In hospital and camp: a woman's record of thrilling incidents among the wounded in the late war

Front matter

1 « .

^ o

V.

Contents

CHAPTER L

KECESSITT FOR 'WOMAK's WORK — WHT WE WEKT IHTO HOSPITALS — THB HEROES OF THE BATTLES — EAGER TO GO — ANSWERING QUESTIONS — THE WAY OPENED — ACCEPTED — INSTRUCTIONS — THE JOURNEY TO WASHING- TON — THE SLEEPING SOLDIER — THE WEARY CAVALRYMAN — THE CAVER- NOUS DEPOT — WAITING AMIDST STRANGERS — THE TUMBLER OF WATER — SAD SIGHTS — A SHRINKING SOUL — REPORTING TO MISS DIX-^ASSIGNED TO DUTY 33

Chapter II

JUDICIARY SQUARE HOSPITAL — WEAK FLESH AND TIMID HEART — TRYING TO REST — THE GRIM HORROR — MINGLED SOUNDS — "DINNER FOR THE ladies" — THE DEAD-HOUSE — THE BLOODY CLOTH — A FAITHFUL NURSE — INTRODUCTION TO THE WARD — STRENGTH FROM ABOVE — THE WEARY NIGHT — DREAMS OF TERROR — THE SCENE CHANGED — FIRST WORK IN THE HOSPITAL — THE GRATEFUL HEARTS — THE BLIND BOY — ON THE AWFUL FIELD — EXCHANGED — THE FATHER'S VISIT — THE PATRIOTIC

Chapter III

THE WOUNDED MEN — OUR DUTIES — FALLING UTTO THE WORK — HOMB WELL-NIGH FORGOTTEN — RED TAPE — FORAGING FOR RATIONS — THB STRANGE APPARITION — A LECTURE ON DUTIES — ARRESTED — UNDER THE TRIAL — ANTICIPATING SENTENCE — A JOYFUL REPRIEVE — WASH- ING DISHES — THE END OF THE SCENE — DISTRIBUTING LUXURIES — THE CHANGE — NO MURMURING « ....« , 57

Chapter IV

THIETEETifTH STREET HOSPITAL — THE FAMIUAB CHIME — GOOD QTJAETEES — GOING TO THE WASH-EOOM — THE TOILING CONTEABANDS — THE MILDEWED CLOTHING — THE UNCLEAN WOEK — A LITTLE LOTH — A DAY OF BEST — CLEAN BEDS AND CHANGES — A HOSPITiJ. SI7ESE — NOT FOR THE GAIN — A TRIUMPHANT DEATH — TEARING UP — ^PEEPAEATIONS FOE A BATTLE — THE GENEROUS HAND — A WEABY WAITINO — THE VISIT TO ALEXANDEIA — AT LAST 65

Chapter V

INDIAN 3UMMEE — MOUNT VEENON — THE BEAUTIFUL SHORES — POINT LOOK- OUT — RIVER AND BAT — THE CLUSTERING COTTAGES — DREAMING BY THE ■WAVES — THE PINE GEOVE — THE GLOOMY "WARD — MOVED INTO THE SUN- SHINE — SNUFFING SEA BREEZES — THE CORPS OF NURSES — SISTERS OF CHARITY — RENOUNCING HER FAITH — THE HOSPITAL FORCE — " FALL IN TO dinner" — THE LOWING HEED — SAMPLE EOLLS — COLD QUAETEES — NUMBED FINGERS — LONG NIGHTS — OUR RATIONS — THE LOST CHILDREN — THE CONTRABANDS — BUEROWING LIKE BEASTS — REDEEMED 75

Chapter VI

THANKSGIVING — THE NOTE — THOUGHTS OP FRIENDS — THE BATTLE^ ELEVEN HUNDRED WOUNDED — DRESSING THE WOUNDS — HOME ! THE ONE THOUGHT OF THE SOUL — MOTHER AND WIFE — THE VISION — HOME-SICK- NESS — THE NEW WARD — MAKING SMOOTH PATHS — ARBITRARY REMOVALS —CHANGING SURGEONS — THE STOLEN RATIONS — SENDING FOE STORES — PLEADING IN VAIN — 0T8TEES AND APPLE-PIE 86

Chapter VII

BEING EELIEVED— THE ORDEB COUNTERMANDED — ANOTHER RELIEF — AGAIN COUNTERMANDED — THE ANGRY OFFICIAL — THE DUTCH STEWARD — "VAT ISH DIS" — ^THB ITALIAN OFFICER — CURED — THE GRANITE

