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 PRESENTED BY 
 

 
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 A SKETCH 
 
 OF ITS ORIGIN, HISTORY, LABORS FOR THE SICK AND 
 
 WOUNDED OF THE WESTERN ARMIES, AND AIT) 
 
 GIVEN TO FREEDMEN AND UNION REFU- 
 
 GEES, WITH INCIDENTS OF 
 
 HOSPITAL LIFE. 
 
 With the respects of the author, 
 
 J. G. FOKMAX. 
 
 ST. LOUIS: 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR. 
 
 R. P. STUDLEY A CO. 
 
 1864. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I . 
 
 Origin of Sanitary Commissions How the Western Commission came to be organized 
 The Early Battles in Missouri Want of Preparation for taking care of the Wounded 
 Order of Maj. Gen. Fremont constituting a Sanitary Commission Establishment, of 
 Military Hospitals in St. Louis Hospital Cars fitted up on the Pacific II. R. Voluntary 
 Contributions from New England and the Northwestern States Loyal Sympathies and 
 Patriotism of the Women of the Country Incidents pp . 3 12 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Change of Department Commanders in the West Gen. Halleck Large Increase of Troops- 
 Hospitals filled New Hospitals opened Prevalence of Measles, Pneumonia, Typhoid 
 Fever and Diarrhea during the fall and winter of 1861-2 Large Arrivals and Distributions 
 of Sanitary Stores Inspection of Hospitals Secretaryship of the Commission Medical 
 Director, J. J. B. Wright Deficiency of the Medical Supply Table The Labors of the 
 Loyal and Patriotic Women of St Louis in, the Hospitals The Employment of Female 
 Nurses Their Heroism and Self-sacrifice pp. 13 22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Battle of Fort Donelson Activity of the Western Sanitary Commission Steamers em 
 ployed to bring the Wounded_ to the St. Louis Hospitals A Delegation from the 
 Commission and the Ladies L nion Aid Society return with a load of the Wounded 
 Attentions to the Sick The first Suggestion of Hospital Steamers The Western Sanitary 
 Commission immediately acted on the Suggestion The "City of Louisiana" fitted up 
 for this Sen-ice First trip to Island No. 10 Value and usefulness of Hospital Steamers 
 proved by subsequent Experience Assistant Surgeon General R. C. Wood Great De 
 mand for Surgeons and Nurses James M* Barnard, Esq., of Boston Battle of Pea 
 Ridge Destitute Condition of the Sick and Wounded The Hospitals at Cassville A. W. 
 Plattenburg sent by the Commission with Sanitary Stores Interesting Account of his 
 Journey and of the good accomplished by it The Agency Continued His Future Labors 
 Testimonials of his Usefulness Heroism of Mrs. Phelps at Pea Ridge PP. 2334 
 
 216595 
 
11 
 
 C H A P T E It J V . 
 
 Soldiers Home Established at St. Louis Premiums Awarded to the Stewards and Ward- 
 masters of the best Hospitals, and to the most Faithful Nurses The Rattle of Pittsburg 
 Landing Large Number of Wounded Additional Hospital Steamers furnished Volun 
 teer Surgeons and Nurses Additional Hospitals fitted up at St. Louis Demand for 
 Surgeons Number of Sick and Wounded in the St. Louis Hospitals Report of the Com 
 mission PP . 3548 
 
 C H A P T E R V . 
 
 Letter of the Commission to the Surgeon General Scollay s Deodorizing Burial Case- 
 Capture of Fort Pillow and Memphis Opening of the Mississippi River to Vicksburg 
 Fitting out of the Naval Hospital Boat " Red Rover"- Arrival of Gen. Curtis Army at 
 Helena -Its Destitute Condition Sickness of the Army at Helena -Sanitary Depot Estab 
 lished there Overton Hospital at Memphis Sick from the Army in Tennessee -Hospitals 
 and Regiments Supplied -The Navy Letter from Commodore Davis An Earnest Appeal 
 from the Commission Generous Response from New England PP. 49-59 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Army of the Frontier Agent sent to Springfield, Mo. , with stores Battles at Cross Hol 
 lows, Cane Hill, and Prairie Grove Arrival of Rev. Mr. Newell at Fayetteville with am 
 bulances and sanitary goods His useful services His death at a later period Notice of 
 his character Flying hospitals Additional hospitals at St. Louis The Marine, Jefferson 
 Barracks, and Lawson Hospitals The diminishing per centage of deaths The hopeful 
 condition of the armies of the Union The sympathy of the people with the soldiers Pros 
 pects of ultimate victory PP . 6007 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Gen. Sherman s first attack on Vicksburgh Works assaulted Severe losses to the Union 
 arms Hospital steamers bring the wounded to Memphis and St. Louis Battle of Arkan 
 sas Post More wounded brought to St. Louis Delegation of the Ladies Union Aid So 
 ciety of St. Louis Iowa State agent Renewal of the expedition against Vicksburg, by 
 Gen. Grant Increased hospital accommodations required Visit of Mr. Yeatman to Gen. 
 Grant s army His letter Benton Barracks hospital, St. Louis Additional hospitals at 
 Memphis The floating hospital, "City of Alton," the " Ruth, " and "Glasgow" 
 Second visit of Mr. Yeatman to Gen. Grant s army His report Sanitary stores sent 
 to Gen . Grant s army Fall of Vicksburg Its untitled heroes pp . 6879 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Soldiers Homes at Columbus, Ky., Memphis, Vicksburg, and Helena Over 150,000 soldier 
 guests entertained Further account of the St. Louis hospitals Whole number of patients 
 treated Number of deaths Per centage of deaths The military prisons at St. Louis and 
 Alton, Illinois Humane treatment of sick prisoners pp. 80 99 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sanitary stores sent to the army of Gen. Davidson, at Bloomllcld, Missouri Part of them 
 captured by Guerrillas Narrow escape of the Agent Stores sent to the army of General 
 Steele, at Du vail s Bluff and Little Rock Agency established at Little Rock Acknow 
 ledgements Stores sent to Foi-t Blunt, Cherokee Nation AcknowledgmentStores sent 
 to colored troops at Miliken s Bend, Goodrich s Lending, and Yicksburg Letters of 
 Rev. Dr. Eliot and Mr. Yeatman Books and instruction furnished to colored troops at 
 Benton Barracks Letter from Colonel A. Watson Webber Stores sent to Nashville and 
 Murfreesboro, Tenn. Agency at Hunlsville, Ala. Stores sent to the Naval Flotilla 
 Veteran Regiments entertained at St. Louis Stores to the 33d Ills, infantry Acknowledg 
 ment Stores to Banks army on Red River Several important questions answered Do 
 the Soldiers get any of the Sanitary stores? Illustration Accountability of Agents 
 Hospitals, regiments, hospital steamers and gunboats supplied with Sanitary stores List 
 of Female Nurses who have proved their worth in the hospitals of St. Louis PP. 91 109 
 
 C II A P T E R X . 
 
