HIstorical Figures of the Civil War

Dorethea Lynde Dix

Apr 4, 1802

Wartime leader of the Union's Women Nurses, Dorothea Dix set a quiet example of indomitable efficiency; Her standards were so high that many volunteers were turned away from battlefield postings. A schoolteacher by training, she later became an ardent crusader for reforms in treatment of the mentally ill in prisons, asylums, and elsewhere

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Jun 14, 1811

Her popular novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, published a decade before the Civil War, helped change the way many Americans felt about slavery, and is forever linked to the abolitionist "fever."

Mary Ann Bickerdyke

Jul 19, 1817

Became known simply as "Mother Bickerdyke" to thousands of Union soldiers, famous for her ability to bypass bureaucracy, scrounge together supplies, and help run army field hospitals

Clara Barton

Dec 25, 1821

Recognizing the soldiers’ dire need for medical supplies, Barton began orchestrating donations and distributing necessary medicines and materials. Years later, the diminutive nurse went on to found the American Red Cross, affiliated with the International Red Cross.

Mary Boykin Chesnut

Mar 31, 1823

Acclaimed diarist and wife of one of South Carolina's leading politicians, Mary Chestnut used her intellect and social status to chronicle the events and personalities of the war.