HEART — BRINGING CORPSES — TIME SPEEDING THE SNOW STORM—

SOMEWHAT DIMMED — UNHOLY DEEDS — THE DROWNED — THE ROBBER HANDS 96

Chapter VIII

AN ALLURING SPOT — BTTEKSIDE'S FLEET — DIED FOE HIS COUNTKY— WAKING TO THE REAL — MY LITTLE FRIEND — THE UNREAD LETTERS — DEAD — UNDER THE PINES — THE WAVE-WASHED CEMETERY — " NO SOUND CAN AWAKE HIM" — THE UNNATURAL APPETITE — WIDOWED AND FATHERLESS — ANOTHER DEAD — NOT PROFESSIONAL REGRET — THE DISTRESSED MOTHER — GETTING A DISCHARGE — GONE — THE LAST DEATH — THE NEW MATRON — MASCULINE CONTEMPT — SOME SUBTILE POWER — THE PET BLACKS — EBONY LUMPS — BITTER FEELINGS — GENUINE DEVO- TION — SOUNDED — NO DEPTH — BELIEVED — SAYING "GOOD-BY" — THE SLEEPING BOY — ON THE POTOMAC — SPRING'S FIRST SIGNALS — UN- FEIGNED SURPRISE — A SNATCH OF REPOSE 105

Chapter IX

WOLF- STREET HOSPITAL — LITTLE TO DO — DOING LITTLE — CONFISCATED BUILDINGS — BEAUTIFUL SCENES — A FAULTLESS EXTERIOR — INSIDE VIEWS — THE doctor's MESS — THE HALF-DONE ROAST — GROWING WEAK — TROUBLED DREAMS — GOVERNMENT RATIONS — " DON't YOU HEAR THE BELLS a' ringing" — THE STEWARD'S SPY — VISITING FORT ELLSWORTH — THE PLUM PIE — DRIVING FROM THE SERVICE — OCCASIOJJAL NURSES — MY WORK — THE DISPENSARY STEWARD — THE HAUNTED CORNER — A MUR- DEREE , 119

Chapter X

spring's EETUES — STOCKADED — THE EXPLOSION AT THE FORT — LIGHT- NING TRAIN — CHANCELLORVILLE — TIED FROM THE WORK — THE MAR- SHALL HOUSE — THE YOUNG MARTYR — THE WIFE OF JACKSON — THE SLAVE PEN — THE PRIZE BETWEEN THE COMBATANTS — DEGRADED TO THE DUST — INJUSTICE — MARKED MEN — THE STAMPEDE FROM THE RAILROAD — RELIEVED — BEGGING TO STAY — TWICE TO WASHINGTON — THE ARISEN QUESTION — SUPREME BLESSEDNESS — NOT READY FOR HOME — FINDING A LODGING PLACE — DISTRIBUTING STORES — THE CAVALRY CAMP — THE WOUNDED MAN — NORTHWARD — IN CLOSE PURSUIT — THE BLUE AND THE GREY — THE AWFUL CARNAGE — SCENES OF AGONY — THE BARRED GATE — OPENED AT LAST — ON THE WAY — MEETING MISS

Dix 127

CHAPTER XL

THE BATTLE TOWK—- MAIMED MEN — TS THEIB PRIDE — THE GLORIOUS SAB- BATH — THE TEKTED FIELD — BEQIUfNING THE WORK — SANITARY — QETriNG IN ORDER — STRANGE PICNICING MT TENT — DRENCHED CLOTH- ING AFTER ALL — THE WOMEN OP GETTYSBURG REBEL WOUNDED —

FATALITY AMONGST THEM — THE CONTRAST — PRISONERS OF WAR — THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH — DISCIPLINE — SEEDS SOWN — THE PLASH OF WATER-

139 CHAPTER XII.

ORGANIZING THE HOSPITAL — ASSIGNED TO DUTY — HUNGRY AND WEARY — REMEMBERED — THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION — AMONGST THE GREYS— THE SICK VOLUNTEER NURSE — HEATING WATER — WIVES AND MOTHERS — THE YOUNG HERO — THE PENNSYLVANIA MOTHER — THE BRAVE WIFE — IN THE AGONY OF SUFFERING — RELEASED IN MERCY — NO HELP FOR THE BEBELS — THE HEROIC MOTHER — ELEVEN WOUNDS — "MORE! MOEe!" — THE SIEAMINQ FOX-PI£ 151

CHAPTER XIII.

rebel WARDS — NEW BECRUITS — FILLING THE BEDS — FRACTURED THIGHS — WELCOME INSTANT DEATH — THE AWFUL END — ROTTED AWAY — THE LITTLE ORDERLY — PORT AT LAST — THE CONVENIENT SEASON — SUDDEN DEATH — THE GREYBACKS — THE DYING CHRISTIAN — A BRIGHT DEATH- BED — TOO LATE — SORRY COMFORT — AN INTERESTING GROUP — THE BLOODT PILLOW 161

CHAPTER XIV.

