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In every echelon of society Americans mourned the fate of the Union. The governor of North Carolina, Zebulon Vance, who had pled for the preservation of the Union, "slowly and sadly (fell) to the side of a Secessionist", when he heard the news of the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The state sent nearly its entire military-age male population to war, along with a disproportionate amount of money, food, equipment and other commodities. The wives, mothers and daughters of Wilmington's men remained behind after many of the men left to fight. As the war escalated, the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina played a significant role in supporting southern troops in their efforts. The city of Wilmington and its citizens suffered the adversities of the war, the devastation of disease and the ensuing occupation after the fall of Fort Fisher on January 16, 1865. What was the reaction of the women left behind in Wilmington? How did they support the war effort and how is their participation in the War Between the States documented in history?

The women left behind constituted a majority of the civilian population in the city and were joined by an influx of refugee women and children from areas that were closer to the fighting. Conscription had taken the labor force from North Carolina farms that was necessary for the care of the families the soldiers left at home, and as such, many women had no choice but to leave their homes or starve. Governor Vance petitioned the President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis, attempting to secure exemptions or furloughs for men to return to their farms for planting and harvest. His requests fell on concerned but necessarily unresponsive ears. North Carolina men were needed for the fighting, and they could not return home. Unable to depend on male leadership, women had to assume the traditionally masculine responsibilities of planning for their families' futures. Wilmington women assumed many roles throughout the war, some that were determined to be crucial to the war effort. Every tier of the social strata was represented in the city, from the destitute to the wealthiest, and each had an impact on Wilmington's contribution to the Confederate cause.

As the fighting escalated in 1861 and into 1862, many areas throughout the South came under Federal fire. The Cape Fear region however, became a haven for thousands of women and children trying to escape the Union forces. The Cape Fear River, three functioning railways and a comfortable distance from the battle-zone made Wilmington a refugee destination. Displaced women and their families from throughout the south came to the area in search of commercial opportunities, employment, public or private assistance and sometimes passage out of the Confederacy to foreign countries. The arrival of these families, many without resources to provide for themselves, created population problems in the city. Although there was lodging and sustenance available for those with the means to pay for them, many women had escaped their homes with few possessions, and usually anything of value had been confiscated by Union troops, commandeered for use by the Confederacy, or already sold to pay for necessary supplies. They had no choice but to seek relief within the city from any source available. These women arrived in Wilmington searching for some means of survival and in trying to solve their economic problems, they unintentionally built a welfare state.

Women of the Confederacy sought government intervention to provide the support they did not have in their efforts to solve the growing economic problems of their families. Volunteer associations like the Soldier's Aid Society looked to the Confederate and North Carolina governments to provide for the increasing population of indigent women and children that continued to arrive in Wilmington. The State Assembly provided relief expenditures when it became obvious that local aid efforts were insufficient. They allocated $3.5 million over the first two years of the war, and on February 10, 1863 a second pension law allocated $3,000,000 to indigent soldiers families in North Carolina, providing some relief for the needy women. Wilmington aid societies received a proportionate amount of this funding for the poor, but Wilmington women had their energies focused on needed war materials and wounded soldiers. Many felt little concern for the refugee women and their families. In fact, organizations in the city ministering to refugee needs were much fewer in number than those assisting soldiers. It is possible that the harsh reality of the indigent women was a too blatant reminder of what could happen to Wilmington's society class if they were to face Federal troops, therefore these women were quietly ignored. One of the few people recognized for charity to the refugee population was Mary Ann Buie, a wealthy philanthropist. An editor wrote about Miss Buie in the Daily North Carolinian just before the end of the war,"...(she) has sought out refugees and indeed has been a true friend. She has paid out of her own purse many dollars and given the hungry and half-starved little ones bread to prevent starvation." Public opinion of refugees in the city began to change from polite disregard to open hostility by 1862. A major factor in this opinion change was the devastation of a yellow fever epidemic that struck Wilmington in the Fall that year.

Blockade-runners, outsiders from Europe, Nassau and other ports of the Confederacy brought much-needed supplies and luxury items into Wilmington. But they were also blamed for the outbreak of fever, specifically those aboard the steamer Kate, which arrived in Wilmington on August 6, 1862. The epidemic shrank the population of the city down from over 10,000 to under 4,000 as many fled to the country, and then the disease killed an estimated 1,500 people before the first frost of the year. The port was empty of the usual traffic as ships avoided the city to prevent infection from the disease. One young woman described a beautiful, yet desolate scene, "For the entire month (of September) the sky was … as deeply, darkly beautifully blue, such as overhangs the shores of Italy…but it was a city of silence and gloom impenetrable." It was unknown at the time that mosquitoes and not humans transmitted the fever, and that the outsiders in the city were not at fault. Blaming the Kate satisfied the citizens of Wilmington and they concentrated on salvaging the lives that remained.

