 | WHAT SANITARY LABORERS HAVE
ACCOMPLISHED. Women of the war : |  |
WHAT SANITARY LABORERS HAVE
ACCOMPLISHED.
THE question of the right of a state to sccede, and of
slavery to make itself perpetual, though on the ruins
of the republic, were not the sole issues that our war has
submitted to the arbitrament of the sword.
Up to the year 1860 — we may say till the year 1865
— European monarchists, while admitting the efficiency of
the great republic as against foreign enemies, professed a
doubt as to its ability to outlive the assaults of an intestine
foe. That question is now and forever put at rest.
No one circumstance or fact has done more to establish
this great result than the vast, the untiring, and the systematic
contributions which the American people, of their
own free will, and with cheerful alacrity, made to sustain
the soldier in the field, and the widows and orphans of
those who fell. The history of the world had seen nothing
like it before. It marks an epoch in civilized warfare. It
has shown, as nothing else could, the intense patriotism of
our people. It proves that though the constitution is but
an abstract and intellectual statement of our views of government,
that parchment is as dear to the American heart
as the person and living presence of any king ever was to
the most enthusiastic loyalist.
The generation to whom the giant questions of 1861
were submitted was essentially and thoroughly peaceful.
The Mexican war was remote and unimportant. It was
not waged to avenge a great wrong, or vindicate a great
principle, and therefore it never laid hold upon the hearts
of the people; it never roused the enthusiasm of the
masses.
It had been almost fifty years since the blood in American
veins had been thrilled by the war-trumpet, pouring its
stern and stirring notes across the continent, and calling
the nation to the defence of everything worth living for
and worth dying for.
And when that summons came, how promptly and heroically
was it answered! The entire nation, as by a common
and simultaneous impulse, resolved itself into a
committee of the whole, to vindicate the national unity
and save the national life. Twenty millions of people
divided themselves into two grand classes — those who
shouldered the musket and marched to fight the great
battles of the issue, and those who, by reason of their age
or sex, or those immediately dependent on their industry,
could not fight, but who commenced at once to do all
in their power to provide for, to sustain, to cheer, to encourage
the soldiers in active service.
The question is unimportant as to which city or which
state was the first to organize those societies for soldiers'
relief which were eventually merged and comprehended in
the great national systems of beneficence known as the
Sanitary and the Christian Commissions. Those noble,
self-sacrificing, and far-reaching organizations were the
to ten thousand hearts. Large credit may be due to
this or that organizing brain for the skill with which the
popular zeal was utilized, and made to bear uniformly and
with success upon the sufferings created by war; but the
popular zeal, the devotion and self-sacrifice, were kindled
by no eloquence, they were manufactured by no daily press,
they emanated from no metropolitan centre. Even before
one hostile gun had been fired, and while the national flag
was still afloat, without challenge or insult over the defences
of Charleston harbor, here and there busy hands,
prompted by saddened hearts, were scraping lint and rolling
bandages — the first fruits of woman's thoughtfulness
and woman's love. In April, 1861, it was known that war
must be; how vast, how long, or how bloody, was known
only to the Creator of the universe.
Cleveland, probably, can claim the honor of calling the
first public meeting with the view of organizing a Soldiers'
Aid Society. This was five days after the fall of Sumter.
Six days later, on the 25th of April, a company of women
assembled at the Cooper Institute, in New York, and organized
themselves into what was so long known as the
"Woman's Central Relief Association of New York." Miss
Louisa Lee Schuyler became the president of this organization,
and prepared the circular, which was sent out over
all the land, as an appeal to the women of the country,
already engaged in preparing against the time of wounds
and sickness. For week after week, till the eventful
months became years big with the records of a nation's
sacrifice, did this accomplished and energetic young woman
presidency of this association opened for her. It was in a
great measure due to the breadth, the wisdom and practical
efficiency of her plans, that the organization expanded,
taking on a form worthy of the great metropolis where it
originated, and became the United States Sanitary Commission.