 The Freedmen of the Mississippi Fii-st efforts for their relief at Helena Miss Maria R. 
 Mann Mr. Yeatman s visits to the freedmen, from Island No. 10, to Natchez Chaplain 
 H. D. Fisher detailed as an Agent of the Commission, to make an appeal for aid, in New 
 England Generous contributions received Mr. Yeatman s Report Condition of the 
 freedmen The subject presented to the attention of the Government Mr. AV. P. Mellen 
 and Mr. Yeatman return to carry into effect an improved system of leasing the abandon 
 ed plantations, and of securing better wages to the laborers Second visit to Washington 
 Military protection given National and other Freedmen s Relief Associations Messrs. 
 Marsh and Foster go to Vicksburg as agents Teachers sent Death of one of the num 
 ber 4,500 freedmen arrive with the return of Gen. Sherman s army from Meridian Their 
 condition Aid given Union refugees of the Mississippi Valley Refugee. Home at St . 
 Louis Refugees at Pilot Knob Labors of Sup t. A. Wright Refugee Home at Vicks 
 burg School for refugee children pp . 110- 128 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Resources of the Western Sanitary Commission Appropriations by the Governor and Legis 
 lature of Missouri Liberality of St. Louis Donations from Massachusetts and California 
 Gifts of the Peaple Contributions from the Women of the Loyal States Distributions 
 by the Commission Number of Articles given Estimated value one and a half millions 
 of dollars -Expenses of the Commission for Salaries of Agents, Rents, and Distribu 
 tion of Stores less than one per cent. Friendship of Major Generals Fremont, Halleck , 
 Curtis, Scholield, Rosecrans, Sherman, and Lieut. Gen. Grant for the Commission- 
 Also, of Assistant Surgeon General Wood, Gen. Allen, Colonels Parsons, Myers, 
 Haines, and Maj. Smith -Ladies Union Aid Society of St. Louis -Its Work Receipt s 
 and Disbursements -Freedmen s Relief Society of St. Louis -Its Work Receipts and 
 Disbursements-Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair Conclusion PP. 12!> IJjS 
 
THE 
 
 0mmjss0n 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF SANITARY COMMISSIONS How THE WESTERN COMMISSION CAME TO BE 
 ORGANIZED THE EARLY BATTLES IN MISSOURI WANT OF PREPARATION FOR 
 TAKING CARE OF THE WOUNDED ORDER OF MAJ. GEN. FREMONT CONSTITUTING A 
 SANITARY COMMISSION ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY HOSPITALS IN ST. Louis 
 HOSPITAL CARS FITTED UP ON THE PACIFIC R. R. VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS 
 FROM NEW ENGLAND AND THE NORTH-WESTERN STATES LOYAL SYMPATHIES AND 
 PATRIOTISM OF THE WOMEN OF THE COUNTRY INCIDENTS. 
 
 THE first organized attempt to mitigate the horrors of war, to pre 
 vent disease and save the lives of those engaged in military service. 
 by sanitary measures and a more careful nursing of the sick and 
 wounded, was made by a commission appointed by the British Gov 
 ernment during the Crimean war, to inquire into the terrible mortality 
 from disease that attended the British army at Sebastopol, and to apply 
 the needed remedies. It was as a part of this great work that the 
 heroic young Englishwoman, Florence Nightingale, with her army of 
 nurses, went to the Crimea to care for the sick and wounded soldier, 
 to minister in hospitals, and to alleviate suffering and pain, with a self- 
 sacrifice and devotion that has made her name a household word, 
 wherever the English language is spoken. In the armies of France the 
 Sisters of Charity had rendered similar services, and even ministered 
 to the wounded on the battle field; but their labors were a work of 
 religious charity and not an organized sanitary movement. 
 
The experience of armies having shown that not less than five sol 
 diers die of disease to every one killed in battle, it became a problem, 
 whether this immense loss could not be greatly diminished by sani 
 tary means, and the military strength of a people be proportionally 
 increased by a greater economy of life, and the superior health, vigor, 
 and aggressive power of its armies. To this consideration was also 
 added the Christian duty of a people to minister to the comfort and 
 health of men engaged in so perilous a service, leaving their homes 
 and families and kindred to encounter sickness, wounds, and death, 
 for the sake of country and liberty. 
 
 The result of the enquiries of the British Commission, and of the 
 researches of medical science has clearly established the fact that the 
 " efficiency of an army must ever depend upon the state of health of 
 the corps which compose it;" and that "the history of war can 110 
 longer be confined to bare details of the plans of battles and the 
 manoeuvres of armies," but that "w^e must refer to other elements, 
 and principally to the sanitary condition of troops as the causes of 
 our victories, or the reasons for our disasters." * 
 
 The idea of an organization of civilians to look after the health of 
 the armies of the United States, on the breaking out of the present war, 
 and to minister to the sick and wounded, when the great battles should 
 be fought, which it was foreseen must be the inevitable results of the 
 conflict, originated in the minds of humane and patriotic men, who had 
 the welfare of the country, and its noble defenders, at heart, and took 
 form in the summer and autumn of 1861, in the formation of the United 
 States Sanitary Commission, with its centre of operations at Washing 
 ton, and of the Western Sanitary Commission, with its field of service 
 at St. Louis, and in the armies, the navy and the hospitals of the west. 
 
 The noble labors of the U. S. Commission and its subordinate 
 
 * The British Army and Miss Nightingale . By Charles Shrimpton , M . D . , late Surgeon 
 Major in the French Army, London: Bailliere Brothers, 18G4. Quoted in North American 
 Review, April, 1864. 
 
branches having been already recorded in a valuable history,* and 
 in various publications, it is proposed in the present publication to 
 give a sketch of the "Western Commission, its modes of operation, 
 its agencies and labors in the western armies and hospitals, its inci 
 dental work for the Freedmaii and Union refugees, and its plans of 
 usefulness for the future of the war. 
 
 The organization of the Western Sanitary Commission was the 
 result of circumstances growing out of the war in Missouri ; the 
 necessity for it was both sudden and unexpected, and its earliest 
 labors were entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated. The city of 
 Saint Louis had become the Headquarters of the Military Depart 
 ment of the West. During the summer of 1861 the battles of 
 Boonville, Dug Spring, Carthage, and Wilson s Creek, were fought in 
 Missouri, the last on the 10th of August, twelve miles south of Spring- 
 field, near the Fayetteville road. This was one of the most desperately 
 fought engagements of the war, and the number of killed and 
 wounded was very great. The wounded, numbering 721, were 
 brought all the way from Springfield to Rolla in ambulances and 
 army wagons, and thence by cars to Saint Louis, and so little 
 preparation had then been made for such an event that there were 
 not additional hospital accommodations for so many in the whole 
 city. The "Ke\v House of Refuge Hospital," situated two miles 
 south of St. Louis, had only been opened on the 6th of the same 
 month, by Medical Director De Camp, with Dr. Bailley in charge, 
 two excellent and humane surgeons of the regular army, and was as 
 yet unfinished and unprovided with the requisites of a good hospital. 
 Its condition at the time is thus described in an article in the North 
 American Review for April, 1864, entitled "Loyal Work in Missouri." 
 It had neither stoves, nor bedsteads, nor beds, nor bedding, nor 
 food, nor nurses, nor any thing prepared. The first hundred arrived 
 
 *The United States Sanitary Commission, Boston; Little, Brown Company, 1863. 
 
6 
 
 at night. They had been brought in wagons a hundred and twenty 
 miles, over a rough road, by hurried marches, suffering for food 
 and water, from Springfield to Holla, and thence by rail to Saint 
 Louis to the station on Fourteenth Street. There, having had 
 nothing to eat for ten hours, they were put into furniture carts 
 (much better than those instruments of torture called ambulances) 
 and carried the remaining three miles. Bare walls, bare floors, and 
 an empty kitchen received them ; but the kind-hearted surgeon, 
 Bailley, did all he could to make kindness take the place of good 
 fare. He obtained from the neighbors cooked food for their supper, 
 and lost no time in getting together the various means of comfort. 
 The poor fellows were so shattered and travel-worn that they were 
 thankful enough to get eatable food, with the hard boards to sleep 
 upon, and no word of complaint did we ever hear one of them 
 utter. In the course of the week three or four hundred more were 
 brought in, the condition of things meanwhile rapidly improving ; 
 but so great was the difficulty of obtaining anything that was 
 wanted, that many of the badly wounded men lay there in the 
 same unchanged garments in w T hich they had been brought from the 
 battle-field three weeks before. Every day, however, made things 
 better, and by the end of a month from the first arrivals Dr. Bailley 
 began to say that it was not yet what he called a good hospital, 
 but that the men were all comfortable. " 
 
 Arrivals of sick and wounded continued and other accommodations 
 had to be obtained without delay. All the available wards of the 
 Saint Louis Hospital, kept by the Sisters of Charity, and of the 
 City Hospital were immediately taken and filled, and still there 
 was need of more hospitals. The sad and neglected condition of 
 those who were brought from Springfield excited the benevolent and 
 patriotic sympathies of all who loved their country and its brave 
 defenders. The wounds of many had not been dressed since their 
 first dressing after the battle ; others were still suffering from 
 
unextracted bullets and pieces of shell, and the hospitals were 
 unprovided with the necessary hospital clothing to substitute for 
 the soiled clothing of the men, which in many instances were 
 saturated with the blood of their wounds. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the Western Sanitary Commission was 
 suddenly called into existence. Miss D. L. Dix, the philanthropist, 
 was then in Saint Louis, and in communication with the new Com 
 mander of the Department, Major General Fremont ; Mrs. Fremont 
 was also deeply interested in every thing relating to the welfare 
 of the sick and wounded soldier ; other persons of humane and 
 patriotic motives and sentiments were personally known to General 
 Fremont, and the suggestion of a Sanitary Commission at Saint 
 Louis, to be subordinate to and act in aid of the Medical Depart 
 ment, coming from such sources, was favorably regarded and carried 
 into immediate effect. An order was issued by him on the 5th 
 of September, appointing the Western Sanitary Commission, in which 
 its duties and sphere of action were thus defined : 
 
 "Its general object shall be to carry out, under the properly con 
 stituted military authorities, and in compliance with their orders, 
 such sanitary regulations and reforms as the well-being of the soldiers 
 demand. 
 
