"A Woman's :" Gender and Studies

Nina Silber Downloaded from http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/ lthough the Civil War has frequent­ men both struggled to understand their new ipation, Northern and Southern literature A ly been portrayed as a "brothers' roles and responsibilities in ways consistent never lost sight of Victorian standards of war," it is important to recall that women, with their nineteenth-century sensibilities. appropriate gender behavior. In this regard, perhaps as much as men, became enmeshed Thus, the official propaganda of both North one of the most time-honored legends that in the sectional conflict. Never, remarked and South called upon women to make Northern wartime culture produced was the a Britishjournalist of the 186Os, had any war patriotic sacrifices for their country and tale of Barbara Frietchie, the elderly wom­ seemed so much "a woman's war" as the their loved ones. This propaganda, howev­ an of Frederick, Maryland who, according Civil War. Many participants, of course, er' generally presented a fairly limited vi­ to John Greenleaf Whittier's 1863 poem, played the supporting roles to which wom­ sion of feminine involvement. Women had put herself in the line of fire when Stonewall at :: on October 29, 2012 en are so often assigned-sewing flags and to provide moral support, relinquish their Jackson ordered his men to shoot down a uniforms, writing letters of encour­ flag flying from her window. Most agement to absent loved ones, pray- reliable evidence suggests that while ing for the wounded and the dead. Jackson did indeed pass through Yet in light of the rigid ideals that Frederick, he never came close to defmed white womanhood in nine­ The Civil War inevitably test­ Frietchie's home. Even if he had, teenth-eenturyAmerica,theCivilWar moreover, the 96-year-oldwidow was inevitably tested the boundaries of ed the boundaries offemale probably too frail to put up much of a female behavior, forcing women of behavior, forcing women of fight. But the Frietchie myth served both sections into new and unsettling an extremely useful purpose: it was circumstances. With men away at both sections into new and an inspiring, albeit limited, vision of war, many women assumed greater feminine sacrifice and patriotism. responsibilities for running business­ unsettling circumstances. Thus, it is interesting to note that es, earning wages, and managing Frietchie waged her valiant for farms and plantations. Some undoubt- the flag all the while remaining inside edly relished the new opportunities her home. and took pride in their new accomplish­ menfolk, and sacrificematerialneeds. These Southern literature and propaganda also ments. Many, however, had to accept the tasks could be distressingly restrictive, called upon white women of the Confeder­ fact that the war had placed new and some­ prompting some ladies to feel useless from acy to make supreme and noble sacrifices times troubling demands on their sex. inactivity. "What is the use," asked one under constraints similar to those imposed In many ways, the history of women's Louisiana woman, "of all these worthless upon Barbara Frietchie. Moreover, rebels involvement in the Civil War is a history of women, in war times?" were just as adept as Yankees at using an tension and constant struggle to reconcile The war invariably called upon some image of defiant women to humiliate the images with reality. Influenced by Victori­ women to play more active roles. But even men of the opposing side. Confederate an notions of gender behavior, women and in celebrating women's more active partie- songs, for example, honored the New Or-

OAH Magazine of History • Fall 1993 11 Harper's Weekly For Southern white women, particular­ ly those who came under Union occupation, the struggle to maintain feminine respect­ ability could be especially trying. Not only had these women been influenced by some of the most rigid ideals of ladylike gentility, they were now forced to confront the brutal­ ity and hardship of war more directly than their Northern counterparts. Southern white women in areas of Union occupation made up one of the few lines of defense against the opposing army and thus were caught be­ tween a desire to defend the Confederacy

and the need to maintain an appropriate Downloaded from semblance of feminine decorum. These women found that their political loyalties often came in conflict with prevailing no­ Many women worked in factories during the Civil War while men were on the front. tions of gender behavior.

