Sex in the Civil War

Sex in the Civil War

By: Marcus Beasley

When most people think about the Civil War they automatically think of an open field with two lines of soldiers facing each other from opposite sides of the field, with guns in hand, shooting toward the other. Sex is usually never even thought about when studying the Civil War. The soldiers were away from their wives for long periods of time during the war.

During the Civil War venereal disease was extremely common. The amount of soldiers with venereal diseases is proof that the soldiers were having sex while they were at war. “Among Union white troops, the surgeons treated over 73,000 for syphilis and over 109,000 for gonorrhea.”[1] The previous quote shows that venereal disease was a huge problem during the civil war and it was not only white soldiers that were having sex. “Incidence of those diseases among African American soldiers was less than half that of the white troops.”[2] This quote shows that all soldiers during the war were having sex and it is not just white soldiers, but also the African American soldiers as well. It does not surprise me that these diseases were so rampant during the Civil War because I think of the civil war as being a dirty time when a lot of people were living in tents cities in fields. I imagine hygiene to not be very important to the soldiers and that makes it easier for the diseases to spread from person to person.

It is very obvious that the soldiers in the Civil War were having sex, but with who? Many of the soldiers were having sex with prostitutes. “Low wages during the inflationary war period inspired many women, especially of the lower class, to take up prostitution, including women who were barely older than what we today consider to be children.”[3] The fact that prostitutes were around during the Civil War did not surprise me. The soldiers had to be having sex with someone and prostitutes were the first thing that I thought of when I heard that the soldiers during the Civil War were having sex.

During the Civil War the government set up brothels for the soldiers. The prostitutes that were in the brothels had to go through testing to make sure that they had no diseases. “If a prostitute was found to have a disease, she would be placed under quarantine.”[4] I think that these brothels actually helped control the spread of venereal diseases at the time because the prostitutes that were in the brothels had to be disease free and if they contracted a disease, they were not allowed to work there anymore.

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[1] "The Civil War: Sex and Soldiers." Accessed January 31, 2014. http://www.case.edu/affil/skuyhistcontraception/online-2012/Civil-War.html.

[2] "The Civil War: Sex and Soldiers." Accessed January 31, 2014. http://www.case.edu/affil/skuyhistcontraception/online-2012/Civil-War.html.

[3] Cotter, Amelia. "Prostitution and Venereal Disease in the Civil War." Accessed January 31, 2014. https://suite101.com/a/prostitution-and-venereal-disease-in-the-civil-war-a228450.

[4] Cotter, Amelia. "Prostitution and Venereal Disease in the Civil War." Accessed January 31, 2014. https://suite101.com/a/prostitution-and-venereal-disease-in-the-civil-war-a228450.