, so precious to Our country. 1 beg for a serious consideration of my request and a speedy replYzg. This rather long passage is instructive for it has inter-twined within it al1 of the themes already discussed. A desperate wornan, afraid to be alone and afraid her children wiIl suffer, presses beyond the proper station of a lady, in order to gain her husband - whose health cannot survive the demands of a private - a secure position within the government 30 . '' Bettie Lewis Humphreys to Govemor William Smith. July 14. 1864. Governor Smith's Papers, Iune - Sept 1864, Box 463/527. 3 C. K. Harris to Governor John Letcher, March 3. 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers. Mx- Apt 1862, Box 45 Z/5 IO. 30 Out of the sample in this study, six letters ask specifically for a position or 'situation' for a son or husband. Although in most cases women solicited for their male relatives, other types of requests were found. Two examples previously cited illustrated women asking for provisions for their families, while yet another Ietter from the Ladies Relief Hospital in Lynchburg asked for help in obtaining supplies. These wornen had located the garments they needed for the soldiers, but the merchant "hesitates to sel1 to us, because he doubts whether he is authorized to do so - unless we can get your aid and permission"3'. Even in these instances, women did not wnte to the Governor solely for their own well being. They did so for a cause, whether it was for the benefit of their children, or to help the soldiers, these wornen made requests for the Governor to aid them in their traditional duty of 'preserving life' . Virginia ladies employed many different rhetorical strategies in order to convince the Governor that their request was a worthy one. This study has dready discussed women stressing poor health and a need for protection. In addition, women tapped into Southern patriotism and Iinked it to their husband's or son's dedication to the 'Cause7. One woman mentioned that I have a great many soldiers to entertain and 1 never charge them, but most people in this county does charge.. . as Richard [her son] is with me I cm continue to do a good deal for them.. . he has been the cause of my furnishing a good deal of bacon, corn, and Hay dso fodder and butter and 1 feel confident he cmbe worth more to the govemment here than in the army.. .32 . Another lady, in the summer of 1864, whose husband, a postmaster in Strasburg, had been taken pnsoner by General David Hunter, wrote to ask if one of her sons could be returned to her from the army. She had "succeeded in getting my Little harves of and [sic] 3 1 Mrs. Lucy [?], President of the Ladies Relief Hospital, Lynchburg, to Governor John Letcher, Dec 13, 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, Nov - Dec i 862, Box 45415 13. the corn plowed and am attending to the office myself since the army has movd.. .I do not think hard of any thing that 1 can do 1 feel proud to think 1 cm be of service to my country there is nothing that affords me more pleasure than feeding the hungry soldiers and rendering some service to our[?] Cause. ..,733 . These two examples illustrate thzt some women publicly valued their contributions to the war effort and held that their patriotisrn was worthy of being rewarded by the Governor. Wives of soldiers also emphasized their husbands' patriotism, stressing that their requests by no means undermined the Southem cause, for their men had already contributed more than their fair share to the Confederacy. An excellent example of this was in the letter of Emma Cobb, whose husband was in a Northern prison. She hoped that the governor could help to obtain his reIease for he had .. .obey [ed] the cal1 of his country ...and how nobly he has done his whole duty. The number of Batdes he has been in and the various wounds he has received 1 might tell you of to assure you of his bravery and of his love for our just and holy cause 34 .S. . Patriotism, in short, whether in accomplishments by women themselves, or in their husband's personal feats, was an important element in women's petitions to the Governor. This patriotism could also be linked to the potential contribution that a husband could make to the war effort as a citizen. Women included in their correspondence the argument that their husbands or sons would be of greater benefit to the Confederacy in relieving its chronic food shortages. 37 Mrs. Buckner to Governor William Smith, October 24, 1864. '' [?] Borum to Governor William Smith. July 18. 1864. Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept 1864, Box 463/527. 34 Emma M. Cobb to Governor William Smith. July 16". 