Early in the summer of 1861, Miss Schuyler and
the ladies whom she represented felt that there was wanting
a system to act for the soldier with the government, and in
harmony with the established modes of sanitary relief. To
accomplish this, an address was made to the Secretary of
War, by the Woman's Central Relief Association, the advising
committee of the Board of Physicians and Surgeons
of the hospitals of New York, and the New York Medical
Association, for furnishing hospital supplies.
After some natural delay and hesitation, not without
some opposition from red-tape routinists, it was established
under the authority, but not at the expense, of the government,
on the 9th of June, 1861, and went into immediate
operation.
The general ideas which it strove to carry into effect,
and upon which its great usefulness was based, were as
follows: —
1. The system of sanitary relief established by the army
regulations to be taken as the best, and the Sanitary Commission
is to acquaint itself fully, and see that all its agents
are familiar, with the plans, methods of care and relief, of
the regular system.
2. The Commission should direct its efforts mainly to
strengthening the regular system in every practicable way,
so as to win a cheerful and unobstructed pathway for
the mercy and charities of a great and loyal people, in their
desire to sustain the soldier in the field.
3. The Commission should know nothing of religious
differences or state distinctions, distributing without regard
to the place where troops were enlisted, in a purely Federal
and national spirit.
With these cardinal, and, as it were, constitutional provisions,
the Sanitary Commission in the summer of 1861
completed its organization. It constituted, when in operation,
a colossal network of charity, a system of beneficence
as broad as the theatre of the war, an aqueduct of continental
proportions, with complicated yet smooth running
appliances, whose blessed function it was to bring to the
tent, and to the hospital of the weary, the sick, the bleeding,
or the ragged soldier, that moral and material comfort
and sympathy, which had their origin in thousands of
distant villages, by ten thousand solitary hearth-stones.
It is somewhat remarkable, that while the volunteering
enthusiasm of the Northern States died out in the first year
of the war, so that drafting, and at length large bounties,
were necessary to keep up the armies in the field, the liberality
and self-sacrifices of the loyal women of the north continually
increased, so that, after the rage and desolation of
three years of warfare, it was as easy to raise a hundred
thousand dollars for the soldier as it had been to collect ten
thousand for the same objects in 1861.
No feature of the war was more extraordinary than that series
of Sanitary Fairs that were so wonderfully successful in
1863 and 1864. For more than two years the appeals for
money had been made to be paid directly, and on principle,
for the benefit of the soldier, and the returns thus realized,
though small in detail, gave a magnificent amount in the
sum total. More than seven millions had been sent from
the people to the soldiers, through the agency of the Sanitary
Commission, before the battle of Gettysburg and the
fall of Vicksburg. Chicago was the first of the great metropolitan
cities to begin this splendid series. She was the
pioneer in these enterprises, and though the year following
she was surpassed by St. Louis, and by Pittsburg and
Philadelphia and others, yet, considering that all they did
was to use to a broader extent, and under a warmer popular
enthusiasm and rivalry, the machinery first brought into
use there, Chicago deserves all praise for the incentive of
her brilliant example.
Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore, ladies who devoted
themselves throughout the war to every loyal word and
work, and every good deed by which the soldier could be
cheered and sustained, entered upon this enterprise with a
zeal and a largeness of heart and comprehensiveness of
plan which were worthy alike of the magnificent region in
which they operated, and of the heroic army for which they
labored. None of the great fairs was so entirely the offering
of the gentle hands and pure hearts of patriotic women
as this at Chicago.
Their executive committee covered the whole north-west
from Detroit westward to the cities of Iowa, and northward
to St. Paul. And yet, so little accustomed were the people
have thought their success brilliant if they could have been
certain of realizing twenty-five thousand dollars. Their
returns were far beyond this modest estimate, and they
were enabled, at the termination of their labors, to pay
over to the Sanitary Commission more than three times
twenty-five thousand as the net profits of the Chicago Fair.
Cincinnati was the next of the western cities to follow
in the path that had been blazed out by the vigor and loyal
enterprise of her sister emporium. Here, too, woman was
the first to suggest, and the most efficient and unwearied in
the labors that ensued.
