She probably didn't die *in* the battle of Shiloh, but from an illness
contracted while nursing in the Columbus, MS hospital (either military
or private) after the battle of Shiloh. A number of women, in groups and
singly, converged in northern Mississippi from across the South
immediately after the battle, including the famous Kate Cumming of
Mobile who left a journal. Therefore you are not just looking at local
women. However, you are lucky in that Canant is such an uncommon name.
Have you tried the 1860 and 1870 census search in Heritage Quest? There
are no Canants listed in Mississippi, but there are three in Alabama,
plus a few more in Georgia. What adult married women named Canant
appeared in the 1860 census that did not appear anywhere (allowing for
the large movement of people after the war) in the 1870 census? Then you
may have to check out places like Tallapoosa County, Alabama, home of
the widow Mary S. Canant, age 40, but with small children. Did she die
during the war, or just remarry? It certainly won't be easy, but it
looks like you've tried the more obvious places already. BTW, she did
not appear in _Confederate Hospitals on the Move_, and I have not
spotted her in my Southern newspaper research for the Civil War.
To tie this back to costuming, the clothing of Northern Civil War nurses
is explored in:
Hoisington, Daniel. ‘Women of Discreet Manners’: Union Army Nurses and
Their Attire.” Citizens’ Companion 4 no. 5 (December 1997-January 1998):
12-19.
Vicki Betts
E House wrote:
I researched her as best I could with local resources, and discovered
that she would most likely have died in the battle of Shiloh, but was
unable to find any Canants or Cannants in the area, or anything else
of real use in solving the mystery.
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