For each question, answer the question completely using proper English and make sure to proofread! You must also respond to at least one other student post to receive full credit.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Chapter Seven-Accounting: "Our Obligations to the Dead"
What were some of the roles that women played after the Civil War? What are your thoughts and/or impressions about these roles?
The women of the Civil War may not have fought in the battles, but their jobs were important in the end of the War. The women had multiple jobs that proceeded the ending of the war. The few being; mourning and care of the dead and living.
Mourning was a major part of the war, both during and after. It was one of the most participated jobs of the decade. As described in Chapter 5, mourning became a major lifestyle of the war. Mourning was a way of remembering those who had died for their beliefs. It was a type of honor for the fallen. An individual, family honor but nevertheless a honor.
Care of the Dead and the living was another job that the women of the time worked. Women worked to care for the dead by re-digging improper graves, burying uncovered bodies, and provide headboards for some. "Mrs. McFarland believed these men not only belonged to Richmond but to the South . . . In dying, she proclaimed, [they] left us the guardianship of their graves... every Southerner was connected to these men." (239) Women also helped to care for the living by working in field hospitals.
From what Faust has described of these women, I believe that they had an important purpose in the recovery after the war. They fought their own type of internal war. One to help the men who fought in the war. Women like Clara Barton, who helped to find names of the dead, Mrs.McFarland, and so many others, were inspirational. They not only helped the surviving families and soldiers, but also the deceased.
Women played various roles after the conclusion of the Civil War. These roles included caring for the wounded, properly burying the deceased, and accurately accounting for all those whose lives had been claimed by the War.
Caring for the wounded was perhaps the most important role of women once the Civil War had ended. Women made up the majority of make-shift Civil War hospital staff, and without their dedication, commitment, and courage I believe that the lives of countless soldiers who survived would have been lost. Despite many women not having a great deal of experience concerning medical care and treatment, the services they provided were substantially preferable to no treatment at all. Women caring for the wounded ensured that a great deal of soldiers survived who otherwise would not have been so fortunate.
The proper burial of the deceased was also a significant role that women played after the Civil War. While the re-burial and burial of many unburied soldiers remains was a truly “gruesome” task, it was one that needed to be done. Many women partook in this morbid labor, providing the remains of slain soldiers a decent final resting place. I feel this was also an important role that women played after the war, because it addressed the mounting social pressure to provide soldiers that had been killed in battle some aspects of “the good death.”
Accounting for all the lives that had been claimed by the war was a vital role that women played after the Civil War as well. Clara Barton was perhaps the finest example of a woman who accepted this role. Her work in the “Missing Soldiers Office” allowed for the publication of “information about 22,000 missing soldiers.” Women who worked to account for all of the lives that were lost in the War provided a valuable service to the entire Country.
Women played a huge role after the Civil War. They were able to accomplish things that “…federal resources would not."(238). Women took part in re-burial of the dead, caring for the wounded, and accounting for the dead. They did all of this while they mourned the loss of loved ones.
Women felt that it was extremely important to give the deceased a proper burial. The men who had died in the war deserved more than to be thrown in trenches with so many other men. They also buried men that were never given a burial in the first place. These men deserved honor. Women re-buried men who were not given a proper burial and gave them headboards. Although this was not a fun task, it needed to be done by someone.
Besides re-burial, women cared for the many wounded soldiers. By taking on this task, lives were saved that otherwise would have been lost. Like Nick said, most of these women did not have any medical experience at all, but it proved to be better than nothing. A woman could clean and bandage a wound. This was more treatment than the men could have received. This little bit of help saved lives.
One of the biggest tasks that women accomplished was accounting of the dead. These women were able to help account for bodies of all soldiers who had lost their lives at war. This job was extremely important for identifying bodies whose identities had been lost in the course of the war. This assured that nobody was killed without being honored for their duty.
I feel that women played a very important role in the course of the war. They performed tasks that both saved lives and helped to honor the men that were not as fortunate. They made sure that the deceased kept their dignity and they even gave men the ability to have a “good death”. For the men that were wounded, they appreciated the women so much for giving them a chance to live. Without the women’s roles, the outcome of the war could have been so much worse.
I agree with what you have said about the women being inspirational. They touched so many lives at the end of the Civil War. Without the women, even more men could have ended up dead. For the men whose lives could not be saved, women helped then to have honor and dignity. Women truly did play an amazing role.
Your position on this concept, to me, seemed to cover all of my basic thoughts. Women did play a major role in this process. Identification was a huge role and they gave families information on those they had lost while also doing the hard job of naming. As you also mentioned the jobs they worked to save lives were just as important. "Without the women's roles, the outcome of the war could have been much worse." (Kendra).
On the other hand, I would like to add that they became inspirational to the people they helped to heal, the families, and the dead to whom they tended.
Women played a major role in the years after the Civil War. They recognized the suffering and made many attempts to assist wherever possible. Women like Clara Barton cared for the wounded, provided information to families yearning for condolence, and helped to bury those who had lost their lives.
Support groups established by women such as the Office of Correspondence with the Friends of the United States Army and the Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood stressed that “every citizen deserved to be remembered as an individual and identifiable human self” (235). They worked to honor their soldiers, both dead and living. Many women believed that proper burials were the very least that the United States owed their fallen soldiers. They assisted in the interment of the dead and maintenance of graves. Women delivered sympathy and honor, which was much-needed during times of such chaos.
In my opinion, women played as big of a role as those who fought in the war. It takes little ability to through things out of proportion and cause mass destruction, but it takes great patience and determination to pick up those pieces and put them back together again. They showed great strength and perseverance in their attempts of honoring those who had fought for their safety.
I agree with what you said about women taking on the roles of inspirational workers while they were still mourning at their own loss. Women took on very difficult tasks when honoring the dead, and the fact that they were able to do so much while still acknowledging their own suffering makes them very strong characters. Their ability to take on and balance so much at one time makes them truly inspirational. Very good wording.
Women had a big role after the Civil War. They did the things that nobody else wanted to deal with. They gave proper burials to soldiers, informed families about dead or wounded soldiers, and cared for the wounded. This was a big task with all the soldiers that fought and could not be done easily.
Women of the South created associations to deal with the soldiers. One of these was The Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood. This association was "determined to mark and turf the sixteen thousand graves in its care."(239) They made headboards for the graves and gave them all proper burials. Also, there was the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association. It cared for the Jewish Confederates buried in the Hebrew Cemetery. They had fundraisers to pay for the burials like "a two-week-long bazaar,"(240) and "raffling of Stonewall Jackson's coat buttons."(240) Caring for soldiers in hospitals greatly helped too. The hospitals were understaffed and women even with no medical knowledge helped save lives. They would simply clean and rebandage wounds to help many suffering soldiers.
The women were a key part into fixing the aftermath of the Civil War. They couldn't fight for their country, so instead they greatly helped out soldiers and their families. They saved lives after the battles, returning the soldiers to their families. They also informed families of soldiers they buried or cared for, relieving stress and giving families the news they longed to hear.
I agree with the statement you made, "It takes little ability to through things out of proportion and cause mass destruction, but it takes great patience and determination to pick up those pieces and put them back together again." This is very true. They helped to honor their soldiers after they risked their lives for the Confederacy. They put helped care for wounded and bury thousands of soldiers properly, even while mourning for lost husbands and sons. They really did "show great strength and perseverance," like you said.
Caring for the Grieving, the wounded and the insane was perhaps the most important role of women once the Civil War had ended. Women like Clara Barton led the way in educating women in what little medical care was available. The care of the women for wounded soldiers for the wounded ensured that a great deal of soldiers survived who otherwise would not have certainly perished. Another role of women was caring for the grieving the task of helping your friends through the loss of a loved one while worrying about your own was a near superhuman task that only the kindness and strength of women could perform. Here the term women’s work is non derogatory because I am sure no man could do what they did.
Clara Barton was also kept working long after the war with her “Missing Soldiers Office” program she started the search for “information about 22,000 missing soldiers.” Women who worked to help the war become a less Horrible experienced are heroes equal with the generals and the great charges.
There many roles that woman had played after the Civil War. The women’s jobs were just has or even more important than the soldiers in the front lines. Women had multiple jobs such as caring for the fallen, the living, and mourning.
Caring for the fallen and the living soldiers was quite the task to do during the mid 1860’s. Women had worked to properly rebury soldiers that were not buried correctly the first time. The women had also had to bury the dead that were exposed to the elements of nature that had not even been buried at all. The living soldiers that were injured during battle had been kept in a field hospital, which was another area that women had worked in at this time.
Mourning was another huge part of the war that occurred during and after the fighting. This particular job was one of most participated jobs of that decade. Mourning had become a major lifestyle during and after the Civil war. Mourning was to remember how many soldiers had died because of what they had believed in. It was almost a way in order to honor those that had perished during this horrible war.
Form what Faust had stated in the reading, these women had an important role in the rebuilding after the war. The women had to fight their own kind of war. Women like Clara Barton, who had helped to find the correct name of an unidentified soldier. These women had not only helped the families and soldiers that were affected by the war outbreak, but also the fallen soldiers.
I agree with what Sarah had said. The women had fought their very own war. The women had to care for the lost soldiers, naming the bodies, and then burying them. The women had played a very important war that was almost as important as the job of the soldiers on the front lines.
Women after the Civil War played in a couple different roles. Their roles were pretty important. The women’s role after the Civil War was to attend to the soldiers wounded throughout the war, to put the dead from the war to a right rest, and account the deaths of the war.
One of the roles that women played after the Civil War was to attend to the wound soldiers from the war. Women were probably the biggest reason for all the wounded soldiers that survived after the war had ended. They put a lot of time to attend to soldiers that if not helped may have diseased some after the war, so by them helping these soldiers they most defiantly saved many lives. Their dedication to these soldiers can’t be measured and I believe that this was the biggest and most important role that women had after the Civil War. This role they had done had saved lives of the soldiers that were very important in both the South and North.
The next role that woman played after the Civil War was to give proper burial to the deceased of the war. It was both to bury the soldiers that have not yet been buried and to rebury the ones that were already buried in a not proper burial spot. There were soldiers during the Civil War that were killed and were never buried so it was the role of the women to see to give these men a proper burial and finally lay these brave men to rest. The ones in the Civil War that acutely were given a burial were not so lucky because they were just through into trenches with all the others that had fallen during the same battle. Where is the honor throwing the soldiers that are fighting for your country in a big war? So the women gave these soldiers a proper burial that they rightfully deserved to have.
The final role that the women played in after the Civil War was over was to count the death toll of the war. This was important because it both showed how awful the war was and they also would identify the ones that had not been identified. Showing the count of all the deaths would show how horrific the war was and to show that this type of war against brothers should never happen again. The biggest part I think was the naming of unnamed soldiers because that would allow the family of the fallen soldier to be told what has happened to them.