FLEETING SUMMER — HURRYING TO AND FRO — THE ROUND OP DUTY — SCRAPS — THE HARD REFUSAL — ^WITH FIXED BAYONETS — THE HUMANE BURGEON — WHISKY BARREL — PETER BROCK — "l SHALL BE PROUD IP TOU RAISE HIM " — THE GETTYSBURG CHOIR — MICHIGAN STATE AGENT — DR. WINSLOW — MAKING PADS AND PILLOWS — " USE ALL YOU WANT " — ■ BEOOMMENDING FOR A PENSION — FLOWERS — THE OLD HERO OF GETTYS- BURG — THE GETTYSBURG MAIDEN — AT THE STORE 171

CHAPTER XV.

THE NEW WARD — TWO DEATHS — IN THE NEW CEMETERY — POISONED TO DEATH — "it's all UP WITH ME NOW "—FRIED CAKES— THE PIOXICS—

LIBERAL DONATIONS— PLANTING THE FLAG THE NEW ORDER- HOT

MILK AND COLD MILK— " BUT I MUST HAVE BOTH" — ENLIGHTENED

"TOUR NAME, MADAM " — THE SHADOW OF RELIEF 180

CHAPTER XVI.

THE FIELD OP BATTLE — THE EVIDENCE OP DES'JRUCTION- THE FADED ARMY BLUE — GLEAMING SKULLS— A BLOODY HORROR- THE PITS OF DEATH— THE RAIN OF DEATH— FRIEND AND FOE— THROUGH DENSE WOODS— TORN TURF— LOPPED TREE BOUGHS— GRAVES OF THE SLAIN—

ONE AUTUMN DAY — THE QUIVERING OF THE FLESH — ALLURING PATHS

BATTLE RELICS— WHITE CLOUDS — THECRICKET's CHIRP—" FINISHED"

— THE MOONLESS NIGHT — BREAKING UP — MY OCCUPATION GONE

DEDICATION OF THE NATIONAL CEMETERY— THE LAST VISIT— LEAVING

• 187

GETTYSBURG.,

CHAPTER XVII.

THE CAVALRY POST HOSPITAL— A BOX OP LUXURIES— CHILLED TO THE BONE— ASSIGNED TO NEW DUTIES— CAMP STONEMAN— THE OLD BROWN HOUSE— THE JEALOUS NURSE— THE EXTEMPORIZED COOKING UTENSILS —GREAT POWERS OF ENDURANCE— PLENTY TO EAT— TANGLED THORNS —NIGH TO DEATH— "MARY, STAY WITH ME TO-DAY !"— THE MIDNIGHT WATCH— " HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME ALL ALONE!"— THE GOOD SLEEP — GONE HOME AT LAST ^89

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DYING HUSBAND— A PURSE FOR THE WIDOW— MT UNFINISHED WORK —THE TEA AND TOAST— THE ROUGH SURGEON— IDLE HANDS— SO WEARY

— woman's PRESENCE— rapid RECOVERY — TAKING UP THE WORK

EXTRAORDINARY CONFUSION— ST. ELIZABETH'S HOSPITAL— MORTALITY TENT— SUDDEN DEATH— A DISTRESSING CASE— " MY SISTERS COULD NOT DO MORE FOR ME "—MOVING THE WARD— NEW WHITE DISHES— MY NEW QUARTERS— THE WASTING ENERGIES — A RAGING FEVER 207

CHAPTER XIX.

THE BED OF 8TEAW — ^DEEADFITL PANOIES — PLEADING TO LIVE — " DON't SEITD MB away" — MY ATTENDANTS — TYPHOID FEVER — A HELPLESS BEING — GIVEN UP TO DIE — THE CONTEST WITH DEATH — LIFE VIGTOBI- OtTS — ONLY ONE CALL — KINDLY EEMEMBERED — WASHING UNDER DIFFI- CULTIES — CHANGING SCENES — THE CAVALRY DRILL — THE CORRALS — THE STAMPEDE — A PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITION — DEAD HORSES — A PITIFUL SIGHT — WARP OF A ROMANCE — THE IRON MAN — LONGING FOR STRENGTH — AN HUMBLE HOSPITAL NURSE — THE INEVITABLE SACRIFICE — " ON fame's ETERNAL CAMPING GROUND " — THE WRECK OF REASON — FAB MOB£ SOBBOWFWIi 218

CHAPTER XX.

