Category: Civil War Women

Civil War Women
Civil War Women, Famous Children

Fanny Seward

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Daughter of Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State The only daughter of Frances and William Henry Seward – Secretary of State under President Abraham Lincoln – Fanny Seward was a delicate young woman who dreamed of becoming a writer. She kept detailed journals of her life in Washington, DC during the Civil War. Image: Fanny Seward with her father, circa 1861 Early Years Frances Adeline Seward was born December 9, 1844 into privilege in Auburn, New York, the only surviving daughter of William H. Seward and Frances Adeline Miller Seward. Fanny was given a progressive education and upbringing by her parents, which undoubtedly led her to become a passionate reader. William Seward was a powerful Whig politician who served as United…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Civil War Nurses on Hospital Ships

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Nurses on Hospital Ships in the Eastern Theater Image: Sisters Georgeanna Woolsey and Eliza Woolsey Howland Served on hospital ships during the Peninsula Campaign in Virginia (March-July 1862) During the Civil War, the Union Army often used ships to move sick and wounded soldiers from Southern battlefields to general hospitals in Northern cities. Initially, government-run hospital transport ships performed poorly. The need for improvement was especially demonstrated during the Peninsula Campaign when well-run volunteer hospital transport ships assisted the government ships to evacuate patients. The Peninsula Campaign was a major Union operation in southeastern Virginia that lasted from March through July 1862. The plan was to travel up the Virginia peninsula by land and by river and capture the Confederate…

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Authors, Civil War Women, Educators

Catherine Beecher and The Civil War

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Writer and Advocate for Women’s Education Catherine Esther Beecher was a nineteenth century champion of education for women at a time when even wealthy women received minimal education. She educated herself through independent study, and established schools devoted to training women as teachers. Beecher believed that having women teach their own families was the basis for a well-ordered society. Childhood and Early Years Catherine (also spelled Catharine) Esther Beecher was born September 6, 1800 at East Hampton, Long Island, New York to the prominent Beecher family; more than any other family, they influenced American culture and politics during the late nineteenth century. Catherine was the eldest of 13 children (8 of whom survived infancy) born to Roxana (Foote) Beecher and…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Emily Chase Warren

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Wife of Union General Gouverneur Warren Image: Emily Chase, soon to be Mrs. G.K. Warren New York State Library On St. Valentine’s Day 1862, Emily Forbes Chase met Gouverneur Warren at a party in Baltimore, and they fell in love. She was twenty-one at the time. The couple were married on June 17, 1863, and two weeks later General Warren was defending Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. Emily Forbes Chase was born on September 16, 1840, the oldest of four children of a prosperous dry-goods merchant, Algernon Sydney Chase, who settled in Baltimore in 1850. In the spring of 1861, Emily’s mother, Mary Augusta Chase, became famous for defiantly flying the Stars and Stripes from the family…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Kate Corbin Pendleton

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Wife of Confederate Officer Sandie Pendleton Early Years Katharine Carter Corbin was born in July 1839 at the Laneville estate in King and Queen County, Virginia, the daughter of James Parke Corbin, whose family had lived in the Rappahannock River valley for generations. Richard Corbin succeeded Lord Dunmore and served as royal governor until the beginning of the American Revolution. Kate and Sandie Pendleton Alexander Sandie Pendleton was born September 28, 1840, near Alexandria, Virginia, the only son of Episcopal minister and future Confederate General William Pendleton and his wife Anzolette Elizabeth Page Pendleton. Sandie spent his childhood in Maryland until his father became rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, Virginia in October 1853. In 1857, Sandie Pendleton graduated…

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Civil War Women, Women Doctors

Esther Hill Hawks

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Doctor and Teacher for the Freedmen’s Bureau Unable to serve as an Army Surgeon because of her gender, Dr. Esther Hill Hawks educated newly freed slaves on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After the war, she established Florida’s first interracial school, but in January 1869 her new schoolhouse was torched; she returned to New England to practice medicine. Esther continued teaching after the colony’s decline, but in January 1869 a new schoolhouse was torched and in 1870 she returned to New England to practice medicine. Early Years Esther Hill was born on August 5, 1833, the fifth child of Parmenas and Jane (Kimball) Hill, in Hooksett, New Hampshire. After she finished public school she went on to an academy at…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Louisa Hawkins Canby

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Civil War Nurse and Wife of General E.R.S. Canby Louisa Hawkins Canby, wife of Union General Edward Richard Sprigg (E.R.S.) Canby, was named the Angel of Santa Fe for her compassion toward the cold and wounded Confederate soldiers who occupied Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1862. She not only nursed the Rebel troops, but also showed them the location of the blankets and food her husband had ordered to be hidden before he and the Union troops left the city. Image: Louisa Hawkins Canby Early Years Louisa Hawkins, was born December 25, 1818 at Paris, Kentucky to John and Elizabeth (Waller) Hawkins. Relatives and close friends always called her Lou. Raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana, at age 19 Lou met the…

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Abolitionists, Civil War Women, Famous Wives

Helen Benson Garrison

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Abolitionist and Wife of William Lloyd Garrison While her husband got all the glory, Helen Benson Garrison was an abolitionist in her own right. She raised funds for the American Anti-Slavery Society in many ways, particularly as a manager of the annual Boston Anti-Slavery Bazaar. Helen Benson was born on February 23, 1811 in Providence, Rhode Island to George and Sarah Thurber Benson. At the June session of the General Assembly, in 1790, an “Act to incorporate certain Persons by the Name of the Providence Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, for the Relief of Persons unlawfully held in Bondage, and for improving the Condition of the African Race” was passed. Helen’s father, George Benson, became an active member…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Sally Tompkins

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Civil War Nurse and Hospital Administrator Captain Sally Tompkins was a Civil War nurse, humanitarian and philanthropist who founded a Confederate hospital in Richmond, Virginia. During the war she cared for 1,333 Confederate soldiers in her hospital with only 73 deaths – the lowest mortality rate of any military hospital – establishing the remarkable record of returning 94% of them to service. Image: Sally Tompkins Stained Glass Window St. James Episcopal Church Richmond, Virginia Depicts Tompkins with her medical bag around her waist and a Bible in her hand with the Angel of Mercy to guide her. Above the center panel is a picture of the Robertson Hospital, and below are scenes depicting Captain Tompkins caring for wounded soldiers. Early…

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Civil War Spies, Civil War Women

Confederate Women Spies

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Women Spies for the South Although the exact number is unknown, it is speculated that several hundred women served as spies and smugglers for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Whatever their duties, these new jobs redefined their traditional roles as housewives and mothers and made them an important part of the war effort. Confederate military leaders actively recruited women for undercover operations, mainly because of their familiarity with local customs and geography. Many women spies in the South remained at home, supplying critical information about the daily activities of nearby soldiers and military leaders. Southern belles invited enemy officers to their parties, hoping to pick up some new tidbit of information. As the Civil War unfolded, there was…

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