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept 1864, Box 463/527. Virginia women, like other civilians, were acutely aware of the depletion in crop production, resulting in scant supplies for the amies and for the women's own cornrnunities. As the war progressed, newspapers continually encouraged farmers to produce foodstuffs instead of tobacco and Cotton on their lands. William Smith, before assuming his position as Governor, toured Virginia in late 1863, speaking long and often to the people of his state. He stressed that the larger comrnunity of Virginia consisted of two groups, the soldiers in the field and the producers at home, and that civiians owed everything they could make and spare to the army35. One of Governor Smith's major projects during his short time in power was an attempt to supply Virginians with provisions at cheaper pnces by "participation in blockade running through its own agents". By December 1864, Smith reported that his operations had been considerably successfuP. Concluding that the food cnsis in Virginia was of importance to Govemor Smith, it is interesting to see how many women stressed in their letters the significance of their own crops, or at leasr their potential crops, as an important factor in obtaining their husband's release. In October 1864, Elizabeth Sirnms wondered if her husband "might be favored with a furlough for a time, to attend to seeding, making molasses, swing his crop, and to feed the arrny, [and] suppoa his fan~il~"~~.Mrs. Pigals, in the surnmer of 1864, was at a loss without her husband, because she had "a good crop of corn growing and there is no one to attend to it.. .I no not what to do, nearly al1 of our wheat was stolen '' Alvin Arthur Fahrner, 'The Public Career of William 'Extra Billy' Smith." unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, (University of North Carolina, 1953), p.243. 36 William Smith to the General Assembly, Dec. 7, 1864, Oficial Records Series, IV, El. p.9 17. as cited in Alvin Arthur Fahrner, 'The Public Career," p.260. '' Elizabeth Sirnms to Governor William Smith. Oct. 9". 1864. Governor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec. 1864. Box 4641536. out of the field, because 1 could get nobody to haul it up for me"38. By emphasizing the pure waste of valuable corn and wheat, Mrs. Pigals argued that one man's discharge was a minor sacrifice cornpared to salvaging precious staples to feed the Confederacy. Jennet E. Halt, from Elmwood, offers the same suggestion by wnting that if her husband "could be released from military service He might be of much use in raising supplies for our army"3g. Virginia women clearly were not ignorant or oblivious to the needs of their comrnunities and country, and many of these women were observant enough of the priorities of Governor Smith and the Confederate government to ernphasize in their letters those same priorities. Hence, these women incorporated their own needs with the needs of their state; food shortages could be answered if some husbands were returned to their farrns and families. Virginia women were also conscious of the influence family connections could have in Southern society and the ways in which those connections might be useful. The Southem elite class had relied upon familiar relationships for years to procure positions in politics and the professions. The Civil War had provided just one more venue for these types of contacts as Southern men used their influence in securing military posts above the rank and file. Those same contacts could further be used to obtain local govemment positions to avoid the draft. Southern women also utilized this strategy in their requests to the govemment's officiais. Mrs. Halt began her Ietter to Governor Smith, with "Presuming upon the friendship once existing between yourself and my father (Edward B. Wethers[?]) I now beg your influence in obtaining for my husband, a 38 Pattie J. Pi& [?] to Governor William Smith, date is unclear, Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept, 1864, Box 463/527. di~char~e"~~.A lady from Charlotteston, in October, 1864 wrote that, although "unacquainted" with Govemor Smith herself, she had "often heard my father Mr. Dangerfield Lewis speak of you and your family as old fnends, presuming upon the friendship of Our families I now Govemor beg your aid in behalf of my Husband who has been [a] prisoner at Johnson's Island for fifieen months"". In response, Govemor Smith replied on the back of the letter on November 1, that he would "be happy to do anything 1 Unfortunately, the success of GovemorysSmith help, if any help was given, bas not been determined. Regardless, it is important to recognize that Virginia women saw the resourcefuiness of farnily contacts, and attempted to use them for their own advantage; it was the adoption of a pubiic practice heretofore used by and reserved for the aims of men. Several women realized that a single attempt to gain govemment aid rnight not be enough and illustrated persistence or utter desperation, by