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http://www.archive.org/details/womansworkincivi5900broc

Woman's Work in the Civil War:

A RECORD

HEROISM, PATRIOTISM AND PATIENCE.

BY

L. P. BROCKETT, M.D.,

Author op " History op the Cim War," " Philanthropic Results of the War," " Our Great

Captains," " Lipe of Abraham Lincoln," " The Camp, The Battle

Field, and the Hospital," &c, &c.

AND

MRS. MAEY C. VAUGHAN.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION,

By HENRY W. BELLOWS, D.D.,

President XJ. S. Saixitary Com m issiort.

ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTEEN STEEL ENGRAVINGS.

ZEIGLER, McCURDY & CO.,

PHILADELPHIA, PA.; CHICAGO, ILL.; CINCINNATI, OHIO;

ST. LOUIS, MO.

R. H. CUREAN,

48 WINTER STREET, BOSTON, MASS.

1867.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S67, by

L. P. BROCKETT,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of New York.

King & Baird, Printers,

607 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

Westcott & Thomson, Stereotypers.

TO

The Loyal Women of America,

WHOSE PATRIOTIC CONTRIBUTIONS, TOILS AND SACRIFICES, ENABLED THEIR

SISTERS, WHOSE HISTORY IS HERE RECORDED, TO MINISTER

RELIEF AND CONSOLATION TO OUR WOUNDED

AND SUFFERING HEROES;

AND WHO BY THEIR DEVOTION, THEIR LABORS, AND THEIR PATIENT ENDURANCE

OF PRIVATION AND DISTRESS OF BODY AND SPIRIT, WHEN CALLED

TO GIVE UP THEIR BELOVED ONES FOR THE

NATION'S DEFENSE,

HAVE WON FOR THEMSELVES ETERNAL HONOR, AND THE UNDYINU REMEM- BRANCE OF THE PATRIOTS OF ALL TIME,

WE DEDICATE THIS

VOLUME.

PREFACE.

The preparation of this work, or rather the collection of material ior it, was commenced in the autumn of 1863. While engaged in the compilation of a little book on ' ' The Philanthropic Results of the War' ' for circulation abroad, in the summer of that year, the writer became so deeply impressed with the extraordinary sacrifices and devotion of loyal women, in the national cause, that he determined to make a record of them for the honor of his country. A voluminous correspondence then commenced and continued to the present time, soon demonstrated how general were the acts of patriotic devotion, and an extensive tour, undertaken the following summer, to obtain by personal observation and intercourse with these heroic women, a more clear and comprehensive idea of what they had done and were doing, only served to increase his admiration for their zeal, patience, and self-denying effort.

Meantime the war still continued, and the collisions between Grant and Lee, in the East, and Sherman and Johnston, in the South, the fierce campaign between Thomas and Hood in Tennessee, Sheridan's annihilating defeats of Early in the valley of the Shenandoah, and Wilson's magnificent expe- dition in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, as well as the mixed naval and military victories at Mobile and Wilmington, were fruitful in wounds, sickness, and death. Never had the gentle and patient ministrations of woman been so needful as in the last year of the war ; and never had they been so abundantly bestowed, and with such zeal and self-forgetfulness.

From Andersonville, and Millen, from Charleston, and Florence, from

Salisbury, and Wilmington, from Belle Isle, and Libby Prison, came also,

in these later months of the war, thousands of our bravest and noblest

heroes, captured by the rebels, the feeble remnant of the tens of thousands

imprisoned there, a majority of whom had perished of cold, nakedness,

starvation, and disease, in those charnel houses, victims of the fiendish

malignity of the rebel leaders. These poor fellows, starved to the last

degree of emaciation, crippled and dying from frost and gangrene, many of

21

22 PEEFACE.

them idiotic from their sufferings, or with the fierce fever of typhus, more deadly than sword or minis' bullet, raging in their veins, were brought to Annapolis and to Wilmington, and unmindful of the deadly infection, gentle and tender women ministered to them as faithfully and lovingly, as if they were their own brothers. Ever and anon, in these works of mercy, one of these fair ministrants died a martyr to her faithful- ness, asking, often only, to be buried beside her "boys," but the work never ceased while there was a soldier to be nursed. Nor were these the only fields in which noble service was rendered to humanity by the women of our time. In the larger associations of our cities, day after day, and year after year, women served in summer's heat and winter's cold, at their desks, corresponding with auxiliary aid societies, taking account of goods received for sanitary supplies, re-packing and shipping them to the points where they were needed, inditing and sending out circulars appealing for aid, in work more prosaic but equally needful and patriotic with that performed in the hospitals; and throughout every village and hamlet in the country, women were toiling, contriving, submitting to privation, performing unusual and severe labors, all for the soldiers. In the general hospitals of the cities and larger towns, the labors of the special diet kitchen, and of the hospi- tal nurse were performed steadily, faithfully, and uncomplainingly, though there also, ever and anon, some fair toiler laid down her life in the service. There were many too in still other fields of labor, who showed their love for their country; the faithful women who, in the Philadelphia Refresh- ment Saloons, fed tbe hungry soldier on his way to or from the battle-field, till in the aggregate, they had dispensed nearly eight hundred thousand meals, and had cared for thousands of sick and wounded ; the matrons of the Soldiers' Homes, Lodges, and Rests; the heroic souls who devoted themselves to the noble work of raising a nation of bondmen to intelligence and freedom ; those who attempted the still more hopeless task of rousing the blunted intellect and cultivating the moral nature of the degraded and abject poor whites ; and those who in circumstances of the greatest peril, manifested their fearless and undying attachment to their country and its flag ; all these were entitled to a place in such a record. What wonder, then, that, pursuing his self-appointed task assiduously, the writer found it growing upon him ; till the question came, not, who should be inscribed in this roll, but who could be omitted, since it was evident no single volume could do justice to all.

In the autumn of 1865, Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan, a skilful and practiced writer, whose tastes and sympathies led her to take an interest in the work, became associated with the writer it its preparation, and to her zeal in col-

PREFACE. 23

lecting, and skill in arranging the materials obtained, many of the interest- ing sketches of the volume are due. We have in the prosecution of our work been constantly embarrassed, by the reluctance of some who deserved a prominent place, to suffer anything to be communicated concerning their labors ; by the promises, often repeated but never fulfilled, of others to furnish facts and incidents which they alone could supply, and by the for- wardness of a few, whose services were of the least moment, in presenting their claims.

: We have endeavored to exercise a wise and careful discrimination both in avoiding the introduction of any name unworthy of a place in such a record, and in giving the due meed of honor to those who have wrought most earnestly and acceptably. We cannot hope that we have been com- pletely successful ; the letters even now, daily received, render it probable that there are some, as faithful and self-sacrificing as any of those whose services we have recorded, of whom we have failed to obtain information ; and that some of those who entered upon their work of mercy in the closing campaigns of the war, by their zeal and earnestness, have won the right to a place. We have not, knowingly, however, omitted the name of any faithful worker, of whom we could obtain information, and we feel assured that our record is far more full and complete, than any other which has been, or is likely to be prepared, and that the number of prominent and active laborers in the national cause who have escaped our notice is com- paratively small.

We take pleasure in acknowledging our obligations to Rev. Dr. Bellows, President of the United States Sanitary Commission, for many services and much valuable information ; to Honorable James E. Yeatman, the Presi- dent of the Western Sanitary Commission, to Rev. J. G-. Forman, late Secretary of that Commission, and now Secretary of the Unitarian Asso- ciation, and his accomplished wife, both of whom were indefatigable in their efforts to obtain facts relative to western ladies; to Rev. N. M. Mann, now of Kenosha, Wisconsin, but formerly Chaplain and Agent of the Western Sanitaiy Commission, at Vicksburg; to Professor J. S. Newberry, now of Columbia College, but through the war the able Secretary of the Western Department of the United States Sanitary Commission; to Mrs. M. A. Livermore, of Chicago, one of the managers of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission; to Rev. G-. S. F. Savage, Secretary of the Western Department of the American Tract Society, Boston, Rev. William De Loss Love, of Milwaukee, author of a work on "Wisconsin in the War," Samuel B. Fales, Esq., of Philadelphia, so long and nobly identified with the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, Dr. A. N. Read, of Norwalk, Ohio,

24 PREFACE.

late one o the Medical Inspectors of the Sanitary Commission, Di. Joseph Parrish, of Philadelphia, also a Medical Inspector of the Commission, Mrs. M. M. Husband, of Philadelphia, one of the most faithful workers in field hospitals during the war, Miss Katherine P. Wormeley, of Newport, Rhode Island, the accomplished historian of the Sanitary Commission, Mrs. W. H. Holstein, of Bridgeport, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Miss Maria M. C. Hall, of Washington, District of Columbia, and Miss Louise Tit- comb, of Portland, Maine. From many of these we have received infor- mation indispensable to the completeness and success of our work ; infor- mation too, often afforded at great inconvenience and labor. We commit our book, then, to the loyal women of our country, as an earnest and con- scientious effort to portray some phases of a heroism which will mako American women famous in all the future ages of history ; and with the full conviction that thousands more only lacked the opportunity, not the will or endurance, to do, in the same spirit of self-sacrifice, what these havo done.

L. P. B. Brooklyn, N. Y., February, 1867.

CONTENTS.

Paoi

DEDICATION 3

PREFACE 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION BY HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTER

Patriotism in some form, an attribute of woman in all nations and climes — Its modes of mani- festation— Pseans for victory — Lamentations for the death of a heroic leader — Personal leadership by women — The assassination of tyrants — The care of the sick and wounded of national armies — The hospitals established by the Empress Helena — The Beguines and their successors — The cantinieres, vivandieres, etc. — Other modes in which women mani- fested their patriotism — Florence Nightingale and her labors — The results — The awakening of patriotic zeal among American women at the opening of the war — The organization of philanthropic efforts — Hospital nurses — Miss Dix's rejection of great numbers of appli- cants on account of youth — Hired nurses — Their services generally prompted by patriotism rather than pay — The State relief agents (ladies) at Washington — The hospital transport system of the Sanitary Commission — Mrs. Harris's, Miss Barton's, Mrs. Fales', Miss Gilson's, and other ladies' services at the front during the battles of 1862 — Services of other ladies at Chancellorsville, at Gettysburg — The Field Relief of the Sanitary Commission, and services of ladies in the later battles — Voluntary services of women in the armies in the field at the West — Services in the hospitals of garrisons and fortified towns — Soldiers' homes and lodges, and their matrons — Homes for Refugees — Instruction of the Freedmen — Refresh- ment Saloons at Philadelphia — Regular visiting of hospitals in the large cities — The Sol- diers' Aid Societies, and their mode of operation — The extraordinary labors of the managers of the Branch Societies — Government clothing contracts — Mrs. Springer, Miss Wormeley and Miss Gilson — The managers of the local Soldiers' Aid Societies — The sacrifices made by the poor to contribute supplies — Examples — The labors of the young and the old — Inscrip- tions on articles — The poor seamstress — Five hundred bushels of wheat — The five dollar gold piece — The army of martyrs — The effect of this female patriotism in stimulating the courage of the soldiers — Lack of persistence in this work among the Women of the South — Present and future — Effect of patriotism and self-sacrifice in elevating and enno- bling the female character 65-94

PAET I. SUPEEINTENDENT OF NUESES. MISS DOROTHEA L. DIX.

Early history — Becomes interested in the condition of prison convicts — Visit to Europe — Returns in 1837, and devotes herself to improving the condition of paupers, lunatics and prisoners — 4 25

26 CONTENTS.

BUM

Her efforts for the establishment of Insane Asylums — Second visit to Europe — Her first work in the war the nursing of Massachusetts soldiers in Baltimore — Appointment as superintendent of nurses — Her selections — Difficulties in her position — Her other duties- Mrs. Livermore's account of her labors — The adjutant-general's order — Dr. Bellows' esti- mate of her work — Her kindness to her nurses— Her publications — Her manners and ad- dress— Labors for the insane poor since the war 97-108

PAKT II. LADIES WHO MINISTEKED TO THE SICK AND , WOUNDED IN CAMP, FIELD, AND GENEEAL HOSPITALS.

CLARA HARLOWE BARTON.

Early life — Teaching — The Bordentown school — Obtains a situation in the Patent Office — Her readiness to help others — Her native genius for nursing — Removed from office in 1857 — Return to Washington in 1S61 — Nursing and providing for Massachusetts soldiers at the Capitol in April, 1861 — Hospital and sanitary work in 1861 — Death of her father — Wash- ington hospitals again — Going to the front — Cedar Mountain — The second Bull Kun battle — Chantilly — Heroic labors at Antietam — Soft bread — Three barrels of flour and a bag of salt — Thirty lanterns for that night of gloom — The race for Fredericksburg — Miss Barton as a general purveyor for the sick and wounded — The battle of Fredericksburg — Under fire — The rebel officer's appeal — The " confiscated" carpet — After the battle — In the depart- ment of the South — The sands of Morris Island — The horrors of the siege of Forts Wagner and Sumter — The reason why she went thither — Return to the North — Preparations for the great campaign — Her labors at Belle Plain, Fredericksburg, White House, and City Point — Return to Washington — Appointed " General correspondent for the friends of pa- roled prisoners" — Her residence at Annapolis — Obstacles — The Annapolis plan abandoned — She establishes at Washington a " Bureau of records of missing men in the armies of the United States" — The plan of operations of this Bureau — Her visit to Andersonville — The case of Dorrance Atwater — The Bureau of missing men an institution indispensable to the Government and to friends of the soldiers — Her sacrifices in maintaining it — The grant from Congress — Personal appearance of Miss Barton 111-132

HELEN LOUISE GILSON.

Barly history — Her first work for the soldiers — Collecting supplies — The clothing contract- Providing for soldiers' wives and daughters — Application to Miss Dix for an appointment as nurse — She is rejected as too young — Associated with Hon. Frank B. Fay in the Auxi- liary Relief Service — Her labors on the Hospital Transports — Her manner of working — Her extraordinary personal influence — Her work at Gettysburg — Influence over the men — Carrying a sick comrade to tho hospital — Her system and self-possession — Pleading the ;ause of the soldier with the people — Her services in Grant's protracted campaign — The hospitals at Fredericksburg — Singing to the soldiers — Her visit to the barge of "contra- bands"— Her address to tho negroes — Singing to them — The hospital for colored soldiers — Miss Gilson re-organizes and re-models it, making it the best hospital at City Point — Her labors for the spiritual good of the men in her hospital — Her care for the negro washer- women and their families — Completion of her work — Personal appearance of Misa Gilsct 138-148

CONTEXTS. 27

MRS. JOHK HARRIS.

TAGS Previous history — Secretary Ladies' Aid Society — Her decision to go to the "front" — Early experiences — On the Hospital Transports — Harrison's Landing — Her garments soaked in. nunian gore — Antietam — French's Division Hospital — Smoketown General Hospital — Re- turn to the " front" — Fredericksburg — Falmouth — She almost despairs of the success of our arms — Chancollorsville — Gettysburg — Following the troops — Warrenton — Insolence of the rebels — Illness — Goes to the West — Chattanooga — Serious illness — Return to Nashville — Labors for the refugees — Called home to watch over a dying mother — The returned prison- ers from Andersonville and Salisbury 149-160

MRS. ELIZA C. PORTER.

Mrs. Porter's social position — Her patriotism — Labors in the hospitals at Cairo — She takes charge of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission Rooms at Chicago — Her determination to go, with a corps of nurses, to the front — Cairo and Paducah — Visit to Pittsburg Landing after the battle — She brings nurses and supplies for the hospitals from Chicago — At Corinth — At Memphis — Work among the freedmen at Memphis and elsewhere — Efforts for the establishment of hospitals for the sick and wounded in the Northwest — Co-operation with Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Howe — The Harvey Hospital — At Natchez and Vicksburg — Other appeals for Northern hospitals — At Huntsville with Mrs. Bickerdyke — At Chatta- nooga— Experiences in a field hospital in the woods — Following Sherman's army from Chattanooga to Atlanta — " This seems like having mother about" — Constant labors — The distribution of supplies to the soldiers of Sherman's army near Washington — A patriotic family 161-171

MRS. MARY A. BICKERDYKE.

Previous history of Mrs. Bickerdyke — Her regard for the private soldiers — " Mother Bicker- dyke and her boys" — Her work at Savannah after the battle of Shiloh — What she accom- plished at Perryville — The Gayoso Hospital at Memphis — Colored nurses and attendants — A model hospital — The delinquent assistant-surgeon — Mrs. Bickerdyke's philippic — She procures his dismissal — His interview with General Sherman — " She ranks me" — The com- manding generals appreciate her — Convalescent soldiers vs. colored nurses — The Medical Director's order — Mrs. Bickerdyke's triumph — A dairy and hennery for the hospitals — Two hundred cows and a thousand hens — Her first visit to the Milwaukee Chamber of Com- merce— "Go over to Canada — This country has no place for such creatures" — At Vicks- burg— In field hospitals — The dresses riddled with sparks — The box of clothing for her- self— Trading for butter and eggs for the soldiers — The two lace-trimmed night-dresses — A new style of hospital clothing for wounded soldiers — A second visit to Milwaukee — Mrs. Bickerdyke's speech — "Set your standard higher yet" — In the Huntsville Hospital — At Chattanooga at the close of the battle — The only woman on the ground for four weeks — Cooking under difficulties — Her interview with General Grant — Complaints of the neglect of the men by some of the surgeons — " Go around to the hospitals and see for yourself" — Visits Huntsville, Pulaski, etc — With Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta — Making dishes for the sick out of hard tack and the ordinary rations — At Nashville and Franklin — Through the Carolinas with Sherman — Distribution of supplies near Washington — " The Freedmen's Home and Refuge" at Chicago 172-188

28 CONTENTS.

MARGARET ELIZABETH BRECKINRIDGE. By Mrs. J. G. Forman.

PAGB

Sketch of her personal appearance — Her gentle, tender, winning ways — The American Florence Nightingale — What if I do die? — The Breckinridge family — Margaret's childhood and youth — Her emancipation of her slaves — Working for the soldiers early in the war — Not one of the Home Guards — Her earnest desire to lahor in the hospitals — Hospital service at Baltimore — At Lexington, Kentucky — Morgan's first raid — Her visit to the wounded sol- diers— " Every one of you bring a regiment with you" — Visiting the St. Louis hospitals — On the hospital boats on the Mississippi — Perils of the voyage — Severe and incessant labor — The contrabands at Helena — Touching incidents of the wounded on the hospital boats — " The service pays" — In the hospitals at St. Louis — Impaired health — She goes eastward for rest and recovery — A year of weakness and weariness — In the hospital at Philadelphia — A ministering angel — Colonel Porter her brother-in-law killed at Cold Harbor — She goes to Baltimore to meet the body — Is seized with typhoid fever and dies after five weeks illness 187-199

MRS. STEPHEN BARKER.

Family of Mrs. Barker — Her husband Chaplain of First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery — She accompanies him to Washington — Devotes herself to the work of visiting the hospitals — Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital — She removes to Fort Albany and takes charge aa Matron of the Regimental Hospital — Pleasant experiences— Reading to the soldiers — Two years of labor — Return to Washington in January, 1S64 — She becomes one of the hospital visitors of the Sanitary Commission — Ten hospitals a week — Remitting the soldiers' money and valuables to their families — The service of Mr. and Mrs. Barker as lecturers and mis- sionaries of the Sanitary Commission to the Aid Societies in the smaller cities and villages — The distribution of supplies to the disbanding armies — Her report 200-211

AMY M. BRADLEY.

Childhood of Miss Bradley — Her experiences as a teacher — Residence in Charleston, South Carolina — Two years of illness — Goes to Costa Rica — Three years of teaching in Central America — Return to the United States — Becomes corresponding clerk and translator in a large glass manufactory — Beginning of the war — She determines to go as a nurse — Writes to Dr. Palmer — His quaint reply — Her first experience as nurse in a regimental hospital — Skill and tact in managing it — Promoted by General Slocuni to the charge of the Brigade Hospital — Hospital Transport Service — Over-exertion and need of rest — The organization of the Soldiers' Home at Washington — Visiting hospitals at her leisure — Camp Misery- Wretched condition of the men — The rendezvous of distribution — Miss Bradley goes thither as Sanitary Commission Agent — Her zealous and multifarious labors — Bringing in the dis- charged men for their papers — Procuring the correction of their papers, and the reinstate- ment of the men — " The Soldiers' Journal" — Miss Bradley's object in its establishment — Its success — Presents to Miss Bradley — Personal appearance 212-224

MRS. ARABELLA GRIFFITH BARLOW.

Birth and education of Mrs. Griffith — Her marriage at the beginning of the war — She accompa- nies her husband to the camp, and wherever it is possible ministers to the wounded or sick soldiers — Joins the Sanitary Commission in July, 1862, and labors among the sick and wounded at Harrison's Landing till late in August — Colonel Barlow severely wounded at Antietam — Mrs. Barlow nurses him with great tenderness, and at the same time ministers

CONTENTS. 29

Pase to the wounded of Sedgwick Hospital — At Chancellorsville and Gettysburg — General Barlow again wounded, and in the enemy's lines — She removes him and succors the wounded in the intervals of her care of him — In May, 1864, she was actively engaged at Belle Plain, Fredericksburg, Port Koyal, White House, and City Point — Her incessant labor brought on fever and caused her death July 27, 1864 — Tribute of the Sanitary Commission Bulletin, Dr. Lieber and others, to her memory 225-233

MRS. NELLIE MARIA TAYLOR.

Parentage and early history — Removal to New Orleans — Her son urged to enlist in the rebel army — He is sent North — The rebels persecute Mrs. Taylor — Her dismissal from her posi- tion as principal of one of the city schools — Her house mobbed — " I am for the Union, tear my house down if you choose !" — Her house searched seven times for the flag — The Judge's son — " A piece of Southern chivalry" — Her son enlists in the rebel army to save her from molestation — New Orleans occupied by the Union forces — Mrs. Taylor reinstated as teacher — She nurses the soldiers in the hospitals, during her vacations and in all the leisure hours from her school duties, her daughter filling up the intermediate time with her services — She expends her entire salary upon the sick and wounded — Writes eleven hundred and seventy-four letters for them in one year — Distributes the supplies received from the Cin- cinnati Branch ,of Sanitary Commission in 1S64, and during the summer takes the manage- ment of the special diet of the University Hospital — Testimony of the soldiers to her labors — Patriotism and zeal of her children — Terms on which Miss Alice Taylor would pre- sent a confederate flag to a company 234-248

MRS. ADALINE TYLER.

