Please welcome author Jina Bacarr with a post about women in the Civil War.

Power Women of the Confederacy

by Jina Bacarr

War is heartbreaking, especially for women.

The Civil War was no exception.

Women sent their husbands, sweethearts, sons, brothers and fathers off to fight while they were expected to sit home and wait. Sew uniforms, make jams, write letters.

Then something extraordinary happened. For the first time, women from both the North and South took up the cause, dusted off their schoolbooks and became teachers (a male dominated profession), became nurses, put on a uniform. Got into the fight.

The heroines in my time travel, LOVE ME FOREVER, are no exception. I call them the “Power Women of the Confederacy.”

Liberty Jordan is a Civil War re-enactor: disguised as a Confederate officer. She’s thrust back to the battle of Antietam in 1862 and takes it upon herself to challenge a handsome Union Army surgeon about the inhumane treatment of prisoners:

She squared her shoulders, though her lower lip trembled. “Since when is it your duty, sir, to condemn a soldier to harsh treatment and ghastly conditions?”

He was caught in a trap. How could he deny that?

“Are you questioning my authority?”

“Yes,” she said boldly, her eyes sparking. “I warn you, Major, more men will die from disease in this war than battle wounds.”

“I could have you shot for insubordination,” he said in a harsh tone, hoping to frighten the young officer into keeping her radical opinions to herself. No telling what would happen to her if she didn’t.

Damn female was getting under his skin.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

His gaze locked with green eyes that challenged him, made him wish he’d never sent for her. She did things to him no woman had a right to do, made him wonder if she was right about disease claiming more lives. That upset him more than he was willing to admit.

Aloud, he said, “Keep up that kind of dangerous talk, Lieutenant, and you’ll end up hanging from a tree.”

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Pauletta Sue Buckingham, a Tennessee belle, lost her beloved Texas Ranger in the war and became a Confederate spy to avenge his death. Here she explains to Liberty what she’s fighting for:

“If you were a real Southerner, you would understand what we’re fighting for,” Pauletta Sue said, accepting the fact Liberty was a virtual stranger to her cause. “We women have been unable to express our feelings for too long, always protected and cared for like chickens in a hen house. Now it’s our turn to rise up and help our men in their time of need and prove we’re equal to them. That our brains are no less intelligent because of our gender, that we’re no less brave because we wear skirts. That whatever our skin color, we can and will fight to the death for our cause.”

Liberty’s jaw dropped. She was stunned but impressed when Pauletta Sue finished her speech. She cast a glance at Bedelia, silently mouthing every word. She, too, was part of the fight.

Now she understood the bond these two women shared. A sisterhood without the boundaries of race or color.

LOVE ME FOREVER is on Kindle Scout — you can read the first 5,000 words on my campaign page. You’ll meet both my heroines and both my heroes in the excerpt. If you nominate my story and it’s published by Kindle Scout, then you’ll receive a free copy!

It’s a saga of love and romance and war. Believe me, I walked every road, fought every battle with my characters, even walked around in a hoop skirt to “get it right.”

Jina Bacarr

This is a book of the heart…any questions? Please ask!!

As I post this, LOVE ME FOREVER is Hot & Trending on Kindle Scout!

Thank you for stopping by…………..

Jina