Skip to main content

Full text of "A woman's example, and a nation's work : a tribute to Florence Nightingale"

See other formats 


A   WOMAN'S   EXAMPLE: 

AND 

A  NATION'S  WOKK. 


A  TRIBUTE 


TO 


FLORENCE  NIGHTINGALE. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


LONDON : 

WILLIAM  EIDGWAY,  169,  PICCADILLY. 

1864: 


DI 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

DR.  AND  MRS.  ELMER  BELT 


A  WOMAN'S  EXAMPLE: 


AND 


A  NATION'S  WOEK. 


A  TRIBUTE 


TO 


FLOEENCE    laGHTmGALE. 


WILLIAM  EIDGAVAT,  169,  PICCADILLY. 

1864. 


i 

DEDICATION.  f 

\^i,^ 

Florence  Nightingale, 

Tour  name,  throughoub  the  world,  is 
synonymous  AAith  mercy,  faith,  and  love.  Where 
man  has  hesitated,  you  have  resolved:  when  his 
courage  has  quailed,  yours  has  surmounted  every 
difficulty  :  where  pestilence  and  death  have  stalked 
around,  visibly  and  invisibly,  you  have  chosen  your 
abode :  your  hands  have  soothed  the  tortures  of 
thousands,  and  your  whispers  calmed  the  groans  of 
the  suffering  into  prayer  and  blessing.  To  you, — 
the  Guardian  Angel  of  the  Sick,  the  boast  of  England 
and  the  pride  of  our  common  humanity, — I  dedicate 
these  pages ! 

All  that  is  herein  chronicled,  you  have  a  right  to 
claim  as  the  result  of  your  own  work.  The  seed 
sown  by  your  hands  in  the  Field  of  Aceldama  has 
sprung  up  a  goodly  tree,  whose  branches  may  soon 
cover  the  whole  earth :  and  when,  in  God's  own  time, 
the  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more,  humanity  will 
look  back  to  your  life  of  faith,  mercy,  and  love,  as  the 
bright  dawn-star  of  a  better  time,  the  harbinger  of 
peace  and  good-will  to  come. 

Would  that  I  had  the  power  towrite  as  such  deeds 
should  be  written  !  Yet  where  the  need?  The  story 
of  your  labours  stands  for  ever  sculptured  in  the  en- 
during adamant  of  fact,  and  God  the  Omnipresent 
and  Omniscient  can  alone  decide  the  vylue  of  such 
a  life  as  yours. 

The  Author. 
London,  April  16th,  1864. 


A    NATION'S   WORK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WOMAN    IN    THE    CRIMEA. 


England's  greatest  glory  in  the  bloody  fields 
of  the  Crimea  was  achieved  by  a  woman  ;  and 
that  woman's  deeds  will  be  held  in  remembrance 
when  the  memory  of  Inkermann,  the  Alma, 
and  the  terrible  charge  of  tlie  famous  "  Six 
Hundred"  have  faded  into  oblivion. 

Florence  Nightingale  solved  a  problem 
which  had  long  been  a  mystery ;  and,  where 
she  first  led  the  way,  men  by  thousands  are 
now  seeking  to  follow  her.  Good  is  far  more 
prolific  than  Evil.  Like  most  problems  when 
the  solution  is  discovered,  the  one  in  question 
proved  to  be  remarkable  for  its  simplicity ;  but 
it  required  the  heart  of  a  true  woman  to  discover 
the  solution,  and   woman's  single-mindedness 


6 

and  self-reliance  to  carry  out  the  work.  Since 
man  invented  War^  the  sick  and  wounded  of 
armies  have,  doubtless^  been  nursed  and  cared 
for;  but  they  were  cared  for  and  nursed  as 
soldiers — to  be  shot  at  and  cut  down  when  con- 
valescent^ not  as  men  having  a  right  to  the  life 
which  God  had  breathed  into  them.  '^  Soldier,'' 
said  man^  ''  you  cannot  have  the  comforts  and 
the  care  of  ^  Home'  on  the  grim  fields  of  war :" 
"  Man/^  said  this  brave  true  woman,  "where 
I  am  is  '  Home ;'  I  bring  with  me  its  comforts 
and  its  care  to  the  battle-field  and  camp,  and 
all  a  mother^s  love  shall  tend  your  aching  brow 
and  stanch  the  oozing  blood/'  Thus  an  angel 
came  and  ministered  unto  him. 

PROJECT  or  A  GENERAL  EUROPEAN  SANITARY 
COMMISSION. 

The  seed  of  example  sown  by  Florence 
^Nightingale  fell  upon  stony  ground  but  into 
a  fruitful  soil.  Appalled  by  the  fearful  carnage 
and  disease  of  the  Italian  campaign,  and  pro- 
fiting by  the  labours  and  success  of  our  coun- 
trywoman, Monsieur  Henri  Dunant,  a  citizen 
of  Geneva,  has  devoted  his  time  and  abilities  to 


1 

tlie  extension  of  Florence  Nightingale's  work 
over  the  entire  continent  of  Europe.  After 
many  months  of  correspondence,  which  must 
have  been  enormous,  he  succeeded  in  drawing 
together  in  an  International  Congress  at  the  City 
of  Geneva  representatives  from  all  the  principal 
European  nations.  The  Conference  assembled 
on  the  26th,  27th,  28th,  and  29th  October  of 
last  year,  and  the  following  countries  were  repre- 
sented in  it :  Austria,  Baden,  Bavaria,  France, 
Great  Britain  (represented  by  Dr.  Rutherford, 
Inspector  General  of  H  ospitals,  by  authority  of 
the  Secretary  of  Vv^ar ;  and  in  addition  our 
Consul  at  Geneva),  Hanover,  Hesse,  Holland, 
Italy,  Prussia,  Russia,  Saxony,  Spain,  Sweden, 
"VYurtemberg,  and  the  Swiss  Confederation. 
It  is  no  part  of  my  task  to  discuss  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  Conference,  especially  as  its  action 
has  not  yet  extended  beyond  the  bounds  of 
suggestion ;  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  remark 
that  danger  exists  of  attempting  too  much,  and 
thereby  accomplishing  nothing.  Any  inter- 
ference, no  matter  how  remote,  with  the 
legitimate  medical  authority  of  armies,  will  cer- 
tainly be  resented  by  the  latter ;  discipline  in 


field  and  camp  must  at  all  times  take  precedence 
of  Immanitarian  considerations;  whilst  aid  thus 
proffered  should  always  be  regarded  as  supple- 
mental to  that  of  the  medical  staff  and  tendered 
under  its  auspices  alone.  The  official  character 
of  the  delegates  to  the  Geneva  Congress,  how- 
ever much  calculated  to  give  authority  to  the 
deliberations,  will  not,  to  many  thoughtful 
minds,  promise  a  favourable  result ;  for  when 
Governments  take  such  a  matter  in  hand,  the 
people  generally  consider  there  is  little  need  of 
their  assistance.  The  medical  staffs  of  armies 
may,  too,  regard  the  proposal  as  a  reflection 
upon  themselves, — as  an  assumption  of  their 
incompetency;  and  many  months  of  experience 
to  the  contrary  will  be  necessary  ere  the  two 
bodies  could  work  harmoniously  together.  But 
the  most  questionable  feature  of  all  is  the 
exclusion  of  vfomen  from  the  deliberations  and 
action  of  the  Congress.  The  chamber  of  the 
sick  and  suffering  is  Woman^s  own  domain,  and 
Man,  with  the  best  intentions,  can  never  be  so 
useful  there  as  she. 

The  grand  scheme  of  Henri  Dunant  is  only 
in  its  incipiency :  let  us  hope  that  he  and  his 


fellow  philanthropists  will  study  the  lessons 
given  hy  others^  and  work  out  with  glorious 
success  a  project  which  has  the  good  of  humanity 
for  its  sole  object. 


10  A  woman's  example. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    UNITED    STATES    SANITARY    COMMISSION. 

Turn  we  now  to  the  far  distant  shores  of 
the  American  Continent, — to  those  gory  battle- 
fields where  tens  of  thousands  of  fathers,  bro- 
thers, sons,  lie  writhing  in  agony,  and  the 
hurriedly  buried  corpses  impest  the  blackened 
plains.  No  war  of  ancient  or  modern  times 
has  seemed  to  us  so  horrible;  day  after  da}'  for 
three  long  years,  the  agony  has  been  intensified, 
and  the  writers  of  all  Europe  have  striven  to 
excel  each  other  in  describing  the  accumulated 
horrors.  Sovereigns  from  their  thrones,  states- 
men in  the  senate,  ministers  in  the  temple, 
all  alike  bewail  the  loD":-continued  fratricidal 

V 

strife ;  until  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  have 
settled  firmly  in  the  belief  that  the  story  of  this 
war  is  but  one  dreary  chronicle  of  bloodshed, 
ruin  and  despair,  without  a  single  redeeming 
trait  of  benevolence  and  charity. 

Strange  that  the  evil  should  all  be  known, 


A    NATIO?^  S    WORK.  11 

and  only  the  good  remain  concealed  !  Yet  amid 
all  this  wide-spread  desolation^  true  hearts  have 
beaten  responsively  to  the  cries  of  woe ;  and 
loving  women  and  noble  men  have  achieved  a 
work  which  Europe  never  has  attempted  on 
such  a  wondrous  scale.  As  Enghshmen,  we 
must  take  pride  in  their  success,  for  are  not 
these  Americans  our  own  flesh  and  blood  ;  and 
have  they  not  profited  in  their  labours  by  the 
example  set  before  them  in  the  Crimean  and 
Indian  wars? 

With  the  causes  and  objects  of  the  interne- 
cine contest  which  burst  upon  the  American 
Continent  after  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  we  have  nothing  whatever  to  do.  All  that 
I  profess,  or  desire  to  deal  with  in  these  pages 
is  the  work  of  humanity — the  labour  of  love 
initiated  by  women,  organized  by  them  on  the 
grandest  scale  ever  attempted  and  successfully 
carried  out ;  and  by  setting  forth  in  as  succinct 
and  intelligible  a  manner  as  to  me  is  possible 
their  intentions,  plans  and  achievements,  to 
lead  others  by  their  example  to  establish  simi- 
lar organizations,  and  to  effect  the  same  results. 
This  is  neutral  ground  for  all  the  children  of 


J 2  A  woman's  example. 

tlie  human  family ;  politics  have  no  place  in 
this  discussion  ;  and  he  must  indeed  be  lost  to 
every  sense  of  benevolence  who  will  not  admire 
the  courage  with  which  these  women  have  sur- 
mounted every  difficulty^  or  who  refuses  to  wish 
them  God-speed  in  their  mission  of  mercy  and 
love. 

THE    WOMEN    INITIATE    THE    MOVEMENT. 

When  the  men  of  Northern  and  Southern 
States  alike  were  hurrying  to  war  in  the  spring 
of  1861,  the  women  of  the  North  felt,  by  in- 
stinct as  it  were,  that  work  must  be  done  by 
those  who,  on  account  of  their  sex,  had  to  re- 
main at  home.  Their  action  first  took  the 
ground  of  supplying  the  medical  department  of 
the  army  v.ith  lint  and  bandages ;  and  the 
churches,  school-rooms,  and  many  of  the 
wealthiest  private  residences  of  the  larger 
cities,  were  filled  daily  with  women  of  all  classes 
and  ages,  scraping,  cutting,  folding  and  pack- 
ing the  linen  they  had  brought  with  them. 
But  their  womanly  wit  told  them  there  must 
be  a  far  wider  field  for  their  benevolence  and 
skill  than  in  this  restricted  arena ;  and  having 


A  nation's  work.  13 

formed  themselves  into  the  '''  AVoman's  Central 
Association  of  Relief  of  New  York/'  and  simi- 
lar organizations  elsewhere,  they  decided  upon 
asking  advice  from  gentlemen  who,  by  their 
experience  and  position  in  society,  would  be 
likely  to  give  full  scope  to  their  efforts.  There- 
upon, a  clergyman  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
whose  name  had  long  been  known  in  connec- 
tion with  charitable  objects,  gave  them  this 
practical  advice  : — "  You  want  inquiry  from  the 
only  correct  sources.  You  must  find  out  first 
what  the  Government  will  do  and  can  do,  and 
then  help  it  by  working  iviih  it  and  doing  what 
it  cannot.  You  must  have  advice  derived  from 
the  Government."  The  counsel  thus  given 
was  immediately  acted  upon ;  and  the  clergy- 
man in  question,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bel- 
lows, in  conjunction  with  three  of  the  principal 
Physicians  of  New  York,  Drs.  Van  Buren, 
Harris,  and  Harsen,  were  empowered  to  visit 
Washington  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with 
the  Secretary  of  War.  The  four  delegates 
were  similarly  authorized  by  two  other  promi- 
nent and  influential  bodies,  namely,  the  Ad- 
visory Committee  of  the  Boards  of  Physicians 


14 

and  Surgeons  of  the  Hospitals  of  New  York, 
and  the  'New  York  Medical  Association  for 
furnishing  Hospital  Supplies  in  aid  of  the 
Army.  In  the  name  of  these  three  Commit- 
tees^ the  delegates  presented  the  following 
address  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  18th  of 
May,  1861  :— 

"  To  THE  Secretary  of  War  : 

"  Sir, — The  undersigned,  representing  three  associations  of 
the  highest  respectability  in  the  City  of  New  York, — namely, 
the  Woman's  Central  Association  of  Relief  for  the  Sick  and 
Wounded  of  the  Army,  the  Advisory  Committee  of  the 
Boards  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Hospitals  of  New 
York,  the  New  York  Medical  Association  for  furnishing 
Hospital  Supplies  in  aid  of  the  Army,— beg  leave  to  address 
the  Department  of  War  in  behalf  of  the  objects  committed 
to  them  as  a  mixed  delegation  with  due  credentials. 

"  These  three  associations,  being  engaged  at  home  in  a 
common  object,  are  acting  together  with  great  efficiency  and 
harmony  to  contribute  towards  the  comfort  and  security  of 
our  troops,  by  methodizing  the  spontaneous  benevolence  of 
the  city  and  State  of  New  York  ;  obtaining  information  from 
the  public  authorities  of  the  best  methods  of  aiding  your  De- 
partment with  such  supplies  as  the  regulations  of  the  Army 
do  not  provide,  or  the  sudden  and  pressing  necessities  of  the 
time  do  not  peraiit  the  Department  to  furnish;  and,  in  general, 
striving  to  play  into  the  hands  of  the  regular  authorities  in 
ways  as  efficient  and  as  little  embarrassing  as  extra-official  co- 
operation can  be. 

*»*♦** 

'*  It  must  be  well  kncmi  to  the  Department  of  War  that 
several  such  Commissions  foUon-cd  the  Crimean  and  Indian 
wars.  The  civilization  and  humanity  of  the  age,  and  of  the 
American  people  demand  that  such  a  Commission  should  pi^e- 
eede  our  second  War  of  Independence — more  sacred  than  the 


A  nation's  work.  15 

first.  We  wish  to  prevent  the  evils  that  England  and  France 
could  only  investigate  and  deplore.  The  war  ought  to  be 
waged  in  a  spirit  of  the  highest  intelligence,  humanity,  and 
tenderness  for  the  health,  comfort,  and  safety  of  our  brave 
troops.  And  every  measure  of  the  Government  that  shows 
its  sense  of  this  will  be  eminently  popular,  strengthen  its 
hands,  and  redound  to  its  glory  at  home  and  abroad. 

"  The  undersigned  are  charged  with  several  distinct  peti- 
tions, additional  to  that  of  asking  for  a  Commission  for  the 
purposes  above  described,  although  they  would  all  fall  under 
the  duties  of  that  Commission. 

"  1 .  They  ask.  that  the  Secretary  of  War  w^ill  order  some 
new  rigour  in  the  inspection  of  volunteer  troops,  as  they  are 
persuaded  that,  under  the  present  State  regulations  through- 
out the  country,  a  great  number  of  under-aged  and  unsuitable 
persons  are  mustered,  who  are  likely  to  swell  the  bills  of  mor- 
tality in  the  army  to  a  fearful  per-centage,  to  encumber  the 
hospitals  and  embarrass  the  columns. 

"  The  Committee  represent  that  the  Woman's  Central 
Association  of  Kelief  have  selected,  and  are  selecting,  out  of 
several  hundred  candidates,  one  hundred  women,  suited  in  all 
respects  to  become  nurses  in  the  general  hospitals  of  the  army. 
These  women  the  distinguished  physicians  and  surgeons  of 
the  various  hospitals  in  New  York  have  undertaken  to  educate 
and  drill  in  a  most  thorough  and  laborious  manner  ;  and  the 
Committee  ask  that  the  War  Department  consent  to  receive, 
on  wages,  these  nurses,  in  such  nvmibers  as  the  exigencies  of 
the  campaign  may  require.  It  is  not  proposed  that  the  nurses 
should  advance  to  the  seat  of  war  until  directly  called  for  by 
the  Medical  Bureau  here,  nor  that  the  Government  should  be 
at  any  expense  until  they  are  actually  in  service. 

