LETTER VII.
Dear Carrie,—I was very glad to receive your
very welcome letter; when one is as far away from
home as I am everything is welcomed. It is so warm,
we are sitting with the windows open; the climate is
lovely. We are on our way down the river to take up
sick and wounded. The soldiers are so glad to have a
woman among them. I heard a funny story the other
day with regard to it. At one of our outposts, the
soldiers had not seen a woman for months. At last,
the wife of one of the officers went to make him a visit;
on her landing, all the soldiers assembled to see her,
they formed a lane for her, shouting, throwing up their
caps, and acting in such a way generally that the poor
woman was frightened and ran as fast as she could to
her husband's quarters. It is curious sailing through
the island channels here, where there has recently been
such warfare. We may be going to Helena or Vicksburg,
we do not know which. If we go to Vicksburg
we shall stop above the city, but in sight of it. The
hospital boats never take any part in the battle, or are
fired upon as other boats are; the yellow flag floats at
our mast-head to protect the wounded. I am fairly in
the army, and, if my strength holds out, I suppose I
shall be allowed to stay in it. You would be amused
to see my commissions as
nurse. I wonder what I
shall do next. I have a little state-room all to myself.
The doctor is very kind, and took great care to ascertain
if I was comfortable. He has a lovely little wife,
so I suppose that makes him considerate towards
women generally.
Monday. Our last orders are, to go to Vicksburg.
If there is an engagement going on, I suppose I shall
see it. Our fleet are just above Vicksburg; we shall
stop among the ships, I suppose. We are taking in
necessaries. Last night we could not get men to unload
the boat. There is a strong Secesh feeling here,
and the men hid in order not to help us. The Provost-Marshal
was out trying to press men. I believe he
had to fall back upon the contrabands; poor things,
they work willingly. You would laugh to see me
housekeeping on board the boat. I just sent on shore
for some blueing to counteract the effect of Mississippi
water on the clothes. I go from sick-beds to laundry,
then to oversee another piece of work, then off to the
supply or linen-room, as it is called here, to give out
all sorts of things, then to tell one of my nurses what
to give a sick man to eat, &c. This morning, we are
marking blankets, to prevent their being carried off by
soldiers and others. I do not know when we shall
reach Vicksburg. We may be detained at Helena, or
fired into going down; one of the hospital boats which
has just come in says the rebels opened a battery upon
her though she had the yellow flag flying. But mother
need not be frightened. I like this kind of life, and I
hope I shall keep on for a while. At any rate, the
rebel shots are no more dangerous than diseases in the
hospitals, tell mother. And, then, I am in the army.
Can you imagine taking a sail, and keeping a lookout
for the enemy's batteries the while; it is quite
interesting. Hospital boats do not carry guns, they
being non-combatants; but if the rebels came on
board I would find something, if it was only the
poker.