The first step taken in the originating of the great western
Sanitary Fair was the following appeal from the pen of
Mrs. Elizabeth Mendenhall, which appeared in the Cincinnati
Times of October 31, 1863, and a day or two afterwards
in most of the daily prints of that city: —
"Editor Times: I wish to call the attention of the patriotic
ladies of Cincinnati to the fair that is now progressing
in Chicago for the benefit of the soldiers, and which is
realizing a handsome sum of money. Taking into consideration
the fact that the winter is fast approaching, and that
the soldiers will stand in need of much assistance, would
it not be well for our Cincinnati ladies to rouse themselves
in the same cause, and in the same way? We should not
let Chicago, or any other place, be in advance of us in our
efforts. I know we have ladies here who are devoted
friends of the soldiers, and now is the time for them to be
up and doing."
In two weeks from the publication of this suggestion, a
which managers of both sexes were appointed, who proceeded
at once to organize, on a scale of greater magnitude,
and to embrace a greater number of interests and classes
in the community, than any charitable enterprise that had
ever been set on foot in America.
If the honor of the original conception of a magnificent
fair belongs to Mrs. Hoge and her co-laborers at Chicago,
Mrs. Mendenhall and her assistants at Cincinnati are entitled
to the credit of carrying into execution the true plan
upon which such enterprises should be conducted. They
saw that, in order to obtain a complete success, the effort
must be general, appealing to all classes, calling the farmer
from his golden harvest-field to come and bring with him
the first fruits of the earth, as a free-will offering on the
altar of his country, appealing to the artisan to give from
his workshop his most cunning and elaborate handicraft.
The soldier, also, could send from battle-fields that are
now famous in history his trophies and his flags, his relies
and his mementos. The men of position and genius, who,
by their pens or tongues, had won national repute, could
advance the cause by furnishing their autographic poems,
or other articles of literary value. Upon this comprehensive
plan the organization was effected, and rarely has
machinery so complicated been adjusted with greater skill,
or worked in harmony more admirable. Enlarging thus
amply the original idea of Chicago, the executive committee
of Cincinnati proposed to raise two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars — just ten times the sum proposed at Chicago;
and the result showed that the liberality of the
been over-estimated. The Cincinnati Fair was in all its
features, and in its returns, a magnificent success. It was
the true beginning of those noble enterprises that afterwards
astonished Europe, and by whose operation over five
millions of dollars were, in a little more than a twelve-month,
contributed to promote the sanitary condition of the
armies in the field.
The Christian Commission, as well as its predecessor and
co-laborer, owes its efficiency mainly to the zeal, the patience,
and the generosity with which it was sustained by
the loyal ladies of the country.
Organized in November, 1861, at first as a Christian
enterprise for evangelical labors among the soldiers, its
operations became each year more and more sanitary in
their character. It was found that to feed the hungry, to
clothe the naked, and to bind up the wounds of battle, were
the surest way of reaching the heart of the soldier for
spiritual suggestions.
The system of special diet kitchens, that in the latter
part of the war was extended so as to reach every corps,
every division, and often every brigade in the whole army,
was especially the product of the organized benevolence of
the Christian Commission. Mrs. Anne Wittenmeyer had
this work under her special superintendence, with Miss
Mary Shelton and Miss Goodale for assistants. It proposed
to supply to the sickest in each hospital food as
nearly resembling as possible that which his mother and
sisters would have furnished him at home. It was a gospel
of suitable and delicate food, administered with Christian
which in relieving suffering and saving life is alike beyond
estimation and above praise.
In the third year of the war, Ladies' Christian Commissions
were organized, and went into operation so as speedily
to assume a tangible form and give practical results. In
1865, there were in all two hundred and sixty-six branch
or auxiliary societies in various parts of the land, mostly
connected with the evangelical churches. There were
eighty in the city of Philadelphia alone, and the aggregate
receipts from all at the end of the war were found to be
considerably over two hundred thousand dollars.
In their closing report, made January 1, 1866, the
officers express their acknowledgments for the aid furnished
by patriotic women: "They have fed the flame of piety and
patriotism in our homes, through heavy hours, for successive
years, and with busy fingers and devices of love have kept
the hands of our agents and delegates in the field full of
comforts for suffering patriots. To them, under God, the
Commission owes its success. We only anticipate the verdict
of the future when we say that thus far in human
history such work is exclusively theirs — a work that could
have been wrought only by praying wives, and mothers, and
sisters, in behalf of an imperilled country."
