Ladies


The ladies of the Maine Camp and Hospital Association with 3rd Maine Chaplain Rev. Henry C. Leonard.		Mother Mallet (Lee Dionne) prepares a meal at the Maine Camp and Hospital Association tent.

If you read the history of the Civil War, you may get the idea that women were not involved in the war effort. In fact, women played major roles and provided crucial support for both sides during the Civil War. Through military contractors and directly, women provided food, clothing and housing, as well as ammunition and weapons. They ran businesses and farms - roles that at the time were not usually considered suitable for women. They campaigned for abolition of slavery, women's rights and suffrage, and temperance. They worked as clerks and commissaries for government agencies. Through both formal and informal soldiers' aid societies, women provided the care, materials, and funds to moderate the tremendous death tolls from wounds and diseases in camps. They followed Florence Nightingale's example and demanded better sanitation in military camps and better care in hospitals. Dorothea Dix of Maine organized the first group of paid women nurses for the military. Mary Edwards Walker served as a military surgeon, even being awarded a Medal of Honor.

The ladies of the Third Maine portray some of the diverse women's roles of the Civil War period. Roles vary with the interest of the individual, but all are chosen to be appropriate for women from Maine who would be in or near the Third Maine military camp. These roles include nurse, laundress, Maine Camp Hospital Assoc. volunteer, U.S. Sanitary Commission representative, hospital diet kitchen cook, relatives in search of a missing loved one, officer's family members, wives and children following the army after being displaced from their home, and others.

Your only impression of how women appeared at the time may be from "Gone with the Wind". Ladies in the Third Maine make every effort to represent correct dress for the period - those ringlets and that deep décolletage on Scarlet O'Hara are not true to history. Members research the everyday dress, lives, and activities of the Mid-1800: What did they eat? What were the social conventions? How did they celebrate holidays? The Third Maine Ladies are often in demand for presentations to schools and historical groups.

Just like our sisters in the 1860's, the ladies of the Third Maine take the safety and well-being of the troop very seriously. Part of our time at any event is spent ensuring that the soldiers get plenty of fluids and ice on a hot day. Our "cooling station" for the troops returning from the field after a battle scenario is now imitated by other units in the United States Volunteers. See more about our reputation in the Warning for All Soldiers on the Infantry Information and Training page.