Summary
Hidden amongst the photographs, uniforms, revolvers, and war medals of the Civil War are the remarkable stories of some of the most unlikely heroes -- women.North, South, black, white, Native American, immigrant -- the women in these micro-drama biographies are wives, mothers, sisters, and friends whose purposes ranged from supporting husbands and sons during wartime to counseling President Lincoln on strategy, from tending to the wounded on the battlefield to spiriting away slaves through the Underground Railroad, from donning a uniform and fighting unrecognized alongside the men to working as spies for either side.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In her solid follow-up to Frontier Grit, creative writing instructor Monson tells the stories of women from both sides of the Civil War in "an attempt to rescue from the shadowy corners incredible stories of women from war that remain relevant to our world today." To accomplish this, she alternates thematic chapters with biographical ones focusing on individuals, ending each with a brief list of suggested readings. The biographies zing with personality and page-turning prose, and while some of the subjects-nurse Susie Baker King Taylor, medical doctor Mary Walker, and Union recruiter and abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd Cary-will be well-known to Civil War aficionados, there are less-recognized figures presented as well, among them Anna Ella Carroll, an adviser to the Union government, and Cornelia Peake McDonald, a Confederate diarist. The thematic chapters cover a variety of topics, including cross-dressing women who served as soldiers, medical care, the experiences of enslaved people, and the Native American women whose home regions became war zones and whose male relatives enlisted on both sides. They provide some background information for the biography chapters, but the organization can be haphazard (for instance, seven chapters separate McDonald's story from "Ink of Centuries: The Diarists.") But this entertaining and accessible book is a suitable introduction for readers beginning their foray into Civil War history. Illus. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Finally! The women of the Civil War period receive some strong attention in this excellent collection of biographical sketches. Monson hails from a literary background, and her approach to this enormously overlooked history possesses a dramatic narrative appeal that reflects her novelist expertise. By covering a wide range of the female experience, from soldiers and spies to nurses, diarists, activists, and even a military strategist, Monson succeeds impressively in her mission to consider as many wartime female perspectives as possible. The diversity of her subjects is also outstanding, with profiles of Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Native American women. The background provided for each biographical category is also illuminating, and readers will delight in the utter absence of dull language. History-loving book clubs will find much to discuss here, and students of all ages (especially of women's history) will find it an excellent resource. Don't dismiss this as a routine resource: Women of the Blue & Gray is full of surprises.--Colleen Mondor Copyright 2018 Booklist
Excerpts
The stories we tell are powerful. And they matter. Walk with me through any Civil War museum of this country, and you'll find army uniforms, photographs of soldiers, cannons, personal effects, artillery, percussion rifles, Colt revolvers, and war medals. Here and there, tucked into corners, you may find pieces showing the experience of women. You would never guess from looking at such museums that the vast majority of the people whose lives were impacted by the Civil War were not white, powerful males, but their perspectives are no less a part of what this country went through. If you take the time to dig deeper in a Civil War museum, behind nearly every item you will find a woman's story waiting to speak. You realize the straw hat a man wore to his death was handcrafted by his sister; the "housewife" pouch one man carried was sewn by the hands of his sweetheart, made from the fabric of her dress; women designed and created battle flags, crafted gold epaulets for uniforms, picked cotton to clothe the nation. When soldiers fell on battlefields, they were often cared for by female hands; their locks of hair and personal items were sent by females to relatives; the same items were cherished by females for decades, and finally donated by females in their loved one's memories. If you look beyond the tales you've heard most often, you'll realize that women fought in the war disguised, authored journals that recorded the central events, counseled Lincoln on strategy, organized, fundraised, and financed the war, then created Memorial Associations to commemorate the very history that typically devalued their own contributions, held ceremonies to keep the memories alive, cooked food, coordinated events, and cleaned them all up. They erected monuments, persuaded legislatures to declare holidays, financed churches, comforted veterans when they returned home broken, and listened to them talk for decades about their service. If they'd had the right to do so, they would have deemed themselves business consultants, philanthropists, medical personnel, event coordinators, and psychologists, and they would have been properly compensated. During the Victorian era, when photography exposures were painfully long, it was a common practice to take photographs of children by placing them on the lap of their mother, while she was completely draped in veils. These "Hidden Woman" photos seem a bit strange to modern viewers--the shadowy figure of a person, or a pair of disembodied hands lurking like shadows behind the child. Metaphorically, these photos are an apt representation of history's presentation of women: an obscured figure whose purpose was to support others and remain unseen. Modern historians are beginning to remove that veil, allowing her to step forward, and begin to speak of her own experience in her own words, turning his -story into their -story, presenting a truer, fuller, richer version of what really happened in this country. Excerpted from Women of the Blue and Gray: True Civil War Stories of Mothers, Medics, Soldiers, and Spies by Marianne Monson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
