The Redding House

The Redding House is a large double-pen log structure with an open breezeway between the pens. There are stone chimneys on either end of the house. The structure is in excellent condition and has been fully restored by the owner. This was a working farm operated by the Redding family during the war. In addition to the house, there would have been stables, cribs, and other outbuildings. While there is no record of camps, there could have been short-term Confederate camps in the area., This site provides an example of what the women of the Confederacy did during the war. With most of the men away in the army, the females of the County were responsible for holding things together. They managed the farms, and, with the assistance of their children and enslaved Africans (if they owned any), they not only produced food for themselves, but also grew a surplus for sale to the army. Some women worked under government contract during the war making uniforms. The state quartermaster office employed male tailors to cut uniforms from patterns. The cut uniforms, thread, buttons, and other accessories were then sent to women for sewing. The women also supported the Confederate cause in numerous other ways., Each community had a Soldiers Relief Society that was made up of local women and girls. They met to make quilts and knit socks and mittens for the soldiers; they also made uniforms and rolled bandages. These patriotic women welcomed the opportunity to thank men for their military service through gifts and goods provided by local Soldiers Relief Societies. Women made or collected socks, shirts, pants, and blankets for soldiers. Some groups sent goods to local military units, while others forwarded packages to the front with instructions to distribute them as needed. In addition, they frequently sent packages of food for the military camps. Relief societies also sent reading material, Bibles, and religious pamphlets to the men in the field., Overcrowded camps and unsanitary conditions killed thousands of Georgia Confederate soldiers. In addition, surgeons treated soldiers under conditions that commonly led to deadly infections. More Civil War soldiers died from illness than from battle wounds. The Confederacy established a hospital complex at Ringgold, Georgia. Because of a shortage of male nurses, women stepped in to care for the sick and wounded. Some of the young women of Dade County volunteered for this duty. At first, the women mainly brought food to the patients and wrote and read their letters. Gradually, however, women began to take a more active role by assisting surgeons and changing dressings. After the battle of Chickamauga, some of the less seriously wounded were brought to private homes in Dade County for nursing and convalescence., In this part of Dade County, the Soldiers Relief Society activities were directed by a young woman named Manerva Redding and her mother. The other women brought the articles they had made to the Redding house and Manerva and her mother delivered them to the Confederate camps., Captions (left to right) , . Confederate women sewing uniforms , . From the map of Col. William E. Merrill, Chief Engineer, Army of the Cumberland , . Medical books and utensils