****** 

*'  It  is  believed  that  a  Commission  would  bring  these  and 
other  matters  of  great  interest  and  importance  to  the  health  of 
the  troops  into  the  shape  of  easy  and  practical  adojition.  But 
if  no  Commission  is  appointed  the  Committee  pray  that  the 
Secretary  will  order  the  several  suggestions  made  to  be  carried 
into  immediate  effect,  if  consistent  with  the  laws  of  the 
Department,  or  possible  without  the  action  of  Congress. 


16 

"  Feeling  themselves  directly  to  represent  larg-e  and  irajwr- 
tAnt  constituencies,  and,  indirectly,  a  wide-spread  and  com- 
manding public  sentiment,  the  Committee  would  most  respect- 
fully urge  the  mmiediatc  attention  of  the  Secretary  to  the 
objects  of  their  prayer. 
;  "  Very  respectfullj-, 

"  Henry  W.  Bellows,  D.D. 

"  W.  H.  Van  Bueen,  M.D. 

■"  Elisha  Hakris,  M.D. 

'^  J.  Harsex,  M.D." 

Thus  commenced  an  association  which  has 
since  developed  into  what  is  now  known  as 
^^  The  United  States  Sanitary  Commission  ;*' 
an  association  whose  operations  extend  over  an 
area  almost  as  large  as  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  whose  voluntary  contributions  to  suffering 
humanity  have,  in  less  than  three  years'  time, 
nearly  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  Two  Mil- 
lions of  pounds  sterling  in  value. 

STRUGGLES  FOR  RECOGNITION. 

Nothing,  it  would  seem,  could  be  more  rea- 
sonable and  respectful  than  such  a  memorial ; 
and  yet  the  representatives  of  these  influential 
and  patriotic  bodies  were  not_,  at  first,  favoura- 
bly regarded  by  the  authorities.  Routine, 
however  necessary  in  government  afiairs,  is 
never  disposed   to  listen  to  suggestions;  and 


A    NATION^S    WORK.  I J 

we  need  not  be  surprised  that  President  Lin- 
coln, with  his  grim  capacity  for  getting  off  the 
most  pointed  jokes,  should  describe  the  pro- 
posed Commission— as  '' a  fifth  wheel  to  the 
military  coach/'  The  authorities  of  the  War 
Department  and,  more  especially,  of  the  Medi- 
cal Bureau  of  the  Army  received  the  proposals 
with  almost  unqualiaed  disfavour;  but  the 
women  of  the  country  had  set  their  minds  and 
hearts  upon  carrying  out  the  work,  and  when 
did  man  carry  his  point  against  woman  ? 

Four  days  subsequent  to  the  presentation  of 
the  above  memorial,  Dr.  E.  C.  Wood,  Actin- 
Surgeon- General  of  the  United  States  Army, 
expressed  the  following  opinion  in  a  communi- 
cation to  the  Secretary  of  War  :— 

"The  Medical  Bureau,  would  in  my  judgment,  derive  im- 
portant and  useful  aid  from  the  counsels  and  well-directed 
efforts  of  an  intelligent  and  scientific  Commission,  to  be  styled 
'  A  Commission  of  Inquiry  and  Advice  in  respect  of  the  Sani- 
tary Interests  of  the  United  States'  Forces/  and  acting  in 
cooperation  with  the  Bureau,  in  elaborating  and  applving  Tuch 
facts  as  might  be  elicited  from  the  experience  and^nore  ex- 
tended observation  of  those  connected  with  armies,  with  re- 
ference to  the  diet  and  hygiene  of  troops,  and  the  organisation 
of  mihtary  hospitals," 

Taking  hold  of  the  friendly  hand  thus  held 
out  to  them,   the  four  delegates  lost  no  time, 


18  A  woman's  example. 

but  forwarded  the  very  next  day  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  the  following  statement  of  powers 
requested  and  objects  designed  by  the  Com- 
mission. 

"The  Medical  Bureau  of  the  United  States  Army  having 
asked  for  the  appointment  of  a  Sanitary  Commission,  in 
aid  of  its  own  overtasked  energies,  the  Committee  of  the 
New  York  Delegation  to  the  Government  on  Sanitary  Affairs 
beg  leave,  at  the  request  of  the  Medical  Bureau,  and  as  ex- 
planatory of  its  wishes,  to  state  what  precise  fowers  are 
sought  by  the  proposed  Commission,  and  what  specific  objects 
are  aimed  at." 

POWERS    DEMANDED    OF    THE    GOVERNMENT. 

"  The  Commission  being  organized  for  the  purposes  only 
of  inquiry  and  advice,  asks  for  no  legal  powers,  but  only  the 
ofl&cial  recognition  and  moral  countenance  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  will  be  secured  by  its  public  appointment.  It 
asks  for  a  recommendatory  order,  addressed  in  its  favour  to 
all  olhcers  of  the  Government,  to  further  its  inquiries  ;  for 
permission  to  correspond  aj;id  confer,  on  a  confidential  footing, 
with  the  Medical  Bureau  and  the  War  Department,  proffer- 
ing such  suggestions  and  counsels  as  its  investigation  and 
studies  may,  from  time  to  time,  prompt  and  enable  it  to  offer. 

"  2.  The  Commission  seeks  no  pectmiary  remtmerationjrom 
the  Governvienf.  Its  motives  being  humane  and  patriotic, 
its  labours  will  be  its  own  reward.  The  assignment  to  them 
of  a  room  in  one  of  the  public  buildings,  with  stationery  and 
other  necessary  conveniences,  would  meet  their  expectations 
in  this  direction. 

"  3.  The  Commission  asks  leave  to  sit  through  the  war, 
either  in  Washington,  or  when  and  where  it  may  find  it  most 
convenient  and  useful ;  but  it  will  disband  should  experience 
render  its  operations  embarrassing  to  the  Government,  or  less 
necessary  and  useful  than  it  is  now  supposed  they  will  prove.'' 


39 


OBJECTS    OF    THE    PROPOSED     COMMISSION. 


"  The  general  object  of  the  Commission  is,  through  sugges- 
tions reported  from  time  to  time  to  the  Medical  Bureau  and 
the  War  Department,  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  health,  com- 
fort and  morale  of  our  troops,  the  fullest  and  ri;  est  teachings 
of  sanitary  science  in  its  application  to  military  life,  whether 
deduced  from  theory  or  practical  observation,  from  general 
hygienic  principles,  or  from  the  experience  of  the  Crimean, 
the  East  Indian,  and  the  Italian  wars.  Its  objects  are  purely 
advisory. 

"  The  specific  points  to  which  its  attention  would  be  directed 
may  here  be  partly  indicated,  but  in  some  part  may  depend 
upon  the  course  of  events,  and  the  results  of  its  own  obser- 
vations and  promptings,  when  fairly  at  work.  If  it  knew 
precisely  what  the  results  of  its  own  inquiries  would  be,  it 
would  state  them  at  once,  without  asking  for  that  authority 
and  those  governmental  facilities  essential  to  a  successful 
investigation  of  the  subject.  As  the  Government  may  select 
its  own  Commissioners, — the  persons  named  in  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Medical  Bureau  being  wholly  undesirous, 
however  wilUng,  to  serve,  if  other  persons  more  deserving  of 
the  confidence  of  the  Government  and  of  the  public  can  be 
nominated, — it  is  hoped  that  the  character  of  the  Commission 
will  be  the  best  warrant  the  Government  can  have  that  the 
inquiries  of  the  Commission,  both  as  to  their  nature  and  the 
manner  of  conducting  them,  will  be  pursued  with  discretion 
and  a  careful  eye  to  avoiding  impertinent  and  offensive  inter- 
ference with  the  legal  authority  and  official  rights  of  any  of 
the  bureaus  with  Avhich  it  may  be  brought  in  contact." 

SPECIFICATION    OF    OBJECTS. 

"  1.  Materiel  of  the  Volunteers. — The  Commission  proposes 
a  practical  inquiry  into  the  material  of  the  volunteer  force, 
with  reference  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  several  States  in 
the  matter  of  inspection,  with  the  hope  of  assimilating  their 
regulations  with  those  of  the  army  proper,  alike  in  the  ap- 
j)ointment  of  medical  and  other  officers  and  in  the  rigorous 
application  of  just  rules  and  principles  to  recruiting  and  in- 
spection laws.    This  inquiry  Avould  exhaust  every  topic  ap- 


20  A  woman's  example. 

pertaining  to  the  original  materiel  of  the  anny,  considered  as 
a  subject  of  sanitary  and  medical  care. 

*' 2.  Prevention.  —  The  Commission  would  inquire  with 
scientific  thoroughness  into  the  subject  of  diet,  cooking,  cooks, 
clothing,  tents,  camping  grounds,  transports,  transitory  depots, 
Avith  their  exposures,  camp  police,  with  reference  to  settling 
the  question,  How  far  the  regulations  of  the  Army  proper 
are  or  can  be  practically  carried  out  among  the  volunteer 
regiments,  and  what  changes  or  modifications  are  desirable 
from  their  peculiar  character  and  circumstances  ?  Everything 
appertaining  to  outfit,  cleanliness,  precautions  against  damp, 
cold,  heat,  malaria,  infection  ;  crude,  unvaried,  or  ill-cooked 
food,  and  an  in-egular  or  careless  regimental  commissariat 
would  fall  under  this  head. 

"  3.  Relief. — The  Commission  would  inquire  into  the  or- 
ganization of  military  hospitals,  general  and  regimental ; 
the  precise  regulations  and  routine  through  which  the  ser- 
vices of  the  patriotic  women  of  the  country  may  be  made 
available  as  nurses  ;  the  nature  and  sufliciency  of  hospital 
supplies ;  the  method  of  obtaining  and  regulating  all  other 
extra  and  unbought  supplies  contributing  to  the  comfort  of 
the  sick  ;  the  question  of  ambulances  and  field  service,  and  of 
extra  medical  aid ;  and  whatever  else  relates  to  the  care, 
relief,  or  cure  of  the  sick  and  wounded — their  investigations 
being  guided  by  the  highest  and  latest  medical  and  military 
experience,  and  carefully  adapted  to  the  nature  and  wants  of 
our  immediate  army,  and  its  peculiar  origin  and  circum- 
stances," 

It  would  appear  from  these  offers  to  the  Go- 
vernment^ that  the  proposed  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion must  turn  out,  after  all,  a  very  harmless 
and  well-meaning  body.  So  perhaps  it  will 
strike  people  unacquainted  with  military  aflPairs 
and,  especially,  actual  campaigning;  but  the 
demanded  powers  covered,  as  will  be  seen  here- 


A  nation's  work.  21 

after,  a  vast  amount  of  ground.  The  delegates 
from  New  York  proved  themselves  worthy  of 
their  representative  office  ;  unlike  most  civilians, 
they  avoided  everything  savouring  of  dictation, 
pledging  to  submit  themselves  entirely  to  the 
military  and  medical  authorities  of  the  army. 
I  would  here  give  a  short  extract  from  a  speech 
delivered  by  Dr.  Bellows,  President  of  the  Sa- 
nitary Commission,  in  February  of  last  year. 
There  is  no  country  where  the  remarks  in  ques- 
tion would  be  out  of  place ;  if  there  be  an  ex- 
ception, it  certainly  is  not  ours. 

ADVANTAGES    OF    RED    TAPE. 

"  I  know  nothing  more  foolish  and  insane  than  that  nni- 
versal  popular  cry  against '  red  tape.'  Permit  me  to  say  that 
in  the  army  '  red  tape '  is  as  essential  to  men  as  white  tape  is 
at  home  to  women.  I  need  not  say  that  it  is  equal  folly 
to  attempt  to  do  without  the  one  as  to  do  without  the  other. 
Instead  of  decrying  '  red  tape,'  all  my  experience  has  taught 
me  to  believe  that  the  principal  difficulties  connected  with  the 
humane  administration  of  army  affairs,  are  due  to  the  neglect 
of  *  red  tape.'  If  you  could  have  real  '  red  tape  '—not  that 
kind  painted  on  barbers'  poles,  which  ties  up  nothing— if  you 
could  only  have  real  rule,  method,  and  habit  carried  out  to 
the  death  even,  you  would  have  the  surest  way  of  attaining 
to  the  best  results  in  militaiy  affairs.  And  that  is  a  matter 
that  ought  to  be  more  generally  understood  among  the  women 
and  the  men  in  the  land. 

"The  women— God  bless  them! -think  that  it  requires 
nothing  but  a  good  and  loving  heart  to  aid  the  poor  soldier. 
But  I  can  assure  you  that,  however  aj-dent  and  warm  the 


22 


heart,  its  pulsations,  to  be  effective,  must  be  regulated  by 
order  aud  method." 


At  the  time  this  speech  was  delivered,  the 
speaker  had  had  two  years^  experience  of  the 
need  of  order  and  regulation  in  dealing  with 
soldiers  and  charitable  aid  societies ;  but  the 
above  memorial  to  the  Secretary  of  War  proves 
that  he  and  his  colleagues,  from  tlie  outset, 
recognised  the  advantages  of  "^red  tape^^  pro- 
perly applied. 


A    NATION^S   WORK.  23 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  War  Department  and  Government 
finally  gave  consent  to  tlie  establishment  of  the 
proposed  Commission,  but  reluctantly :  seven- . 
teen  days  elapsed  before  the  required  authoriza- 
tion came  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  endorsed 
by  the  President  as  follows  :— "  I  approve  the 
above.— A.  Lincoln.''  The  concluding  para- 
graph of  the  document  is  suggestive. 

"  The  Commission  will  exist  until  the  Secretary  of  War 
shall  othei-wise  direct,  unless  sooner  dissolved  by  its  own 
action." 

The  Commission  was  to  exist  on  sufferance, 
unless  it  chose  sooner  to  put  an  end  to  its  own 
existence.  This  was  the  grimmest  of  grim 
jokes,  for  the  delegates  from  New  York  in  the 
interim  of  the  seventeen  days,  had  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  study  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  at  head-quarters.  The  inves- 
tigation was  very  far  from  consoling,  but  it 
could  scarcely  have  been  otherwise  than  they 
found  it.     The  United  States  army,  under  the 


24  A    WOMAN^S    EXAMPLE. 

call  of  President  Lincoln  for  75^000  volunteers^ 
had  jumped  from  20,000  men  on  paper,  to 
80,000  in  fact ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  bureau  system  for  the  smaller  force 
could  be  all  at  once  re-organized  for  so  great  an 
increase.  The  North  American  Review  (Janu- 
ary 1864)  gives  the  following  vivid  description 
of  the  state  of  affairs  at  Washington,  at  the 
period  here  referred  to. 

TERRIBLE    CONDITION    OF    AFFAIRS   AT 
COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    WAR. 

"For  the  first  year  of  the  war,  there  was  not  commercial 
industry  enough  in  the  coiuitry  to  supply  the  actual  Avants 
of  the  army.  Clothing  could  not  be  manufactured  fast 
enough  to  meet  the  rapidly  recruited  ranks.  Cloths  were 
imported  by  the  Government  as  a  protection  against  the 
enormous  rates  which  holders  of  suitable  stuffs  were  selfishly 
exacting.  Besides,  the  ideas  of  the  Government  Bureaus 
did  not,  and  could  not,  expand  as  fast  as  the  unprecedented 
wants  of  the  arm.y  did.  Timidity  and  caution  tied  up  the 
boldest  hands.  The  suffering  which  existed  in  the  rank  and 
file  from  want  of  blankets,  stockings,  over-coats,  and  tents, 
v.-as  great.  The  regimental  hospitals,  under  new  and  inex- 
perienced surgeons,  without  acquaintance  with  bureau  routine, 
were  often  desperately  deficient,  both  in  what  they  might  have 
had,  if  at  the  proi)er  time  they  had  known  how  to  ask  for  it, 
and  of  what  no  skill  in  asking  at  that  time  could  secure.  The 
general  hospitals  were  just  beginning  to  be  established.  Incon- 
venient and  wholly  unsuitable  buildings  Avere  the  only  ones 
within  reach,  and  the  Government  was  not  then  aroused 
to  the  necessity  of  erecting  proper  ones.  The  hospital  fund, 
the  usual  adequate  resource  of  the  surgeon  for  all  extra  com- 


A  nation's  work.  25 

forts  and  delicacies,  now  extensively,  nay,  universally  in 
operation,  could  not  at  once  be  inaugurated,  even  by  experts, 
and  was  utterly  beyond  the  management  of  novices.  It 
afforded  no  dependence  for  many  months,  and  was  of  little 
use  for  the  first  year  of  the  war." 