I believe that these roles that women played after the Civil War was one of biggest reasons that this country got back on tract. I think that out of all the roles that they played that the one of attending to the wounded from the war was the most important. It was because it saved many lives after the war had taken so many lives there need to be the lost amount of deaths after it. That doesn’t mean I don’t think the other ones aren’t important because I believe that they are important. I think that giving the deceased soldiers deserved a proper burial so that role was very important. Finding the count of deaths of the Civil war was the least important of all the roles of women but it was a very important thing after the carnage of the Civil War. That is what I think about the roles that women played in after the Civil War.
I agree with the comment you posted about this question. You three roles that women did in they gave proper burials to soldiers, informed families about dead or wounded soldiers, and cared for the wounded was really good. I like that you used many quotations in your post but I really like "determined to mark and turf the sixteen thousand graves in its care."(239). Your decision on what you think about these roles was good. This comment was very good nice, job.
After the Civil War, many jobs needed to be accomplished. The dead needed to be buried, cataloged, and accounted for, the South needed to be rebuilt, and the process of mourning had to be started. Women played a major role in the aftermath of the Civil War; performing their duty to their country through service to the troops and caring for the wounded.
During the war, women worked in the field hospitals close to the front lines, but after the war, they helped with the burying and cataloging of the deceased. On both sides, women helped ship bodies of dead soldiers to back to families or to proper cemeteries. They also helped to figure out the identity of unknown soldiers, which was of high importance. Women like Clara Barton, who traveled all over the country helping soldiers reclaim their identity and have a proper burial.
As stated in Chapter 5, mourning was a major step in the aftermath of the war. With all of the young boys and men who died fighting, many women spent time mourning the loss of their loved ones. Unfortunately, with the death of a son or husband, women were forced to run businesses, tend to the fields, and do any other jobs that the men normally did. Personally, I think these women were heroes of their time. They had to live through one of the toughest times in American history. Despite all of the death and carnage that the war caused, the women were still able to do their duty to their country through service to the war effort. They had an important role in the Civil War.
I would have to agree with your statement saying that no man could have done what the women did. Women did an almost impossible task. Clara Barton traveled around the country finding the identities of lost soldiers. Even though they did not fight, they saw the outcome of war differently from the soldiers. They saw the effect the war had on families. They saw all the death and destruction that the soldiers had seen, just on a personal level.
The women after the civil war had to care for the wounded and the dead. This was a major role because of the numbers lost during the war. They reburied those who had improper graves,also burying the unburied. Their care to the living was a huge task that required a lot of attention. They had to look after the wounded soldiers as well as the unwounded yet scarred survivors. this ment helping the men cope with their losses.
Mournig as explained in Chpt.5 was also another role women played this was the number one job that nearly all women partook in. This was an honor for the fallen loved one. It was not a huge rememberance for the soldier but it was a way for the family to deal with their loss.
Personally i believe that no man could of dealt with these jobs. Not only because they would be burying friends and or comrades. But the shere fact of the toll already taken on nearly every able man. The women did not fight but they saw the outcome of the war and felt all the same losses.
I agree with your statement that these women were heros of their time. I agree with this because they truly were this was the toughest war for families I think in the history of the U.S. They went through hardships just as the soldiers did and still helped with the outcome of the war. Though they did not fight they played a major role is the Civil War
After the Civil War the women played very thoughtful acts of kindness, they identified the dead, re-buried many soldiers, and cared for the wounded. Without the women's help after the war, many soldiers would not have been accounted for.
Like many of the posts above mine, we all can agree that caring for the wounded was one of the most important roles that the women could have played. Obviously, the wounded were in the need of assistance for survival and the women stepped in to help. Caring for the wounded should have been the top priority, because saving a man who might have a chance of living would be well worth their time. Without their willingness to help many of the wounded would have been added to the causality list.
Even though identifying the dead would be one of the hardest things to do, many of the women successfully accounted for a lot more soldiers that were originally not accounted for. Sadly, not all the men were accounted for, but with women like Clara Barton who helped identify 22,000 missing men; that is a job well done.
Also, the women helped re-burying the dead. This role was important because every soldier deserves the respect for an appropriate burial. The women assisted the fallen men by giving a proper “Good Death.”
I personally think the women were very brave to endure the pain and suffering of the Civil War. And top of losing a loved one, the women still found enough strength to assist those soldiers who needed it. I have a lot of respect for those women who helped all the men that fought for their rights.
I agree with your opinion that men would not be able to do the roles that the women played. Also, the way you said that since the men would have to bury their comrades it would not be easy for them. Those words stuck out to me, because I agree, the men would have found it very difficult to bury their comrades. And if wasn't for the women that stepped in to help, many dead soldiers would have gone unidentified.
I agree that women were a critical component of reconstruction after the Civil War. Your comment, “they couldn't fight for their country, so instead they greatly helped out soldiers and their families,” really illustrates the idea that women were desperately seeking to do their part in the war effort. I think many women felt that these actions were their equivalent to fighting in the war.
After the Civil War, women played many roles. Women cared for the soldiers by tending to the wounded, re-burying, and accounting for the dead. Aside from the battlefield jobs, they also mourned for the men who lost their lives fighting.
Women cared for the wounded soldiers. Soldiers left on battlefields wounded got the care they needed from these women. Women also purchased land to make cemeteries for deceased soldiers. They moved fallen soldiers from battlefields and shallow graves to large cemeteries where families can find their loved ones. Repairing and marking graves, and making headboards during and after the war also took place. The women felt it was their job to be "the guardianship of their [soldier's] graves." Like everyone else said, accounting was probably one of the hardest, biggest tasks the women faced. Not only did they try and count the deceased soldiers but they also tried to name soldiers. When they named the soldier they then could contact their families. And, like in the last chapter, it seemed to women that the job of mourning was left to them, and through all their help on the battlefields, they did just that.
I really respect the women of the Civil War for what they did because there would have been no one else to do it. The women created associations that "led a voluntary, improvisational, decentralized effort that overcame extraordinary obstacles- of organization, funding, and logistics- to bring tens of thousands of soldiers into cemeteries where they could be recognized for their valor and sacrifice." They attempted the impossible in everything they did, going over and beyond, and succeeded. The women's role in helping these men was the as important as fighting in the war.
I agree with you. I don't think men could have done most of the jobs the women did. It would have been much harder on them because it would've been there friends and family they would be burying, caring for, and naming, after they fought in the war.
Even after the Civil War had ended there were several jobs that needed to be taken care of, and most of these jobs fell to the women of the restored union to be completed. Some of these jobs included caring for the injured soldiers, burying soldiers that were left behind during the war, and reburying the bodies of soldiers that didn't have a proper grave. Along with these tasks, women also had to mourn the death of lost soldiers and help other women get through their mourning process as well. Each of these jobs were primarily linked to women after the war ended and were incredibly important. Without the help of leaders like Clara Barton who knows how long it would have taken to full fill these incredibly difficult tasks.
Perhaps the most important of the jobs women were needed to fulfill was the task of caring for injured soldiers. The primary amount of caretakers in hospitals around the nation were women, and without the great care and dedication of these women there may have been thousands more left to die after the war had ended. This job was unquestionably the most important during this time and women came to this calling with great strength and heart, and it saved many great heroes’ lives.
Possibly the most difficult job that women were forced to do was the burying and reburying of thousands of bodies. While this job was possibly the most emotional and difficult thousands of women came out to help fill this incredibly important role. With all the aspects of the "Good Death" hanging over society, there was an extreme amount of need to give the men that gave their lives a proper burial. This job was very important and played a great role in the rebuilding of the union and was an important factor in moving on past the post Civil War era.
The final task that women took part in was the mourning of lost soldiers and helping families cope with their losses. This task was probably the most important job when it comes to moving on past the war and forgetting the great pain that came with it. Millions of people suffered great loss to the war which meant that millions needed to be tended to and women came to this calling very willingly and it helped the United States advance to a new era.
The women that rose to the calling of these horrific tasks are truly special individuals. Each worked tirelessly to help rebuild the United States. They are the unsung heroes of the Civil War and without these great women helping the cause the process of moving forward would have been made nearly impossible. Although they didn't sacrifice their lives to the war, they selflessly gave themselves to the after mass of it and helped the union move on.
I definitely agree with what you are saying about the women who did their part after the war ended. I think the best thing you said was "the women's role in helping these men was as important as fighting in the war." This is so true, and I definitely think that rebuilding the union would have been twice as difficult had it not been for these women. They are the unsung heroes of this war, and played an intricate part in reuniting a nation.
Women played a huge role in the years following the Civil War. These women obtained very useful and well needed roles. These women assumed responsibility to care for the wounded, bury and rebury the dead, and account for the dead.
Women assumed one of the most important responsibilities, caring for the wounded. These women ran hospitals all over the country and were highly dedicated to saving lives and caring for the wounded. They also cared for soldiers who had been left behind on the battlefields and were severely wounded. I believe that women were able to preserve a large part of the population after the Civil War.
Another role they obtained was that of burying and reburying the dead. While trying to provide the idea of a "Good Death" to many of the fallen soldiers these women worked shamelessly at attempting to give soldiers proper burials. These women were able to help bring honor to the fallen soldiers by giving them the honor of a proper burial.
Women also took on the most difficult tasks of accounting for the dead. Much of the country also began the troublesome task, including the government. However few people were as successful as Clara Barton, who was able to identify 22,000 missing men, as Danielle Sheehan pointed out.
Along with these responsibilities, women also mourned for the dead and often times helped fund many different types of movements, such as the building of cemeteries and government work to account for the dead. Many women also helped this process by stepping up and helping to lead the crippled nation. One such woman was Clara Barton. She worked shamelessly to help with the process and became a well noted, honorable leader. My impression of women is that they were honorable, inspirational, and played a key role in rebuilding our country.
Jacob A- I love your comment "[women] are the unsung heroes of the Civil War.." They truely are. Few women have been noted for their honorable deeds. Simple women did great deeds when they did not have to. These women dedicated themselves to rebuilding our nation when no one forced them to do anything. Well done!
Women played one of the most important roles after the Civil War. Women cared for wounded soldiers, found, reported, and buried dead soldiers, and reburied soldiers who had not received a proper grave. These were some of the most difficult things to do, but the women did everything they could to help the soldiers.
Caring for wounded soldiers takes a very brave person. The women had to face soldiers who were sick, injured, and did not have a great chance of survival. They worked day and night trying to save as many soldiers as they could. The women helped care for the wounded even while the war was going on and they were worried about their loved ones.
The finding, reporting, and burying of soldiers was a very important job on a more personal level. It helped many families receive information about their husbands and brothers. It allowed families to find out where and how their loved ones were buried. This helped many people who believed in a Good Death.
Reburying soldiers gave hope to many people. Many people were worried that their husband or brother was buried in a trench with only a blanket. When women would rebury the soldiers, it let families know their soldiers were in a good place and had a proper grave.
In my opinion, the women who did these jobs are the heroes of the war. They reached out to so many people mourning the losses of relatives. They reassured families that soldiers were buried properly. And, most of these women were volunteers.
