The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-01-25
THE WOMEN OF THE CONFED-
ERACY.
FIRST PAPER.
kate Fields Washington.

kate Fields Washington
In the struggle for independence the
South waged a double war: a war
against the Federal forces in front, and
a war against want in the rear. The men
fought one; the women the other; fought
it, as one lady says, with no host but
their own emotions, no ordnance but for
titude, and only the tactics OF engenulty
and endurance" Some account OF this
almost unwritten war, which called for
no less courage and even more fOrtitude
than the one with which history is busy,
| shall attempt to give.
The status OF woman in the old South
was unique. The Greek hOnOred woman
that she was beautiful; the Frenchman
of the old regime that she was witty;
the Southerner that she was weak-that
she was woman. And as the Greek
woman excelled in beauty and the French
woman in wit, so the Southern woman
excelled in womanliness.
The beginning of the sixties found the
gentler sex at the South still occupying
the pedestal on which chivalry placed 1T.
1t was as if the old Teutonic belief in the
divinity OF woman had struggled down
through the ages to find here its last
home Nowhere else was the same re-
spect and delicate consideration accorded
her Nowhere else was she as sedulously
shielded from all that could roughen or
harden; all that could destroy the dain-
tiest bloom of refinement and wOmanly
modesty. To this she responded by be-
coming apparently the most helpless and
dependent of beings, loath to leave
room without an attendant and afraid
to 60 out of sight of home without a
,,oJo o,oort Nouboro olco uoc tho aimila
of the tree and the vine as aptly illus
trative OF the relations of the sexes.
Wherever Anglo-Saxon womanhood had
it's strong root and stem, it had here
only it's flower, we said. And yet, as the
event proved, it needed only the iron
touch of necessity to convert all this
weakness into strength, this timidity
into courage, this dependence to indie
pendence.
The spring and summer OF 1861, the
gala days of the Confederacy, flew by on
golden wings Fate, as if half repentant
and seeking to make amends for what
she had in store for us, filled them with
passionate Joy. Pride at being the
makers of nation drove us half mad
with delight. Hitherto to Southern
woman politics had been as a thing that
was not. But now so overwhelming was
the tide of enthusiasm that it swept
away all barriers and carried all together
from their moOrings; and with her emo
tiOnal nature, woman the farthest OF all.
Hats and bonnets were stripped OF their
ribbons that secession badges might be
made. Silk dresses were converted into
battle flags and into Innings for military
dress coats, although there was not as
| vet need for such racrifces. If young
man were tardy in enlisting he was pretty
sure to be the recipient of a petticOat, a
| night cap or some feminine gear, as re-
| minder that men were at the front,
| women at home. So intense was the pa
| triotism of mountain dame, who about
| that time gave birth to triplets, that she
named the boys Beauregard and John
ston and the girl Secessia. Miss Cecessia,
| or Mrs Cecessia as she doubtless has
| been this many year, is now a woman
| of thirty and more The proportion in
! which their names are met with, in peO-
| pie of a certain age, is a measure of the
| popularity of the different Confederate
! chieftains.
When a little later the roses of war
| gave place to its thOrns, the zeal OF the
women grew with it. The first wayside
| hospital had it's origin in the endeavors
| of the ladies of Columbia, South Carolina,
! to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded
soldiers carried through that city, and
who, owing to the irregularity and in
sufficiency of the railroad service, were
often compelled to lay over for hours
| and even for days.
Beginning in a very humble manner
during the fall of 1861, in a room of the
station, it's dimensions grew till before
the end of the war more than seventy
| n cd nd M
istered to, all at the expense Of private
Individuals This was the first attempt
to meet the exigencies of the transpor-
tation of wounded men by modern
means. 1t rapidly spread over the whole
South, whence it has been adopted in all
civilized lands.
The weather might be bad, the cars
behind time, as they chronically were in
war times, but train with sick or
wounded men never pulled up to one Of
these functions day or night without
finding the committee of ladies at hand
to see that the suffering men were re
moved from the coaches and borne to
the hospital with all tenderness, where
they were fed, had their wounds dressed
clothes furnished when necessary ant
possible, and kept, till with equal care
they could be deposited on an outgoing
train. One waggish fellow, as an illus
tratiOn of the attention he received, de
clared that on one such occasion hi
. face was washed seventeen times in a!
many minutes, every time by q differen
hand.
Wherever regular hospitals were estab
lished the ladies of the vicinity wer
{ equally active and untiring in minister
ing to the patients. So vast was woman
| hot ~ no lac
drafts of those trOublous times could eX
haust it or impair its quality The las
sufferer for the Southern cause received
the same attention as the first, provide'
, he were fortunate enough to fall int
l her hands. Many high born ladies becam
hospital matrons, devoting their meagr
] salaries to the providing of luxuries, an
r later, of necessaries, for their charges.
Later on larger numbers of wome
reduced from attluence tOpOverty, havin
t lost in battle all to whom they coul
e look for aid, were driven to seek Govern
p ment employment as a means OF hvell
:. hood for themselves and those dependen
. on them. Especially was this the cas-
:. with the refugees who had fled tn
Federal advance, leaving their estates i
the hostile lines, in many cases-as i
the "Sea Island district in South Caro-
!, lima and GeOgia-tO be confiscated an
Il never restored. Yet so strong were thei
sympathies that thousands preferre
7. this to being severed from the Souther
e side. Besides the hospital service, abou
the only other avenues OF bread-winnin
open to women were the government d.
y partments at Richmond, where til
II authorities, though anxious to assis
" them to the utmost, could find emplo.
! ment for only a limited number.
But it is the great body of Souther
n women who, in obscurer capacities, boz
q their full share of the burdens of til
). time,
Unknown to fame. but not to woe,
: of whom would chiefly speak
q From the very beginning of the war tt
IS resources of the Confederate governmel
n in the way OF clothing the troops we
" inadequate, and rapidly grew more s
y Even after each State in its separa
u capacity had done al! that it could,
y large deficiency had to be made up b