At  tliis  crisis  of  want  and  destitution,  the 
volunteer  association,  seeking  existence  as  a 
recognized  Sanitary  Commission,  offers  its  ser- 
vices. President  Lincoln  is  reported  to  have 
replied  to  a  certain  office  aspirant  who  asserted 
that  he  had  brought  about  his  (Mr.  Lincoln^s) 
election,  *^  And  a  pretty  mess  you  have  got  me 
into."  Doubtless,  a  similar  joke  was  intended 
when  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  approval 
of  the  President,  consented  to  the  existence  of 
the  Commission  during  his  good  pleasure, 
^^ unless  sooner  dissolved  by  its  own  action'^ 
But  the  delegates  and  their  constituents,  instead 
of  being  appalled  at  the  terrible  condition  of 
affairs,  felt  that  a  far  greater  need  existed  for 
their  labours  than  they  had  previously  sup- 
posed ;  and  being  armed  with  all  they  sought 
from  the  Government — the  right  to  exist,  and 
work,  and  counsel — they  forthwith  commenced 
to  organize  the  entire  North  for  the  benefit  of 
the  soldiers  in  the  field. 


26  A  woman's  example. 

THE    COMMISSION    FINALLY   GETS    TO    ITS    WORK. 

There  were  many  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies 
already  in  course  of  establisliment,  but  all  of 
them  more  or  less  operating  upon  an  unsafe 
basis.  Individual  States^  counties,  and  towns 
had  formed  committees,  and  were  raising  funds 
and  other  contributions  for  the  benefit  of  the 
volunteers  belonging  to  their  immediate  neigh- 
bourhoods ;  but  they  quickly  discovered  the 
difficulty  which  such  organizations  must  expe- 
rience when  dealing  with  regiments  at  hundreds 
of  miles  distance,  and  liable  to  be  marched 
from  one  side  of  a  State  to  another, — that  is, 
over  an  area  as  large  as  England  itself, — with- 
out intimation  to  the  public.  The  Sanitary 
Commission,  at  the  outset,  found  it  no  easy  task 
to  prove  to  these  well-meaning,  but  short- 
sighted Aid  Societies,  that  the  interests  of  the 
troops  in  whose  behalf  they  were  established, 
must  of  necessity  be  safer  in  the  hands  of  a 
powerful  national  body  than  in  the  manage- 
ment of  a  town  committee  or  local  board. 
One  by  one,  they  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the 
Commission;  and,  in  a  short  time,  the  women 


A    NATION^ S    WORK.  2*7 

of  the  entire  Northern  States  had  formed  them- 
selves into  '^  Branches  "  in  all  the  cities,  towns, 
and  villages,  and  were  plying  their  needles  and 
pens  in  its  behalf. 

Between  the  increasing  wants  of  the  army, 
and  the  enthusiastic,  but  ill-directed,  zeal  of 
the  community  at  large,  the  newly-appointed 
Commission  found  themselves  in  a  dilemma 
resembling  that  of  Hercules  when  he  took  stock 
of  the  Augean  Stable.  Doubtless,  that  classic 
worthy,  on  the  occasion  in  question,  desired 
two  pairs  of  hands  instead  of  the  single  pair 
with  which  Nature  had  blessed  him ;  and  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  under  similar  convic- 
tions, were  not  dilatory  in  coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  additional  help  would  be  useful  and 
necessary.  They  increased  their  Executive 
Committee  to  the  number  of  twenty-one,  com- 
prising in  the  list  many  of  the  first  names  in 
the  medical  and  philanthropic  classes  of  the 
country;  and,  in  especial,  that  of  Frederick 
Law  Olmsted.  This  gentleman,  whose  reputa- 
tion is  well  established  in  this  country  by 
his  works  on  the  agricultural  and  other  re- 
sources of  the  Southern  States  of  the  American 


28  A  woman's  example. 

Union,  lield  the  position  of  architect  and 
engineer  of  the  New  York  Central  Park ;  but 
in  view  of  the  benevolent  aims  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  he  threw  up  his  office  and  ac- 
cepted the  post  of  Secretary  and  Manager  (under 
the  Committee)  of  the  newly-formed  Associa- 
tion. 

The  next  step  was  to  select  and  appoint  Asso- 
ciate Members  in  every  part  of  the  country ; 
and  the  men  so  chosen  were  those  in  a  position 
to  exert  influence  and  willing  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves and  their  time  in  behalf  of  the  army^s 
welfare — without  any  other  remuneration  or 
reward  than  the  conviction  of  doing  their  duty. 
These  Associate  Members  were  charged  with 
enlightening  the  community  in  their  respec- 
tive neighbourhoods  upon  the  wants  and  objects 
of  the  Commission,  inviting  all  those  desirous  of 
adding  to  the  comfort  of  the  soldier  to  put 
themselves  in  communication  with  them.  Cir- 
culars were  printed  and  distributed  by  thou- 
sands throughout  the  country,  describing  the 
necessities  of  the  army,  especially  in  regard  to 
hospital  matters;  every  postmaster  in  the 
North  received  a  notice  which  he  was  requested 


A    NATION  S     WORK.  29 

to  make  as  public  as  possible,  calling  upon  the 
inhabitants,  especially  the  women,  to  organize 
branches  in  aid  of  the  Commission ;  editors  of 
newspapers  (in  America  their  name  is ''  legion") 
were  requested  and  urged  to  ventilate  the  sub- 
ject in  their  columns  at  every  opportunity ; 
chairmen  and  directors  of  life  insurance  compa- 
nies were  made  to  understand  that  they  had  a 
peculiar  interest  in  the  well-being  and  security 
from  disease  of  the  soldier ;  and,  in  short,  every 
class  or  division  of  society  was  netted  into  the 
movement  and  induced  to  workfor  the  army  while 
the  army  was  Avorking  for  them  in  the  field. 

THE  QUESTION  OF  TRANSPORTATION  OF  GOODS. 

Every  successive  step  seemed  to  develope 
additional  difficulties.  The  women  having,  at 
length,  found  a  vent  to  their  patriotism,  and 
being  instructed  as  to  what  articles  were  imme- 
diately needed  by  the  army,  commenced  work- 
ing with  a  will  and  energy  which  men  seldom 
display.  Private  dwellings,  warehouses,  school- 
rooms, even  churches,  became  overstocked  with 
bales  and  bundles  of  clothing  and  other  articles 
for  the  sick,  all  waiting  the  order  for  removal 


30  A  woman's  example. 

from  head-quarters.  The  question  of  trans- 
portation was  by  no  means  an  easy  one  of 
solution  in  a  country  so  extensive  as  the 
United  States,  not  merely  from  the  compara- 
tively few  railroads,  canals,  and  other  routes, 
but,  still  more,  from  political  causes.  The 
rivalry  and  jealousy  between  the  several 
States  at  the  period  of  the  commencement  of 
the  war;  the  doctrine  of  "  State  Sovereignty,^^ 
and  the  general  desire  to  maintain  State  in- 
tegrity and  exclusiveness,  militated  ruinously 
against  the  operations  of  the  Commission;  but 
what  the  Government  had  found  itself  power- 
less to  surmount,  the  Commission,  prompted  by 
pure  feelings  of  benevolence,  finally  overcame. 
They  determined  to  treat  the  country,  not  as 
a  number  of  distinct  sovereignties  allied  for  a 
common  object,  but  as  one  indivisible  whole ; 
to  remove,  so  to  speak,  former  dividing  lines, 
and  to  split  the  land  up  into  new  sections  in 
which  navigable  water-courses,  roads,  and  rail- 
ways should  be  the  centres,  or  main  arteries. 
Central  depots  were  established  in  the  large 
cities  where  were  received  contributions  of  all 
kinds  from  towns  and  villages  in  the  vicinity ; 


31 

one  hundred  and  twenty  towns  thus  became 
auxiliary  to  the  branch  at  Cleveland  in  the 
State  of  Ohio,  and  no  less  than  twelve  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  towns  to  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  Executive  Committee  at  Washing- 
ton was  thus  enabled  to  control  and  direct  the 
benevolence  of  the  entire  country  into  what- 
ever channel  became  necessary,  and  relieved 
itself  from  undue  correspondence  and  interpo- 
lations by  communicating  with  and  acting 
upon  the  central  depots  alone. 

INSPECTION    OF  CAMPS  AND  HOSPITALS. 

While  the  Commission  were  thus  organizing 
the  country  for  future  operations,  they  were 
none  the  less  pursuing  the  main  object  for 
which  they  had  been  appointed.  Inspectors 
were  immediately  set  to  work  examining  the 
condition  of  the  camps  and  hospitals,  not  merely 
in  reference  to  sanitary  questions,  but  also  in 
regard  to  everything  involving  the  efficiency  of 
the  soldier  outside  of  purely  military  consider- 
ations. The  examination  was  usually  made  by 
two  inspectors,  acting  together;  one,  a  medical 
practitioner   of  recognized  standing,   and  the 


32  A    WOMAN^S    EXAMPLE. 

other,  in  most  cases,  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 
Their  instructions  were  to  report  themselves  to 
the  General  commanding  an  army,  or  the  officer 
in  charge  of  a  post,  immediately  on  reaching 
the  scene  of  their  labours ;  and  without  delay 
to  put  themselves  in  friendly  communication 
with  the  medical  authorities,  and  to  ask  for 
such  information  as  their  instructions  directed. 
After  inspecting  the  hospitals,  camps,  and  the 
troops  themselves,  they  forwarded  their  reports, 
which  were  strictly  confidential,  to  the  central 
Office  at  Washington :  some  fifteen  hundred 
of  these  reports  have  thus  been  received 
and  tabulated ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that 
this  volunteer  association  of  benevolent  indivi- 
duals has  now  in  its  possession  more  complete 
and  valuable  information  upon  the  sanitary 
condition  of  armies  in  campaign  than  can  be 
found  in  Europe.  Each  inspector,  as  part  of 
his  report,  was  required  to  give  written  answers 
to  one  hundred  and  eighty  printed  questions, 
and  these  questions  involved  every  possible  de- 
tail affecting  the  health  and  effectiveness  of  the 
soldier,  at  every  season  of  the  year  and  in 
widely  distant  latitudes. 


33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONFLICT    WITH    THE    MEDICAL    BUREAU   OF 
THE    ARMY. 

Difficulties  increased  at  every  step.  The 
Medical  Department  of  the  army  had  become 
rusty  from  long  years  of  peace,  and  it  was  of 
the  first  necessity  that  the  bureaus  should  be 
organized  on  a  new  basis.  But  the  Government, 
new  in  office,  and,  probably,  not  yet  thoroughly 
aroused  to  the  magnitude  of  the  task  before  it, 
retained  the  old  organization  and  contented  it- 
self with  simply  appointing  a  new  Surgeon- 
General.  The  new  appointee  lost  no  time  in 
proving  his  hostitity  to  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion, "  declared  that  he  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it ;  that  if  it  went  into  operation,  the 
responsibility  must  not  rest  upon  him ;  that  it 
was  a  perilous  conception  to  allow  any  such 
outside  body  to  come  into  being,"  and  many 
similar  objections;  but  it  not  being  within  his 
power  to  oppose  the  action  of  the  Secretary  of 


34 

War,  approved  as  it  was  by  the  President,  he 
gave  his  consent  to  the  Commission's  doing 
what  it  chose  for  the  volunteers,  provided  it 
never  meddled  with  the  regular  troops.    Several 
months'  experience  with  this  gentleman  at  the 
head  of  the  medical  department  of  the  army- 
proved  conclusively  that  the  health  and  effec- 
tiveness of  the  soldiers  were  not  likely  to  be 
benefited  by  his  appointment ;   he  pertinaciously 
maintained  obsolete  regulations — very  benefi- 
cial no  doubt  for  an  army  of  12,000  men  who 
occasionally  saw    a    little    bush-fighting  with 
Indians,  but  worse   than    useless    under    the 
altered  state  of  affairs.     When  the  Commission 
found,  as  it  soon  did,  that  no  change  was  pro- 
bable in  this  officer's  tone  or  action,  it  resolved 
to  obtain  his  removal,  and  to  reorganize  the 
medical  department  of  the  army  by  legislative 
enactment.     The  struggle  was  long  and  ardu- 
ous.     Deputation  followed  deputation  to  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  War ;  strong  com- 
plaints from  army  ofiQcers  as  to  the  inefficiency 
of  the  medical  staff  were  forwarded  to  head- 
quarters   under    advice    of  the   Commission ; 
memorials  on  the  subject  poured  into  Congress ; 


35 

and,  finally,  a  bill  passed  the  two  Houses  of 
the  national  Legislature  fundamentally  re- 
organizing the  department,  appointing  a  corps 
of  general  inspectors,  and  substituting  for  the 
old  system  of  seniority  the  principle  of  compe- 
tency ivithout  regard  to  grade  or  age.  This 
bill,  which  received  the  signature  of  the  Presi- 
dent, was  drawn  up  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Sanitary  Commis- 
sion, and  by  their  infiuence  carried  through 
Congress:  the  success  attending  their  efforts 
should  be  a  good  example  to  others  in  dealing 
with  the  obstructiveness  of  enervating  routine, 
and  proves  couclusively  that  public  opinion, 
when  thoroughly  enlightened  and  aroused,  must 
carry  its  point  against  every  opposition. 

NOMINATION    OF    SURGEON-GENERAL. 

But  the  battle  was  only  half  fought.  The  nomi- 
nation of  the  new  Surgeon- General  rested  with 
the  President,  but  the  latter  would  be  influenced 
in  his  selection  by  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary  of 
War.  In  departing  from  the  rule  of  seniority 
there  is  great  danger  of  appointments  being 


36  A  woman's  example. 

made  from  mere  favouritism ;  and  as  the  selec- 
tion, in  this  instance,  rested  with  non-pro- 
fessionals, accident  might  influence  the  choice, 
and  "the  right  man  for  the  right  place^'  not, 
after  all,  be  found.  The  Commission  resolved 
to  make  a  selection  and  to  recommend  its  own 
nomination  to  the  President;  and  while  the 
Medical  Bill  was  pending  in  Congress,  the 
Executive  Committee,  comprising  some  of  the 
most  prominent  medical  professionals  in  the 
country,  and  whose  names  are  well  known  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic,  began  to  look  about  for 
an  officer  whose  scientific  attainments  and 
executive  ability  would  justify  them  in  re- 
commending him  for  the  position.  Such  an 
one  they  found  in  the  person  of  Dr.  W.  A. 
Hammond,  Assistant  Surgeon  on  the  Medical 
Staff";  and,  after  great  opposition  from  the  then 
Secretary  of  War  and  his  successor,  the  present 
incumbent  of  the  office,  the  President  listened 
to  the  voice  of  the  country  as  spoken  through 
the  Commission,  and  sent  in  the  name  of  that 
gentleman  to  Congress.  The  latter  body  en- 
dorsed the  nomination,  and  from  the  rank  of 
first  lieutenant  and  the  management  of  a  single 


37 

hospital  Dr.  Hammond  immediately  stepped  to 
the  grade  of  brigadier-general,  and  the  entire 
control  of  the  Medical  Department  of  an  army 
as  large  as  any  in  Europe.  The  results  of  his 
appointment  have  justified  the  endorsement  of 
his  friends  and  satisfied  the  country.  The 
Medical  Times  {London,  October  12th,  1863) 
thus  speaks  of  Dr.  Hammond  :  ^'  Making  allow- 
ance for  the  nsnal  transatlantic  exaggerations,  he 
really  seems  to  have  done  his  work  well.  Ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  in  spite  of  the  old 
routine  custom,  over  the  heads  of  many  seniors, 
he  eame  to  his  task  full  of  vigour,  in  the  prime 
of  life,  and  capable  of  great  physical  endurance. 
With  a  bold  hand  he  surrounded  himself  with 
trustworthy  subordinates,  displacing  many  whom 
he  did  not  think  equal  to  the  crisis,  and  pro- 
ceeded energetically  with  his  work.  Large 
armies  had  to  be  provided  for,  a  system  of  mi- 
litary hospitals  to  be  organized,  the  examining 
boards  to  be  constructed,  and  an  army  medical 
school  and  museum  to  be  founded.  With  all 
these  vast  and  useful  works  he  seems  to  have 
succeeded  beyond  all  expectation.'^  What  is 
more,  he  recognized  the  labours  and  utility  of 


38  A  woman's  example. 

the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  that  body  soon 
became,  as  it  was  designed,  the  band-maiden  of 
the  Medical  Department  and  tbe  ever-present 
friend  of  tbe  suffering  and  sick  soldiers. 

These  details  may  not,  at  first  sight,  be  in- 
teresting to  European  readers,  but  they  teach 
us  a  lesson  from  which  we  ought  to  profit.  The 
United  States^  Army,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  was  the  most  aristocratic  and  exclusive 
body  in  the  country ;  it  was  fenced  about  with 
routine,  reform  was  steadfastly  guarded  against, 
and  "  the  first  families,^^  to  use  an  American 
phrase,  wielded  their  immense  influence  upon 
the  government  and  legislature  to  prevent  poach- 
ing on  their  preserves.  Yet  the  people,  and 
notably  the  women  of  the  land,  acting  by  the 
volunteer  organization  styled  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, upset  the  ancient  order  of  things  and 
remodelled  the  Medical  Department,  in  spite  of 
itself  and  its  friends,  on  an  entirely  modern 
and  enlightened  basis.  At  all  events  these  de- 
tails are  in  nowise  irrelevant,  for  they  serve  to 
display  one  grand  achievement  of  the  Com- 
mission. 