 "This Commission shall have authority under the directions of 
 the Medical Director to select, fit up and furnish suitable buildings 
 for Army and Brigade Hospitals, in such places and in such manner 
 as circumstances require. It will attend to the selection and appoint 
 ment of women nurses, under the authority and by the direction 
 of Miss D. L. Dix, General Superintendent of the Nurses of Mili 
 tary Hospitals in the United States. It will co-operate with the 
 surgeons of the several hospitals in providing male nurses, and in 
 whatever manner practicable, and by their consent. It shall have 
 authority to visit the different camps, to consult with the com 
 manding officers, and the colonels and other officers of the several 
 
8 
 
 regiments, with regard to the sanitary and general condition of the 
 troops, and aid them in providing proper means for the preserva 
 tion of health and prevention of sickness, by supply of wholesome 
 and well cooked food, by good systems of drainage, and other 
 practicable methods. It will obtain from the community at large 
 such additional means of increasing the comfort and promoting the 
 moral and social welfare of the men, in camp and hospital, as may 
 be needed, and cannot be furnished by Government Regulations. 
 It will, from time to time, report directly to the Commander-in-Chief 
 of the Department the condition of the camps and hospitals, with 
 such suggestions as can properly be made by a Sanitary Board. 
 
 " This Commission is not intended in any way to interfere with 
 the Medical Staff, or other officers of the army, but to co-operate 
 \\ilh them, and aid them in the discharge of their present arduous 
 and extraordinary duties. It will be treated by all officers of the 
 army, both regular and volunteer, in this Department, with the 
 respect due to the humane and patriotic motives of the members, 
 and to the authoiity of the Oommander-in-Chief. 
 
 " This Sanitary Commission will, for the present, consist of James 
 E. Yeatman, Esq.; C. S. Greeley, Esq.; J. B. Johnson, M. D. ; 
 George Partridge, Esq., and the Rev. Win. G. Eliot, D. D." 
 
 As soon as this order was issued the gentlemen named in it, 
 acting as a Sanitary Commission, commenced their labors in con 
 nection with the Medical Department. Their first important work 
 was the fitting up of a new hospital sufficiently large to accommodate 
 at least five hundred patients. Negotiations were opened for renting 
 the large five story marble-fronted building, corner of Fifth and 
 Chesnut streets, which was secured at a reasonable rent. Necessary 
 alterations were made, arrangements for bathing introduced, special 
 diet-kitchens were fitted up, and the whole building furnished with 
 beds and bedding. On the 10th of September it was opened for 
 the reception of patients, under the charge of Surgeon John T. 
 
9 
 
 Ilodgen, U. 8. V., with a competent corps of Assistant Surgeons, 
 apothecary, steward, ward masters, nurses, &c., under the title of 
 the "City General Hospital.* 
 
 It was rapidly filled with patients and continued as a military 
 hospital until the autumn of 1863, under the charge of Dr. Hodgen, 
 whose able and faithful services and great surgical skill were fully 
 recognized and appreciated by the Medical Department and by the 
 Western Sanitary Commission, with whom his relations have always 
 been most intimate, and whose members have ever found in him 
 a willing co-worker and friend. 
 
 Being located in a central part of the city, convenient to the 
 rail road depots and the river, it was the place of reception of 
 nearly all the severely wounded and the hopelessly sick on their 
 arrival, for which reasons its per centage of deaths was large, being 
 144 for a period of nearly two years ; but it was one of the best 
 conducted and well managed hospitals in the west. 
 
 It was in this building the Wesiern Sanitary Commission com 
 menced its useful and arduous labors, having its office in a small 
 room at the left of the entrance, in the second story, and a store 
 room for sanitary goods in the basement, its members meeting every 
 day for consultation and action; its President, Jas. E. Yeatman, giv 
 ing his whole time to the work, and having only one man to act 
 as store keeper, porter and clerk, at tlie small salary of thirty dollars 
 a month ; and yet the work went on, each member of the Commis 
 sion lending a helping hand, boxes of sanitary stores arriving from 
 New England, and from the various towns and cities of the West, 
 prepared and forwarded by the willing hands of the wives and 
 mothers and daughters of the land, and being distributed as needed 
 to the hospitals and camps, and regiments m and around St. Louis, 
 and at more distant posts in the interior of the State. 
 
 From September 12th to September 21st, occurred the seige, the bat 
 tle, and surrender of Lexington, Mo., which threw some three hundred 
 
10 
 
 more wounded men upon the hospitals of St. Louis. During the two 
 months in which these events happened, besides the hospitals already 
 named, five more were added, the Good Samaritan, the Fourth Street 
 or Eliot Hospital, the Pacific, the Post and the Convalescent Hospitals 
 at Bentoii Barracks. 
 
 During the month of October, Maj. Gen. Fremont took the field in 
 person, with an army of twenty thousand troops, and went in pursuit 
 of the rebel Gen. Price, who had retreated from Lexington. This 
 pursuit was continued to Springfield, Mo., under forced marches, and 
 on Gen. Fremont s removal from the command, November 5th, the 
 army was ordered back again by the new commander, Maj. Gen. Hun 
 ter. By this long and toilsome march and counter march, many of the 
 troops were broken down, and were transferred to the hospitals. 
 
 One of the last acts that Gen. Fremont performed, on leaving St 
 Louis on this expedition, was an order, alike creditable to Ins judg 
 ment and his humanity, directed to the Western Sanitary Commission, 
 to fit up two hospital cars on the Pacific Railroad, with berths, nurses, 
 cooking arrangements, etc., for the transportation of the sick and 
 wounded, which was done. These were probably the first hospital 
 cars prepared and furnished as such in the United States, and for 
 several months they proved exceedingly useful. 
 
 Through all these exciting months the members of the Western Sani 
 tary Commission continued their voluntary labors without abatement, 
 and the fitting up of all these hospitals was left mainly to them by the 
 then acting Medical Director. As sanitary stores were needed, appeals 
 were made through the newspapers and generously responded to by 
 the people of St. Louis. Gradually the work of the Commission be 
 came more widely known ; some of its members having a large acquain 
 tance in New England, an interest was excited there, and contributions 
 of hospital clothing, bandages, lint, dried and canned fruits, jellies and 
 other delicacies for the sick, began to arrive from that source, and from 
 Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and other Western States. From 
 
11 
 
 the principal cities and towns of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 
 Rhode Island ; from Boston, Providence and Portsmouth; from Salem, 
 New Bedford, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Cambridgeport, 
 Roxbury, Newton, and many other towns, boxes came filled with new 
 blankets, sheets, comforters, pillows, towels, socks, mittens, bandages, 
 lint, and many little articles of convenience for the soldier s private 
 use, such as needle books, pin cushions, handkerchiefs, games for 
 amusement, little boxes of salve for sores and wounds, all showing 
 the thoughtful sympathy and affection of the noble women of the 
 country for those who had taken up arms to vindicate the majesty 01 
 the Government against a most unholy rebellion a cause in which 
 their own fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons had enlisted that they 
 might preserve the institutions of liberty to themselves and coming 
 generations. 
 
