Woman’s Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience.

BROCKETT, L. P..

$750.00

Item Number: 140052

Philadelphia : Zeigler, McCurdy, 1867.

First edition of this major early history of Civil War women, published only two years after the war’s end, with authoritative accounts of groundbreaking work by Clara Barton and over 80 field nurses. Thick octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 16 steel-engraved portraits and a contributing essay by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In near fine condition. A sharp example.

This important contemporary Civil War history documents the major contributions of women such as Clara Barton in a war that cost the lives of over 600,000 Americans. Following a notable section on Dorothea Dix, Woman's Work notes Barton's bold insistence on loading "an army wagon with supplies… to follow the march of General McClellan" (119)—"the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battlefield." Also prominent is a history of Mary Allen Bickerdyke, who "began a quiet medical revolution… improvising field hospitals wherever needed" (ANB). "She was, in particular, a great favorite with both Grant and Sherman" (176), serving with Grant at the Battle of Shiloh and joining Sherman on his march to Atlanta. In noting their mutual respect, "Sherman and Grant were both credited with the comment that 'she ranks with me" (ANB).