A  nation's  work.  39 


CHAPTER  V. 

MEDICAL  WORKS  PUBLISHED  BY  THE  COMMISSION. 

The  inexperience  of  the  medical  officers  of 
the  army  early  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
Commission.  Nearly  the  entire  body  of  regi- 
mental surgeons  and  assistants  were  unac- 
quainted with  that  peculiar  branch  of  medical 
science  which  is  requisite  in  the  field ;  the  Go- 
vernment had  too  much  to  attend  to  in  other 
directions  to  undertake  the  task  of  instructing 
them  in  their  duties ;  and  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission forthwith  appointed  a  special  Committee 
of  its  members  to  draw  up  a  series  of  pamphlets 
on  military  surgery  and  kindred  topics.  The 
following  list  of  papers  already  issued  will  give 
an  idea  of  the  subjects  treated :  the  pamphlets 
were  distributed  gratis  among  the  surgeons. 

Pain  and  Anesthetics,  by  the  father  of  Ame- 
rican Surgery,  Dr.  Valentine  Mott. 

Advice  as  to  Camping ;  issued  by  the  British 


40  A   WOMAN^S    EXAMPLE. 

Sanitary  Commission^  at  period  of  Crimean 
War. 

Report  on  Military  Hygiene  and  Therapeutics, 

Directions  to  Army  Surgeoyis  on  the  Battle- 
field;  by  G.  J.  Guthrie^  late  Staff- Surgeon  to 
the  British  Army. 

Rules  for  preserving  the  health  of  the  soldier. 

Quinine  as  a  prophylactic  against  malarious 
diseases. 

Army  Vaccination. 

Amputations. 

Amputations  through  the  Foot  and  at  the 
Ankle-joint. 

Venereal  diseases. 

Pneumonia. 

Continued  Fevers. 

Excision  of  Joints  for  Traumatic  Cause. 

Dysentery. 

Scurvy. 

Treatment  of  Fractures  in  Military  Surgery. 

Nature  and  Treatment  of  Miasmatic  Fevers. 

Nature  and  Treatment  of  Yellow  Fever. 

Hemorrhage  from  Wounds  and  the  best  means 
of  arresting  it ;  by  Dr.  Valentine  Mott. 

If  the  Commission  had  done  no  more  than 


A  nation's  work.  41 

issue  these  Reports  and  Instructions^  it  would 
still  have  earned  the  gratitude  of  the  army  and 
country ;  for  the  medical  officers  of  the  different 
regiments,  almost  in  every  instance  coming 
from  civil  life,  were  lamentably  deficient  in  the 
duties  and  requirements  of  their  new  practice. 
The  observations  and  advice  of  Florence  Night- 
ingale were  laid  continually  before  them ;  and 
that  lady  is  as  well  known  and  venerated 
throughout  the  United  States  as  in  our  own 
country.  Her  self-sacrificing  deeds  at  the 
period  of  the  Crimean  war  earned  her  the  fore- 
most place  in  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
the  American  people ;  but  she  is  now  regarded 
as  the  friend  of  American  soldiers,  and  the 
beneficent  Genius  of  their  hospitals  and  sick 
chambers. 

DISEASES   IN    DIFFERENT    SECTIONS    OF    THE 
COUNTRY. 

The  Medical  Department  of  the  Army  being 
now  under  the  control  of  an  officer  possessing 
the  confidence  of  the  troops  and  the  country, 
the  Commission  could  henceforward  devote  its 
attention  exclusively  to  its  own  objects.  In  order 


42 

more  fully  to  deal  with  the  rebellion,  the  field  of 
war  had  been  divided  by  the  Government  into 
Military  Departments ;  these  were  in  most  in- 
stances the  valleys  of  great  rivers_,  such  as  the 
Potomac,  Mississippi,  Cumberland,  and  Ten- 
nessee, but  there  were  also  North  and  South 
Carolina  and  the  mountainous  region  of  Vir- 
ginia. These  Departments  all  differed  from 
each  other  in  every  imaginable  way,  and  it  may 
be  said  that  every  latitude  of  Europe  and  all 
variations  of  climate  were  there  fully  repre- 
sented. Some  diseases  prevalent  in  one  region 
were  unknown  in  others,  and  malarious  affec- 
tions unheard  of  in  European  armies  neces- 
sitated treatment  and  remedies  which  had  to  be 
discovered.  The  Commission  endeavoured  to 
obtain  intelligence  of  future  movements  in  ad- 
vance of  the  march  of  the  different  commands, 
and,  as  soon  as  the  localities  became  known, 
physicians  and  surgeons  were  despatched  to 
the  scene  of  operations  charged  with  the  duty 
of  learning  from  the  inhabitants  the  prevalent 
diseases  of  the  region.  Their  reports  to  the 
Commission  contained  not  merely  information 
on  these  topics,  but,  also,  the  treatment  usually 


A  nation's  work.  43 

adopted^  and  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  for- 
warding supplies. 

HOSPITAL    TRANSPORTS. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the  opera- 
tions of  the  contending  hosts  followed  the 
courses  of  navigable  rivers  :  this  was  forced  as 
a  necessity  upon  Federals  and  Confederates 
alike,  for  the  railroads  in  the  South  are  few 
and  far  between,  and  consist  invariably  of  a 
single  line  of  rails ;  whilst  common  roads  are 
almost  unknown  there,  and  when  they  exist  are 
impassable  during  half  the  year.  In  view  of 
these  facts,  the  Commission  suggested  the  ad- 
visability of  organizing  a  system  of  hospital 
transportation,  and,  as  an  example,  it  engaged 
several  river  steamboats  of  large  capacity,  fitted 
them  up  as  hospitals,  supplied  them  with  its 
own  surgeons,  medicines,  and  trained  nurses, 
and  despatched  them  to  the  various  scenes  of 
action. 

I  can  myself  bear  testimony  to  the  value  of 
these  floating  hospitals,  having  seen  them  pur- 
suing their  work  during  the  campaign  on  the 
Yorktown  Peninsula   in  1862.     The  basis   of 


44 

McClellan's  operations  against  Kicliniond  was 
the  York  and  Pamunkey  rivers ;  and  until  the 
Confederates  turned  the  right  flank  of  the 
Union  army,  and  forced  it  into  disastrous  re- 
treat from  the  lines  of  the  Chickahominy  in 
the  latter  days  of  June,  the  sick  and  wounded 
of  the  Northern  forces  were  carried  to  West 
Point  on  the  Pamunkey  :  the  general  hospitals 
of  the  army  were  there  established,  and  rapidly 
became  overcrowded ;  the  locality  was  ex- 
tremely hot  and  unhealthy,  and  medical  at- 
tendance insufficient.  By  means  of  these  hos- 
pital-steamers, the  invalids  were  carried  down 
the  Pamunkey  to  the  York  river,  and  thence  to 
Portress  Monroe  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chesa- 
peake ;  there,  under  the  refreshing  sea-breezes 
and  within  twelve  hours^  steam  of  Baltimore, 
they  could  obtain  every  necessary  aid,  and  if 
need  were,  be  forthwith  transported  to  the 
North. 

These  American  river  steamers  are  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  such  a  purpose  as  that  of 
carrying  the  sick.  Everything, — engines  and 
all, — is  above  water ;  their  draught  is  but  a  few 
feet,  and  the  cabins  are  built  over  each  other, 


45 

being  sometimes  three  stories  high.  The  win- 
dows are  large  and  ceilings  lofty ;  consequently 
there  is  a  good  supply  of  that  chief  necessity 
of  hospitals — fresh  air  ;  even  when,  as  was  fre- 
quently the  case,  there  were  from  five  hundred 
to  a  thousand  invalids  on  board. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  work  which  these  floating  hospitals  of 
the  Commission  were  called  upon  to  perform. 
The  women,  as  usual,  were  the  soul  and  life  of 
these  steamers ;  danger  never  affected  their 
nerves,  and,  when  men  flinched,  they  were  the 
more  decided.  They  were  in  nearly  every  in- 
stance members  of  wealthy  families,  for  it  was 
regarded  as  high  honour  to  be  engaged  under 
the  Commission  *^in  the  field,'^  and  habits  of 
luxury  and  ease  would  not  be  supposed  to  fit 
them  for  the  hardships  of  campaigning  and 
scenes  of  peril.  The  following  extracts  are 
from  a  work  lately  written  by  one  of  these 
nurses  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  it  may 
add  to  their  interest  when  I  state  that  the 
author  is  an  Englishwoman.* 

*  Tlie  United  States  Sanitarij  Commission.  Boston,  1863. 
The  author  makes  this  amiouncement,— "  It  may  be  neces- 


46 


"At  midniglit,  tw'o  steamers  came  alongside  the  'Elm 
City,'  each  with  a  hmidi-ed  sick,  bringing  word  tliat  '  The 
Daniel  Webster  No.  2,'  (a  sidewheel  vessel,  not  a  Commission 
boat)  was  aground  at  a  little  distance  with  two  hundred  more, 
having  no  one  in  charge  of  them,  and  nothing  to  eat.  Of 
com'se  they  had  to  be  attended  to.  So,  amidst  the  wildest 
and  most  beautiful  storm  of  thunder  and  lightning,  four  of  us 
pulled  oiF  to  her  in  a  little  boat,  with  tea,  bread,  brandy,  and 
beef-essence.  (No  one  can  tell  how  it  tries  my  nerves  to 
go  toppling  round  at  night  in  little  boats,  and  clambering  up 
ships'  sides  on  little  ladders.)  We  fed  them, — the  usual 
process.  Poor  fellows  !  they  were  so  crazy  !  And  then  the 
'  Wissahickon '  came  alongside  to  transfer  them  to  the  '  Elm 
City.'  Only  a  part  of  them  could  go  in  the  first  load.  Dr. 
Ware,  with  his  constant  thoughtfulness,  made  me  go  in  her 
to  escape  retm-ning  in  the  smaU  boat.  Just  as  we  pushed  off, 
the  steam  gave  out,  and  we  drifted  end  on  to  the  shore.  Then 
a  boat  had  to  put  off  from  the  '  Elm  City,'  with  a  line  to  tow 
us  up.  All  this  time  the  thunder  was  incessant,  the  ram 
falling  m  torrents,  whilst  every  second  the  beautiful  crimson 
lightning  flashed  the  whole  scene  open  to  us." 

Another  lady  gives  lier  experience  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  We  were  called  to  go  on  board  '  The  Wissahickon,'  from 
thence  to  '  The  Sea-shore,'  and  run  down  in  the  latter  to 

sary  to  inform  the  reader  that  this  book  does  not  originate 
with  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  nor  with  any  of 
its  ofi&cers.  But  it  is  written  by  one  who  has  served  with  the 
Commission  from  the  first,  and  Avho  may  claim  to  compre- 
hend its  purposes  and  its  work,  and  to  relate  its  facts  with 
accuracy."  As  the  author  Tvithholds  her  name,  of  com-se  I  do 
not  give  it. 

There  are  many  English  men  and  women  now  acting  under 
the  orders  of  the  Commission.  Dr.  Reid,  formerly  Director 
of  Ventilation  at  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  died  in  its  ser- 
vice, being  at  the  time  of  his  death  its  Special  Inspector  of 
Ventilation  in  Hospitals. 


47 

West  Point,  to  bring  off  twenty-five  men  said  to  be  lying 
there  sick  and  destitute.  Two  doctors  went  with  us.  After 
hunting  an  hour  for  '  The  Sea-shore '  in  vain,  and  having  got 

as  low  as  Cumberland,  we  decided  [roe  being  Mrs. and  I, 

for  the  doctors  were  new  and  docile,  and  glad  to  leave  the  re- 
sponsibility upon  us  women)  to  push  on  in  the  tug,  rather  than 
leave  the  men  another  night  on  the  ground,  as  a  heavy  stoim 
of  wind  and  rain  had  been  going  on  all  day.  The  pilot 
remonstrated  but  the  captain  approved  ;  and  if  the  firemen 
had  not  suddenly  let  out  the  fires,  and  detained  us  two  hours, 
we  might  have  got  our  men  on  board  and  returned  com- 
fortably soon  after  dark.  But  the  delay  lost  us  the  precious 
daylight.  It  was  night  before  the  last  man  was  got  on  board. 
There  were  fifty-six  of  them — ten  very  sick  ones.  The  boat 
had  a  little  shelter-cabin.  As  we  were  laying  matti'esses  on 
the  floor,  whilst  the  doctors  were  finding  the  men,  the  captain 
stopped  us,  refusing  to  let  us  put  typhoid  fever  below  the 
deck,  on  account  of  the  crew,  he  said,  and  threatening  to 

push  off,  at  once,  from  the  shore.     IVIrs.  and  I  looked  at 

him  !  I  did  the  terrible  and  she  the  pathetic, — and  he 
abandoned  the  contest.  The  return-passage  was  rather 
an  anxious  one.  The  river  is  much  obstructed  with  sunken 
ships  and  trees  ;  the  night  was  dark,  and  we  had  to  feel  our 
way,  slackening  speed  every  ten  minutes.  If  we  had  been 
alone  it  wouldn't  have  mattered ,  but  to  have  fiftyhnen  unable 
to  move  upon  our  hands,  was  too  heavy  a  responsibility 
not  to  make  us  anxious.  The  captain  and  pilot  said  the  boat 
was  leaky,  and  remarked  awfully  '  that  the  water  was  six 
fathoms  deep  about  there  ;'  but  we  saw  their  motive  and  were 
not  scared.  We  were  safe  alongside  the  '  Spaulding'  by  mid- 
night ;  but  Mr,  Olmsted's  tone  of  voice,  as  he  said,  *  You 
don't  know  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you,'  showed  how  much  he 
had  been  worried.  And  yet  it  was  the  best  thing  we  could 
have  done,  for  three,  perhaps  five,  of  the  men  would  have 
been  dead  before  morning.  To-day  (Sunday)  they  are  living 
and  likely  to  live.  Is  this  Sunday  ?  What  days  our  Sundays 
have  been  !  I  think  of  you  all  at  rest,  and  the  sound  of 
church-bells  in  your  ears,  with  a  strange  distant  feeling." 

Here  is  another  account,  telling  of  an  act  of 


48  A  woman's  example. 

real  heroism.  It  must  be  stated  that  the  Sani- 
tary Commission  will  not  retain  in  its  service 
anybody  who  proves  at  all  craven  "  under  fire/^ 
or  in  any  danger  whatsoever.  The  incident 
referred  to  occurred  after  the  retreat  from  the 
Chickahominy,  when  the  army  of  the  Potomac 
had  just  managed  to  reach  the  James  river. 

"Reached  Harrison's  Bar  at  11  a.m.  July  1st,  and  were 
ordered  to  go  up  the  James  Eiver  as  far  as  Carter's  Landing. 
To  do  this  we  had  to  pass  the  batteries  at  City  Point."  (These 
batteries  were  Confederate.)  "  We  were  told  there  was  no 
danger  if  we  should  carry  a  yellow  flag  ;  yellow  Jiag  we  had 
none,  so  we  trusted  to  the  red  Sanitary  Commission,  and 
prepared  to  run  it.  'The  Galena'  (a  Federal  iron-clad) 
hailed  us  to  keep  below  as  we  passed  the  battery.  Shortly 
after  we  came  up  with  '  The  Monitor,'  (another  iron-clad,) 
and  the  little  captain,  with  his  East  India  hat,  trumpet  in 
hand,  repeated  the  advice  of  the  '  Galena,'  and  added  that  if 
he  heard  firing  he  would  follow  us.  Our  cannon  pointed  its 
black  muzzle  at  the  shore,  and  on  we  went.  As  we  left '  The 
Monitor,'  the  captain  came  to  me,  with  his  grim  smile,  and 
said,  'I'll  take  those  mattresses  you  spoke  of.'  We  had  joked, 
as  people  will,  about  our  danger,  and  I  had  suggested  mat- 
tresses around  the  wheel-house,  never  thinking  that  he  would 
try  it.  But  the  captain  was  in  earnest ;  when  was  he  any- 
thing else?  So  the  contrabands  (negroes)  brought  up  the 
mattresses  and  piled  them  against  the  wheel-house,  and  the 
pilot  stood  against  the  mast,  with  a  mattress  slung  in  the  rig- 
ging to  protect  him.  In  an  hour  we  had  passed  the  danger 
and  reached  Carter's  Landing,  and  there  was  the  army, — '  all 
that  was  left  of  it.'" 