Though the amounts in cash furnished for sanitary purposes
came mainly through these great fairs, contributions
from other sources and in other material did as much, and,
in many cases, more than money for the substantial well
being of the volunteer.
Soldiers' Aid Societies were formed in almost every large
weekly, and sometimes more frequently; sometimes
at the public rooms of the association, but oftener at private
houses; and made clothing for the soldiers. These garments,
together with various articles of food, such as
pickles, dried fruit, jellies, and wine, were securely packed,
and sent to the nearest large city where the Sanitary and
Christian Commissions had depots of supply. No computation
has been made, and none can be, of the entire
amount and value of articles thus furnished.
As a specimen we may take the State of Wisconsin, where
there is no metropolitan city, and which held no great sanitary
fair. In her final report, Mrs. Joseph S. Colt, of
Milwaukee, corresponding secretary of the Wisconsin Soldiers'
Aid Society, a most admirable and praiseworthy home
laborer, says, "We present our last report with devout
thankfulness, not unmixed with a degree of pride in our
state. We are thankful that the war is over, the republic
saved, human freedom established over the whole land.
We are proud that Wisconsin, without the excitement of a
fair, and remote from the seat of war, has done her part so
well.
"Gifts to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars;
packages numbering six thousand; bureaus whose success
has been unexampled; a society for forwarding supplies; a
bureau for getting state pay for the families of soldiers;
another for securing pensions and arrears; another for obtaining
employment for the wives and mothers of volunteers
through government contracts; still another for securing
work for those partially disabled in the war; still another
crippled in the service, and thrown upon wives and
mothers for support, — these, and more, have been our
work."
The Chicago branch of the Sanitary Commission had one
thousand Aid Societies constantly sending in money and
material, by which its treasury was kept full, and its shelves
loaded. Five hundred societies united in supporting the
Cleveland and the Cincinnati branches. The memorable
services rendered by Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore in the
extreme north-west, and by Mrs. Mendenhall and Mrs.
Hoadley at Cincinnati, are elsewhere described.
At Cleveland, also, these magnificent results were almost
wholly the work of women. Mrs. Rouse, president of the
Cleveland branch, is a lady who unites the charity of the
Christian to the force and judgment of a woman of the
world. A descendant of Oliver Cromwell, she has proved
herself not unworthy of the heroic blood of those splendid
old Puritans who brought to civil and military affairs a coolness
of judgment and an immutability of purpose which
some writers have thought inconsistent with their religious
zeal, but which were, in fact, the necessary effects of it.
For more than forty years she has been at the head of every
philanthropic enterprise in that city, and her advanced
years and delicate health did not prevent her from acting a
truly noble part in this, the most magnificent of all modern
charities.
Mrs. Rouse was very effectively sustained by her secretary,
Miss M. C. Brayton, a young lady of fine capabilities
and acquirements, of easy fortune, and superior business
Schuyler was for the parent society in New York. Miss
Ellen Terry, the treasurer, with an admirable turn for
affairs, kept the books, and handled the finances of a business
that amounted to more than a million of dollars, with
skill that would have done credit to the largest of mercantile
houses.
Detroit, also, was a large contributor to the sanitary
stores. Here, as at Cleveland, the work was mainly performed
by fair hands. Miss Valeria Campbell and Mrs.
Adams, Mrs. Brent, Mrs. Sabine, and Mrs. Luther B. Willard,
were incessant in their exertions throughout the rebellion.
Mrs. Huzz and her two daughters, Susan and
Ella, devoted much of their time to the cause.