wriring repeatedly, either to the Govemor or to another department of the government. Bettie Lewis Hurnphreys had written first to President Davis, but since she did not receive an answer to her plea to release her brother from prison, she turned to Govemor Smith, a longtirne family friend43. As she indicated, a lonely mother and widow desperately wanted a reply "immediately" on the possibility of a discharge for her son. "1 wrote to you about two weeks ago but 39 Iennet E. Halt to Governor William Smith, June 6", 1864. Governor Smith's Papers. June - Sept 1864, Box 463/527. Another letter which exemplifies this point has aIready been cited. Refer to Mrs. Buckner to Governor William Smith, Oct., 24, 1864. Ibid. ' Mary Taylor to Governor William Smith, Oct 23. 1864. Govemor Smith's Papers. Oct - Dec 1864. Box 4641526. '" Ibid. Similar claims to family connections were found in Columbia Hem to Governor William Smith. Nov 16", 1864; C. K. Harris to Governor John Letcher. Mach 3", 1862; Mag Keller to Governor John Letcher. Dec 1 1". 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, Nov - Dec 1862. Box 45415 13: Bettie Lewis Humplireys to Governor William Smith, July 14~'1864, Governor Smith's Papers. June - Sept 1864. Box 46YSî7. havent [sic] heard any thing from you I thought perhaps you did not get the letter so 1 will wnte again..," stated Mrs. Connelly. Mrs. Murphy went beyond a letter to the Govemor, and "personaliy appeared before" a justice of the peace in Richmond, to get help for the release of her underage son. Govemor Letcher had refused Mrs. Murphy's request because he felt that she had benefited from the money her son received for being a substituteu. It is not clear whether or not these women's persistence paid off, but their repeated requests were probably indicaiive of their deeply held determination to at the very least receive a response. Some women flattered the govemors and cornrnended the power which they wielded, while others demanded the nght to assistance as mothers and wives of Confederate soldiers; a cldm they believed justified their request and also obligated the Governor to respond. In the case of Elizabeth D. White, "the magistrate would not do anything at dl", so she demanded, "in the name of the Ahighty has not a rnother a nght to assistance that al1 her sons (four) is in the army" and thought "this worse than some murders ...7'45 . Many women appeared confident that the Governor would respond favorably to their letters, closing their pages with phrases such as, "1 feel sure you will favor my humble petition", "1 trust you will comply with these few remarks", and "knowing you will gant rny request"46. Mrs. Harris from Lexington, Govemor Letcher's - 43 Bettie Lewis Humphreys to Governor William Smith, July ~4'~,1864. 44 Mary Murphy's case: Richmond Justice of the Peace to Governor Letcher, April3 1"' 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, Mar - April 1862, Box 451/5 10. Governor Letcher wrote on the back of the letter, "1 wilI not interfere in this case, as 1 am satisfied the mother knew of this substitution and received part[?] of the money paid". 45 Elizabeth D. White to Govemor John Letcher, June 24. 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, May - Aug 1862, Box 45Y5 1 1. 46 Emma M. Cobb to Governor William Smith, July 16, 1844, Governor Smith's Papers, June - Sept 1864, Box 463/527, Frances M MulIen to Governor John Letcher, May 9, 1 862, Governor Letcher's Papers, May - Aug 1862, Box 452/5 11, Sally B. Floyd to Governor William Smith, November 14, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers. Oct - Dec 1864, Box 464/526. home town in the Shenandoah Valley, knew he had "kind feelings" and a good "character" which, she wrote, she had "leamed long ago from my husband, and which 1 have since studied in your public documents, 1 feel assured [my request] will not be in vGn,?47. Virginia women used a wide range of styles to address their Governor, some seemed apologetic and insecure while others were demanding and confident. It was a diversity which represented their individual natures and persondities. Seidman has found a similar range of tones in the letters of northern women to their officiais. She argues, however, that although their letters stressed their dependent status, as southern women did, they "insisted that such dependency did not preclude their daim to be 'nghts holders'", a daim that only Elizabeth White made explicitly among Virginia women". This bolder clairn to the rights of citizenship in the north signifies the greeater "political" developrnent of northern women. Although 1 would argue for the southem woman to write to a government figure represented a greater step against society's prescriptions of a lady's behavior, and in this way demonstrated their determination to be heard. One other