Our Southern Ladies of the Civil War Long gowns swept the sidewalks Elegant hats adorned each head Southern ladies gathered to talk Each straining to hear what the other said Their husbands had gone off to war Precious sons soon followed behind These ladies knew not what was in store So each to the other was kind There were benefits and raffles to discuss Bandages had to be cut and rolled Getting prepared was a definite must Hiding treasures before the Yankees stole Relying upon their own wisdom and wit Their work made their men proud Accomplishing each task bit by bit Doing more than Southern ladies were ever allowed Their elegance became but a memory to most As year after year the war grew worse Giving up precious family to the heavenly hosts Without benefit of memorial or hearse They learned much from their experiences Becoming stronger ... as their beloved Confederacy grew weak Now they were prepared to face the upcoming events Of accepting gracefully their historic defeat By Rosalene H. Abrams May 20, 1999 There was a great misconception of the strengths of our Southern Lady in the mid-nineteenth century. Although during the antebellum era, propriety demanded that she mask many of her abilities behind a perfumed lace handkerchief or imported fan, they were simply waiting in readiness for their turn. These abilities were not a well kept secret, for every husband, brother and cousin knew where to turn in their weakest hour of need. She was always there in willing readiness to do whatever she could for the cause of her beloved family, her beloved homeland and her beloved South. These same ladies who would faint prostrate at the mere mention of an off-color indiscretion were the very same ones to roll up their sleeves, shred their fancy petticoats into bandages and labor long and hard beside the physicians as nurses. They were the ones who took the last morsels of their own meager food and cooked it to feed both the Union and Confederate alike because they were hungry and in need. They were the ones who stood over wash pots boiling dirty and infested clothes of the soldiers trying to fight the greatest enemy of both sides of the war, disease. Their reasoning was that perhaps one of their husbands or sons was in some far northern state in an injurious or hungry condition and hopefully with God's will some northern woman would administer to his needs as well. Never under estimate the strength and will of a Southern woman. She has given up much throughout history but she has always persevered, strong to the end. She may be forced to bend but she will never be broken. She will hold her God, her family, her South and her AMERICA tight to her heart as long as time for her endures. Updated March 27, 2002
Our Southern Ladies of the Civil War Long gowns swept the sidewalks Elegant hats adorned each head Southern ladies gathered to talk Each straining to hear what the other said Their husbands had gone off to war Precious sons soon followed behind These ladies knew not what was in store So each to the other was kind There were benefits and raffles to discuss Bandages had to be cut and rolled Getting prepared was a definite must Hiding treasures before the Yankees stole Relying upon their own wisdom and wit Their work made their men proud Accomplishing each task bit by bit Doing more than Southern ladies were ever allowed
Their elegance became but a memory to most As year after year the war grew worse Giving up precious family to the heavenly hosts Without benefit of memorial or hearse They learned much from their experiences Becoming stronger ... as their beloved Confederacy grew weak Now they were prepared to face the upcoming events Of accepting gracefully their historic defeat By Rosalene H. Abrams May 20, 1999
There was a great misconception of the strengths of our Southern Lady in the mid-nineteenth century. Although during the antebellum era, propriety demanded that she mask many of her abilities behind a perfumed lace handkerchief or imported fan, they were simply waiting in readiness for their turn. These abilities were not a well kept secret, for every husband, brother and cousin knew where to turn in their weakest hour of need. She was always there in willing readiness to do whatever she could for the cause of her beloved family, her beloved homeland and her beloved South.
These same ladies who would faint prostrate at the mere mention of an off-color indiscretion were the very same ones to roll up their sleeves, shred their fancy petticoats into bandages and labor long and hard beside the physicians as nurses. They were the ones who took the last morsels of their own meager food and cooked it to feed both the Union and Confederate alike because they were hungry and in need. They were the ones who stood over wash pots boiling dirty and infested clothes of the soldiers trying to fight the greatest enemy of both sides of the war, disease.
Their reasoning was that perhaps one of their husbands or sons was in some far northern state in an injurious or hungry condition and hopefully with God's will some northern woman would administer to his needs as well.
Never under estimate the strength and will of a Southern woman. She has given up much throughout history but she has always persevered, strong to the end. She may be forced to bend but she will never be broken. She will hold her God, her family, her South and her AMERICA tight to her heart as long as time for her endures.
Updated March 27, 2002
