Published December 4, 2011
By Megan Boccardi
On April 15, 1861,
President Lincoln issued a proclamation asking for 75,000 loyal citizens to
enlist in the service of the Union and help to maintain “the honor, the
integrity, and existence of our National Union.”
The citizens of Quincy responded to the his call and by April
24 men from Adams County were headed to Cairo to volunteer to serve in the
Union Army. However, the men of Quincy were not alone in their desire to serve
their nation.
Quincy’s women also heard the call and wanted to demonstrate
“by deeds as well as words” their devotion to the Union. In fact, on the very
same day that the president issued his proclamation the women of Quincy
gathered in Flack’s building, located at Fifth and Maine, to roll bandages and
collect lint.
A few short weeks later on May 31, more than 100 patriotic
women of Quincy formally organized as the “Needle Pickets,” a group dedicated
to providing for the soldiers of the Union Army. As one account of the group
described, “they knew how to use the needle, and had the occasion required, so
roused were they, I am not sure but they could have used the sword.”
A greater calling
The first task set forth by the Needle Pickets was to
provide for their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons who marched a few weeks
earlier to southern Illinois. They sent to their men supplies which included
dinners and have locks (cloths that protected soldier’s necks from the sun).
But the Needle Pickets quickly realized a greater calling for
their organization to serve not only their men, but to help meet the needs of
the Union Army and to assist families in Quincy struggling throughout the war.
As their numbers increased, so did their service to those in need. In the first
year of their organization’s existence, the group distributed to the destitute
of Quincy numerous items including 51 women’s and children’s dresses, 39 pairs
of shoes and 30 shirts. Their supplies for the Army reached St. Louis, Ironton,
Pilot Knob, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Paducah, Savannah and Corinth and included
numerous items such as 738 sheets, 457 pillow ticks, 344 pounds of butter and
432 chickens.
Feeding hungry troops
Although numbers of supplies and dollars donated provide
insight into the staggering amount of work performed by these women, individual
accounts and stories provide the best illustration of their contribution to the
Union.
Mrs. C.H. Morton, one of the founding members of the Needle
Pickets, recalled the many ways in which the organization contributed to the
war effort in a letter published in The Morning Quincy Whig.
Morton’s reminiscences of the Pickets’ work demonstrate the
depth and range of their activism. On one occasion the Pickets received a
notice at 8 a.m. that the 52nd Ohio Regiment would arrive in Quincy by noon
that same day. The arrival of the Regiment presented a challenge for the women,
not because of the arrival of over 1,000 men, but because they had not eaten
for over twenty-four hours and hoped the women could provide them with meals.
Fortuitously, the Pickets previously planned a party for that
evening and could use their prepared food for the troops, but it would not be
enough. So, the women scoured the town asking for their fellow Quincyans to
prepare meals for the men. When the troops arrived, they were greeted by
tables that, as Morton described them, “literally groaned with good,
substantial food.”
Aid to wounded soldiers
In another example of their generosity, the Needle Pickets
helped two wounded soldiers return home. During the war, both men suffered
terrible injuries. The two men, who were brothers, were both physically
debilitated by war, one man having lost both of his legs below his knees.
Wounded and penniless, the men ended up stranded in Quincy.
The Needle Pickets, although already financially drained by their funding of
impoverished Quincy families, started a collection for the men. They provided
the soldiers with room and board and a few days later raised enough money to purchase the men new suits, tickets home, and sent
them off with $850. The Needle Pickets provided more than assistance to these
hapless brothers. They provided them the foundation for a new life.
Benefit massacre victims
The Needle Pickets even played a small role in Missouri’s
vicious guerrilla war. On August 21, 1863, Confederate guerrilla leader William
Clarke Quantrill led his famous raid on Lawrence, Kan.
Quantrill’s sack of the pro-Union town left it devastated,
with a death toll that numbered over 150 men. On Aug. 26, the Whig reported
that the assault not only destroyed 182 buildings, but left 85 widows and 240
orphans. The Needle Pickets responded by planning a benefit for the victims of
the Lawrence massacre. According to their records, the women donated $73 to the
victims and a number of supplies including dresses, jackets, and pants.
Full measure of devotion
Women’s work in organizations such as the Needle Pickets
proved vital to the Union War effort with over $32,000 dollars donated in
supplies throughout the course of the war.
Whether providing for 1,000 men or two men, the Quincy Needle
Pickets continually met the needs of the Union Army, sacrificing their time,
money and personal time for the good of their nation. The success of the Union
Army depended on their women on the home front and the women of Quincy did
their part to ensure Northern victory in the Civil War and the preservation of
our nation.
The Historical Society preserves original copies of the
annual reports of the Needle Pickets and the organization’s constitution and
bylaws.
Megan Boccardi is an assistant professor of
history at Quincy University. She received her doctorate from
the University of
Missouri-Columbia.
Her research interests include the Civil War and Reconstruction, Southern
women, and African American history.
Sources
Annual Reports of the Needle Pickets of Quincy,
Illinois. Quincy, Illinois: Whig and Republican Power Press, 1861-1864. File
MSQ, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, Quincy, Illinois.
Collins, William and Cicero Perry. Past and
Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke
Pub. Co., 1905.
Constitution and By-Laws of the Needle Pickets of
the City of Quincy; Together with a Report of Their Proceedings from May 31,
1861, to May 31, 1862. Quincy, Illinois: Whig and Republican Power Press, 1862.
File MSQ, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, Quincy, Illinois.
Costigan, David, “A City in Wartime: Quincy,
Illinois and the Civil War.” PhD dissertation, -Illinois State University,
1994.
Quincy Daily Whig.
Quincy Whig and Republican.
Quincy Daily Herald.
