The Dawson journal., 1883-09-06
: women of the South

peru eln4tbusiastic over secession.
.,.atad ellta rebellion and that
lfaY' t;ii hate the Yankee" with
Sun .,arness almost personally
l'gl aans Nc The first part OF the
s.; true-the latter an out
f lander. Modern history
u ] asne s,,,' a war in which wives
saIsers psp' and sisters and daugh-
Il any army, were more en-
sstic !. and self-sacrificing.
! a'Ilu men Of the South the war
H. ll5 solation of a political prob
i To 9' the women it seemed an
= Of the North to conquer
5psolate = II the country. They
| landed and earnestly believed that
koutb had long been oppress-
" that the war was to furth-
bridge RI rights and Liberties. s
Srin9 liT0 thus it may be safely
+oj ,.'3 That nineteen out of twen-
'men in the South were Tro.
n , tbeir courage, Spartans in
:, fortitude and Romans in
faith and self-sacriice. Hus-
: and fathers and brothers
made ready for war and CIV
: Toman's blessing, and even
Ebe Confederate conscription
b4en less stringent the able
Ii man who shirked military
ce could not have lived at
4 for the taunts Of the women.
|kstory will never detail the
.'sacrihce and heroic courage
bptbern women. No matter
the right or wrong of the
they believed it was right.
blow fell upon the family
selold early and with full
In Virginia seven out of
! families were without men
a at home within three months
4 the first battle. The wife
Emother gave all she had and
n turned to face further ankle
II There were thousands of
len in the Old Dominion who
4 never laced their shoes or
abed their hair. The slave
Nat hand to obey every nod
Ee women sent their husbands
n sons to the front and then
the question OF food supply.
Rany cases the slaves ran away.
In this occurred the women
into the fields and put in
crops as they could. Where
klayes remained the mistress
sforced to act as her own man
a and Oyerseer and assume all
Bnsibility. There are plenty
Federal troopers still living
d found educated and cultured
Rlhern women welding hoes
plows in the cornfeld
'fn SIX months of the opening
4 E war.
Was the Southern women
y than the provost marshals
echecked desertion and made
sIl4nce odious. The Confed-
q VINO left the front without
y found no welcome outside of
own family. He who came
by authority, and with a
m to attest his bravery in ac-
was a hero until duty COM
n his return. No man ever
night so wild that a South
woman would not face it to
y news to Confederate soldiers.
n woman was a scout and a
If the mother could not 90
daughter was sent If there
no daughter a dispatch or
saGe was hurried off by a ne
n asignal was made. They
to accurately estimate the
RSth OF marching columns, to
\ &alfy one make of guns from
Per IN the batteries, and where
Is and spies could not go the
r. could. 1t was the women
paved Mosby again and again.
sTaS a woman who told Gener-
PCkson r. the exact strength of
Z ederal force at Port ROYAL
Fe he fell upon it in carrying
llS valley campaign. 1t was a
la9 who told Early just how
4 Eidans army was distributed
pedar Creek, and there was
Fely battle on Virginia's soil
"llch women had not some
+ to do as the bearers of in
4 IpaIIon. q Once enlisted in the
| they &. did not know what dis
was. They sent their bedding
/ hospitals, their provision to
|. - anu thelf JeWelrV to q
p OF the Confederate arms in
Ope' When the Confederate
'tLnment y could not furnish ra-
The Confederate women did.
llaEe asked hundreds of Con-
taie 'es soldiers how they made a
. atter the war, and in nearly
|! instance the answer began
Yell. Y H.. my wife, you know"
rs I "; wife had been the power to
\ III IIln up for the new start in
Inc home was in ashes, the
| ofo"n up in briers and the
rDE |. y o,Yerrun with outlaws, bui
.s.,L, ~ He $ words of hope and en-.
cement Y, set the returned
n tO work N;th - iioO