1/18/2024 0 Comments Civil War U.S. Navy enlisted ranksAmerican Women quickly felt the impact of the nation's decision to go to war, after roughly 16 percent of the male workforce trooped off to battle. government declared war on Germany in the spring of 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act requiring the registration of all males between the ages of 20 and 30. Skills taught included: military calisthenics and drill, land telegraphy or telephone operating, manufacturing surgical dressings and bandages, signal work and many more. The Army, Navy and the Marine Corps cooperated to train thousands of women for national service. The National Service School was organized by the Women's Naval Service in 1916 to train women for duties in time of war and national disasters. Women took an active role in alerting American troops to enemy movement, carried messages, and even transported contraband. The war was fought on farms and in the backyards of American families across the width and breadth of the colonies and along the frontier. Women also served as spies during the Revolutionary War. Women employed as laundresses, cooks, or nurses were subject to the Army's rules of conduct. Some found employment with officers' families or as mess cooks. In the 18th and 19th centuries, garrisons depended on women to make Soldiers' lives tolerable. Washington then asked Congress for "a matron to supervise the nurses, bedding, etc.," and for nurses "to attend the sick and obey the matron's orders." A plan was submitted to the Second Continental Congress that provided one nurse for every ten patients and provided "that a matron be allotted to every hundred sick or wounded." Horatio Gates reported to Commander-in-Chief George Washington that "the sick suffered much for want of good female Nurses." Gen. Shortly after the establishment of the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, Maj.
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