“Lo! for our wounded brothers’ need,
We bear the wine and oil;
For us they faint, for us they bleed,
For them our gracious toil!”
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
While the devastations of Civil War were sending thousands of our brave men to die, and to sleep in distant graves, inadequate relief for sick and wounded soldiers also caused much unnecessary suffering and loss of life. Lacking more prompt means of assistance, supplies, surgeons, nurses, et cetera, could reach them only through the slow process of military regulations.
With the hope of supplying this most urgent need, the great Manhattan fair of the United States Sanitary Commission was suggested, and later organized by the efforts of the Rev. Doctor Bellows of New York City. He became its president, and, with other gentlemen as a committee, went to Washington to consult military and hospital departments as to some feasible manner of supplementing this most necessary branch of the United States service.
The congregation of All Souls’ Church, of which Dr. Bellows was pastor, at once voted that the $40,000 that had been appropriated for a church steeple should be donated to the great Fair. The steepleless church stands to-day, a monument to their practical benevolence.
Their beneficent intention resulted in the erection of an immense wooden building at Union Square and Fourteenth Street, New York City, for a great bazaar. The opening took place on April 14th, 1864, the Honorable Joseph Choate delivering an address. An original poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes was sung by a union of many volunteer church choirs, before a vast multitude. The verses at the head of this chapter are selected from the poem.
The building was practically overflowing with the number of enormous donations that had no precedent, nor has any later benevolence in our country ever equalled this cheerful, spontaneous outpouring of money and salable goods, from all classes and individuals, merchants and dealers of every grade. These gifts of every description were piled high on shelves and in beautifully arranged booths, where charming young girls and earnest bright-eyed women competed in the selling of them to hundreds of eager buyers. Wealthy, generous patrons vied with one another in liberal purchases and donations, while those of smaller means were also happy in giving their mites to swell the enormous sums that astonished even the sanguine organizers. Many others, having no means to spare, volunteered their entire time and services to any department needing them, however laborious or unpleasant. And here they worked cheerfully every day until midnight during the three weeks of the fair, unconscious of weariness. Probably in no other bazaar were there ever such tireless workers, generous donors, or enthusiastic buyers. The united beneficence, patriotism and good will of these people poured into the treasury of the Sanitary Commission the enormous amount of two million dollars. This great sum for those days enabled the Commission to perfect an organization unparalleled in scope and efficiency, with a corps of faithful, honorable workers.