A VISIT — A REPRIMAND — THE SANITARY HOME — SENT FOR — A FULL BASKET — THE SUSPICIOUS NURSE — MRS. GEORGE — SUNNY WEATHER — THE DOOR BARRED — HOMESICK AND DESPONDING — MOANING FOR HOME — "oh! mother, my MOTHER, WHY DON't YOU COME?" — SERVED THREE TEARS — DEAD — " It's NO FAULT OF MINE, IF I AM " — NO MEDICINE FOR EYES — A DARKENED EARTH — THE SUFFERING FAMILY — ^A FAIR YOUNG FACE — "thine is THE GLORY " — THE ETERNAL REST — NEITHER BRUISE NOR WOUND — PLAYING OFF — COWARDLY MEN — A HARD NECESSITY — THE NIQHX QUABD — THE GHOSTLY PEESENCE — STUMBLING OVER THE DEAD.

CHAPTER XXI.

NO BLOSSOMS — THE BLIGHT OF WAR — GEORGE HOLIER — THE WIFE — TEMPTED BY THE FIEND — INDIGNANT SCORN — RETURNING HOME — "IF YOU WERE A man" — THE TIGER ROUSED — ONE WAY OF ESCAPE — FOR DUTY ELSEWHERE — THE FAREWELL VISIT — SILENT PARTING — THE RETURN OF MBS. EOLIEE — "SHE CAN HAVE HIM NOW" — BROKEN- HEARTED — LEAVING CAMP STONEMAN — THE PURCHASE — THE FEAT OF MILLINERY — THE EARLY WALK — WAITING FOR THE BOAT — AN EMPTY STOMACH — GETTING DINNER — THE JOURNEY — A CROWDED CABIN — ONE WAY OF RELIEF — MAKING A LANDING 239

CHAPTER XXII.

WHITE HOUSE LANDINO — EARTHED ALIVE — ABMY SUPPLIES — STEAiraE CONFUSION — "BRESS DE LORD, WE IS FREE!" — MRS. FOGO's AMBULANCE — REPORTING FOR DUTY — CHILLY PROSPECTS — GETTING THE BLANKETS

— NO SUPPER — ON THE BARE GROUND — PICKET FIRING MORNING AT

LAST — ASKING FOR FOOD "NOT ONE MOUTHFUL" — A NOBLE WOMAN

— NOT IN VAIN — GOOD SOFT BREAD — MRS. BRAINABD — THE ARMFUL OF BREAD — LOVELY JUNE DAYS — MAKING READY — MY COUNTRY'S SOLDIER — AWFUL SIGHTS — FOUB DYING MEN 248

CHAPTER XXIII.

PRECIOUS MOMENTS — THE ITEW YORK STATE AGENT — SCANTY SUPPLIES — SOMETHING TO EAT — THE DREAM OF PLENTY — BAKED PORK AND BEANS

GETTING SOME FOOD — MAKING BISCUIT — "DO GIVE ME SOME!" — THE

ONE-ARMED SOLDIER — BOBBING A DISABLED MAN— OFF ON THE TRANS- PORTS — JOURNEY OF TORMENT — ABLE-BODIED SOLDIERS — TO THE FRONT — REBEL PRISONERS — THE AGED CONTRABAND — " WE WON'T SHOOT YANKEES ANY MORE" — THE DYING BOY — ALONE TO DIE — TEAR- ING UP THE PLANT — RIPE FOB THE REAPER — A FEAST OF BEAUTY — WOUNDED UNTO DEATH — BEPEOACHES — PURGED OF SELFISHNESS — DAY AND NIGHT , 257

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE AMPUTATING TENT— ONLY A GENERAL CARE — THE FIRST AND LAST CRY — death's carnival — A PINT OF WORMS — ON THE TRANSPORTS —

"WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, TO-DAY?" — FEASTING FASTING FED BY

MRS. SPENCER — GETTING THE PIE — A DRINK OF CLEAR COLD WATER — THE SICK NURSE — DREADFUL CASES — BREAKING CAMP — WAITING FOR ORDERS — "THE REBS ABE COMING!" — ACROSS THE COUNTRY — PUTTING UP A LUNCH — DEFERRED HOPE— THE DISAPPEARING LUNCH — A BOX OF SUPPLIES — A CHANGED SCENE — THE SPIRITS OF BRAVE MEN 268

CHAPTER XXV.