Residence in Boston — Removal to Baltimore — Becomes Superintendent of a Protestant Sister- hood in that city — Duties of the Sisterhood — The " Church Home" — Other duties of K Sister" Tyler — The opening of the war — The Baltimore mob — Wounding and killing members of the SKxth Massachusetts regiment — Mrs. Tyler hears that Massachusetts men are wounded and seeks admission to them — Is refused — She persists, and threatening an appeal to Gover- nor Andrew is finally admitted — She takes those most severely wounded to the " Church Home," procures surgical attendance for them, and nurses them till their recovery — Other Union wounded nursed by her — Receives the thanks of the Massachusetts Legislature and Governor — Is appointed Superintendent of the Camden Street Hospital, Baltimore — Resigns at the end of a year, and visits New York — The surgeon-general urges her to take charge of the large hospital at Chester, Pennsylvania — She remains at Chester till the hospital is broken up, when she is transferred to the First Division General Hospital, Naval Academy. Annapolis — The returned prisoners — Their terrible condition — Mrs. Tyler procures photo- graphs of them — Impaired health — Resignation — She visits Europe, and spends eighteen months there, advocating as she has opportunity the National cause — The fiendish rebel spirit — Incident relative to President Lincoln's assassination 241-25 r>

MRS. WILLIAM H. HOLSTEIN.

Social position of Mr. and Mrs. Holstein — Early labors for the soldiers at home — The battle of Antietam — She goes with her husband to care for the wounded — Her first emotions at the sight of the wounded — Three years' devotion to the service — Mr. and Mrs. Holstein devote themselves mainly to field hospitals — Labors at Fredericksburg, in the Second Corps Hos- pital— Services after the battle of Chancellorsville — The march toward Pennsylvania in

30 CONTENTS.

Pi OB June, 18b3 — The Field Hospital of the Second Corps after Gettysburg — Incidents — "Wouldn't be buried by the side of that raw recruit" — Mrs. Holstein Matron of the Second Corps Hospital — Tour among the Aid Societies — The campaign of 1864-5 — Constant labors in the field hospitals at Fredericksburg, City Point, and elsewhere, till November — Another tour among the Aid Societies — Labors among the returned prisoners at Anna- polis 251-259

mes. Cordelia A. p. harvey. By Rev. N. M. Mann.

The death of her husband, Governor Louis P. Harvey — Her intense grief— She resolves to devote herself to the care of the sick and wounded soldiers — She visits St. Louis as Agent for the State of 'Wisconsin — Work in the St. Louis hospitals in the autumn of 1862 — Heroic labors at Cape Girardeau — Visiting hospitals along the Mississippi — The soldiers' ideas of her influence and power — Young's Point in 1S63 — Illness of Mrs. Harvey — She detecmines to secure the establishment of a General Hospital at Madison, Wisconsin, where from the fine climate the chances of recovery of the sick and wounded will be increased — Her resolution and energy — The Harvey Hospital — The removal of the patients at Fort Pickering to it — Repeated journeys down the Mississippi — Presented with an elegant watch by the Second Wisconsin Cavalry — Her influence over the soldiers — The Soldiers' Orphan Asylum at Madison 260-268

MRS. SARAH R. JOHNSTON.

Loyal Southern women — Mrs. Johnston's birth and social position — Her interest in the Union prisoners — " A Yankee sympathizer" — The young soldier — Her tender care of him, living and dead — Work for the prisoners — Her persecution by the rebels — " Why don't you pin me to the earth as you threatened" — " Sergeant, you can't make anything on that woman" — Copying the inscriptions on Union graves, and statistics of Union prisoners — Her visit to the North 269-272

emily e. parsons. By Bev. J. G. Forman.

Her birth and education — Her preparation for service in the hospitals — Receives instruction in the care of the sick, dressing wounds, preparation of diet, etc — Service at Fort Schuyler Hospital — Mrs. General Fremont secures her services for St. Louis — Condition of St. Louis and the other river cities at this time — First assigned to the Lawson Hospital — Next to Hospital steamer " City of Alton" — The voyage from Yicksburg to Memphis — Return to St. Louis — Illness — Appointed Superintendent of Nurses to the large Benton Barracks Hos- pital— Her duties — The admirable management of the hospital — Yisit to the East — Return to her work — Illness and return to the East — Collects and forwards supplies to Western Sanitary Commission and Northwestern Sanitary Commission — The Chicago Fair — The Charity Hospital at Cambridge established by her — Her cheerfulness and skill in her hos- pital work 273-279

MRS. ALMIRA FALES.

The first woman to work for the soldiers — She commenced in December, 1860 — Her continuous service — Amount of stores distributed by her — Variety and severity of her work — Hospital Transport Service — Harrison's Landing — Her work in Pope's campaign — Death of her son — Her sorrowful toil at Fredericksburg and Falmouth — Her peculiarities and humor 279-283

CONTENTS. 31

CORNELIA HANCOCK.

PAGB

Early labors for the soldiers — Mr. Yassar's testimony — Gettysburg— The campaign of 1864 — Fredericksburg and City Point 284-286

MRS. MARY MORRIS HUSBAND.

iler ancestry — Patriotic instincts of the family — Service in Philadelphia hospitals — Harrison's Landing — Nursing a sick son — Ministers to others there — Dr. Markland's testimony — At Camden Street Hospital, Baltimore — Antietam — Sruoketowi* Hospital — Associated with Miss M. M. C. Hall — Her admirable services as nurse there — Her personal appearance — The -wonderful apron with its pockets — The battle-flag — Her heroism in contagious dis- ease — Attachment of the soldiers for her — Her energy and activity — Her adventures after the battle of Chancellorsville — The Field Hospital near United States Ford — The forgetful surgeon — Matron of Third Division, Third Corps Hospital, Gettysburg — Camp Letterman — Illness of Mrs. Husband — Stationed at Camp Parole, Annapolis— Hospital at Brandy Sta- tion— The battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania — Overwhelming labor at Fredericks- burg, Port Royal, White House, and City Point — Second Corps Hospital at City Point — Marching through Richmond — " Hurrah for mother Husband" — The visit to her " boys" at Bailey's Cross Boads — Distribution of supplies — Mrs. Husband's labors for the pardon or commutation of the sentence of soldiers condemned by court-martial — Her museum and its treasures 287-298

THE HOSPITAL TRANSPORT SERVICE.

The organization of this service by the United States Sanitary Commission — Difficulties en- countered— Steamers and sailing vessels employed — The corps of ladies employed in the service — The headquarters' staff — Ladies plying on the Transports to Washington, Balti- more, Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere — Work on the Daniel Webster — The Ocean Queen — Difficulties in providing as rapidly as was desired for the numerous patients — Duties of the ladies who belonged to the headquarters' staff — Description of scenes in the work by Miss Wormeley and Miss G. Woolsey — Taking on patients — " Butter on soft bread" — " Guess I can stand h'isting better'n him" — " Spare the darning needles" — " Slippers only fit for pontoon bridges" — Yisiting Government Transports — Scrambling eggs in a wash-basin — Subduing the captain of a tug — The battle of Fair Oaks — Bad management on Government Transports — Sufferings of the wounded — Sanitary Commission relief tent at the wharf- Belief tents at White House depot at Savage's Station — The departure from White House — Arrival at Harrison's Landiing — Running past the rebel batteries at City Point — " I'll take those mattresses you spoke of" — The wounded of the seven days' battles — " You are so kind, I — am so weak" — Exchanging prisoners under flag of truce 299-316

OTHER LABORS OF SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE HOSPITAL

TRANSPORT CORPS.

Miss Bradley, Miss Gilson, Mrs. Husband, Miss Charlotte Bradford, Mrs. W. P. Griffin, Miss H. D.Whetten 316.317

KATHERINE PRESCOTT WORMELEY.

Birth and parentage — Commencement of her labors for the soldiers — The Woman's Union Aid Society of Newport — She takes a contract for army clothing to furnish employment for

32 CONTENTS.

am

soldiers' families — Forwarding sanitary goods — The hundred and fifty bed sacks — Miss Wormeley's connection with the Hospital Transport Service — Her extraordinary labors — Hlness — Is appointed Lady Superintendent of the Lovell General Hospital at Portsmouth Grove, Rhode Island — Her duties — Resigns in October, 1863 — Her volume — " The United States Sanitary Commission" — Other labors for the soldiers „ 318-323

THE MISSES WOOLSEY.

Social position of the Woolsey sisters — Mrs. Joseph Howland and her labors on the Hospital Transport — Her tender and skilful nursing of the sick and wounded of her husband's regi- ment— Poem addressed to her by a soldier — Her encouragement and assistance to the women nurses appointed by Miss Dix — Mrs. Robert S. Howland — Her labors in the hospitals and at the Metropolitan Sanitary Fair — Her early death from over-exertion in connection with the fair — Her poetical contributions to the National cause — " In the hospital" — Miss Georgiana M. Woolsey — Labors on Hospital Transports — At Portsmouth Grove Hospital — After Chancellorsville — Her work at Gettysburg with her mother — " Three weeks at Gettys- burg"— The approach to the battle-field — The Sanitary Commission's Lodge near the rail- road depot — The supply tent — Crutches — Supplying rebels and Union men alike — Dressing wounds — " On dress parade" — " Bread with butter on it and jelly on the butter" — " Worth a penny a sniff" — The Gettysburg women — The Gettysburg farmers — "Had never seen a rebel" — "A feller might'er got hit" — "I couldn't leave my bread" — The dying soldiers — "Tell herl love her" — The young rebel lieutenant — The colored freedmen — Praying for " Massa Lincoln" — The purple and blue and yellow handkerchiefs — " Only a blue one" — " The man who screamed so" — The German mother — The Oregon lieutenant — " Soup" — " Put some meat in a little water and stirred it round" — Miss Woolsey's rare capacities for her work — Estimate of a lady friend — Miss Jane Stuart Woolsey — Labors in hospitals — Her charge of the Freedmen at Richmond — Miss Sarah C. Woolsey, at Portsmouth Grove Hospital 324-342

ANNA MARIA ROSS.

Ber parentage and family — Early devotion to works of charity and benevolence — Praying for success in soliciting aid for the unfortunate — The "black small-pox" — The conductor's wife — The Cooper Shop Hospital — Her incessant labors and tender care of her patients — Her thoughtfulness for them when discharged — Her unselfish devotion to the good of • others — Sending a soldier to his friends — "He must go or die" — The attachment of the sol- diers to her — The home for discharged soldiers — Her efforts to provide the funds for it — Her success — The walk to South Street — Her sudden attack of paralysis and death — The monu- ment and its inscription 343-351

MRS. G. T. M. DAVIS.

«Irs. Davis a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts — A patriotic family — General Bartlett — She be- comes Secretary of the Park Barracks Ladies' Association — The Bedloe's Island Hospital — The controversy — Discharge of the surgeon — Withdrawal from the Association — The hos- pital at David's Island — Mrs. Davis's labors there — The Soldiers' Rest on Howard Street — She becomes the Secretary of the Ladies' Association connected with it — Visits to other hospitals — Gratitude of the men to whom she has ministered — Appeals to the women of Berkshire — Her encomiums on their abundant labors 352-356

CONTENTS.

MARY J. SAFFORD.

PAS!

Miss Safford a native of Vermont, but a resident of Cairo — Her thorough and extensive mental culture — She organizes temporary hospitals among the regiments stationed at Cairo — Visit- ing the wounded on the field after the battle of Belmont — Her extemporized flag of truce — Her remarkable and excessive labors after the battle of Shiloh — On the Hospital steamers — Among the hospitals at Cairo — " A merry Christmas" for the soldiers stationed at Cain) — Illness induced by her over-exertion — Her tour in Europe — Her labors there, while in feeble health — Mrs. Livermore's sketch of Miss Safford — Her personal appearance and pdile figure — " An angel at Cairo" — " That little gal that used to come in every day to see us — I tell you what she's an angel if there is any" 357-361

MRS. LYDIA G. PARRISH.

Previous history — Early consecration to the work of beneficence in the army — Visiting George- town Seminary Hospital — Seeks aid from the Sanitary Commission — Visits to camps around Washington — Return to Philadelphia to enlist the sympathies of her friends in the work of the Commission — Return to Seminary Hospital — The surly soldier— He melts at last — Visits in other hospitals — Broad and Cherry Street Hospital, Philadelphia — Assists in organizing a Ladies' Aid Society at Chester, and in forming a corps of volunteer nurses — At Falmouth, Virginia, in January, 1863, with Mrs. Harris — On a tour of inspection in Virginia and North Carob'na with her husband — The exchange of prisoners — Touching scenes — The Continental Fair — Mrs. Parrish's labors in connection with it — The tour of inspection at the Annapolis hospitals — Letters to the Sanitary Commission — Condition of the returned prisoners — Their hunger — The St. John's College Hospital — Admirable arrangement — Camp Parole Hospital — The Naval Academy Hospital — The landing of the prisoners — Their frightful sufferings- She compiles " The Soldiers' Friend" of which more than a hundred thousand copies were circulated — Her efforts for the freedmen 362-372

MRS. ANNIE WITTENMEYER.

Early efforts for the soldiers — She urges the organization of Aid Societies, and these become auxiliary at first to the Keokuk Aid Society, which she was active in establishing — The Iowa State Sanitary Commission — Mrs. Wittennieyer becomes its agents — Her active efforts for the soldiers — She disburses one hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars worth of goods and supplies in about two years and a-half — She aids in the establishment of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home — Her plan of special diet kitchens — The Christian Commission appoint her their agent for carrying out this plan — ner labors in their establishment in connection with large hospitals — Special order of the War Department — The estimate of her services by the Christian Commission 373-378

melcenia elliott. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

Previous pursuits — Tn the hospitals in Tennessee in the summer and autumn of 1862 — A remark- ably skilful nurse — Services at»Memphis — The Iowa soldier — She scales the fence to watch over him and minister to his needs, and at his death conveys his body to his friends, over- coming all difficulties to do so — 1p the Benton Barracks Hospital — Volunteers to nurse the patients in the erysipelas ward — Matron of the Refugee Home at St. Louis — " The poor

white trash" — Matron of Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Farmington, Iowa 379-383

5

84 CONTENTS.

mary dwight pettes. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

FASl

A native of Boston — Came to St. Louis in 1861, and entered upon hospital work in January, 1862 — Her faithful earnest work — Labors for the spiritual as well as physical welfare of the soldiers, reading the Scriptures to them, singing to them, etc. — Attachment of the soldiers to her — She is seized with typhoid fever contracted in her care for her patients, and dies after five weeks' illness — Dr. Eliot's impressions of her character . 384-388

louisa maertz. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

Her birth and parentage — Her residence in Germany and Switzerland — Her fondness for study — Her extraordinary sympathy and benevolence — She commences visiting the hospitals in her native city, Quincy, Illinois, in the autumn of 1861 — She takes some of the wounded home to her father's house and ministers to them there— She goes to St. Louis — Is commis- sioned as a nurse — Sent to Helena, then full of wounded from the battles in Arkansas — Her severe labors here — Almost the only woman nurse in the hospitals there — " God bless you, dear lady" — The Arkansas Union soldier — The half-blind widow — Miss Maertz at Vicks- burg— At New Orleans 390-394

MRS. HARRIET R. COLFAX.

Early life — A widow and fatherless — Her first labors in the hospitals in St. Louis — Her sympa- thies never blunted — The sudden death of a soldier — Her religious labors among the pa- tients— Dr. Paddock's testimony — The wounded from Fort Donelson — On the hospital boat — In the battle at Island No. Ten — Bringing back the wounded — Mrs. Colfax's care of them — Trips to Pittsburg Landing, before and after the battle of Shiloh — Heavy and protracted labor for the nurses — Return to St. Louis — At the Fifth Street Hospital — At Jefferson Bar- rackB — Her associates — Obliged to retire from the service on account of her health in 1864 395-399

CLARA DAVIS.

Miss Davis not a native of this country — Her services at the Broad and Cherry Street Hospital, Philadelphia — One of the Hospital Transport corps — The steamer "John Brooks" — Mile Creek Hospital— Mrs. Husband's account of her — At Frederick City, Harper's Ferry, and Antietam — Agent of the Sanitary Commission at Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland — Is seized with typhoid fever here — When partially recovered, she resumes her labors, but Ss again attacked and compelled to withdraw from her work — Her other labors for the sol- diers, both sick and well — Obtaining furloughs — Sending home the bodies of dead soldiers — Providing head-boards for the soldiers' graves. 400-403

MRS. R. H. SPENCER.

Her home in Oswego, New York — Teaching — An anti-war Democrat is convinced of his duty to become a soldier, though too old for the draft — Husband and wife go together — At the Soldiers' Rest in Washington — Her first work — Matron of the hospital — At Wind-Mill Point — Matron in the First Corps Hospital — Foraging for the sick and wounded — The march toward Gettysburg — A heavily laden horse — Giving up her last blanket — Chivalric instincts of American soldiers — Labors during the battle of Gettysburg — Under fire — Field Hospital of the Eleventh Corps — The hospital at White Church — Incessant labors — Saving a soldier's life — "Can you go without food for a week?" — The basin of broth — Mrs. Spencer

CONTENTS. 35

PADS

appointed agent of the State of New York for the care of the sick and wounded soldiers in the field — At Brandy Station — At Rappahannock Station and Belle Plain after the battle of the Wilderness — Virginia mud — Working alone — Heavy rain and no shelter — Working on at Belle Plain — " Nothing to wear" — Port Royal — White House — Feeding the wounded — Arrives at City Point — The hospitals and the Government kitchen — At the front — Carrying supplies to the men in the rifle pits — Fired at by a sharpshooter — Shelled by the enemy — The great explosion at City Point — Her narrow escape — Remains at City Point till the hos- pitals are broken up — The gifts received from grateful soldiers 404-415

MRS. HARRIET FOOTE HAWLEY. By Mrs. H. B. Stowe.

Mrs. Hawley accompanies her husband, Colonel Hawley, to South Carolina — Teaching the freed- men — Visiting the hospitals at Beaufort, Fernandina and St. Augustine — After Olustee — At the Armory Square Hospital, Washington — The surgical operations performed in the ward — " Reaching the hospital only in time to Viie" — At Wilmington — Frightful condition of Union prisoners — Typhus fever raging — The dangers greater than those of the battle- field— Four thousand sick — Mrs. Hawley's heroism, and incessant labors — At Richmond — Injured by the upsetting of an ambulance — Labors among the freedmen — Colonel Higgin- son's speech 416-419

ELLEN E. MITCHELL.

Her family — Motives in entering on the work of ministering to the soldiers — Receives instruc- tions at Bellevue Hospital — Receives a nurse's pay and gives it to the suffering soldiers — At Elmore Hospital, Georgetown — Gratitude of the soldiers — Trials — St. Elizabeth's Hos- pital, Washington — A dying nurse — Her own serious illness — Care and attention of Miss Jessie Home — Death of her mother — At Point Lookout — Discomforts and suffering — Ware House Hospital, Georgetown — Transfer of patients and nurse to Union Hotel Hospital — Her duties arduous but pleasant — Transfer to Knight General Hospital, New Haven — Re- signs and accepts a situation in the Treasury Department, but longing for her old work returns to it — At Fredericksburg after battle of the Wilderness — At Judiciary Square Hos- pital, Washington — Abundant labor, but equally abundant happiness — Her feelings in tbe review of her work 420-426

JESSIE HOME.

A Scotch maiden, but devotedly attached to the Union — Abandons a pleasant and lucrative pursuit to become a hospital nurse — Her earnestness and zeal — Her incessant labors — Sickness and death — Cared for by Miss Bergen of Brooklyn, New York 427, 428

miss vance and miss blackmar. By Mrs. M. M. Husband.

Miss Vance a missionary teacher before the war — Appointed by Miss Dix to a Baltimore hos- pital— At Washington, at Alexandria, and at Gettysburg — At Fredericksburg after the battle of the Wilderness — At City Point in the Second Corps Hospital — Served through the whole war with but three weeks' furlough — Miss Blackmar from Michigan — A skilful and efficient nurse — The almost fatal hemorrhage — The boy saved by her skill — Carrying a hot brick to bed 429, 430

36 CONTENTS.

H. A. DADA AND S. E. HALL.

PAGI

Missionary teachers before the war — Attending lectures to prepare <br nursing — After the first battle of Bull Run — At Alexandria — The wounded from the battle-field — Incessant work- Ordered to Winchester, Virginia — The Court-House Hospital — At Strasburg — General Banks' retreat — Remaining among the enemy to care for the wounded — At Armory Square Hospital — The second Bull Run — Rapid but skilful care of the wounded — Painful cases — Harper's Ferry — Twelfth Army Corps Hospital — The mother in search of her son — After Chaucellorsville — The battle of Gettysburg — Labors in the First and Twelfth Corps Hos- pitals— Sent to Murfreesboro', Tennessee — Rudeness of the Medical Director — Discomfort of their situation — Discourtesy of the Medical Director and some of the surgeons — " We have no ladies here — There are some women here, who are cooks!" — Removal to Chattanooga — Are courteously and kindly received — Wounded of Sherman's campaign — "You are the GocL-bhssedest woman I ever saw" — Service to the close of the war and beyond — Lookout Mountain 431-43y

MRS. SARAH P. EDSON.

Early life — Literary pursuits — In Columbia College Hospital — At Camp California — Quaker guns — Winchester, Virginia — Prevalence of gangrene — Union Hotel Hospital — On the Peninsula — In hospital of Sumner's Corps — Her son wounded — Transferred to Yorktown — Sufferings of the men — At White House and the front — Beef soup and coffee for starving wounded men — Is permitted to go to Harrison's Landing — Abundant labor and care — Chap- lain Fuller — At Hygeia Hospital — At Alexandria — Pope's campaign — Attempts to go to Antietam, but is detained by sickness — Goes to Warrenton, and accompanies the army thence to Acquia Creek — Return to Washington — Forms a society to establish a home and training school for nurses, and becomes its Secretary — Visits hospitals — State Relief Societies approve the plan — Sanitary Commission do not approve of it as a whole — Surgeon-General opposes — Visits New York city — The masons become interested — " Army Nurses' Associa- tion" formed in New York — Nurses in great numbers sent on after the battles of Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania, etc. — The experiment a success — Its eventual failure through the mismanagement in New York — Mrs. Edson continues her labors in the army to the close of the war — Enthusiastic reception by the soldiers 440-14"

MARIA M. C. HALL.