sipnificant difference found between the correspondence of northern and southem women has been argued by Harold Holzer, in his work, Denr Mr. Lincoln: Letters ta the President. Holzer has maintained that the early war letters written by northern women were directly interested in their husbands' welfare, requesting favors, promotions, and jobs. But as the war progressed and families began to feel the destructive costs of a violent conflict, the women started to speak and Iobby on behalf of their own interests, asking for donations for large charity -- 47 Mrs. C. K. Harris to Governor John Letcher, March 3, 1862, Governor Letcher's Papers, Mar - April 1862, Box 45 1/5 10. Seidman, "Beyond Sacrifice", p.2 17. organizations, or by demanding money owed for back pay and pensions49. No such pattern was found in Virginia women7sletters to the Governor, but it would be interesting to explore al1 Southern letters to see if sirnilar trends emerge. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to measure how successful Virginia women's letters were. On the back of every letter, a clerk's handwriting sumarizes the document for the Governor's perusai. Occasionally the Governor wrote a note informing the clerk to reply, statin; he would try to do something for the writer, or simply that he could not be of service. Whether such notes would ever be translated into action is not clear. Govemor Smith, in response to a lady's wish to have her husband made Quartermaster, told his clerk to "Inform this lady that 1 would gladly be of service ...but 1 do not think there is any chance"50. One of his few decisive responses was made to Colonel John S. Mosby7s mother, who had written to inform the govemment of able-bodied men in her community who were staying out of the army. Governor Smith ordered his clerk to "Write to this lady that I have read her letter with great interest, adrnired its spirit and particulars - that 1took the liberty of reading it to the Secretary of War and would be glad if she would give the names of such able-bodied men as she refers to"? In other cases, 49 Harold Holzer, Dear Mr. Lincofrz: Lerrers to rhe President, (Massachusetts. 1993), p.32. Mrs. William Suddoth to Govemor William Smith, November 18, 1864. Governor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec 1864, Box 464/526. The clerk writes after the Governor's note, 'ïnformed Dec 14/64". This letter provides an interesting array of topics for discussion. Initially Mrs. Suddoth commends her husband's patriotic service in the Mexican wm, a man who "served so faithfullv, his Country ...who shed his blood so freely to avenge his Country's wrongs.. .". Later in the letter she offers her own services and skiIls as a "Clerk, Accountant, and FinancierT'with references, to aid her husband in the position of Quartermaster. After refemng to a family friend, she then discusses the extensive speculation going on in her county. Mrs. Suddoth continues by compiaining of young men avoiding the draft and concludes that "If 1had my way 1 would point them out and make march before the bayonet in spite of their chicanery and cowardice". This example illustrates the variety of topics and strategies women could incorporate into their letters: pamotism, their own accompIishments, and family connections. WhiIe this study highlights each tactic one by one, it is important to relay that Virginia women more often than not, employed several strategies in one Ietter. 51 Mrs. Virginia Mosby to Governor William Smith, November 12, 1864, Governor Smith's Papers, Oct - Dec 1864, Box 464/526. The clerk writes after the Governor's reply, "Wrote Nov. 19 1864". the clerk clearly wrote, "answered, and Alvin Arthur Fahrner in his dissertation has stated that when "the problems were beyond the aid of the govemor ...Smith had the Secretary of the Commonwealth prepare a sympathetic letter expressing his regrets at not being able to help"5'. Furthemore, Fahrner's study argued that Governor Smith spent much valuable time reading the mail from individual Virginians, and "would suggest some means of solving the problem" or "referred the supplications to the appropriate Confedente a~thorities"~~.Nineteenth century political leaders typically paid attention to correspondence from local citizens, however, no information has been found to determine how Govemor Letcher handled his correspondence. It is difficult to believe, in light of the poor organization and the limited supplies of necessities and manpower in the Confederacy, that the hopes and appeals of Virginia women met with much success. However, the very fact a bureaucracy, swarnped with the responsibilities of a state at war, did attempt to answer some of these letters is significant. Nevertheless, without the returning correspondence, it is difficult to draw specific conclusions". This discussion of the letters that Virginia women wrote to the Governor has explored the wartime needs, demands, and rhetorical strategies of Confederate women throughout the state. The analysis of these letters has illustrated women working within a female consciousness, firmly rooted in their belief in the designated role of women to 'preserve Iife'. Southern women excelled at this task during the war, by preparing food, making clothes, sustaining their families, and nursing soldiers. Virginia women, like '' Fahrner. 