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| YOUR TOWN: Caroline | Culpeper | King George | Fredericksburg | Orange | Spotsylvania | Stafford | Westmoreland | |
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Women a force after the fight Speaker puts life, love in war stories
Anne W. Rowe of Fredericksburg presents the civilian point of view during events to commemorate the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg
Date published: 12/12/2005
By CATHY DYSON Women who lived through the bombardment of Fredericksburg during the Civil War didn't have time to dwell on their hatred for the "Yankees" who invaded their streets and burned their homes. They were too busy trying to put their lives back together. "They put the bitterness behind them," said Anne W. Rowe of Fredericksburg. "There was so much to do." A year after the war ended, Fredericksburg women began planning for the proper burial of their Confederate dead, she said. They later completed a memorial to George Washington's mother, built a hospital named for her and saved several historical buildings. "There was a lot that needed doing, and many needed help," Rowe said. "They all knew what suffering was." Rowe was the keynote speaker yesterday during the commemoration of the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg. The longtime city resident and wife of Free Lance-Star publisher Josiah P. Rowe III was the first woman ever to speak at the event. She talked about lots of women who came before her, including several of her ancestors. She shared their stories and memories, drawn from unpublished diaries and letters. "They speak across the years," she said. "We have accounts of the horrors of the battle in the December weather, but we have reminiscences that show how life went on." Rowe's remarks were a mix of history and Fredericksburg-area genealogy, as well as a tale of love and romance in the midst of death and suffering. She referred to a diary written by Matilda Hamilton, a Spotsylvania County woman who was in her mid-40s during the war. Hamilton wrote on Dec. 23, 1862, about "the graves of our poor soldiers. Twenty-eight lie buried on our lawn, three just outside our grass yard." Yet, in her next sentence, she was encouraging a male caller to visit some of the "young and pretty girls" at Belvoir. That was a home in Spotsylvania where several families found refuge during the shelling of the city. "Ten days after the battle, and she's matchmaking," Rowe said. One of the matches worked. Rowe's great-grandparents met and fell in love while treating the wounded at Belvoir.
Date published: 12/12/2005
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