Tag: generals wives

generals wives
Civil War Cities, Civil War Women

Civil War Washington DC

• Maggie

Our Nation’s Capital During the Civil War Image: Balloon View of Washington DC Note the unfinished dome on the Capitol Building Washington Defenses When the first inklings emerged early in 1861 that there might actually be a war between the North and South, the residents of Washington DC whose sympathies were with the Union began to feel a little threatened. By the end of April 1861, 11,000 Union troops had arrived in Washington and were put to work in late May building a series of forts and trenches. The appalling Union defeat at First Bull Run July 21, 1861, cemented the idea that a chain of fortifications around Washington was badly needed. The man chosen to oversee the building of…

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Civil War Women, Women Artists, Women in Business

Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau

• Maggie

First Woman to Exhibit Her Art at the Paris Salon Elizabeth Gardner was among the first wave of Americans who sought art training in Paris during and after the Civil War. She was the first American woman to exhibit a painting at the Paris Salon, and the first woman awarded a gold medal there. Her prize-winning painting The Farmer’s Daughter sold April 23, 2010 at Sotheby’s New York for $494,500, significantly more than the $200,000 to $300,000 estimate. Image: The Farmer’s Daughter (1878) By Elizabeth Jane Gardner The painting for which Gardner received a gold medal at the Paris Salon Early Years Elizabeth Jane Gardner was born October 4, 1837 in Exeter, New Hampshire. After attending the Young Ladies’ Female…

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Civil War Women, Famous Wives, First Ladies

Ellen Arthur

• Maggie

Wife of 21st President Chester A. Arthur Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur was the wife of the 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, but she would not join him at the White House. Ellen died on January 12, 1880, before her husband was elected vice president November 2, 1880; and before James A. Garfield‘s assassination would have made her first lady, but she has been honorably credited with the role. Early Years Ellen Herndon, nicknamed Nell, was born August 30, 1837 at Culpeper Court House, Virginia, the only child of Frances Elizabeth Hansborough and naval commander William Lewis Herndon. When her father was assigned to help establish the Naval Observatory in September 1842, the family moved to Washington,…

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Civil War Women, Women Doctors

Oriana Moon Andrews

• Maggie

First Woman Doctor in the Confederate Army Dr. Oriana Moon Andrews was a remarkable woman who served as the first female doctor in the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, she was physician to women and children, but her family had to move so frequently she was not able to establish a consistent practice. Chronic illness and childbirth at an advanced age ended her life much too soon. Image: Dr. Oriana Moon Andrews in 1861 With her husband, Dr. John Andrews Credit: Woman’s Missionary Union Early Years Oriana Russell Moon was born August 11, 1834 the second of seven children born to Anna Maria Barclay Moon and Edward Harris Moon. Oriana lived with her family at Viewmont, a 1500-acre estate…

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Civil War Cities, Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Civil War Fredericksburg

• Maggie

Fredericksburg: City of Hospitals Image: Fredericksburg during the Civil War Prior to the Civil War, Fredericksburg, Virginia was a town of approximately 5000 residents. After the War began, it became important primarily because it was located midway between the Union and Confederate capitals: Washington and Richmond. In early December 1862, during the initial stages of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the town’s civilians were in a quandary. Should they stay or should they go? Many were reluctant to leave their town at the mercy of Union soldiers, horses and war materiel. But as Union troops crossed the river into the town and serious firing began, many townspeople became refugees, fleeing into the countryside of Spotsylvania County. They took shelter in churches…

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Civil War Love Stories, Civil War Women

Fanny and John Brown Gordon

• Maggie

One of the Greatest Civil War Love Stories Image: General John Brown Gordon and Fanny Haralson Gordon Married in 1854, John Brown Gordon and Fanny Harralson Gordon shared a loyal and passionate marriage for nearly 50 years. Fanny accompanied her general throughout the Civil War, and is credited with saving his life on more than once. Marriage and Family Fanny Haralson met John Brown Gordon after he left the University of Georgia in 1854 to study law in Atlanta. He was admitted to the Bar later that year, and began a law practice with Basil H. Overby and Logan E. Bleckly. Through them, Gordon met Fanny Haralson, who was the younger sister of the wives of both partners. Theirs was…

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Authors, Civil War Women, Women in Business

Women of Civil War Waterford

• Maggie

Union Newspaperwomen in Confederate Virginia Image: Lida and Lizzie Dutton During the years preceding the Civil War, Quakers in Loudoun County, Virginia lived in a heated political situation. After their state seceded from the Union, they struggled to remain pacifists in the presence of Confederate troops. But three girl journalists in the town of Waterford had no problem asserting their support for the Union. Educating the Dutton Girls Like most Quakers, John and Emma Dutton of Loudoun County, Waterford, Virginia believed that girls should be as well educated as boys. The Duttons home schooled their daughters Emma Eliza (called Lida) and Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) at home, and encouraged them to exercise full use of their minds. Their cousin Sarah…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women

Women of the U.S. Sanitary Commission

• Maggie

Patriots Who Volunteered to Aid Union Soldiers Image: Men and women volunteers in the backyard of the United States Sanitary Commission depot at Fredericksburg, Virginia The U.S. Sanitary Commission opened hospitals, organized supplies and educated government officials. Women volunteers raised money, collected donations, made uniforms, worked as nurses, cooked in army camps, and served on hospital ships and at Soldiers’ Homes. They organized Sanitary Fairs in numerous cities to support the Federal army and the work of the USSC. Backstory Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election of 1860 triggered South Carolina’s secession from the Union in December 1860; ten other states would follow their lead in the coming months. Women throughout America held their collective breath. Reverend Dr. Henry…

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Civil War Nurses, Civil War Women, Gettysburg

Sophronia Bucklin

• Maggie

Civil War Nurse from New York Image: Sophronia Bucklin Nurse at Camp Letterman General Hospital Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Born in New York State in 1828, Sophronia Bucklin was a seamstress before the war, but put aside her needle and thread to nurse wounded Union soldiers. In her memoirs, In Hospital and Camp: A Woman’s Record of Thrilling Incidents among the Wounded in the Late War (1869), Bucklin recorded her experiences. Eager to do her part for the war effort, Bucklin offered her services as a nurse: The same patriotism which took the young and brave from workshop and plow, from counting rooms, and college hall… lent also to our hearts its thrilling measure, and sent us out to do and dare…

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Civil War Cities, Civil War Women

Civil War Nashville

• Maggie

First State Capital to Fall to the Union Army Image: View of Nashville from the steps of the Capitol Building, with Union artillery in place Nashville, Tennessee was an extremely important city during the Civil War. It was in the top 50 of the most populous cities with 17,000 residents. After Fort Donelson fell to Union troops February 16, 1862, Confederate authorities surrendered Nashville to Union forces without firing a shot. Union Occupation In February 1862, Confederate leadership surrendered two strategic Tennessee forts. A Union Army and Navy team under General Ulysses S. Grant took Fort Henry on the Tennessee River (February 6), and then captured Fort Donelson (February 16), only twelve miles from Nashville. After the fall of the…

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