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.C.,also received a special blanket she called an  album quilt. Each col-ored square of the quilt had a white center with an inscription for thesoldier.Some of the squares had Scripture, some had patriotic lines,and others had a witticism.As with the patients at Armory Square,the quilt was a prized possession and passed from patient to patientfor an hour at a time, so the men might  feast their eyes on the brightcolors and read its comforting messages. 44A final example of this tangible sentiment was bestowed on one ofEmily Parson s patients.During one of her rounds at Benton BarracksHospital in St.Louis, Emily stopped to chat with that man.In thecourse of the conversation, the convalescing soldier proudly present-ed a picture of his wife and with it a  card with eight braided rings ofhair, his wife s and seven children. Emily realized the significance ofsuch a token, not only because he felt compelled to show it to her, butalso because of the look of warmth and contentment on the man s faceas he embraced the memento.The photo obviously helped the volun-teer to visualize and fantasize about spending time in his wife s arms.The ringlets of hair, through the sense of touch, allowed him to expe-rience physically being with his wife and children, in spite of theirabsence.Each braid, by its own texture, color, and smell, embodiedthe distinctiveness of the owner and emphasized for the soldier eachRichard.qxd 8/29/2003 1:28 PM Page 111NORTHERN WOMEN RESPOND 111family member s special personality.Together, the strands of hair rep-resented the family circle that he helped to create and within whichhe was the guiding member.This  token of affection  like Alice schips, the hospital quilts, and Mary s ribbon did not physically savea soldier s life.But just as an appropriately placed whisper can bemore powerful than a shout during a speech, these simple tidingsfrom home sustained and comforted with more strength than a heartymeal.Homesick soldiers craved the details of family life that madethem feel special and gave their lives direction and meaning.Receiving such a unique present surely filled the recipient with a feel-ing of belonging as it turned loving thoughts into action.In this way,physical materials became the agent of women s devotion to the vol-unteers and to the cause.45Devotion to the soldiers and to the cause knew no color or classbarrier.Women of all races and classes donated their time and laborto produce goods for the soldiers.The ladies of Pittsford, forinstance, had  patriotic hearts and  willing hands but not any abun-dant means to aid the soldiers.One  washer-woman gathered cher-ries and currants and dried them for the sick and wounded.Afarmer s wife sacrificed the new pillow she had made for her baby sothat a wounded soldier might soothe his head.Another womandescribed as having  very little of this world s goods grew horserad-ish, believing it  may help to season the course food, and make theboys think of home. Other ladies gave their mite in the form of cash.Somehow, through scrimping and saving, they managed to send inten cents here and fifty cents there.46 Many of the soldiers aid soci-eties helped the soldiers by employing the soldiers wives and wid-ows.The Wisconsin Soldiers Aid Society obtained governmentcontracts for making soldiers underclothes and hired the destitutewives of soldiers from the state (most of whom were Germans) sothey might  get tea to soften their bread, and salt to flavor their chil-dren s potatoes. In Chelsea, Massachusetts, Helen Gilson obtaineda government contract to make flannel shirts for the army.Wives anddaughters of soldiers were paid eleven cents per shirt.Each womancould usually sew four shirts a day.While continuing to raise moneyfor their church projects, African American women formed soldiersaid societies and worked for the Union cause.They held  festivals,concerts, and fairs to raise money to buy supplies for the soldiers, andRichard.qxd 8/29/2003 1:28 PM Page 112112 BUSY HANDSthey made their own goods.They gathered books and newspapers;preserved peaches; made jelly; purchased smoking and chewingtobacco, pipes, sugar, and cocoa; and visited local hospitals with refreshments of various kinds. These African American womenlabored with the  feeling that the wants of the soldiers should beattended to by those for whom they are suffering every privation, anddoing deeds of valor. 47The underlying rationale in all of their efforts to supply and comfortthe volunteers, though, was to maintain a link between the home andthe camp that would spirit the rejuvenating and ameliorating power offeminine morality to the soldiers.In spite of the lives they saved bysending pickled onions and rolled bandages, women would have felttheir pains were all for naught if they nourished the men s bodies butnot their souls.As mothers and wives received letters from their dearpatriots reporting the degrading conditions of camp, Rev.Burnap swarning that the segregation of the sexes would result in  deteriorationand corruption seemed to ring true.Capt.Redington s observationthat  men who at home had a reputation for honesty and uprightnesswill steal everything that comes their way,.[be it from] friend or foesent a sobering message homeward.Men s wayward actions in the heatof battle could be rationalized, though, if not wholly accepted.Whatconcerned women most were the signs that their behavior in camp hadcoarsened and that the tediousness of soldiering would make themeasy prey for demoralizing influences.48After hearing that her husband Caleb had been playing cards,Mattie Blanchard wrote an anxious letter to him that illustrates thepreoccupation women had with men s daily conduct.For Mattie, itwas not only that the news caught her  so suddenly, but, more sig-nificant, that she was unaware that her husband even played cards [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]