'The Public Career". p.295. 53 Ibid., p.295,27 1. 54 The processing of northern correspondence to the president is explained in detait in Harold Holzer's, Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President. We are inforrned that 'bLincoIn's secretaries were thorough in deciding what mai1 would reach his desk.. .Much frivolous or offending mai1 was thus shredded.. .", p.20. Of the letters that made it to the President's desk, "on the back of each refotded letter, or on the envelope in which it arrived, a secretary wrote a btief summary of its contents", p.2 1. most women of the South, did not consciously aspire to change their roles in society. In fact, both during and after the war, they fought to maintain them. However, as these letters to the governor show, sometimes conservative goals could only be achieved by radical actions. Wornen in Virginia continually faced the effects of batties, food shortages, conscription, and impressments. Many had to survive, for the fust time in their entire lives, without male relations to help them. Motivated by need and desperation, women writing to the Governor displayeci an increased connection to the political world. Interestingly, most of the letters were written in the years 1862 and 1864, possibly reflecting wornen's despair with the war and their willingness to try new ways of obtaining aid. They brought, as individuals and as part of collective pleas, the problems of their domestic 'haven' to the state government, and in this way illustrated their politicization. Virginia wornen asked for exemptions, discharges, and positions for their sons and husbands, in order to protect and take care of their families. They requested and demanded aid in the foms of food and supplies, for their children, their neighbors, and for their efforts in helping soldiers. In order to elicit the most favorable response from the governor, these women relied upon a series of resourceful tactics. They evoked and utilized traditional ideas of, women's vulnerability, the innocence of their children, and indirectly played upon the failure of Southem men to fulfill their duties as protectors and providers. To stress their worthiness to the governor and the legitimacy of their requests, they descrïbed their dedication to the Southern 'Cause' as Confederate mothers and wives, their patriotism and hard work, and they also incorporated their needs into that of the state in the hopes of eliciting favorable responses. In many cases, Virginia women * faithfully maintained a belief in the understanding and generous nature of their Governor, while others clearly expressed the discomforting position wartime pressures placed upon thern. The use of these various rhetorical strategies reveal the intelligence, innovation, and resourcefulness of Virginia women, who strove to maintain hou~eholds~while caught in the middle of an ovenvhelming sectional conflict. While primady interested in the correspondence of Virginia women, this study has also tried to highlight some points of cornparison with Union women's letters written to the President. Working from the contributions of Seidman and Hoizer's studies, it appears that wornen on both sides of the conflict shared an understanding of how their dependent status might be stressed to bring political attention to their plight. Moreover, while nonhem women seem to comrnand a greater political presence in their letters, similar tones of discourses and strategies found in letters from the north and Virginia, wouid suggest that both Union and Confederate women realized that in order to achieve success through their letters, they had to rely on a spectrum of sirnilar tactics. Women's wartime letters to govemment officiais cm provide a wealth of information to historians seeking to understand their experiences, their hardships, and their survival strategies. It seerns that women's letters to the 'Govemor' provide yet another window for historians to peer through and investigate the past lives of Southern women. Conclusion The Virginia Ladies" Go thou and search the archives Of ai1 recorded time, And see whose deeds are greatest, And truth, from history7spages. This simple fact shall tell: That deeds of loving woman Al1 other deeds excel1. Lieutenant J. R. Levy, a Georgian soldier, wrote this poem in 1863, just before his death at the battle of Hatchers