 It was au interesting spectacle to see these boxes opened in the store 
 rooms of the Commission, and on examination to find in. the socks and 
 mittens (of which there were many thousand pairs, in anticipation 
 of the needs of the winter,) tracts and manuscript letters, full of words 
 of advice, encouragement and sympathy. Sometimes there would be 
 found in the toe of a sock a letter addressed, " To the soldier who shall 
 wear these socks : Be of good cheer ! may these socks keep your feet 
 warm, while you stand on your post, or march on to battle and 
 victory!" "May the rebellion soon be subdued, and you have the 
 satisfaction of having aided in the glorious work." Sometimes quite 
 lengthy epistles would be folded up in these presents, with the names 
 and address of the writers given, and we have known some very 
 pleasant correspondence to follow from these friendly missives to the 
 soldiers. In one instance a pocket bible was contained among the 
 sanitary stores, having the name and address of the giver, and was 
 given to an intelligent and faithful soldier at Rolla, who wrote the lady 
 an acknowledgment of the gift, and a very interesting and profitable 
 correspondence resulted. 
 
Sometimes these presents would contain a slip of paper, on which 
 would be written, " Knit by a little girl, eight years of age," and some 
 times another would be written, " Knit by E F , aged seventy- 
 six years," showing that from childhood to age the women of the 
 country, were heart and hand with their country s defenders, in the 
 war for the preservation of the Union. 
 
 From the Northwestern States contributions also came in freely, 
 especially from Wisconsin, where the Rev. H. A. lieid, and his wife, 
 devoted themselves, with a truly Christian zeal, to the work of soliciting 
 supplies. Illinois and Iowa, and Michigan also did their part nobly, 
 and a few gifts were sent from Ohio, though the contributions from 
 that State went mostly to the U. S. Sanitary Commission. The sup 
 plies sent from these Western States were largely of canned and dried 
 fruits, jellies, butter, etc., for the use of the sick. In this connection the 
 City of Madison, and all the smaller towns in Wisconsin, the cities of 
 Chicago, Quincy, Alton, Peoria, and the smaller towns in Illinois ; the 
 cities of Detroit, Ypsilaiiti, Marshall, Battle Creek, and other places 
 in Michigan, the cities of Davenport, Dubuque, Keokuk, and the towns 
 of Iowa will be long and gratefully remembered. 
 
 
C H A P T E li II. 
 CHANGE OK DEPARTMENT COMMANDERS IN THE WEST GENERAL HALLECK LARGE 
 
 INCREASE OF TROOPS-HOSPITALS FILLED NEW HOSPITALS OPENED PREVALENCE 
 
 OF MEASLES, PNEUMONIA, TYPHOID FEVER AND DIARRHEA DURING THE FALL 
 AND WINTER OF 1861-2 LARGE ARRIVALS AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF SANITARY STORES 
 INSPECTION OF HOSPITALS SECRETARYSHIP OF THE COMMISSION MEDICAL DI 
 RECTOR, J. J. B. WRIGHT DEFICIENCY OF THE MEDICAL SUPPLY TABLE THE 
 LABORS OF THE LOYAL AND PATRIOTIC WOMEN OF ST. Louis IN THE HOSPITALS 
 THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEMALE NURSES THEIR HEROISM AND SELF-SACRIFICE. 
 
 On the removal of Maj. Gen. Fremont, his successor continued in 
 command but sixteen days, when he was superseded by the appoint 
 ment of Maj. Gen. Halleck on the 21st of November. The business 
 of recruiting, which had suffered on account of these changes, was 
 now revived and carried forward successfully, until there were en 
 camped at Benton Barracks, during the months of December and 
 January, 1861- ? 62, over twenty thousand troops, infantry, cavalry, and 
 artillery, from nearly all the Western States. The extensive grounds 
 and barracks prepared by General Fremont were entirely occupied, 
 and the work of military instruction went forward with zeal and 
 energy. 
 
 The presence of so many troops in one great encampment, the 
 crowded condition of the barracks, the inexperience of the soldiers in 
 their first encounter with exposure and hardship, the inclemency of 
 the winter months, and the inability of the department to do all that 
 was required, occasioned a large amount of sickness among the dif 
 ferent regiments. The most prevalent diseases were measles, pneu. 
 monia, typhoid fever, and diarrhea. In one instance, it happened that 
 three hundred, in a single regiment of cavalry, were sick, mostly 
 taken down with measles. In another, the surgeon reported one 
 thousand out of thirteen hundred men, suffering from coughs and 
 
14 
 
 colds. The barracks being rough buildings, with many open cracks, 
 and floors without any space beneath, were far from comfortable, and 
 the regimental hospitals were not well warmed, nor kept at an even 
 temperature, nor properly ventilated. The consequence was that many 
 of the measle patients were afterwards attacked with pneumonia, and 
 died. The small-pox also broke out, and the hospital established on 
 Duncan s Island, (opposite the arsenal, in the Mississippi river,) for 
 this class of patients, was filled and required additional accommoda 
 tions. 
 
 During the months of December and January, the number of sick 
 and wounded in all the hospitals of Saint Louis and vicinity had 
 reached over 2,000, and the labors of the Sanitary Commission were 
 greatly increased. Meetings were held every few days ; frequent 
 inspections were made of all the hospitals and camps ; reports were 
 prepared and submitted to the commanding general; improvements 
 were introduced; and supplies were forwarded wherever needed. 
 
 Besides the hospitals and camps in and around Saint Louis, there 
 were large bodies of troops at Kolla, the terminus of the south-west 
 branch of the Pacific railroad, a point of great strategic importance, 
 and at Tipton and Sedalia, two other important points, and at Ironton, 
 the southern terminus of the Iron Mountain railroad, and at Jefferson 
 City, the capital of the State, where they were encamped for the winter. 
 At these places there was a large amount of sickness and great mor 
 tality. The tents and huts in which the soldiers had gone into win 
 ter quarters, were poorly ventilated ; the hospitals were generally log 
 buildings, very much crowded, badly ventilated, and yet allowing the 
 entrance of draughts of cold air, having also bad floors, through which 
 the dampness ascended from the ground. The soldiers were not yet in 
 ured to hardship, and were inexperienced in taking proper care of 
 themselves, and in attending to sanitary and police regulations, and 
 the consequence was a melancholy state of disease and death at 
 those military posts. The writer of this sketch has a sad remern- 
 
16 
 
 brance of the new-made graves at Holla, which he found there in the 
 spring of 1862, where so many of the Iowa, and Illinois and Missouri 
 troops spent the fall and early part of winter before they went 011 
 their victorious march, under General Curtis, through Springfield to 
 Pea Ridge, recovering the ground relinquished by Gen. Hunter, after 
 the removal of Fremont, and driving the rebels from Missouri beyond 
 the Boston Mountains. 
 
 But before this march was undertaken, and while the troops lay 
 in their winter encampments, the demands for sanitary stores were 
 incessant, and the supply was always equal to the emergency. From 
 regimental surgeons there was a constant application for additional 
 medicines beyond the allowance afforded by the Medical Depart 
 ment. The old medical supply table was found utterly inadequate 
 to the emergency. Expectorants and other important remedies were 
 in constant demand, and large additions were furnished by the 
 Sanitary Commission. The request was equally urgent for hospital 
 clothing and delicate food for the sick. Large issues were made 
 of blankets, sheets, pillows, pillow slips, comforters, slippers-, socks, 
 wrappers, shirts, drawers, bandages, lint, and supplies of farina, jellies, 
 canned and dried fruits, stimulants, &c. Surgeons came into the 
 Sanitary Rooms personally to present their requests, and voluntary 
 agents from Holla, Jefferson City, Tipton, Sedalia, and Ironton al so 
 came, and represented the condition of the .hospitals at those posts, 
 to all of which liberal responses were made, goods forwarded, visits 
 made in person by the President and members of the Commission, 
 and members of the Ladies Union Aid Society, and every thing 
 done that was possible to alleviate suffering and diminish disease. 
 
 In these labors the "Western Commission received the hearty and 
 cordial support of Major General Halleck, the new commander of the 
 Western Department, and was often favored with the presence at 
 its meetings of his Chief of Staff, Brigadier General George W. 
 Cullum, U. S. A., whose experience and excellent suggestions were 
 of great value. 
 
