Francis Clayton, A Brave Woman Soldier

The Civil War took place from 1861 to 1865. Perhaps the most influential war in American history, the Civil War was fought between the northern states and the southern states of America over slavery. Shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected as the president on March 4, 1861, South Carolina Seceded from the Union. Other states followed in suit, forming the Confederate States of America with its capital at Montgomery, Alabama, its president Jefferson Davis. As controversy flared higher as a result of this event, the Confederates took Fort Sumter. Soon, the Union joined the war. The northern states were referred to as the Union army, with leaders including Ulysses S. Grant. The Southern states were referred to as the Confederate army, their prominent leaders including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. It was the start of a war that would shape American history.

Soldiers in the Civil War were typically white males in their early twenties. Union soldiers were typically farmers who, falsely, believed the war would be short and enlisted, or a man drafted into the army at the peak of the war. Some poor people were called into battle against their will. The Confederate soldiers, too, were most commonly white males in their early twenties. The Confederate soldiers primarily were fighting for their ideals, or their state, not because they had been drafted. A typical civil war soldier carried many supplies, was often ill clad in dirty, ill-fitting, or worn shoes clothing, and carried muskets or rifles. Behind the typical civil war soldiers fought other minority groups. African Americans fought in the civil war, despite that they had been refrained to do so for most of the war. The regiments formed by them were often pl...

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...and other soldiers created a fund to help her receive payment. Francis Clayton’s heroic life as a woman soldier became very popular with the newspapers of the time.

The Civil War finally drew to a close after four years of heinous battle on April 9, 1865. The Unions had been the victors of the war and the unity of America was restored. Amendments to the Constitution began to allow African Americans freedom and rights. In the wreckage, a total of 212,938 lives had been lost. But the Civil War had taught Americans how to accept each other and prepared them to accept other cultures. In the future, women would gain more rights and immigrants would come from other countries to live in America. Inevitably, prejudice against minorities is faced all over the country even in modern times, but we must prevent ever facing such tragedy as occurred in the Civil War.