Women  are  alike  the  world  over,  always  the 
same   lo\ing,  self-sacrificing  creatures,    never 


49 


counting  their  own  safety  as  anything  when 
suffering  has  to  be  relieved.  Men  are  split  up 
into  nationalities,  but  women  are  of  one  coun- 
try everywhere. 


FIELD    COOKING. 


Another  suggestion  of  the  Commission,  and 
one  which   the    medical  officers  of   the  army 
quickly  adopted,  was  a  model  receiving  hospi- 
tal.    A   rapidly  constructed,.  ^^^Yf  ^^^  easily 
transported  building  for  the  sick  is  a  desidera- 
tum in  all  armies,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
anything  could  be  much  better  than  the  one  in 
question.     It  consisted  of  trunks  of  trees  placed 
upright  at  proper  distances,  roofed  over  with 
tarpaulings,  and  the  sides  covered  in  with  tent- 
duck,  which  latter  could  be  raised  or  lowered  at 
pleasure.     The  first  hospital  of  the  kind  con- 
structed contained  fifteen  hundred  (1500)  beds. 
The  subject  of  cooking  early  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Commission,  as  would  be  expected ; 
and  herein  lay  a  splendid  field  for  its  labours  and 
advice.     The  ration   issued   to  the   American 
soldier  is  by  far  the  largest  and  most  varied  of 
any  known ;  but  Americans  are  as  poor  cooks, 

D 


50  A   WOMAN^S   EXAMPLE. 

as  Englislimen,  and  the  very  quantity  of  food 
issued  to  them,  if  badly  prepared,  would  be- 
come a  fruitful  source  of  disease  in  the  army. 
As  a  general  rule,  campaign-cooking  con- 
sists in  burning  freshly-killed  meat  with  fire  on 
the  ground;  economy  of  fuel  is  not  usually 
studied  in  this  process,  and  the  time  occasionally 
arrives  when  dry  sticks,  or  timber,  are  not  forth- 
coming in  sufiicient  quantity.  After  an  en- 
gagement, the  troops  are  not  generally  dis- 
posed to  fatigue  themselves  to  any  great 
extent  in  hunting  for  wood,  and  yet  many 
hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  wounded  and 
sick  have  to  be  fed.  The  Sanitary  Commission 
provided  for  such  emergencies  by  placing  large 
cauldrons  on  wheels,  from  which  its  agents 
served  out  properly-made  and  nutritious  soup  ; 
and  the  army  quickly  adopted  the  idea. 


51 


CHAPTER  YI. 

INSPECTION  OF    TROOPS_,  HOSPITALS,  AND   CAMPS. 

The  Commission,  as  we  have  incidentally  re- 
marked elsewhere,  gave  from  the  outset  marked 
prominence  to  the  inspection  of  troops,  hospi- 
tals, and  camps ;  every  facility  being  extended 
to  its  representatives  by  the  medical  autho- 
rities throughout  the  country,  after  Dr.  Ham- 
mond^s  appointment  to  the  Surgeon-General- 
ship. Special  inspectors  were  charged  with 
this  duty ;  and  the  following  subjects,  dilated 
upon  in  one  of  the  Reports,  will  serve  to  show 
the  nature  and  character  of  the  inspection. 

1. — Description    and   general    character   of 
troops  inspected. 

2. — Character  of  camp  sites. 

3. — Arrangement  and  condition  of  camps. 

4. — Tents ;  their  character,  ventilation,  and 
management. 

5.— Bedding  and  clothing. 

6. — Personal  cleanliness. 


525 

7. — Cleaoliness  of  camps. 

8.— Water,  source  and  quality. 

9. — Rations  and  cooking. 

10.— Company  fund. 

11.— Sutlers. 

12. — Intoxication. 

13. — Absences  from  cainp. 

14. — Recreation. 

15. — Benefit  societies* 

16. — Discipline. 

17. — Medical  inspection  on  enlistment, 

18. — Medical  officers. 

19. — Hospitals,  ambulances,  &c. 

20. — Prevailing  diseases. 

2 1 . — Preventive  duty  of  surgeons-. 

22. — Arms  and  accoutrements. 

ENFOKCEMENT     OF     RELIGIOUS    OBSERVANCES    IN 
THE    ARMY. 

Another  E  eport  of  the  Commission,  on  simi- 
lar topics  to  the  above,  contains  tlie  follow- 
ing :— 

"  The  United  States  Government  very  properly  recognizes 
tlie  importance  of  moral  and  religious  influences  in  the  army 
by  the  appointment  of  a  chaplain  to  each  regiment,  and  the 
forbidding,  by  army  regulations,  sundiy  immoralities  among 
the  troops.    The  wisdom  of  this  consists,  not  merely  in  the 


53 

mational  recognition  of  Christianity  thus  manifested,  nor  yet 
simply  iu  the  spiritual  improvement  of  the  soldiers  and  the 
protection  from  ruinous  influences  of  the  thousands  of  young 
men  drawn  away  from  the  restraints  of  home  ;  but  also  in  its 
relation  to  the  physical  and  mental  condition  of  the  army 
most  favourable  to  military  ■efficiency.  Vice  of  every  kind 
saps  the  liealth  and  destroys  the  discipline  of  aa  army.  Hence 
the  officers,  from  the  General  in  command  downwards,  should 
give  their  full  sanction  to  all  appropriate  moral  and  religious 
influences  that  can  be  introduced  into  camp  life.  By  example, 
and  the  careful  arrangement  of  railitafy  plans  and  methods, 
they  should  lead  the  army  to  respect  the  Sabbath  and  public 
■worship  ;  and  should  suppress  profanity,  intemperance,  gamb- 
ling, and  licentiousness." 


WHAT  IS  TO    BE    DONE  WITH    AMERICAN  SOLDIERS 
AT    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    WAR? 

The  founders  and  directors  of  tke  Sanitary 
Commission  early  asked  tliemselves  the  ques- 
tion, ^^  What  is  to  become  of  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  disabled  soldiers  after  peace  is  re- 
stored ?"  It  was  impossible  to  decide  that  ques- 
tion in  America,  except  on  theory ;;  and  the  Exe- 
cutive Committee  of  the  Commission  resolved  to 
despatch  a  special  agent  to  Europe,  charged 
with  the  study  of  investigating  the  pension  and 
invalid  systems  of  armies.  The  Executive 
Committee  selected  the  gentleman  who  should 
act  as  their  agent,  and  the  President  of  the 
Commission   was   requested    to   communicate 


64 

■with  him  on  the  subject.  I  propose  to  make  a 
few  short  extracts  from  Dr.  Bellows'  letter  of 
invitation. 

"  New  York,  August  15th,  1862. 

"  Stephen  G.  Perkins,  Esq. 

"  Dear  Sik, — The  Sanitary  Commission  are  much  exer- 
cised with  the  subject  of  the  future  of  the  disabled  soldiers  of 
this  war.  They  calculate  that,  if  it  continue  a  year  longer, 
not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  men,  of  impaired  vigour, 
maimed,  or  broken  in  body  and  spirit,  will  be  thrown  on  the 
country.  Add  to  this  a  tide  of  another  hundred  thousand 
men,  demoralized  for  civil  life  by  military  habits,  and  it  is  easy 
to  see  what  a  trial  to  the  order,  industry,  and  security  of 
society,  and  what  a  burden  to  its  already  strained  resources, 
there  is  in  store  for  us." 

****** 

"  To  restore  the  large  proportion  of  all  our  invalids  to  their 
homes,  there  to  live  and  labour  according  to  their  strength, 
sustained  and  blessed  by  their  own  kindred,  we  must  have  a 
sound,  a  generous,  a  wisely-considered  pension  law  ;  and  this 
pension  law  must  be  rid  of  all  humiliating  or  enslaving  cha- 
racter, *  *  *  Moreover,  the  right  to  a  pension  should  not 
rest  exclusively  on  visible  wounds.  Broken  constitutions,  or 
impaired  vigour,  traceable  unmistakably  to  military  service, 
should  entitle  to  a  pension." 

****** 

"  We  are  very  anxious  to  have  a  careful  report  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  foreign  institutions  for  the  care  of  invalid  soldiers, 
before  the  next  meeting  of  Congress.  And  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  re- 
cently held  at  my  house,  the  following  resolution  was  oifered 
by  Mr.  Olmsted,  and  passed  : 

'  Eesolvcd  that  S.  G.  Perkins,  Esq.  be  requested  to  study 
the  militaiy  pension  and  invalid  system  of  the  princi*- 
pal  European  nations,  visiting  the  more  important  es- 
tablishments in  which  invalid  soldiers  are  maintained, 
and  to  report  his  observations  to  the  Commission,  with 


55 


the  conclusions  of  his  judgment  in  regard  to  an  invalid 
and  pension  system  for  the  disabled  soldiers  of  the  pre- 
sent war.' 

"  I  hope  you  will  consent  to  do  this  work  for  us.  1  know 
no  man  so  well  fitted,  and  I  really  think  it  can  be  laid  upon 
you  as  a  clear  call  of  Divine  Providence.  Nothing  was  said 
on  the  subject  of  remuneration.  We  are  all  volunteers  in  this 
good  work.  But  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  any  necessaiy 
expenses,  incm-red  in  this  service,  would  be  cheerfully  reim- 
bursed by  this  Commission ;  and  if  this  is  a  point  of  interest 
or  importance,  I  will  have  action  taken  upon  it  at  the  earliest 
moment.*  *  *  * 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  respectfully  and  cordially  yom*s, 
"Henry  W.  Bellows, 
"  PresideJit  of  the  Sanitary  Com7nissio7i." 

Mr.  Perkins  accepted  the  duties  thus  proposed, 
and  the  result  of  his  investigations  was  a  most 
comprehensive  and  valuable  '^  Eeport  on  the 
Pension  Systems  and  Invalid  Hospitals  of 
France,  Prussia,  Austria,  Russia,  and  Italy; 
with  some  suggestions  upon  the  best  means  of 
disposing  of  our  disabled  soldiers.'^  Space  will 
not  admit  of  more  than  referring  to  this  result 
of  Mr.  Perkins'  labours. 


56  A  woman's  example, 


CHAPTER  VII, 

ARTICLES    AND    STORES    GIVEN    AWAY    BY    THE 
COMMISSION. 

Nothing  will  convey  a  better  impression  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  Commission's  operations  than 
lists  of  articles  distributed  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  after  some  of  the  principal  battles. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  never  has 
received  the  slightest  pecuniary  assistance  from 
the  Government,  every  article  named  being  the 
voluntary  contribution  of  the  people,  for  whom 
it  really  acts  as  simple  agent.  The  waggons 
carrying  its  supplies,  the  horses  and  mules 
alike,  are  all  its  own  property  :  it  professes  to 
give  alone,  and  is  under  no  obligation  whatever 
to  the  authorities  for  assistance  of  any  kind. 
Further,  its  contributions  are  not  distributed 
directly  to  the  troops,  but  are  handed  over  to 
the  medical  officers  of  the  army,  or  issued  with 
their  advice  or  consent.      Confusion  is  thereby 


A  nation's  work.  5  J 

avoided,  atid  the  Medical  Staff  and  unofficial 
Commission  work  together  without  possibility 
of  discord. 

The  colleetion  of  these  enormous  supplies  is, 
of  course,  a  work  of  time  ;  one  demanding,  too, 
great  business  tact  and  the  highest  executive 
ability.  The  articles,  bulky  as  they  necessarily 
are,  must  be  on  the  spot  when  required,  or 
within  easy,  reachable  distance;  for  time  is 
everything  in  dealing  with  sick  and  wounded 
men.  The  Commission  therefore  established 
great  central  d-epots  at  various  points  along  the 
line  of  the  campaign,  and  the  railroads  con- 
verging towards  those  points  from  the  North 
equally  with  navigable  rivers  and  the  ocean 
itself,  carried  the  offerings  of  the  charitable  to 
its  warehouses.  The  armies  of  Grant  and 
Rosecrans,  operating  in  the  States  of  Missis- 
sippi and  Tennessee,  would  be  supplied  from 
the  North-western  States,  and  some  idea  may 
be  formed  of  the  magnitude  of  these  operations 
of  the  Commission  by  a  list  of  contributions  of 
only  seven  cities.  From  September  1, 1861,  to 
September  1,  1863,  the  branches  at  Chicago, 
Cincinnati,    Cleveland,    Louisville,    Pittsburg, 


58, 


A   WOMAN'S    EXAMPLE. 


Buffalo,  and  New  Albany,   sent  forward  tlie 
following  supplies : — 

CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  SEVEN  WESTERN  CITIES. 


Packages  . 

62,445 

Concentrated 

Blankets  . 

10,911 

Beef    .        .    30,116  lbs. 

Comfortables     . 

38,957 

Condensed  Milk  46,807     „" 

Bed-ticks  . 

24,^98 

Biscuits  .         .  100,320    „ 

Pillow- ticks 

10,421 

Dried  Beef     .     13,423    „ 

Pillows      .        . 

18,841 

Tea         .        .       5,779     „ 

Pillow-cases 

153,017 

Sugar      .         .     21,580     „ 

Sheets       . 

57,082 

Dried  Emit     .  466,347     „ 

Shirts 

192,712 

Light  Groceries   47,657     „ 

Drawers   . 

107,465 

Codfish    .         .     50,862     „ 

Dressing-gowns 

11,483 

Cheese    .        .     11,981     „ 

Coats  &  Vests  . 

8,999 

Butter     .        .     40,170     „ 

Towels&hndk'fs,  270,276 

Eggs       .         ,     38,633  doz. 

Socks        . 

84,485 

Wines  &  Spu-its  29,37 8 bots. 

Slippers    . 

15,207 

Apple-butter  .       2,160gals. 

Mittens     . 

9,180 

Pickles    .        .     27,471    „ 

Night-caps 

4,464 

Potatoes  .         .     50,281  bus. 

Bandages  &  Rags 

;,  205,632  lbs. 

Ale  &  Cider  ;.     ll,584gals. 

Sponges  and  Pads  51,024     „ 

Chickens         .       4/il4 

Pin-cushions      . 

27,182 

Crutches                  3,309  prs. 

Cans  of  Fruit    . 

97,642 

In  addition  to  all  these,  there  were  many 
miscellaneous  articles,  such  as  hospital  furni- 
ture, &c.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Army  makes  any 
diminution  whatever  in  its  supplies  owing  to 
the  beneficence  of  the  Commission.  It  acts 
without  any  regard  to  its  existence ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  the  Commission  furnishes  a  long 


59 

list  of  articles  wliich  are  not  down  in  the  "  Re- 
gulations," and  therefore  would  never  reach  the 
soldier,  in  field  or  hospital,  but  for  its  enter« 
prise  and  benevolence.  Occasionally,  however, 
it  comes  to  the  aid  of  the  Medical  Staff  at  cri- 
tical periods.  A  terrible  misfortune  befel  that 
branch  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  after  the 
disastrous  second  battle  of  Bull  Run :  forty- 
three  waggon  loads  of  medical  stores  were  cap- 
tured by  the  Confederates  at  the  close  of  the 
battle,  when  General  Pope's  army  was  com- 
mencing its  retreat  after  a  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  which  the  highest  military  authority 
in  the  Northern  States  placed  at  16,000  men» 
Two  waggon-loads  of  drugs  and  medicines, 
despatched  from  Washington  by  the  Sanitary 
Commission  in  charge  of  its  own  agents,  reached 
the  scene  of  action  at  the  close  of  the  second 
day^s  battle  ;  and  sixteen  additional  waggons 
from  the  same  source  came  safely  to  their  des- 
tination within  the  two  succeeding  days.  At 
Centreville,  on  the  road  from  Bull  Run  to 
Washington,  the  Commission's  agents  served 
out  to  the  straggling  wounded,  who  poured  in, 
jaded  and  worn,    by  hundreds,  hot  beef  tea,. 


60 

soup,  bread  and  stimulants,  gathered  tliem 
into  ambulances  and  hospitals,  and  assisted 
others  onwards  to  Washington. 

At  the  almost  equally  sanguinary  battle  of 
Antietam,  which  followed  shortly  afterwards, 
the  Sanitary  Commission  again  came  to  the 
relief  of  the  sick  and  wounded  of  both  armies. 
The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Olmsted  gives  a 
list  of  some  of  the  articles  supplied  under  his 
direction, 

*'  Washington,  Sept.  23. 
"  To  Dr.  BeUows,  President. 

"  Sir, — I  inclose  Br.  Agnew's  letter.  We  have  sent 
him  since  the  Army  of  Virginia"  (tlien  again  under  the 
command  of  General  McClellan,)  *' went  to  meet  the  invaders, 
that  is,  within  ten  days,  28,763  pieces  of  dry  goods,  shirts, 
towels,  bedticks,  pillows,  &c.  ;  30  barrels  old  linen,  bandages, 
and  lint ;  3188  pounds  of  farina;  2620  pounds  condensed 
milk  ;  5000  pounds  beef-stock  and  canned  meats  ;  3000 
bottles  of  wine  and  cordials,  and  several  tons  of  lemon  and 
other  fruit ;  crackers,  tea,  sugar,  rubber-cloth,  tin  cups,  and 
hospital  conveniences. 