16 
 
 Up to this period, January, 1862, the Commission had received 
 over live hundred and twenty-five boxes of goods, and distributed 
 over fifteen thousand articles, consisting of hospital clothing, and 
 delicate preparations of food for the sick, besides aiding to furnish 
 many of the general hospitals and supplying 1 the deficiencies of 
 medicine to the regiments. 
 
 The work of the Commission during the months of December 
 and January had consisted largely in the visitation and inspection of 
 the camps and hospitals in and around Saint Louis, in efforts for 
 their improvement, in the reception and distribution of sanitary 
 stores, in the employment of female nurses, and in correspondence 
 with the military authorities and the friends of the Union cause 
 in different parts of the country. 
 
 In the enlargement of its work it became necessary to procure 
 additional store room for goods, and to employ a Secretary. For a 
 period of three months this position was filled by Kev. J. G. For- 
 man, of Alton, 111., who resigned it to enter upon his duties as 
 Chaplain of the 3d Missouri volunteers, and Mr. L. B. Ripley suc 
 ceeded him for several months, when he also resigned and became 
 the Quartermaster of the 33d Missouri volunteers. In May, 1863, 
 Kev. Mr. Forman again became permanently Secretary of the Com 
 mission. 
 
 In February, 1862, the small room in the Fifth Street Hospital 
 was vacated for the larger rooms, No. 10, North Fifth Street, still 
 occupied by the Commission. 
 
 In the month of December the excellent Medical Director, Sur 
 geon De Camp, with whom the Commission had labored in estab 
 lishing and fitting up the new military hospitals, was superseded 
 by Dr. J. J. B. Wright, U. S. A., and it was some time before 
 the relations of the Commission became entirely harmonious with 
 this officer. Like many of the old army surgeons he was sensi 
 tive of any imaginary interference with the Medical Department, 
 
17 
 
 considered it fully competent to manage every thing relating to the 
 health of the army, and had an evident dislike of sanitary commis 
 sions, and a disposition to decline all aid from this source. He 
 was in the habit of remarking that the old army had never re 
 ceived any such assistance, and that he saw no reason why the 
 volunteers should have this partiality shown to them. But the 
 Sanitary Commission showed no partialities, and all soldiers of the 
 United States, whether regulars or volunteers, were treated by it 
 precisely alike. The prejudice existing in the minds of the surgeons 
 of the regular army towards the Sanitary Commissions and the 
 surgeons of the volunteer forces has been frequently manifested, and 
 is to be greatly deplored, preventing harmony of action and result 
 ing in much injury to the service. 
 
 In the present instance there was great complaint from the surgeons 
 of the volunteer regiments of the deficiency of the medical supply table, 
 and constant applications were made to the Commission for additional 
 medicines. The regimental surgeons stated that they could not get 
 their requisitions answered at the medical purveyor s office; that the 
 articles they most needed were stricken oft , the quantities reduced 
 in others, and that their patients could not be properly treated and 
 were dying for want of proper medicines. The difficulty was repre 
 sented to Maj. Gen. Hallcck by the Commission, and he issued an 
 order on the Medical Department to increase its allowances, which 
 order the Medical Director refused to comply with. The matter was 
 referred by Gen. Halleck to "Washington, and the result was that in 
 the end the medical supply table for regiments in the field was con 
 siderably enlarged. The relations of the Commission afterwards 
 became more harmonious with Medical Director Wright, as he found 
 its services to be really useful and necessary; but, although invited, he 
 never attended its meetings, and always maintained a distant and 
 merely official intercourse with its members. 
 
 While the Commission was thus engaged the loyal and patriotic 
 
18 
 
 women of the city were not less active, in works of love for the sick 
 and wounded, and in expressions of encouragement and sympathy for 
 the soldiers in the field. In them the Commission found most ener 
 getic and faithful co-workers. At the rooms of the Ladies Union Aid 
 and of the Fremont Relief Societies, they met daily and cut out hospital 
 garments, employed sewing machines in the making of them, gave 
 occupation and assistance to soldiers wives and families, received 
 and distributed sanitary stores, visited the sick, carrying with them 
 delicately prepared food and cordials, good religious books, and other 
 reading matter to cheer and comfort them, conversed at their bedsides, 
 gave them consolation and sympathy, and in many instances gave hope 
 in Christ and confidence in God and heaven to the departing spirit. 
 The labors thus cheerfully performed will not only find an honorable 
 record on earth, but are already registered in heaven. 
 
 It would be a grateful task to the writer to name many of those 
 whom he often met in these visitations of mercy in the hospitals, but 
 the fear of wounding by giving publicity to deeds that were not done 
 to secure the world s applauses, and making omissions that would 
 seem like an unjust discrimination, induces him to refrain from the 
 attempt. Some of them were the wives of our best and most loyal 
 citizens, persons of wealth, culture and refinement, who used to sit 
 for hours by the bed-side of the sick and wounded, fanning the 
 fevered brow, reading from sonic good book, and speaking so hope, 
 fully, that their gentle influence was always visible in its effects upon 
 the countenances of those who were the objects of their tender soli 
 citude and care. In one instance, a youth, hardly yet more than a 
 boy, who had been often visited, as his spirit was sinking away from 
 earth, asked one of these goodly women to kiss him for his mother; 
 and the farewell kiss was given, and the spirit of the boy departed, 
 leaving the smile of peace on his fair young face, which his own 
 dear mother could never kiss again. 
 
 Among those who thus passed from room to room through the hos- 
 
19 
 
 pitals, giving to one a testament, to another a soldier s prayer-book, 
 to a third a volume of pleasant reading, accompanied always by an 
 expression of friendly interest and sympathy, two sisters from Phil 
 adelphia are warmly remembered, who came all the way to Saint 
 Louis, and spent the winter in these holy ministries of love, whose 
 names, like the true sisters of humanity of our own city, I leave un- 
 mentioned here, feeling assured that they are all recorded in the 
 Lamb s Book of Life, and written on the tablet of many a soldier s 
 heart. 
 
 The following lines, written by a private soldier, addressed to one 
 who had thus ministered to him in sickness, are the fit expression of 
 what was often conveyed in the pleased and grateful countenance 
 of many a sick and dying soldier to the saintly souls of those who 
 came to bless and comfort them in their hours of pain and lan 
 guishing : 
 
 " From old Saint Paul till now, 
 
 Of honorable women, not a few 
 
 Have left their golden ease in love to do 
 
 The saintly work which Christ-like hearts pursue. 
 
 "And such an one art thou! God s fair apostle, 
 Bearing His love in war s horrific train : 
 Thy blessed feet follow its ghastly pain 
 And misery, and death, without disdain. 
 
 " To one borne from the sullen battle s roar, 
 Dearer the greeting of thy gentle eyes, 
 "When he, aweary, torn and bleeding lies. 
 Than all the glory that the victors prize ! 
 
 " When peace shall come, and homes shall smile again, 
 
 A thousand soldier-hearts in northern climes, 
 
 Shall tell their little children in their rhymes, 
 
 Of the sweet saints who blessed the old war times." 
 
20 
 
 The employment of female nurses, and their assignment to duty in 
 the hospitals, was another important service rendered by the Presi 
 dent of the commission a delicate trust and one attended with 
 many difficulties. The example of Florence Nightingale and her corps 
 of female nurses in the Crimea, and the patriotic sympathies of the 
 women of America with their brothers in arms, led large numbers of 
 them to offer themselves for this service. The natural superiority of 
 women, as nurses, was felt by all, and the government, therefore, 
 determined to make room for a certain proportion of female nurses 
 in the hospitals. Miss D. L. Dix, a lady widely and favorably known 
 by her humanitary labors for prisoners and the insane, was appointed 
 " Superintendent of Women Nurses, 7 to determine upon their qualifi 
 cations, and grant certificates ; and only those who had received such 
 certificates, either from her or her agents, were to be employed by 
 the surgeons in charge of general hospitals. The President of the 
 Western Sanitary Commission was made the agent of Miss Dix for the 
 Western Department, and on him the duty devolved of receiving all 
 applications for this branch of the service, determining the qualifica 
 tions of the applicants, granting the certificates of appointment, and 
 assigning them to duty in the hospitals, on the request of the sur 
 geons in charge for the number required. 
 
