Introduction

As you’ve obviously gleaned from the title, my posts over days to come will feature women who courageously pioneered their way into roles traditionally reserved for men before, during, and after the American Civil War.

It was while writing Train to Glory (Book 2 of Glory: A Civil War Series), in particular, that I encountered, through my research, hundreds of “Pioneering Women,” who deserve mentioning. However, I whittled my sample down to those who best reflect a diversity of roles. Thus, I have high hopes for myself to be a “pioneer” in imparting new information to you about great deeds accomplished by women of whom you might not know and by women of whom you know but didn’t know they were attached to certain deeds. I’ll also cover what I deem to be each’s influence behind their breaking out of the norm.

First, a little background and historical perspective behind my having sought out these pioneers:

I’ve already mentioned that my interest rooted from research during the writing of Train to Glory (Book 2 of Glory: A Civil War Series), which storyline came to me after I learned that suffragists suspended their crusade during the Civil War to put all of their energies into the abolition of slavery and providing for the soldiers. This to the chagrin of Susan B. Anthony, who accurately predicted that their complacency would set them backwards.

AND IT DARN SURE DID!

In 1862, New York State repealed the parts of the Married Women’s Property Act of 1860 which allowed a married woman to make decisions for her children and a widow to manage her late husband’s estate.

So, with the Civil War winding down by the end of Sweet Glory (Book 1 of Glory: A Civil War Series), who better to help re-ignite the cause for woman’s equal rights than a woman soldier? Of course, my primary protagonist, Jana Brady (alias Johnnie Brodie of the real Tenth New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment) is perfect for the role. Born out of an amalgamation of many women soldiers’ stories, Jana trimmed her auburn tresses and joined the ranks of the Union army, as did one of the real-life brave souls depicted below (Sarah Rosetta Wakeman from Afton, New York–alias Private Lyons Wakeman of the 153rd New York Infantry Regiment) and whom you can read more about at: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/sarah-rosetta-wakeman or via video at: https://civilwarwomen.co/.

AHA!

That’s when it struck me to have suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony invite Jana to travel their lecture circuit around New York State speaking about her time in uniform to prove: Women ought to be granted the same rights to tackle anything a man can—if they have a mind to it. And the rest is history with the publication of Train to Glory (Book 2 of Glory: A Civil War Series).

Although the numbers of women soldiers–Rebel and Yankee alike–who fought in the Civil War is staggering, this series of posts will focus on other roles infiltrated by women during Victorian times. However, I will follow up with a series of posts on women soldiers in the future because this is an enormous conversation in and of itself.

This post, as the subtitle states, is merely an introduction for my coming posts on “Pioneering Women of Civil War America.” I’ll stop here and hope to keep you in suspense as to whose profile is featured first. Hint: She had something to do with fashion…but that’s not all!

Please, join me next week for the first “Pioneering Woman” and some fun—kind of like guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar at a county fair.