LEAVIHQ WHITE HOUSE — ON THE 'WRONQ BOAT — KO EATIONS — ANCHORING

FOE THE NIGHT — A LOVELY MORNING PLOUGHING THROUGH MEADOWS

— HOW HUNGER GNAWED US — GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC — THE PASSAGE OF THE RIVER — PORK, CRACKERS, AND COFFEE — DISASTROUS ATTEMPTS — THE CHOICE OF TWO EVILS — ON OUR OWN BARGES — RATIONS — CITY POINT — CONFUSION AGAIN — A NEW COOK — A SAVORY MEAL — TO WAIT — THE COLORED WOUNDED — THE MARCH — "HALt!" — HOSPITAL GROUND — THE WELCOME TENTS — DEW DROPS EVERYWHERE — -IN THE CORN — PROSPECTS OF A FAST — " I THINK I HAVE FOUND A BARREL OP pork" — THE FILTHY OLD STRETCHER — " THE WOUNDED ARE COMING!" — THE SABBATH — THE VISITOBS 277

CHAPTER XXVL

THE SECOND CORPS — FORTY DATS AND ITIGHTS — DEATH A MERCIFUL RE- LEASE — soldiers' FARE — BAD RATIONS — ABSOLUTE STARVATION — MOULDY, WORMY CRACKERS — SLEEPLESS NIGHTS — SOME ONE TO BLAME — THE BEARLIKE SURGEON — THE CONFERENCE — A PROMISE — GOING TO WASHINGTON WITH THE WOUNDED — THE THUNDER-STORM — THE ANGEL OF DEATH — A DROWNED MAN — THE STARK CORPSE — DRESSING THE WOUNDS — UNLOADINO — A CUP OS TEA — THE MAETYE NUESE 289

CHAPTER XXVII.

EETUUNING TO CITY POINT — THE LOVELY LANDSCAPE — OVERBOARD — SAVED — butler's HEADQUARTERS — THE CANNONADING CHANGING SUR- GEONS — THE SANITARY STOVE — A STANDING ORDER — A NEW ASPECT —

THE STREAMING LIGHTS — THE WASH SQUAD CLOCK WORK — PLENTY OP

FOOD — FEELING SECURE — EXTRAS — A VISIT FROM MISS DIS — SEASON- ABLE PRESENTS — THE LITTLE CART — REPORTED TO THE SURGEON DAILY — " don't talk to THOSE WOMEN " — THE NEW NURSE — HER COMPLAINTS

SILENCED — DEPARTURE OP MISS BALLARD GOING TO WASHINGTON —

DIVINE SERVICES— THE PROMISE OP EVERLASTING LIFE — THE BAPTISM OF BLOOD 298

CHAPTER XXVIII.

PUTTING A MAN ITT THE GITARD-HOUSE — THE DRUITKEjr SOLDIER — THE PRESENT — COMPELLED TO GIVE INFORMATION — " OH ! IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN YOU " — TWO WOUNDED REBELS — THE PEACEFUL DEATHS — A LOYAL VIRGINIAN — THE TOMATOES — " NO, NOT IF HE DIES FOR THE WANT OF THEM " — A YANKEE WIFE — TERRIBLY MUTILATED — SAD CASES — THE SUICIDE — NO LACK OF COURAGE — UNKNOWN — THE DEAD BODY — DUTCH GAP — THE EXPLOSION — THE NARROW ESCAPE — A CLEAR PATH.

CHAPTER XXIX.

autumn's SIGNS — DR. BURMEISTER'S RETURN — THE UNWELCOME CHANGE — WORMY CRACKERS — KEEPING MEN EMPLOYED— »BEGGING FOR CRACKERS

A SERIES OF TRIALS — A BOX OF GRAPES — THE VISIT FROM MISS DIX —

ENLIGHTENED ON SOME POINTS — THE ANGERED NURSE — LEFT TO THEIR MERCY — A CALL FROM THE SURGEON — TAKING THE STORES — KEEPING BACK THE RATIONS — LEFT ALONE — THE LAST RESORT — GOING TO THE EITLE-PITS — THE TARGET — A NIGHT RIDE — THE ESCORT 318

CHAPTER XXX.

