MWSA Review

War has always played a defining role in the evolution of man. While one side seeks an outcome, the other defends what is threatened; families are displaced, and the door is flung open to famine and disease. Body count and lost or claimed territory determine success and failure. Too often overlooked, is the emotional, psychological, and physical impact on women and children, the ones left behind while their sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, uncles head into battle, perhaps never to be seen or held again. In Women of the Blue and Gray, Marianne Monson sheds light on that sacrifice by sharing women’s journals and literary works written during the Civil War. She does not limit voices to the white and privileged. Represented in this fascinating account are the insights and reflections of women born into slavery, Native American survivors, and women on both sides who risked their all to support the cause they believed in and the men they loved.

With a personal interest in the wisdom of women’s voices as well as the historical significance of firsthand documentation, I had a vested interest in reading this book. I was not disappointed. As the author allows her characters to speak in their own words, the reader learns how some women chose to dress as men to fight on the battlefield; how others became spies using their charms, their ears, and their skirts to convey information; while other women inched their way into field hospitals saving lives that may have been lost without them.

Born outside the United States, my knowledge of the Civil War was gleaned from a few brief conversations, the occasional sighting of a Confederate flag, and a sobering afternoon spent at Vicksburg. I now understand the depth of a conflict that perhaps could not have been avoided. The author’s words inspire a reflection on how much headway we have made on racial issues and women’s rights. She also lays out a possible path for how the nation, again divided, can avoid another brutal sacrifice. The key rests in education, hope, freedom, forgiveness, understanding, and a vision of peace. Could these scribbles on whatever paper accessible at the time teach us something one hundred sixty plus years later? Sallie Watie, one of the few Native American voices whose words survived, summed up the dire impact of diversity when she wrote: “‘I would like to live a short time in peace just to see how it would be. I would like to feel free in life again and feel no dread of war.’” In bringing these long-ago voices to the fore, Marianne Monson invites the reader to ponder: Can oppression be overcome without hatred and violence? Can differences be resolved without hatred and violence? Is difference possible without oppression?

Review by Janette Stone (June 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Hidden amongst the photographs, uniforms, revolvers, and war medals of the Civil War are the remarkable stories of some of the most unlikely heroes—women.

North, South, black, white, Native American, immigrant—the women in these micro-drama biographies are wives, mothers, sisters, and friends whose purposes ranged from supporting husbands and sons during wartime to counseling President Lincoln on strategy, from tending to the wounded on the battlefield to spiriting away slaves through the Underground Railroad, from donning a uniform and fighting unrecognized alongside the men to working as spies for either side.

This book brings to light the incredible stories of women from the Civil War that remain relevant to our nation today. Each woman's experience helps us see a truer, fuller, richer version of what really happened in this country during this time period.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

Number of Pages: 208

Word Count: 60,000