The case of another admirable friend of the soldier in
Detroit, and the circumstances of her death, so sudden and
appalling, are such as to require special mention. Miss
Mary Dunn, a young lady of about twenty summers, endowed
with every Christian and every female grace, beloved
by all who knew her, while in the act of bearing food to
some sick soldiers at the barracks, where she was a frequent
visitor, was killed instantly on the street by a stroke
of lightning. At the very hour this occurred, her two
brothers were in a distant part of the country, in the midst
of a hard battle with the southern foe. The soldiers were
so affected by the peculiar death of Miss Dunn, and so
warm in their admiration of her virtues, that they turned
out to a man, and buried her remains with full military
honors.
Aside from her activity in Detroit, which lasted during
Chattanooga as a volunteer nurse; but severe and lengthened
illness cut short her service in the field.
At Buffalo the head centre of sanitary charities was Mrs.
Horatio Seymour; and her aids were Miss Grace Bird and
Miss Babcock. The contributions made through these
ladies were very large, a great number of packages having
been sent directly to agents at the front. Mrs. Price, who
represented this society at the Naval School Hospital, was
constantly supplied with clothing and comforts of all kinds
for distribution there and at City Point, where she afterwards
went.
In concluding her report, Mrs. Seymour illustrates the
spirit in which the contributions from Western New York
were made by the following instances and figures: "We
cannot shut out from our memories the scenes which will
always hallow these rooms to us — the sister, whose brother
had gone out in his country's defence, coming to us one
bleak, cold day, having rode twelve miles in a stage with
her two little children, to ask for shirts to make up for the
soldiers. She was poor, had no money to give, but with
tearful eyes said she must do something for the boys.
"Nor can we forget the old, true-hearted, patriotic farmer,
who drove to the door, one of the severest days in
November last, with a load of potatoes, which `wife and I'
had dug, and wished there were ten times as many for the
boys.
"We have sent nearly three thousand packages to Louisville,
and six hundred and twenty-five to New York. We
have cut and provided materials, at our rooms, for over
amounting in all to more than two hundred thousand pieces.
Little children, mostly girls under twelve years of age, have
given us over twenty-five hundred dollars."
In Philadelphia the three leading societies were the
"Soldiers' Aid," represented in the field for a long time by
Mrs. Brady; the "Ladies' Aid," whose secretary was Mrs.
John Harris, and the "Penn Relief Association." The
operations of the two first named are described in the
memoir of Mrs. Brady, and the account of Mrs. Harris's
wonderful activity in behalf of the soldier.
The Penn Relief dispensed clothing and delicacies to the
value of fifty thousand dollars. Most of their packages
were forwarded directly to representatives at the front.
Mrs. Husband received a great amount of clothing, of a
superior quality, from the Penn Relief. Mrs. Fales, of
Washington, Mrs. Hetty K. Painter, and Miss Anna Carver,
all drew largely from the same source.
The Woman's Central Relief Association of New York,
throughout the struggle, represented the metropolis of the
continent in the breadth of country from which it drew its
supplies, the largeness of its contributions, the admirable
foresight, comprehension, and energy, with which its plans
were laid and its finances handled. Replenished from time
to time by private contributions, and by the returns of the
great Sanitary Fairs of Brooklyn and New York city, its
treasury was able to report its monthly disbursements by
tens of thousands, and the sum total of its income by
millions.
Of the New England States, Connecticut and Rhode
New England Women's Auxiliary Association of Boston,
acting for Massachusetts and the three states to the northward,
represented more than a thousand towns, and
furnished, in cash and various garments and stores, more
than the value of three hundred and fourteen thousand dollars,
the Music Hall Fair alone netting about a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.
Miss Abby W. May, of Dorchester, occupied the chair
of the executive committee in this Association, and did for
Boston what Mrs. Hoge did in Chicago, and Mrs. Seymour
in Buffalo.
In the final report of that committee, made in July, 1865,
the manner in which every class in the community, and all
ages, united in their sympathies for the soldier in the field,
is thus set forth: "From the representatives of the United
States government here, who remitted the duties upon
soldiers' garments sent to us from Nova Scotia, down to the
little child diligently sewing with tiny fingers upon the
soldiers' comfort-bag, the coöperation has been almost universal.
Churches of all denominations have exerted their
influence for us; many schools have made special efforts in
our behalf; the directors of railroads, express companies,
telegraphs, and newspapers, gentlemen of the business firms
with which we have dealt, have befriended us most liberally;
while private individuals, of all ages, sexes, colors,
and conditions, have aided us in ways that we cannot
enumerate, and that no one really knows of but themselves."