GEN. GRANT — RECEIVING A PASS — GOING TO WASHINGTON — VISITING CAMP STONEMAN — PURCHASING A STOVE — RETURNING WITH TWO NURSES — BELIEVED — WASHING OUR CLOTHES — RAINING IN TORRENTS — THE UN- GRACIOUS REPLY — GOING TO POINT OF ROCKS — A BRIGHT DAY — WEL- COME RECEPTION — PROSPECT OF A NIGHT IN THE GUARD-HOUSE — SWEET SLEEP — LEAVING CITY POIHT — FAVORABLE TO THE WOUNDED 326

CHAPTER XXXI.

POINT OF ROCKS HOSPITAL — THE AFFRIGHTED CLERGYMAN — THE RECEIV- ING WARDS— THE ARMY OF THE JAMES — HOSPITAL SUPPLIES — A DROVE OF COWS — TWO MEALS A DAY — THE SANITARY COMMISSION — GINGER

TEA THE GENEROUS AGENT — NOVEMBER WEATHER — GOING FOR MY

STOVE— INTENSE COLD — ICE EVERYWHERE — TEACHING THE WOUNDED —

THE CHEISTIAN COMMISSION — READING TO THE COLORED SOLDIERS— "jest as IP WE HAD WHITE FACES, MISSUS " — A MODEL HOSPITAL — OHBISTMAS AND SEW-YEAB'S DAT 332

CHAPTER XXXII.

A EiaHTEOUS DEATH — THE BURIAL — THE FROZEN FEET — GETTING A FUR- LOUGH — A DUSKY NAMESAKE — THE CONSUMPTIVE — SENT TO THE FRONT — ^A TOUNG VIRGINIAN — THE NEW WARD MASTER — BEGGING IN THE STREETS — ANOTHER FURLOUGH — THE PURSE — THE PAYMASTER— GOING HOME — A SUFFERING FAMILY — RETURNED PRISONERS — AWFUL SUFFEB- ISQ — ^BETTER THE SHOCK OP BATTLE — TWICE A PEISONEB 339

. CHAPTER XXXIII.

DEDICATION OF THE WARDS — "COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERT BLESSING" — PERSONAL ADVENTURES — SENTENCED TO DEATH — CONFRONTING THE FIRING PARTY — PARDONED— LAID OUT TO DIE — RETURN OF SPRING — THE LINEN ROOM — NEW QUARTERS — THE WASH-HOUSE — THE IRONING GIRLS — THE REFRACTORY CONTRABAND — BROUGHT UP BY THE GUARD —

THE WEDDING " GOING WHERE THE CORPORAL DOES " — TAKING

STROLLS — THE SIGNAL STATION — BOMB PROOFS — TRIED TO BREAK OUR LINES 346

CHAPTER XXXIV.

AN IMMENSE QAEDEN — VALUABLE MATERIAL — A LARGE FAMILY — " THE DAY OF JUBILEE " — AUNT ADELINE — HER FREEDOM DIED WITH HIM — THE PIOUS CONTRABAND — THE INVITATION — NIGHTFALL — WITH PEACH

OR CHERRY STONES — THE REGIMENTAL DOG THE MISSPENT LIFE THE

GOLD WATCH — ^BEGGING FOR UNDERCLOTHING — STEALING SUPPLIES.. 353

CHAPTER XXXV.

SENT TO THE REAR — CLOUDS OF WAR — PONTOON BRIDGES — DOWN TO THE

LANDING THE LINES OF BLUE — ORDERED TO DISMOUNT — THE BAT'lLE

EEGUN — IN FEVERISH EXCITEMENT — FALL OF PETERSBURG ON TO THE

REBEL CAPITAL — THE CONrLAGB.\TION — FIGHTING A TJEW FOE — TOOK

THEIE PLACES — DREADFUL DEEDS — A MUTILATED BODY — THE WOUNDED POUBING IN — DISTBIBUTING OBANGES — SUEEENDEB OF LEE — THB DYING SOLDIEE — VISIT FROM ABBAHAM LINCOLN — NEWS OF THE AS4AIWINA- TION — DARKNESS UPON CUB LAND , 358

CHAPTER XXXVI.

GOING UP TO WASHINGTON— THE ACTIVE SEARCH — FUNERAL DRAPERY — FOETBESS MONEOE — MY COLORED FRIENDS — AT THE FORT — THE GEAVE OF AUNTY ALEXANDER — ONLY THBEE FAMILIAB FACES — A VISIT TO THE FBONT — A VAIN SEAECH — A WEETCHED ABODE — EEBEL WOMEN — WARM- ING OURSELVES — A ROUGH ROAD— CALL FROM " SEOESH " WOMEN — THE IlfDEPENDENT CONTRABANDS — MUSLINS AND FURS — RELIEVING THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS — EAGER TO TELL, 364

CHAPTER XXXVII.