A. native of Washington city — Desire to serve the sick and wounded — Receives a sick soldier into her father's house — Too young to answer the conditions required by Miss Dix — Appli- cation to Mrs. Fales — Attempts to dissuade her — " Well girls here they are, with everything to be done for them" — The Indiana Hospital — Difficulties and discouragements — A year of hard and unsatisfactory work — Hospital Transport Service — The Daniel Webster — At Har- rison's Lauding with Mrs. Fales — Condition of the poor fellows — Mrs. Harris calls her to Antietam — French's Division and Smoketown Hospitals — Abundant work but performed with great satisfaction — The French soldier's letter — The evening or family prayers — Suc- cessful efforts for the religious improvement of the men — Dr. Vanderkieft — The Naval Academy Hospital at Annapolis — In charge of Section five; — Succeeds Mrs. Tyler as Lady Superintendent of the hospital — The humble condition of the returned prisoners from Andersonville and elsewhere — Prevalence of typlms fever — Death of her assistants — Four thousand patients — Writes for "The Crutch" — Her joy in the success of her work 44S--

CONTENTS. 37

THE HOSPITAL CORPS AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY HOSPITAL, ANNAPOLIS.

PAGB

The cruelties which had been practiced on the Union men in rebel prisons — Duties of the nurses under Miss Hall — Names and homes of these ladies — Death of Miss Adeline Walker — Miss Hall's tribute to her memory — Miss Titcomb's eulogy on her — Death of Miss M. A. B. Young — Sketch of her history — " Let me be buried here among my boys" — Miss Rose M. Billing — Her faithfulness as a nurse in the Indiana Hospital, (Patent Office,) at Falls Church, and at Annapolis — She like the others falls a victim to the typhus generated in Southern prisons — Tribute to her memory 455-460

OTHER LABORS OF SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ANNAPOLIS

HOSPITAL CORPS.

The Maine stay of the Annapolis Hospital — Miss Titcomb — Miss Newhall — Miss Usher — Other ladies from Maine — The Maine camp and Hospital Association — Mrs. Eaton — Mrs. Fogg — Mrs. Mayhew — Miss Mary A. Dupee and her labors — Miss Abbie J. Howe — Her labors for the spiritual as well as physical good of the men — Her great influence over them — Her joy in her work 461-466

MRS. A. H. AND MISS S. H. GIBBONS.

Mrs. Gibbons a daughter of Isaac T. Hopper — Her zeal in the cause of reform — Work of herself and daughter in the Patent Office Hospital in 1861 — Visit to Falls Church and its hospital — Sad condition of the patients — "If you do not come and take care of me I shall die" — Re- turn to this hospital — Its condition greatly improved — Winchester and the Seminary Hos- pital— Severe labors here — Banks' retreat — The nurses held as prisoners — Losses of Mrs. and Miss Gibbons at this time — At Point Lookout — Exchanged prisoners from Belle Isle — A scarcity of garments — Trowsers a luxury — Fifteen months of hospital service — Conflicts with the authorities in regard to the freedmen — The July riots in New York in 1863 — Mrs. Gibbons' house sacked by the rioters — Destruction of everything valuable — Return to Point Lookout — The campaign of 1864-5 — Mrs. and Miss Gibbons at Fredericksburg — An impro- vised hospital — Mrs. Gibbons takes charge — The gift of roses — The roses withered and dyed in the soldiers' blood — Riding with the wounded in box cars — At White House — Labors at Beverly Hospital, New Jersey — Mrs. Gibbons' return home — Her daughter remains till the close of the war 467-475

MRS. E. J. RUSSELL.

Government nurses— Their trials and hardships — Mrs. Russell a teacher before the war — Her patriotism — First connected with the Regimental Hospital of Twentieth New York Militia (National Guards) — Assigned to Columbia College Hospital, Washington — After three years' service resigns from impaired health, but recovering enters the service again in Baltimore — Nursing rebels — Her attention to the religious condition of the men — Four years of ser- vice— Returns to teaching after the war , 477-479

MRS. MARY W. LEE.

Mrs. Lee of foreign birth, but American in feeling — Services in the Volunteer Refreshment Saloon — A noble institution — At Harrison's Landing, with Mrs. Harris — Wretched condition of the men — Improvement under the efforts of the ladies — The Hospital of the Epiphany

38 CONTENTS.

PA3B

at 'Washington— At Antietam during the battle — The two water tubs — The enterprising sutler — "Take this bread and give it to that woman" — The Sedgwick Hospital — Ordering a guard — Hoffman's Farm Hospital — Smoketown Hospital — Potomac Creek — Chancellors- ville — Under fire from the batteries on Fredericksburg Heights — Marching with the army — Gettysburg — The Second Corps Hospital — Camp Letterman — The Refreshment Saloon again — Brandy Station — A stove half a yard square — The battles of the "Wilderness — At Fredericksburg — A diet kitchen without furniture — Over the river after a stove — Baking, boiling, stewing, and frying simultaneously — Keeping the old stove hot — At City Point — In charge of a hospital — The last days of the Refreshment Saloon 480— 1S8

Cornelia m. tompkins. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

A scion of an eminent family — At Benton Barracks Hospital — At Memphis — Return to St. Louis — At Jefferson Barracks _ 489, 490

mrs. anna c. Mcmeens. By Mrs. E. S. Mendenhall.

A native of Maryland — The wife of a surgeon in the army — At Camp Dennison — One of the first women in Ohio to minister to the soldiers in a military hospital — At Nashville in hospital — The battle of Perryville — Death of Dr. McMeens — At home — Laboring for the Sanitary Commission — In the hospitals at Washington — Missionary work among the sailors on Lake Erie 491.492

mrs. jerttsha R. small. By Mrs. E. S. Mendenhall.

A native of Iowa — Accompanies her husband to the war — Ministers to the wounded from Bel- mont, Donelson, and Shiloh — Her husband wounded at Shiloh — Under fire in ministering to the wounded — Uses all her spare clothing for them— As her husband recovers her own health fails — The galloping consumption — The female secessionist — Going home to die — Buried with the flag wrapped around her 493, 494

mrs. s. A. MARTHA canfield. By Mrs. E. 8. Mendenhall.

Wife of Colonel H. Canfield — Her husband killed at Shiloh — Burying her sorrows in her heart — She returns to labor for the wounded in the Sixteenth Army Corps, in tho hospitals at Memphis — Labors among the freedmen — Establishes the Colored Orphan Asylum at Memphis 4%

MRS. THOMAS AND MISS MORRIS. Faithful laborers in the hospitals at Cincinnati till the close of the war 496

mrs. shepard wells. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

Driven from East Tennessee by the rebels — Becomes a member of the Ladies' Union Aid So- ciety at St. Louis, and one of its Secretaries — Superintends the special diet kitchen at Benton Barracks — An enthusiastic and earnest worker — Labor for the refugees 497, 498

mrs. e. c. witherell. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

A lady from Louisville — Her service in the Fourth Street Hospital, St. Louis — " Shining Shore" — The soldier boy — On the "Empress" hospital steamer nursing the wounded — A faithful and untiring nurse — Is attacked with fever, and dies July, 1862 — Resolutions of Western Sanitary Commission 409-691

CONTENTS. 39

phebe allen. By Rev. J. G. Foii-man.

PAGE

A teacher in Iowa — Volunteered as a nurse in Benton Barracks hospital — Very efficient — Died of malarious fever in 1861, at the hospital 502

MES. EDWIN GEEBLE.

Of Quaker stock — Intensely patriotic — Her eldest son, Lieutenant John Greble, killed at Great Bethel in 1861 — A second son served through the war — A son-in-law a prisoner in the rebel prisons — Mrs. Greble a most assiduous worker in the hospitals of Philadelphia, and a con- stant and liberal giver 503, 504

MRS. ISABELLA FOGG.

A resident of Calais, Maine — Her only son volunteers, and she devotes herself to the service of ministering to the wounded and sick — Goes to Annapolis with one of the Maine regiments — The spotted fever in the Annapolis Hospital — Mrs. Fogg and Mrs. Mayhew volunteer as nurses — The Hospital Transport Service — At the front after Fair Oaks — Savage's Station — Over land to Harrison's LandiDg with tho army — Under fire — On the hospital ship — Home — In the hospitals around Washington, after Antietam — The Maine Camp Hospital Associa- tion— Mrs. J. S. Eaton — After Chancellorsville — In the field hospitals for nearly a week, working day and night, and under fire — At Gettysburg the day after the battle — Ou the Rapidan — At Mine Run — At Belle Plain and Fredericksburg after the battle of the Wilder- ness— At City Point — Home again — A wounded son — Severe illness of Mrs. Fogg — Reco- very— Sent by Christian Commission to Louisville to take charge of a special diet kitchen — Injured by a fall — An invalid for life — Happy in the work accomplished 505-510

MRS. E. E. GEOEGE.

Services of aged women in the war — Military agency of Indiana — Mrs. George's appointment — Her services at Memphis — At Pulaski — At Chattanooga— Following Sherman to Atlanta/ — Matron of Fifteenth Army Corps Hospital — At Nashville — Starts for Savannah, but is per- suaded by Miss Dix to go to Wilmington — Excessive labors there — Dies of typhus 511-513

MRS. CHARLOTTE E. MCKAY.

A native of Massachusetts — Enters the service as nurse at Frederick city — Rebel occupation of the city — Chancellorsville — The assault on Marye's Heights — Death of her brother — Gettys- burg— Services in Third Division Third Corps Hospital — At Warrenton — Mine Run — Brandy Station — Grant's campaign — From Belle Plain to City Point — The Cavalry Corps Hospital — Testimonials presented to her 514-51<3

MES. FANNY L. RICKETTS.

Of English parentage — Wife of Major-General Ricketts — Resides on the frontier for three years — Her husband wounded at Bull Run — Her heroism in going through the rebel lines to be with him — Dangers and privations at Richmond — Ministrations to Union soldiers — He is selected as a hostage for the privateersmen, but released at her urgent solicitation — Wounded again at Antietam, and again tenderly nursed — Wounded at Middletown, Vir- ginia, October, 1S6A, and for four months in great danger — The end of the war 517-51»

40 CONTENTS.

MRS. JOHN S. PHELPS.

PAGE

Early history — Residence in the Southwest — Rescues General Lyon's body — Her heroism and benevolence at Pea Ridge and elsewhere 620, 521

MPS. JANE R. MUNSELL.

Maryland women in the war — Barbara Frietchie — Effie Titlow — Mrs. Munsell's labors in the hospitals after Antietam and Gettysburg — Her death from over-exertion 522, 523

PAKT III. LADIES WHO OEGANIZED AID SOCIETIES, KECEIVED AND FOEWAKDED SUPPLIES TO THE HOSPITALS, DEVOTING THEIE WHOLE TIME TO THE WOEK, etc.

woman's central association of relief. By Mrs. Julia B. Curtis.

Organization and officers of the Association — It becomes a branch of the United States Sanitary Commission — Its Registration Committee and their duties — The Selection and Preparation of Nurses for the Army — The Finance and Executive Committee — The unwillingness of the Gov- ernment to admit any deficiency — The arrival of the first boxes for the Association — The sacri- fices made by the women in the country towns and hamlets — The Committee of Correspond- ence— Twenty-five thousand letters — The receiving book, the day-book and the ledger — The alphabet repeated seven hundred and twenty-seven times on the boxes — Mrs. Fellows and Mrs. Colby solicitors of donations — The call for nurses on board the Hospital Transports — Mrs. W. P. Griffin and Mrs. David Lane volunteer, and subsequently other members of the Asso- ciation— Mrs. D'Oremieulx's departure for Europe— Mr. S. W. Bridgham's faithful labors — Creeping into the Association rooms of a Sunday, to gather up and forward supplies needed for sudden emergencies — The First Council of Representatives from the principal Aid Societies at Washington — Monthly boxes — The Federal principle — Antietam and Fred- ericksburg exhaust the supplies — Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler's able letter of inquiry to the Secretaries of Auxiliaries — The plan of "Associate Managers" — Miss Schuyler's incessant labors in connection with this — The set of boxes devised by Miss Schuyler to aid the work of the Committee on Correspondence — The employment of Lecturers — The Association publish Mr. George T. Strong's pamphlet, " How can we best help our Camps and Hospi- tals"— The Hospital Directory opened — The lack of supplies of clothing and edibles, result- ing from the changed condition of the country — Activity and zeal of the members of the Woman's Central Association — Miss Ellen Collins' incessant labors — Her elaborate tables of supplies and their disbursement — The Association offers to purchase for the Auxiliaries at wholesale prices— Miss Schuyler's admirable Plan of Organization for Country Societies — Alert Clubs founded — Large contributions to the stations at Beaufort and Morris Island — Miss Collins and Mrs. W. P. Griffin in charge of the office through the New York Riots in July, 1863 — Mrs. Griffin, is chairman of Special Relief Committee, and makes personal visits to the sick — The Second Council at Washington— Miss Schuyler and Miss Collins dele- gates— Miss Schuyler's efforts— The whirlwind of Fairs — Aiding the feeble auxiliaries by donating an additional sum in goods equal to what they raised, to be manufactured by them — Five thousand dollars a month thus expended — A Soldiers' Aid Society Council — Help to Military Hospitals near the city, and the Navy, by the Association — Death of its President, Dr. Mott — The news of peace — Miss Collins' Congratulatory Letter— The Asso- ciation continues its work to July 7 — Two hundred and ninety-one thousand four hundred and seventy-five 6hirts distributed — Purchases made for Auxiliaries, seventy-nine thou-

CONTENTS. 4 L

PAGB

aand three hundred and ninety dollars and fifty-seven cents — Other expenditures of money for the purposes of the Association, sixty-one thousand three hundred and eighty-six dollars and fifty-seven cents — The zeal of the Associated Managers — The Brooklyn Relief Association — Miss Schuyler's labors as a writer — Her reports — Articles in the Sanitary Bul- letin, " The Soldiei-s' Friend," " Nelly's Hospital," &c. &c. — The patient and continuous labors of the Committees on Correspondence and on Supplies — Territory occupied by the Woman's Central Association — Resolutions at the Final Meeting 527-539

SOLDIERS AID SOCIETY OF NORTHERN OHIO.

Its organization — At first a Local Society — No Written Constitution or By-laws — Becomes a branch of the United States Sanitary Commission in October, 1S61 — Its territory small and not remarkable for wealth — Five hundred and twenty auxiliaries — Its disbursement of one million one hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars in money and supplies — The North- ern Ohio Sanitary Fair — The supplies mostly forwarded to the Western Depot of the United States Sanitary Commission at Louisville — ''The Soldiers' Home" built under the direction of the Ladies who managed the affairs of the Society, and supplied and conducted under their Supervision — The Hospital Directory, Employment Agency, War Claim Agency — The entire time of the Officers of the Society for five and a half years voluntarily and freely given to its work from eight in the morning till six or later in the evening — The President, Mrs. B, Rouse, and her labors in organizing Aid Societies and attending to the home work — The labors of the Secretary and Treasurer — Editorial work — The Society's printing press — Setting up and printing Bulletins — The Sanitary Fair originated and carried on by the Aid Society — The Ohio State Soldiers' Home aided by them — Sketch of Mrs. Rouse — Sketch of Miss Mary Clark Brayton, Secretary of the Society — Sketch of Miss Ellen F. Terry, Trea- surer of the Society — Miss Brayton's "On a Hospital Train," "Riding on a Rail" — Visit to the Army — The first sight of a hospital train — The wounded soldiers on board — " Trickling a little sympathy on the Wounded" — " The Hospital Train a jolly thing" — The dying soldier — Arrangement of the Hospital Train — The arduous duties of the Surgeon 540-552

NEW ENGLAND WOMEN'S AUXILIARY ASSOCIATION.

Its organization and territory — One million five hundred and fifteen thousand dollars collected in money and supplies by this Association — Its Sanitary Fair and its results — The chairman of the Executive Committee Miss Abby W. May — Her retiring and modest disposition — Her rare executive powers — Sketch of Miss May — Her early zeal in the Anti-slavery move- ment— Her remarkable practical talent, and admirable management of affairs — Her elo- quent appeals to the auxiliaries — Her entire self-abnegation — Extract from one of her letters — Extract from her Fiual Report — The Boston Sewing Circle and its officers — The Ladies' Industrial Aid Association of Boston — Nearly three hundred and forty-seven thou- sand garments for the soldiers made by the employes of the Association, most of whom were from soldiers' families — Additional wages beyond the contract prices paid to the work- women, to the amount of over twenty thousand dollars — The lessons learned by the ladies engaged in this work 553--5S9

THE NORTHWESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION.

The origin of the Commission — Its early labors — Mrs. Porter's connection with it — Her determi- nation to go to the army — The appointment of Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore as Managers — The extent and variety of their labors — The two Sanitary Fairs — Estimate of the amount

raised by the Commission 560. 561

6

42 CONTENTS.

MRS. A. H. HOGE.

PAOl

Her birth and early education — Her marriage — Her family — She identifies herself from the bo- ginning with the National cause — Her first visit to the hospitals of Cairo, Mound City and St. Louis — The Mound City Hospital — The wounded boy — Turned over for the first time — " They had to take the Fort" — Rebel cruelties at Donelson — The poor French boy — The mother who had lost seven sons in the Army — " He had turned his face to the wall to die" — Mrs. Hoge at the Woman's Council at Washington in 1862 — Labors of Mrs. Hogeand Mrs. Livermore — Correspondence — Circulars — Addresses — Mrs. Hoge's eloquence and pathos — The ample contributions elicited by her appeals — Visit to the Camp of General Grant at Young's Point, in the winter of 1862-3 — Return with a cargo of wounded — Second visit to the vicinity of Vicksburg — Prevalence of scurvy — The onion and potato circulars — Third visit to Vicksburg in June, 1863 — Incidents of this visit — The rifle-pits — Singing Hymns under fire — 'Did you drop from heaven into these rifle-pits?" — Mrs. Hoge's talk to the men — " Promise me you'll visit my regiment to-morrow" — The flag of the Board of Trade Regiment — " How about the blood ?" — " Sing, Rally round the Flag Boys" — The death of R — " Take her picture from under my pillow" — Mrs. Hoge at Washington again — Her views of the value of the Press in benevolent operations — In the Sanitary Fairs at Chicago. — Her address at Brooklyn, in March, 1865 — Gifts presented her as a testimony to the value of her labors 562-578

MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE.

Mrs. Livermore's childhood and education — She becomes a teacher — Her marriage — She is asso- ciated with her husband as Editor of The New Covenant — Her scholarship and ability as a writer and speaker — The vigor and eloquence of her appeals — " Women and the War"— The beginnings of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission — The appointment of Mrs. Livermore and Mrs. Hoge as its managers — The contributions of Mrs. Livermore to the press, on sub- jects connected with her work — " The backward movement of General McClellan" — The Hutchinsons prohibited from singing Whittier's Song in the Army of the Potomac — Mrs. Livermore's visit to Washington — Her description of "Camp Misery"— She makes a tour to the Military Posts on the Mississippi — The female nurses — The scurvy in the Camp— The Northwestern Sanitary Fair — Mrs. Livermore's address to the Women of the North- west— Her tact in selecting the right persons to carry out her plans at the Fair — ner exten- sive journeyings — Her visit to Washington in the Spring of 1865 — Her invitation to the President to be present at the opening of the Fair — Her description of Mr. Lincoln — His death and the funeral solemnities with which his remains were received at Chicago — The final fair — Mrs. Livermore's testimonials of regard and appreciation from friends and, es- pecially from the soldiers 577-585

GENERAL AID SOCIETY FOR THE ARMY, BUFFALO.

Organization of the Society — Its first President, Mrs. Follett — Its second President, Mrs. Horatio Seymour — Her efficient Aids, Miss Babcock and Miss Bird — The friendly rivalry with the Cleveland Society — Mrs. Seymour's rare ability and system — Her encomiums on the labors of the patriot workers in country homes — The workers in the cities equally faithful and praiseworthy 590-592

MICHIGAN SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY.

The Patriotic women of Michigan — Annie Etheridge, Mrs. Russell and others — " The Soldiers' Relief Committee" and " The Soldiers' Aid Society" of Detroit — Their Consolidation — The

CONTENTS. 43

PAfW

officers of the New Society — Miss Valeria Campbell the soul of the organization — Her mul- tifarious labors — The Military Hospitals in Detroit — The " Soldiers' Home" in Detroit — Mi'higan in the two Chicago Fairs — Amount of money and supplies raised by the Michigan Branch 593-695

WOMEN'S PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH OF UNITED STATES SANITARY

COMMISSION.

The loyal women of Philadelphia— Their numerous organizations for the relief of the Soldier — The organization of the Women's Pennsylvania Branch — Its officers — Sketch of Mrs. Grier — Her parentage — Her residence in Wilmington, N. C. — Persecution for loyalty — Escape — She enters immediately upon Hospital Work — Her appointment to the Presidency of the Women's Branch — Her remarkable tact and skill — Her extraordinary executive talent — Mrs. Clara J. Moore — Sketch of her labors — Other ladies of the Association — Testi- monials to Mrs. Grier's ability and admirable management from officers of the Sanitary Commission and others — The final report of this Branch — The condition of the state and country at its inception — The Associate Managers — The work accomplished — Peace at last — The details of Expenses of the Supply Department — The work of the Relief Committee — Eight hundred and thirty women employed — Widows of Soldiers aided — Total expenditures of Relief Committee 596-606

the Wisconsin soldiers' aid society. By Rev. J. G. Forman.

The Milwaukie Ladies Soldiers' Aid Society — Labors of Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Delafield and others — Enlargement and re-organization as the Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society — Mrs. Henrietta L. Colt, chosen Corresponding Secretary — Her visits to the front, and her subsequent labors among the Aid Societies of the State — Efficiency of the Society — The Wisconsin Soldiers' Home — Its extent and what it accomplished — It forms the Nucleus of one of the National Soldiers' Homes — Sketch of Mrs. Colt — Death of her husband — Her deep and overwhelm- ing grief — She enters upon the Sanitary Work, to relieve herself from the crushing weight of her great sorrow — Her labors on a Hospital Steamer — Her frequent subsequent visits to the front — Her own account of these visits — "The beardless boys, all heroes"— Sketch of Mrs. Governor Salomon — Her labors in behalf of the German and other soldiers of Wis- consin 607-614

PITTSBURG BRANCH UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION.

The Pittsburg Sanitary Committee and Pittsburg Subsistence Committee — Organization of the Branch — Its Corresponding Secretary, Miss Rachael W. McFadden — Her executive ability zeal and patriotism — Her colleagues in her labors — The Pittsburg Sanitary Fair — Its re- markable success — Miss Murdock's labors at Nashville 615, 610

MRS. ELIZABETH S. MENDENHALL.

Mrs. Mendenhall's childhood and youth passed in Richmond, Va. — Her relatives Members of the Society of Friends — Her early Hospital labors — President of the Women's Soldiers' Aid Society of Cincinnati — Her appeal to the citizens of Cincinnati to organize a Sanitary Fair — Her efforts to make the Fair a success — The magnificent result — Subsequent labors in the Sanitary Cause — Fair for Soldiers' Families in December, 1864 — Labors for the Freedmen and Refugees — In behalf of fallen women 617-620

4-4 CONTENTS.

DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH.

