It wasn’t pretty. It was a long time coming, but it finally happened. Lee invaded the North. There have been many books written that give the gory details. There are, however, few that do so from the female point of view.

Peggy Ullman Bell, in Fixin’ Things, tells us about Gettysburg and details the many atrocities. This isn’t a little story about women who run off and hide. Nor is it a book about the brave heroines that tend the wounded.  There is so much more. Ms Bell's story is rich with detail. Although written in the late twentieth centuryFixin Things reads as if the author is sitting in the parlor of her Lincoln Era home describing her surroundings. 

We hear what happens to both the high class and lesser classes of women living in the Gettysburg area just prior to, during, and after the great battle. This book is not glossed over and light. It gives strong detail of life under very oppressive conditions. Grant may have taken Richmond, but Lee's Army of Northern Virginia made many forays to the northern manless households. That these households fed the hungry rebels is just part of what women do. Hunger knows no side.

Fixin Things is book about survival, of overcoming great obstacles and moving on with life after utter devastation. In the end, death is death and it does not matter what color coat you’re wearing. 

For indepth descussion of the cause/s of the American Civil War see   https://members.tripod.com/~greatamericanhistory/gr02013.htm