VISIT TO PETERSBURG — THE REBEL DEFENCES — DAMAGED STREETS — RE- JOICED THAT THE WAR WAS ENDED — A LOVELY FLOWER GARDEN — HEADQUARTERS OF GEN. LEE — THE LAST FORT — THE SANDY FOUNDA- TION — VISIT TO RICHMOND — BOX CARS — THE DELAY — SOME OF OUR MEN —CASTLE THUNDER — LIBBY PRISON — THE HOLE IN THE FLOOR — OUR ACCOMMODATIONS — THE REBEL CAPITOL — TAKING THE OATH — WANTED A PAROLE — EAQQED, DIETY, AND BAREFOOTED— POVERTY APPARENT.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

SATISFIED WITH EIOHMOND — PASSING DUTCH GAP — GETTING READY TO LEAVE — REACHING THE HOSPITAL — THE INSTRUCTIONS — THE RAIN STORM — THE SHELTER — LEAVING POINT OF ROCKS — REBEL COMPANY — THE ORDERS — NURSING THE "GOOD JOB" — GOING HOME — MEMORIES — THE PARTING WORDS — "THEY HAVE COME" — ^AT MY OLD WORK — NOT BLOOD-STAINED 376

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Feontispibcb. page

In Hospital jlsd Caicp -..„, m 42

Judiciary Square Hospital 60

United States Cavalry Depot hbab Washihqton 76

Going into Winter Quarters 90

Chapel of the Christian Commission 108

To the Dead House 142

To the Grave 142

The Little Knolls 142

The Field Hospital 154

Receiving the News op the Capture op Fort Fishee 176

The Harvest op Death, Gettysburg, July 4th, 1863 192

Military Execution near City Point, January 27th, 1865 210

General Grant's Headquaetees at City Point 224

The Hospital Tents 242

The Union Army Entering Petersburg, Va., April 3d, 1865 260

Our Army Entering Richmond 274

House in -which Gen. Leb Signed the Teems op Surrender 296

Castle Thunder 312

LiBBY Prison 312

Rebel Soldiers Taking the Oath op Alleqiancb 328

The Chivaley Drawing theib Rations 350

President Lincoln's Funeral Peooessioh 366

For the designs of the above we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Harper & Brothers, New York.

Introduction

Amongst that band of noble women, who served their country in hospital and camp during the late gigantic struggle with rebellion, the heroine of the following pages justly deserves a foremost place. Others went out with like patriotism warming their hearts, but the toils and hardships, which made the position of hospital nurse anything but pastime, sent many of them back to their comfortable homes — the romance of soldiering sadly crushed out of their hearts.

Yet sickness, nor starvation, nor daily contact with loathsome diseases, and hideous wounds could alter the purpose of our heroine to stand by the boys in blue, till the bloody conflict was ended. Not till the heart of the nation beat free from the coils of the serpent which enwrapped it with such deadly persistence, did she feel herself at liberty, and willing to go home.

For nearly three long years she led the life of an actual soldier. She partook of their rude fare, lived under unsubstantial tents, shared their weary marches to new hospital grounds, from the transports on which they had been borne over river and bay, starving through long days and nights of waiting, sick from exposure to the sun and dews : in all things, save the wild, deadly charges of battle, A true Soldier of the Union.

It has been said, when the work of those women who came out under the patronage of the Commissions was placed in contrast with that of the Government nurse, that, while the former worked voluntarily, the latter had her pay and rations. Pay and i-ations! — twelve dollars a month and soldiers' fare — themselves to clothe from the bountiful allowance; and, withal, the privilege of attending upon men sick with putrid wounds, their torn and filthy uniforms in worse condition than that of the saddest beggar who crawls in the by-ways of a crowded city ! So did the common soldier receive, for his chances of the dangers of active warfare, a price and his subsistence ; but who questions the loyalty or bravery of those men in their worn shrouds of blue, around whose shattered bones to-day the tangled grassroots of Southern battle fields weave their intricate net- work? Who says, because they were paid, the sacrifice which they laid on their country's smoking altar was not a voluntary blood-offering? Who says, because they were furnished subsistence, and were clad, that they died not to save the glorious Union, interposing their mangled, bleeding bodies to hold back the tide of anarchy and destruction, which else would have rolled in one resistless wave over the hills and valleys of the North ?