Run, near Petersburg, Virginia. Levy added yet another piece of wartime penmanship cornrnemorating the work of Virginia women. The celebration of Confederate women's wartime efforts bas been recorded in the poems, diaries, and local presses of the South for generations, although for a time it was neglected by historians. A growing interest in the event of the Civil War as social history and the activities of Southern women during the Civil War has received greater attention frorn historians studying the lives of women in nineteenth century America. Through the theoretical frarnework of the female consciousness and the lens of micro-history, this study has argued that women of the Shenandoah Valley, although readily accepting their position in Southem society, strove within and beyond Southem conventions to preserve life and support their communities. Women of the Valley contributed their valued domestic skills to a fledgling country ovenvhelmed by the demands of war, as they stmggled as individuals and as coIlectives to meet the needs of their communities and of the 'The Virginia Ladies," as cited in Cullingsfrom rhe ConfederacyI862-66.compiled by Nora Fontaine and M. Davidson. Petersburg and Washington D.C.:Rufus H. Darby Printing CO., 1903. Confederate army. During the Civil War, Virginia women's increased politicization found expression in overt resistance to occupying arrnies, the organization of Soldier's Aid Societies, and in the new found practice of petitioning state officials for aid. All these acts reflected a greater women's presence in the public sphere. Aside from being motivated to help the cause, women's maternal energy, a driving force of female consciousness, sought to feed, supply, and care for the health of Confederate and even Union soldiers. Through the analysis of diaries, letters, and local newspapen, this study has retrieved and assessed the work, experiences, and responses of women in the Shenandoah Valley dunng the Civil War. Because of the Valley's strategic position, abundance of food resources, and well- connected transportation networks, rnilitary conflicts were endemic in the Valley throughout the war. Major battles were mainly limited to the campaigns of 1862 and 1864. However, the drain on local cornmunities' supplies, the continual presence of enemy troops, and the destructive impact of war resulted in extreme hardships for civilians throughout the war. The Confederate government was ill-prepared for the high economic and human costs of a war fought predorninantiy on its own territory, and it relied heavily upon the efforts of civilians to compensate for its inadequate supplies and medical facilities. Through the examination of personal diaries and letters, this study illustrated the individuai experiences, actions, and responses of women in the Shenandoah Valley. Analysis of the occupied town of Winchester best revealed the active and politicai resistance of women to Yankee soldier's in their cornmunities. Playing on the traditional Iimitations of ladies' behavior and taking advantage of Union officers' chivalry, the wornen of Winchester demonstrated their resistance. They politicized their clothing, purposely avoided walking under Union flags or near Union soldiers, and publicly professed their political support for the Confederate cause. Ardent rebel women, like Mary Greenhow Lee, smuggled letters and contraband goods, and suffered the consequences of arrest and expulsion from their homes. Women also used their domestic skills to feed passing amies and to care for wounded soldiers in their own homes. The fernale consciousness was clearly manifested in these activities but it also found profound expression in the caring for enemy soldiers, and in the creation of long-distance women's networks designed to provide suppon for faraway grieving families. Enemy invasion of womenTsprivacy and property created a continual medium of negotiation for power and control. Early in the war some women expected the mies of "civilized war" to appiy to Union invaders and appealed to Union officers to provide guards and order their troops to behave like gentlemen. However, as the intensity of the war escalated women defied conventional gender roles as they refused to become victirns of Yankee raids. During confrontations some women aggressively protected their homes and attempted to create safe spaces for their families. Finally, a few women of the Shenandoah Valley participated in the radical activities of espionage and smuggling, rnanipulating their position as ladies to accomplish grave feats. The public activities of the women's Soldier Aid Societies and the civilian hospital work in the Valley suggest a new interpretation of women's involvement in the war. Women's initiative and determination led to the development of organizations that were formed in many towns