The Women of the Confederacy

by J. L. Underwood

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO “THEIR CAUSE”

In no sense does the author offer the suggestions in this section as an apology for the course of Southern women or men in the war between the States. They are presented simply as a part of history, showing the political principles which guided and moved the South in the momentous struggle. They explain the lofty zeal and heroic fortitude of the Confederate women. They cannot be attributed to partisanship or sectional bias on the part of the author, for sufficient quotations are herewith presented from well-known Northern, English, and Continental public men to show that if there is an extreme Southern view it is held by other people as well as by our own.

Right or wrong, each Southern man in the field and each woman at home, toiled in that war with a mens sibi conscia recti. It was a movement of the people. In the ranks of the army were found hundreds of college graduates and men carrying muskets whose property was valued at a hundred thousand dollars, and at home the rich and the poor women toiled with equal zeal for the cause so dear to their hearts.

“WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER”

Mrs. W. W. Gordon, of Savannah, the wife of the brave ex-Confederate officer who was commissioned brigadier general by President McKinley, and served with distinguished gallantry in the Spanish War, had kindred in the Federal army, which under Sherman captured Savannah. As the troops were entering the city she stood with her children watching them as they marched under the windows of her Southern home. Just then the splendid brass band at the head of one of the divisions 247 began to play the old familiar air, “When this cruel war is over.” Just as soon as the notes struck the ear of her little daughter this enthusiastic young Confederate exclaimed, “Mamma, just listen to the Yankees. They are playing, ‘When this cruel war is over,’ and they are just doing it themselves.”

NORTHERN MEN LEADERS OF DISUNION

In 1860 it was plain to the world that the people of the North were determined to spurn the compact of union with the Southern States and to deny to those States all right to control their own affairs. Here are the sentiments of the Northern leaders:

“There is a higher law than the Constitution which regulates our authority over the domain. Slavery must be abolished, and we must do it.”—Wm. H. Seward.