Women working was nothing new in the 1860s; however, how we remember it often reflects certain prejudices that all track back to class. How and what women did throughout the 19th Century was almost exclusively determined by class.
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Working class women had always been required to do some form of work. This could take the form of farming, pottery, basic repairs, etc. It was less to do with the culture of the time but the simple reality that poor families needed every member of the family to work. Some of these women (if their husbands went off to war) would follow the army or even enlist. Although there were literally thousands of camp followers, many of whom where forced into prostitution in order to stay alive, only a few hundred actually served as infantry soldiers in the war.
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Middle class women didn't have the expectation to work in the same way that poor women did, although very often they did work. This is right where Louisa May Alcott and Jo March would have been - solidly middle class. Much depended on the head of the household, who was nearly always the husband. His job was to work and try to arrange a marriage for his daughters (or sons) that would elevate their social and economic position. This couldn't always be achieved, either for social reasons, or in the case of the Little Women, Mr. March was off fighting in the Civil War. As such, these middle class women had to take up side jobs, working as governesses, school teachers, private tutors, or doing needlework. Very often this could pay the bills, but the living was by no means glamorous. If they came from a progressive family, the father might continue to help support the young working woman in hopes that she could move up in her current position or that she would attract the attention of a local suitor.
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Upper class women are the most nuanced of any of the social classes. Generally, they were a highly educated population but had essentially no control over heir own lives. As such there was no opportunity for them to work unless they became completely estranged from their families. Very often they were simply used as political or social pawns. Even though the country was at war, this class was restricted in this way both in the North and the South.
Women Working and in War
To a certain degree the Civil War changed all of this. Just like in the wars that would come in the following century, with so many of the men off fighting in the war, women had to take over the positions formally held by men. As the Union economy shifted to be fully war time focused women took over many of those munition jobs, or focused on resupplying the army with clothes. Also women served as nurses both in front line field hospitals and in large surgical hospitals back in the major cities. Once the war was over many men retook their job and women were marginalized in the work place yet again. However, a few industrys, such a garment working, stayed in the hands of women and represented some of the first wholly organized womens working industries in America.
A governess (tutor and chaperone) 1855.
Women working in a 1860's factory.