"  We  are  sending  forward  more,  constantly.  Four  thou- 
sand sets  of  hospital  clothing  will  (by  special  train  from  New 
York)  get  through  to  Frederick,  (300  miles,)  to-morrow,  if 
money  and  energ}^  can  break  through  the  obstructions  of  this 
embarrassed  transportation.  Your  daily  supplies  from  New 
York  reach  us  regularly. 

*'  Respectfully  yours,  F.  L.  Olmsted, 

"  General  Secretary  ^ 

After  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  the  Com- 
mission came  again  to  the  rescue,  and  with  as 


A  nation's  work.  61 

mucli  earnestness  as  ever.  The  following  ex- 
tracts are  from  the  Report  of  one  of  its  agents, 
Dr.  Douglas,  who  started  from  Washington  for 
the  Rappahannock  river  immediately  on  news 
of  the  battle  reaching  that  city.  Dr.  Douglas 
had  under  his  charge  a  steamboat  chartered  for 
the  occasion,  laden  with  the  Commission's 
stores ;  and  his  orders  were,  in  company  with 
a  party  of  surgeons  and  nurses,  to  ascend  the 
Rappahannock  until  he  reached  the  army. 

-'Early  Tuesday  morning  the  rain  subsided,  the  sun  ap- 
peared, and  the  weather  became  clear  and  cold 

Blankets  had  to  repair  the  absence  of  stoves The 

supply  in  the  hands  of  the  purveyor  soon  became  exhausted 
from  the  unusual  demands  made  upon  him,  on  account  of  the 
severity  of  the  weather.  Fortunately  we  were  enabled  to 
supplement  his  stores,  and  to  answer  his  calls  upon  us  from 
the  reserveof  1 800  blankets   and  over  900  quilts,  which  we 

had  sent  forward We  had  been  able  to  get  up 

to  our  field  station  5642  wooUen  shirts,  4439  pairs  wooUen 
drawers,  4269  pairs  socks,  and  over  2500  towels,  among 
other  articles.  These  were  liberally  distributed  wherever 
the  surgeons  of  hospitals  indicated  there  was  a  need.  Certain 
articles  of  hospital  furniture,  of  which  there  was  a  compa. 
ratively  greater  want  than  of  anything  else,  were  freely  ob- 
tained by   all  surgeons  at  our   station In  the 

article  of  food  alone,  we  issued  in  one  week,  solely  to  hos- 
pitals, sixteen  barrels  of  dried  fruit,  ten  boxes  of  soda  bis- 
cuit, six  barrels  of  crackers,  and  nearly  1000  pounds  of  con- 
centrated milk.  .  .  .  In  order  to  meet  whatever  demands 
might  arise  for  the  proper  sustenance  of  the  wounded  while 
^n  this  trying  journey"  (from  Fredericksburg  to  Washmgton), 
"  Mr.  Iviuipp,  our  special  relief  agent,  was  despatched  from 


62 


Washington  to  Acquia  Creek,  to  provide  suitable  accommo- 
dation for  furnishing  food  or  shelter  at  that  point.  A  kitchen 
was  improvised  upon  the  Landing,  and  the  first  night  meals 
were  provided  for  600  wounded  brought  down  by  the  cars. 
Mr.  Knapp  was  cordially  assisted  in  this  humane  work  by 
several  members  of  the  Christian  Commission*  who  were 
present  at  that  place.  Through  the  cordial  co-operation  of 
the  quartei-master  of  the  post,  Mr.  Knapp  had  a  building 
erected  adjoining   our  portable  store-house,   which  affords 

shelter  and  a  good  bed  to  nearly  100  every  night 

By  the  schedule  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the  di^dsion  hospitals 
were  visited  and  supplies  furnished  to  them  on  requisition. 
Besides  this,  supplies  were  also  issued  to  a  number  of  brigade 
hospitals,  and  to  over  fifty  regimental  hospitals,  previous  to 
my  leaving  on  the  24th  December." 

The  following  list  of  articles  distributed  after 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg  is  taken  from  the 
official  Report  of  the  Commission.  The  list  is 
headed  with  this  notice : — *'  The  perishable  ar- 
ticles (amounting  to  over  60  tons)  were  taken 
to  the  ground  in  refrigerating  cars/^ 

ARTICLES  GIVEN    AWAY    BY   THE    SANITARY    COM- 
MISSION AFTER  THE  BATTLE   OF  GETTYSBURG. 

Clothing,  &c. 

Drawers,  woollen     5,310  prs.     Oil-silk        .        .       300  yds. 

„         cotton  .    1,833    „       Tin-basins  &  cups     7,000 

*  The  Christian  Commission  is  a  volunteer  association  de- 
signed to  aid  the  Chaplains  of  the  Army  by  the  distribution 
of  Bibles,  tracts,  and  other  reading  matter  to  the  soldiers. 
Its  agents  haA-e,  however,  discovered,  that  the  bodies  of  the 
men  have  occasionally  to  be  seen  to  as  well  as  their  souls, 
and  it  has  latterly  acted,  though  of  course  in  a  minor  degree  , 
after  the  example  of  the  Sanitary  Commission. 


A   NATION'S    WORK. 


63 


Shirts,  woollen  / . 

7,158 

Old  linen  and 

„      cotton     . 

3,266 

bandages 

.     llObrls. 

Pillows 

2,114 

Water  tanks 

7 

Pillow-cases 

264 

Water  coolers 

,       46 

Bed-sacks   . 

1,630 

Bay  Rum  and  Eau 

Blankets     . 

1,007 

de  Cologne 

.     225  bots 

Sheets 

274 

Fans 

.  3,500 

"Wrappers   . 

508 

Chloride  of  Lime 

.       llbrls. 

Handkercliiefs 

2,659 

Shoes  &  SUppers 

4,000  prs. 

Stockings,  woollen  3,560  prs. 

Crutches 

.  1,200 

„        cotton 

^,258     „ 

Lanthorns 

.     180 

Bed  Utensils 

728 

Candles 

.     350  lbs. 

Towels  &  Napkins 

10,000 

Canvas 

.     300  yds. 

Sponges      . 

2,300 

Mosquito-netting 

.     648  pes. 

Combs 

1,500 

Paper   . 

.     237  qrs. 

Buckets 

200 

Pants,  Coats,  Hats     189  pes 

Soap,  Castile 

250  lbs. 

Plaster 

.       16  rolls 

Food,  &c. 

Poultry  and  Mut- 

Ice     .        .         . 

20,000  lbs. 

ton 

11,000  lbs. 

Concentrated 

Butter 

6,430    „ 

Beef  Soup 

3,800    „ 

Eggs    . 

.    8,500  doz. 

Concent.  Milk 

12,500    „ 

Garden  vegetable 

s      675bush 

Prep.  Farina 

7,000    „ 

Berries 

48     „ 

Dried  Fruit 

3,500    „ 

Bread 

12,900  Ivs. 

Jellies 

2,000  jars 

Tamarinds  . 

750 

Preserved  Fish    . 

3,600  ibs. 

Lemons 

116box. 

Pickles 

400  gals. 

Oranges 

46    „ 

Tobacco 

100  lbs. 

Coffee 

850  lbs. 

Tobacco  pipes 

1,000 

Chocolate    . 

.       831    „ 

Indian  Meal 

1,621  lbs. 

Tea 

426    „ 

Starch 

1,074    „ 

White  Sugar 

.    6,800    „ 

Codfish 

3,848    ,, 

Syrups 

785bots. 

Canned  Fruit 

582  cans 

Brandy 

1,250    „ 

„      Oysters    . 

72    „ 

Whiskey     . 

1,168    „ 

Brandy  Peaches  . 

303  jars 

Wine  . 

1,148    „ 

Catsup 

43    „ 

Ale     . 

600  gals. 

Vinegar 

24  bots 

Biscuit,  rusks,  &c 

.      134  bar. 

Jam.  Ginger 

43  jars 

Preserved  Meats 

500  lbs. 

64 

The  estimated  value  of  these  articles,  ex- 
clusive of  the  cost  of  collection  and  transpor- 
tation to  the  scene  of  action,  was  75,000  dol- 
lars ;  and  yet  this  was  not  by  much  the  only 
service  rendered  by  the  Commission  to  the 
soldiers.  Kitchens,  sleeping  apartments,  shel- 
ters, were  established  by  its  numerous  agents ; 
and  crowds  of  wounded  attended  to  who  could 
not  be  treated  by  the  over- taxed  surgeons  of  the 
army.  There  was  every  need  of  this,  for  no 
less  than  14,860  wounded  (of  whom  1,810  were 
Confederates)  crowded  the  hospitals,  beside 
5,452  Confederates  who  were  captured,  and 
treated  elsewhere.  The  Commission  made  no 
difference  whatever  in  its  gifts  to  friend  and 
foe,  regarding  the  sufferers  as  me7i,  not  soldiers ; 
but  of  the  catholicity  of  its  labours  I  propose 
to  speak,  specially,  hereafter. 

When  the  army  of  General  Grant  was  in- 
vesting Vicksburg,  the  Commission  issued, 
during  the  months  of  May  and  June  (1863) 
the  following  articles.  The  Medical  Depart- 
ment was  then  in  an  efficient  state  of  organiza- 
tion and  supply,  and  the  gifts  were  therefore 
not  on  so  large  a  scale  as  on  other  more  press- 
inar  occasions. 


A    NATION  S    WORK. 


65 


ARTICLES    DISTRIBUTED    BY  THE    SANITARY    COM- 
MISSION   AT    VICKSBURG. 


Quilts 

1,504 

Dried  Fruit 

16,430  lbs. 

Pillows       . 

2,220 

„     Beef.        . 

888     „ 

Sheets 

1,840 

Groceries   . 

1,882     „ 

Drawers     . 

5,376 

Wines  &  Liquor 

s    1,979  bots. 

Towels,  &c. 

7,484 

Butter 

3,557  lbs. 

Bed-sacks  . 

758 

Apple -butter 

30  gals. 

Pillow-cases 

.     2,830 

Eggs 

2,401  doz. 

Shirts 

.     7,909 

Pickles 

2,376  gals. 

Dressing- gOA\Tis 

422 

Molasses     . 

85    „ 

'Socks 

.     2,453  prs. 

Sour-krout 

1,532    „ 

Slippers 

.     1,190    „ 

Potatoes     . 

.     5,762bush 

Cloths  &  Bandag 

es       50brls. 

Ale  and  Cider 

.     1,031  gals. 

Hospital  Furniti 

ire  1,747  art. 

Ice     . 

.  27,367  lbs. 

Fans  . 

.     2,347 

Crackers    . 

6,898    „ 

Crutches     . 

66  prs. 

Codfish       . 

6,777    „ 

Cots  and  Mattres 

ses    199 

Corn-meal . 

.     2,485    „ 

Farina 

266  lbs. 

Tea    . 

532    „ 

Sago 

.     1,044 

Pickles 

301  bot. 

Corn-starch 

275 

Lemons 

.  13,200 

Fruit 

5, 114 cans 

Spices 

.     2,006  pprs 

Concenti-ated  B( 

jef    771 

Quinine 

200  oz. 

Here  is  another  list  of  goods  given,  away  by 
the  Commission  to  one  army  alone  (that  of  the 
Potomac),  from  July  1st  to  August  31st,  1863. 
These  articles  mentioned  are  exclusive  of  many 
others,  such  as  india-rubber  cloth,  crutches, 
oiled  silk,  flannel,  porter,  ale,  &c. 


66 


A   WOMAN  S    EXAMPLE. 


SUPPLIES  FURNISHED  BY  THE  COMMISSION  TO 
THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  IN  A  SINGLE 
PEEIOD    OF   TWO    MONTHS. 


HOSPITAL  FURNITURE. 


PERSONAL  CLOTHING. 


Quilts      . 

.    30,197 

Shii'ts 

87,994 

Blankets 

.     13,500 

Drawers  . 

48,303 

Sheets     . 

.     42,945 

Socks       . 

80,322  prs 

Pillows    . 

.     35,877 

Slippers    . 

14,984    „ 

Pillow-cases    . 

.     49,096 

Handkerchiefs  . 

43,606 

Pillow-ticks     . 

.       2,269 

Towels     . 

65,164 

Bed-ticks 

.     11,716 

"Wrappers 

10,235 

Plannel-bands  . 

3,684 

HOSPITAL   DELICACIES. 

Condensed  Milk,  cans     2,624  Vinegar,  bottles        .        692 

Jelly,  jars           .         .     6,959  Syrups          „     .         .     1,435 

Tea,  lbs.   ...        541  Beef-stock  (liquid)  lbs.      634 

Spirits,  bottles  .         ,1,026  „          (solid)      „     1,052 

Wines,  gallons  .        .     1,020  Farinaceous  Food    „  12,263 

Sucli  details  might  be  multiplied  until  my 
work  reached  a  volume  of  the  largest  size^  for 
the  Commission  has  been  present  in  all  the 
battles  since  nearly  the  commencement  of  the 
war.  The  collection  of  these  articles  over  the 
entire  North,  the  transportation  of  them  to 
the  various  depots,  the  carrying  of  the  different 
supplies  to  points  upwards  of  a  thousand  miles 
distant,  the  hiring  of  vessels  and  railway  wag- 
gons, has  all  been  done  by  the  Commission 
alone,  and  at  its  own  cost  and  risk.     In  far- 


67 

distant  Arkansas,  1500  miles  from  New  York  ; 
in  Louisiana,  and  far  away  to  the  Mexican  fron- 
tier— on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte 
— this  volunteer  association  is  carrying  on  the 
work  of  humanity  with  an  unrelenting  vigour. 
Here  are  the  supplies  sent  by  it  to  South  Caro- 
lina in  the  hot  months  of  last  year  : — they  had 
to  be  transported  over  seven  hundred  miles  of 
ocean. 

SUPPLIES    SENT    TO    THE    ARMY    IN    SOUTH    CARO- 
LINA  BY    THE    COMMISSION     IN     THE     SUMMER 

OF  1863. 

Hospital  Clothing  10,000  pes.  Egg-nog  (concent.)      24  cans 

Towels  &  Napkins  8,000  Farinaceous  Food    1,000  lbs. 

Beds  and  pads     .     6,753  Tea       .         .         .     156    „ 

Lint,  bandages,  &c.   lOObbls.  Refined  Sugar       .     300    „ 

Fans  .         .         .     2,100  Eggs     .  .        .       79  doz. 

Eaude  Cologne  2  gals.  Butter   .        .        .     181  lbs. 

Bay-rum     .         .         60  bot.  Lemons  .        .        2  bxs. 

Concent.  Beef-soup  1,000  cans  Lemonade  (concent.)  322    „ 

„       Milk     .     1,000  Dried  Fruit  .         .       Sobbls. 

Brandy     .        .         216  bot.  Fresh  Vegetables  .      26    „ 

Whisky      .         .         336    „  Boston  Crackers    .       20    „ 
"Wine         .        .        384    „       Apple-butter  .     120  cans 

Beside  quick -lime,  chloride -of- lime,  soap, 
sponges,  combs,  hospital  utensils,  cooking  uten- 
sils, chloroform,  morphine,  alcohol,  salt,  mus- 
tard, pepper,  surgical  instruments,  &c.    During 


68 

the  operations  on  Morris  Island,  the  Commis- 
sion chartered  a  vessel,  and  sent  her  down  to 
Charleston  harbour,  laden  with  ice  for  the 
troops  working  in  the  trenches.  The  following 
extract  from  the  Port  Royal  Free  Press  (a 
newspaper  published  by  soldiers  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South)  shows  how  the  agents  of 
the  Commission  risk  their  own  lives  to  save 
others'.  The  occasion  referred  to  was  General 
Gillmore^s  assault  on  Fort  Wagner. 

"  The  officers  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  have  won  for 
themselves  a  splendid  reputation  in  this  Department.  They 
have,  by  their  discretion  and  zeal,  saved  many  valuable  lives. 
Under  the  guns  of  Wagner,  in  the  hottest  of  the  fire,  their 
trained  corps  picked  up  and  carried  off  the  wounded  almost  as 
they  fell.  As  many  of  our  men  were  struck  while  ascending 
the  parapet  and  then  rolled  into  the  moat,  which  at  high 
water  contains  six  feet  of  water,  they  must  inevitably  have 
perished  had  they  been  suffered  to  remain.  But  the  men 
who  were  detailed  for  service  with  Dr.  Marsh  (chief  agent  of 
the  Commission  in  the  Department)  went  about  their  work 
with  intrepidity  and  coolness  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  skill 
and  experience  of  the  members  of  the  Commission  has,  since 
the  battle,  been  unremittingly  employed  to  render  comfortable 
the  sick  and  wounded." 


69 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

FIELD    RELIEF   CORPS. 

