Women in the Civil War: On the Battlefield

Although women on both sides played a very pivotal domestic role in the Civil War, some took an even bolder step and enlisted. This post highlights significant women and their role in the conflict, as well as the overall effect the actions and mentality of these women had in shaping the conflict.

Enlistment of women was forbidden in both the Union and Confederate armies. Women were not seen as equals in any respect, which forced the women bold enough to enlist to assume masculine identities and disguise themselves as men. In the war, these women served just like any other soldier, in positions like scouts, spies, prison guards, or cooks. 

My two favorite examples of these incredible women are Jennie Hodgers and Frances Clayton.
 Jennie Hodgers fought as Albert Cashier in Illinois and fought the entire Civil War without being discovered. She ended up living out the rest of her life as a man, receiving a military pension and living in a veteran soldiers' home. The staff at the home kept her secret for quite sometime, even after they discovered that she was a woman. This is incredible- it seems that in this case that she was accepted among her peers, due to a loyalty that transcends gender and is based upon respect for service rendered.


Frances Clayton or Jack Williams, enlisted with her husband in the fall of 1861. She fought alongside him until he was killed in 1862 at the Battle of Stones. According to accounts, he was killed right in front of her and yet she stepped over his body, fixed her bayonet and charged with the other soldiers. Frances was noted to be a capital swordsman and a good fighting man. Because of her choice to serve, she helped in battles and served her country in a way that an estimate of only 400 other women did. Although wounded three times and taken prisoner once, she still remained Jack Williams; she worked hard in her duties as a soldier and sacrificed much to do so.


I believe that these women honestly wanted to fight in the war for similar reasons as men: patriotism, support for their cause, to earn money, to leave home, or to just simply have an adventure. Perhaps an even bigger reason may have been to escape home because they felt trapped or useless, and wanted to make a difference. This represents the mentality that many recruits may have felt, men or women, as well as the naiveness that the war would be majestic and short- it rarely is and certainly wouldn't be in this case.