CHAPTER VII.
CONFEDERATE WOMEN.
No historian can faithfully recount the story of the war and leave
untouched the record made by Southern women. Their patriotism was not
the outcome of mere sentiment, but a pure steady flame which from the
beginning of the war to the end burned brightly upon the altars of
sacrifice, which they set up all over the land. "The power behind the
throne" never ceased to be felt. Its spirit pervaded every breast of
the living barricades which opposed the invaders, nerved every arm to
battle for the right, inspired valorous deeds which dazzled the world.
From quiet homes far from the maddening strife, where faithful women
toiled and spun, facing and grappling with difficulties, even dangers,
never complained of, came bright, cheery letters, unshadowed by the
clouds which often hung dense and dark over their daily pathway but
glowing with unshaken faith, undaunted patriotism, lofty courage, and
more than all pride in the exceptional bravery which _they always took
for granted_. Men must not fail to come up to the standard set up in
simple faith by mothers, wives, daughters, and, as all the world
knows, _they did not_.
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