donaldtoo
Well-Known Member
I have a copy of a letter my G-G-G-G- grandfather wrote to his wife during the civil war and he talks about standing next to his friend, talking and a canon ball took the friend's head off right in front of him, and how there's no food, etc...it's pretty gruesome. I was actually surprised he wrote such a thing to a woman in that time period, when women were considered weak and squeamish, but I suppose he knew his wife and she was probably a tough cookie.
Funny, other than the Scarlet O'hara, etc., types from back then, I've actually never pictured women from then (actually, more women and men - to me, anyway - appear more "weak and squeamish" in recent times) being that way at all (and, even "poor" Scarlet
ended up being pretty tough towards the end ). They were tough as nails from most accounts. If you think about the times and conditions for the vast majority of people in the world over all of time, until comparatively recently, life was pretty tough.
I can only relate my firsthand experience with both of my grandmothers on their farms. They liked frilly things and dressing up nice for church and stuff, but, make no mistake, when it came right down to it (and, they would both ask God to forgive me for posting this ) they were both bada$$es and had no problem keeping up with my grandfathers. Same with my mom and pop, for the most part.
Bottom line, most soldiers probably didn't get that "descriptive" in their letters back home, but, I have no problem imagining a woman from back in that time being able to more than handle it.