 The qualifications of women nurses were, that the applicants should 
 be of suitable age, (from 25 to 50 years,) that they should be per 
 sons in good health, with sound constitutions, capable of bearing 
 fatigue; that they should be free from levity and frivolity, of an 
 earnest but cheerful spirit; that they should dress in plain colors, 
 and in a manner convenient for their work; that they should be per 
 sons of good education ; and, that they should be recommended by 
 at least two responsible persons, (their clergyman and physician being 
 preferred,) as to their fitness for this service. 
 
 At a later period Surgeon General Wm. A. Hammond issued an order 
 regulating the number of women nurses to be employed in the general 
 
Jl 
 
 hospitals to one for every twenty beds, afterwards modified to one for 
 every thirty beds, and requiring that no nurses should be employed with 
 out the certificate of Miss Dix, or her agents, except on emergencies. 
 
 Under these regulations a large number of women nurses were 
 employed in the hospitals of the Western Department, and were 
 allowed a compensation of $12 per month and transportation from 
 their place of residence, and to it again on their being relieved 
 from duty, with quarters and a ration (or board) in the hospitals. 
 The full number allowed was seldom called for by the surgeons, 
 and in some of the more distant hospitals the regulations were 
 not always complied with, the surgeons in charge often employing 
 persons selected by themselves, and not always such as would have 
 been approved. This practice has recently been prevented by an 
 order from the War Department, prohibiting the payment of all who 
 have not received the proper certificates of approval from Miss 
 Dix, or from those acting with her authority. 
 
 The nurses commissioned by the President of the Western Sanitary 
 Commission have generally been such as to do honor to the service, 
 and by their devotion to the sick and wounded soldier, their attention 
 to his diet, their oversight of his welfare, their watchings by his bed 
 side, their kindly presence and cheering influence, they have often 
 turned the balance when poised between life and death, and saved 
 many a soldier and hero to his country and his friends. 
 
 The number employed in the hospitals of the Western Depart 
 ment up to the present date, (May, 1864,) holding their certificates 
 from the President of the Western Commission, is two hundred and 
 seventy-three.* A few instances of unworthiness have occurred, and 
 
 * In giving this account of women nurses it is proper to state that an order was issued 
 from the Medical Department in October, 1803, directing that certificates should be granted 
 to those nux-ses who had been for some time in the service, on the recommendation of the 
 surgeons in charge. Under this order about one hundred certificates were sent by mail in 
 answer to such recommendations. It has been since ascertained that some of those for 
 whom certificates were thus obtained were cooks and laundresses, the surgeons in these 
 cases taking the responsibility as to the character of those whom they recommended. 
 
some have failed to meet the requirements of the situation, but gen 
 erally they have been persons of intelligence, /good education, and a 
 credit to humanity, the noblest types " of good, heroic womanhood." 
 Many of them have left homes of comfort and refinement, and the 
 pleasant associations of honored friends and kindred, to engage in 
 this work of self-sacrifice ; some have been closely related to the 
 best and noblest families in the nation, and left all to minister in 
 hospitals for the sake of those who have fought and bled in the 
 sacred cause of human liberty. Others again, have laid down their 
 lives in this holy service, dying of disease incurred in the infected 
 air of the hospital, and passing onward with our departed heroes 
 and martyrs to that higher life where the sounds of war and con 
 flict are hushed in eternal peace. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON ACTIVITY OF THE WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION 
 STEAMERS EMPLOYED TO BRING THE WOUNDED TO THE SAINT Louis HOSPITALS 
 A DELEGATION FROM THE COMMISSION AND THE LADIES UNION AID SOCIETY 
 
 RETURN WITH A LOAD OF THE WOUNDED ATTENTIONS TO THE SlCK THE FIRST 
 SUGGESTION OF HOSPITAL STEAMERS THE WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION IMME 
 DIATELY ACTED ON THE SUGGESTION THE " ClTY OF LOUISIANA" FITTED UP FOR 
 THIS SERVICE FIRST TRIP TO ISLAND No . 10 VALUE AND USEFULNESS OF HOSPITAL 
 
 STEAMERS PROVED BY SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCE ASSISTANT SURGEON-GENERAL R. 
 C. WOOD GREAT DEMAND FOR SURGEONS AND NURSES JAMES M. BARNARD, ESQ., 
 OF BOSTON BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE DESTITUTE CONDITION OF THE SICK AND 
 WOUNDED THE HOSPITALS AT CASSVILLE A. W. PLATTENBURG SENT BY THE 
 COMMISSION WITH SANITARY STORES INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF HIS JOURNEY AND 
 OF THE GOOD ACCOMPLISHED BY IT THE AGENCY CONTINUED His FUTURE LABORS 
 TESTIMONIALS OF HIS USEFULNESS HEROISM OF MRS. PHELPS AT PEA RIDGE. 
 
 On the 13th, 14th, and loth of February, 1862, was fought the 
 battle of Fort Doiielson, on the Cumberland River in, West Ten 
 nessee, in which the United States forces under General U. S. 
 Grant, were victorious, compelling the surrender of the Fort, and 
 taking- 10,000 prisoners of war under the rebel Brig. Gen. S. B. 
 Buckner. In this battle there were 231 killed and 1,007 wounded 
 of the Confederate forces, and the loss on our own side was much 
 greater, as the rebels fought within their entrenchments and our 
 troops in the open field, where for three nights they lay upon the 
 bare ground in a driving storm of snow and sleet, and renewed 
 the battle from day to day, till victory crowned their arms. 
 
 On the news of this battle reaching St. Louis the Western Sani 
 tary Commission made every preparation to assist the Medical 
 Department in the care of the sick and wounded. A member of 
 the Commission, accompanied by a delegation of physicians, nurses, 
 and members of the Ladies Union Aid Society, and by Surgeon J. 
 II. Grove, U. S. V., proceeded immediately to Cairo by rail, and 
 thence by steamer to Paducah, Ky., at the mouth of the Cumber- 
 
24 
 
 land river, with sanitary stores, to which place the wounded had 
 been brought, where they were most courteously received by Medi 
 cal Director Simmons, who placed the steamer "Ben Franklin" at 
 their service, and ordered a load of the wounded to be put in their 
 charge to bring to St. Louis. 
 
 While the boat was being made ready, the ladies of the delega 
 tion went on board the various steamers at the landing and gave 
 their kind attentions to the wounded, assisting to wash them, and 
 to promote their comfort in every possible way. 
 
 The following account of the return trip is from the report made 
 to the Commission at the time : " Furnished with the order of 
 the Medical Director we visited the various hospitals in Paducah, 
 and selected as many of the wounded as we could safely and com 
 fortably transport to St. Louis. It required twenty-four hours to 
 get 155 patients on board. 
 
 "As soon as we got under way, the ladies set to work to wash and 
 cleanse, and comb the hair of the sick and wounded. Warm water, 
 soap, sponge, and flesh brushes were brought in requisition. Not only 
 the face and neck, but the hands and feet, and other parts of the body 
 had to undergo this purifying process. After this, the surgeons, Drs. 
 Grove, Alleyne, and myself, proceeded to dress the wounds and other 
 severe injuries of our patients, in which again we were materially 
 aided by the ladies and gentlemen of our delegation. This process 
 required from three to four hours daily. 
 
 " The following was the daily routine : Early in the morning the ladies 
 attended to the ablutions and cleansing of the patients. Breakfast was 
 then served them, after which, a careful surgical and medical examina 
 tion was gone through. Then came dinner, when they were waited on 
 by all on board who could be spared from duty. After dinner, they 
 were read to, and entertained by conversation. At supper again they 
 had the attentions of all on board. After which we had singing of 
 sacred or national hymns, reading the Scriptures, and prayer," 
 
25 
 
 On arriving at St. Louis the wounded were at once taken in charge 
 by medical officers, acting under the Medical Director, and transferred 
 to the various hospitals. 
 
