Woman's Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism, and Patience

by L. P. Brockett; Mary C. Vaughan

Miss Adeline A. Lane, of Quincy, Ill., a teacher before the war, came to Benton Barracks Hospital in the Spring of 1863, and after a service of many months there, returned to her home at Quincy, where she devoted her attention to the care of the sick and wounded soldiers sent there, and accomplished great good.

Miss Martha Adams, of New York city, was long employed in the Fort Schuyler Hospital and subsequently at Benton Barracks, and was a woman of rare devotion to her work.

Miss Jennie Tileston Spaulding, of Roxbury, Mass., was for a long period at Fort Schuyler Hospital, where she was much esteemed, and after her return home busied herself in caring for the families of soldiers around her.

Miss E. M. King, of Omaha, Nebraska, was a very faithful and excellent nurse at the Benton Barracks Hospital.

Mrs. Juliana Day, the wife of a surgeon in one of the Nashville hospitals, acted as a volunteer nurse for them, and by her protracted services there impaired her health and died before the close of the war.

Other efficient nurses appointed by the Western Sanitary Commission (and there were none more efficient anywhere) were, Miss Carrie C. McNair, Miss N. A. Shepard, Miss C. A. Harwood, Miss Rebecca M. Craighead, Miss Ida Johnson, Mrs. Dorothea Ogden, Miss Harriet N. Phillips, Mrs. A. Reese, Mrs. Maria Brooks, Mrs. Mary Otis, Miss Harriet Peabody, Mrs. M. A. Wells, Mrs. Florence P. Sterling, Miss N. L. Ostram, Mrs. Anne Ward, Miss Isabella M. Hartshorne, Mrs. Mary Ellis, Mrs. L. E. Lathrop, Miss Louisa Otis, Mrs. Lydia Leach, Mrs. Mary Andrews, Mrs. Mary Ludlow, Mrs. Hannah A. Haines and Mrs. Mary Allen. Most of these were from St. Louis or its vicinity.

The following, also for the most part from St. Louis, were appointed somewhat later by the Western Sanitary Commission, but rendered excellent service. Mrs. M. I. Ballard, Mrs. E. O. Gibson, Mrs. L. D. Aldrich, Mrs. Houghton, Mrs. Sarah A. Barton, Mrs. Olive Freeman, Mrs. Anne M. Shattuck, Mrs. E. C. Brendell, Mrs. E. J. Morris, Miss Fanny Marshall, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Nichols, Mrs. H. A. Reid, Mrs. Reese, Mrs. M. A. Stetler, Mrs. M. J. Dykeman, Misses Marian and Clara McClintock, Mrs. Sager, Mrs. Peabody, Mrs. C. C. Hagar, Mrs. J. E. Hickox, Mrs. L. L. Campbell, Miss Deborah Dougherty and Mrs. Ferris.

As in other cities, many ladies of high social position, devoted themselves with great assiduity to voluntary visiting and nursing at the hospitals. Among these were Mrs. Chauncey I. Filley, wife of Mayor Filley, Mrs. Robert Anderson, wife of General Anderson, Mrs. Jessie B. Fremont, wife of General Fremont, Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, wife of General Fisk, Mrs. E. M. Webber, Mrs. A. M. Clark, Mrs. John Campbell, Mrs. W. F. Cozzens, Mrs. E. W. Davis, Miss S. F. McCracken, Miss Anna M. Debenham, since deceased, Miss Susan Bell, Miss Charlotte Ledergerber, Mrs. S. C. Davis, Mrs. Hazard, Mrs. T. D. Edgar, Mrs. George Partridge, Miss E. A. Hart, since deceased, Mrs. H. A. Nelson, Mrs. F. A. Holden, Mrs. Hicks, Mrs. Baily, Mrs. Elizabeth Jones, Mrs. C. V. Barker, Miss Bettie Broadhead, Mrs. T. M. Post, Mrs. E. J. Page, Miss Jane Patrick, since deceased, Mrs. R. H. Stone, Mrs. C. P. Coolidge, Mrs. S. R. Ward, Mrs. Washington King, Mrs. Wyllys King, Miss Fales, since deceased.

The following were among the noble women at Springfield, Ill., who were most devoted in their labors for the soldier in forwarding sanitary supplies, in visiting the hospitals in and near Springfield, in sustaining the Soldiers' Home in that city, and in aiding the families of soldiers. Mrs. Lucretia Jane Tilton, Miss Catharine Tilton, Mrs. Lucretia P. Wood, Mrs. P. C. Latham, Mrs. M. E. Halbert, Mrs. Zimmerman, Mrs. J. D. B. Salter, Mrs. John Ives, Mrs. Mary Engleman, Mrs. Paul Selby, Mrs. S. H. Melvin, Mrs. Stoneberger, Mrs. Schaums, Mrs. E. Curtiss, Mrs. L. Snell, Mrs. J. Nutt and Mrs. J. P. Reynolds. Mrs. R. H. Bennison, of Quincy, Ill., was also a faithful hospital visitor and friend of the soldier. Mrs. Dr. Ely, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, efficient in every good work throughout the war, and at its close the active promoter and superintendent of a Home for Soldiers' Orphans, near Davenport, Iowa, is deserving of all honor.

Miss Georgiana Willets, of Jersey City, N. J., a faithful and earnest helper at the front from 1864 to the end of the war, deserves especial mention, as do also Miss Molineux, sister of General Molineux and Miss McCabe, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who were, throughout the war, active in aiding the soldiers by all the means in their power. Miss Sophronia Bucklin, of Auburn, N. Y., an untiring and patient worker among the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, also deserves a place in our record.