The book fills 300 pages with its accounts of the different Sisterhoods and their leading members. Incidentally it brings in many of the great men of the sixties, such as Archbishop Hughes, whose labors for the Union have made him immortal; Archbishop Kenrich, Archbishop Ryan, General McClellan, General Butler, Abraham Lincoln, Archbishop Elder, General Grant, Archbishop Spaulding, General Anderson, General Wood, General Rosecrans, Governor Morton and Col. Mulligan. The author in his endeavor to perpetuate the memories of the modest members of the Catholic Sisterhoods, who helped the sick and wounded in the Civil War, has compiled a fascinating volume.—Irish-American, New York.
“Performed His Task With Excellent Judgment and in a Broad Spirit.”
The author of this book has performed his task with excellent judgment and in a broad spirit. Most of the stories given were gathered in personal interviews, by examination of various archives and records, and by an extensive correspondence with Government officials, army veterans and Superioresses of Convents and communities. The gentle ways, the fathomless sympathies of the Sisters soothed and cheered the soldier who lay sick and wounded. The Sister seemed to the sufferer like a link to his mother. He was far more ready to unbosom his thoughts to the Sister than to the doctor. In his last moments he would give the Sister his messages, and asked to hold her hand as his life drifted away.—The Western Chronicle.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Greeley’s “American Conflict.”
[2] There were 2261 known battles, engagements and skirmishes during the war.
[3] It is probable that scattering members from one or two other orders did praiseworthy work during the war, but diligent inquiry has failed to bring forth any specific facts concerning their labors.
[4] Life of Archbishop Hughes, by John R. G. Hassard.
[5] “The Irish in America.”
[6] From “War and Weather,” by Edward Powers (c. e.), Delavan, Wisconsin, 1890.