The Women of City Point, Virginia, 1864–1865

After more than three years of grim fighting, General Ulysses Grant had a plan to end the Civil War—laying siege to Petersburg, Virginia, thus cutting off supplies to the Confederate capital at Richmond. He established his headquarters at City Point on the James River, requiring thousands of troops, tons of supplies, as well as extensive medical facilities and staff.
Nurses flooded the area, yet many did not work in medical capacities—they served as organizers, advocates and intelligence gatherers. Nursing emerged as a noble profession with multiple specialties. Drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, this history covers the resilient women who opened the way for others into postwar medical, professional and political arenas.

Jeanne Marie Christie is a professor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. While conducting independent research with The National Parks Service she created the exhibit No Place for a Woman and authored articles in Virginia Cavalcade, The Journal of Women’s Civil War History and The Journal of Confederate History. She lives in Bethel, Connecticut.

Jeanne Marie Christie

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 281
Bibliographic Info: appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7877-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3734-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments viii
Preface 1
1. “Sisters, Sisters” 5
2. Women Within the Safeguard 12
3. Nameless No More: Contraband Women 22
4. Government Nurses 34
5. Independent Nurses 55
6. Women of the United States Christian Commission (USCC): Prayers and Dinner 72
7. Women of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC): The Art of Networking 92
8. State Agents: Logistics, Supplies and Catfights 114
9. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Front: Incidents of Harassment and Humor 126
10. Officers’ Wives: Parties and Swishing Silks 140
11. Homeward Bound Journey 153
Appendix: Weather for 1864–1865 233
Chapter Notes 240
Bibliography 255
Index 265