LETTER XXVI.
Benton Barracks Hospital,
July 3.
Dear Mother,—Our sick men came on Monday, and
glad they were to come,—four hundred and sixteen;
then some more since, soon many more. I went round
among them looking after their comfort as well as I
could. They were from Vicksburg and Milliken's
Bend; they had not seen a woman for a long time,
some of them. As I bent over one he said "It is a
long time since a lady had her hand on me." He
seemed so glad to be spoken to, and so were they all.
You cannot think how touching it was to see them
watch for a greeting and a touch of the hand. The
men who were bearing pain without murmur would
look up with a lip quivering like a child's and eyes full
of tears. My nurses were all ready at their posts; as
one of them bent over a sick man he caught her hand
and pressed it to his lips, and they all had some way
of showing how gladly they felt the womanly sphere
around them. As I stop to speak to one, I see the
heads of the others turning and watching me, waiting
till they are spoken to. They are very shy of claiming
notice, sit very gravely till I speak, then the whole face
lights up, and the rough worn hands are held out. I have
a peculiar feeling about the hands that have bravely
carried a musket for the old flag. And the wounded too,
—you cannot help feeling differently about such wounds
from any others. One of them had a badly wounded
hand. I told him he would be very proud of it by and
by, "Yes, indeed!" was the reply. They most of
them have pictures of wives or children or some one
as dear. They like to show them to me. Many of the
new-comers found friends here, and there were many
greetings among them. The men are very patient.
Dr. Russell told me, that once off in Arkansas, as he
was taking care of the wounded after a battle, he came
upon one terribly wounded; he remarked to him, "This
is a hard case, my dear brother," "Yes," said the
soldier, "but—pointing upwards—it is all right up
there." There is a great deal of that feeling among the
men. I asked a boy the other night, if he remembered
to say "Our Father" every night as he did to his
mother at home. He replied "Yes, ma'am," with such
a pleasant smile. I wish his mother could have heard
and seen him.
It is evening; I have just come in from my night
rounds; there is a thunder-storm, but I cannot stay
at home for thunder-storms. Excuse my writing,
my eyes are tired, and I must write when I can.
To-morrow there is to be a great celebration for the
soldiers, in honor of the Fourth, The ladies of St.
Louis have got it up; I hope the poor fellows will enjoy
it, but many are too sick to do so, and I must endeavor
to comfort them up. There is to be a dinner, &c.; this
rain will cool off the weather and lay the dust very
conveniently. It is hot here. I asked the Doctor the
other day, if the ladies could have a bath-room for
themselves. He offered me the use of one in the rear
of the office. I thankfully accepted, to-day I made use
of it; though the water was muddy it was cool: oh,
how I did enjoy it! I took the ladies round when
they were at leisure, and they were very much pleased.
The wards have very fine bath-rooms for the soldiers;
it is a great luxury; my respect for the Mississippi increases
daily. When new patients come, it is the rule
that they must take a bath before they put on their
clean clothes; then each man has a clean shirt and
drawers and socks, and can go to bed or sit up as he
pleases. The poor fellows come out of the boat so
dirty and weary, they look like new beings when
they are refreshed by their baths and good food, and it
is so pleasant for them to be released from the crowded
boat jarring on their poor nerves, hot and unavoidably
dirty. No one who has not been on a hospital boat in
care of the sick can imagine what it is. It is the most
arduous of all the forms of nursing, in every respect.