During the latter part of the war, the ladies in different
established Soldiers' Homes and Soldiers' Rests, where the
worn, hungry, ragged, and sick soldier could pause,
sometimes only a few moments in changing trains, and
sometimes days or weeks, according to his condition, have
his various wants supplied, and be sent forward to his
destination.
In June, 1865, many of these noble institutions were
distributed over the country, from Boston to New Orleans.
The daily scenes within them, and the manner in which
they afforded aid and comfort to the travelling soldier, can
be understood from the following description of the Home
at Columbus, the capital of Ohio, written by an army officer
in the spring of 1865: —
"How few of our citizens have taken the pains to turn
the corner of the Union Depot to give a passing look at the
flourishing Soldiers' Home, stretching its white length
along the pier! The last few days have brought an unusual
number of guests to its door — on Wednesday one hundred
and fifty, and on Thursday one hundred and seventy, more
having been entertained there.
"Eastern hospitals are in process of depletion to make
room for new arrivals from Sherman's army of those who
have fallen by the way in the grand march. Convalescents
they call these weary men, who hobble on crutches about
the door, and crowd every available space within the Home
limits; yet each bears his marks of disease or wound,
either in pale face or feeble gait, in useless arm or crippled
limb. But all differences in individual cases are merged in
the one absorbing interest with which the still closed
barrier all is now bustle and active preparation, and under
the influence of quick fingers the meal is in readiness, soon
enough for the patience even of the hungry crowd waiting
beyond the door. Now the word is given, and in troops
the first instalment of men, very slowly and feebly, — not as
they marched away with Sherman, — for these must be
carefully helped to their places at the bountiful table, with
crutches stowed away in close proximity; this one must
have some kind hand to supply the place of the arm now
hanging useless by his side, and another's morbid appetite
craves some variation from the ordinary fare. The guests'
names must be recorded as accurately as the warfare of
knives and forks will permit, rough government crutches
exchanged for the comfortably-padded ones furnished by the
Sanitary Commission, and many little deficiencies in clothing
noted and remedied, while the men do justice to the
fare before them. No wonder the faces brighten under the
combined influence of kind words and good cheer. Did the
maker of these marvellous cookies realize the exquisite relish
with which the appetite of a convalescent regards them?
These vegetables and apple-butter, with which some
thoughtful country Aid Society has furnished the Home
larder, are delicious beyond belief to men so long consigned
to salt beef and hard tack; while the butter and soft bread
receive such special attention, that reënforcements are
speedily required. A low hum of applause and approving
comment runs round the tables; one and another says,
audibly enough to rejoice the attendant ladies, `Well, this
looks like home!' or, `I haven't seen anything like this since
justice to the meal, while here and there one summons up
courage to make a neat little speech of thanks as he rises
from the table. But whether silent or complimentary, the
feeling of all, we believe, is expressed in the words of the
tall, pale sergeant, who, rising with difficulty on his
crutches, says, `Ladies, kind friends! it is worth the little
we have suffered for our country to meet such a warm reception
at home.'
"Now the room is finally emptied of its first guests, and
the tables hastily prepared for the second instalment, and
then for a third and fourth. All honor to the worthy
matron that her larder stands bravely such repeated attacks,
and her coffee-boiler stoutly replies to all drafts made upon
it. What a relief, that the last poor fellow who lingered
near the table has fared as well as the first who rushed
eagerly in to the assault! The same programme is repeated
on each occasion, with variations in individual cases.
One forever-helpless man is carried in the arms of a brother
soldier, that he, too, may have the pleasure of sitting at the
table with the rest; and he pulls out the fatal bullet which
`ruined' him, as he says, to exhibit. Meanwhile there are
many in the sleeping ward too feeble to care to leave its
comfort, whose taste must be consulted, and to whom food
must be carried. Here one man's wound needs dressing,
another asks for a fresh bandage; here a slipper is wanted
for a swollen foot, and another sickly soldier must have
some strengthening remedy from the medicine-chest. At
last all are fed, all rested, and all wants attended to; the
whistle of the train is heard, and the soldiers depart, with
leaving behind them a blessing for the Home. But their
departure brings little rest to the Home corps. The débris
must be removed, and fresh preparations made for the
arrival of the later trains, which may bring as many more
guests, to be entertained again and lodged over night."
