"Like heaven above us...the spies who loved us...
are keeping all our secrets safe tonight..."

With thousands of men going off to war, women and children on both sides took on the work usually done by men. In the South, women had always run some farms and plantations. During the war, many more did. The same was true of farm women in the North and the West. These women had to try and support their families
through their farming during extremely tough times.

In addition, women on both sides made bandages, knitted socks, and sewed clothing to send to the soldiers. About 3,000 served as nurses. In those days, nursing was a man's job. But so many nurses were needed during the war that women were accepted.On the Confederate side, Sally Tompkins, known as Captain Sally ran a private hospital in Richmond, Virginia. In this hospital she cared for both Confederate soldiers and Union prisoners. Sally Tompkins and her nurses saved hundreds of lives. In recognition of Tompkins's service, President Jefferson Davis commissioned her a captain of  cavalry. Flattered, Tompkins refused all pay but accepted the rank because it enabled her to obtain supplies far more easily than she would have as a civilian.

Women served on both sides in other ways, too. Some carried mail for the armies. Others worked as spies. These are some of the more well-known spies for The Confederacy.  Click their name for their story.

 

Belle Boyd

Rose O'Neal
Greenbow

Antonio Ford

Rhea County Spartans

Loreta Vasquez

 

 
 

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