Women had s huge role after the Civil War. An many of these roles were very helpful. Women helped By caring for the wounded soldiers. Either medicaly or comforting them. Lots of women were nurses so that they could aid all the injured soldiers. Also many women would comfort them and make sure they are okay and let their family know of them. They also buried the dead which must have been dificult for many of them seeing the carnage of war. They also reported in on those who were killed in action and notified the soldier's family. It showed people that there was hope to recovery of a nation. I thought this was a great thing all the women did. It raised the moral in the South and the North. Just what they did was remarkable and gave hope to many. It was amazing how they helped so many and cared for the soldiers.
Women played important roles in the after math of the Civil War. The women spent much of their time informing families of the deaths of soldiers and also of the injured. They also buried fallen soldiers and reburied soldiers who did not recieve proper burials. One of the most important things the women did in the after math of the Civil War was to to care for the injured soldiers. Women did eveything they could in order to help put everything thing as close to normal as possible.
It look a very strong person to care for the injured. The women helped if you were sick, shot, or broken. Even though most soldiers being cared for were close to death the women never gave up hope and spent all day, everyday nursing them back to health.
The process of burying and reburying soldiers also took a great amount of strength. Even though the burials took a toll on the women they never gave up and tried their hardest to give a proper burial to all fallen soldiers.
Informing families was one of the biggest jobs for the women and a tedious one at that. The women spent many hours finding and reporting the status of lost loved ones to many people. This gave many families hope and also closure.
Without the women the families would be confused and the soldiers wounded. The women saved the day, they were the heroes.
Your statement that the women were inspirational was the exact word needed to explain what the women were to the Civil War. The efforts of the women in the after math of the war were truly inspirational, they are and always will be an inspiration to everyone.
I also agree with you about how the women were heroes of the war. Not by fighting on the frontlines but caring for the wounded and burying the dead. These were some of the most heroic and selfless acts seen after the war.
Women during the time period may not have had many rights, and their lives had not been given for their country, but they were a vital part of the Civil War during and after it was over. Clara Barton helped to heal the wounded and also to find the identities of those already dead. All women, especially in the South helped the reburial effort and finding the identities of the dead. “Women founded memorial associations almost everywhere there were concentrations of Confederate bodies (243). Unlike the North that was able to relocate all the bodies mainly because of the government involvement, the Southern women had to find a way to honor the dead without the help of the federal government. Many donated from their own pocket and held fundraisers and volunteered to get the job done. If they had not been involved, thousands of slain soldiers probably wouldn’t have had proper burials and their identities would have been lost.
The women also had a huge role during the war by volunteering to be nurses. Without them helping and tending to the wounded many would have died.
Nick, I agree with your statement that without the women caring for the wounded, many would have died. The women no doubt played a huge role in saving lives. There would not have been enough people to help so many that were wounded and not receiving any care would have had no chance of surviving. Even if they didn’t have experience the extra hands made it possible to care for the wounded.
I totally agree with your points about the roles women played during the Civil War. Without their help in caring for the wounded, many more soldiers might've died. Women also helped account for the dead, which was very helpful to the country during and after the war.
Although women were not allowed to fight in the battles, they helped in many other ways. Women cared for the sick, identified the bodies, buried bodies, informed families of their soldiers fate, and mourned. Had there not been women to care for the sick, the death tolls would have most likely been much higher. And identifying and burying bodies was one of the most important things that they could have done, and without their help, many families would have never been able to know if their soldier was alive or dead. Women played a very important roll in the civil war.
Women played many important roles during the Civil War, including caring for the wounded, identifying the dead and giving them a proper burial, and showing their respect for the dead by mourning.
Mourning was practiced often during the war, since most people had lost a loved one. Women mourned appropriately, showing their respect for the dead and supporting them even after they were no longer alive.
During the war, women cared for the wounded, even if they had little medical experience or knowledge. This was very helpful because although they may not have known much about the human anatomy and proper medical procedures, help is still better than no help. They not only cared for the injured physically, but were also a reassuring, caring hand that soldiers away from home appreciated.
After the war, many women set up organizations to help locate and give proper burials to their fallen soldiers. Seeing as at this point in time, women were not given all the rights of men, I find this especially inspirational. It is amazing all the work women did to give hundreds of soldiers a place to rest in peace.
I think women played a very important role in the Civil War and its aftermath, and it truly is inspirational. They did a great job helping out and are role models that continue to be looked up to today.
In response to Tori Kelly I love the way you put this, "Without the women the families would be confused and the soldiers wounded. The women saved the day, they were the heroes." I also agree that the women caring for the sick never gave up hope, no matter how close to death the soldier was.
Women played a very critical in the years following the Civil War. They took it upon themselves to give fallen soldiers the burials they were entitled to. Women considered it a “simple privilege of paying honor to those who died defending the life, honor and happiness of the southern women.” (243). They formed associations such as the “Women of the South”, “the Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood”, the “Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond”, the “Hebrews Ladies Memorial Association” as well as others to effectively and efficiently rebury soldiers. The Hollywood Association “began repair of eleven thousand soldiers’ graves” (239) and the Ladies of Oakwood were “determined to mark and turf sixteen thousand graves in its care.” (239). Although tending to the dead was a significant role played by women, they also showed reverence by dressing in mourning. As stated in chapter 5, mourning was a “rite of passage and display of respect.” (149). Even though mourning was mainly an individual process to overcome despair, it also was a token of gratitude and respect to the fallen.
As touching as it may be, “memorializing the Confederate dead… was in fact highly political; honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power in the new postwar South.” (243). Although they did their best to aid in the war, “women were regarded in mid-nineteenth century America as apolitical in their very essence; their aggressions and transgressions could be-and largely had been-ignored during the war.” (242). By extensively providing for the dead, women showed their ability to lead, and there “suggested a second motivation for women’s leadership of the southern reburial effort.” (242).
I believe these women greatly assisted in the nation’s recovery. They took responsibility for the things men didn’t. Women optimistically viewed their commitment by remembering ‘that we belong to that sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave…Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers.” (241-242). The role women played after the Civil War was paramount, without them soldiers wouldn’t have gotten the honor and respect that they so rightly deserved.
Women had many important jobs throughout the civil war but some of the most important came with the end. Women had the jobs of mourning, careing for liveing and dead, and accounting our losses.
Mourning was a tradition aimed twords women. The process was very important to the people in order to respect the fallen. It was also a way for them to help themselfs accept the deaths of friends and family.
The careing was left for women because the men were all working and couldnt. The women would take care of the liveing who are crippled or wounded. They would care for the dead. Men could not do this job as well because women are usually much more tender and careing.
I think that these were very important role in the war. If it wasn't for the women I dont think that we would have been able to rebuild very quickly if at all.
Some of the roles that women had during the Civil War were, identifying the dead, and caring for the wounded. In my opinion the women should be doing these roles. I feel that it is their way of respecting the families of the dead and the wounded.
I completely agree with you saying that if it wasn't for the women then they wouldn't have been able to rebuild very quickly. The women were a very large part of the war just like the men were.
Women played a major role in society after the Civil War. Many of soldier that were wounded needed care for. Well, it turned out that most nurses were women at that time.
Women also had a role in society after the war. That was mourning. The process is a long slow one. It usually took around three and a half years. But it helps them accept the death of their loved ones and helps them move on with their life.
I agree with Stephanie Hamilton. I agree with how Stephanie talks about that some of the roles women played was their way to show respect to the soldier and their families. Without the women, I don't how we would have through as well as we did.
Most women who lived through the Civil War shared two different roles after the conflict had ended. The majority of women during that time helped out by caring for the soldiers who had survived the Civil War but lay wounded, as well as the soldiers who had been killed in battle and were in need of a principled entombment. They worked hard to aid those who were still alive and also to honor the dead with a proper burial.
These women also undertook another role in society by being the ones to mourn for those killed in the Civil War. This was a difficult process which usually covered a long period of time consisting of two or three years. They did this in a way to render the soldiers who had died honor and devotion.
I believe that the roles these women played after the Civil War were of great importance and helped in both the physical and phsycological revitalization from the Civil War. If these women had not accomplished such roles it is hard to believe that they would have otherwise been fulfilled with as much perfection, thus, the recovery from the war would have probably been more extensive and excruciating.
After the Civil War, “women founded memorial associations almost everywhere there were concentrations of Confederate bodies,” (243). The same was true for women in the north trying to respect the dead Union soldiers, though the message they were trying to convey was entirely different. Women took up tasks such as transferring still improperly buried bodies or bodies not buried at all to nearby cemeteries. Once the bodies were properly buried, grave markers were provided in effort to establish identity to the lost soldiers. Maintaining burial sites included remounding and returfing graves. Once burial sites were in place, women and families of the soldiers would place flowers at their deceased soldier’s gravesite. In the south, the Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond was founded in May of 1866 to take up burial tasks for the fallen Confederates. Also formed was the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association. It was established in effort to care for the graves of thirty Jewish Confederates buried in the soldier’s section of the city’s Hebrew Cemetery. Fanny Downing, the president of the Ladies Association for the Fitting Up of Stonewall Jackson Cemetery addressed the Women of the South. She declared, “Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers.” (241-242) Some say the motivation for these acts of compassion was not just to carry out the “female responsibility of mourning,” but to also “honor those who had risen up in rebellion against the national government,” (242). Memorializing the dead Confederates was considered a “simple privilege,” (243) by the women, but proved to be an endeavor full of politics. Faust specified that “honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power,” in the post Civil War southern territory. The act of memorializing dead soldiers of the Confederate army was a way of the South’s still active opposition to the North’s government and way of life. This is backed by evidence. At the suggestion that Yankees and Confederates be laid to rest on similar grounds, southern women were appalled. One woman stated that their Confederate dead must be “protected from a promiscuous mingling with the remains of their enemies,” (244). It was a movement to keep the battles, which their soldiers fought, and the reasons they were fought alive, although their soldiers were dead and their cause was lost. I believe that although the reinterment of fallen Confederate soldiers was a somewhat political movement, the south was alike the north in the sense that reinterment had meaningful purposes. It “provided bereaved families with bodies and graves on which to fix their sorrow,” (245). Without the burial and efforts of many women, the grieving process would have been very difficult to complete. These women had to be very strong, brave, and motivated to accomplish as much as they did and to provide the dead with their identities that were lost for some time.
In response to erick: I agree with you in the sense that I also "believe that the roles these women played after the Civil War were of great importance and helped in both the physical and psychological revitalization from the Civil War." Without the tiring and devoted efforts women put in to the cause of finding, identifying, and burying these soldiers, postwar trauma families were experiencing would have been much more significant.
I agree with what you said about the women having to fight "their own type of internal war". These women did, in fact, work hard to aid all the men who had fought in the war. Whether it was helping the wounded, identifying the fallen, burying them, or mourning over their loss I belive that they helped out tremendously and with this help things would not have been the same.
I agree that “these women were heroes of their time.” They voluntarily devoted a substantial amount of time and effort to help in whatever ways they could. They disproved the sexist beliefs against them by showing leadership and sympathy towards managing the dead. These women were truly heroes and should be spoken in the same sentence as those who fought on the front lines.
