At a Glance

Description

Learn about the role of three American women during the Civil War.

Website
Producer
Digital Scriptorium, Duke University

Civil War Women

Portrait, Rose Greenhow, 1863, Civil War Women

These Civil War-era documents relate to three American women of diverse backgrounds and political persuasions. The site includes correspondence and news clippings relating to Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a Confederate spy and Washington socialite, whose espionage work was so appreciated by Jefferson Davis that he "credited her with winning the battle of Manassas"; correspondence, a testimonial, and a pension certificate relating to Sarah E. Thompson, who organized Union sympathizers near her home in the predominately Confederate-leaning town of Greenville, Tennessee, aided Union officers, served as an army nurse, and lectured about her war experiences; and 16-year-old Alice Williamson, a Gallatin, Tennessee, schoolgirl who kept a 36-page diary from February to September 1864 about the Union occupation of her town and atrocities attributed to the invading army.

The materials are accompanied by 500-700 word background essays, images of original documents, and photographs of Greenhow and Thompson. Also contains nine links to additional resources.