Mothers of invention: women of the slaveholding South in the American Civil War

343 Pages·2004·16.437 MB·English

by  Faust, Drew Gilpin

M O T H E R S O F I N V E N T I O N
The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies

0 1996 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationD ata
The University of Faust, Drew Gilpin.
North Carolina Press Mothers of invention :w omen of the slaveholding South in the
All rights reserved American Civil War / by Drew Gilpin Faust.
Manufactured in the p. cm.
United States ofAmerica Includes bibliographical references and index.
The paper in this book ISBN 0-8078-2255-8 (alk. paper)
meets the guidelines for I. United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Women.
permanence and durability 2. Women-Confederate States of America-History.
of the Committee on 3. Confederate States ofAmerica-History. I. Title.
Production Guidelines ~628.~351 996
for Book Longevity of g73.7'15042-dc20 95-8896
the Council on Library CIP
Resources. 00 99 98 97 5 4
In Memory of
ISABELLA TYSON GILPIN (1894-1983)
CATHARINE GINNA MELLICK (1895-1989)
CATHARINE MELLICK GILPIN (1918-1966)

CONTENTS
Preface, xi
Acknowledgments, xu
Introduction. All the Relations of Life, 3
Chapter One
What Shall We Do?: Women Confront the Crisis, g
Chapter Two
A World of Femininity: Changed Households and Changing Lives, 30
Chapter Three
Enemies in Our Households: Confederate Women and Slavery, 53
Chapter Four
We Must Go to Work, Too, 80
Chapter Five
We Little Knew: Husbands and Wives, 114
Chapter Six
To Be an Old Maid: Single Women, Courtship, and Desire, 139
Chapter Seven
An Imaginary Life: Reading and Writing, 153
Chapter Eight
Though Thou Slay Us: Women and Religion, 179
Chapter Xne
To Relieve My Bottled Wrath: Confederate Women and Yankee Men, 196
Chapter Ten
If I Were Once Released: The Garb of Gender, 2-20
Chapter Eleven
Sick and Tired of This Horrid War: Patriotism, Sacrifice, and Self-Interest, 234
Epilogue. We Shall Never . . . Be the Same, 248
Afterword. The Burden of Southern History Reconsidered, 255
Notes, 259
Bibliographic Note, 309
Index, 313

ILLUSTRATIONS
Women watch the outbreak of war, 14
Flag made for the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, 16
Women prepare their men for war, lg
Women of Confederate North Carolina, 34
White members of the John Minor Botts household, 38
Refugees, 42
Cotton cards, 49
Socks knitted by Mary Greenhow Lee, 50
Lizzie Neblett, 68
Sarah Hughes, 75
Juliet Opie Hopkins, 95
Phoebe Yates Levy Pember, 99
Kate Cumming, 103
Female hospital visitor, 105
Unidentified Confederate couple, 117
John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready Morgan, 119
Confederate wives visiting their husbands, 122
Wia nd Lizzie Neblett after the war, 125
Carrie Berry, 131
Unidentified woman and two Confederate children, 133
Unidentified couple from Texas, 136
Lucy and Nellie Buck, 142
Young Virginia woman, 147
Young woman bereaved by the war, 4 9
Kate Stone, 159
Augusta Jane Evans, 170
Julia Davidson, 183
The Burial of Latane', 189
Mourning women, 190
Confederate women and Yankee men in Savannah, 199
Confederate women and Yankee men in Mississippi, 208
Effects of General Order No. 28,212
Belle Boyd, 216
Confederate woman caught smuggling quinine, 224
JeflPetticoats, 229
Mary Greenhow Lee, 237
Confederate women confront the enemy, 240
Aftermath of battle, 250