Women played a very important role after the civil war. Mainly, they mourned, and tended to the living and the dead.
Mourning was a very important part of the civil war, both during and after it had ended. As explained in Chapter 5, mourning both honored and grieved the dead.
Women tended to the dead. They would give the dead a proper burial and headstone, thus helping complete the "Good Death" (chapter 1). They would also help carry and identify bodied.
Even thoug the dead were important, the living soldiers still needed help. The women would tend to the wounded, even if they had little or medical experience.
These women were outstanding. They showed so much courage, and, ultimately, helped the nation to recover. They are truly heroes of their own kind.
The women of the civil war certainly were as important as the soldiers fighting it. Unfortunately, no one ever mentions the women of the civil war, even though they deserve the upmost respect and to be rewarded.
Some of the roles that women played after the civil war were burying the dead. They formed associations like the “Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood” and the “Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association.” These associations were created because the women realized, it wasn't fair for the confederate soldiers to be left in "neglected graves" (239) while "more than $4 million of the public funds would be expended on dead northerners"(238).
I feel like these women helped a lot with the post war insanity that was our nation.
After the Civil War, women did many things to help the nation move forward. The main role they played was in the burying of the dead. The government did not provide any assistance in the burying of Confederate soldiers. Faust states, “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). They established many organizations like the “Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies” and the “Ladies Confederate Cemetery Association.” Women from these associations would transport fallen Confederate soldiers from nearby battlefields to cemeteries that were for Confederates only.
I respect all the hard work and dedication put in by women to give soldiers the burial that they deserved. They did what the government lacked in doing, which is why I think their contribution to the rebuilding process was quite heroic.
The women were very important during the civil war. They nursed the wounded, helped the dying obtain a good death, and mourned for those who had lost their lives. What is also significant is the role women played after the civil war. Woman, such as Clara Barton, helped provide closure for families as she sought to identify many of the dead soldiers left on the battle field. No only did women help to identify; they helped to bury the dead as well, such as Hollywood Memorial association of ladies. Mrs. William McFarland urged southern women to help in burying confederates and stated "Confederates left us with the guardianship of their graves" and that "every southerner held an obligation to the fallen, out of gratitude for their "noble deeds", as much as sorrow in their loss." (239) If it weren't for women, the war would have had many more casualties and many soldiers would have been unidentified and lost.
In response to Emily P- I greatly agree that women had a greatly important role after the the war. They mourned for the fallen, granting them honor as you stated, worked hard to identify and bury the deceased soldiers, and helped the wounded recover. Likewise, i think that woman played an immense role in the recovery of the nation as they worked to heal the pain and fix the wrong war had established.
Woman had two major parts in the postwar. One being mourning. However I believe that woman receive a little too much credit for this, seeing as everyone, man or woman mourns. The second thing women did was to care for the living and the dead. This was a very important job. Those coming home from war were physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. The woman's job was to aid the men in recovering in this postwar recovery. Women also helped with those who never made it back home, burying and consoling friends and family while mourning themselves the loss of heroic soldiers. i do not judge man or woman on what they did, they each did whatever wars best for their situation. Man tended to fight, and woman tended to help care, mourn and recover, these processes all go hand in hand, as it does with husband and wife, man and woman, girl and boy.
Farmer, You made a connection with something that is important to know. It is important to know that it is not whether man or woman is better, but how the relationship between man and woman works. The men went out to defend the ideals of their country, and women were their to help where the men couldn't.
I agree with your comments on the subject. I do not think men could do the jobs that the women did. Not only had they already fought brutal war, I'm not sure if they could face wounded or dead soldiers. I think they would feel guilty that they had escaped the war, while there were men suffering in hospitals.
I have to disagree with Faust’s opinion that “honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power,” in the post Civil War southern territory. For the author to say that the women’s post-war labors “suggested a second motivation for women’s leadership of the southern reburial effort” (242) is insulting and cruel. Were I a grieving widow or mother, the last thing on my mind would be trying to obtain more political prominence and power for women. There was no guile at all in the motives of these women. Why should Fanny Downing’s words, “Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers” (241-242) be interpreted as anything but a genuine expression of what she believed was a woman’s post-war duty to the fallen soldiers?
I cannot even imagine the strength it must have required for these women to do what they did. Not to downplay the men’s role, but the soldiers had a mission, they had a call to duty, they had a very clear perspective of the work they must do in the war. Things were nowhere near that clear for the women. Somehow they had to keep their families safe with no man in the house. Somehow they had to feed and clothe their children. Somehow they had to find the strength to survive while not knowing whether their husbands and sons were alive or dead.
In the midst of all this, somehow these women found ways to care for the wounded, to inter or re-inter those who had not been properly buried, and to “mark and turf ……. graves in its care.” (239). All these tasks would have been gruesome, dirty, and potentially disease infested. Yet the women did all this work for sons and husbands of others while perhaps not knowing the whereabouts of their own sons and husbands. How did they ever find the strength and resolve to do this? Where did this incredible strength of character come from? Perhaps helping others was the only way these women could cope with their own grief and uncertainty. Maybe these efforts gave the women a sense of duty alongside the soldiers. I can only guess at what kept them motivated to press on with this work.
To call these women heroes, doesn’t seem to give them enough credit. I don’t have words to describe the value of the dirty and thankless work these women performed during both national and personal crisis. “We belong to that sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave” (241). I cannot give them adequate tribute. I can only hope someday to be as strong as they myself.
Women played many roles after the civil war. Two of the many were mourning and in someways responsibility of the dead. Mourning was a major part of the process during war, as shown in Chapter 5, women were responsible for mourning. They would adjust their lives to mourn. The mourning process took about two and a half to three and a half years. Women also were also in someways "responsible" for the dead. For instance, the Ladies Association's president's speach, "Let us remember, that we belong to the sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave... Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country's sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers."(241-242)
I think that the roles women played in the post-war helped this country strive. If it weren't for these women, I don't know where we would be today; People in the East coast might just have had confederate or union bodies in their backyards.
Brian- I see where you were coming from when you said, "One being mourning. However I believe that women receive a little too much credit for this, seeing as everyone, man or woman mourns." One thing you must realize though is that women changed much of their lives to conform to the mourning. Men did mourn, but not nearly as long and all they might have done was wear a small arm band, or knick knack.
RE: Kristine Ayre Kristine, you found a quote from the book somewhere that I had missed regarding the efforts of locating deceased soldiers. I think this quote must have been in reference to Southern women because you stated that the women created associations that "led a voluntary, improvisational, decentralized effort that overcame extraordinary obstacles- of organization, funding, and logistics- to bring tens of thousands of soldiers into cemeteries where they could be recognized for their valor and sacrifice." Because the quote used the words “voluntary” and “improvisational”, I don’t think this quote was in reference to the Federally funded burial programs staffed by Northern women. I admired all of the women on both sides for the dirty, horrible job they took on. But I didn’t realize until I read your quote how many of the missing Confederate soldiers these Southern women were successfully able to indentify, re-locate to cemeteries, and to provide a proper burial place for honor. If these Southern women still found tens of thousands of deceased soldiers using all volunteer help and volunteer fund raising efforts, then you are absolutely right to say “They attempted the impossible in everything they did, going over and beyond, and succeeded.” What an amazing effort and what amazing results they achieved! Thank you for bringing the actual count of deceased Confederate soldiers to my attention. It causes me to respect these women that much more.
You made a great statement when you said, "My impression of women is that they were honorable, inspirational, and played a key role in rebuilding our country." The women did very hard work that nobody else wanted to do.
Women played a very large role after the civil war ended. The had to take care of the sick or wounded, the mourning, and the dead. Mourning was a large part for women during the Civil War, and theyre role was very important, almost as important as that of the soldiers fighting in the war.
I think that the women of the Civil War were very brave and I admire the way they handled everything. If my husband had died in the war i would have been mortified and couldn't stay calm, whereas these women had many family members or friend die in the war while they were left to take care of it and worry about them the whole time. After the war could've only gotten worse in my opinion because of the horror they had to face and the matters they then had to take care of while dealing with their grief and anger towards the war.
Erin- I completely agree with your thoughts on the women during the Civil War. I feel like the women don't get much credit for the very large role they played and that when learning about the Civil War, the women arent mentioned very much.
In response to Mikayla Greenwell I agree with your point that the women did much of their heroic work without the help of the federal government. I think we all can take the lesson learned here. We don’t need government to solve problems the people themselves can do it. Furthermore, the fact that women in a time before suffrage were allowed to do this proves the progress the country was ready for.
Women took on many roles/ jobs after the war were to care for the wounded soliders and to mourn of the dead. The women's roles played a major part in the society after the Civil War. Many men were wounded and could not care for themselves and needed the motherly compassion the women had. Mourning was a major part because the men only grieved over a small period of time and did not take in as much grief as the women had.
I thought that their roles were very admirable. The women had to take on a lot more after the war then the men, in my opinion. They had to care for the wounded, in which could be a stressful situtation because of the men's pain and frustration that could be taken out on the women. But the men did need them because if the men would have had men taken care of them, they would have not had the compassion of a motherly figure. This could be very important when in pain. I think that they took on a lot and handled it well as though they also had loved ones which had passed away.
I agree with Katie because it must have been hard to take care of other men when your husband or son had just died. They were brave to take on task that even caused them heartach and to mourn for the dead. Mourning is not as much brave but I still believe it would take a lot to recover enough from their loss.
During the efforts after the civil war of the south and the north to rebury the dead, the north definitely did a better job than the south because “the northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort” (241). So the North just tried harder than the south to help bury and honor the dead. Also in the south they thought of it as work to bury the dead not as their duty unlike the North. For the South it may have been harder because of the much larger number of dead compared to the north but the North still did a better job than the South.
After the civil war, women had more than one important role in society.
They had to care for the living and had the even harder job of caring for the dead. It was the women’s job to mourn for the dead, in a way it honored the men for their service. They had to do this plus having to take care of the wounded by working at hospitals, which saved many lives even with the little or no experience of the women who helped. Also many women strongly believed in a proper burial so most of them took it upon themselves to re-dig the improper graves and even to bury dead men still on the battle field. Even with the huge death amount the women of the civil war helped to decrease it as much as they could.
I think that the women during and after the civil war were almost as important as the men serving in the war itself. The help and many services they gave to the men helped significantly.
The women of the Civil War may not have fought in the battles, but their jobs were important in the end of the War. The women had multiple jobs that proceeded the ending of the war. The few being; mourning and care of the dead and living.
ReplyDeleteMourning was a major part of the war, both during and after. It was one of the most participated jobs of the decade. As described in Chapter 5, mourning became a major lifestyle of the war. Mourning was a way of remembering those who had died for their beliefs. It was a type of honor for the fallen. An individual, family honor but nevertheless a honor.
