THE U.S. CENSUS of 1860 shows that we were a nation of 31,443,321. Roughly, 22 million lived in the North and about 9 million lived in the South. Of these, about 3 million were slaves, so that left a white Southern population of about 5 million.

Department of Defense figures estimate that about 900,000 men served in the Confederate armies (the range goes from 600,000 to 1 million.) When Confederate men left for the battlefront, they left their women at home so we can assume that the white female population of the Confederate states was roughly 2,750,000 (half of the Southern population of 5 million.)

These women supported their men and supported their cause, raised their children, ran their farms, taught their schools, staffed their stores and tended their wounded through four bitter years of some victories--but even more defeats.
Southern women also took responsibility beyond the home: They uniformed their armies, and tended the wounded that battles produced.

Southern women coped all during the war. Inflation was rampant in the South and necessities were soon priced out of the market. Pay for a Confederate Army private started at $11 a month, and although soon raised to $16, was hardly enough to support a family when inflation by the beginning of 1863 made it cost "$7.00 to buy what had cost only $1.00 two years earlier."

The civilian food supply was similarly stretched. In April 1863, several hundred women overwhelmed the town, marched to the governor's mansion and demanded "Bread, bread!" In fact, the plan was to go to the bakeries, and each woman would take one loaf of bread to "feed our starving children."

Jefferson Davis himself had to confront the women and order them home. A few of the ringleaders were arrested, but were quickly released.

But the women had made their point: We need food. The government subsequently distributed food to the needy and prices dropped by half.

Confederate women--a force to be recognized and accepted and appreciated. They bore the responsibility on the home front with determination and valor. They were true heroes of the Confederacy.

***Above article written by Ned Harrison/Greensboro, N.C. A writer specializing in military history. His columns about the Civil War appear regularly in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia newspapers.