What role did the wives of North Carolina soldiers play in the Civil War?
Most men had tilled the land as yeoman farmers before the war. Once they left and entered the army, the job of operating the family farm fell on their wives. Although women had always done laborious farm work, they found unfamiliar their new roles as managers and decision makers. Women had to determine when to plant and harvest crops and how much the harvest should be sold for on the market. In an era when the safety net of public welfare did not exist, failure to successfully bring in a crop could spell disaster for a family. The war also provided women the opportunity to receive pay for their skills. Hundreds of wives and widows of North Carolina soldiers labored in textile mills or made uniforms at home through piecemeal contracts. Other women worked as paid or volunteer nurses in military hospitals, and thousands banded together in volunteer groups known as Ladies Aid Societies to provide food and items of comfort for soldiers.
