Woman's Work in the Civil War

them idiotic from their sufferings, or with the fierce fever of typhus, more deadly than sword or minié 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 faithfulness, 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 hospital 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 Refreshment Saloons, fed the 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 in. its preparation, and to her zeal in col

lecting, and skill in arranging the materials obtained, many of the interesting 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 forwardness 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 completely 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 comparatively 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 President of the Western Sanitary Commission, to Rev. J. G. Forman, late Secretary of that Commission, and now Secretary of the Unitarian Association, 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 Sanitary 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,

late one o the Medical Inspectors of the Sanitary Commission, Dr. 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 Titcomb, of Portland, Maine. From many of these we have received information indispensable to the completeness and success of our work; information too, often afforded at great inconvenience and labor. We commit our book, then, to the loyal women of our country, as an earnest and conscientious effort to portray some phases of a heroism which will make 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 have done.

BROOKLYN, N. Y., February, 1867.

L. P. B.

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INTRODUCTION BY HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D...............................................

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Patriotism in some form, an attribute of woman in all nations and climes-Its modes of mani-

festation-Pæans 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 cantiniéres, vivandiéres, 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 effort-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

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-

PAGE

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

PART II. LADIES

WHO MINISTERED TO THE SICK AND

WOUNDED IN CAMP, FIELD, AND GENERAL HOSPITALS.

CLARA HARLOWE BARTON.

Early life-Teaching-The Bordentown school-Obtains a situation in the Patent Office-Her