 From this time, general hospitals were established at Paducah and 
 Mound City, and the Western Commission directed a portion of its 
 supplies to those points, and many sanitary stores were also sent 
 directly from the towns and cities of Illinois, accompanied by friends 
 and relatives, and other humane persons, who went to tender their 
 services as nurses, or in any capacity in which they could be useful. 
 
 It was during the trip of the St. Louis Sanitary delegation to Padu 
 cah, that the idea of hospital steamers was suggested by Dr. Simmons, 
 the Medical Director, and embodied in the report to the Western Com 
 mission. He thought it would be wise to procure several good sized 
 steamers and to fit them up as floating hospitals, properly organized 
 with a chief surgeon, assistant surgeons, stewards, nurses, medical and 
 sanitary stores, to accompany the progress of our arms along the west 
 ern rivers, and to be always ready to receive the sick and wounded, 
 on the occurrence of great battles, and convey them to the general 
 hospitals, already provided farther north. The trip of the "Ben. 
 Franklin " was itself a recommendation of the plan, and it was speedily 
 acted upon by the Commission. 
 
 At the same meeting at which the above report and suggestions were 
 made, Rev. "Wm. G. Eliot, D.D., was requested to address a letter to 
 Maj. Gen. Halleck, setting forth the proposed plan for one or more 
 Floating Hospitals, pledging that the Commission, if the suggestion 
 met with his approbation, would take the whole care and labor of 
 carrying it into execution. 
 
 The plan was highly approved by the General commanding, and an 
 order was issued to the chief quartermaster to purchase a steamer 
 suited to the purpose, who, in connection with the Commission, finally 
 selected and chartered the " City of Louisiana." On the 20th of 
 March she had been thoroughly furnished as a hospital boat, the Gov- 
 
26 
 
 ernmeiit supplying her with beds and commissary stores, and the 
 Western Sanitary Commission completing her outfit at an expense 
 of $3000. In addition to this the Commission also provided the assis 
 tant surgeons, the apothecary, the male and female nurses, and fur 
 nished a full supply of sanitary stores. Her first trip was made to Island 
 No. 10, to await the conflict there, but the place was taken at last by 
 a flank movement of Gen. Pope on New Madrid, without loss of life, 
 and there was no occasion for her service at that time. But it was 
 not long till ample opportunity of usefulness occurred at Pittsburg 
 Landing. On this first trip the President of the Western Sanitary 
 Commission went also, sharing in the general expectation of a terrible 
 battle at Island No. 10. 
 
 After the battle of Pittsburg Landing this boat conveyed 3,389 
 patients to northern hospitals, and was in the spring of 1863, purchased 
 by the Government, remodeled for a permanent floating hospital, with 
 accommodations for five hundred beds, and named the U R. C. Wood," 
 in honor of the Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Army, 
 who was the first of the leading surgeons of the regular army to give 
 his sanction and approval to the plan of a Sanitary Commission, and 
 has always given his influence, encouragement, and aid to its beneficent 
 labors, counselled with its members, and carried into effect, in his 
 department, every valuable suggestion it has made. 
 
 The "JR. C. Wood" is a vessel of great speed, and of large dimen 
 sions. Her state rooms have been removed, and the whole upper deck 
 made into one large ward, with abundant light admitted, and having 
 excellent means of ventilation, with ample provision of bath rooms, 
 hot and cold water, cooking apartments, nurses rooms, medical dis 
 pensary, laundry, and many other conveniences. With all the requi 
 sites of a good hospital on shore, it has the advantage of the fresh 
 breezes and currents of air that are common to the river ; and in the 
 heat of summer, by moving on the stream, a delightful ventilation and 
 refreshing breeze are obtained, passing through the sick ward, and 
 
27 
 
 cooling- the fevered brows and pulses of the patients on board. Dur 
 ing the summer of 1863 this boat made constant trips from the army 
 at Vicksburg, bringing: the wounded and sick to the St. Louis hos 
 pitals. During her first period of service she was in charge of Dr. 
 Wagener, and is now in charge of Surgeon Thomas F. Azpell, U. S. V. 
 The great utility and valuable service of floating hospitals was soon 
 established and led to the fitting out of several others by the Gov 
 ernment. 
 
 During the month of February, 1802, the "Western Commission dis 
 tributed 13,250 articles of hospital clothing, food for the sick, bottles 
 of cordials and stimulants, packages of bandages and lint, crutches, 
 back-rests for supporting the head and shoulders, splints, towels, ban 
 dages, socks, slippers, books, and packages of reading matter ; and the 
 labors of its members were constant and unceasing, frequently occu 
 pying the night as well as the day. 
 
 The demand for nurses was at this time very great. From the Mound 
 City Hospital, near Cairo, 111., in charge of Surgeon E, C. Franklin, 
 U. S. V., there was a request at one time for forty nurses, of which 
 only fourteen could be immediately sent. Several surgeons were pro- 
 procured from Boston, Mass., to come out and enter the hospital ser 
 vice, in which the commission had the valuable aid and recommenda 
 tions of James M. Barnard, Esq., of that city, who has, in a thousand 
 ways, assisted in its work, aided its contributions and given it his 
 best influence and counsel. 
 
 On the 7th and 8th of March, 1862, another great battle was fought 
 at Pea Ridge, Ark., in which our forces under Maj. Gen. S. E. Cur 
 tis, were victorious over a force of the enemy, three times our num 
 ber, commanded by Generals Van Dorii, Price, McCulloch and Mcln- 
 tosh. Our killed and wounded numbered one thousand; the loss of 
 the enemy was still greater. The great distance of this battle-field 
 from St. Louis, being two hundred and fifty miles beyond Rolla, the 
 terminus of the South- West Branch of the Pacific railroad, and the 
 
28 
 
 roads being of the very worst description, through a country only 
 halt-civilized, mountainous, without bridges, and without hotel accom 
 modations, stripped by the passage of armies of forage for teams 
 and of food for men, subject to raids and murders by guerrilla bands, 
 it was utterly impossible to bring the wounded of Gen. Curtis army 
 to the hospitals of St. Louis. And what was still worse, the march 
 through the south-west had been undertaken in the winter, over bad 
 roads, with deficient transportation, and the medical department was 
 most miserably provided with the means of taking care of so many 
 wounded. The surgeons were without hospital clothing, without 
 stimulants, so necessary in surgical operations, without bedding for 
 the wounded, and their supply of medicines was exceedingly limited. 
 
 The desperate character of the battle had suddenly thrown upon 
 their hands nearly a thousand badly wounded men, in a country thinly 
 settled by a people living mostly in log houses, and having few of the 
 necessaries of life. The court house at Cassville, and all the principal 
 dwellings there was not a church in the place were filled, and 
 many wounded were also housed in the same way at Keitsville, so 
 that on approaching these villages every other dwelling seemed to be a 
 hospital, having a red flag floating over it. 
 
 In a few instances, wounded officers were conveyed in ambulances 
 all the way to Holla, and taken home to their friends; and those of 
 our brave troops who were less severely wounded were transported 
 to Springfield, Mo., w^here the churches and public buildings were 
 converted into hospitals for their use. Passing onward from Holla to 
 the Army of the South-west, soon after the battle, with the Lyon 
 regiment, to reinforce Gen. Curtis, it was a painful scene to witness 
 Avounded men lying in the bottom of open wagons on beds of straw, 
 jolted over the rough ground, on their way to friends living along 
 the route; for among the regiments that fought most bravely and 
 suffered most severely, was Phelps Missouri six months volunteers, 
 composed of the sons of loyal families, who had lived and suffered in 
 
29 
 
 South-west Missouri from the persecutions of the rebels, many of 
 them having been driven to Holla as a place of refuge and enlisted 
 there, and such of them as now were wounded were being conveyed 
 to their own homes, or to Springfield, where better hospital accom 
 modations existed. In this city, as we marched through, we found 
 the hospital buildings filled with the wounded from Pea Eidge; and 
 at Cassville, when we reached there, it was a touching sight to be 
 hold, as we did, in one room, a row of young men, in the freshness 
 of youth, lying on beds, each having lost a leg, while in other 
 buildings were those who had received all manner of hurts, wounds 
 from pieces of shell, bullet wounds, arms torn and afterwards ampu 
 tated, and legs taken off, and all bound up, awaiting the dreadful 
 issue of life or death. 
 
