Young women joined in many battles, before it was allowed for them to do so. They gave up families, identities, and in some cases their lives. We and the men who fought in the wars owe these women a great deal. They sometimes served double duty. A lot of women started out nursing the soldiers and for whatever reasons, they joined up in the fight. I never knew Louisa May Alcott was a nurse in the civil war. If you are at all interested in this topic, look up the ladies on the internet. There’s a lot more information than I could put in these small excerpts. It is truly amazing what these women went through. Fortunately, some came back and started families after their ordeal.
X-out means to cross out or mark with an x to x out an error. It seems like these women were x-’d out of history. They were not an error. I never knew so many women served and died defending our country. To not tell our sons and daughters of the heritage that they come from is sad. Whether these people served on the Union or Confederate army, they were fighting for what they believed. It saddens me that the women that served aren’t as well-known as the men. We all learned of Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. These women are being given the recognition that they deserve. The women soldiers gave up their places in society, their careers, and in some cases family. Some women’s families disowned them after they joined up. I’m very happy to see so much information on the internet. However, if kids don’t know there were so many women soldiers, they won’t look. That will be sad.
Sarah was born in New York state in 1843. Each woman had different reasons for enlisting. Sarah didn’t expect to be married, her family needed help, and she didn’t get along with family members. This all led to Sarah dressing as a man, leaving home and traveling to Binghamton, NY, where eventually got a job as a boatman on a coal barge. While she was working on the barge, she was encouraged to join the 153rd Regiment of the New York State Volunteers. She enlisted on August 30, 1862, as Pvt. Lyons Wakeman. She lied about her age because she wasn’t twenty-one. Her unit left for Washington, DC and performed police and guard duties. Only two years later, February 1864, she not only saw combat In Louisiana, but also contracted chronic diarrhea. She was hospitalized, but no one discovered her gender. She died in New Orleans on 22 May 1864. Sarah was then 21.
Elizabeth Van Lew was a prominent member of Richmond, Virginia, society. She was 43-years-old land lived with her widowed mother in a three-story mansion in the Confederate capital. Van Lew took pride in her heritage, but passionately opposed slavery and secession. Elizabeth’s wealthy neighbors celebrated many Confederate victories, however she quietly focused on helping the Union. For four years, she sent intelligence to Union officers, provided food and medicine to prisoners of war and helped plan their escapes, and run her own network of spies. She was the most successful Federal spy of the war. These accomplishments cost Van Lew not only her family fortune but also her place as a member of Richmond’s social elite.
When the Civil War broke out, Sarah Thompson’s husband aligned himself with the Union Army, despite the fact that he lived in Tennessee. He and Sarah spent months organizing Union sympathizers and infiltrating the Confederate ranks in Greeneville. In 1864, her husband, Sylvanius, was ambushed and killed by a Confederate soldier. Sarah wanted revenge and worked laboriously in the Union cause.
Sarah would get through the enemy lines by using the ruse of chasing down her cows that got loose. She would then pass information to the soldiers. After the war Sarah remarried and had children. She received a pension of $12 a month from the government. When she died, she was buried in Arlington cemetary.
“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” 1Corinthians 4:2 NIV
Do you sometimes feel that you aren’t as important as others? I do. Even while I’m praying, I feel that whatever I have to say isn’t as important as someone else’s need. However, if God has put the words in my heart and mind, He trusts me to ask for wisdom and guidance.
When we pray and ask for guidance, God makes our life as important as He needs. When we are faithful to what God requires of us, He helps our lives to be vessels that renew the hearts of other people.
Our life experiences are used by God to help us relate to others. When this happens, we prove ourselves faithful. The greatest requirement we have is to trust God to show His love through our lives. God patiently waits for the proof that we are faithful to His trust in us.
Lord,
Help us to open our hearts and be faithful to You. Help others to experience Your love through our lives. Thank You for Your trust in us.
God set me from the time I was born and called me through his grace. Galatians 1:15
God set me apart from the time I was born and He wanted me. Those words make me feel welcomed and loved. God chose me and called me through His grace. He knew my potential. He waited for me to make the right choices.
As earthly parents, we do the same. We set our children apart from the time they are born. We want only wonderful things for them. Could God want any less? Because He called us, God has only wonderful plans for us. God put the desire to write in our hearts. He wants us to succeed. We should announce his goodness and love with our talents.
Through whatever we write, we need to keep in mind that we are touching another human being. Whether it’s a child, another writer, a parent or a grieving soul, they need to be touched with gentle words. God welcomed us and our talents will welcome others, if we make right choices.
Lord, Help us use our talents to call others into your family. Let them feel your love and kindness through our writing.
