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When
the Civil War began in April 12, 1861, the armies were ill prepared.
Regiments often required that soldiers supplied their own guns, uniforms
and bedding. Many men caught the
train to battle with a valued patchwork quilt or hand-woven blanket.
Women sent handmade bedding with the men they loved, but when they
realized the rebellion might last longer than 90 days, they quickly mobilized to
form Soldiers Aid Societies. Women
all over the North converted their sewing and social societies into war work.
All too often however, the groups would send totally useless items or
have them delivered to the wrong location.
This trend rippled across the country and soon it became clear that a
central organization of the effort was needed.
At
an informal gathering in New York in April 27 1861, the Women’s Central Relief
Association organized to coordinate the work.
Similar groups sprang up in Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts and
Rhode Island. To assist the women in organizing, several men went to
Washington D.C. to see what other roles citizens could play. One of these men was Dr. Henry Bellows, a Unitarian minister
from New York who was concerned about the needs of the medical corps.
On
June 9, 1861, President Lincoln established the United States Sanitary
Commission, often regarded as the predecessor of the American Red Cross, and
appointed Fredrick Law Olmstead as the general secretary of the twenty-one
member, all-male commission.
The
commission’s charge was to ensure the health and safety of
Union soldiers, but perhaps the most useful role they played was bringing
order to the civilian relief effort. Branches
of the commission were set up in several large cities, where they received
supplies from smaller collection centers. It
is estimated that there were more than 20,000 soldier’s aid societies formed
in the entire country. Donated items were sorted, labeled and shipped in an
organized fashion. During its existence, the U.S. Sanitary Commission received
$5 million in money and the value of $15 million in supplies.
Aid
Societies cut, sewed and knitted thousands of articles for Northern soldiers
during the four years of the war, including at least two hundred and fifty
thousand quilts and comfortables. Among
the top requests for donated items were quilts, "Quilts of cheap material,
about seven feet long by fifty inches wide", or "comfortables 8 feet long, 4
feet wide, of cheap, dark prints, wadded with cotton".
Surviving soldiers’ quilts are extremely rare as many were lost or
destroyed in the heat of battle or burned after they had covered a soldier dying
of a disease. The Sanitary
Commission worked to install washing procedures for hospital textiles and saved
some quilts for a second use by boiling them.
Yet when hospital fields moved on, they often left piles of quilts and
comforts caked with blood and dirt.
Before
the Civil War, experts estimated that for every soldier killed in battle, four
would die of disease. The efforts
of agencies like the U.S. Sanitary Commission lowered these statistics to two
Union soldiers dying of disease for every one who fell in battle.
Huge
battles in the summer of 1862 drained supplies. By the summer of that year, nearly one million soldiers
served in the Union army. The army
had a sickness rate of one-seventh of its total (about 10,000 sick and wounded
soldiers filled the hospitals, almost totally dependent on gifts for their
supply of special foods, bedding and hospital clothes.
Women set aside frivolous needlework and responded to the increased
needs. Throughout the fall and
winter of 1862-63, the demand for bedding such as sheets and quilts continued.
By the final winter of the war, hospitals found the supplies of quilts
most welcome and "by far preferable to the rough woolen blankets"
Northern
families found it increasingly difficult to supply all the needed items.
To help raise funds, the women decided to try their traditional
fundraising techniques on a grand scale. Beginning
in the fall of 1863 they organized
great Sanitary Fairs in cities across the country.
The first fair was in Chicago on Oct. 27, 1863 and raised $78,000,
setting off a chain reaction. Fairs
sprang up all over the country, the largest one, the New York Metropolitan Fair
in April 1864 raised $1,200,00. This
series of Sanitary Fairs raised an amazing $4,500,00 for the cause.
Fairs
became regional, social events cultivating patriotism, linking the humble
farmers with the crème de la crème of metropolitan society in a concerted
effort to make each city’s fair a
huge success. Although patriotic
women had set aside fancy needlework when they turned to making garments and
hospital items, the great fairs were an excuse to do fancy work once a gain.
People made and bought frivolous items without feeling guilty because the money
raised went to a worthy cause. Quilts
ranked among the more expensive items made and donated to the fairs. Records kept showed that donors placed value on the articles
they gave. Women valued their
quilts from $1.75 to $5.00. Some of the more fancy quilts, such as a silk log
cabin quilt were valued at $50.00.
Using their traditional skills, women moved onto a new plane of responsibility. They became interested in causes outside the home and their immediate circles and they experienced a self-confidence that had come from successfully completing a hard task. Women also began to see the power of networking with one another across social, class and regional lines. Many leaders of this volunteer home army would go on to provide leadership for other causes of social reform such as women’s rights and suffrage. From 1861 to 1865, women used their traditional skills to make thousands of quilts and textile items to help soldiers and the country they loved. In the process they began to change the paths that they would follow.
Sharon
Roberts is a veteran civilian reenactor in the RACW. She coordinates
the activities of the RACW Sanitary Commission and assists with orientation
for new civilian members. She can usually be found working on her latest
quilt, or teaching others the art of quilting. Each year the Sanitary
Commission completes a lovely reproduction Civil War era quilt, which is raffled
off to a lucky winner each fall.
Sharon is an avid quilter, and is a professional speaker on the subject of Civil War quilts. When she is not reenacting or quilting she works full-time as a Social Worker Supervisor for Tehama County.
