The refugees from the South and the families of the soldiers added to the burdens and hardships of the women at home more than to the men, as the majority of the able-bodied men North and South were either in the Army or the Navy.
The author is glad that she has been able to get the biographies of a partial list of the splendid women of the South who made such heroic sacrifices for the soldiers, sailors and unfortunates of the Confederacy. The imaginary line which divided the two sections made no difference in the nature, womanly tenderness and righteous impulses of the women or their devotion to their loved ones engaged in the defense of a cause they believed to be right and just. It would be difficult to find in history parallels of moral courage, self-denial and self-immolation equal to that displayed by the women North and South during the long and bloody Civil War in the United States.
The women of the South are entitled to credit for a longer period of endurance through the unspeakable trials during the years of reconstruction which followed the treaty of peace at Appomattox, which event ended in a degree the agonies, anxieties and labors of the women of the North.
The experiences of the people of both sections brought out at a fearful cost all the nobler instincts of their natures, and inspired them to higher purposes in life and more earnest efforts for the progress of civilization and Christianity. The few in both sections who have tried to stand in the way of human betterment and adaptation to the conditions of the world's advancement have had to suffer the consequences of their rashness and be dropped from the rolls of the promoters of the nation's welfare.
Union of interests and union of ambitions for the highest attainments in Christianity, humanity, education, philanthropy and national pride have borne rich fruit since the abolition of
