Even before women were allowed to fight as soldiers in battle, in what ways were women still able to directly contribute to the war?

Despite the fact that until very recently, women have been denied the opportunity to fight in battle by law, even before the Civil War, women found many different, and sneaky ways to participate and contribute to the war effort. During both the Revolutionary and Civil War, some women dressed as men, or in their husband's/brother's/father's uniform to enlist and got away with fighting in combat disguised as men. Many women, however, found ways to contribute to the war efforts behind the scenes. During the Civil War, it was more common for women to serve as spies on both sides during the conflict. Some women even helped guard prisoners and rebellious slaves. One famous example of one of these women is Harriet Tubman who acted as a scout, spy, and conductor of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was the system of houses used to host runaway slaves who were escaping from the south to the north. Harriet Tubman made a total of 19 trips, and rescued more than 300 slaves using this Underground Railroad. Other women served as doctors and ran hospitals for those soldiers who were injured in battle. In February of 1901, The Army Nurse Corps was created and because a permanent corps of the Medical Department under the Army Reorganization Act passed by Congress. Since the Army Nurse Corps was created women were allowed to enter the military in armed forces, although they were still not allowed to fight in combat. During World War I, the jobs open for women in the army became more broad. Women began to serve as occupational and physical therapists, and clerks in the U.S. Navy, and in the U.S. Marine Corps. Women were also allowed to be pilots who would fly dangerous missions for the Women's Army Corps. Although women were frequently killed during World War II, many women served as spies during that war too. It was common for a woman who was serving as a spy to use sex to gain information from men. The feminist movement in the early 1970s was successful in opening up many jobs to women in the military that had been formerly denied to them. More than 13,000 women now served as officers. Lots of specialties and activities opened up for women to take part in. These included serving as pilots, military police, special weapon training, and other combat-support roles. During the Grenada Invasion in 1983, and the Panama Invasion in 1989, women served as helicopter pilots, air transport pilots, refueling tanker pilots, mechanics, and officers commanding supply and repair ships for the navy. I learned that most female officers actually wanted females to serve as pilots and sailors instead of infantry soldiers, however most women felt that if they truly wanted to achieve full equality in the military they would also have to serve as infantry. Currently, American women comprise approximately 15 percent of American armed forces and 6 percent of veterans.