Care of the Dead and the living was another job that the women of the time worked. Women worked to care for the dead by re-digging improper graves, burying uncovered bodies, and provide headboards for some. "Mrs. McFarland believed these men not only belonged to Richmond but to the South . . . In dying, she proclaimed, [they] left us the guardianship of their graves... every Southerner was connected to these men." (239)
Women also helped to care for the living by working in field hospitals.
From what Faust has described of these women, I believe that they had an important purpose in the recovery after the war. They fought their own type of internal war. One to help the men who fought in the war. Women like Clara Barton, who helped to find names of the dead, Mrs.McFarland, and so many others, were inspirational. They not only helped the surviving families and soldiers, but also the deceased.
Women played various roles after the conclusion of the Civil War. These roles included caring for the wounded, properly burying the deceased, and accurately accounting for all those whose lives had been claimed by the War.
ReplyDeleteCaring for the wounded was perhaps the most important role of women once the Civil War had ended. Women made up the majority of make-shift Civil War hospital staff, and without their dedication, commitment, and courage I believe that the lives of countless soldiers who survived would have been lost. Despite many women not having a great deal of experience concerning medical care and treatment, the services they provided were substantially preferable to no treatment at all. Women caring for the wounded ensured that a great deal of soldiers survived who otherwise would not have been so fortunate.
The proper burial of the deceased was also a significant role that women played after the Civil War. While the re-burial and burial of many unburied soldiers remains was a truly “gruesome” task, it was one that needed to be done. Many women partook in this morbid labor, providing the remains of slain soldiers a decent final resting place. I feel this was also an important role that women played after the war, because it addressed the mounting social pressure to provide soldiers that had been killed in battle some aspects of “the good death.”
Accounting for all the lives that had been claimed by the war was a vital role that women played after the Civil War as well. Clara Barton was perhaps the finest example of a woman who accepted this role. Her work in the “Missing Soldiers Office” allowed for the publication of “information about 22,000 missing soldiers.” Women who worked to account for all of the lives that were lost in the War provided a valuable service to the entire Country.
Women played a huge role after the Civil War. They were able to accomplish things that “…federal resources would not."(238). Women took part in re-burial of the dead, caring for the wounded, and accounting for the dead. They did all of this while they mourned the loss of loved ones.
ReplyDeleteWomen felt that it was extremely important to give the deceased a proper burial. The men who had died in the war deserved more than to be thrown in trenches with so many other men. They also buried men that were never given a burial in the first place. These men deserved honor. Women re-buried men who were not given a proper burial and gave them headboards. Although this was not a fun task, it needed to be done by someone.
Besides re-burial, women cared for the many wounded soldiers. By taking on this task, lives were saved that otherwise would have been lost. Like Nick said, most of these women did not have any medical experience at all, but it proved to be better than nothing. A woman could clean and bandage a wound. This was more treatment than the men could have received. This little bit of help saved lives.
One of the biggest tasks that women accomplished was accounting of the dead. These women were able to help account for bodies of all soldiers who had lost their lives at war. This job was extremely important for identifying bodies whose identities had been lost in the course of the war. This assured that nobody was killed without being honored for their duty.
I feel that women played a very important role in the course of the war. They performed tasks that both saved lives and helped to honor the men that were not as fortunate. They made sure that the deceased kept their dignity and they even gave men the ability to have a “good death”. For the men that were wounded, they appreciated the women so much for giving them a chance to live. Without the women’s roles, the outcome of the war could have been so much worse.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you have said about the women being inspirational. They touched so many lives at the end of the Civil War. Without the women, even more men could have ended up dead. For the men whose lives could not be saved, women helped then to have honor and dignity. Women truly did play an amazing role.
Kendra
ReplyDeleteYour position on this concept, to me, seemed to cover all of my basic thoughts. Women did play a major role in this process. Identification was a huge role and they gave families information on those they had lost while also doing the hard job of naming. As you also mentioned the jobs they worked to save lives were just as important. "Without the women's roles, the outcome of the war could have been much worse." (Kendra).
On the other hand, I would like to add that they became inspirational to the people they helped to heal, the families, and the dead to whom they tended.
Women played a major role in the years after the Civil War. They recognized the suffering and made many attempts to assist wherever possible. Women like Clara Barton cared for the wounded, provided information to families yearning for condolence, and helped to bury those who had lost their lives.
ReplyDeleteSupport groups established by women such as the Office of Correspondence with the Friends of the United States Army and the Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood stressed that “every citizen deserved to be remembered as an individual and identifiable human self” (235). They worked to honor their soldiers, both dead and living.
Many women believed that proper burials were the very least that the United States owed their fallen soldiers. They assisted in the interment of the dead and maintenance of graves. Women delivered sympathy and honor, which was much-needed during times of such chaos.
In my opinion, women played as big of a role as those who fought in the war. It takes little ability to through things out of proportion and cause mass destruction, but it takes great patience and determination to pick up those pieces and put them back together again. They showed great strength and perseverance in their attempts of honoring those who had fought for their safety.
Kendra-
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about women taking on the roles of inspirational workers while they were still mourning at their own loss. Women took on very difficult tasks when honoring the dead, and the fact that they were able to do so much while still acknowledging their own suffering makes them very strong characters. Their ability to take on and balance so much at one time makes them truly inspirational. Very good wording.
Women had a big role after the Civil War. They did the things that nobody else wanted to deal with. They gave proper burials to soldiers, informed families about dead or wounded soldiers, and cared for the wounded. This was a big task with all the soldiers that fought and could not be done easily.
ReplyDeleteWomen of the South created associations to deal with the soldiers. One of these was The Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood. This association was "determined to mark and turf the sixteen thousand graves in its care."(239) They made headboards for the graves and gave them all proper burials. Also, there was the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association. It cared for the Jewish Confederates buried in the Hebrew Cemetery. They had fundraisers to pay for the burials like "a two-week-long bazaar,"(240) and "raffling of Stonewall Jackson's coat buttons."(240) Caring for soldiers in hospitals greatly helped too. The hospitals were understaffed and women even with no medical knowledge helped save lives. They would simply clean and rebandage wounds to help many suffering soldiers.
The women were a key part into fixing the aftermath of the Civil War. They couldn't fight for their country, so instead they greatly helped out soldiers and their families. They saved lives after the battles, returning the soldiers to their families. They also informed families of soldiers they buried or cared for, relieving stress and giving families the news they longed to hear.
Larissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement you made, "It takes little ability to through things out of proportion and cause mass destruction, but it takes great patience and determination to pick up those pieces and put them back together again." This is very true. They helped to honor their soldiers after they risked their lives for the Confederacy. They put helped care for wounded and bury thousands of soldiers properly, even while mourning for lost husbands and sons. They really did "show great strength and perseverance," like you said.
Caring for the Grieving, the wounded and the insane was perhaps the most important role of women once the Civil War had ended. Women like Clara Barton led the way in educating women in what little medical care was available. The care of the women for wounded soldiers for the wounded ensured that a great deal of soldiers survived who otherwise would not have certainly perished. Another role of women was caring for the grieving the task of helping your friends through the loss of a loved one while worrying about your own was a near superhuman task that only the kindness and strength of women could perform. Here the term women’s work is non derogatory because I am sure no man could do what they did.
ReplyDeleteClara Barton was also kept working long after the war with her “Missing Soldiers Office” program she started the search for “information about 22,000 missing soldiers.” Women who worked to help the war become a less Horrible experienced are heroes equal with the generals and the great charges.
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ReplyDeleteThere many roles that woman had played after the Civil War. The women’s jobs were just has or even more important than the soldiers in the front lines. Women had multiple jobs such as caring for the fallen, the living, and mourning.
ReplyDeleteCaring for the fallen and the living soldiers was quite the task to do during the mid 1860’s. Women had worked to properly rebury soldiers that were not buried correctly the first time. The women had also had to bury the dead that were exposed to the elements of nature that had not even been buried at all. The living soldiers that were injured during battle had been kept in a field hospital, which was another area that women had worked in at this time.
Mourning was another huge part of the war that occurred during and after the fighting.
This particular job was one of most participated jobs of that decade. Mourning had become a major lifestyle during and after the Civil war. Mourning was to remember how many soldiers had died because of what they had believed in. It was almost a way in order to honor those that had perished during this horrible war.
Form what Faust had stated in the reading, these women had an important role in the rebuilding after the war. The women had to fight their own kind of war. Women like Clara Barton, who had helped to find the correct name of an unidentified soldier. These women had not only helped the families and soldiers that were affected by the war outbreak, but also the fallen soldiers.
I agree with what Sarah had said. The women had fought their very own war. The women had to care for the lost soldiers, naming the bodies, and then burying them. The women had played a very important war that was almost as important as the job of the soldiers on the front lines.
Women after the Civil War played in a couple different roles. Their roles were pretty important. The women’s role after the Civil War was to attend to the soldiers wounded throughout the war, to put the dead from the war to a right rest, and account the deaths of the war.
ReplyDeleteOne of the roles that women played after the Civil War was to attend to the wound soldiers from the war. Women were probably the biggest reason for all the wounded soldiers that survived after the war had ended. They put a lot of time to attend to soldiers that if not helped may have diseased some after the war, so by them helping these soldiers they most defiantly saved many lives. Their dedication to these soldiers can’t be measured and I believe that this was the biggest and most important role that women had after the Civil War. This role they had done had saved lives of the soldiers that were very important in both the South and North.
The next role that woman played after the Civil War was to give proper burial to the deceased of the war. It was both to bury the soldiers that have not yet been buried and to rebury the ones that were already buried in a not proper burial spot. There were soldiers during the Civil War that were killed and were never buried so it was the role of the women to see to give these men a proper burial and finally lay these brave men to rest. The ones in the Civil War that acutely were given a burial were not so lucky because they were just through into trenches with all the others that had fallen during the same battle. Where is the honor throwing the soldiers that are fighting for your country in a big war? So the women gave these soldiers a proper burial that they rightfully deserved to have.
The final role that the women played in after the Civil War was over was to count the death toll of the war. This was important because it both showed how awful the war was and they also would identify the ones that had not been identified. Showing the count of all the deaths would show how horrific the war was and to show that this type of war against brothers should never happen again. The biggest part I think was the naming of unnamed soldiers because that would allow the family of the fallen soldier to be told what has happened to them.
I believe that these roles that women played after the Civil War was one of biggest reasons that this country got back on tract. I think that out of all the roles that they played that the one of attending to the wounded from the war was the most important. It was because it saved many lives after the war had taken so many lives there need to be the lost amount of deaths after it. That doesn’t mean I don’t think the other ones aren’t important because I believe that they are important. I think that giving the deceased soldiers deserved a proper burial so that role was very important. Finding the count of deaths of the Civil war was the least important of all the roles of women but it was a very important thing after the carnage of the Civil War. That is what I think about the roles that women played in after the Civil War.
Tanner,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comment you posted about this question. You three roles that women did in they gave proper burials to soldiers, informed families about dead or wounded soldiers, and cared for the wounded was really good. I like that you used many quotations in your post but I really like "determined to mark and turf the sixteen thousand graves in its care."(239). Your decision on what you think about these roles was good. This comment was very good nice, job.