FAOI

Dr. M. M. Marsh appointed Medical Inspector of Department of the South — Early in 1863 he proceeded thither with his wife— Mrs. Marsh finds abundant work in the receipt and distri- bution of Sanitary Stores, in the visiting of Hospitals — Spirit of the wounded men — The exchange of prisoners — Sufferings of our men in Rebel prisons — Their self-sacrificing spirit — Supplies sent to the prisoners, and letters received from them — The sudden suspen- Bion of this benevolent work by order from General Halleck — The sick from Sherman's Army— Dr. Marsh ordered to Newbern, N. C, but detained l>3' sickness — Return to New York — The "Lincoln Home" — Dr. and Mrs. Marsh's labors there — Close of the Lincoln

Home 621-629

\

ST. LOUIS LADIES' UNION AID SOCIETY.

Organization of the Society — Its officers — Was the principal Auxiliary of Western Sanitary Com- mission— Visits of its members to the fourteen hospitals in the vicinity of St. Louis — The hospital basket and its contents — The Society's delegates on the battle-fields — Employs the wives ami daughters of soldiers in bandage rolling, and subsequently on contracts for hos- pital and other clothing for soldiers — Its committees cutting, fitting and examining the work — Undertakes the special diet kitchen of the Benton Barracks Hospital — Establishes a branch at Nashville — Special Diet Kitchen there — Its work for the Freedrnen and Refu- gees— Sketches of its leading officers and managers — Mrs. Anna L. Clapp, a native of Wash- ington County, N. Y — Resides in Brooklyn, N. Y., and subsequently in St. Louis — Elected President of Ladies' Union Aid Society at the beginning of the war, and retains her position till its close — Her arduous labors and great tact and skill — She organizes a Refugee Home and House of Industry — Aids the Freedmen, and assists in the proper regulation of the Soldiers' Home — Miss II. A. Adams, (now Mrs. Morris Collins) — Born and educated in New Hampshire — At the outbreak of the war, a teacher in St. Louis — Devoted herself to the Sanitary work throughout the war — Was secretary of the society till the close of 1864, and a part of the time at Nashville, where she established a special diet kitchen — Death of her brother in the army — Her influence in procuring the admission of female nurses in the Nashville hospitals — Mrs. C. R. Springer, a native of Maine, one of the directors of the Society, and the superintendent of its employment department, for furnishing work to soldiers' families — Her unremitting and faithful labors — Mrs. Mary E. Palmer — A native of New Jersey — An earnest worker, visiting and aiding soldiers' families and dispensing the charities of the Society among them and the destitute families of refugees — Her labors were greater than her strength — Her death occasioned by a decline, the result of over exertion in her philanthropic work 630-642

LADIES' AID SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA, &C.

Organization of the Society — Its officers — Mrs. Joel Jones, Mrs. John Harris, Mrs. Stephen Caldwell — Mrs. Harris mostly engaged at the front — The Society organized with a view to the spiritual as well as physical benefit of the soldiers — Its great efficiency with moderate means — The ladies who distributed its supplies at the front — Extract from one of its re- ports— Its labors among the Refugees — The self-sacrifice of one of its members — Its expen- ditures. The Penn Relief Association — An organization originating with the Friends, but afterward embracing all denominations — Its officers — Its efficiency — Amount of supplies distributed by it through well-known ladies. The Soldiers' Aid Society — Another of the efficient Pennsylvania Organizations for the relief of the soldiers — Its President, Mrs. Mary

CONTENTS. 45

PAGE

A. Brady — Her labors in the Satterlee Hospital — At " Camp Misery" — At the front — After Gettysburg, and at Mine Run — Her health injured by her exposure and excessive labors — She dies of heart-disease in May, 1864 643-649

WOMEN'S RELIEF ASSOCIATION OF BROOKLYN AND LONG ISLAND.

Brooklyn early in the war — Numerous channels for distribution of the Supplies contributed — Importance of a Single Comprehensive Organization — The Relief Association formed — Mr. Stranahan chosen President — Sketch of Mrs. Stranahan — Her social position — First directress of the Graham Institute — Her rare tact and efficiency as a presiding officer and in the dis- patch of business — The Long Island Sanitary Fair — Her excessive labors there, and the perfect harmony and good feeling which prevailed — Rev. Dr. Spear's statement of her worth — The resolutionsof the Relief Association — Rev. Dr. Bellows' Testimony — Her death- Rev. Dr. Farley's letter concerning her — Rev. Dr. Budington's tribute to her memory.. 650-658

MRS. ELIZABETH M. STREETER.

Loyal Southern Women — Mrs. Streeter's activity in promoting associations of loyal women for the relief of the soldiers — Her New England parentage and education — The Ladies' Union Relief Association of Baltimore — Mrs. Streeter at Antietam — As a Hospital Visitor — The Eutaw Street Hospital — The Union Refugees in Baltimore — Mrs. Streeter organizes the Ladies' Union Aid Society for the Relief of Soldiers' families — Testimony of the Maryland Committee of the Christian Commission to the value of her labors — Death of her husband — Her return to Massachusetts 659-664

MRS. CURTIS T. FENN.

The loyal record of the men and women of Berkshire County — Mrs. Fenn's history and position before the war — Her skill and tenderness in the care of the sick — Her readiness to enter upon the work of relief — She becomes the embodiment of a Relief Association — Liberal contributions made and much work performed by others but no organization — Mrs. Fenn's incessant and extraordinary labors for the soldiers — Her packing and shipping of the sup- plies to the hospitals in and about New York and to more distant cities — Refreshments for Soldiers who passed through Pittsfield — Her personal distribution of supplies at the soldiers' Thanksgiving dinner at Bedloe's Island in 1862, and at David's Island in 1864: — " The gen- tleman from Africa and his vote" — Her efforts for the disabled soldiers and their families — The soldiers' monument „ 665-675

MRS. JAMES HARLAN.

Women in high stations devoting themselves to the relief of the Soldiers — Instances — Mrs. Harlan's early interest in the soldier — At Shiloh — Cutting red-tape — "Wounded soldiers re- moved northward after the battle — Death of her daughter — Her labors for the religious benefit of the soldier — Her health impaired by her labors 676-678

NEW ENGLAND SOLDIERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION.

History of the organization — Its Matron, Mrs. E. A. Russell — The Women's Auxiliary Commit- tee— The Night Watchers' Association — The Hospital Choir — The Solbieks' Depot in How- ard Street, N. Y— The Ladies' Association connected withit 679,680

46 CONTENTS.

PART IV. LADIES DISTINGUISHED FOR SERVICES AMONG THE FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES.

MRS. FRANCES DANA GAGE.

PAGE

Childhood and youth of Mrs. Gage — Anti-slavery views inculcated by her parents and grand- parents— Her marriage — Her husband an earnest reformer — Her connection with the press — Ostracism on account of her opposition to slavery — Propositions made to her husband to swerve from principle and thereby attain office — " Dare to stand alone" — Removal to St. Louis — A contributor to the Missouri Republican — The noble stand of Colonel Chambers — His death — She contributes to the Missouri Democrat, but is finally excluded from its columns — Personal t»eril — Her advocacy of the cause of Kansas — Editor of an Agricultural paper in Columbus, Obio — Her labors among the freedmen in the department of the South for thirteen months, (1862-3) — Helps the soldiers also — Her four sons in the army — Return Northward in the Autumn of 1863 — Becomes a lecturer — Advocating the Emancipation Act and the Constitutional Amendment, prohibiting slavery — Labors for the Freedmen and Refugees in 1864— Is injured by the overturning of a carriage at Galesburg, 111., in Septem- ber, 1864 — Lecturing again on her partial recovery — Summary of her character. 683-690

MRS. LUCY GAYLORD POMEROY.

Birth and early education — Half-sister of the poets Lewis and Willis Gaylord Clark — Educates herself for a Missionary — A Sunday-school teacher — Sorrow — Is married to S. C. Pomeroy (afterward United States Senator from Kansas) — Residence in Southampton, Mass. — 111 health — Removal to Kansas — The Kansas Struggle and Border Ruffian War — Mrs. Pome- roy a firm friend to the escaping slaves — The famine year of 1860 — Her house an office of distribution for supplies to the starving — Accompanies her husband to Washington in 1861 — Her labors and contributions for the soldiers — In Washington and at Atchison, Kansas — Re- turn to Washington — Founding an asylum for colored orphans and destitute aged colored women — The building obtained and furnished — Her failing health — She comes north, but dies on the passage 691-696

MARIA R. MANN.

Miss Mann a near relative of the late Hon. Horace Mann — Her career as a teacher — Her loyalty — Comes to St. Louis— Becomes a nurse in the Fifth St. Hospital — Condition of the Freedmen at St. Helena, Ark. — The Western Sanitary Commission becomes interested in en- deavoring to help them— They propose to Miss Mann to go thither and establish a hospital, distribute clothing and supplies to them, and instruct them as far as possible — She con- sents— Perilous voyage — Her great and beneficent labors at Helena — Extraordinary improve- ment in the condition of the freedmen — She remains till August, 1863 — Her heroism — Gratitude of the freedmen— "You's light as a fedder, anyhow"— Return to St. Louis— Be- comes the teacher and manager of a colored asylum at Washington, D. C. — Her school for colored children at Georgetown — Its superior character — It is, in intention, a normal school — Miss Mann's sacrifices in continuing in that position 697-703

SARAH J. HAGAR.

k native of Illinois— Serves in the St. Louis Hospitals till August, 1863— Is sent to "Vicksburg in tne autumn of 1863, by the Western Sanitary Commission, as teacher for the Freedmen's

CONTENTS. • 4 1

PAGE

children — Her great and successful labors — la attacked in April, 1864, with malarial fever, and dies May 3 — Tribute to her character and work, from Mr. Marsh, superintendent Of Freedmen at Vicksburg 704-706

MRS. JOSEPHINE E. GRIFFIN.

Her noble efforts — Her position at the commencement of the war — Her interest in the condi- tion of the Freedmen — Her attempts to overcome their faults — Her success — Organization of schools — Finding employment for them — Influx of Freedmen into the District of Colum- bia— Their helpless condition — Mrs. Griffin attempts to find situations for them at the North — Extensive correspondence — Her expeditions with companies of them to the North- ern cities — Necessities of the freedmen remaining in the District in the Autumn of 1865 — Mrs. Griffin's circular — The denial of its truth by the Freedmen's Bureau — Their subsequent retraction — The Congressional appropriation — Should have been put in Mrs. Griffin's hands — She continues her labors 707-7OS

MRS. M. M. HALLOWELL.

Condition of the loyal whites of the mountainous district of the South — Their sufferings and persecutions — Cruelty of the Rebels — Contributions for their aid in the north — Boston, New York, Philadelphia — Mrs. Hallowell's efforts — She and her associates visit Nashville. Knox- ville, Huntsville and Chattanooga and distribute supplies to the families of refugees — Peril of their journey — Repeated visits of Mrs. Hallowell — The Home for Refugees, near Nash- ville— Gratitude of the Refugees for this aid — Colonel Taylor's letter 710-712

OTHER FRIENDS OF THE FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES.

Mrs. Harris' labors — Miss Tyson and Mrs. Beck — Miss Jane Stuart Woolsey — Mrs. Governor Hawley — Miss Gilson — Mrs. Lucy S. Starr — Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk — Mrs. H. F. Hoes and Miss Alice F. Royce — Mrs. John S. Phelps — Mrs. Mary A. Whitaker — Fort Leavenworth — Mrs. Nettie C. Constant — Miss G. D. Chapman — Miss Sarah E. M. Lovejoy, daughter of Hon. Owen Lovejoy — Miss Mary E. Sheffield — Her labors at Vicksburg — Her death — Helena — Mrs. Sarah Coombs — Nashville — Mrs. Mary R. Fogg — St. Louis Refugee and Freedmen's Home — Mrs. H. M. Weed — The supervision of this Home by Mrs. Alfred Clapp,Mrs. Joseph Craw- shaw, Mrs. Lucien Eaton and Mrs. N. Stevens 713-716

PAET V. LADIES DISTINGUISHED FOE SERVICES IN SOLDIERS- HOMES, VOLUNTEER REFRESHMENT SALOONS, ON GOVERN- MENT HOSPITAL TRANSPORTS ETC.

MRS. O. E. HOSMER.

Mrs. Hosmer's residence at Chicago — Her two sons enter the armj' — She determines to go to the hospitals — Her first experiences in the hospitals at Tipton and Smithtown — The lack of sup- plies— Mrs. Hosmer procures them from the Sanitary Commission at St. Louis — Return to Chicago — Organization of the " Ladies' War Committee" — Mrs. Hosmer its Secretary — Effi- ciency of the organization — The Board of Trade Regiments — Mrs. Hosmer and Mrs. Smith Tinkham go to Murfreesboro' with supplies after the battle of Stone River — Their report on their return — Touching incident — The wounded soldier — Return to Chicago— Establishment of the Soldiers' Home at Chicago — Mrs. Hosmer its first Vice President — Her zeal for ite interests and devotion to the Soldiers there — To the battle-field after Chickamauga — Taken

48 CONTENTS.

PAGB

prisoner but recaptured — Supplies lost — Return home — Her labors at the Soldiers' Home and Soldiers' Rest for the next fifteen months — The Northwestern Sanitary and Soldiers' Home Fair — Mrs. Hosmer Corresponding Secretary of the Executive Committee — She visits the hospitals from Cairo to New Orleans — Success of her Mission — The emaciated prisoners from Audersonville and Catawba at Vicksburg — Mrs. Hosmer ministers to them — The loss of the Sultana — Return and further labors at the Soldiers' Rest — Removal to New York. 719-724

MISS HATTIE WISWALL.

Enters the service as Hospital Nurse in 1863 — At Benton Barracks Hospital — A Model nurse — Her cheerfulness — Removal to Nashville, Tennessee — She is sent thence to Vicksburg, first as an assistant and afterwards as principal matron at the Soldiers' Home — One hundred and fifteen thousand soldiers accommodated there during her stay — The number of soldiers daily received ranging from two hundred to six hundred — Her admirable management — Scrupu- lous neatness of the Home — Her labors among the Freedmen and Refugees at Vicksburg — Her care of the wounded from the Red River Expedition — Her tenderness and cheerful spirit — She accompanies a hospital steamer loaded with wounded men, to Cairo, and cheers and comforts the soldiers on their voyage — Takes charge of a wounded officer and conducts him to his home — Return to her duties — The Soldiers' Home discontinued in June, 1865. 725-727

MRS. LUCY E. STARR.

A Clergyman's widow — Her service in the Fifth Street Hospital, St. Louis — Her admirable adap- tation to her duties — Appointed by the Western Sanitary Commission, Matron of the Soldiers' Home at Memphis — Nearly one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers received there during two and a half years — Mrs. Starr manages the Home with great fidelity and success — Mr. 0. R. Waters' acknowledgment of her services — Closing of the Home- Mrs. Starr takes charge of an institution for suffering freedmen and refugees, in Memphis — Her faithfulness 728-730

MISS CHARLOTTE BRADFORD.

Her reticence in regard to her labors — The public and official life of ladies occupying positions in charitable institutions properly a matter of public comment and notice — Miss Bradford's labors in the Hospital Transport Service — The Elm City — The Knickerbocker — Her asso- ciates in this work — Other Relief Work — She succeeds Miss Bradley as matron of the Soldiers' Home at Washington — Her remarkable executive ability, dignity and tenderness for the sick and wounded soldier 731,732

UNION VOLUNTEER REFRESHMENT SALOON OF PHILADELPHIA.

The labors of Mrs. Lee and Miss Ross in institutions of this class — The beginning of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon — Rival but not hostile organization — Samuel B. Fales, Esq., and his patriotic labors — The two institutions well supplied with funds — Nearly nine hun- dred thousand soldiers fed at the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, and four hundred thousand at the Cooper Shop — The labors of the patriotic women connected with the or- ganizations— Mrs. Eliza G. Plummer — Her faithful and abundant labors — Her death from over exertion — Mrs. Mary B. Wade — Her great age, and extraordinary services — Mrs. Ellen J. Lowry — Mrs. Margaret Boyer — Other ladies and their constant and valuable labors — The worthy ladies of the Cooper Shop Saloon 733-737

CONTENTS. 4#

MRS. R. M. BIGELOW.

PACT

"Aunty BigeL>w" — Mrs. Bigelow a native of Washington — Her servioes in the Indiana Hospital in the Patent Office Building — " Hot cakes and mush and milk" — Mrs. Billing an associate m Mrs. Bigelow's Labors — Mrs. Bigelow the almoner of many of the Aid Societies at the North — Her skill and judgment in the distribution of supplies — She maintains a regular correspondence with the soldier boys who have been under her care — Her house a " Home" for the sick soldier or officer who asked that he might be sheltered and nursed there — She welcomes with open doors the hospital workers from abroad — Her personal sorrows in the midst of these labors 738-740

MISS HATTIE R. SHARPLESS AND HER ASSOCIATES.

The Government Hospital Transports early in the war — Great improvements made in them at a later period — The Government Transport Connecticut — Miss Sharpless serves as matron on this for seventeen months — His previous labors in army hospitals at Fredericksburg, Falls Church, Antietam and elsewhere — Her admirable adaptation to her work — A true Chris- tian heroine — Thirty-three thousand sick and wounded men under charge on the Trans- ports— Her religious influence on the men — Miss Hattie S. Keifsnyder of Catawissa, Penn. and Mrs. Cynthia Case of Newark, Ohio, her assistants are actuated by a sii ailar spirit — Miss W. F. Harris of Providence, R. I., also on the Transport, for some months, and previously in the Indiana Hospital, in Ascension Church and Carver Hospital, and after leaving the Trans- port at Harper's Ferry and Winchester — Her health much broken by her excessive labors- Devotes herself to the instruction and training of the Freedmen after the close of the war 741-743

PAET VI. LADIES DISTINGUISHED FOE OTHEE SEEVICES IN THE NATIONAL CAUSE.

MRS. ANNIE ETHERIDGE.

Mrs. Etheridge's goodness and purity of character — Her childhood and girlhood passed in Wis- consin— She marries there — Return of her father to Michigan — She visits him and while there joins the Second Michigan Regiment, to attend to its sick and wounded — Transferred subsequently to the Third Regiment, and at the expiration of its term of service joins the Fifth Michigan Regiment — She is in the skirmish of Blackburn's Ford and at the first bat- tle of Bull Run — In hospital service — On a hospital transport with Miss Amy M. Bradley — At the second battle of Bull Run — The soldier boy torn to pieces by a shot while she is ministering to him — General Kearny's recognition of her services — Kearny's death prevents her receiving promotion — At Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863 — She leads in a skirmish, rides along the front exhorting the men to do their duty, and finds herself under heavy fire — An officer killed by her side and she herself slightly wounded — Her horse, wounded, runs with her — She seeks General Berry and after a pleasant interview takes charge of a rebel officer, a prisoner, whom she escorts to the rear — " I would risk my life for Annie, any time" — General Berry's death — The wounded artillery-man — She binds up his wound3 and has him brought to the hospital — Touching letter — The retreating soldiers at Spottsylva- nia — Annie remonstrates with them, and brings them back into the fight, under heavy fire — Outside the lines, and closely pursued by the enemy — Hatcher's Run — She dashes through the enemy's line unhurt — She receives a Government appointment at the close of the war — Her modesty and diffidence of demeanor 747-753

7

50 CONTENTS.

DELPHINE P. BAKER.

PAOI

Her birth and education — Character of her parents — Her lectures on the sphere and culture of women — Her labors in Chicago in the collection and distribution of hospital supplies — Her hospital work — 111 health — She commences the publication of " The National Banner" first in Chicago, next in "Washington and finally in New York— Its success but partial — Her efforts long, persistent and unwearied, for the establishment of a National Home for Soldiers — The bill finally passes Congress — Delay in organization — Its cause — Miss Baker meantime endeavors to procure Point Lookout as a location for one of the National Soldiers' Homes — Change in the act of incorporation — The purchase of the Point Lookout property consummated 754-759

MRS. S. BURGER STEARNS.

A native of New York City — Her education at the State Normal School of Michigan — Her marriage — Her husband a Colonel of volunteers — She visits the hospitals and devotes her- self to lecturing in behalf of the Aid movement ',.., 760

BARBARA FRIETCHIE. Her age — Her patriotism — Whittier's poem 761-768

MRS. HETTIE M. McEWEN.

Of revolutionary lineage — Her devotion to the Union — Her defiance of Isham Harris' efforts to have the Union flag lowered on her house — Mrs. Hooper's poem 764-766

OTHER DEFENDERS OP THE FLAG.

Mrs. Effie Titlow — Mrs. Alfred Clapp — Mrs. Moore (Parson Brownlow's daughter) — Miss Alice Taylor — Mrs. Booth — " Never surrender the flag to traitors." 767-769

MILITARY HEROINES.

Those who donned the male attire not entitled to a place in our pages — Madame Tnrchin — Her exploits — Bridget Divers — " Michigan Bridget" or " Irish Biddy" — She recovers her captain's body, and carries it on her horse for fifteen miles through rebel territory — Returns after the wounded, but is overtaken by the rebels while bringing them off and plundered of her ambulance horses — Others soon after provided — Accompanies a regiment of the regular army to the plains after the war — Mrs. Kady Brownell — Her skill as a sharp-shooter, and in sword exercise — Color Bearer in the Fifth Rhode Island Infantry — A skillful nurse — Her husband wounded — Discharged from the army in 1863 770-774

THE WOMEN OF GETTYSBURG.

Mrs. Jennie Wade — Her loyalty and courage — Her death during the battle — Miss Carrie Sheads, Principal of Oak Ridge Seminary — Her preservation of Colonel Wheelock's sword — Her labors in the care of the wounded — Her health impaired thereby — Miss Amelia Harmon — Her patriotism and courage — 'Burn the house if you will!" 775-f78

CONTENTS. 51

LOYAL WOMEN OF THE SOUTH.

PAGB

Names of loyal Southern Women already mentioned — The loyal women of Richmond — Their abundant labors for Union prisoners — Loyal women of Charleston — The Union League — Food and clothing furnished — Loyalty and heroism of some of the negro women — Loyal women of New Orleans — Tho names of some of the most prominent — Loyal women of the moun- tainous districts of the south — Their ready aid to our escaping prisoners — Miss Melvina Stevens — Malignity of some of the Rebel women — Heroism of Loyal women in East Tennes- see, Northern Georgia and Alabama 779-782

miss hetty a. jones. By Horatio G. Jones, Esq.