During  the  past  year,  the  Commission  insti- 
tuted a  special  corps,  charged  with  certain 
duties  on  the  march,  and  in  and  after  action. 
Frequently  have  the  members  of  this  body 
found  themselves  in  the  front  and  ^'  under  fire/^ 
trotting  their  light  waggons  right  up  to  where 
the  soldiers  are  falling  the  fastest,  and  aiding 
the  surgeons  with  their  welcome  stores  and 
hands.  Non-combatants  are  generally  supposed 
to  remain  in  the  rear,  especially  during  an  en- 
gagement; and  some  may  imagine  that  the 
presence  of  such  men  among  the  soldiers  in 
action  would  produce  confusion.  Two  high 
military  authorities,  however,  thus  testify  in 
their  official  reports  as  to  the  benefit  accruing 
from  this  branch  of  the  Commission.  The 
Medical  Inspector  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
states — ^^We  could  not  do  without  the  Sani- 
tary Commission  -''  whilst  the  Medical  Direc- 


70 

tor  endorses  this  opinion  in  these  words, — "  It 
gives  no  trouble  ;  there  is  no  interference." 

After  an  action,  the  duties  of  this  Field  Re- 
lief Corps  are  very  onerous.  Its  members  hunt 
up  the  straggling  wounded,  assist  them  to 
ambulances,  treat  them  surgically  or  medically 
— ^thus  relieving  the  overtaxed  army  surgeons — 
and  aid  them  to  the  hospitals  or  to  the 
^4odges^'  of  the  Commission,  where  they  can 
obtain  food  and  shelter. 

DEPARTMENT    OF    SPECIAL    RELIEF. 

The  objects  of  this  Branch  are  explained  and 
set  forth  by  the  Sanitary  Commission  as  fol- 
lows : — 

1.  To  supply  to  the  sick  men  of  the  newly-arrived  regiments 
such  medicines,  food,  and  care,  as  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
receive  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  and  with  the  unavoid- 
able lack  of  facilities,  from  their  own  officers.  The  men  to 
be  thus  aided  are  those  who  are  not  so  sick  as  to  have  a  claim 
iipon  a  general  hospital,  and  yet  need  immediate  care  to 
guard  them  against  serious  sickness. 

2.  To  furnish  suitable  food,  lodging,  care,  and  assistance, 
to  men  who  are  honourably  discharged  from  service,  sent  from 
general  hospitals,  or  from  their  regiments  ;  but  who  are  often 
delayed  a  day  or  more  in  the  city — sometimes  many  days— 
before  they  obtain  their  papers  and  pay. 

3.  To  communicate  with  distant  regiments  in  behalf  of 
discharged  men,  whose  certificates  of  disability  or  descriptive 
lists  on  which  to  draw  their  pay,  prove  to  be  defective ;  the 
invalid  soldiers  meantime  being  cared  for,  and  not  exposed  to 


71 

the  fatigue  and  risk  of  going  in  person  to  their  regiments  to 
have  their  papers  corrected. 

4.  To  act  as  the  unpaid  agent,  or  attorney,  of  discharged 
soldiers  wlio  are  too  feeble,  or  too  utterly  disabled  to  present 
their  own  claims  at  the  paymaster's  office, 

5.  To  look  into  the  condition  of  discharged  men  who  as- 
sume to  be  without  means  to  pay  the  expense  of  going  to 
their  homes ;  and  to  funiish  the  necessary  means  where  we 
find  the  man  is  true,  and  the  need  real. 

6.  To  secure  to  disabled  soldiers  railway  tickets  at  reduced 
rates  ;  and,  through  an  agent  at  the  railroad  station,  to  see 
that  these  men  ai*e  not  robbed  or  imposed  upon  by  sharpers. 

7.  To  see  that  all  men  who  are  discharged  and  paid  off,  do 
at  once  leave  the  city  for  their  homes  ;  or  in  cases  where  they 
have  been  induced  by  evil  companions  to  remain  behind,  to 
endeavom-  to  rescue  them,  and  see  them  started  with  through 
tickets  to  their  own  to^vns. 

8.  To  make  reasonably  clean  and  comfortable  before  they 
leave  the  city,  such  discharged  men  as  are  deficient  in  clean- 
liness and  clothes. 

9.  To  be  prepared  to  meet  at  once  with  food  or  other  aid, 
such  immediate  necessities  as  arise  when  sick  men  anive  in 
the  city  in  large  numbers  from  battle-fields,  or  distant  hos- 
pitals. 

10.  To  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  all  soldiers  who  are  out 
of  hospitals,  yet  not  in  service ;  and  give  information  to  the 
proper  authorities  of  such  soldiers  as  seem  endeavouring  to 
avoid  duty,  or  to  desert  fi-om  the  ranks." 

Thisbrancli  of  "Special  Relief, ^^  like  all  other 
branclies  into  whicli  the  Commission  divides  its 
operations,  is  carried  on  by  gentlemen  who  de- 
vote their  entire  attention  to  it.  The  above 
statement  of  objects  gives  but  a  faint  idea  of 
the  labour  and  expense  attending  the  Special 
Relief  Agency,  for  it  must  be  understood  that 


72 

no  "  commission"  is  ever  charged  to  tlie  soldier, 
all  the  operations^  from  first  to  last^  of  the  Asso- 
ciation being  gratis.  "  Homes ''  have  been 
estabhshed  tliroughout  the  North,  where  men 
discharged  from  service,  sick,  wounded,  waiting 
for  their  discharge  or  pay,  are  lodged,  fed  and 
in  everything  cared  for,  until  their  departure 
for  their  own  homes  becomes  possible. 

The  following  is  an  official  statement  of  the 
business  done  at  one  "  Home"  in  Washington, 
from  Sept.  10,  1861,  to  Dec,  15,  1862— fifteen 
months. 

Soldiers  received  .         .     14,106 

Nights'  lodging    .         .         .     36,866 
Meals  given  .         .         .     81,760 

Cost    ..*...  $11,030 

Since  the  opening  of  the  principal  ^*  Home  '^ 
in  Washington  (on  North  Capitol  Street),  to 
October  1st,  1863,  89,986  nights'  lodging  have 
been  furnished,  and  331,315  meals  provided. 

The  managers  of  the  difi'erent  '^  Homes  '^  in 
the  Western  States  give  their  operations  as 
follows.  The  figures  are  up  to  October  1st, 
1863. 


73 


"  Home  ''  at  Cleveland  (Ohio)  . 
NightsModging   .         .         .       2,569 
Meals  given         .         .         .     12,227 

Chicago  (Illinois),  opened  July  1863. 
NightsModging   .         .         .       3,109 
Meals  ....     11,325 

Cincinnati  (Ohio). 
Nights'  lodging  (about)         .     10,000 
Meals  ....     40,017 

Louisville  (Kentucky). 
Nights'  lodging   .         .         .     17; 765 
Meals 102,013 

Nashville  (Tennessee). 

Nights'  lodging    .         .         .       4,821 
Meals  ....     11,909 

Cairo  (Illinois). 
Nights'  lodging    .         .         .     79^550 
Meals  ....  190,150 

Memphis  (Tennessee). 
NightsModging    .         .         .       2,850 
Meals  ....     14,780 


74 


These  ''  Homes^^  were  originally  established 
by  the  Commission  for  the  benefit  of  its  own 
and  the  army  nurses,  when  not  engaged  in 
attending  the  sick,  or  preparing  to  depart  for 
distant  stations.  But  in  process  of  time,  the 
mothers,  wives  and  sisters  of  soldiers  in  the 
field  would  come  from  a  far  distance  to  Wash- 
ington, and  other  cities  in  the  vicinity  of  armies, 
and  find  themselves  among  strangers  without 
the  means  of  obtaining  food  or  shelter.  The 
Commission  opened  its  doors  to  these  sorrowing 
women,  and  many  hundred  such.  Northern  and 
Southern  alike,  have  been  lodged  and  fed  by  it 
gratuitously. 


By  this  branch  of  the  Commission,  soldiers 
^^  under  difficulty-'-'  are  enabled  to  obtain  ^Mis- 
charge  papers,^^  when  entitled  to  them,  "  back 
pay,^^  ''  railway  and  other  tickets^^  at  reduced 
rates ;  and,  in  addition,  relatives  of  soldiers  can 
learn  the  whereabouts  of  any  of  their  friends 
who  may  be  in  hospital  in  any  part  of  the 
country — that  is,  over  an  extent  of  territory 


75 

nearly  as  large  as  the  continent  of  Europe. 
There  are  233  General  Military  Hospitals  in  the 
Northern  States^  and  the  Commission  has  im- 
posed upon  itself  the  task  of  recording  the 
names,  whereabouts,  and  diseases  of  all  the 
inmates  thereof.  In  June,  1863,  there  were  no 
less  than  215,221  names  in  this  "  Hospital 
Directory.^^ 

The  Commission  also  charges  itself  with  the 
duty  of  seeing  that  every  deceased  soldier  is 
decently  interred,  or  his  body  forwarded  to  his 
friends;  besides  which,  it  provides,  when  not 
otherwise  done,  for  a  tablet  with  name,  &c.  over 
the  grave,  with  an  entry  in  its  books  of  the 
locality  of  the  latter  for  future  reference. 


76 


CHAPTER  IX. 

REVENUE    OF    THE    COMMISSION. 

We  have  already  seen,  to  some  extent^  how 
the  Commission  obtains  its  stores  and  funds, 
all  the  contributions  being  purely  voluntary,  and 
its  transportation  and  other  business  managed 
at  its  own  expense.  The  people  of  California 
forwarded  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Commission, 
in  one  lump,  Five  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars 
(upwards  of  £1D0,000)  in  gold  ;  and  at  the  last 
general  election  in  that  State  (in  1863),  the 
citizens  caused  money-boxes  to  be  placed  along- 
side every  electoral  urn  in  their  territory,  and 
the  result  was  an  almost  equal,  additional  sum. 

"  Fairs  ^^  have  lately  been  held  in  different 
sections  of  the  country,  and  the  proceeds  de- 
voted towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
Commission's  different  Branch  agencies.  Such 
meetings  having  taken  place  at  Chicago,  Cin- 
cinnati, Albany,  Buffalo^  Kochester,  Cleveland, 


77 

Boston,  Elmira,  and  "Washington.  At  Chicago, 
the  net  proceeds  of  the  Fair  (the  first  experiment 
of  the  kind)  were  upwards  of  50,000  dollars; 
the  total  receipts  of  that  held  at  Cincinnati  were 
officially  stated  at  268,611  dollars;  Brooklyn 
has  just  contributed  in  like  manner  over  400,000 
dollars ;  and  the  city  of  New  York  is  about 
holding  one  this  month,  where,  from  the  wealth 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  long  preparations, 
it  is  confidently  expected  that  One  Million  of 
Dollars  will  be  realized.  But  so  widely-extended 
and  multifarious  are  the  operations  of  the  Com- 
mission, that  even  these  immense  sums  are 
insufficient  to  enable  it  to  carry  on  its  humane 
efi'orts  with  the  freedom  it  desires. 


78  A  woman's  example. 


COST 

OF   THE 

COMMISSION'S  OPERATIONS. 

The  expense  of  carrying  on  a  work  of  so 
great  magnitude  is  a  most  important  ques- 
tion. 

It  is  a  standing  rule  with  the  Commis- 
sion that  its  employees  must  be  paid,  both 
on  the  ground  of  justice  and  of  expediency. 

Waggons  have  had  to  be  bought,  ships  to 
be  chartered,  horses  and  mules  to  be  fed, 
rents  of  offices  and  warehouses  to  be  paid. 

Yet  the  entire  cost  of  management 
is  under  three  per  cent,  per  annum, 

or    ITS    INCOME. 

There  are  no  secrets  with  the  Commis- 
sion. Its  doors  are  always  open  to  the 
public,  and  its  books  may  be  inspected 
by  any  who  see  fit. 


CHAPTER  X. 


The  Sanitary  Commission  of  the  United  States 
has,  from  the  outset,  made  no  difference  what- 
ever in  its  treatment  of  Federals  or  Confeder- 
ates. If  a  man  be  suffering,  or  in  need  of  food 
or  clothing,  its  Agents  are  under  the  most 
positive  instructions  never  to  ask  whether  he  be 
friend  or  foe,  but  to  look  to  his  wants  imme- 
diately. Times  innumerable  have  I  seen  this 
fact  exemplified  in  Virginia,  and  North  and 
South  Carolina;  and  I  have  even  sometimes 
thought  that  a  slight  preference  was  shown  by 
its  agents  to  the  Confederate  sick  and  wounded. 

At  the  terrible  battle  of  Gettysburg  (in 
Pennsylvania),  fought  on  the  2nd  and  3rd  of 
July,  1863,  upwards  of  20,000  wounded  re- 
mained on  the  field  after  General  Lee's  retreat. 
Of  these,  7fi^0,  in  round  numbers,  were  Con- 
federates, 5,452  of  whom  were  treated  by 
their  own  sui'geons  in  separate  hospitals ;  the 


80 

remainder  being  seen  to  with  the  Federal 
wounded.  The  duty  of  providing  for  the  wants 
of  the  former  was  assigned  by  the  Commission 
to  one  of  its  ablest  agents,  Dr.  Gordon  Win- 
slow  :  this  gentleman  writes  as  follows  to  the 
Associate  Secretary,  Dr.  Douglas  : — 

"  Gettysburg,  July  22,  1863. 

"  Sir, — Agreeably  to  your  instructions,  I  have  inspected 
the  several  Confederate  Hospitals  in  the  vicinity  of  Gettysburg, 
and  have  indicated  on  the  accompanying  map  the  locality, 
division,  General  who  was  in  command,  surgeon  in  charge, 
and  number  of  wounded. 

"  It  appears  that  the  aggregate  of  wounded,  at  the  time  of 
my  visit,  was  5,452,  occupying  some  twenty-four  (24)  separate 
camps,  over  an  area  of  some  twelve  miles.  The  wounds,  in  a 
large  proportion  of  cases,  are  severe. 

"  Amputations  and  resection  are  frequent.  The  corps  of 
Confederate  Sm-geons  are,  as  a  body,  intelligent  and  attentive. 
The  hospitals  are  generally  in  bai-ns,  out-houses,  and  dilapi- 
dated tents.  Some  few  cases  are  in  dwellings.  I  cannot 
speak  favourably  of  their  camp  police.  Often  there  is  a  de- 
plorable want  of  cleanliness  ;  especially  in  barns  and  out- 
houses, vermin  and  putx'id  matter  are  disgustingly  offensive. 
As  fast  as  means  of  transportation  can  be  had,  those  who  are 
capable  of  being  removed  will  be  placed  in  more  comfortable 
quai'ters.  Some  hundreds  are  being  removed  daily.  Every 
provision  is  made  by  the  Sanitaiy  Commission  for  their  com- 
fort during  their  stay  at  the  Depot  Lodge,  and  those  who  are 
placed  directly  in  the  cars  are  fimaished  wholesome  food.  I 
am  pleased  to  report  that  the  surgeons  have  in  every  instance 
spoken  in  the  highest  terms  of  praise  of  the  efforts  made  for 
their  relief  and  comfort. 

"  Most  respectfully, 

"  Gordon  Wisslow,  M.D. 

The  Commission's  work,  however,  was  not 


81 

confined  merely  to  visiting  and  supplying 
hospitals :  as  usual  after  an  engagement,  it 
established  kitchens  and  sleeping  tents  on  the 
field,  where  the  less  grievously  wounded  might 
be  attended  to  and  fed  until  preparations  were 
made  to  remove  them.  One  of  these  "  lodges," 
as  they  are  termed  by  the  Commission,  was 
managed  at  Gettysburg  by  two  ladies,  and  one 
of  them  wrote  her  experience  of  three  weeks' 
duty  on  the  occasion  in  question,  which  has 
since  been  published.*  I  propose  to  make  a 
few  extracts  from  this  very  interesting  little 
tract.  Here  is  a  description  of  how  pre- 
parations were  made  for  the  work  before 
them : — 

"  On  the  day  that  the  railway  bridge  was  repaired  we  moved 
up  to  the  depot,  close  by  the  town,  and  had  things  in  perfect 
order  ;  first-rate  camping  ground,  in  a  large  field  directly  by 
the  track,  Mith  unlimited  supply  of  delicious,  cool  water.  Here 
we  set  up  two  stoves  with  four  large  boilers,  always  kept  full 
of  soup  and  coffee,  watched  by  four  or  five  black  men,  who 
did  the  cooking  under  our  direction,  and  sang  (not  under  our 
direction)  at  the  top  of  theu'  voices  all  the  day, 

"  Oh  darkies  hab  you  seen  my  massa" 

"  When  this  cruel  war  is  over." 


*  Three  n-eelis  at  Gettysburg.  New  York,  Randolph,  1863. 
This  was  written  as  a  private  letter  to  a  friend,  and  jiot  in- 
tended for  publication. 