Few episodes reveal this conflict as http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/ dramatically as the Union Army's confron­ leans women who in February 1863 angrily took what some considered an extreme tation with the ladies of New Orleans. When defied the Federal troops who were trying to view in emphasizing the respectability of the Union army captured New Orleans in keep them from cheering for a group of the female nursing corps. Anxious to prove April 1862, its many female inhabitants captured rebels. In Confederate lore, the that her members were sober and re­ came under the jurisdiction of Union Gen­ commanding Union officer, Nathaniel sponsible women, and not girls on a lark or eral Benjamin Butler. Seldom celebrated as Banks, appeared as a foolish and unmanly ladies of ill repute, Dix refused applicants one of the more outstanding commanders of coward, compelled to use armed troops who were under thirty and accepted only the war, Butler nonetheless revealed an against a group of women wielding nothing those who could be considered "plain in astute awareness of the ways in which the at :: on October 29, 2012 more threatening than handkerchiefs and appearance." war was playing havoc with the Southern parasols. There were times when the traditional white woman's worldview. Consequently, In fact, women often did much more ideology offered women an avenue to en­ when Federal troops became the targets of than wave flags and handkerchiefs; many hanced authority. Apparently, some nurses insults and hostility from the ladies of the acted out of their own, personal motivations used nineteenth-century ideals of female Crescent City, Butler managed to silence and not simply with the intent to humiliate morality and domestic skill to challenge much of this feminine wrath by playing on enemy men. Nonetheless, both Northern incompetent doctors and army bureaucrats. nineteenth-century images of refmed wom­ and Southern women were influenced by Determined to make the disease-infested anhood. In General Order No. 28 (also notions of gender that were a significant battlefront more like a properly sanitized known as the "Woman Order"), Butler de­ part of their mid-nineteenth-century world. and well-run home, many female nurses clared that "when any female shall, by While many women relished the opportuni­ boldly spoke out against corrupt command­ word, gesture, or movement, insult or show ty to experience the excitement of the war ers or drunken administrators. When nurse contempt for any officer or soldier of the more directly, they could not completely Annie Wittenmeyer locked horns with a United Sates, she shall be regarded and held ignore the prevailing ideology. Many wom­ drunken medical director, she had him dis­ liable to be treated as a woman of the town en who became nurses, for example, tried to missed. Nurse Mary ("Mother") Bickerdyke plying her avocation." In short, Butler had cling to notions of gentility and respectabil­ developed such a fiery reputation as a ma­ announced that no respectable woman would ity as they defined their new positions. ternal crusader for the wounded that she publicly display her anger and contempt. Katherine Wormeley, a Union nurse on a ultimately inspired General Sherman to re­ Those who did were assumed to be the most hospital transport, believed her feminine mark, "She ranks me." By drawing on an disreputable women of all, prostitutes. Ul­ attributes were crucial to her job. "It is not ideology that portrayed women in a morally timately, Butler's order managed to contain too much to say," she explained, "that del­ and spiritually superior light, nurses such as much of the abusive behavior of the New icacy and refinement and the fact of being Bickerdyke managed to gain respect and Orleans women. a gentle woman could never tell more than even, albeit to a limited degree, some Some historians have suggested an ad­ they do here." Dorothea Dix, the legendary power in the male-dominated world of ditional Union advantage stemming from Superintendent of (Union) Women Nurses, war-making. the New Orleans incident. This embarrass-

12 OAH MagaZine ofHistory • Fal/1993 ing episode, it is thought, may have made or even as soldiers, and some men likewise War. New York: Oxford University many ladies feel angry and resentful toward shirked their soldierly obligations and chose Press, 1992. the Confederate cause because they had the security of the homefront over the ter­ Eltshain, Jean Bethke. Women and War. been placed in such a vulnerable position. rors of battle. Moreover, black and Indian New York: Basic Books, 1987. In other words, Southern women were sub­ women were seldom granted the rights of Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Bonnet Brigades. ject to unladylike abuse because Southern refined womanhood, and many soldiers from New York: Knopf, 1966. men had failed to live up to nineteenth­ both North and South believed that the Ryan, Mary P. Women in Public: Between century notions of masculinity; the men's honor and protection bestowed upon white Banners and Ballots, 1825-1880. Bal­ lack of honor and bravery had put these women did not apply to women of color. timore: Johns Hopkins University women at risk. Nonetheless, established models of mascu­ Press, 1990. Ultimately, the New Orleans episode line and feminine behavior were extremely Wood, Ann Douglass, "The War within a suggests that both men and women during influential and played an important role in War: Women Nurses in the Union the Civil War years were influenced by shaping the actions of women and men Army," Civil War History 18 (Septem­

prevailing notions of proper masculinity during this most tumultuous and earth-shat­ ber 1972): 197-212. Downloaded from and respectable femininity. This is not to tering event of the nineteenth century. 0 suggest that the ideal notion of gender be­ havior was always the reality. Certainly Select Bibliography Nina Silber is assistant professor ofhistory some women jumped at the chance to take Clinton, Catherine and Nina Silber, eds. at Boston University and co-editor ofDivid­

on extremely unconventional roles as spies Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil edHouses: Gender and the CivilWar (1992). http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/

Leslie's Illustrated at :: on October 29, 2012

Women waving flags, handkerchiefs, and parasols often inspired their troops, and occasionally proved to be a source to be reckoned with by those of the opposing side.

OAH Magazine of History • Fall 1993 13