Miss Jones' birth and lineage — She aids in equipping the companies of Union soldiers organized in her own neighborhood — Her services in the Filbert Street Hospital — Death of her brother — Visit to Fortress Monroe — She determines to go to the front and attaches herself to the Third Division, Second Corps, Hospital at City Point — Has an attack of Pleurisy — On her recovery resumes her labors — Is again attacked and dies on tho 21st of December, 1864 — Her happy death — Mourning of the convalescent soldiers of the Filbert Street Hospital over her death , 783-78A

FINAL CHAPTER

THE FAITHFUL BUT LESS CONSPICUOUS LABORERS.

The many necessarily unnamed — Ladies who served at Antietam, Point Lookout, City Point or Naval Academy Hospital, Annapolis — The faithful workers at Benton Barracks Hospital, St. Louis — Miss Lovell, Miss Bissell, Mrs. Tannehill, Mrs. R. S. Smith, Mrs. Gray, Miss Lane, Miss Adams, Miss Spaulding, Miss King, Mrs. Day — Other nurses of great merit appointed by the Western Sanitary Commission — Volunteer visitors in the St. Louis Hospitals — Ladies who ministered to the soldiers in Quincy, and in Springfield, Illinois — Miss Georgiana Wil- lets, Misses Molineux and McCabe — Ladies of Cincinnati who served in the hospitals — Mrs. C. J. Wright, Mrs. Starbuck, Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Caldwell— Miss E. L. Porter of Niagara Falls — Boston ladies — Mrs. and Miss Anna Lowell, Mrs. 0. W. Holmes, Miss Stevenson, Mrs. S. Loring, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Brimmer, Miss Rogers, Miss Felton. — Louisville, Ky. — Mrs. Bishop Smith and Mrs. Menefee — Columbus, Ohio — Mrs. Hoyle, Mrs. Ide, Miss Swayne — Mrs. Seward of Urica — Mrs. Corven, of Hartford, Conn — Miss Long, of Rochester — Mrs. Farr, of Norwalk, Ohio — Miss Bartlett, of the Soldiers' Aid Society, Peoria, 111 — Mrs. Rus- sell and Mrs. Comstock, of Michigan, Mrs. Dame, of Wisconsin — Miss Bucklin, of Auburn, N. Y. — Miss Louise M. Alcott, of Concord, Mass. — Miss Penfield, of Michigan— The Misses Rexford of Illinois — Miss Sophia Knight, of South Reading, Mass., a faithful laborer among the Freedmen 787-794

INDEX OF NAMES OF LADIES 795-800

I LLUSTR ATI ONS.

PAQl

l.-MISS CLARA H. BARTON Frontispiece.

2.— BARBARA FRIETCHIB Vignette Title.

3.— MRS. MARY A. BICKERDYKE 172

4.— MISS MARGARET E. BRECKENRIDGE 187

5.— MRS. NELLIE MARIA TAYLOR 234

6.— MRS. CORDELIA A. P. HARVEY 260

7.— MISS EMILY E. PARSONS 273

8.— MRS. MARY MORRIS HUSBAND 2S7

9.— MISS MARY J. SAFFORD 357

10.— MRS. R. H. SPENCER 404

11.— MISS HATTIE A. DADA 431

12.— MRS. MARIANNE F. STRANAHAN 661

13.— MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE 577

14.— MRS. HENRIETTA L. COLT 609

15.— MRS. MARY B. WADE 736

16.— ANNIE ETHERIDGE 747

53

INTRODUCTION.

A record of the personal services of our American women in the late Civil War, however painful to the modesty of those whom it brings con- spicuously before the world, is due to the honor of the country, to the proper understanding of our social life, and to the general interests of a sex whose rights, duties and capacities are now under serious discussion. Most of the women commemorated in this work inevitably lost the benefits of privacy, by the largeness and length of their public services, and their names and history are to a certain extent the property of the country. At any rate they must suffer the penalty which conspicuous merit entails upon its possessors, especially when won in fields of universal interest.

Notwithstanding the pains taken to collect from all parts of the country, the names and history of the women who in any way distinguished them- selves in the War, and in spite of the utmost impartiality of purpose, there is no pretence that all who served the country best, are named in this record. Doubtless thousands of women, obscure in their homes, and hum- ble in their fortunes, without official position even in their local society, and all human trace of whose labors is forever lost, contributed as generously of their substance, and as freely of their time and strength, and gave as unreservedly their hearts and their prayers to the cause, as the most con- spicuous on the shining list here unrolled. For if

" The world knows nothing of its greatest men,"

it is still more true of its noblest women. Unrewarded by praise, unsullied by self-complacency, there is a character "of no reputation," which formed in strictest retirement, and in the patient exercise of unobserved sacrifices, is dearer and holier in the eye of Heaven, than the most illustrious name won by the most splendid services. Women there were in this war, who without a single relative in the army, denied themselves for the whole four

55

56 INTRODUCTION.

years, the comforts to which they had heen always accustomed ; went thinly clad, took the extra blanket from their bed, never tasted tea, or sugar, or flesh, that they might wind another bandage round some unknown soldier's wound, or give some parched lips in the hospital another sip of wine. Others never let one leisure moment, saved from lives of pledged labor which barely earned their bread, go unemployed in the service of the soldiers. God Himself keeps this record ! It is too sacred to be trusted to men.

But it is not such humble, yet exalted souls that will complain of the praise which to their neglect, is allotted to any of their sisters. The ranks always contain some heroes braver and better than the most fortunate and conspicuous officers of staff or line — but they feel themselves best praised when their regiment, their corps, or their general is gazetted. And the true-hearted workers for the soldiers among the women of this country will gladly accept the recognition given to the noble band of their sisters whom peculiar circumstances lifted into distinct view, as a tribute offered to the whole company. Indeed, if the lives set forth in this work, were regarded as exceptional in their temper and spirit, as they certainly were in their incidents and largeness of sphere, the whole lesson of the Record would be misread. These women in their sacrifices, their patriotism, and their per- sistency, are only fair representatives of the spirit of their whole sex. As a rule, American women exhibited not only an intense feeling for the sol- diers in their exposures and their sufferings, but an intelligent sympathy with the national cause, equal to that which furnished among the men, two million and three hundred thousand volunteers.

It is not unusual for women of all countries to weep and to work for those who encounter the perils of war. But the American women, after giving up, with a principled alacrity, to the ranks of the gathering and advancing army, their husbands and sons, their brothers and lovers, proceeded to organize relief for them; and they did it, not in the spasmodic and senti- mental way, which has been common elsewhere, but with a self-controlled and rational consideration of the wisest and best means of accomplishing their purpose, which showed them to be in some degree the products and representatives of a new social era, and a new political development.

The distinctive features in woman's work in this war, were magnitude, system, thorough co-operativeness with the other sex, distinctness of pur- pose, business-like thoroughness in details, sturdy persistency to the close. There was no more general rising among the men, than among the women. Men did not take to the musket, more commonly than women took to the needle ; and for every assembly where men met for mutual excitation in the

INTRODUCTION. 57

service of the country, there was some corresponding gathering of women, to stir each other's hearts and fingers in the same sacred cause. All the caucuses and political assemblies of every kind, in which speech and song quickened the blood of the men, did not exceed in number the meetings, in the form of Soldiers' Aid Societies, and Sewing Circles, which the women held, where they talked over the national cause, and fed the fires of sacrifice in each other's hearts. Probably never in any war in any coun- try, was there so universal and so specific an acquaintance on the part of both men and women, with the principles at issue, and the interests at stake. And of the two, the women were clearer and more united than the men, because their moral feelings and political instincts were not so much affected by selfishness and business, or party considerations. The work which our system of popular education does for girls and boys alike, and which in the middle and upper classes practically goes further with girls than with boys, told magnificently at this crisis. Everywhere, well edu- cated women were found fully able to understand and explain to their sisters, the public questions involved in the war. Everywhere the news- papers, crowded with interest and with discussions, found eager and appre- ciative readers among the gentler sex. Everywhere started up women acquainted with the order of public business ; able to call, and preside over public meetings of their own sex ; act as secretaries and committees, draft constitutions and bye-laws, open books, and keep accounts with adequate precision, appreciate system, and postpone private inclinations or prefer- ences to general principles ; enter into extensive correspondence with their own sex: co-operate in the largest and most rational plans proposed by men who had studied carefully the subject of soldiers' relief, and adhere through good report and through evil report, to organizations which commended themselves to their judgment, in spite of local, sectarian, or personal jeal- ousies and detractions.

It is impossible to over-estimate the amount of consecrated work done by the loyal women of the North for the Army. Hundreds of thousands of women probably gave all the leisure they could command, and all the money they could save and spare, to the soldiers for the whole four years and more, of the War. Amid discouragements and fearful delays they never flagged, but to the last increased in zeal and devotion. And their work was as sys- tematic as it was universal. A generous emulation among the Branches of the United States Sanitary Commission, managed generally by women, usually, however, with some aid from men, brought their business habits and methods to an almost perfect finish. Nothing that men commonly think peculiar to their own methods was wanting in the plans of the women.

08 INTRODUCTION.

They acknowledged and answered, endorsed and filed their letters ; they sorted their stores, and kept an accurate account of stock ; they had their books and reports kept in the most approved forms; they balanced their cash accounts with the most pains-taking precision ; they exacted of each other regularity of attendance and punctiliousness of official etiquette. They showed in short, a perfect aptitude for business, and proved by their own experience that men can devise nothing too precise, too systematic or too complicated for women to understand, apply and improve upon, where there is any sufficient motive for it.

It was another feature of the case that there was no jealousy between women and men in the work, and no disposition to discourage, underrate, or dissociate from each other. It seemed to be conceded that men had more invention, comprehensiveness and power of generalization, and that their business habits, the fruits of ages of experience, were at least worth studying and copying by women. On the other hand, men, usually jealous of woman's extending the sphere of her life and labors, welcomed in this case her assistance in a public work, and felt how vain men's toil and sac- rifices would be without woman's steady sympathy and patient ministry of mercy, her more delicate and persistent pity, her willingness to endure mo- notonous details of labor for the sake of charity, her power to open the heart of her husband, and to keep alive and flowing the fountains of com- passion and love.

No words are adequate to describe the systematic, persistent faithfulness of the women who organized and led the Branches of the United States Sanitary Commission. Their volunteer labor had all the regularity of paid service, and a heartiness and earnestness which no paid services can ever have. Hundreds of women evinced talents there, which, in other spheres and in the other sex, would have made them merchant-princes, or great administrators of public affairs. Storms nor heats could keep them from their posts, and they wore on their faces, and finally evinced in their break- ing constitutions, the marks of the cruel strain put upon their minds and hearts. They engaged in a correspondence of the most trying kind, requir- ing the utmost address to meet the searching questions asked by intelligent jealousy, and to answer the rigorous objections raised by impatience or ig- norance in the rural districts. They became instructors of whole townships in the methods of government business, the constitution of the Commissary and Quartermaster's Departments, and the forms of the Medical Bureau. They had steadily to contend with the natural desire of the Aid Societies for local independen ce, and to reconcile neighborhoods to the idea of being merged and lost in large generalizations. They kept up the spirit of the

INTEODUCTION. 59

people distant from the war and the camps, by a steady fire of letters full of touching incidents ; and they were repaid not only by the most generous returns of stores, but by letters from humble homes and lonely hearts, so full of truth and tenderness, of wisdom and pity, of self-sacrifice and patri- otic consecration, that the most gifted and educated women in America, many of them at the head of the Branches or among their Directors, felt constantly reproved by the nobleness, the sweetness, the depth of sentiment that welled from the hidden and obscure springs in the hearts of farmers' wives and factory-girls.

Nor were the talents and the sacrifices of those at the larger Depots or Centres, more worthy of notice than the skill and pains evinced in arous- ing, maintaining and managing the zeal and work of county or town socie- ties. Indeed, sometimes larger works are more readily controlled than smaller ones; and jealousies and individual caprices obstruct the co-opera- tion of villages more than of towns and cities.

In the ten thousand Soldiers' Aid Societies which at one time or another probably existed in the country, there was in each some master-spirit, whose consecrated purpose was the staple in the wall, from which the chain of service hung and on whose strength and firmness it steadily drew. I never visited a single town however obscure, that I did not hear some woman's name which stood in that community for "Army Service;" a name round which the rest of the women gladly rallied ; the name of some woman whose heart was felt to beat louder and more firmly than any of the rest for the boys in blue.

Of the practical talent, the personal worth, the aptitude for public ser- vice, the love of self-sacrificing duty thus developed and nursed into power, and brought to the knowledge of its possessors and their communities, it is difficult to speak too warmly. Thousands of women learned in this work to despise frivolity, gossip, fashion and idleness ; learned to think soberly and without prejudice of the capacities of their own sex ; and thus, did more to advance the rights of woman by proving her gifts and her fitness for public duties, than a whole library of arguments and protests.

The prodigious exertions put forth by the women who founded and con- ducted the great Fairs for the soldiers in a dozen principal cities, and in many large towns, were only surpassed by the planning skill and adminis- trative ability which accompanied their progress, and the marvellous success in which they terminated. Months of anxious preparation, where hun- dreds of committees vied with each other in long-headed schemes for secur- ing the co-operation of the several trades or industries allotted to each, and during which laborious days and anxious nights were unintemiittingly given

60 IjSTTKODUCTION.

to the wearing work, were followed by weeks of personal service in the fairs themselves, where the strongest women found their vigor inadequate to the task, and hundreds laid the foundations of long illness and some of sudden death. These sacrifices and far-seeing provisions were justly repaid by al- most fabulous returns of money, wbich to the extent of nearly three mil- lions of dollars, flowed into the treasury of the United States Sanitary Commission. The chief women who inaugurated the several great Fairs at New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and administered these vast movements, were not behind the ablest men in the land in their grasp and comprehension of the business in hand, and often in comparison with the men associated with them, exhibited a finer scope, a better spirit and a more victorious faith. But for the women of America, the great Fairs would never have been born, or would have died ignominiously in their gilded cradles. Their vastness of conception and their splendid results are to be set as an everlasting crown on woman's ca- pacity for large and money-yielding enterprises. The women who led them can never sink back into obscurity.

But I must pass from this inviting theme, where indeed I feel more at home than in what is to follow, to the consideration of what naturally occu- pies a larger space in this work — however much smaller it was in reality, i. e. , to the labors of the women who actually went to the war, and worked in the hospitals and camps.

Of the labors of women in the hospitals and in the field, this book gives a far fuller history than is likely to be got from any other source, as this sort of service cannot be recorded in the histories of organized work. For, far the largest part of this work was done by persons of exceptional energy and some fine natural aptitude for the service, which was independent of organizations, and hardly submitted itself to any rules except the impulses of devoted love for the work — supplying tact, patience and resources. The women who did hospital service continuously, or who kept themselves near the base of armies in the field, or who moved among the camps, and trav- elled with the corps, were an exceptional class — as rare as heroines always are — a class, representing no social grade, but coming from all — belonging to no rank or age of life in particular; sometimes young and sometimes old, sometimes refined and sometimes rude ; now of fragile physical aspect and then of extraordinary robustness — but in all cases, women with a mighty love and earnestness in their hearts — a love and pity, and an ability to show it forth and to labor in behalf of it, equal to that which in other departments of life, distinguishes poets, philosophers, sages and saints, from ordinary or average men.

INTRODUCTION. 61

Moved by an indomitable desire to serve in person the victims of wounds and sickness, a few hundred women, impelled by instincts which assured them of their ability to endure the hardship, overcome the obstacles, and adjust themselves to the unusual and unfeminine circumstances in which they would be placed — made their way through all obstructions at home, and at the seat of war, or in the hospitals, to the bed-sides of the sick and wounded men. Many of these women scandalized their friends at home by what seemed their Quixotic resolution ; or, they left their families under circumstances which involved a romantic oblivion of the recognized and usual duties of domestic life; they forsook their own children, to make children of a whole army corps ; they risked then- lives in fevered hospitals ; they lived in tents or slept in ambulance wagons, for months together ; they fell sick of fevers themselves, and after long illness, returned to the eld business of hospital and field service. They carried into their work their womanly tenderness, their copious sympathies, their great-hearted devo- tion— and had to face and contend with the cold routine, the semi-savage professional indifference, which by the necessities of the case, makes ordi- nary medical supervision, in time of actual war, impersonal, official, unsym- pathetic and abrupt. The honest, natural jealousy felt by surgeons-in- charge, and their ward masters, of all outside assistance, made it necessary for every woman, who was to succeed in her purpose of holding her place, and really serving the men, to study and practice an address, an adaptation and a patience, of which not one candidate in ten was capable. Doubtless nine-tenths of all who wished to offer and thought themselves capable of this service, failed in their practical efforts. As many women fancied them- selves capable of enduring hospital life, as there are always in every college, youth who believe they can become distinguished authors, poets and states- men. But only the few who had a genius for the work, continued in it, and succeeded in elbowing room for themselves through the never-ending obstacles, jealousies and chagrins that beset the service. Every woman who keeps her place in a general hospital, or a corps hospital, has to prove her title to be trusted; her tact, discretion, endurance and strength of nerve and fibre. No one woman succeeded in rendering years of hospital service, who was not an exceptional person — a woman of larger heart, clearer head, finer enthusiasm, and more mingled tact, courage, firmness and holy will — than one in a thousand of her sex. A grander collection of women — whether considered in their intellectual or their moral qualities, their heads or their hearts, I have not had the happiness of knowing, than the women I saw in the hospitals ; they were the flower of their sex. Great as were the labors of tho»3 who superintended the operations at home- -of collecting

62 INTRODUCTION.

and preparing supplies for the hospitals and the field, I cannot but think that the women who lived in the hospitals, or among the soldiers, required a force of character and a glow of devotion and self-sacrifice, of a rarer kind. They were really heroines. They conquered their feminine sensibility at the sight of blood and wounds; their native antipathy to disorder, confu- sion and violence ; subdued the rebellious delicacy of their more exquisite senses; lived coarsely, and dressed and slept rudely; they studied the caprices of men to whom their ties were simply human — men often igno- rant, feeble-minded — out of their senses — raving with pain and fever ; they had a still harder service to bear with the pride, the official arrogance, the hardness or the folly — perhaps the impertinence and presumption of half- trained medical men, whom the urgencies of the case had fastened on the service.* Their position was always critical, equivocal, suspected, and to be justified only by their undeniable and conspicuous merits ; — then* wisdom, patience and proven efficiency ; justified by the love and reverence they ex- acted from the soldiers themselves!

True, the rewards of these women were equal to their sacrifices. They drew then- pay from a richer treasury than that of the United States Gov- ernment. I never knew one of them who had had a long service, whose memory of the grateful looks of the dying, of the few awkward words that fell from the lips of thankful convalescents, or the speechless eye-following of the dependent soldier, or the pressure of a rough hand, softened to womanly gentleness by long illness, — was not the sweetest treasure of all their lives. Nothing in the power of the Nation to give or to say, can ever compare for a moment with the proud satisfaction which every brave soldier who risked his life for his country, always carries in his heart of hearts. And no public recognition, no thanks from a saved Nation, can ever add anything of much importance to the rewards of those who tasted the actual joy of ministering with their own hands and hearts to the wants of one sick and dying man.

It remains only to say a word about the influence of the work of the women in the War upon the strength and unanimity of the public senti- ment, and on the courage and fortitude of the army itself.

The participation by actual work and service in the labors of the War,

* A large number of the United States Army and volunteer surgeons were in- deed men of the highest and most humane character, and treated the women who came to the hospitals, with careful and scrupulous consideration. Some women were able to say that they never encountered opposition or hindrance from any officials ; but this was not the rule.

INTRODUCTION. 63

not only took out of women's hearts the soreness which unemployed ener- gies or incongruous pursuits would have left there, but it took out of their mouths the murmurs and moans which their deserted, husbandless, childless condition would so naturally have provoked. The women by their call to work, and the opportunity of pouring then- energies, sympathies and affec- tions into an ever open and practical channel, were quieted, reconciled, upheld. The weak were borne upon the bosoms of the strong. Banded together, and working together, their solicitude and uneasiness were alle- viated. Following in imagination the work of their own hands, they seemed to be present on the field and in the ranks ; they studied the course of the armies; they watched the policy of the Government; they learned the character of the Generals ; they threw themselves into the war ! And so they helped wonderfully to keep up the enthusiasm, or to rebuke the luke- warmness, or to check the despondency and apathy which at times settled over the people. Men were ashamed to doubt where women trusted, or to murmur where they submitted, or to do little where they did so much. If during the war, home life had gone on as usual ; women engrossed in their domestic or social cares; shrinking from public questions; deferring to what their husbands or brothers told them, or seeking to amuse themselves with social pleasures and striving to forget the painful strife in frivolous caprices, it would have had a fearful effect on public sentiment, deepening the gloom of every reverse, adding to the discouragements which an embarrassed commerce and trade brought to men's hearts, by domestic echoes of weari- ness of the strife, and favoring the growth of a disaffected, compromising, unpatriotic feeling, which always stood ready to break out with any offered encouragement. A sense of nearness of the people to the Government which the organization of the women effected, enlarged their sympathies with its movements and disposed them to patience. Their own direct ex- perience of the difficulties of all co-operative undertakings, broadened their views and rendered intelligible the delays and reverses which our national cause suffered. In short the women of the country were through the whole conflict, not only not softening the fibres of war, but they were actually strengthening its sinews by keeping up their own courage and that of their households, under the inspiration of the larger and more public life, the broader work and greater field for enterprise and self-sacrifice afforded them by their direct labors for the benefit of the soldiers. They drew thousands of lukewarm, or calculating, or self-saving men into the support of the national cause by then- practical enthusiasm and devotion. They proved what has again and again been demonstrated, that what the women of a country resolve shall be done, will and must be done. They shamed recruits into the ranks,

G4 INTRODUCTION.

and made it almost impossible for deserters, or cowards, or malingerers to come home ; they emptied the pockets of social idlers, or wealthy drones, into the treasuries of the Aid Societies ; and they compelled the shops and do- mestic trade of all cities to be favorable to the war. The American women were nearer right and more thoroughly united by this means, and their own healthier instincts, than the American men. The Army, whose bayonets were glittering needles, advanced with more unbroken ranks, and exerted almost a greater moral force than the army that carried loaded muskets.

The Aid Societies and the direct oversight the women sought to give the men in the field, very much increased the reason for correspondence between the homes and the tents.

The women were proud to write what those at the hearth-stone were doing for those who tended the camp-fires, and the men were happy and cheery to acknowledge the support they received from this home sympathy. The immense correspondence between the army and the homes, prodigious beyond belief as it was, some regiments sending home a thousand letters a week, and receiving as many more back ; the constant transmission to the men of newspapers, full of the records of home work and army news, pro- duced a homogeneousness of feeling between the soldiers and the citizens, which kept the men in the field, civilians, and made the people at home, of both sexes, half-soldiers.