After the Civil War, many jobs needed to be accomplished. The dead needed to be buried, cataloged, and accounted for, the South needed to be rebuilt, and the process of mourning had to be started. Women played a major role in the aftermath of the Civil War; performing their duty to their country through service to the troops and caring for the wounded.
ReplyDeleteDuring the war, women worked in the field hospitals close to the front lines, but after the war, they helped with the burying and cataloging of the deceased. On both sides, women helped ship bodies of dead soldiers to back to families or to proper cemeteries. They also helped to figure out the identity of unknown soldiers, which was of high importance. Women like Clara Barton, who traveled all over the country helping soldiers reclaim their identity and have a proper burial.
As stated in Chapter 5, mourning was a major step in the aftermath of the war. With all of the young boys and men who died fighting, many women spent time mourning the loss of their loved ones. Unfortunately, with the death of a son or husband, women were forced to run businesses, tend to the fields, and do any other jobs that the men normally did.
Personally, I think these women were heroes of their time. They had to live through one of the toughest times in American history. Despite all of the death and carnage that the war caused, the women were still able to do their duty to their country through service to the war effort. They had an important role in the Civil War.
Re: pstidwell
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with your statement saying that no man could have done what the women did. Women did an almost impossible task. Clara Barton traveled around the country finding the identities of lost soldiers. Even though they did not fight, they saw the outcome of war differently from the soldiers. They saw the effect the war had on families. They saw all the death and destruction that the soldiers had seen, just on a personal level.
The women after the civil war had to care for the wounded and the dead. This was a major role because of the numbers lost during the war. They reburied those who had improper graves,also burying the unburied. Their care to the living was a huge task that required a lot of attention. They had to look after the wounded soldiers as well as the unwounded yet scarred survivors. this ment helping the men cope with their losses.
ReplyDeleteMournig as explained in Chpt.5 was also another role women played this was the number one job that nearly all women partook in. This was an honor for the fallen loved one. It was not a huge rememberance for the soldier but it was a way for the family to deal with their loss.
Personally i believe that no man could of dealt with these jobs. Not only because they would be burying friends and or comrades. But the shere fact of the toll already taken on nearly every able man. The women did not fight but they saw the outcome of the war and felt all the same losses.
Matt-
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that these women were heros of their time. I agree with this because they truly were this was the toughest war for families I think in the history of the U.S. They went through hardships just as the soldiers did and still helped with the outcome of the war. Though they did not fight they played a major role is the Civil War
After the Civil War the women played very thoughtful acts of kindness, they identified the dead, re-buried many soldiers, and cared for the wounded. Without the women's help after the war, many soldiers would not have been accounted for.
ReplyDeleteLike many of the posts above mine, we all can agree that caring for the wounded was one of the most important roles that the women could have played. Obviously, the wounded were in the need of assistance for survival and the women stepped in to help. Caring for the wounded should have been the top priority, because saving a man who might have a chance of living would be well worth their time. Without their willingness to help many of the wounded would have been added to the causality list.
Even though identifying the dead would be one of the hardest things to do, many of the women successfully accounted for a lot more soldiers that were originally not accounted for. Sadly, not all the men were accounted for, but with women like Clara Barton who helped identify 22,000 missing men; that is a job well done.
Also, the women helped re-burying the dead. This role was important because every soldier deserves the respect for an appropriate burial. The women assisted the fallen men by giving a proper “Good Death.”
I personally think the women were very brave to endure the pain and suffering of the Civil War. And top of losing a loved one, the women still found enough strength to assist those soldiers who needed it. I have a lot of respect for those women who helped all the men that fought for their rights.
Baker,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion that men would not be able to do the roles that the women played. Also, the way you said that since the men would have to bury their comrades it would not be easy for them. Those words stuck out to me, because I agree, the men would have found it very difficult to bury their comrades. And if wasn't for the women that stepped in to help, many dead soldiers would have gone unidentified.
Tanner
ReplyDeleteI agree that women were a critical component of reconstruction after the Civil War. Your comment, “they couldn't fight for their country, so instead they greatly helped out soldiers and their families,” really illustrates the idea that women were desperately seeking to do their part in the war effort. I think many women felt that these actions were their equivalent to fighting in the war.
After the Civil War, women played many roles. Women cared for the soldiers by tending to the wounded, re-burying, and accounting for the dead. Aside from the battlefield jobs, they also mourned for the men who lost their lives fighting.
ReplyDeleteWomen cared for the wounded soldiers. Soldiers left on battlefields wounded got the care they needed from these women. Women also purchased land to make cemeteries for deceased soldiers. They moved fallen soldiers from battlefields and shallow graves to large cemeteries where families can find their loved ones. Repairing and marking graves, and making headboards during and after the war also took place. The women felt it was their job to be "the guardianship of their [soldier's] graves." Like everyone else said, accounting was probably one of the hardest, biggest tasks the women faced. Not only did they try and count the deceased soldiers but they also tried to name soldiers. When they named the soldier they then could contact their families. And, like in the last chapter, it seemed to women that the job of mourning was left to them, and through all their help on the battlefields, they did just that.
I really respect the women of the Civil War for what they did because there would have been no one else to do it. The women created associations that "led a voluntary, improvisational, decentralized effort that overcame extraordinary obstacles- of organization, funding, and logistics- to bring tens of thousands of soldiers into cemeteries where they could be recognized for their valor and sacrifice." They attempted the impossible in everything they did, going over and beyond, and succeeded. The women's role in helping these men was the as important as fighting in the war.
Baker,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I don't think men could have done most of the jobs the women did. It would have been much harder on them because it would've been there friends and family they would be burying, caring for, and naming, after they fought in the war.
Even after the Civil War had ended there were several jobs that needed to be taken care of, and most of these jobs fell to the women of the restored union to be completed. Some of these jobs included caring for the injured soldiers, burying soldiers that were left behind during the war, and reburying the bodies of soldiers that didn't have a proper grave. Along with these tasks, women also had to mourn the death of lost soldiers and help other women get through their mourning process as well. Each of these jobs were primarily linked to women after the war ended and were incredibly important. Without the help of leaders like Clara Barton who knows how long it would have taken to full fill these incredibly difficult tasks.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most important of the jobs women were needed to fulfill was the task of caring for injured soldiers. The primary amount of caretakers in hospitals around the nation were women, and without the great care and dedication of these women there may have been thousands more left to die after the war had ended. This job was unquestionably the most important during this time and women came to this calling with great strength and heart, and it saved many great heroes’ lives.
Possibly the most difficult job that women were forced to do was the burying and reburying of thousands of bodies. While this job was possibly the most emotional and difficult thousands of women came out to help fill this incredibly important role. With all the aspects of the "Good Death" hanging over society, there was an extreme amount of need to give the men that gave their lives a proper burial. This job was very important and played a great role in the rebuilding of the union and was an important factor in moving on past the post Civil War era.
The final task that women took part in was the mourning of lost soldiers and helping families cope with their losses. This task was probably the most important job when it comes to moving on past the war and forgetting the great pain that came with it. Millions of people suffered great loss to the war which meant that millions needed to be tended to and women came to this calling very willingly and it helped the United States advance to a new era.
The women that rose to the calling of these horrific tasks are truly special individuals. Each worked tirelessly to help rebuild the United States. They are the unsung heroes of the Civil War and without these great women helping the cause the process of moving forward would have been made nearly impossible. Although they didn't sacrifice their lives to the war, they selflessly gave themselves to the after mass of it and helped the union move on.
In Response to Kristine Ayre
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you are saying about the women who did their part after the war ended. I think the best thing you said was "the women's role in helping these men was as important as fighting in the war." This is so true, and I definitely think that rebuilding the union would have been twice as difficult had it not been for these women. They are the unsung heroes of this war, and played an intricate part in reuniting a nation.
Women played a huge role in the years following the Civil War. These women obtained very useful and well needed roles. These women assumed responsibility to care for the wounded, bury and rebury the dead, and account for the dead.
ReplyDeleteWomen assumed one of the most important responsibilities, caring for the wounded. These women ran hospitals all over the country and were highly dedicated to saving lives and caring for the wounded. They also cared for soldiers who had been left behind on the battlefields and were severely wounded. I believe that women were able to preserve a large part of the population after the Civil War.
Another role they obtained was that of burying and reburying the dead. While trying to provide the idea of a "Good Death" to many of the fallen soldiers these women worked shamelessly at attempting to give soldiers proper burials. These women were able to help bring honor to the fallen soldiers by giving them the honor of a proper burial.
Women also took on the most difficult tasks of accounting for the dead. Much of the country also began the troublesome task, including the government. However few people were as successful as Clara Barton, who was able to identify 22,000 missing men, as Danielle Sheehan pointed out.
Along with these responsibilities, women also mourned for the dead and often times helped fund many different types of movements, such as the building of cemeteries and government work to account for the dead. Many women also helped this process by stepping up and helping to lead the crippled nation. One such woman was Clara Barton. She worked shamelessly to help with the process and became a well noted, honorable leader. My impression of women is that they were honorable, inspirational, and played a key role in rebuilding our country.
Jacob A-
ReplyDeleteI love your comment "[women] are the unsung heroes of the Civil War.." They truely are. Few women have been noted for their honorable deeds. Simple women did great deeds when they did not have to. These women dedicated themselves to rebuilding our nation when no one forced them to do anything. Well done!
Women played one of the most important roles after the Civil War. Women cared for wounded soldiers, found, reported, and buried dead soldiers, and reburied soldiers who had not received a proper grave. These were some of the most difficult things to do, but the women did everything they could to help the soldiers.
ReplyDeleteCaring for wounded soldiers takes a very brave person. The women had to face soldiers who were sick, injured, and did not have a great chance of survival. They worked day and night trying to save as many soldiers as they could. The women helped care for the wounded even while the war was going on and they were worried about their loved ones.
The finding, reporting, and burying of soldiers was a very important job on a more personal level. It helped many families receive information about their husbands and brothers. It allowed families to find out where and how their loved ones were buried. This helped many people who believed in a Good Death.
Reburying soldiers gave hope to many people. Many people were worried that their husband or brother was buried in a trench with only a blanket. When women would rebury the soldiers, it let families know their soldiers were in a good place and had a proper grave.
In my opinion, the women who did these jobs are the heroes of the war. They reached out to so many people mourning the losses of relatives. They reassured families that soldiers were buried properly. And, most of these women were volunteers.
Women had s huge role after the Civil War. An many of these roles were very helpful. Women helped By caring for the wounded soldiers. Either medicaly or comforting them. Lots of women were nurses so that they could aid all the injured soldiers. Also many women would comfort them and make sure they are okay and let their family know of them. They also buried the dead which must have been dificult for many of them seeing the carnage of war. They also reported in on those who were killed in action and notified the soldier's family. It showed people that there was hope to recovery of a nation. I thought this was a great thing all the women did. It raised the moral in the South and the North. Just what they did was remarkable and gave hope to many. It was amazing how they helped so many and cared for the soldiers.
