Sexuality in the Civil War

How did the Civil War change sexuality in America

            Many things came from, or were used in the Civil War as far as sex goes. Things like Prostitution, pornography, and homosexuality were all a part of the war, whether historians talk about it or not.(1)

            Prostitution was very common during the civil war. There were letters from soldiers being sent back to their families like, “There is a whole city of whores. Yes, father, a whole city. They have laid out a village to the east of where the railroad bends to the docks” (Young worker in the Sanitary Commission, City Point, Virginia, 1864)”(2), or “This section of the country seems to abound in in very bad women” (Sgt. A.L. Vairin, Dec. 27, 1862, near Weldon, NC).” (1)These letters were very truthful at that. Prostitutes would literally follow the armies around and set up camps just outside wherever they would set up camp. These were called camp followers, because that is what they would literally do. “Hookers” which was a common term back then, were so common back then that diseases like syphilis (73,000 cases), and gonorrhea (109,000 cases) ran rampant. The worst cases were found in the big cities like Nashville, New Orleans, and Richmond. (1)

Pornography was also used very much in the war. Merchants would sell soldiers small posters of naked women, and soldiers would use them to masturbate. Also books called “barracks favorites” were sold, which were purely novels of sexual nature. Only three still exist and are kept in the Kinsey institute at the University of Indiana.(1) In fact masturbation was so common with people in the war that some soldiers were actually admitted to hospitals because they developed mental disorders from masturbating to much. Since then more and more men have been admitted yearly for the same condition.(3)

Homosexuality has been a somewhat controversial issue when it comes to the Civil War. Some resources will tell you that there were only a couple cases that they thought were homosexual activities with soldiers, however other groups will argue that the silence of that argument by historians proves that there in fact was multiple cases of homosexual activities happening within the camps. The only case that history buffs will admit to is a case where three Navy soldiers were court martialed for improper and indecent intercourse with each other.(4)

            The civil war made things like masturbation much more common, also it increased the amount of venereal diseases in the United States by a large margin

(1) Wikipedia, "Sex in the American Civil War." Last modified November 22, 2013. Accessed January 31, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_in_the_American_Civil_War.

(2) Lowry, Thomas. "Sex lives of Civil War Soldiers." Book Patrol (blog), January 18, 2010. http://blog.seattlepi.com/bookpatrol/2010/01/18/the-sex-lives-of-civil-war-soldiers/ (accessed January 31, 2014).

(3) Lowry, Thomas. "Onans revenge: Death from Masturbation." Civil War RX (blog), January 31, 2014. http://civilwarrx.blogspot.com/2013/04/onans-revenge-death-from-masturbation.html (accessed January 31, 2014).

(4) Monroe, Irene. Bilerico, "The Bilerico Project." Last modified April 21, 2011. Accessed January 31, 2014. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/americas_gay_confederate_and_union_soldiers.php.