of the Valley, several of which persevered right to the end of the war2 Designed to provide food, clothing and supplies for locally raised regiments, these groups also sought to aid refugees, and soldier's families in nearby communities and occasionally sent aid to victims in faraway States. Both the survival of these groups to 1865 and their wide outreach to soldiers and civilian victirns during the conflict defy current histonognphical thought on women's work in the South. Historians have argued, when anaiyzing the role of Southem women in the war, that areas where slavery was insignificant and where food shortages were prominent, women's Soldier' s Aid Societies disappeared by the year 1862. Through the immersion in local detail, this study has illustrated that women's organizations in the Shenandoah Valley malntained their efforts till the end of the war. Moreover, many historians have concluded that women's benevolent activity was directed primarily at local regiments. This study has clearly shown that women's interests stretched beyond their menfolk, to families in and outside of their communities. Wornen's roles as mothers and wives were increasingly extended to the needs of the public sphere. In this way, their sacrifice and work becarne defined as patriotism for the Confederacy. Through a series of activities that included sewing-uniforms, raising rnoney and collecting provisions for soldier's, women's domestic tasks and skills becarne politically important to the 'Cause', as they attempted to compensate for an inadequately supplied army and sustain a country in crisis. Donations of time, money, food and clothing to local hospitals contributed by women saved countless lives in the South. Although women's participation in hospital work was only grudgingly accepted by the ' Some organizations. in other parts of Virginia, continued after the war as part of the United Daughten of the Confederacy, A goup that was dedicated to rnemorializing the Confederacy and its dead heroes, and which had organizations al1 over the South. It is not known if Soidier's Aid Societies in the Valley participated in this 'movement' after the war. goverunent before 1862, as early as 1861 the press and local townsmen in the Valley clearly valued women's nurtunng skills enough to encourage their roles as volunteer nurses. Mothers and wives had acquired skills in caring for the sick through tending for their families; hospital work was just another venue in which domestic knowledge would serve the public and political needs of a country striving for independence. The petitions Virginia women wrote to the Govemor demonstrated women's willingness to take radicd action for the needs of their families and cornmunities. Women believed that their domestic problems were important enough to ask the state for attention and aid. Moreover, by writing to their Govemor, these women confirmed their increased connection to the political world. Through the use of various rhetorical strategies, Virginia women utilized their roles as mothers and wives, their poor health, dependent status and patriotic contributions to solicit aid from the state. Moreover, these women incorporated their wants and needs into the priorities and problems of their state, illustrating their astute understanding of the cnsis at hand. By projecting the femde consciousness, the desire to 'preserve life' led many women letter writers to emphasize traditional ideas of women's vuinerability, their defenseless children, and indirectly played upon the failure of Southem men to protect them. Wartirne petitions clearly indicate women's greater claim to a public voice and the resourcefulness and ingenious tactics of Virginia wornen. The main advantage of a study such as this is its use of micro-history to demonstrate the sometimes subtle nuances and the considerable differences of one particular locale when compared to the larger experiences of the South. This discussion of the Shenandoah Valley has explored an area of endernic fighting and hardship, and tried to understand women's unique responses to these problems. This study reveals the need for funher work on the longevity and scope of Soldier's Aid Societies, the early acceptance of women's hospital work, the reliance on and alterations of gender roles, and importantly, the class compositions and discourse styles of women's wartime letters to state officiais. The accomplishments of Southem women in new public arenas during the Civil War were in large mesures transitionary, as afier 1865 women slipped silently back into their pre-war status. Ferninist inroads in the South would not occur until the Confederate States recovered from a war that bruised and battered their culture, economy, and more importantly their pride. Nonetheless the wartime activities of Virginia women as a whole, and of women in the