ReplyDeleteWomen played important roles in the after math of the Civil War. The women spent much of their time informing families of the deaths of soldiers and also of the injured. They also buried fallen soldiers and reburied soldiers who did not recieve proper burials. One of the most important things the women did in the after math of the Civil War was to to care for the injured soldiers. Women did eveything they could in order to help put everything thing as close to normal as possible.
ReplyDeleteIt look a very strong person to care for the injured. The women helped if you were sick, shot, or broken. Even though most soldiers being cared for were close to death the women never gave up hope and spent all day, everyday nursing them back to health.
The process of burying and reburying soldiers also took a great amount of strength. Even though the burials took a toll on the women they never gave up and tried their hardest to give a proper burial to all fallen soldiers.
Informing families was one of the biggest jobs for the women and a tedious one at that. The women spent many hours finding and reporting the status of lost loved ones to many people. This gave many families hope and also closure.
Without the women the families would be confused and the soldiers wounded. The women saved the day, they were the heroes.
Sarah Welton-
ReplyDeleteYour statement that the women were inspirational was the exact word needed to explain what the women were to the Civil War. The efforts of the women in the after math of the war were truly inspirational, they are and always will be an inspiration to everyone.
In response to Chris Huth
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you about how the women were heroes of the war. Not by fighting on the frontlines but caring for the wounded and burying the dead. These were some of the most heroic and selfless acts seen after the war.
Women during the time period may not have had many rights, and their lives had not been given for their country, but they were a vital part of the Civil War during and after it was over. Clara Barton helped to heal the wounded and also to find the identities of those already dead. All women, especially in the South helped the reburial effort and finding the identities of the dead. “Women founded memorial associations almost everywhere there were concentrations of Confederate bodies (243). Unlike the North that was able to relocate all the bodies mainly because of the government involvement, the Southern women had to find a way to honor the dead without the help of the federal government. Many donated from their own pocket and held fundraisers and volunteered to get the job done. If they had not been involved, thousands of slain soldiers probably wouldn’t have had proper burials and their identities would have been lost.
ReplyDeleteThe women also had a huge role during the war by volunteering to be nurses. Without them helping and tending to the wounded many would have died.
Nick,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that without the women caring for the wounded, many would have died. The women no doubt played a huge role in saving lives. There would not have been enough people to help so many that were wounded and not receiving any care would have had no chance of surviving. Even if they didn’t have experience the extra hands made it possible to care for the wounded.
Nick-
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your points about the roles women played during the Civil War. Without their help in caring for the wounded, many more soldiers might've died. Women also helped account for the dead, which was very helpful to the country during and after the war.
Although women were not allowed to fight in the battles, they helped in many other ways. Women cared for the sick, identified the bodies, buried bodies, informed families of their soldiers fate, and mourned. Had there not been women to care for the sick, the death tolls would have most likely been much higher. And identifying and burying bodies was one of the most important things that they could have done, and without their help, many families would have never been able to know if their soldier was alive or dead. Women played a very important roll in the civil war.
ReplyDeleteWomen played many important roles during the Civil War, including caring for the wounded, identifying the dead and giving them a proper burial, and showing their respect for the dead by mourning.
ReplyDeleteMourning was practiced often during the war, since most people had lost a loved one. Women mourned appropriately, showing their respect for the dead and supporting them even after they were no longer alive.
During the war, women cared for the wounded, even if they had little medical experience or knowledge. This was very helpful because although they may not have known much about the human anatomy and proper medical procedures, help is still better than no help. They not only cared for the injured physically, but were also a reassuring, caring hand that soldiers away from home appreciated.
After the war, many women set up organizations to help locate and give proper burials to their fallen soldiers. Seeing as at this point in time, women were not given all the rights of men, I find this especially inspirational. It is amazing all the work women did to give hundreds of soldiers a place to rest in peace.
I think women played a very important role in the Civil War and its aftermath, and it truly is inspirational. They did a great job helping out and are role models that continue to be looked up to today.
In response to Tori Kelly
ReplyDeleteI love the way you put this, "Without the women the families would be confused and the soldiers wounded. The women saved the day, they were the heroes." I also agree that the women caring for the sick never gave up hope, no matter how close to death the soldier was.
Women played a very critical in the years following the Civil War. They took it upon themselves to give fallen soldiers the burials they were entitled to. Women considered it a “simple privilege of paying honor to those who died defending the life, honor and happiness of the southern women.” (243). They formed associations such as the “Women of the South”, “the Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood”, the “Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond”, the “Hebrews Ladies Memorial Association” as well as others to effectively and efficiently rebury soldiers. The Hollywood Association “began repair of eleven thousand soldiers’ graves” (239) and the Ladies of Oakwood were “determined to mark and turf sixteen thousand graves in its care.” (239). Although tending to the dead was a significant role played by women, they also showed reverence by dressing in mourning. As stated in chapter 5, mourning was a “rite of passage and display of respect.” (149). Even though mourning was mainly an individual process to overcome despair, it also was a token of gratitude and respect to the fallen.
ReplyDeleteAs touching as it may be, “memorializing the Confederate dead… was in fact highly political; honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power in the new postwar South.” (243). Although they did their best to aid in the war, “women were regarded in mid-nineteenth century America as apolitical in their very essence; their aggressions and transgressions could be-and largely had been-ignored during the war.” (242). By extensively providing for the dead, women showed their ability to lead, and there “suggested a second motivation for women’s leadership of the southern reburial effort.” (242).
I believe these women greatly assisted in the nation’s recovery. They took responsibility for the things men didn’t. Women optimistically viewed their commitment by remembering ‘that we belong to that sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave…Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers.” (241-242). The role women played after the Civil War was paramount, without them soldiers wouldn’t have gotten the honor and respect that they so rightly deserved.
Women had many important jobs throughout the civil war but some of the most important came with the end. Women had the jobs of mourning, careing for liveing and dead, and accounting our losses.
ReplyDeleteMourning was a tradition aimed twords women. The process was very important to the people in order to respect the fallen. It was also a way for them to help themselfs accept the deaths of friends and family.
The careing was left for women because the men were all working and couldnt. The women would take care of the liveing who are crippled or wounded. They would care for the dead. Men could not do this job as well because women are usually much more tender and careing.
I think that these were very important role in the war. If it wasn't for the women I dont think that we would have been able to rebuild very quickly if at all.
Some of the roles that women had during the Civil War were, identifying the dead, and caring for the wounded. In my opinion the women should be doing these roles. I feel that it is their way of respecting the families of the dead and the wounded.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you saying that if it wasn't for the women then they wouldn't have been able to rebuild very quickly. The women were a very large part of the war just like the men were.
Women played a major role in society after the Civil War. Many of soldier that were wounded needed care for. Well, it turned out that most nurses were women at that time.
ReplyDeleteWomen also had a role in society after the war. That was mourning. The process is a long slow one. It usually took around three and a half years. But it helps them accept the death of their loved ones and helps them move on with their life.
I agree with Stephanie Hamilton. I agree with how Stephanie talks about that some of the roles women played was their way to show respect to the soldier and their families. Without the women, I don't how we would have through as well as we did.
ReplyDeleteMost women who lived through the Civil War shared two different roles after the conflict had ended. The majority of women during that time helped out by caring for the soldiers who had survived the Civil War but lay wounded, as well as the soldiers who had been killed in battle and were in need of a principled entombment. They worked hard to aid those who were still alive and also to honor the dead with a proper burial.
ReplyDeleteThese women also undertook another role in society by being the ones to mourn for those killed in the Civil War. This was a difficult process which usually covered a long period of time consisting of two or three years. They did this in a way to render the soldiers who had died honor and devotion.
I believe that the roles these women played after the Civil War were of great importance and helped in both the physical and phsycological revitalization from the Civil War. If these women had not accomplished such roles it is hard to believe that they would have otherwise been fulfilled with as much perfection, thus, the recovery from the war would have probably been more extensive and excruciating.
After the Civil War, “women founded memorial associations almost everywhere there were concentrations of Confederate bodies,” (243). The same was true for women in the north trying to respect the dead Union soldiers, though the message they were trying to convey was entirely different.
ReplyDeleteWomen took up tasks such as transferring still improperly buried bodies or bodies not buried at all to nearby cemeteries. Once the bodies were properly buried, grave markers were provided in effort to establish identity to the lost soldiers. Maintaining burial sites included remounding and returfing graves. Once burial sites were in place, women and families of the soldiers would place flowers at their deceased soldier’s gravesite.
In the south, the Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond was founded in May of 1866 to take up burial tasks for the fallen Confederates. Also formed was the Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association. It was established in effort to care for the graves of thirty Jewish Confederates buried in the soldier’s section of the city’s Hebrew Cemetery.
Fanny Downing, the president of the Ladies Association for the Fitting Up of Stonewall Jackson Cemetery addressed the Women of the South. She declared, “Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers.” (241-242) Some say the motivation for these acts of compassion was not just to carry out the “female responsibility of mourning,” but to also “honor those who had risen up in rebellion against the national government,” (242). Memorializing the dead Confederates was considered a “simple privilege,” (243) by the women, but proved to be an endeavor full of politics. Faust specified that “honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power,” in the post Civil War southern territory.
The act of memorializing dead soldiers of the Confederate army was a way of the South’s still active opposition to the North’s government and way of life. This is backed by evidence. At the suggestion that Yankees and Confederates be laid to rest on similar grounds, southern women were appalled. One woman stated that their Confederate dead must be “protected from a promiscuous mingling with the remains of their enemies,” (244). It was a movement to keep the battles, which their soldiers fought, and the reasons they were fought alive, although their soldiers were dead and their cause was lost.
I believe that although the reinterment of fallen Confederate soldiers was a somewhat political movement, the south was alike the north in the sense that reinterment had meaningful purposes. It “provided bereaved families with bodies and graves on which to fix their sorrow,” (245). Without the burial and efforts of many women, the grieving process would have been very difficult to complete. These women had to be very strong, brave, and motivated to accomplish as much as they did and to provide the dead with their identities that were lost for some time.
In response to erick:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the sense that I also "believe that the roles these women played after the Civil War were of great importance and helped in both the physical and psychological revitalization from the Civil War." Without the tiring and devoted efforts women put in to the cause of finding, identifying, and burying these soldiers, postwar trauma families were experiencing would have been much more significant.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the women having to fight "their own type of internal war". These women did, in fact, work hard to aid all the men who had fought in the war. Whether it was helping the wounded, identifying the fallen, burying them, or mourning over their loss I belive that they helped out tremendously and with this help things would not have been the same.
In response to Matt,
ReplyDeleteI agree that “these women were heroes of their time.” They voluntarily devoted a substantial amount of time and effort to help in whatever ways they could. They disproved the sexist beliefs against them by showing leadership and sympathy towards managing the dead. These women were truly heroes and should be spoken in the same sentence as those who fought on the front lines.
