Ladies Military Aid Society

In both the North and the South, women formed as many as 20,000 Ladies Military Aid Societies (also called Soldiers’ Aid Societies) throughout the Civil War. Nearly every town and village had its own version. Organized and run locally by women, these societies supported soldiers by providing food and textile goods, including clothing, socks, tents, and bandages. Within the first month of the war, southern organizations also made cartridges and prepared sandbags. Working with local and state politicians, women also developed transportation networks to move gathered supplies into the field. Some women even personally transported the supplies through these networks.

Initially, Black women also supported these largely white women’s societies in the North, but the introduction of Black regiments in 1863 led Black women to create their own military aid societies, like the Colored Ladies Soldiers’ Aid Society of St. Louis, Missouri. These groups focused specifically on the needs of Black soldiers.

Over the course of the war, these societies expanded their goals to include aiding soldiers’ families and the local poor, as well as taking on new roles as nurses. In the North, this impulse eventually led to the creation of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Western Sanitary Commission, and the Central Association for Relief, which were dedicated to the support of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers. Reliant on private donations, these groups organized fundraisers, including social events like concerts, dinners, and dances. This sharpened women’s organizational and political skills, although most women stayed within the traditional domestic sphere.

Ladies Military Aid Societies continued their operations after the war. In the North, their aims shifted towards veteran and orphan care, including helping families apply for pensions and providing direct aid for disabled soldiers. In the South, in addition to assisting veterans, these societies often became memorial associations, which were active in creating Confederate cemeteries and monuments. (Beverly C. Tomek, “Women and Soldiers’ Aid Societies; Wikipedia; Nina Silber, Gender & the Sectional Conflict)