Many women, possessed of independent means, were enabled, under the patronage of the Commissions, and under pretence of aiding the work in the hospitals, to behold the grandeur of the Capitol, and gratify a taste for romantic adventure. But how many of these slept for nights under the white cover of a tent, on the bare ground, and suffered the pangs of starvation for days, while they bent over the festering wounds of dying men ? How many endured the horrible sights of mangled bodies, just brought in by the ambulance trains from the gory sods, whereon they fell when the foe met them ?

The well-ordered hospital, in which every sight which might shock a- sensitive nature was carefully hidden — where lemonades, and jellies, and fruits, and flowers could, at fixed hours, be distributed by their fair hands — loas not the field hospital, into which men were brought direct from the awful place of carnage, with the dirt of rifle pits mingling with their own gore, unable to meet nature's demands, with worms rioting over the putrifying flesh. Yet, it was in the field hospitals that Miss Bucklin did her greatest work. One of the first at Gettysburg; the first at White House Landing, before the white wings of a single tent fluttered over the grass-grown field, so soon to be a trampled waste, and haunted by the ghosts of agonized men, whose souls went up from its sod; and with the first at City Point, when the open field lay waiting its transformation into one of the grandest hospitals which was established during the war — she shrunk from no hardships if, thereby, she might minister to the wants of some who were very nigh to death, and whose feet seemed upon the brink of the soundless river.

In the long transit from White House to City Point, when the passage of the Grand Army of the Potomac, at Charles City, obstructed their journey up the river — on board a boat, without shelter or rations, for days she endured the excessive heat of the June sunshine, and the chilling dews of the Southern nights, with no thought of availing herself of the privilege, which she had at any time, of returning home to comfort and plenty.

While in the service, the insolence of shoulder-strapped officials, and their tyranny, was borne in silence, lest, at a murmur from her lips, the work which was in her hands would be taken from her, and she be shut out from her good work among the boys in their wretched need. But now, no personal fear of censure, or craving of favor has induced her to speak of such officials in any terms but those of strictest truth. She witnessed the perpetration of outrages which filled her soul with horror, while the perpetrators, oft times, continued in position as well as in favor. Men were only men in the army as out of it, and the consciousness of holding a little brief authority made many a little soul a tyrant on his narrow beat. It was not in the power of Government to regulate this evil, and it was endured in sullen silence by the soldiers, and with indignant but suppressed rage by the women, who were powerless to stay the unbridled brute force. Over the imbittered memory of many scenes of such inhumanity, it is impossible to wrap the mercy of utter silence forever.

Not once during the term for which she served did she avail herself of the offer of a journey home to recruit and rest. Her life was there^ whore so many yielded up their lives ; her heart could not separate itself from the wounded men in blue, whose number increased alike with victory or defeat. She could not have fallen back into the old life of comfort, knowing that noble men were suffering and dying for the need of woman's help. Her patriotism was of that obdurate nature which could have crowned the offering with her own life, if, in yielding it, her country's cause might be the better served.

At all times a faithful and consistent worker, she won the esteem of the Superintendent of Women Nurses, and endeared herself to those who, in their weakness, but for her willing hands, must have gone untended and uncomforted into the shadows of the dark valley. Waking from needful slumber, at Gettysburg, we find her busy through the night preparing a lunch for a squad of convalescing men, who were to be sent off on the morrow. Again we find her taking from her own tent even the bare bedstead, on which she had slept, to exchange it with the Sanitary Commission for a cot, on which one of the maimed heroes of that great fight might be borne in comparative comfort to another hospital.

And her interest in these men went not out even after she had carefully arranged the pads and pillows under their aching limbs — placed a lunch close at their hand, and amidst long and repeated protestations of gratitude, answered the farewell wave of the hand, and heard the scream of the locomotive as it sped out of the battle town, bearing them to new scenes and new^ mercies ; for letters were constantly received and answered— on the one hand giving the details of the journey, and telling the faithful nurse, in homely but expressive words, how comfortable her provisions nad made the otherwise toilsome transit; on the other, expressing solicitude and prayerful concern in behalf of their speedy recovery. Scores of letters now lie before me, written out of the gratitude of noble hearts, thanking Miss Bucklin again and again for the kind care which had proved the salvation of their mortal bodies. One illiterate scrawl, thanking her for her interest in obtaining a furlough for the writer, and blessing her for the happiness which was then resting over himself and wife and the new born babe, on consultation, was found to be the effort of one of her colored patients from Point of Rocks.