Thus there never grew up in the army any purely military and anti-social or anti-civil sentiments. The soldiers studied and appreciated all the time the moral causes of the War, and were acquainted with the political as well as military complications. They felt all the impulses of home strengthen- ing their arms and encouraging their hearts. And their letters home, as a rule, were designed to put the best face upon things, and to encourage their wives and sweet-hearts, their sisters and parents, to bear their absence with fortitude, and even with cheerfulness.

The influence on the tone of their correspondence, exerted by the fact that the women were always working for the Army, and that the soldiers always knew they were working, and were always receiving evidence ol their care, may be better imagined than described. It largely ministered to that sympathetic unity between the soldiers and the country, which made our army always a corrective and an inspiration to our Governmental policy, and kept up that fine reciprocal influence, between civil and military life, which gave an heroic fibre to all souls at home, and finally restored us our soldiers with their citizen hearts beating regularly under their uniforms, as they dropped them off at the last drum-tap.

H. W. B.

WOMAN'S WOEK IN THE ClYIL WAR.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Patriotism in some form, an attribute of woman in all nations and climes — Its modes of manifesta- tion— Pseans for victory — Lamentations for the death of a heroic leader — Personal leadership by ■women — The assassination of tyrants — The care of the sick and wounded of national armies — The hospitals established by the Empress Helena — The Beguines and their successors — The cantinieres, vivandieres, etc. — Other modes in which women manifested their patriotism — Florence Nightingale and her labors — The results — The awakening of patriotic zeal among American women at the opening of the war — The organization of philanthropic effort — Hospital nurses — Miss Dix's re- jection of great numbers of applicants on account of youth — Hired nurses — Their services gene- rally prompted by patriotism rather than pay — The State relief agents (ladies) at Washington— The hospital transport system of the Sanitary Commission — Mrs. Harris's, Miss Barton's, Mrs. Pales', Miss Gilson's, and other ladies' services at the front during the battles of 1862 — Services of other ladies at Chancellorsville, at Gettysburg — The Field Relief of the Sanitary Commission, and services of ladies in the later battles — Voluntary services of women in the armies in the field at the West — Services in the hospitals, of garrisons and fortified towns — Soldiers' homes and lodges, and their matrons — Homes for Refugees — Instruction of the Freedmen — Refreshment Saloons at Philadelphia — Regular visiting of hospitals in the large cities — The Soldiers' Aid Societies, and their mode of operation — The extraordinary labors of the managers of the Branch Societies — Government clothing contracts — Mrs. Springer, Miss Wormeley and Miss Gilson — The managers of the local Soldiers' Aid Societies — The sacrifices made by the poor to contribute supplies — Examples — The labors of the young and the old — Inscriptions on articles — The poor seamstress — Five hundred bushels of wheat — The five dollar gold piece — The army of martyrs — The effect of this female patriotism in stimulating the courage of the soldiers — Lack of persistence in this work among the Women of the South — Present and future — Effect of patriotism and self-sacrifice in elevating and ennobling the female character.

IS" intense and passionate love of country, holding, for the time, all other ties in abeyance, has been a not un- common trait of character among women of all countries and climes, throughout the ages of human history. In the nomadic races it assumed the form of attachment to the patri- archal rules and chiefs of the tribe; in the more savage of the localized nations, it was reverence for the ruler, coupled with a filial regard for the resting-places and graves of their ancestors, a 65

66 woman's work in the civil war.

But in the more highly organized and civilized countries, it was the institutions of the nation, its religion, its sacred traditions, its history, as well as its kings, its military leaders, and its priests, that were the objects of the deep and intense patriotic devotion of its noblest and most gifted women.

The manifestations of this patriotic zeal were diverse in different countries, and at different periods in the same country. At one time it contented itself with triumphal pseans and dances over victories won by the nation's armies, as in the case of Miriam and the maidens of Israel at the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, or the victories of the armies led by David against the Philistines; or in the most heart-rending lamentations over the fall of the nation's heroes on the field of battle, as in the mourning of the Trojan maidens over the death of Hector; at other times, some brave and heroic spirit, goaded with the sense of her country's wrongs, girds upon her own fair and tender form, the armor of proof, and goes forth, the self-constituted but eagerly welcomed leader of its mailed hosts, to overthrow the nation's foes. We need only recal Deborah, the avenger of the Israelites against the oppressions of the King of Canaan; Boadicea, the daring Queen of the Britons, and in later times, the heroic but hapless maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc; and in the Hungarian war of 1848, the brave but unfortunate Countess Teleki, as examples of these female patriots.

In rare instances, this sense of the nation's sufferings from a tyrant's oppression, have so wrought upon the sensitive spirit, as to stimulate it to the determination to achieve the country's free- dom by the assassination of the oppressor. It was thus that Jael brought deliverance to her country by the murder of Sisera ; Judith, by the assassination of Holofernes; and in modern times, Charlotte Corday sought the rescue of France from the grasp of the murderous despot, Marat, by plunging the poniard to his heart.

A far nobler, though less demonstrative manifestation of patri-

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 67

otic devotion than either of these, is that which has prompted women in all ages to become ministering angels to the sick, the suffering, and the wounded among their countrymen who have periled life and health in the nation's cause.

Occasionally, even in the earliest recorded wars of antiquity, we find high-born maidens administering solace to the wounded heroes on the field of battle, and attempting to heal their wounds by the appliances of their rude and simple surgery; but it was only the favorite leaders, never the common soldier, or the subor- dinate officer, who received these gentle attentions. The influence of Christianity, in its earlier development, tended to expand the sympathies and open the heart of woman to all gentle and holy influences, and it is recorded that the wounded Christian soldiers were, where it was possible, nursed and cared for by those of the same faith, both men and women.

In the fifth century, the Empress Helena established hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers of the empire, on the routes between Rome and Constantinople, and caused them to be carefully nursed. In the dark ages that followed, and amid the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the uprearing of the Gothic kingdoms that succeeded, there was little room or thought of mercy ; but the fair- haired women of the North encouraged their heroes to deeds of valor, and at times, ministered in their rude way to their wounds. The monks, at their monasteries, rendered some care and aid to the wounded in return for their exemption from plunder and ra- pine, and in the ninth century, an order of women consecrated to the work, the Beguines, predecessors of the modern Sisters of Charity, was established "to minister to the sick and wounded of the armies which then, and for centuries afterward, scarred the face of continental Europe with battle-fields." With the Beguines, however, and their successors, patriotism was not so much the controlling motive of action, as the attainment of merit by those deeds of charity and self-sacrifice.

In the wars of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and the early part

68 woman's work in the civil war.

of the nineteenth century, while the hospitals had a moderate share of fair niinistrants, chiefly of the religious orders, the only female service on the battle-field or in the camp, often the scene of fatal epidemics, was that of the eantinieres, vivandieres, jilles du regiment, and other camp followers, who, at some risk of reputa- tion, accompanied the armies in their march, and brought to the wounded and often dying soldier, on the field of battle, the draught of water which quenched his raging thirst, or the cordial, which sustained his fast ebbing strength till relief could come. Humble of origin, and little circumspect in morals as many of these women were, they are yet deserving of credit for the courage and patriotism which led them to brave all the horrors of death, to relieve the suffering of the wounded of the regiments to which they were attached. Up to the period of the Crimean war in 1854, though there had been much that was praiseworthy in the manifestations of female patriotism in connection with the move- ments of great armies, there had never been any systematic minis- tration, prompted by patriotic devotion, to the relief of the suffering sick and wounded of those armies.

There were yet other modes, however, in which ihe women of ancient and modern times manifested their love of their country. The Spartan mother, who, without a tear, presented her sons with their shields, with the stern injunction to return with them, or upon them, that is, with honor untarnished, or dead, — the fair dames and maidens of Carthage, who divested themselves of their beautiful tresses, to furnish bowstrings for their soldiers, — the Jewish women who preferred a death of torture, to the acknow- ledgment of the power of the tyrant over their country's rulers, and their faith — the women of the Pays-de Vaud, whose moun- tain fastnesses and churches were dearer to them than life — the thousands of wives and mothers, who in our revolutionary strug- gle, and in our recent war, gave up freely at their country's call, their best beloved, regretting only that they had no more to give ; knowing full well, that in giving them up they condemned

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 69

themselves to penury and want, to hard, grinding toil, and privations such as they had never before experienced, and not im- probably to the rending, by the rude vicissitudes of war, of those ties, dearer than life itself — those who in the presence of ruffians, capable of any atrocity dared, and in many cases suffered, a violent death, and indignities worse than death, by their fearless defense of the cause and flag of their country — and yet again, those who, in peril of their lives, for the love they bore to their country, guided hundreds of escaped prisoners, through the regions haunted by foes, to safety and freedom — all these and many others, whose deeds of heroism we have not space so much as to name, have shown their love of country as fully and worthily, as those who in hospital, in camp or on battle-field have ministered to the battle-scarred hero, or those who, in all the panoply of war, have led their hosts to the deadly charge, or the fierce affray of con- tending armies.

Florence Nightingale, an English gentlewoman, of high social position and remarkable executive powers, was the first of her eex, at least among English-speaking nations, to systematize the patriotic ardor of her countrywomen, and institute such measures of reform in the care of sick and wounded soldiers in military hospitals, as should conduce to the comfort and speedy recovery of their inmates. She had voluntarily passed through the course of training, required of the hospital nurses and assistants, in Pastor Fliedner's Deaconess' Institution, at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, before she entered upon her great mission in the hospitals at Scutari. She was ably seconded in her labors by other ladies of rank from England, who, actuated only by patriotic zeal, gave themselves to the work of bringing order out of chaos, cheerful- ness out of gloom, cleanliness out of the most revolting filth, and the sunshine of health out of the lazar house of corruption and death. In this heroic undertaking they periled their lives, more certainly, than those who took part in the fierce charge of Bala- clava Some fell victims to their untiring zeal ; others, and Miss

70 woman's work in the civil war.

Nightingale among the number, were rendered hopeless invalids for life, by their exertions.

Fifty years of peace had rendered our nation more entirely unacquainted with the arts of war, than was Great Britain, when, at the close of forty years of quiet, she again marshalled her troops in battle array. But though the transition was sudden from the arts of peace to the din and tumult of war, and the blunders, both from inexperience and dogged adherence to rou- tine, were innumerable, the hearts of the people, and especially the hearts of the gentler sex, were resolutely set upon one thing; that the citizen soldiers of the nation should be cared for, in sickness or in health, as the soldiers of no nation had ever been before. Soldiers' Aid Societies, Sewing Circles for the soldiers, and Societies for Relief, sprang up simultaneously with the organ- ization of regiments, in every village, town, and city throughout the North. Individual benevolence kept pace with organized charity, and the managers of the freight trains and expresses, running toward Washington, were in despair at the fearful accu- mulation of freight for the soldiers, demanding instant transpor- tation. It was inevitable that there should be waste and loss in this lavish outpouring; but it was a manifestation of the patriotic feeling which throbbed in the hearts of the people, and which, through four years of war, never ceased or diminished aught of its zeal, or its abundant liberality. It was felt instinctively, that there would soon be a demand for nurses for the sick and wounded, and fired by the noble example of Florence Nightin- gale, though too often without her practical training, thousands of young, fair, and highly educated women offered themselves for the work, and strove for opportunities for their gentle ministry, as in other days they might have striven for the prizes of fortune.

Soon order emerged from the chaos of benevolent impulse ; the Sanitary Commission and its affiliated Societies organized and wisely directed much of the philanthropic effort, which would otherwise have failed of accomplishing its intended work through

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTER. 71

misdirection; while other Commissions, Associations, and skil- fully managed personal labo; s, supplemented what was lacking iu its earlier movements, and ere long the Christian Commission added intellectual and religious aliment to its supplies for the wants of the physical man.

Of the thousands of applicants for the position of Hospital Nurses, the greater part were rejected promptly by the stern, but experienced lady, to whom the Government had confided the delicate and responsible duty of making the selection. The ground of rejection was usually the youthfulness of the appli- cants ; a sufficient reason, doubtless, in most cases, since the en- thusiasm, mingled in some instances, perhaps, with romance, which had prompted the offer, would often falter before the ex- tremely unpoetic realities of a nurse's duties, and the youth and often frail health of the applicants would soon cause them to give way under labors which required a mature strength, a firm will, and skill in all household duties. Yet "to err is human," and it need not surprise us, as it probably did not Miss Dix, to learn, that in a few instances, those whom she had refused to com- mission on account of their youthfulness, proved in other fields, their possession of the very highest qualifications for the care of the sick and wounded. Miss Gilson was one of the most remark- able of these instances; and it reflects no discredit on Miss Dix's powers of discrimination, that she should not have discovered, in that girlish face, the indications of those high abilities, of which their possessor was as yet probably unconscious. The rejection of so many of these volunteer nurses necessitated the appointment of many from another class, — young women of culture and educa- tion, but generally from the humbler walks of life, in whose hearts the fire of patriotism was not less ardent and glowing than in those of their wealthier sisters. Many of these, though they would have preferred to perform their labors without fee or reward, were compelled, from the necessities of those at home, to accept the wholly inadequate pittance (twelve dollars a month

72 woman's work in the civil wae.

and their food) which was offered them by the Government, but they served in then' several statiors with a fidelity, intelligence, and patient devotion which no mon; y could purchase. The tes- timony received from all quarters to the faithfulness and great moral worth of these nurses, is greatly to then.' honor. Not one of them, so far as we can learn, ever disgraced her calling, or gave cause for reproach. We fear that so general an encomium could not truthfully be bestowed on all the volunteer nurses.

But nursing in the hospitals, was only a small part of the work to which patriotism called American women. There was the collection and forwarding to the field, there to be distributed by the chaplains, or some specially appointed agent, of those supplies which the families and friends of the soldiers so earnestly desired to send to them; socks, shirts, handkerchiefs, havelocks, and delicacies in the way of food. The various states had their agents, generally ladies, in Washington, who performed these duties, du- ring the first two years of the war, while as yet the Sanitary Commission had not fully organized its system of Field Relief. In the West, every considerable town furnished its quota of sup- plies, and, after every battle, voluntary agents undertook their distribution.

During McClellan's peninsular campaign, a Hospital Transport service was organized in connection with the Sanitary Commission, which numbered among its members several gentlemen and ladies of high social position, whose labors in improvising, often from the scantiest possible supplies, the means of comfort and healing for the fever-stricken and wounded, resulted in the preservation of hundreds of valuable lives.

Mrs. John Harris, the devoted and heroic Secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society of Philadelphia, had already, in the Penin- sular campaign, encountered all the discomforts and annoyances of a life in the camp, to render what assistance she could to the sick and wounded, while they were yet in the field or camp hos- pital. At Cedar Mountain, and in the subsequent battles of

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 73

August, in Pope's Campaign, Miss Barton, Mrs. T. J. Fales, and some others also brought supplies to the field, and ministered to the wounded, while the shot and shell were crashing around them, and Antietam had its representatives of the fair sex, angels of mercy, but for whose tender and judicious ministrations, hun- dreds and perhaps thousands would not have seen another morn- ing's light. In the race for Richmond which followed, Miss Barton's train was hospital and diet kitchen to the Ninth Corps, and much of the time for the other Corps also. At Fredericks- burg, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Plummer, Mrs. Fales, and Miss Barton, and we believe also, Miss Gilson, were all actively engaged. A part of the same noble company, though not all, were at Chancellorsville.

At Gettysburg, Mrs. Harris was present and actively engaged, and as soon as the battle ceased, a delegation of ladies connected with the Sanitary Commission toiled most faithfully to alleviate the horrors of war. In the subsequent battles of the Army of the Potomac, the Field Relief Corps of the Sanitary Commission with its numerous male and female collaborators, after, or at the time of all the great battles, the ladies connected with the Chris- tian Commission and a number of efficient independent workers, did all in their power to relieve the constantly swelling tide of human suifering, especially during that period of less than ninety days, when more than ninety thousand men, wounded, dying, or dead, covered the battle-fields with their gore.

In the West, after the battle of Shiloh, and the subsequent engagements of Buell's campaign, women of the highest social position visited the battle-field, and encountered its horrors, to minister to those who were suffering, and bring them relief. Among these, the names of Mrs. Martha A. Wallace, the widow of General W. H. L. Wallace, who fell in the battle of Shiloh ; of Mrs. Harvey, the widow of Governor Louis Harvey of Wis- consin, who was drowned while on a mission of philanthropy to

the W sconsin soldiers wounded at Shiloh; and the sainted Mar- io

74 woman's work in the civil, war.

garet E. Breckinridge of St. Louis, will be readily recalled. During Grant's Vicksburg campaign, as well as after Rosecrans' battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, there were many of these heroic women who braved all discomforts and difficulties to bring healing and comfort to the gallant soldiers who had fallen on the field. Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore, of Chicago, visited Grant's camp in front of Vicksburg, more than once, and by their exertions, saved his army from scurvy; Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Bickerdyke, and several others are deserving of mention for theii untiring zeal both in these and Sherman's Georgian campaigns. Mrs. Bickerdyke has won undying renown throughout the Western armies as pre-eminently the friend of the private soldier.

As our armies, especially in the West and Southwest, won more and more of the enemy's territory, the important towns of which were immediately occupied as garrisons, hospital posts, and secondary bases of the armies, the work of nursing and pro- viding special diet and comfort in the general hospitals ' at these posts, which were often of great extent, involved a vast amount of labor and frequently serious privation, and personal discomfort on the part of the nurses. Some of these who volunteered for the work were remarkable for their earnest and faithful labors in behalf of the soldiers, under circumstances which would have dis- heartened any but the most resolute spirits. We may name without invidiousness among these, Mrs. Colfax, Miss Maertz, Miss Melcenia Elliott, Miss Parsons, Miss Adams, and Miss Brayton, who, with many others, perhaps equally faithful, by their Constant assiduity in their duties, have given proof of their ardent love of their country.

To provide for the great numbers of men discharged from the hospitals while yet feeble and ill, and without the means of going to then.' often distant homes, and the hundreds of enfeebled and mutilated soldiers, whose days of service were over, and who. often in great bodily weakness, sought to obtain the pay due them from the Government, and not unseldom died in the effort;

INTRODUCTOEY CHAPTER. 75

the United States Sanitary Commission and the Western Sani- tary Commission established Soldiers' Homes at Washington, Cincinnati, Chicago, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, and other places. In these, these disabled men found food and shelter, medical attendance when needed, assist- ance in collecting their dues, and aid in their transportation homeward. To each of these institutions, a Matron was assigned, often with female assistants. The duties of these Matrons were extremely arduous, but they were performed most nobly. To some of these homes were attached a department for the mothers, wives and daughters of the wounded soldiers, who had come on to care for them, and who often found themselves, when ready to return, penniless, and without a shelter. To these, a helping hand, and a kind welcome, was ever extended.

To these should be added the Soldiers' Lodges, established at some temporary stopping-places on the routes to and from the great battle-fields; places where the soldier, fainting from his wearisome march, found refreshment, and if sick, shelter and care; and the wounded, on their distressing journey from the battle-field to the distant hospitals, received the gentle ministra- tions of women, to allay their thirst, relieve their painful posi- tions, and strengthen their wearied bodies for further journey ings. There were also, in New York, Boston, and many other of the Northern cities, Soldiers' Homes or Depots, not generally con- nected with the Sanitary Commission, in which invalid soldiers were cared for and their interests protected. In all these there were^ efficient and capable Matrons. In the West, there were also Homes for Refugees, families of poor whites generally though not always sufferers for their Union sentiments, sent north by the military commanders from all the States involved in the rebel- lion. Reduced to the lowest depths of poverty, often suffering absolute starvation, usually dirty and of uncleanly habits, in many cases ignorant in the extreme, and intensely indolent, these poor creatures had often little to recommend them to the sym-

76 woman's work in the civil wae.

pathy of their northern friends, save their common humanity, and their childlike attachment to the Union cause. Yet on these, women of high culture and refinement, women who, but for the fire of patriotism which burned in their hearts, would have turned away, sickened at the mental and moral degradation which seemed proof against all instruction or tenderness, bestowed their constant and unwearying care, endeavoring to rouse in them the instinct of neatness and the love of household duties; instructing their children, and instilling into the darkened minds of the adults some ideas of religious duty, and some gleams of intelligence. No mission to the heathen of India, of Tartary, or of the African coasts, could possibly have been more hopeless and discouraging; but they triumphed over every obstacle, and in many instances had the happiness of seeing these poor people restored to their southern homes, with higher aims, hopes, and aspirations, and with better habits, and more intelligence, than they had ever before possessed.

The camps and settlements of the freedmen were also the ob- jects of philanthropic care. To these, many highly educated women volunteered to go, and establishing schools, endeavored to raise these former slaves to the comprehension of their privileges and duties as free men. The work was arduous, for though there was a stronger desire for learning, and a quicker apprehension of religious and moral instruction, among the freedmen than among the refugees, their slave life had made them fickle, untruthful, and to some extent, dishonest and unchaste. Yet the faithful and indefatigable teachers found their labors wonderfully successful, and accomplished a great amount of good.

Another and somewhat unique manifestation of the patriotism of our American women, was the service of the Refreshment Saloons at Philadelphia. For four years, the women of that por- tion of Philadelphia lying in the vicinity of the Navy Yard, responded, by night or by day, to the signal gun, fired whenever one or more regiments of soldiers were passing through the city,

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 77

and hastening to the Volunteer or the Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloons, spread before the soldiers an ample repast, and served them with a cordiality and heartiness deserving all praise. Four hundred thousand soldiers were fed by these willing hands and generous hearts, and in hospitals connected with both Refreshment Saloons the sick were tenderly cared for.

In the large general hospitals of Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, in addition to the volun- teer and paid nurses, there were committees of ladies, who, on alternate days, or on single days of each week, were accustomed to visit the hospitals, bringing delicacies and luxuries, preparing special dishes for the invalid soldiers, writing to their friends for them, etc. To this sacred duty, many women of high social position devoted themselves steadily for nearly three years, alike amid the summer's heat and the winter's cold, never failing of visiting the patients, to whom their coming was the most joyous event of the otherwise gloomy day.

But these varied forms of manifestation of patriotic zeal would have been of but little material service to the soldiers, had there not been behind them, throughout the loyal North, a vast net- work of organizations extending to every village and hamlet, for raising money and preparing and forwarding supplies of what- ever was needful for the welfare of the sick and wounded. We have already alluded to the spontaneity and universality of these organizations at the beginning of the war. They were an out- growth alike of the patriotism and the systematizing tendencies of the people of the North. It might have been expected that the zeal which led to their formation would soon have cooled, and, perhaps, this would have been the case, but for two causes, viz. : that they very early became parts of more comprehensive organizations officered by women of untiring energy, and the most exalted patriotic devotion; and that the events of the war constantly kept alive the zeal of a few in each society, who spurred on the laggards, and encouraged the faint-hearted. These

78 woman's woek in the civil war.

