United States History Student Edition

After the Battle of Shiloh, Confederate army nurse Kate Cumming wrote, “Nothing that I had ever heard or read had given me the faintest idea of the horrors witnessed here.” Spying Women on both sides served as spies. For example, Rose O’Neal Greenhow entertained Union leaders in Washington, D.C. From them, she gathered information about Union plans and passed it to the South. Greenhow eventually was caught and convicted of treason—the crime of betraying one’s country. Belle Boyd of Front Royal, Virginia, informed Confederate generals of Union troop movements in the Shenandoah River valley. Harriet Tubman, a leading conductor on the Underground Railroad, also served as a spy and a scout for the Union. In 1863, Tubman led a mission that freed many enslaved people and disrupted Southern supply lines. Some women disguised themselves as men and became soldiers. Loreta Janeta Velázquez fought for the South at the First Battle of Bull Run and at the Battle of Shiloh. She later became a Confederate spy. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 1. Identifying Cause and Effect Why did many children stop going to school during the Civil War? 2. Explaining Why did some people object to women working as nurses during the war? Floridians and the War GUIDING QUESTION How did Florida participate in the Civil War? When the Civil War began, neither Union leaders nor Confederate leaders regarded Florida as important to their war strategy. Florida had been a state of the United States for only 15 years. With just 140,000 residents, it was the smallest of the 11 Confederate states. Florida also had little industry and few links with the other states of the Confederacy. Supplying the Confederacy As the war went on, Florida became one of the Confederacy’s important suppliers. Florida supplied beef to the Confederate army. The Confederate Cow Cavalry drove as many as 15,000 head of

Frances Clayton disguised herself as a man to fight in the Civil War. As many as 400 other women did the same.

cattle from South Florida to help feed Rebel troops. Florida’s farms and plantations raised cotton, pork, and vegetables. Saltwork plants at Apalachee Bay and St. Andrews and at other sites along the coast produced much-needed salt. Salt served the key job of keeping meat from spoiling in the days before refrigeration. The Union controlled Jacksonville during much of the war. Union troops also held some other coastal towns and several forts, including Fort Taylor in Key West, Fort Pickens in Pensacola, and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Confederates, however, controlled Florida’s interior. Tallahassee was the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River that did not fall into Union hands during the Civil War. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Explaining Why was Florida’s contribution important to the Confederacy?

PHOTO: The History Collection/Alamy Stock Photo; TEXT: (1)Cumming, Kate. A Journal of Hospital Life in the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the Battle of Shiloh to the End of the War. Louisville: John P. Morton & Co., 1866. (2) Constitution of the United States, 1787, National Archives and Records Administration.

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