Sauk County Historical Society

The years before the Civil War were a time of active reform movements.  Women supported such causes as temperance (a social movement that attempted to reduce or eliminate the amount of alcohol consumed or produced in society) and abolition (the movement to end slavery and the slave trade).

This spirit of reform and independence continued into the Civil War years as women took active roles in the successful war efforts on the home front.

When Governor Randall made an appeal to Wisconsin women to aid in caring for the  soldiers, Sauk County women stepped up to provide medical and economic support. Women began meeting at homes to sew and knit garments for the soldiers.  Soon, these informal meetings turned into aid societies with officers, rules, committees and regular schedules of work.

These aid societies raised the money needed to purchase materials for their work by gathering subscriptions (a pledge of money) and by entertaining audiences, with tableaus (A type of play in which a group of people create still picture(s) to tell the story)

Some of the items women made and provided to the troops included:

Bandages - There was no absorbent cotton or gauze.  Thousands of bandages were handmade by tearing old sheets into strips and rolling them into hard round rolls.  Lint was provided for the bandages by scrapping old linen or cotton with a dull knife until it became a fluffy mass.  Women also assembled charpies or threads pulled from white cloth and bundled into clumps.  Both the lint and charpies were placed over wounds, under rolled bandages.

Garments – Women sewed uniforms, flannel shirts and undergarments for the soldiers as well as knit socks and mittens.

Blankets and Quilts – Women made bedding for the Union troops and often sewed their names into the coverings they made.

Comfort Bags containing pins, needles, buttons, thread, yarn and handkerchiefs were made for the soldiers.

Between 1861 and 1865, Baraboo and Prairie du Sac each sent 50 boxes of relief supplies, which included knit garments, blankets, reading material and bandages to the front lines.

In addition, women also provided food for the troops.  In 1863, scurvy (a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C and characterized by spongy gums, loose teeth, and bruising under the skin and on the mouth, nose and throat) broke out among the Union troops and a call was made for each state to provide anti-scorbutics (a food or supplement that counteracts the effects of scurvy.  An example is vitamin C supplements).  Below is a list of some of the food sent to the troops by women on the home front:

Pickles                                            Blackberry Juice

Processed Horseradish                 Dried Apples

Butter                                             Cheese

Wine                                                Eggs

Onions

Cabbages were made into sauerkraut

Potatoes packed into barrels with hot vinegar.

By November 1863, Wisconsin stood first among Union states in the number of boxes of anti-scorbutics sent to the Union troops.

Women also shouldered the burden of keeping farms and businesses running while the men were away.

The Iron Brigade of the West was an infantry unit of the Union Army formed primarily of regiments from what are today the Midwestern states and included the 2^nd, 6^th and 7^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.

The Iron Brigade was named for the disposition of its men who were known for their strong discipline, unique uniforms and tenacious fighting.  The Iron Brigade of the West suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the war.

The Iron Brigade of the West was also known as the Black Hat Brigade due to the 1858 style black Hardee hats the members wore instead of the traditional blue Kepis hats worn by most other units.

Civil War musicians, either drummers or buglers, could enlist in the army without meeting the 18 year old requirement for a soldier.  By some estimates, 100,000 boys younger than 15 enlisted in the Union army as musicians.  300 were younger than 13 years old.

The musicians told the soldiers what to do during the day. From waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, the musicians literally sounded out a soldier’s day.

During battle, the musicians told the soldiers when to march, when to shoot and when to retreat all through their instruments.  Musicians were also expected to help carry the wounded off the battlefield.

Even though these young musicians were part of the army, they weren’t allowed to carry guns.  Instead, they were given a thin, straight sword which they wore fastened to a leather belt around their waist.

Frank  Pettis (1850- 1918) was eleven when he enlisted in the Union army as a drummer boy during the Civil War.  At the age of twelve he began military service with his father and served from February 22, 1862 to August 9, 1865.

Pettis was present for every battle his unit was engaged in - from Suffolk, VA, and Newberne, NC to the sieges of Richmond and Petersburg.

After the war, Pettis returned to Reedsburg and  helped in his father’s tailor shop.  When he was 20, he became a miller.

He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Reedsburg Drum Corps until his death on August 15, 1918.  At his funeral the Reedsburg Drum Corps, with muffled drums preceded the hearse to Greenwood Cemetery where he is buried.