University of Virginia Library

LETTER XV.

Dear Mother,—Should you like a letter from me?
I am very busy now, but find time this morning.
The Doctors have finished inspection. I asked the
Doctor if he wished me to accompany him usually; he
said not if I did not wish to; he had wished it the
last Sunday, that I might see how everything looked,
but he did not care about it. I was rather relieved,
for it is quite a public affair. Yesterday we received
one hundred and fifty more men from Memphis. They
were very glad to get here. There are some very sick
ones among them; as they came, I was in the wards,
to see if they were properly prepared for them, and to
speak to the men as they came in. I got so tired seeing
new faces, my head fairly ached; you have no idea
how it affects one. It is not the mere seeing; I speak
to each one, they tell me what is the matter with them,
and in that way I get the run of the ward, and can

direct the nurses better. One man is very ill with
heart complaint. I saw him this morning as he was
recovering from a very trying attack; I sat down by
him and talked with him; he told me that he thought
he was dying when he was so ill: he seemed very much
affected.

Monday evening. This has been a fatiguing day.
Before breakfast I made the tour of the wards, that
had female nurses in them. After breakfast, round
again. I have to observe whether the nurses are at
their posts and doing their duty, if a patient needs his
face bathed, water compress on his head, another pillow
and change of position, or flannel wrapped round him,
&c.; if the nurses have not seen to it, call their
attention and show them what ought to be done. Then
I have to look after the ventilation, see that windows
are properly opened and that the wards are clean and
attended to in season; if they are not, speak to the
ward-master, or report the ward; see that the special
diet is properly cooked when it comes up, and served in
season; if not, report the cook. I report to the head
surgeon every day. To-day two new nurses came; I
had to place them, and see to their room. It being
Monday, I had to make out a weekly report of the
nurses,—female nurses,—the ward-master sends in
the report of all the male nurses, that is, of where
they are when entered, by whose orders, &c. This
is done every Monday, and any change or new nurse
coming in the week reported at once.

I wrote a letter this morning for the poor man I

spoke of the other day; he says he trusts in the Lord.
He told me he thought he was dying, and he seemed
tried at the thought of dying here. I told him how the
Lord cared for him, and how he was waiting to take
him home just as he himself would take a little child,
for we were all little children in our Father's hands.
He said he knew it, and looked comforted. He
asked me to write to his wife, "that he was trusting
calmly in the Lord." We hope he will get his discharge
and go home.

Tuesday morning. I was so sleepy I had to stop
and go to bed, and now I must stop and go to the
Doctor. . . . I had to arrange some details with him.
For one thing, the nurses like to sit in their room a little
while in the evening. The hospital rule is, all lights
out at nine o'clock. I told the Doctor the nurses
needed more time, so the rule now is, all nurses' lights
out at ten. As their breakfast is at six, that is none
too early, the Doctor says. I like the place very much,
it is very pleasant out here. I hope I shall not have
varioloid; we sent away ten cases this morning to the
small-pox hospital. I had been over them every day
since they came in. Poor fellows! they looked sadly
when they had to be dressed and changed to another
place. I found a woman with her baby sitting on one of
the beds the other day; on stopping to speak to her, she
told me that her husband, whom she was sitting by, had
never seen his child before that day. It was five months
old; he was holding it, and looking at it, as if there
never was a baby before. He could not say much, but

I wish you could have seen his face. The child was
a beautiful boy. One of the ward-masters has a brown
cat of which he is very fond; he is quite an old
man, and puss seems to supply the place of family.
How do you think she begins the day? With a glass
of egg nog compounded for her by himself; I suppose
he thinks it beneficial. A hospital is an odd place,
all sorts of things meet and come out. I hope to hear
from you soon. . . . I am longing for letters. . . .
I wish you could see how good and patient the men
are. Most or many of them begin the day, after breakfast,
with their Bibles, when they are so weak they can
hardly hold the book. They turn to it for strength
and support. It is very touching when you know their
days are numbered, to see them in pain and trouble,
clinging to this comfort; and such a happy thought
that they are soon to read it in joy and gladness. The
lady nurses are very kind to their men, and are a great
comfort to them; the Doctors find the wards where
there are lady nurses get along so nicely that they are
all anxious to have them. They keep asking me when
they too shall have ladies in their wards. Mr. Yeatman
says he is going to send out twelve more between
now and Monday, and there will be more by and by.
The amphitheatre alone takes twenty; we have nine
now; these new ones will make twenty-one; we shall
probably want about thirty.

We are going upon a new plan in some respects, and
it takes a great deal of thought and care to adapt things
and people. I like young nurses; they are more willing

to follow directions, more energetic, and stronger; so I
asked Mr. Yeatman to furnish us with such. I do not
want old women in the wards, unless they are trained,
habitual nurses, that have always kept up to the mark.
We have about twice, or more than twice, as many
male nurses as female. The acting corps of a large
hospital like this is immense, take it in all.

Evening, I went out to the wards this afternoon;
found things to attend to. The wards are so large that
we have more than one female nurse to each. The wards
in the amphitheatre are so very large that we have, or
shall have, four female nurses to each one. I assign them
each a quarter and see that they keep in it. The male
nurses are also assigned, one to each quarter. I found
some men very sick to-day. I think we shall have
more deaths soon among them. I was quite struck by
the feeling shown by the men to their comrades on
many occasions. They are good to each other.

The other day, one of my female nurses came to me,
and informed me she was married the day before to the
bugler! It seems they were engaged, and thought, to
avoid the remarks his visits might occasion, they had
better be married. So I marched over to the doctor with
this little item. He was very much amused. The lady
has been sharing a room with three other nurses. I told
the Doctor I thought he would have to provide for them,
and he has given them a room to themselves, into
which they moved to-day, to the great delight of the
bugler bridegroom. Everything here is military. The
gates are guarded night and day by sentries, and no

soldier can go in or out without a pass. The cavalry
are frequently passing to and from the Barracks beyond
the hospital. They are very picturesque and effective as
they go winding in and out among the trees. The calls
are blown by a bugler; every now and then the soft
tones come floating on the air, most poetically stating
that dinner is ready, &c. The Doctor is very good
and kind and thorough, and everybody else has to be
thorough too. I hope I shall have strength and wisdom
given me to do this work rightly. I love it very
much, though it is so arduous.