On the first day of May, 1861, two weeks after the fall
of Sumter, a large number of Union troops, passing through
the city of Philadelphia on their way to the national capital,
landed at the foot of Washington Avenue, on Delaware
River. While here, awaiting transportation, a number of
ladies, residing in the immediate vicinity, spontaneously
formed themselves into a committee, and with the assistance
of the neighbors generally, distributed among these
men such quantities of hot coffee as could be prepared.
These ladies, Mrs. Wm. M. Cooper, Mrs. Sarah Ewing,
Mrs. Grace Nickles, Mrs. Catharine and Mrs. Elizabeth
Vansdale, Mrs. Turner, and some others, formed the nucleus
of the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Committee.
Near by the place where these gallant volunteers received
these first hospitalities stood an old cooper shop. The
ladies interested their husbands in the cause; a portion of
the shop was partitioned, and so arranged that soldiers
could conveniently partake of coffee and other refreshments.
From that time till the summer of 1865, for a period of
four years and two months, this saloon was constantly sustained
and kept in activity by the patriotic citizens of
Philadelphia and its vicinity. A hospital was established
in connection with the saloon, through the untiring exertions
the end to consume her vital powers, and add her name to
the long roll of martyrs in the good cause. The whole
number of soldiers furnished with substantial meals at the
saloon was about three hundred and seventeen thousand.
A dispensary of medicines was connected with the cooper
shop, a bathing-room, and an arrangement for supplying
necessary clothing.
These descriptions of the two, which are taken simply as
specimens, located in Columbus and at Philadelphia respectively,
will apply to the Homes at Buffalo, Detroit,
Washington, Boston, and the various other points where
they were established.
With these facts, the question is natural, How were these
unequalled largesses disbursed? and what was the practical
result to the sick, the wounded, or the destitute soldier, of
systems of relief so varied and so copious?
We have in answer the testimony of one of the ablest of
our commanding officers, that the two most effective ways
in which our armies in the field were sustained in the long
struggle, were, first, by the general assurance that was felt,
that neither the wives, children, parents, nor others dependent
on those in the field, would suffer for the necessaries
of life, while their supporters were in the service of
the country; second, that the sick and wounded would not
lack for any of those things, which, though not provided by
army regulations, might conduce to comfort, expedite
recovery, save the lives, and sustain the morale of the
soldier.
Another and more perfect answer may be found in sanitary
statistics. Before this war of ours, it was considered
as inevitable that for every soldier killed in battle, four
must die of disease. In the Crimean war, seven eighths of
the mortality of the British troops during the entire campaign
was due to disease, and one eighth only to deaths
from wounds received in action. In January, 1855, the
month of the greatest mortality of that campaign, ninetyseven
per cent of the mortality was from disease. During
our national struggle, two hundred and eighty thousand four
hundred and twenty men — good, true, and loyal — sealed
their patriotism by death in the service. Of these over
sixty thousand died in battle, while thirty-five thousand
survived the day of the conflict to die of their wounds, and
one hundred and eighty-four thousand three hundred and
thirty-one died of disease. Thus two persons died of
disease for every one that fell by the enemy's weapons.
With ordinary sanitary and medical appliances, such as
Napoleon had in his armies, and such as the English had
in the Crimea, our deaths by disease would have reached
the fearful aggregate of more than three hundred and sixty-eight
thousand. Thus it appears that the result of all
these labors and sacrifices by our loyal women, of the
abundant returns from our sanitary fairs, and of the constant,
loving, unremitting care for the brave champions of
the Union, has been a saving of more than a hundred and
eighty-four thousand lives, that would otherwise have been
victims of the malaria of southern climates, the exposures
of the camp, the transport ship, and the bivouac, the infection
of hospitals, the depression consequent upon being
and the slow corrosion of constant anxiety for the loved
ones left behind, and all the other horrors and hardships of
terrible war.
