About 400 women fought on the front lines during the American Civil War. (Staff History.com) The Civil War was a war fought on American soil between the Union, the North, and the Confederacy, the South. When the war began, most people thought it would be won and ended quickly. However, the Civil War was long, difficult, and the deadliest war in American history. Women, both North and South, played an extremely important role in the American Civil War. At the start of the Civil War, women had a less active role in the Civil War. Women began organizing aid societies at the start of the war. These organizations provided troops with vital supplies. They canned food and planted gardens to keep the troops strong and healthy. Many women washed and sewed uniforms, knitted socks and gloves, and made blankets. Without these much-needed supplies provided by the women, the troops would have struggled during the winter and many would have suffered severely and died from the harsh northern winters. As the war effort progressed, women began to feel the need to take a more active role. The United States Government agreed to the creation of the United States Sanitary Commission. The primary goal of the United States Sanity Commission was to provide the Union with fifteen million dollars in supplies to help fight disease by improving camp and hospital conditions. Even with the creation of the United States Sanitary Commission, women's thirst for a more operational role in helping the troops was not satisfied. (Staff History.com) The creation of the United States Sanitary Commission helped 20,000 Union women work directly for the war effort. Mostly white, working-class, freed and enslaved women...... middle of paper ......, an organization that provides emergency aid and disaster relief to the interior of the United States, and became its first president. At the age of 77, she worked in hospitals in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Finally, on April 12, 1912, she died at the age of 90 in Glen Echo, Maryland. Clara Barton was a humanitarian, feminist, and nurse whose efforts during the Civil War and throughout her life saved countless lives. (Yancey, Diane) Works Cited DeFord, Deborah. The civil war. Milwaukee: World Almanac Library, 2007. Print.Dix, Dorothy. Letter. July 14, 1862. TS. National Archives. Dunne, Jemima and Paula Regan, eds. The civil war. New York: DK Publishing, 2011. PrintHistory.com Staff. “Women in the Civil War.” History.com. A+E Networks, 2010. Web. March 11, 2014. Yancey, Diane. Leaders of the North and South. San Diego: American War Library, 2000. Print.