Soldiers' Aid Societies, Ladies' Aid Associations, Alert Clubs, Soldiers' Relief Societies, or by whatever other name they were called, were usually auxiliary to some Society in the larger cities, to which their several contributions of money and supplies were sent, by which their activity and labors were directed, and which generally forwarded to some central source of supply, their dona- tions and its own. The United States Sanitary Commission had its branches, known under various names, as Branch Commissions, General Soldiers' Aid Societies, Associates, Local Sanitary Com- missions, etc., at Boston, Albany, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Chicago, and three central organiza- tions, the Women's Central Association of Relief, in New York, the Sanitary Commission, at Washington, and the Western Depot of Supplies, at Louisville, Kentucky. Affiliated to these were over twelve thousand local Soldiers' Aid Societies. The Western Sanitary Commission had but one central organization, besides its own depot, viz.: The Ladies' Union Aid Society, of St. Louis, which had a very considerable number of auxiliaries in Missouri and Iowa. The Christian Commission had its branches in Bos- ton, New York, Brooklyn, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chi- cago, and St. Louis, and several thousand local organizations reported to these. Aside from these larger bodies, there were the Ladies' Aid Association of Philadelphia, with numerous auxil- iaries in Pennsylvania, the Baltimore Ladies' Relief Association, the New England Soldiers' Relief Association of New York; and during the first two years of the war, Sanitary Commissions in Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois, and State Relief Societies in Wis consin, Ohio, Michigan, New York, and some of the other States with their representative organizations in Washington. Several Central Aid Societies having large numbers of auxiliaries, acted independently for the first two years, but were eventually merged in the Sanitary Commission. Prominent among these were the Hartford Ladies' Aid Society, having numerous auxiliaries throughout Connecticut, the Pittsburg Relief Committee, draw-

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 79

ing its supplies from the circumjacent country, and we believe, also, the Penn Relief Society, an organization among the Friends of Philadelphia and vicinity. The supplies for the Volunteer and Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloons of Philadelphia, were contributed by the citizens of that city and vicinity.

When it is remembered, that by these various organizations, a sum exceeding fifty millions of dollars was raised, during a little more than four years, for the comfort and welfare of the soldiers, their families, their widows, and their orphans, we may be certain that there was a vast amount of work done by them. Of this aggregate of labor, it is difficult to form any adequate idea. The ladies who were at the head of the Branch or Central organiza- tions, worked day after day, during the long and hot days of summer, and the brief but cold ones of winter, as assiduously and steadily, as any merchant in his counting-house, or the banker at his desk, and exhibited business abilities, order, fore- sight, judgment, and tact, such as are possessed by very few of the most eminent men of business in the country. The extent of their operations, too, was in several instances commensurate with that of some of our merchant princes. Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler and Miss Ellen Collins, of the Women's Central Asso- ciation of Relief at New York, received and disbursed in sup- plies and money, several millions of dollars in value; Mrs. Rouse, Miss Mary Clark Brayton, and Miss Ellen F. Terry, of the Cleveland Soldiers' Aid Society, somewhat more than a mil- lion ; Miss Abby May, of Boston, not far from the same amount ; Mrs. Hoge, and Mrs. Livermore, of the N. W. Sanitary Com- mission, over a million; while Mrs. Seymour, of Buffalo, Miss Valeria Campbell, of Detroit, Mrs. Colt, of Milwaukie, Miss Rachel W. McFadden, of Pittsburg, Mrs. Hoadley, and Mrs. Mendenhall, of Cincinnati, Mrs. Clapp, and Miss H. A. Adams, of the St. Louis Ladies' Aid Society, Mrs. Joel Jones, and Mrs. John Harris, of the Philadelphia Ladies' Aid Society, Mrs. Stranahan, and Mrs. Archer, of Brooklyn, if they did not do

80 woman's woek in the civil war.

quite so large a business, at least rivaled the merchants of the smaller cities, in the extent of their disbursements; and when it is considered, that these ladies were not only the managers and financiers of their transactions, but in most cases the book- keepers also, we think their right to be regarded as possessing superior business qualifications will not be questioned.

But some of these lady managers possessed still other claims to our respect, for their laborious and self-sacrificing patriotism. It occurred to several ladies in different sections of the country, as they ascertained the suffering condition of some of the fami- lies of the soldiers, (the early volunteers, it will be remembered, received no bounties, or very trifling ones), that if they could secure for them, at remunerative prices, the making of the sol- diers' uniforms, or of the hospital bedding and clothing, they might thus render them independent of charity, and capable of self-support.

Three ladies (and perhaps more), Mrs. Springer, of St. Louis, in behalf of the Ladies' Aid Society of that city, Miss Katherine P. Wormeley, of Newport, R. I., and Miss Helen L. Gilson, of Chelsea, Mass., applied to the Governmental purveyors of clothing, for the purpose of obtaining this work. There was necessarily considerable difficulty in accomplishing their purpose. The army of contractors opposed them strongly, and in the end, these ladies were each obliged to take a contract of large amount themselves, in order to be able to furnish the work to the wives and daughters of the soldiers. In St. Louis, the terms of the contract were somewhat more favorable than at the East, and on the expiratioD of one, another was taken up, and about four hundred women were supplied with remunerative work throughout the whole period of the war. The terms of the contract necessitated the careful in- spection of the clothing, and the certainty of its being well made, by the lady contractors ; but in point of fact, it was all cut and prepared for the sewing-women by Mrs. Springer and her asso- ciates, who, giving their services to this work, divided among

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 81

theii employes the entire sum received for each contract, paying them weekly for their work. The strong competition at the East, rendered the price paid for the work, for which contracts were taken by Miss Wornieley and Miss Gilson; less than at the West, but Miss Gilson, and, we believe, Miss Wornieley also, raised an additional sum, and paid to the sewing-women more than the contract price for the work. It required a spirit thoroughly imbued with patriotism and philanthropy to carry on this work, for the drudgery connected with it was a severe tax upon the strength of those who undertook it. In the St. Louis contracts, the officers and managers of the Ladies' Aid Society, rendered as- sistance to Mrs. Springer, who had the matter in charge, so far as they could, but not satisfied with this, one of their number, the late Mrs. Palmer, spent a portion of every day in visiting the soldiers' families who were thus employed, and whenever addi- tional aid was needed, it was cheerfully and promptly bestowed. In this noble work of Christian charity, Mrs. Palmer overtasked her physical powers, and after a long illness, she passed from earth, to be reckoned among that list of noble martyrs, who sacri- ficed life for the cause of their country.

But it was not the managers and leaders of these central asso- ciations alone whose untiring exertions, and patient fidelity to their patriotic work should excite our admiration and reverence. Though moving -in a smaller circle, and dealing with details rather than aggregates, there were, in almost every village and town, those whose zeal, energy, and devotion to their patriotic work, was as worthy of record, and as heroic in character, as the labors of their sisters in the cities. We cannot record the names of those thousands of noble women, but their record is on high, and in the grand assize, their zealous toil to relieve their suffering brothers, who were fighting or had fought the nation's battles, will be recognized by Him, who regards every such act of love and philanthropy as done to Himself.

TSTor are these, alone, among those whose deeds of love and 11

82 woman's woek in the civil war.

patriotism are inscribed in the heavenlj record. The whole his- tory of the contributions for relief, is glorified by its abundant in- stances of self-sacrifice. The rich gave, often, largely and nobly from their wealth ; but a full moiety of the fifty millions of volun- tary gifts, came from the hard earnings, or patient labors of the poor, often bestowed at the cost of painful privation. Incidents like the following were of every-day occurrence, during the later years of the war: "In one of the mountainous countries at the North, in a scattered farming district, lived a mother and daughters, too poor to obtain by purchase, the material for making hospital clothing, yet resolved to do something for the soldier. Twelve miles distant, over the mountain, and accessible only by a road almost impassable, was the county-town, in which there was a Relief Association. Borrowing a neighbor's horse, either the mother or daughters came regularly every fortnight, to procure from this society, garments to make up for the hospital. They had no money; but though the care of their few acres of sterile land devolved upon themselves alone, they could and would find time to work for the sufferers in the hospitals. At length, curious to know the secret of such fervor in the cause, one of the managers of the association addressed them : " You have some relative, a son, or brother, or father, in the war, I suppose?" "No!" was the reply, " not now ; our only brother fell at Ball's Bluff." " Why then," asked the manager, " do you feel so deep an interest in this work?" " Our country's cause is the cause of God, and we would do what we can, for His sake," was the sublime reply.

Take another example. " In that little hamlet on the bleak and barren hills of New England, far away from the great city or even the populous village, you will find a mother and daughter living in a humble dwelling. The husband and father has lain for many years 'neath the sod in the graveyard on the hill slope : the only son, the hope and joy of both mother and sister, at the call of duty, gave himself to the service of his country, and left those whom he loved as his own life, to toil at home alone. By

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 33

and bye, at Williamsburg, or Fair Oaks, or in that terrible re- treat to James River, or at Cedar Mountain, it matters not which, the swift speeding bullet laid him low, and after days, or it may be weeks of terrible suffering, he gave up his young life on the altar of his country. The shock was a terrible one to those lone dwellers on the snowy hills. He was their all, but it was for the cause of Freedom, of Right, of God ; and hushing the wild beating of their hearts they bestir themselves, in their deep poverty, to do something for the cause for which their young hero had given his life. It is but little, for they are sorely straitened ; but the mother, though her heart is wrapped in the darkness of sorrow, saves the expense of mourning apparel, and the daughter turns her faded dress ; the little earnings of both are carefully hoarded, the pretty chintz curtains which had made their humble room cheerful, are replaced by paper, and by dint of constant saving, enough money is raised to purchase the other materials for a hos- pital quilt, a pair of socks, and a shirt, to be sent to the Relief Association, to give comfort to some poor wounded soldier, tossing in agony in some distant hospital. And this, with but slight variation is the history of hundreds, and perhaps thousands of the articles sent to the soldiers' aid societies.

This fire of patriotic zeal, while it gloAved alike in the hearts of the rich and poor, inflamed the young as well as the old. Little girls, who had not attained their tenth year, or who had just passed it, denied themselves the luxuries and toys they had long desired, and toiled with a patience and perseverance wholly foreign to childish nature, to procure or make something of value for their country's defenders. On a pair of socks sent to the Central Asso- ciation of Relief, was pinned a paper with this legend : " These stockings were knit by a little girl five years old, and she is going to knit some more, for mother said it will help some poor soldier." The official reports of the Women's Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, the Cleveland branch of the Sanitary Commis- sion, furnish the following incident: "Every Saturday morning

84 woman's work in ihe civil war.

finds Emma Andrews, ten years of age, at the rooms of the Aid Society with an application for work. Her little basket is soon filled with pieces of half- worn linen, which, during the week, she cuts into towels or handkerchiefs ; hems, and returns, neatly washed and ironed, at her next visit. Her busy fingers have already made two hundred and twenty-nine towels, and the patri- otic little girl is still earnestly engaged in her work." Holidays and half holidays in the country were devoted by the little ones with great zeal, to the gathering of blackberries and grapes, for the preparations of cordials and native wines for the hospitals, and the picking, paring and drying peaches and apples, which, in their abundance, proved a valuable safeguard against scurvy, which threatened the destruction or serious weakening of our armies, more than once. In the cities and large villages the children, with generous self-denial, gave the money usually expended for fireworks to purchase onions and pickles for the soldiers, to pre- vent scurvy. A hundred thousand dollars, it is said, was thus consecrated, by these little ones, to this benevolent work.

In the days of the Sanitary Fairs, hundreds of groups of little girls held their miniature fairs, stocked for the most part with articles of their own production, upon the door step, or the walk in front of their parents' dwellings, or in the wood-shed, or in some vacant room, and the sums realized from their sales, vary- ing from five to one hundred dollars, were paid over, without any deduction for expenses, since labor and attendance were volun- tary and the materials a gift, to the treasuries of the great fairs then in progress.

Nor were the aged women lacking in patriotic devotion. Such inscriptions as these were not uncommon. "The fortunate owner of these socks is secretly informed, that they are the one hundred and ninety -first pair knit for our brave boys by Mrs. Abner Bart- lett, of Medford, Mass., now aged eighty-five years."

A barrel of hospital clothing sent from Conway, Mass., con- tained a pair of socks knit by a lady ninety-seven years old, who

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 85

declared h3rself ready and anxious to do all she could. A home- spun blanket bore the inscription, " This blanket was carried by Milly Aldrich, who is ninety-three years old, down hill and up hill, one and a-half miles, to be given to some soldier."

A box of lint bore this touching record, "Made in a sick-room where the sunlight has not entered for nine years, but where God has entered, and where two sons have bade their mother good- bye, as they have gone out to the war."

Every one knows the preciousness of the household linen which has been for generations an heirloom in a family. Yet in nume- rous instances, linen sheets, table-cloths, and napkins, from one hundred and twenty to two hundred years old, which no money could have purchased, were dedicated, often by those who had nought else to give, to the service of the hospital.

An instance of generous and self-denying patriotism related by Mrs. D. P. Livermore, of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission, deserves a record in this connection, as it was one which has had more than one counterpart elsewhere. "Some two or three months ago, a poor girl, a seamstress, came to our rooms. ' I do not feel right/ she said, 'that I am doing nothing for our soldiers in the hospitals, and have resolved to do something immediately. Which do you prefer — that I should give money, or buy material arid manufacture it into garments?'"

" You must be guided by your circumstances," was the answer made her; "we need both money and supplies, and you must do that which is most convenient for you."

" I prefer to give you money, if it will do as much good."

"Very well; then give money, which we need badly, and without which we cannot do what is most necessary for our brave sick men."

"Then I will give you the entire earnings of the next two weeks. I'd give more, but I have to help support my mother who is an invalid. Generally I make but one vest a day, but I will work earli it and later these two weeks." In two weeks she

86 woman's wokk in the civil wae.

came again, the poor sewing girl, her face radiant with the con- sciousness of philanthropic intent. Opening her porte-monnaie, she counted out nineteen dollars and thirty-seven cents. Every penny was earned by the slow needle, and she had stitched away into the hours of midnight on every one of the working days of the week. The patriotism which leads to such sacrifices as these, is not less deserving of honor than that which finds scope for its energies in ministering to the wounded on the battle-field or in the crowded wards of a hospital.

Two other offerings inspired by the true spirit of earnest and active philanthropy, related by the same lady, deserve a place here.

" Some farmers' wives in the north of Wisconsin, eighteen miles from a railroad, had given to the Commission of their bed and table linen, their husbands' shirts and drawers, their scanty supply of dried and canned fruits, till they had exhausted their ability to do more in this direction. Still they were not satisfied. So they cast about to see what could be done in another way. They were all the wives of small farmers, lately moved to the West, all living in log cabins, where one room sufficed for kitchen, parlor, laundry, nursery and bed-room, doing their own house-work, sewing, baby-tending, dairy-work, and all. What could they do?

"They were not long in devising a way to gratify the longings of their motherly and patriotic hearts, and instantly set about carrying it into action. They resolved to beg wheat of the neighboring farmers, and convert it into money. Sometimes on foot, and sometimes with a team, amid the snows and mud of early spring, they canvassed the country for twenty and twenty- five miles around, everywhere eloquently pleading the needs of the blue-coated soldier boys in the hospitals, the eloquence every- where acting as an open sesame to the granaries. Now they obtained a little from a rich man, and then a great deal from a poor man — deeds of benevolence are half the time in an inverse

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 87

ratio to the ability of the benefactors — till they had accumulated nearly five hundred bushels of wheat. This they sent to market, obtained the highest market price for it, and forwarded the pro- ceeds to the Commission. As we held this hard-earned money in our hands, we felt that it was consecrated, that the holy pur- pose and resolution of these noble women had imparted a sacred- ness to it."

Very beautiful is the following incident, narrated by the same lady, of a little girl, one of thousands of the little ones, who have, during the war, given up precious and valued keepsakes to aid in ministering to the sick and wounded soldiers. "A little girl not nine years old, with sweet and timid grace, came into the rooms of the Commission, and laying a five dollar gold-piece on our desk, half frightened, told us its history. 'My uncle gave me that before the war, and I was going to keep it always; but he's got killed in the army, and mother says now I may give it to the soldiers if I want to — and I'd like to do so. I don't sup- pose it will buy much for them, will it?' " We led the child to the store-room, and proceeded to show her how valuable her gift was, by pointing out what it would buy — so many cans of con- densed milk, or so many bottles of ale, or pounds of tea, or cod- fish, etc. Her face brightened with pleasure. But when we explained to her that her five dollar gold-piece was equal to seven dollars and a half in greenbacks, and told her how much comfort we had been enabled to carry into a hospital, with as small an amount of stores as that sum would purchase, she fairly danced with joy.

"Oh, it will do lots of good, won't it?" And folding her hands before her, she begged, in her charmingly modest way, " Please tell me something that you've seen in the hospitals ?" A narrative of a few touching events, not such as would too severely shock the little creature, but which plainly showed the necessity of continued benevolence to the hospitals, filled her sweet eyes with tears, and drew from her the resolution, "to save

SB woman's work in the civil, war.

all her money, and to get all the girls to do so, to buy things for the wounded soldiers."

Innumerable have been the methods by which the loyalty and patriotism of our countrywomen have manifested themselves; no memorial can ever record the thousandth part of their labors, their toils, or their sacrifices; sacrifices which, in so many in- stances, comprehended the life of the earnest and faithful worker. A grateful nation and a still more grateful army will ever hold in remembrance, such martyrs as Margaret Breckinridge, Anna M. Ross, Arabella Griffith Barlow, Mrs. Howland, Mrs. Pluni- mer, Mrs. Mary E. Palmer, Mrs. S. C. Pomeroy, Mrs. C. M. Kirkland, Mrs. David Dudley Field, and Sweet Jenny Wade, of Gettysburg, as well as many others, who, though less widely known, laid down their lives as truly for the cause of their country; and their names should be inscribed upon the ever during granite, for they were indeed the most heroic spirits of the war, and to them, belong its unfading laurels and its golden crowns.

And yet, we are sometimes inclined to hesitate in our esti- mate of the comparative magnitude of the sacrifices laid upon the Nation's altar; not in regard to these, for she who gave her life, as well as her services, to the Nation's cause, gave all she had to give; but in reference to the others, who, though serving the cause faithfully in their various ways, yet returned unscathed to their homes. Great and noble as were the sacrifices made by these women, and fitted as they were to call forth our admiration, were they after all, equal to those of the mothers, sisters, and daughters, who, though not without tears, yet calmly, and with hearts burning with the fire of patriotism, willingly, gave up their best beloved to fight for the cause of their country and their God? A sister might give up an only brother, the playmate of her childhood, her pride, and her hope; a daughter might bid adieu to a father dearly beloved, whose care and gui- dance she still needs and will continue to need. A mother might, perchance, relinquish her only son, he on whom she had hoped

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 85J

to lean, as the strong staff and the beautiful rod of her old age ; all this might be, with sorrow indeed, and a deep and abiding sense of loneliness, not to be relieved, except by the return of that father, brother, or son. But the wife, who, fully worthy of that holy name, gave the parting hand to a husband who was dearer, infinitely dearer to her than father, son, or brother, and saw him go forth to the battle-field, where severe wounds or sudden and terrible death, were almost certainly to be his portion, sacrificed in that one act all but life, for she relinquished all that made life blissful. Yet even in this holocaust there were degrees, gradations of sacrifice. The wife of the officer might, perchance, have occasion to see how her husband was honored and advanced for his bravery and good conduct, and while he was spared, she was not likely to suffer the pangs of poverty. In these particulars, how much more sad was the condition of the wife of the private soldier, especially in the earlier years of the war. To her, except the letters often long delayed or cap- tured on their route, there were no tidings of her husband, ex- cept in the lists of the wounded or the slain ; and her home, often one of refinement and taste, was not only saddened by the absence of him who was its chief joy, but often stripped of its best be- longings, to help out the scanty pittance which rewarded her own severe toil, in furnishing food and clothing for herself and her little ones. Cruel, grinding poverty, was too often the portion of these poor women. At the West, women tenderly and care- fully reared, were compelled to undertake the rude labors of the field, to provide bread for their families. And when, to so many of these poor women who had thus struggled with poverty, and the depressing influences of loneliness and weariness, there came the sad intelligence, that the husband so dearly loved, was among the slain, or that he had been captured and consigned to death by starvation and slow torture at Andersonville, where even now he might be filling an unknown grave, what wonder is it that in

numerous cases the burden was too heavy for the wearied spirit, 12

^0 iVOMAX's WORK IN THE CIVIL WAR.

and insanity supervened, or the broken heart found rest and re- union with the loved and lost in the grave.

Yet in niany instances, the heart that seemed nigh to break- ing, found solace in its sorrow, in ministering directly or indi- rectly to the wounded soldier, and forgetting its own misery, brought to other hearts and homes consolation and peace. This seems to us the loftiest and most divine of all the manifestations of the heroic spirit; it is nearest akin in its character to the con- duct of Him, who while " he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," yet found the opportunity, with his infinite tender- ness and compassion, to assuage every sorrow and soothe every grief but his own.

The effect of this patriotic zeal and fervor on the part of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the loyal North, in stimulating and encouraging the soldiers to heroic deeds, was remarkable. Napoleon sought to awaken the enthusiasm and love of fame of his troops in Egypt, by that spirit-stirring word, " Soldiers, from the height of yonder pyramids forty centuries look down upon you." But to the soldier fighting the battles of free- dom, the thought that in every hamlet and village of the loyal oS orth, patriotic women were toiling and watching for his welfare, and that they were ready to cheer and encourage him in the darkest horn', to medicine his wounds, and minister to his sickness and sorrows in the camp, on the battle-field, or in the hospital wards, was a far more grateful and inspiring sentiment, than the mythical watch and ward of the spectral hosts of a hundred cen- turies of the dead past.

The loyal soldier felt that he was fighting, so to speak, under the very eyes of his countrywomen, and he was prompted to higher deeds of daring and valor by the thought. In the smoke and flame of battle, he bore, or followed the flag, made and con- secrated by female hands to his country's service; many of the articles which contributed to his comfort, and strengthened his good right arm, and inspirited his heart for the day of battle

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 91

were the products of the toil and the gifts of his countrywomen; and he knew right well, that if he should fall in the fierce con- flict, the gentle ministrations of woman would be called in requi- sition, to bind up his wounds, to cool his fevered brow, to minister to his fickle or failing appetite, to soothe his sorrows, to communicate with his friends, and if death came to close his eyes, and comfort, so far as might be those who had loved him. This knowledge strengthened him in the conflict, and enabled him to strike more boldly and vigorously for freedom, until the time came when the foe, dispirited and exhausted, yielded up his last vantage ground, and the war was over.