F 


82  A  woman's  example. 

(Two  lines,  by  the  way,  of  two  different 
songSj  but  what  would  that  matter  to  the 
darkies  ?) 

"  Then  we  had  three  large  hospital  tents,  holding  about 
thirty-five  each,  a  large  camp-meeting  supply-tent,  where 
baiTels  of  goods  were  stored,  and  our  own  smaller  tent  fitted 
up  Avith  tables,  where  jelly-pots  and  bottles  of  all  kinds  of  good 
syrups,  blackberry  and  black  cim'ant,  stood  in  rows.  Barrels 
were  ranged  round  the  tent  walls  ;  shirts,  drawers,  dressing- 
gowns,  socks  and  slippers  (I  wish  we  had  more  of  the  latter), 
rags  and  bandages,  each  in  its  own  place,  on  one  side  ;  on  the 
other  boxes  of  tea,  coffee,  soft  crackers  (biscuit),  tamarinds, 
cheny-brandy,  &c.  Over  the  kitchen,  and  over  this  small 
supply-tent  we  women  rather  reigned,  and  filled  up  our 
wants  by  requisitions  on  the  Commission's  depot.  By  this 
time  there  had  arrived  a  '  delegation'  of  just  the  right  kind 
from  CanandaigTia  (New  York),  with  surgeon  di-essers  and 
attendants,  bringing  a  first-rate  supply  of  necessities  and  com- 
forts for  the  wounded,  wliich  they  handed  over  to  the  Com- 
mission."    (Page  6.) 

These  preparations  were  soon  needed.  Fur- 
ther on  the  writer  says  : — 

*'  I  do  not  think  that  a  man  of  the  16,000,  who  were  trans- 
ported during  our  stay,  went  from  Gettysburg  without  a 
good  meal — rebels  and  Unionists  together,  they  all  had  it,  and 
were  pleased  and  satisfied.  '  Have  you  friends  in  the  army, 
madam?'  a  rebel  soldier,  lying  on  the  floor  of  the  car,  said  to 
me,   as  I  gave  him  some  milk.     '  Yes,  my  brother  is   on 

's  staff.'     '  I  thought  so,   ma'am.     You  can  always 

tell;  when  people  are  good  to  soldiers  they  are  sure  to  have 
fi-iends  in  the  army.'  'We  are  rebels  you  know,  ma'am,' 
another  said;  'do  you  treat  rebels  soV  It  was  strange  to 
see  the  good  brotherly  feehng  come  over  the  soldiers,  our 
own  and  the  rebels,  when  side  by  side  they  lay  in  our  tents. 
'Hullo,  boys!  this  is  the  pleasantest  way  to  meet,  isn't  it? 
We  are  better  friends  when  we  are  so  close  as  this  than  a  little 


83 


further  off.'  And  then  they  would  go  over  the  battles  to- 
gether :  '  we  were  here,'  and  '  you  were  there/  in  the  friend- 
liest way."  (Page  9.) 

Here  is  a  capital  little  touch  of    woman's 
sense  of  the  ridiculous : — 

"  Few  good  things  can  be  said  of  the  Gettysburg  farmers, 
and  I  only  use  Scripture  language  in  calling  them  '  evil 
beasts.'  One  of  tliis  kind  came  creeping  into  our  tent  three 
weeks  after  the  battle.  He  lived  five  miles  only  from  the 
town,  and  had  '  never  seen  a  rebel.'  He  heard  we  had  some 
of  them,  and  came  dowm  to  see  them.  '  Boys,'  we  said, 
marching  him  into  the  tent,  which  happened  to  be  full  of 
rebels  that  day  waiting  for  the  train;  '  Boys,  here's  a  man 
who  never  saw  a  rebel  in  his  life,  and  wants  to  look  at  you  ; ' 
and  there  he  stood  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  and  there  they 
lay  in  rows,  laughing  at  him,  stupid  old  Dutchman.*     '  And 

why  havn't  you  seen  a  rebel  ?'  Mrs.  S. said  ;  '  why  didn't 

you  take  your  gun  and  help  to  drive  them  out  of  yom-  town  ?' 
'  A  feller  might'er  got  hit ! '  which  reply  was  too  much  for  the 
rebels  ;  they  roared  with  laughter  at  him,  up  and  down  the 
tent."  (Page  13.) 

The  following  recital  is  full  of  pathos  : — 

"Late  one  afternoon,  too  late  for  the  cars,  a  train  of  am- 
bulances arrived  at  our  Lodge  with  over  one  hundred  wounded 
rebels,  to  be  cared  for  through  the  night.  Only  one  among 
them  seemed  too  weak  and  faint  to  take  anything.  He  was 
badly  hurt  and  failing.  I  went  to  him  after  his  wound  was 
dressed,  and  found  him  lying  on  his  blanket  stretched  over  the 
straw — a  fair-hau-cd,  blue-eyed  young  lieutenant,  a  face  inno- 
cent enough  for  one  of  our  own  New  England  boys.  I  could 
not  think  of  him  as  a  rebel ;  he  was  too  near  heaven  for  that. 
He  wanted  nothing,  had  not  been  willing  to  eat  for  days,  his 

*  The  southern  part  of  Pennsylvania  was  originally  settled 
by  the  Dutch,  and  the  farmers  there  still  retain  many  of  the 
old  Dutch  habits. 


84 


comrades  said  ;  but  I  coaxed  him  to  try  a  little  milk  gruel, 
made  nicely  with  lemon  and  brandy,  and  one  of  the  satisfac- 
tions of  our  three  weeks  is  the  remembrance  of  the  empty  cup 
I  took  away  afterwards,  and  his  perfect  enjoyment  of  that 
supper,  '  It  was  so  good,  the  best  thing  he  had  had  since  he 
was  wounded  ;'  and  he  thanked  me  so  much,  and  talked  about 
his  '  good  supper'  for  hours.  Poor  creature,  he  had  had  no 
care,  and  it  was  a  surprise  and  pleasure  to  find  himself  thought 
of ;  so  in  a  pleased,  x-hild-like  way,  he  talked  about  it  till 
midnight,  the  attendant  told  me,  as  long  as  he  spoke  of  any- 
thing ;  for  at  midnight  the  change  came,  and  from  that  time 
he  only  thought  of  the  old  days  before  he  was  a  soldier,  when 
he  sang  hymns  in  his  father's  church.  He  sang  them  now 
again,  in  a  clear,  sweet  voice.  *  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me  ;' 
and  then  songs  without  words  in  a  sort  of  low  intoning.  His 
father  was  a  Lutheran  clergyman  in  South  Carolina,  one  of 
the  rebels  told  us  in  the  morning,  when  we  went  into  the  tent, 
to  find  him  sliding  out  of  our  care.  All  day  long  we  watched 
him,  sometimes  fighting  his  battles  over,  oftener  singing  his 
Lutheran  chants,  till  in  at  the  tent  door,  close  to  which  he  lay, 
looked  a  rebel  soldier,  just  arrived  with  other  prisoners.  He 
started  when  he  saw  the  lieutenant,  and  quickly  kneeling 
down  by  him,  called  'Henry!  Henry!'  But  Henry  was 
looking  at  some  one  a  great  way  off,  and  could  not  hear  him. 
'  Do  you  know  this  soldier  ?'  we  said.  '  Oh,  yes,  ma'am, 
and  his  brother  is  wounded  and  a  prisoner,  too,  in  the  cars 
now.'  Two  or  three  men  started  after  him,  found  him,  and 
half  carried  him  from  the  cars  to  our  tent.  '  Henry'  did  not 
know  him,  though ;  and  he  threw  himself  down  by  his  side  on 
the  sti-aw,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  day  lay  in  a  sort  of  apathy, 
without  speaking,  except  to  assure  liimself  that  he  could  stay 
vdth  his  brother,  without  the  risk  of  his  being  separated  from 
his  fellow-prisoners.  And  there  the  brothers  lay,  and  there  we 
strangers  sat  watching  and  listening  to  the  strong,  clear  voice, 
singing, '  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me.'  The  Lord  had  mercy, 
and  at  sunset  I  put  my  hand  on  the  lieutenant's  heart  to  find 
it  still.  All  night  the  brother  lay  close  against  the  coffin,  and 
in  the  morning  went  away  with  his  comrades,  leaving  us  to 
bury  Henry,  having  'confidence,'  but  first  thanking  us  for 
what  we  had  done,  and  giving  us  all  that  he  had  to  show  his 


A    NATION^S    WORK.  85 

gratitude,  the  palmetto  ornament  from  his  brother's  cap  and 

a  button  from  his  coat.     Dr.  W read  the  burial  service 

that  morning  at  the  grave,  and wrote  his  name  on  the 

little  head-board:    'Lieu.   Eauch,    14th  Regt.    S.    Carolina 
Vol.'— (pp.  16,  17,  18.) 

Towards  the  close  of  her  letter,  the  writer 
makes  this  womanly  appeal : — 

"  You  will  not,  I  am  sure,  regret  that  these  most  wretched 
men,  these  '  enemies,'  *  sick  and  in  prison,'  were  helped  and 
cared  for  through  your  supplies,  though  certainly,  they  were 
not  in  your  minds  when  you  packed  your  barrels  and  boxes. 
*****  It  was  curious  to  see,  among  our  workers  at  the 
Lodge,  the  disgust  and  hon-or  felt  for  rebels,  giving  place  to 
the  kindest  feeling  for  wounded  men."     (Page  23.) 

The   Negroes,   too,   receive  assistance  from 

the  Commission,  equally  with  the  whites.     The 

writer  gives  an  amusing  description  of  some  of 

their  ''  goings-on/^ 

"  In  the  field,  where  we  buried  him  (the  young  lieutenant 
above  referred  to)  a  number  of  coloured  freedmen,  working 
for  the  Government  on  the  railroad,  had  their  camp,  and  eveiy 
night  they  took  their  recreation,  after  the  hea\7-  work  of  the  day 
was  over,  in  prayer  meetings.  Such  an  '  inferior  race,'  you 
know!  We  went  over  one  night  and  listened  for  an  hour, 
while  they  sang,  collected  under  the  fly  of  the  tent,  a  table  in 
the  middle  where  the  leader  sat,  and  benches  aU  round  the 
sides  for  the  congregation,  men  only — all  very  black  and 
veiy  earnest.  They  prayed  with  all  their  souls,  as  only  black 
men  and  slaves  can;  for  themselves  and  for  the  dear,  white 
people  who  had  come  over  to  the  meeting,  and  for  '  Massa 
Lincoln,'  for  whom  they  seemed  to  have  a  reverential  affection, 
some  of  them  a  sort  of  worship,  which  confused  Father  Abra- 
ham and  Massa  Abraham  in  one  general  call  for  blessings. 
Whatever  else  they  asked  for,  they  must  have  strength  and 
comfort  and  blessing  for  '  Massa  Lincoln.'     Very  little  care 


86  A  woman's  example. 

was  taken  of  these  poor  men.  Those  who  were  ill,  during 
our  stay,  were  looked  after  by  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Com- 
mission." 

The  Sanitary  Commission  has  made  the 
question  of  the  coloured  troops  in  the  Federal 
army^  of  whom  there  are  now  some  70,000,  a 
special  subject,  and  has  also  turned  its  atten- 
tion to  the  whole  coloured  population, — men, 
women,  and  children, — throughout  the  entire 
region  under  control  of  the  Union  forces.  Did 
space  permit,  I  might  give  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  and  interesting  information  on  this 
topic,  involving  the  answer  to  that  most  im- 
portant question — "  What  is  to  be  done  with 
the  Negroes  ?'■* 

If  any  further  proof  be  necessary  of  the 
purely  benevolent  and  humanitarian  character 
of  the  operations  of  this  Commission,  we  need 
only  to  examine  the  action  of  the  Confederate 
Oovernment  towards  it.  At  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  a  waggon-load  of  the  Commis- 
sion's stores,  three  of  its  agents,  and  a  teamster 
and  coloured  driver  were  captured  by  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  and  the  men  taken  to  Rich- 
mond as  prisoners  of  war.  Thereupon  the 
Secretary  of  the  Commission  wrote  to  the  Con- 


A  nation's  wokk.  87 

federate  authorities,  asking  for  "  the  release  of 
its  employees,  not  merely  because  they  were 
non-combatants  and  engaged  on  an  errand  of 
mercy  at  the  time,  but  on  the  broad,  humani- 
tarian ground  that  the  Sanitary  Commission 
had  never  throughout  the  war  made  any  dis- 
tinction in  its  benevolence  between  friend  and 
foe."  All  the  Confederate  surgeons  at  that 
time  prisoners  in  the  Federal  hands  drew  up 
and  signed  a  memorial  to  their  Secretary  of 
War  endorsing  these  statements ;  and  the 
result  was  the  unconditional  release  of  four  of 
the  prisoners,  only  the  coloured  driver  being 
retained.  The  Commission  did  all  in  its  power 
to  procure  the  liberty  of  the  poor  fellow,  but 
without  success. 


88  A    WOMAN  S    EXAMPLE. 


Conclusion. 

Such  are,  curtly  and  most  poorly  told,  tlie 
results  of  the  labours  of  tlie  Sanitary  Com- 
mission of  tlie  United  States.  That  Commis- 
sion has  really  been  throughout  this  war  the 
agent  of  the  American  people,  who,  to  enable 
it  to  carry  on  its  wonderful  labour  of  love, 
have  imposed  upon  themselves  an  enormous 
voluntary  tax,  ever  increasing  yet  ever  gladly 
given.  Unfortunately,  benevolence  in  this 
world  is  ofttimes  limited  in  its  action  by  inca- 
pacity of  means,  and  the  Committee  is  now 
making  urgent  appeals  for  additional  support. 

Shall  such  a  noble  undertaking  fail^  after 
having  achieved  so  much  ?  No  appeal  has  ever 
yet  been  made  by  its  managers  to  European 
nations,  nor  is  any  likely  to  come  from  them ; 
but  is  it  right  for  us  as  men,  children  of  a  com- 
mon family ;  is  it  right  for  us  as  Englishmen, 
brothers  of  the  same  race,  to  allow  this  noble 
work  to  fail  for  want  of  aid  which  we  can 
offer?  Thousands  of  the  subjects  of  our  beloved 
Queen  are  in  the  ranks  of  those  contending 


89 

armies,  and  every  nation  in  Europe  has  suffer- 
ing and  wounded  men  there,  who,  like  our 
own,  are  receiving  the  ever  present  ministra- 
tions of  this  untiring  Commission.  Can  we — 
after  America's  beneficence  to  Ireland  and 
Lancashire — can  we  refuse  to  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  a  work  so  nobly  instituted  and  so  ably 
carried  on  ? 


90 


A   WOMAN^S    EXAMPLE. 


OFFICEKS  AND    MEMBERS  OF  THE    UNITED  STATES 

SANITARY    COMMISSION. 

Fresident.-ITEl^RY  W.  BELLOWS,  D.D. 

Vice-President.— A.  D.  BACHE,  LL.D. 

Treasurer.— GBORG'K  T.  STRONG,  Esq. 

General  Secretary.— 3.  FOSTER  JEXKINS,  M.D. 

Associate  Secretary  for  Bepartment  of  West. 

J.  S.  NEWBERRY,  M.D. 
Associate  Secretary  for  Department  of  East. 

E.  N.  KNAPP,  Esq. 

Associate  Secretary  and  Chief  of  Inspection. 

J.  H.  DOUGLAS,  M.D. 

Assistant  Secretaries. 

A.  J.  BLOOR,  Esq.,  R.  T.  THORNE,  Esq. 

BEN  J.  COLLINS,  Esq. 

Actuary.— 'F..  B.  ELLIOTT,  Esq. 

Accountayit  and  Superintendant  of  Hospital  Directory. 

JOHN  BOWNE,  Esq. 

Members  of  the  Commission. 


H.  W.  BELLOWS,  D.D. 

A.  D.  BACHE,  LL.D. 

C.  R.  AGNEW,  M.D. 

HORACE  BINNEY,  Jun., 
Esq. 

Hon.  R.  W.  BURNETT. 

Right   Rev.   Bp.  CLARK, 
D.D. 

WOLCOTT  GIBBS,  M.D. 

ELISHA  HARRIS,  M.D. 

Rev.  J.  H.  HEYWOOD. 

S.  G.  HOWE,  M.D. 

Hon.  JOSEPH  HOLT. 

J.  S.  NEWBERRY,  M.D. 


FRED.  LAW  OLMSTED, 

Esq. 
Professor       FAIRMAN 
ROGERS. 

A.  E.  SHIRAS,  U.S.A. 
Hon.  mark  SKINNER. 

GEORGE    T.    STRONG, 

Esq. 

W.  H.  VAN  BUREN,  M.D. 

R.  C.  WOOD,  M.D.,  U.S.A. 

J.  HUNTINGTON  WOL- 
COTT, Esq. 

C.  J.  STILLE,  Esq. 

J.  B.  McCAGG. 


/; 


K-H 


^\'