Women in the city nursed the sick and dying, while continuing to care for the daily needs of their own families. Many volunteered as nurses in the public hospital established in an effort to quarantine the most severe cases, and others worked for physicians making house calls. When the worst was upon them, Wilmington's society women gathered as a group to coordinate the victims' burials. In a common grave area a few hundred feet within the gates of the public cemetery on the outskirts of the city, hundreds were buried in rows marked by numbered stones or in a mass grave when many were dying too quickly to efficiently provide separate burials. The efforts made to secure the land from the city and provide markers for the gravesites were coordinated by the Ladies Memorial Society of Wilmington. Even as members of their own families suffered from the fever and many of the women themselves fell ill, the Ladies Society served the community of Wilmington in a time of desperate need. After the epidemic had passed many residents who had evacuated returned to their homes. The Confederacy began to rely more heavily on the port at the Cape Fear River as all other Confederate ports fell one by one into Union possession, so blockade running traffic increased again, as well as the influx of foreigners to Wilmington, raising population levels.

For the right price housing was readily available in Wilmington to the incoming population during the war. Much of the availability stemmed from empty homes of those who had evacuated to other areas for the duration of the yellow fever epidemic. Many chose to stay away until the end of the war and thus rent out their homes in the city. The demand for housing provided many women an excellent opportunity to develop business skills, and so women entering the real estate market on their own made other rentals available. Wealthy women were renting rooms in their large empty homes, as much for company as to finance their standard of living in an inflationary wartime economy. Southern businesswomen in town rented out their homes, choosing to live with friends or family or relocating to their country homes. Many were more likely to rent to transient borders, like the blockade-runners, rather than permanent tenants as there was no authority over the rents they charged and owners could raise prices without justification or notice. J.T Watts, a speculator who spent much of his time in Wilmington, found that he had to find cheaper accommodations in July of 1864, as hotel prices were as high as $1200.00 per month. Wilmington women were profiting greatly from their real estate enterprises, but females were not allowed to rent hotel rooms within the city unless accompanied by a male member of the family until the summer of 1863. One advertisement, which ran in the Wilmington Daily Journal, read, "Pleasant rooms and comfortable bedding for Gentlemen only, at the Confederate Eating House." As more and more women entered the city, and less men, the customs relaxed and hotels were advertised as open to women. After a time an ad in the newspaper was listed as "To the public, the City Hotel in Wilmington is open again, Ladies and Gentlemen welcome." By this time women began to gain some social acceptance for their increasingly visible roles within the Wilmington community.

One of the most honored women in Wilmington during the war was Elizabeth Catherine deRosset, the wife of a prominent Wilmington physician, Dr. Armand J. deRosset, whose home still remains on Second Street in Wilmington. She was president of the Soldiers' Aid Society for the duration of the war as well as a prominent member of Wilmington society. One of her biographers remarked that many said of Elizabeth deRosset, "she ought to have been a General", as she was a leader of society, "yet ever alive to the wants and sufferings of the poor and needy." The Soldiers' Aid Society was organized early in the war and did its benevolent work with ceaseless energy. As the wife of a revered member of the community and with six sons and three sons-in-law fighting for the Confederacy, it is no surprise that this strong woman took it upon herself to organize the ladies of Wilmington society in their efforts to assist the troops. It seems she was also concerned with the morality her charges. "Pressures of the war opened up new and unconventional … opportunities for flirtation." she wrote to her husband, saying she would assist the troops and keep "idle minds occupied". Her ladies gathered daily at City Hall to sew haversacks, cover canteens, make cartridges for rifles, sew powder bags for the columbiads, and canvas bags to fill with sand for defenses at Fort Fisher. There was also quite a large group of recent German immigrant women within the city who entered into the work of the society, giving their money as well as their time to help the Confederate effort in Wilmington. Elizabeth deRosset inspired many women in Wilmington to give their energy and resources to assist Confederate soldiers who passed through the city.

Mrs. deRosset's efforts did not cease there, however, as she designated one room of her house as a storeroom in order to keep the troops entering Wilmington as well fed as she could. The Society provided meals to the troops at the train depot at no charge. Soldiers wrote home that many of the dishes that were provided for them could be found in no other place in the Confederacy. Through the Society's efforts, the Wayside Home was established, where passing soldiers could stop for rest or receive food and lodging. To tend to the spiritual needs of the troops in the area the ladies supplied bibles, prayer books and hymnals. They saw to many of the material needs of the soldiers in the area. For example, the Bladen Guards stationed at Fort Fisher in 1861 thanked the Society in a letter to the paper for a supply of mattresses, towels, quilts, sheets and blankets sent to them along with "wines and cordials for hospital use". Elizabeth deRosset worked in the hospitals, nursing the sick and the wounded and was the first to suggest the creation of the Ladies Memorial Association, "for perpetuating the remembrance of those who died for our cause."