The Rebel soldiers were not thus sustained by home influences. At first, indeed, Aid Societies were formed all over the South, and supplies forwarded to their armies; but in the course of a year, the zeal of the Southern ladies cooled, and they contented themselves with waving their handkerchiefs to the soldiers, instead of providing for their wants; and thenceforward, to the end of the war, though there were no rebels so bitter and hearty in their expressions of hostility to the North, as the great mass of Southern women, it was a matter of constant complaint in the Rebel armies, that their women did nothing for their comfort. The complaint was doubtless exaggerated, for in their hospitals there were some women of high station who did minister to the wounded, but after the first year, the gifts and sacrifices of Southern women to their army and hospitals, were not the hundredth, hardly the thousandth part of those of the women of the North to their countrymen.

A still more remarkable result of this wide-spread movement among the women of the North, was its effect upon the sex them- selves. Fifty years of peace had made us, if not "a nation of shop-keepers," at least a people given to value too highly, the pomp and show of material wealth, and our women were as a class, the younger women especially, devoting to frivolous pur- suits, society, gaiety and display, the gifts wherewith God had

92 woman's work est the ctvil war.

endowed them most bountifully. The war, and the benevolence and patriotism which it evoked, changed all this. The gay and thoughtless belle, the accomplished and beautiful leader of society, awoke at once to a new life. The soul of whose existence she had been almost as unconscious as Fouque's Undine, began to assert its powers, and the gay and fashionable woman, no longer ennuye'd by the emptiness and frivolity of life, found her thoughts and hands alike fully occupied, and rose into a sphere of life and action, of which, a month before, she would have considered her- self incapable.

Saratoga and Newport, and the other haunts of fashion were not indeed deserted, but the visitors there were mostly new faces, the wives and daughters of those who had grown rich through the contracts and vicissitudes of the war, while their old habitue's were toiling amid the summer's heat to provide supplies for the hospitals, superintending sanitary fairs, or watching and aiding the sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals, or at the front of the army. In these labors of love, many a fair face grew pale, many a light dancing step became slow and feeble, and ever and anon the light went out of eyes, that but a little while before had flashed and glowed in conscious beauty and pride. But though the cheeks might grow pale, the step feeble, and the eyes dim, there was a holier and more transcendent beauty about them than in their gayest hours. "We looked daily," says one who was herself a participant in this blessed work, in speaking of one who, after years of self-sacrificing devotion, at last laid down her young life in patriotic toil, "we looked daily to see the halo surround her head, for it seemed as if God would not suffer so pure and saintly a soul to walk the earth without a visible manifestation of his love for her." Work so ennobling, not only elevated and etherealized the mind and soul, but it glorified the body, and many times it shed a glory and beauty over the plainest faces, somewhat akin to that which transfigured the Jewish lawgiver, when he came down from the Mount. But it has done more

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTEE. 93

than this. The soul once ennobled by participation in a great and glorious work, can never again be satisfied to come down to the heartlessness, the frivolities, the petty jealousies, and little-. nesses of a life of fashion. Its aspirations and sympathies lie otherwheres, and it must seek in some sphere of humanitarian activity or Christian usefulness, for work that will gratify its longings.

How pitiful and mean must the brightest of earth's gay assem- blages appear, to her who, day after day, has held converse with the souls of the departing, as they plumed their wings for the flight heavenward, and accompanying them in their upward journey so far as mortals may, has been privileged with some glimpse through the opening gates of pearl, into the golden streets of the city of our God !

With such experiences, and a discipline so purifying and en- nobling, we can but anticipate a still higher and holier future, for the women of our time. To them, we must look for the advance- ment of all noble and philanthropic enterprises ; the lifting vagrant and wayward childhood from the paths of ruin ; the universal dif- fusion of education and culture; the succor and elevation of the poor, the weak, and the down-trodden ; the rescue and reformation of the fallen sisterhood ; the improvement of hospitals and the care of the sick; the reclamation of prisoners, especially in female prisons; and in general, the genial ministrations of refined and cultured womanhood, wherever these ministrations can bring calmness, peace and comfort. Wherever there is sorrow, suffering, or sin, in our own or in other lands, these heaven-appointed Sisters of Charity will find their mission and their work.

Glorious indeed will be the results of such labors of love and Christian charity. Society will be purified and elevated; giant evils which have so long thwarted human progress, overthrown; the strongholds of sin, captured and destroyed by the might of truth, and the "new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness/" so

94 woman's work in the civil war.

long foretold by patriarch, prophet, and apostle, become a welcome and enduring reality.

. And they who have wrought this good work, as, one after another, they lay down the garments of their earthly toil to assume the glistening robes of the angels, shall find, as did Enoch of old, that those who walk with God, shall be spared the agonies of death and translated peacefully and joyfully to the mansions of their heavenly home, while waiting choirs of the blessed ones shall hail their advent to the transcendent glories of the world above.

PART I.

SUPERINTENDENT OF NUKSES.

DOROTHEA L. DIX.

MONG all the women who devoted themselves with

y^O untiring energy, and gave talents of the highest order to the work of caring for our soldiers during the war, the name of Dorothea L. Dix will # lways take the first rank, and history will undoubtedly preserve it long after all others have sunk into oblivion. This her extraordinary and ex- ceptional official position will secure. Others have doubtless done as excellent a work, and earned a praise equal to her own, but her relations to the government will insure her historical mention and remembrance, while none will doubt the sincerity of her patriotism, or the faithfulness of her devotion.

Dorothea L. Dix is a native of Worcester, Mass. Her father was a physician, who died while she was as yet young, leaving her almost without pecuniary resources.

Soon after this event, she proceeded to Boston, where she opened a select school for young ladies, from the income of which she was enabled to draw a comfortable support.

One day during her residence in Boston, while passing along a street, she accidentally overheard two gentlemen, who were walking before her, conversing about the state prison at Charlestown, and expressing their sorrow at the neglected condition of the convicts. They were undoubtedly of that class of philanthropists who believe that no man, however vile, is all bad, but, though sunk into the lowest depths of vice, has yet in his soul some white spot which

13 97

98 woman's work in the civil war.

the taint has not reached, but which some kind hand may reach, and some kind heart may touch.

Be that as it may, their remarks found an answering chord in the heart of Miss Dix. She was powerfully affected and im- pressed, so much so, that she obtained no rest until she had her- self visited the prison, and learned that in what she had heard there was no exaggeration. She found great suffering, and great need of reform.

Energetic of character, and kindly of heart, she at once lent herself to the work of elevating and instructing the degraded and suffering classes she found there, and becoming deeply interested in the welfare of these unfortunates, she continued to employ her- self in labors pertaining to this field of reform, until the year 1834.

At that time her health becoming greatly impaired, she gave up her school and embarked for Europe. Shortly before this period, she had inherited from a relative sufficient property to render her independent of daily exertion for support, and to enable her to carry out any plans of charitable work which she should form. Like all persons firmly fixed in an idea which commends itself alike to the judgment and the impulses, she was very tenacious of her opinions relating to it, and impatient of opposition. It is said that from this cause she did not always meet the respect and attention which the important objects to which she was devoting her life would seem to merit. That she found friends and helpers however at home and abroad, is un- doubtedly true.

She remained abroad until the year 1837, when returning to her native country she devoted herself to the investigation of the condition of paupers, lunatics and prisoners. In this work she was warmly aided and encouraged by her friend and pastor the Rev. Dr. Channing, of whose children she had been governess, as well as by many other persons whose hearts beat a chord responsive to that long since awakened in her own.

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 99

Since 1841 until the breaking out of the late war, Miss Dix devoted herself to the great work which she accepted as the spe- cial mission of her life. In pursuance of it, she, during that time, is said to have visited every State of the Union east of the Rocky Mountains, examining prisons, poor-houses, lunatic asy- lums, and endeavoring to persuade legislatures and influential individuals to take measures for the relief of the poor and wretched.

Her exertions contributed greatly to the foundation of State lunatic asylums in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana and North Carolina. She presented a memorial to Congress during the Session of 1848-9, asking an appropriation of five hundred thousand acres of the public lands to endow hospitals for the indigent insane.

This measure failed, but, not discouraged, she renewed the appeal in 1850 asking for ten millions of acres. The Committee of the House to whom the memorial was referred, made a favor- able report, and a bill such as she asked for passed the House, but failed in the Senate for want of time. In April, 1854, how- ever, her unwearied exertions were rewarded by the passage of a bill by both houses, appropriating ten millions of acres to the several States for the relief of the indigent insane. But this bill was vetoed by President Pierce, chiefly on the ground that the General Government had no constitutional power to make such appropriations.

Miss Dix was thus unexpectedly checked and deeply disap- pointed in the immediate accomplishment of this branch of the great work of benevolence to which she had more particularly devoted herself.

From that time she seems to have given herself, with added zeal, to her labors for the insane. This class so helpless, and so innocently suffering, seem to have always been, and more parti- cularly during the later years of her work, peculiarly the object of her sympathies and labors. In the prosecution of these labors

100 woman's work in the civil war.

she made another voyage to Europe in 1858 or '59, and continued to pursue them with indefatigable zeal and devotion.

The labors of Miss Dix for the insane were continued without intermission until the occurrence of those startling events which at once turned into other and new channels nearly all the indus- tries and philanthropies of our nation. With many a premonition, and many a muttering of the coming storm, unheeded, our people, inured to peace, continued unappalled in their quiet pursuits. But while the actual commencement of active hostilities called thousands of men to arms, from the monotony of mechanical, agricultural and commercial pursuits and the professions, it changed as well the thoughts and avocations of those who were not to enter the ranks of the military.

And not to men alone did these changes come. "Not they alone were filled with a new fire of patriotism, and a quickened devo- tion to the interests of our nation. Scarcely had the ear ceased thrilling with the tidings that our country was indeed the theatre of civil war, when women as well as men began to inquire if there were not for them some part to be played in this great drama.

Almost, if not quite the first among these was Miss Dix. Self- reliant, accustomed to rapid and independent action, conscious of her ability for usefulness, with her to resolve was to act. Scarcely had the first regiments gone forward to the defense of our menaced capital, when she followed, full of a patriotic desire to offer to her country whatever service a woman could perform in this hour of its need, and determined that it should be given.

She passed through Baltimore shortly after that fair city had covered itself with the indelible disgrace of the 16th of April, 1861, and on her arrival at Washington, the first labor she offered on her country's altar, was the nursing of some wounded soldiers, victims of the Baltimore mob. Thus was she earliest in the field.

Washington became a great camp. Every one was willing, nay anxious, to be useful and employed. Military hospitals were

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 101

hastily organized. There were many sick, but few skilful nurses. The opening of the rebellion had not found the government, nor the loyal people prepared for it. All was confusion, want of dis- cipline, and disorder. Organizing minds, persons of executive ability, leaders, were wanted.

The services of women could be made available in the hospitals. They were needed as nurses, but it was equally necessary that some one should decide upon their qualifications for the task, and direct their efforts.

Miss Dix was present in "Washington. Her ability, long expe- rience in public institutions and high character were well known. Scores of persons of influence, from all parts of the country, could vouch for her, and she had already offered her services to the authorities for any work in which they could be made available.

Her selection for the important post of Superintendent of Female Nurses, by Secretary Cameron, then at the head of the War Department, on the 10th of June, 1861, commanded univer- sal approbation.

This at once opened for her a wide and most important field of duty and labor. Except hospital matrons,* all women regularly employed in the hospitals, and entitled to pay from the Govern- ment, were appointed by her. An examination of the qualifica- tions of each applicant was made. A woman must be mature in years, plain almost to homeliness in dress, and by no means libe- rally endowed with personal attractions, if she hoped to meet the approval of Miss Dix. Good health and an unexceptionable moral character were always insisted on. As the war progressed, the applications were numerous, and the need of this kind of service great, but the rigid scrutiny first adopted by Miss Dix continued, and many were rejected who did not in all respects possess the qualifications which she had fixed as her standard. Some of these women, who in other branches of the service, and under

In manj instances she appointed these also.

102 woman's work in the civil war.

other auc pices, became eminently useful, were rejected on account of their youth ; while some, alas ! were received, who afterwards proved themselves quite unfit for the position, and a disgrace to their sex.

But in these matters no blame can attach to Miss Dix. In the first instance she acted no doubt from the dictates of a sound and mature judgment; and in the last was often deceived by false tes- timonials, by a specious appearance, or by applicants who, inno- cent at the time, were not proof against the temptations and allurements of a position which all must admit to be peculiarly exposed and unsafe.

Besides the appointment of nurses the position of Miss Dix imposed upon her numerous and onerous duties. She visited hospitals, far and near, inquiring into the wants of their occu- pants, in all cases where possible, supplementing the Government stores by those with which she was always supplied by private benevolence, or from public sources; she adjusted disputes, and settled difficulties in which her nurses were concerned; and in every way showed her true and untiring devotion to her country, and its suffering defenders. She undertook long journeys by land and by water, and seemed ubiquitous, for she was seldom missed from her office in Washington, yet was often seen else- where, and always bent upon the same fixed and earnest purpose. We cannot, perhaps, better describe the personal appearance of Miss Dix, and give an idea of her varied duties and many sacri- fices, than by transcribing the following extract from the printed correspondence of a lady, herself an active and most efficient laborer in the same general field of effort, and holding an import- ant position in the Northwestern Sanitary Commission.

"It was Sunday morning when we arrived in Washington, and as the Sanitary Commission held no meeting that day, we decided after breakfast to pay a visit to Miss Dix.

" We fortunately found the good lady at home, but just ready to start for the hospitals. She is slight and delicate looking, and

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 103

seems physically inadequate to the work she is engaged in. In her youth she must have possessed considerable beauty, and she is still very comely, with a soft and musical voice, graceful figure, and very winning manners. Secretary Cameron vested her with sole power to appoint female nurses in the hospitals. Secretary Stanton, on succeeding him ratified the appointment, and she has installed several hundreds of nurses in this noble work — all of them Protestants, and middle-aged. Miss Dix's whole soul is in this work. She rents two large houses, winch are depots for sanitary supplies sent to her care, and houses of rest and refresh- ment for nurses and convalescent soldiers, employs two secretaries, owns ambulances and keeps them busily employed, prints and distributes circulars, goes hither and thither from one remote point to another in her visitations of hospitals, — and pays all the expenses incurred from her private purse. Her fortune, time and strength are laid on the altar of the country in this hour of trial.

"Unfortunately, many of the surgeons in the hospitals do not work harmoniously with Miss Dix. They are jealous of her power, impatient of her authority, find fault with her nurses, and accuse her of being arbitrary, opinionated, severe and capricious. Many to rid themselves of her entirely, have obtained permission of Surgeon-General Hammond to employ Sisters of Charity in their hospitals, a proceeding not to Miss Dix's liking. Knowing by observation that many of the surgeons are wholly unfit for their office, that too often they fail to bring skill, morality, or humanity to their work, we could easily understand how this single-hearted, devoted, tireless friend of the sick and wounded soldier would come in collision with these laggards, and we liked her none the less for it."

Though Miss Dix received no salary, devoting to the work her time and labors without remuneration, a large amount of supplies were placed in her hands, both by the Government and from private sources, which she was always ready to dispense with judgment and caution, it is true, but with a pleasant earnestness

J 04 woman's work in THE CIVIL "WAR.

alike grateful to the recipient of the kindness, or to the agent who acted in her stead in this work of mercy.

It was perhaps unfortunate for Miss Dix that at the time when she received her appointment it was so unprecedented, and the entire service was still in such a chaotic state, that it was simply impossible to define her duties or her authority. As, therefore, no plan of action or rules were adopted, she was forced to abide exclusively by her own ideas of need and authority. In a letter to the writer, from an official source, her position and the changes that became necessary are thus explained :

"The appointment of nurses was regulated by her ideas of their prospective usefulness, good moral character being an abso- lute prerequisite. This absence of system, and independence of action, worked so very unsatisfactorily, that in October, 1863, a General Order was issued placing the assignment, or employment of female nurses, exclusively under control of Medical Officers, and limiting the superintendency to a 'certificate of approval/ without which no woman nurse could be employed, except by order of the Surgeon-General. This materially reduced the num- ber of ap]3ointments, secured the muster and pay of those in service, and established discipline and order."

The following is the General Order above alluded to.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 351.

"War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, October 29, 1863. The employment of women nurses in the United States General Hospitals will in future be strictly governed by the following rules :

1. Persons approved by Miss Dix, or her authorized agents, will receive from her, or them, "certificates of approval," which must be countersigned by Medical Directors upon their assignment to duty as nurses within their Depart- ments.

2. Assignments of "women nurses" to duty in General Hospitals will only be made upon application by the Surgeons in charge, througli Medical Direc- tors, to Miss Dix or her agents, for the number they require, not exceeding one to every thirty beds.

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 105

3. No females, except Hospital Matrons, will be. employed in General Hospitals, or, after December 31, 1863, born upon tbe Muster and Pay Rolls, without such certificates of approval and regular assignment, unless specially appointed by the Surgeon-General.

4. Women nurses, while on duty in General Hospitals, are under the exclu- sive control of the senior medical officer, who will direct their several duties, and may be discharged by him when considered supernumerary, or for incom- petency, insubordination, or violation of his orders. Such discharge, with the reasons therefor, being endorsed upon the certificate, will be at once returned to Miss Dix.

By order of the Secretary of War :

e. d. t^ynsend, Assistant Adjutant- General. Official :

By this Order the authority of Miss Dix was better defined, but she continued to labor under the same difficulty which had from the first clogged her efforts. Authority had been bestowed upon her, but not the power to enforce obedience. There was no pen- alty for disobedience, and persons disaffected, forgetful, or idle, might refuse or neglect to obey with impunity. It will at once be seen that this fact must have resulted disastrously upon her efforts. She doubtless had enemies (as who has not)? and some were jealous of the power and prominence of her position, while many might even feel unwilling, under jany circumstances, to ac- knowledge, and yield to the authority of a woman. Added to this she had, in some cases, and probably without any fault on her part, failed to secure the confidence and respect of the sur- geons in charge of hospitals. In these facts lay the sources of trials, discouragements, and difficulties, all to be met, struggled with, and, if possible, triumphed over by a woman, standing quite alone in a most responsible, laborious, and exceptional position. It indeed seems most wonderful — almost miraculous — that under such circumstances, such a vast amount of good was accomplished. Had she not accomplished half so much, she still would richly have deserved that highest of plaudits — Well done good and faithful servant!

14

106 woman's work in the civil war.

Miss Dix has one remarkable peculiarity — undoubtedly re- markable in one of her sex which is said, and with truth — to possess great approbativeness. She does not apparently desire fame, she does not enjoy being talked about, even in praise. Ths approval of her own conscience, the consciousness of performing an unique and useful work, seems quite to suffice her. Few women are so self-reliant, self-sustained, self-centered. And in saying this we but echo the sentiments, if not the words, of an eminent divine who, like herself, was during the whole war de- voted to a work similar in its purpose, and alike responsible and arduous.

" She (Miss Dix) is a lady who likes to do things and not have them talked about. She is freer from the love of public reputa- tion than any woman I know. Then her plans are so strictly her own, and always so wholly controlled by her own individual genius and power, that they cannot well be participated in by others, and not much understood.

" Miss Dix, I suspect, was as early in, as long employed, and as self-sacrificing as any woman who offered her services to the country. She gave herself — body, soul and substance — to the good work. I wish we had any record of her work, but we have not,

" I should not dare to speak for her — about her work — except to say that it was extended, patient and persistent beyond any- thing I know of, dependent on a single-handed effort."

All the testimony goes to show that Miss Dix is a woman en- dowed with warm feelings and great kindness of heart. It is only those who do not know her, or who have only met her in the conflict of opposing wills, who pronounce her, as some have done, a cold and heartless egotist. Opinionated she may be, because convinced of the general soundness of her ideas, and infal- libility of her judgment. If the success of great designs, under- taken and carried through single-handed, furnish warrant for such conviction, she has an undoubted right to hold it.

DOROTHEA L. DIX. 107

Her nature is large and generous, yet with no room for narrow grudges, or mean reservations. As a proof of this, her stores were as readily dispensed for the use of a hospital in which the surgeon refused and rejected her nurses, as for those who employed them.

She had the kindest care and oversight over the women she had commissioned. She wished them to embrace every opportu- nity for the rest and refreshment rendered necessary by their arduous labors. A home for them was established by her in Washington, which at all times opened its doors for then recep- tion, and where she wished them to enjoy that perfect quiet and freedom from care, during their occasional sojourns, which were the best remedies for their weariness and exhaustion of body and soul.

In her more youthful days Miss Dix devoted herself consider- ably to literary pursuits. She has published several works ano- nymously— the first of which — "The Garland of Flora/' was published in Boston in 1829. This was succeeded by a number of books for children, among which were " Conversations about Common Things," "Alice and Ruth/' and "Evening Hours." She has also published a variety of tracts for prisoners, and has written many memorials to legislative bodies on the subject of the foundation and conducting of Lunatic Asylums.

Miss Dix is gifted with a singularly gentle and persuasive voice, and her manners are said to exert a remarkably controlling influence over the fiercest maniacs.

She is exceedingly quiet and retiring in her deportment, delicate and refined in manner, with great sweetness of expression. She is far from realizing the popular idea of the strong-minded wo- man— loud, boisterous and uncouth, claiming as a right, what might, perhaps, be more readily obtained as a courteous conces- sion. On the contrary, her successes with legislatures and indi- viduals, are obtained by the mildest efforts, which yet lack nothing of persistence ; and few persons beholding this delicate and retir-

108 woman's work in the civil war.

mg woman would imagine they saw in her the champion of the oppressed and suffering classes.

Miss Dix regards her army work but as an episode in her career. She did what she could, and with her devotion of self and high patriotism she would have done no less. She pursued her labors to the end, and her position was not resigned until many months after the close of the war. In fact, she tarried in Washington to finish many an uncompleted task, for some time after her office had been abolished.

When all was done she returned at once to that which she considers her life's work, the amelioration of the condition of the insane.

A large portion of the winter of 1865-6 was devoted to an attempt to induce the Legislature of New York to make better provision for the insane of that State, and to procure, or erect for them, several asylums of small size where a limited number under the care of experienced physicians, might enjoy greater facilities for a cure, and a better prospect of a return to the pursuits and pleasures of life.

Miss Dix now resides at Trenton, New Jersey, where she has since the war fixed her abode, travelling thence to the various scenes of her labors. Wherever she may be, and however engaged, we may be assured that her object is the good of some portion of the race, and is worthy of the prayers and blessings of all who love humanity and seek the promotion of its best inte- rests. And to the close of her long and useful life, the thanks, the heartfelt gratitude of every citizen of our common country so deeply indebted to her, and to the many devoted and self-sacri- ficing women whose efforts she directed, must