Term Paper on "West Virginia Women During US Civil War"

Term Paper 17 pages (5447 words) Sources: 8

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West Virginia Women During U.S. Civil War

Wild Western Women: Western Virginian Female Involvement in the Civil War of the United States

The Civil War of the United States of America will more than likely always be remembered as one of the most tumultuous events -- and time periods -- in the history of this country. More so than any other region during this particular epoch, West Virginia embodied the violent dichotomy that characterized this land during those fateful years of 1861 to 1865. It should be remembered that during this particular time frame, West Virginia had not achieved its own statehood and was still very much considered an integral component of Virginia proper, which was inextricably linked to the Confederacy in virtually all ways at the onset of this armed conflict. Yet a rash, unpredictable series of events would rapidly overtake this state in the war's early stages and would render it in the possession of the Union for the duration of the war, thereby leaving it, and its western region in particular, in the throes of a dogged conflict of resistance most ardently demonstrated by an unlikely hero: the West Virginian woman.

To properly understand the extremist measures of resistance which Western Virginia and its assortment of heroines repeatedly mounted for the greater part of the Civil War, it becomes necessary to chronicle Virginia's capture and unwilling participation as a Union loyalist territory as early as 1861. Virginia played a large role in many of the opening salvos of this martial affair -- significantly, it did so as a Confederate partisan. On Aril 17, 1861, a mere five days after the Civil War commenced in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, Virginia militia contested possession of the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harper's Ferry by engaging Union forces (West Virginia Division of Culture and History). Additionally, it should be noted that West Virginia in particular facilitated much of the state's early involvement in the Civil War by supplying troops for the Confederate forces, and serving as the site of what many consider to be the initial land battle in the War, which took place on June 3, 1861 when Colonel Benjamin F. Kelley and the First Virginia Provisional Regiment (which would later go on to be known as the First West Virginia Infantry) clashed -- unsuccessfully -- with Union forces led by General George B. McClellan (West Virginia Division of Culture and History).

The proclivity towards defeat would characterize much of Virginia's involvement (overtly, at least) at the Civil War's onset. Similar defeats were suffered at Rich Mountain in mid-July when Union General William S. Rosecrans succeeded in ousting confederate forces, which were primarily headed up by General Robert S. Garnett, from Laurel Hill. The most decisive encounter which would primarily decide the fate for the majority of the northern territory in what today is known as West Virginia, however, began on July 14th when Confederate efforts were again defeated, this time at Corrick's Ford, and which also gave Unionists valuable control of key transportation routes, making it increasingly difficult to supply Confederate forces. The Union's triumph in West Virginia would be completed by the end of the summer of 1861 when it emerged victorious at the Battle of Carnifex Ferry, which successfully delivered Kanawha Valley and the rest of the northern portion of West Virginia under its control.

Due to the fall of West Virginia and its subsequent occupation by Union troops for the vast majority of the Civil War, a zeitgeist of resentment and sedition was instilled among its citizens. These thoughts and feeling were largely exacerbated due to the fact that many of the common citizens who endured this unwilling occupation had relatives and friends who were actively fighting against the Union forces in the Civil War and even in other parts of Virginia. The efforts mentioned in the latter case were frequently spearheaded by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, whose military campaigns were glorified and revered throughout much of West Virginia as efforts to actively "liberate" it from the capture of Union forces. Many of Jackson's overt, martial efforts, would directly inspire and fuel sentiments which would be attributed to the covert methods of resistance taken up by West Virginian women. Both Jackson's success and defeats served as motivation for seditious acts committed by West Virginia's citizens.

His activities in the region known as Shenandoah Valley were particularly followed and even aided by West Virginian supporters. Jackson actually enjoyed a considerable amount of success in his initial forays in the state of Virginia, culminating in a spring in which he advanced as far as Bolivar Heights, which is located west of Harper's Ferry. Along the way he managed to triumph in the Battle of Winchester, occupy the county seat of Franklin, force Union general John C. Fremont to flee from McDowell into Pendleton County, and capture the small town of Romney and effectively blockade portions of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which was a crucial junction for Union supplies (West Virginia Division of Culture and History).

While Jackson's campaign throughout Shenandoah Valley served as a figurehead with which civilian patterns of resistance was based upon, other forms of revolt in West Virginia also fueled such sentiment. Unionist forces prevented the Confederacy from controlling portions of West Virginia for any significant length of time, but they were unable to prevent a series of relatively minor raids in the area from taking place -- all of which merely aided in the spirit of resistance which was so influential to civilians living in this particular region. One of the most successful of these raids was impelled by an Albert Gallatin Jenkins of Cabell County, who succeeded in summoning a force of approximately 550 men from Monroe County (who were not necessarily formal soldiers but who comprised a fair amount of civilian involvement) and capturing Glenville, Buckhannon, Ripley, Weston, and Spencer along the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike-- all the way into Ohio (West Virginia Division of Culture and History). Jenkins' triumph was largely attributed to the fact that Kanawha Valley was an area of weakness for Union forces during the summer of 1862 (especially in August), since they had devoted as many as 5,000 troops to the region of eastern Virginia leading up to the second Battle of Bull Run.

Similar efforts to liberate West Virginia from the control of the Unionists occurred in the middle of September of 1862, some of which directly involved Jackson, who succeeded in capturing Martinsburg to the delight of many West Virginians. Jackson's victory at Martinsburg prompted him to attempt to reclaim Harper's Ferry, which was, at the time, occupied by a force of upwards of 12,000 men headed by General Dixon Miles. Jackson devised a three-pronged attack involving General Lafayette McLaws and General John G. Walker, who converged on the neighboring areas of Harper's Ferry known as Maryland Heights and Loudon Heights, respectively. Their success in these respective regions enabled Jackson to successfully reclaim Harper's Ferry from Miles, in one of the most triumphant moments of the Civil War for Western Virginian Confederate loyalists. The magnitude of this victory, and its resulting effect on the dedication to Unionist resistance of West Virginian civilians in particular, should not be overlooked. There have only been two previous occasions, both of which occurred in World War II, in which larger United States armies have been forced to surrender, at Bataan and Corregidor, respectively (West Virginia Division of Culture and History). Consequently, these triumphs served to sufficiently fuel the sentiment of resistance in West Virginia natives which would become manifested most dramatically, and perhaps even most eloquently, by a number of choice women during the U.S. Civil War.

Nancy Hart

Up until the time of the Civil War, women had a fairly limited role in their involvement with martial affairs. Most women were relegated to nursing positions, opting to stay away from the fronts of particular battles in order to treat the wounded and provide what limited degree of support that they could for those actively engaged in battle. Despite the fact that there were many women who did participate in these somewhat traditional roles in the Civil War, women in West Virginia and in other regions of the country during this epoch increased their level of participation substantially. For what may have been the first time in the history of this county's military engagements, women participated in deciding the outcome of this encounter in ways both direct and indirect. Female spies, guides, and scouts supplemented the nursing roles, particularly in West Virginia where the lengthy legacy of battles and a history of partisanship for the Confederacy would not be willingly overridden by Unionist occupation. This spirit of defiance was exemplified by Nancy Hart, who was still a teenager when she became dramatically involved in West Virginia's liberation movement.

To properly understand how Hart became a symbol of the country backwoods, rugged terrain which typified most of Virginia, with a fiery defiance which served as an… READ MORE

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