ValIey in particular, would aiways be remembered and appreciated. A great many agreed with the words of Lieutenant J. R Levy who believed, "That deeds of oving woman / Al1 other deeds excel". Appendix A Map of the Shenandoah Vallev Source: John W. Wayland, A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia, (Baltimore, 1927). Biblioeraphv Prirnary Sources Manuscripts and Papers Chase, Julia. The Wartime Diary of Miss Julia Chase. Typed copy, Winchester Virginia: Handley Library, 1931. Lee, Mary Greenhow. The Diary of Mary Greenhow Lee. Excerpt from typed copy, Winchester, Virginia, Handley Library, February 8, 1863 - March 1, 1863. Letcher, John. Govemor Letcher's Papers. Richmond: Library of Virginia, from March to December 1862, and June to November 1863. Smith, William. Govemor Smith's Papers. Richmond: Library of Virginia, from June to December 1864, and January to April 1865. The Rockingham Register. Richmond: Library of Virginia, Film 244, Reel 17. The Whchester Republican. Richmond: Library of Virginia, Film 1000296937, Box 493. 129 Ihe Winchester Virginian. Richmond: Librûs, of Virginia, Film 1000296937, Box 493. Pnmaw Sources on the Web Mernoir of Alansa Rounds Sterrett c. I859-1865. The Valley of the Shadow: TWO Communities in the American Civil War, eds. Edward C. Ayers, Anne S. Rubin, William G. Thomas, University of Virginia project, f 998. Sta~mtonSpectator. The Valley of the Shadow. Staunton Vindicator. The Valley of the Shadow. United States Censris, 18 50 and 1860. The United States Historicai Census Browser, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Ann Arbor, Michigan. < httw://fisher.lib.viroinia.edu/census> Published Primarv Sources Allm, Elizabeth Randolph. The Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1903. Baer, Elizabeth R., Shadows on mv Heart: The Civil War Diarv of Lucy Rebecca Buck, Athens and London: Uaiversity of Virginia Press, 1997- Baxtor, Annette K. and Leon Stein, Diqof a Southern Refueee During the War, 1867, New York: Arno Press, A New York Times Company, 1972. Colt, Margaretta Barton. Defend the Valley: A Shenandoah Farnilv in the Civil War. New York: Orion Books, 1994. Duncan, Richard R. Alexander Neil and the Last Shenandoah Valley Campaign: Letters of an fumv Surgeon to his Farnily* 1864. Shippenburp, PA: White Mane Publishinp Company, Inc., 1996. Gwin, Minrose C. A Woman's Civil War: A Diarv. with Rerniniscences of the War. from March 1862. Cornelia Peake McDonald, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin, 1993. Hansford, Mollie and Victoria Hansford, Civil War Mernories of Two Rebel Sisters. Charleston, West Virpinia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1990. Hardinge, Belle Boyd. Belle Boyd: In Camp and in Prison. With introduction by "A friend of the South," 2 vols., London: Saunders, Otley and Co., 1865. Hildebrand, Jacob R. Mennonite Journal, 1862- 1865: A father's account of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley. ed. John R. Hildebrand, Burd Street Press, 1996. Hopkins, C. A. Porter. "An Extract from the Journal of Mrs. Hugh H. Lee [Mary Greenhow Lee] of Winchester, Va., May 23-3 1, 1862," Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 53 (1958), p.380-393. Smith, Glenn Curtiss, ed., "Diary of a Virginia Schoolmistress 1860- 1865," Madison Quarterlv. Vol., 9, (March, 1949), p.26-58. Quarles, Garland R. Diaries, Letters and Recollections of the War Between the States. Winchester, Virginia: The Winchester- Frederïck County Historical Society, 1955. Secondm Sources Barker, Paula. 'The Domestication of Politics: Women and American Political Society, 1780- 1920," Uneauai S isters: A Multiculturai Reader in United S tate's Women's Histow. Eds. Ellen DuBois, and Vicki L. Ruiz, New York and London: Routledge, 1990, p.66-9 1. Boney, F. N. John Letcher of Virrinia : The Stow of Virginia's Civil War Governor. Alabama: University of Alabama, 1966. Cartmell, T.K. Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and their Descendants: A Historv of Frederick Countv. Va., 1909, Maryland: Facsimile Reprint, Heritage Books, Inc., 1989. Cashin, Ioan E. "hto the Trackless Wildemess: The Refugee Expenence in the Civil War," A Woman's War: Southern Women. Civil War, and the Confederate Legacy. eds. Edward D.C. Campbell Jr. and Kym S. Rice, Richmond: University of Virginia, 1996, p.29-53. Clinton, Catherine. The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth-centuw. New York: Hill and Wang, 1984. Cooke, John Esten. Virpinia: A Histow of the People, 1830-1886. Ed. Horace E. Scudder, Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1889. Cunningham, H.H. Doctors in Grav: The Confederate Medical Service. reprint, Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith, 1970. Dohme, Alvin. Shenandoah: The Valley Story. 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