In conclusion, the author of this volume of sketches feels
it due to himself to allude to the great difficulty he has
experienced in obtaining his materials.
It was only by overcoming extreme reluctance to anything
like publicity on the part of many, by a voluminous
correspondence, and by numerous personal interviews, that
he has collected the facts of which the foregoing pages are
a recital. Now, however, as the compilation has reached
the limits to which he is circumscribed, he finds his table
loaded with a surplus of material so large, interesting, and
valuable, that he cannot claim that this volume, as the
record of female heroism and self-sacrifice, is either complete
or exhaustive.
Those who, in person or by their friends, responded
with promptness, and furnished abundant material, may
seem to have a mention too prominent. This, however, is
entirely the result of circumstances, and was not done with
the view of making invidious distinctions.
Among those who labored long and faithfully in the army
of the Potomac, Miss Bradford and Miss Gilson, of Massachusetts,
were, perhaps, not equalled by those whose record
is fully given. The story of the army life, and of the death
of Mrs. General Barlow, is full of interest and romance.
The close of the war has not terminated her industry
nor furnished an opportunity to complete her admirable
record.
In the hospitals of Georgia and Tennessee, Mrs. Cameron,
formerly of Chattanooga, now of Philadelphia, acted a noble
part, and has endeared her name to thousands of destitute
and suffering refugees.
Miss Hancock, of New Jersey, Miss Bissell, Miss Lucy
Chase, Mrs. Painter and Mrs. Carver, and Miss Mary
Duncan, of the fifth corps, are gratefully remembered by
hundreds who bled in the great battles of the final campaign.
Among hospital visitors in Washington, none was earlier
in the service, or labored with zeal more unwearied, than
Mrs. Almira Fales; none displayed a finer union of the
graces of womanhood than Mrs. Pomeroy. When bowed
with crushing sorrow over the loss of his favorite boy, it
was from the lips of this Christian lady that our late martyred
president received words of the truest consolation
and the suggestions of celestial hope.
Mrs. Harlan, wife of the Hon. James Harlan, United
States senator from Iowa, and more recently Secretary of
the Interior, is another shining instance illustrating the
value of woman's work during the great conflict. She was
with the army at Pittsburg Landing, and hundreds of men
are alive to-day, who, but for her ministering visits to the
field of Shiloh, for her energy, or for her "outranking
Halleck," might have been rudely buried on that bloody
field. She at first devoted her energies to caring for the
volunteers from her own state, but afterwards gave her
she braved the storms of ocean, many journeys to the army,
but lived to see her efforts crowned with splendid success,
and her name blessed in nearly every city, town, and hamlet
in the land.
Though a number of charming hospital scenes and stories
are related in the present volume by some of the large deputation
from Maine, there are others whose record is as rich
in incidents and as valuable for the display of fine character
as any already given. Mrs. Preble and Mrs. Sampson did
a noble work, for which thousands in the army of the Potomac
will never forget them.
Some there were who went out from homes the most luxurious,
and gave themselves to lives of loyal sacrifice, in
the spirit of Him who said, "Whosoever is chief among
you, let him become your servant."
The spirit that prompts self-forgetfulness — and is, for
that reason, the more admirable — suggests, also, entire
reticence as to the details of benefactions. It is on this
account that so little will be found here as to the army
experience of the Misses Woolsey, of New York city, and
their relative, Miss Green, of Norwich.
Nor has the subject of the good done and the heroism
displayed at the Naval School Hospital been exhausted by
what has been written of Miss Hall and some of her
assistants. The administration of Mrs. Tyler at Annapolis
was eminently successful, and her career highly interesting.
So, also, Miss Noye, of Buffalo, and Miss Howe,
of Brookfield, Massachusetts, with many others, whose
period of service there was shorter, will never be forgotten
who here learned to forget the horrors of their long imprisonment
amid the kindly graces and sympathetic attentions
of Christian ladies.
| WHAT SANITARY LABORERS HAVE
ACCOMPLISHED. Women of the war : | |