The Women of Gettysburg

Women in battle is not a new phenomenon. Whether actual soldiers, part of the support forces, or just on the sidelines, women have been present at most of the battles fought on American soil. The Battle of Gettsyburg is no exception.

Consider 20-year-old Mary Virginia "Jennie" Wade, the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg, shot by a Confederate bullet as she stood in her sister's kitchen baking bread for the Union soldiers. Or little Sadie Bushman, nine-year-old daughter of a local cabinetmaker, commandeered by a Union doctor to assist at a field hospital. Or the unidentified body of a female Confederate soldier found by a burial detail near Cemetery Ridge -- one of 12,000 brave souls who marched across a mile of open ground through a hail of deadly enemy fire during Pickett's Charge.

"The Women of Gettysburg" will be presented at the Camden County Historical Society this Saturday, Feb. 18, at 1:00 p.m., by Jane Peters Estes. ($10.00, $8.00 for CCHS members).

Details and a map here