Women played a very important role after the civil war. Mainly, they mourned, and tended to the living and the dead.
ReplyDeleteMourning was a very important part of the civil war, both during and after it had ended. As explained in Chapter 5, mourning both honored and grieved the dead.
Women tended to the dead. They would give the dead a proper burial and headstone, thus helping complete the "Good Death" (chapter 1). They would also help carry and identify bodied.
Even thoug the dead were important, the living soldiers still needed help. The women would tend to the wounded, even if they had little or medical experience.
These women were outstanding. They showed so much courage, and, ultimately, helped the nation to recover. They are truly heroes of their own kind.
Kristi Ayre
ReplyDeleteThe women of the civil war certainly were as important as the soldiers fighting it. Unfortunately, no one ever mentions the women of the civil war, even though they deserve the upmost respect and to be rewarded.
Some of the roles that women played after the civil war were burying the dead. They formed associations like the “Ladies Memorial Association for the Confederate Dead of Oakwood” and the “Hebrew Ladies Memorial Association.” These associations were created because the women realized, it wasn't fair for the confederate soldiers to be left in "neglected graves" (239) while "more than $4 million of the public funds would be expended on dead northerners"(238).
ReplyDeleteI feel like these women helped a lot with the post war insanity that was our nation.
After the Civil War, women did many things to help the nation move forward. The main role they played was in the burying of the dead. The government did not provide any assistance in the burying of Confederate soldiers. Faust states, “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). They established many organizations like the “Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies” and the “Ladies Confederate Cemetery Association.” Women from these associations would transport fallen Confederate soldiers from nearby battlefields to cemeteries that were for Confederates only.
ReplyDeleteI respect all the hard work and dedication put in by women to give soldiers the burial that they deserved. They did what the government lacked in doing, which is why I think their contribution to the rebuilding process was quite heroic.
The women were very important during the civil war. They nursed the wounded, helped the dying obtain a good death, and mourned for those who had lost their lives. What is also significant is the role women played after the civil war. Woman, such as Clara Barton, helped provide closure for families as she sought to identify many of the dead soldiers left on the battle field. No only did women help to identify; they helped to bury the dead as well, such as Hollywood Memorial association of ladies. Mrs. William McFarland urged southern women to help in burying confederates and stated "Confederates left us with the guardianship of their graves" and that "every southerner held an obligation to the fallen, out of gratitude for their "noble deeds", as much as sorrow in their loss." (239) If it weren't for women, the war would have had many more casualties and many soldiers would have been unidentified and lost.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Emily P-
ReplyDeleteI greatly agree that women had a greatly important role after the the war. They mourned for the fallen, granting them honor as you stated, worked hard to identify and bury the deceased soldiers, and helped the wounded recover. Likewise, i think that woman played an immense role in the recovery of the nation as they worked to heal the pain and fix the wrong war had established.
Woman had two major parts in the postwar. One being mourning. However I believe that woman receive a little too much credit for this, seeing as everyone, man or woman mourns. The second thing women did was to care for the living and the dead. This was a very important job. Those coming home from war were physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. The woman's job was to aid the men in recovering in this postwar recovery. Women also helped with those who never made it back home, burying and consoling friends and family while mourning themselves the loss of heroic soldiers. i do not judge man or woman on what they did, they each did whatever wars best for their situation. Man tended to fight, and woman tended to help care, mourn and recover, these processes all go hand in hand, as it does with husband and wife, man and woman, girl and boy.
ReplyDeleteFarmer,
ReplyDeleteYou made a connection with something that is important to know. It is important to know that it is not whether man or woman is better, but how the relationship between man and woman works. The men went out to defend the ideals of their country, and women were their to help where the men couldn't.
In response to BAKER
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments on the subject. I do not think men could do the jobs that the women did. Not only had they already fought brutal war, I'm not sure if they could face wounded or dead soldiers. I think they would feel guilty that they had escaped the war, while there were men suffering in hospitals.
I have to disagree with Faust’s opinion that “honoring the slain offered women a claim to both prominence and power,” in the post Civil War southern territory. For the author to say that the women’s post-war labors “suggested a second motivation for women’s leadership of the southern reburial effort” (242) is insulting and cruel. Were I a grieving widow or mother, the last thing on my mind would be trying to obtain more political prominence and power for women. There was no guile at all in the motives of these women. Why should Fanny Downing’s words, “Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country’s sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers” (241-242) be interpreted as anything but a genuine expression of what she believed was a woman’s post-war duty to the fallen soldiers?
ReplyDeleteI cannot even imagine the strength it must have required for these women to do what they did. Not to downplay the men’s role, but the soldiers had a mission, they had a call to duty, they had a very clear perspective of the work they must do in the war. Things were nowhere near that clear for the women. Somehow they had to keep their families safe with no man in the house. Somehow they had to feed and clothe their children. Somehow they had to find the strength to survive while not knowing whether their husbands and sons were alive or dead.
In the midst of all this, somehow these women found ways to care for the wounded, to inter or re-inter those who had not been properly buried, and to “mark and turf ……. graves in its care.” (239). All these tasks would have been gruesome, dirty, and potentially disease infested. Yet the women did all this work for sons and husbands of others while perhaps not knowing the whereabouts of their own sons and husbands. How did they ever find the strength and resolve to do this? Where did this incredible strength of character come from? Perhaps helping others was the only way these women could cope with their own grief and uncertainty. Maybe these efforts gave the women a sense of duty alongside the soldiers. I can only guess at what kept them motivated to press on with this work.
To call these women heroes, doesn’t seem to give them enough credit. I don’t have words to describe the value of the dirty and thankless work these women performed during both national and personal crisis. “We belong to that sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave” (241). I cannot give them adequate tribute. I can only hope someday to be as strong as they myself.
Women played many roles after the civil war. Two of the many were mourning and in someways responsibility of the dead. Mourning was a major part of the process during war, as shown in Chapter 5, women were responsible for mourning. They would adjust their lives to mourn. The mourning process took about two and a half to three and a half years. Women also were also in someways "responsible" for the dead. For instance, the Ladies Association's president's speach, "Let us remember, that we belong to the sex which was last at the cross, first at the grave... Let us go now, hand in hand, to the graves of our country's sons, and as we go let our energies be aroused and our hearts be thrilled by this thought: It is the least thing we can do for our soldiers."(241-242)
ReplyDeleteI think that the roles women played in the post-war helped this country strive. If it weren't for these women, I don't know where we would be today; People in the East coast might just have had confederate or union bodies in their backyards.
Brian-
ReplyDeleteI see where you were coming from when you said, "One being mourning. However I believe that women receive a little too much credit for this, seeing as everyone, man or woman mourns." One thing you must realize though is that women changed much of their lives to conform to the mourning. Men did mourn, but not nearly as long and all they might have done was wear a small arm band, or knick knack.
RE: Kristine Ayre
ReplyDeleteKristine, you found a quote from the book somewhere that I had missed regarding the efforts of locating deceased soldiers. I think this quote must have been in reference to Southern women because you stated that the women created associations that "led a voluntary, improvisational, decentralized effort that overcame extraordinary obstacles- of organization, funding, and logistics- to bring tens of thousands of soldiers into cemeteries where they could be recognized for their valor and sacrifice." Because the quote used the words “voluntary” and “improvisational”, I don’t think this quote was in reference to the Federally funded burial programs staffed by Northern women. I admired all of the women on both sides for the dirty, horrible job they took on. But I didn’t realize until I read your quote how many of the missing Confederate soldiers these Southern women were successfully able to indentify, re-locate to cemeteries, and to provide a proper burial place for honor. If these Southern women still found tens of thousands of deceased soldiers using all volunteer help and volunteer fund raising efforts, then you are absolutely right to say “They attempted the impossible in everything they did, going over and beyond, and succeeded.” What an amazing effort and what amazing results they achieved! Thank you for bringing the actual count of deceased Confederate soldiers to my attention. It causes me to respect these women that much more.
In response to Erin
ReplyDeleteYou made a great statement when you said, "My impression of women is that they were honorable, inspirational, and played a key role in rebuilding our country." The women did very hard work that nobody else wanted to do.
Women played a very large role after the civil war ended. The had to take care of the sick or wounded, the mourning, and the dead. Mourning was a large part for women during the Civil War, and theyre role was very important, almost as important as that of the soldiers fighting in the war.
ReplyDeleteI think that the women of the Civil War were very brave and I admire the way they handled everything. If my husband had died in the war i would have been mortified and couldn't stay calm, whereas these women had many family members or friend die in the war while they were left to take care of it and worry about them the whole time. After the war could've only gotten worse in my opinion because of the horror they had to face and the matters they then had to take care of while dealing with their grief and anger towards the war.
Erin-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your thoughts on the women during the Civil War. I feel like the women don't get much credit for the very large role they played and that when learning about the Civil War, the women arent mentioned very much.
In response to Mikayla Greenwell
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that the women did much of their heroic work without the help of the federal government. I think we all can take the lesson learned here. We don’t need government to solve problems the people themselves can do it.
Furthermore, the fact that women in a time before suffrage were allowed to do this proves the progress the country was ready for.
Women took on many roles/ jobs after the war were to care for the wounded soliders and to mourn of the dead. The women's roles played a major part in the society after the Civil War. Many men were wounded and could not care for themselves and needed the motherly compassion the women had. Mourning was a major part because the men only grieved over a small period of time and did not take in as much grief as the women had.
ReplyDeleteI thought that their roles were very admirable. The women had to take on a lot more after the war then the men, in my opinion. They had to care for the wounded, in which could be a stressful situtation because of the men's pain and frustration that could be taken out on the women. But the men did need them because if the men would have had men taken care of them, they would have not had the compassion of a motherly figure. This could be very important when in pain. I think that they took on a lot and handled it well as though they also had loved ones which had passed away.
I agree with Katie because it must have been hard to take care of other men when your husband or son had just died. They were brave to take on task that even caused them heartach and to mourn for the dead. Mourning is not as much brave but I still believe it would take a lot to recover enough from their loss.
ReplyDeleteDuring the efforts after the civil war of the south and the north to rebury the dead, the north definitely did a better job than the south because “the northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort” (241). So the North just tried harder than the south to help bury and honor the dead. Also in the south they thought of it as work to bury the dead not as their duty unlike the North. For the South it may have been harder because of the much larger number of dead compared to the north but the North still did a better job than the South.
ReplyDeleteAfter the civil war, women had more than one important role in society.
ReplyDeleteThey had to care for the living and had the even harder job of caring for the dead.
It was the women’s job to mourn for the dead, in a way it honored the men for their service. They had to do this plus having to take care of the wounded by working at hospitals, which saved many lives even with the little or no experience of the women who helped. Also many women strongly believed in a proper burial so most of them took it upon themselves to re-dig the improper graves and even to bury dead men still on the battle field. Even with the huge death amount the women of the civil war helped to decrease it as much as they could.
I think that the women during and after the civil war were almost as important as the men serving in the war itself. The help and many services they gave to the men helped significantly.