The efforts of the deRosset women were not concentrated solely in the person of Elizabeth Catherine deRosset, as her daughter-in-law proved to be of the same mettle. Mrs. Louis H. deRosset, with her infant daughter, Gabrielle, boarded the Lynx at Wilmington to go to Nassau, where her husband (a Confederate agent who had successfully ran the blockade) lay ill with yellow fever. At New Inlet the Lynx was detected and attacked. She handed her daughter to a deckhand and jumped overboard, managed to obtain a sure footing in the shallow water and had her baby tossed to her. She succeeded in escaping, and the commandant at Fort Fisher, Colonel William Lamb, sent a mule drawn cart to bring her to the fort. Later she boarded the Tallahassee and successfully ran the blockade to reach her husband and nurse him back to health. The efforts of the women of this prominent family have been well documented in the annals of city history, but as was common during the 19^th Century, these important women were known primarily as the wife of someone, rather than by their first names. It is unfortunate that those who chronicled this history did not record that information.

There were some women from Wilmington history of whom intimate details have been preserved. Philanthropist Mary Ann Buie was a wealthy, "outspoken liberated female college graduate who badgered people in the streets for donations". She was considered an eccentric, but was loved by the troops and acquired the sobriquet, "the Soldier's Friend". She outfitted an entire unit of Confederate soldiers at her own expense and traveled during the war, attending the sick and distressed and soliciting funds for relief work. The troops at Fort Fisher raised $135, which they sent to her, with the request that she buy Christmas dinner for the sick soldiers in Wilmington in 1864. That dinner never occurred as that day Federal forces launched their first attack on Fort Fisher and the defenses of Wilmington. Miss Buie was a strong advocate for aiding the troops in whatever way possible, and resorted on numerous occasions to embarrassing wealthy citizens into donating to her cause. In the summer of 1863, a letter from Buie was published in the Wilmington paper,

Mary Ann Buie was most disturbed with those who outwardly displayed all that they had, while ignoring those around them that had nothing. One of those women was the wife of the commander at Fort Fisher, Mrs. William Lamb.

Sarah Anne "Daisy" Chaffee was William Lamb's wife, and although quite the southern young lady, she made choices during her stay in Wilmington which removed her from the social graces of Wilmington society. As the area commander's wife she was offered Orton Plantation as her residence, but refused it, as her husband was at Fort Fisher, and she elected to have a beach hut built there so that she could be near him. Despite the modest home she insisted upon, she demanded luxury goods instead of simpler foods, and her unabashed hoarding and speculating made her a social outcast. In her defense, she would entertain blockade-runner captains as the wife of the area commander and was able to keep her pantries well stocked through them, which was not an uncommon occurrence during the war for women with social standing,

Wilmington was not without it's feminine war heroes as well. The city's history claims Rose O'Neal Greenhow as its own. She was a Confederate spy who's infamy led her to be imprisoned several times at Washington's Capitol Prison as a war criminal. Known as "Rebel Rose", she was returning to Wilmington, via Nassau from Europe aboard the steamer Condor. She carried many dispatch cases for President Davis as well as a leather pouch filled with donations to the Confederacy in gold, which she wore around her neck. The Condor beached in the channels on September 30, 1864 as a result of efforts to evade the blockading fleet. Fearful she would be captured and returned to a Union prison, Greenhow requested a dinghy to take her ashore. The small boat capsized near the shore in rough waters, and she was drowned. When a young soldier found her body on the beach it was said that there was a large amount of gold sewn into her gown, presumably for safekeeping until she reached Richmond, VA. She was buried with great ceremony and honor at Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, and the Ladies Memorial Association erected a memorial over her grave in 1888. Although Rose Greenhow was not a native of the city, because she is buried here, she is one of the many war heroes Wilmington proudly claims.

