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Women's History
The Civil War
(1861-1865)

Women in the Civil War

Women in the Civil War
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.28

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    Greenhow, official-looking, peddler, posed, sutler, sutlers, occupation, battlefield, asset, countryside, founded, social, wounded, camps, participate, mentally
     content words:    Lottie Moon, Judge Clark, Both Lottie, Civil War, Then Ginnie, Ginnie Moon, Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad, Belle Boyd, Shenandoah Valley

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Women in the Civil War
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Lottie Moon married Judge Clark. Both Lottie and the judge were active supporters of the Confederacy, and when war messages had to be sent in secret, the couriers often stopped by the judge's house. One time they needed a new courier, someone who could slip by without being recognized as a messenger. Lottie volunteered. This is how she began her career as a Civil War spy. After that first trip, she continued to work undercover for the Confederacy. She had official-looking papers that said she was a British citizen; these helped her to travel almost anywhere without suspicion.
 
2     Lottie's sister Ginnie supported the war effort in another way. She and her mother rolled bandages and nursed the wounded soldiers. Then Ginnie began carrying messages too; now both sisters were spies. They traveled back and forth through Union lines, until both sisters were discovered and arrested.
 
3     Lottie and Ginnie Moon are just two of the many women who served as spies during the Civil War. At first, women made great spies because no one suspected them of being part of the war. Before too long, however, both sides discovered that women were being used as spies. Then spying became a very dangerous occupation for a woman.
 
4     Harriet Tubman is best known for her work on the Underground Railroad, but she also worked for the Union army during the Civil War. Harriet worked as a nurse, cook, and spy during the war. She knew the countryside very well from her years on the Underground Railroad, and this knowledge was a valuable asset to the Union army. Harriet recruited former slaves for the war effort, and she helped to hunt out enemy camps.

Paragraphs 5 to 12:
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