In a more domestic capacity, many women supported the Confederacy with whatever resources they were able. Mary Louise deBrutz Reston, a Wilmington resident, picked pokeweed berries to make ink to sell to soldiers. She wrote, "I kept house, attending to the making of butter for the entire family and a good supply for market, did all the sewing for my family making all my babies pretty clothes... I also made gallons of vinegar for market." She supervised her husband's salt works in his absence, as well. The salt works became a vital cottage industry that sprang up due to shortages during the war. At the conclusion of the first attempt on Fort Fisher in December 1864, more than 100 Wilmington ladies, loaded with baskets, visited the fort and offered the choicest food they could prepare for the soldiers, attempting to provide encouragement to the troops. Colonel William Lamb expressed his appreciation for their kindness when the feast was over and assured them that his men would freely give their lives to defend their homes from the invader. For the citizens of the city, the women formed the Wilmington Library Association that opened shortly after the start of the war. It provided a way for educated citizens to get reading material. The society ladies collected their books from private libraries and overseas shipments and many times had to recall books so that there would be enough to go around to all citizens who requested them. These acts of kindness and concern provided the women ways to feel less helpless in the difficult time of war, and provided the city with some semblance of normal activity.

Another effort undertaken to maintain a modicum of society was to continue in the education of children. There were many schools open throughout the war educating the city's youth, both public and private. During the entire war period Wilmington ranked among the first in the state in regards to educational activity. Enrollment was maintained near pre-war levels and in fact, the amount of money that was collected in the county for education increased from $15,339.99 in 1859 to $17,109.92 in 1863. The schools contributed to the Confederate cause as they put on programs consisting of "dialogues consisting of interspersed vocal music" which benefited the Soldiers Aid Society in their assistance to the troops in the area. The educational programs in Wilmington were not want for dedicated teachers during or after the war.

The women of the community held many of the teaching positions in the schools, except at the most prestigious academies. Fannie Ransom Williams was a teacher, and opened her own school in the city. She was the daughter of Robert Ransom, also an educator and the general who commanded the 1^st North Carolina Cavalry. General Robert Ransom and his wife opened a girls boarding school just prior to the beginning of the war and Mrs. Ransom, her first name is unknown, continued in her vocation of educating young ladies in her school during the war. She was a wealthy woman who gave of her resources to help outfit her husband's cavalry soldiers, as well. It is documented in her personal journal that many of her dozens of suits of linen underwear, shirts and other items, she scraped to make bandages for use in the hospital. Mrs. Ransom provided much needed morale boosters to the 1^st North Carolina, as her husband's troops required them. For example, when the regiment received orders to the front lines around Manassas, VA she presented a hand embroidered silk flag she had made to the troops. This became the 1^st North Carolina Battle Flag. As part of the ceremony "she requested that the flag never be surrendered," and it never was. After the loss at Appomattox, one of General Ransom's men wrote, "they never surrendered it, but sunk it in the river." Many of the women who taught school during the war held this double duty of educator and dutiful wife, as near to a modern working woman as a 19^th century wife could be. These women have had their memory honored in the volumes of history written during the war because they were Confederate patriots and educators of the city's children.

The women of Wilmington have, over the years, honored the soldiers as well, for their contributions during the Civil War. For example, the Ladies Memorial Association, in 1867, requested the plot known as "Section K" to be used as a central plot for the interment of Confederate Veterans. These men were previously buried in the public grounds at Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery and in various places around the county, many buried where they fell. Between three hundred thirty-five and five hundred fifty unknown Confederate soldiers were placed in this plot and the Association erected the Memorial to the Confederate Dead on the hill above, overlooking the entrance to the cemetery and "keeping it safe". The Ladies Memorial Association also erected a Memorial to Confederate Heroes in the median at Fifth Street in downtown Wilmington in 1872. Cannons that were captured during the war were used for the bronze in the soldier on this monument. It was the honor of the Association to remember those who had fought for the Confederate cause.

Many women merely picked up where their husbands or sons left off, finding ways to feed and clothe their children and continue as best they could during the war and Reconstruction. Others used the wealth they had accumulated to assist soldiers and others in need. For every woman who has been mentioned in the histories of the war, there are countless women who were left unmentioned because they did nothing noteworthy or newsworthy, and were not married to anyone infamous, famous, or important. Their contributions as individuals were small, but their numbers were large, and they had an impact. Shortly after the war ended and Reconstruction had been declared "complete", several groups took steps to recognize those women who gave their husbands and sons, and sometimes themselves, for the Confederate cause. In 1914, on the Capitol grounds at Raleigh, a memorial was presented in honor of these women of North Carolina. Governor Locke Craig said, upon presentation of the statue,"...Its theme is heroism and devotion; the inheritance of the children of the South. The bronze group represents the grandmother, unrolling the eager youth, grasping the sword of his father, the scroll of the father's deeds. The statue is illumined with unfolding meaning." The women honored by the memorial in Raleigh are the women of Wilmington that kept their soldiers clothed, fed and nursed back to health to the best of their abilities and resources. They are the women who preserved the city of Wilmington until the war was over.