 But it was with peculiar satisfaction we found that the stores of 
 the Western Sanitary Commission had been received there some days 
 before our arrival, and that the wounded men were lying in clean 
 beds, and clothed with shirts and drawers, instead of the blood 
 stained garments in which they came from the battle-field. The large 
 supplies, forwarded by the commission, had reached the medical 
 director, Dr. Otterson, and had been put to immediate use; his sup 
 ply of stimulants had been largely increased, and his sick and 
 wounded were in a comfortable condition . 
 
 On the news of this battle reaching St. Louis, the members of the 
 Sanitaiy Commission worked day and night, packing up sanitary 
 stores, and sent forward Mr. A. "W. Platteiiburg in charge of hospital 
 supplies, on the llth of March, who was followed immediately after 
 by another supply of as many more. In this undertaking, Maj. Gen. 
 Halleck furnished every facility in his power, giving to Mr. Platteii 
 burg an order, over his own signature, addressed " to all quartermas 
 ters and other officers between St. Louis and Sugar Creek, Ark., 
 directing them "to furnish every reasonable facility in their * power, 
 to forward, with all possible dispatch, consistent with safety, the 
 
bearer, Mr. A. "W. Plattenburg, and the hospital stores under his care, 
 destined for the wounded in the late battle at Sugar Springs "after 
 wards named Pea Ridge. 
 
 In his report of his journey and arrival at Cassville with his 
 stores Mr. Plattenburg says : 
 
 ;; I arrived at Holla, Mo., at four o clock, r. M., of the same day 
 and was furnished with a horse and transportation for sanitary 
 stores. The first day we proceeded fifteen miles over a road that 
 was as bad as it could be. The day following I rode forty miles 
 and stopped at night "with a Union man, who had been robbed of 
 almost everything movable. He had two sons in Phelps Missouri 
 regiment, one of whom had just died in the Springfield hospital. 
 Oil Sunday morning I reached Springfield at 10 A. M. The Quar 
 termaster was ordered to furnish transportation by the first train. 
 The wounded from the recent battle were coming in, as well as 
 some rebel prisoners. I visited the post hospital, accompanied by 
 Dr. Ebert. There were one hundred sick and wounded, mostly 
 from Pea Ridge. I examined the hospital very carefully ; found 
 a part of the men on the floor, destitute of all comforts. They 
 had neither bed sacks, blankets nor sheets, not even tin cups or a 
 teapot. They were, however, very cheerful. Dr. Ebert, a very 
 kind and attentive surgeon, requested me to procure a wardmaster 
 and matron. I made a requisition upon your Commission for them, 
 as also for a large number of supplies for the hospital, enough to 
 make all the patients as comfortable as possible. 
 
 " The train with your stores reached Springfield on Wednesday 
 following, and on Friday were sent forward. Transportation was 
 
 so insufficient that this delay was unavoidable. The next day, 
 / 
 
 25th, I arrived at Cassville. Here I found two large tents, six 
 buildings, ( among them the court house, ) and the tavern, used 
 as hospitals. The patients were lying on the floors, with a little 
 straw under them, and with knapsacks or blankets under their 
 
31 
 
 heads for pillows. They had no comforts of any kind, no change 
 of clothes, but were lying in the clothes they fought in, stiff 
 and dirty with blood and soil. There were four hundred federal 
 wounded here. There was a great deficiency of nurses, detailed 
 men not answering the purpose well. Their sheets had been 
 torn up for bandages, and until Dr. Otterson reached there with 
 his supplies they were poorly furnished with medicines. Stimu 
 lants were very much needed to sustain the sinking men, but none 
 were to be had. There were no brooms to sw^eep with and no 
 mops to wash the rooms. Your stores were here turned over to 
 the brigade surgeon, who opened and distributed them to the dif 
 ferent hospitals. Never was a provision train more joyously greeted 
 by starving men than was this ample supply of hospital stores by 
 these sick and suffering soldiers. 
 
 " On the next day I went forward to the army, reporting my 
 self to Gen. Curtis, introduced by your letters. I found him in 
 an ordinary tent, without furniture, except a stool and a small cross- 
 legged pine table. The floor was covered with straw, and a roll 
 of blankets constituted his bedding. Being invited, I dined with 
 him upon plain army fare. I then proceeded to Gen. Davis posi 
 tion, within one and a half miles of Elk Horn Tavern, where the 
 heaviest fighting* was done. I visited the battle-ground, and was 
 filled with astonishment when I saw the strength of the positions 
 out of w T hich our gallant little army had driven the great force 
 opposed to it. Meeting two rebel surgeons one of them said : 
 We are Texans ; our army has treated us shamefully ; they stam 
 peded, and left us here with our sick and wounded men, and, I 
 will tell you, sir, that for two days we had nothing to give our 
 poor fellows but parched corn and water. Every federal officer and 
 man has treated us like gentlemen, and Gen. Curtis told me that 
 so long as he had a loaf of bread, we should have half it. This 
 
32 
 
 was tlic field where McCulloch and Mclntosh were killed while 
 endeavoring to flank the Peoria batter) . 
 
 "I visited with these surgeons the hospitals at Piiieville. No 
 provision whatever had been made by Price, and our scanty sup 
 plies had been shared with them. For twenty-live miles around 
 every house was a rebel hospital. We also had three federal hospi 
 tals at Piiieville, but not to exceed forty patients. At this point 
 there was a total absence of stimulants, and men were dying for 
 want of them. In one place are forty graves of the Iowa Third 
 Cavalry. All the dead of both armies were buried. 
 
 " On my return I called on Gen. Curtis at Keitsville, and promised 
 to urge forward the remaining supplies, which would be sufficient 
 to meet all immediate wants. They were duly forwarded, and 
 reached the command in good time. At Cassville I found that Dr. 
 McGugin, of Iowa, who had been working very faithfully among 
 our suffering men, was completely exhausted. At Springfield I 
 found additional supplies, which had been forwarded by your coin- 
 mission. I was assured that they would go forward on the fol 
 lowing morning, and they were rolled out to load up before I left. 
 I am fully convinced that no army was (so far as provision 
 for the wounded was concerned,) ever sent into the field in such 
 destitute condition as ours, except the one that it fought and con 
 quered. Our preparations were wholly inadequate ; the enemy had. 
 apparently, made none at all. 
 
 "The labors of your commission are most highly appreciated by 
 both officers and men. But for the promptness with which your 
 supplies were sent forward, for which you are greatly indebted to 
 the Commanding General, great suffering must have unavoidably 
 occurred. Could the kind and sympathizing men and women of 
 our loyal States, who place these abundant contributions at your 
 command, but see and realize the thrill of joy with which they 
 were received by the suffering ones, who have so bravely and gladly 
 
33 
 
 shed their blood to restore to us a united nation, and to vindicate 
 the majesty of our trampled laws, they would rejoice that they 
 had made the slight sacrifice required to achieve so great a good, 
 and seek, 1 am sure, to enable you to anticipate rather than to 
 supply, such wants in future. 
 
 "Many of these poor sufferers have left distant homes and loving 
 friends ; have been accustomed to receive the tenderest cares and 
 the most watchful sympathy during the slightest indisposition. Now 
 they meet death and grievous wounds, and wasting sickness, in a 
 remote, semi-hostile and thinly settled country, surrounded generally 
 by comparative strangers. And tliis great sacrifice is most cheer 
 fully made. Xo word of repining or regret did I hear, but every 
 where our gallant men were sustained by an abiding faith that 
 they had suffered and would die, if need be, in a most just and 
 righteous cause." 
 
 Mr. Plattenburg s efficiency and usefulness were so satisfactory to 
 the commission, that he was employed from that time as an agent to 
 continue with the Army of the South-west, which he did till the 
 spring of 1863, accompanying it through all its toilsome march from 
 Cassville to Forsyth, returning to St. Louis for sanitary stores, going 
 back to it again overland, and arriving with it at Helena on the 
 following July. 
 
 In March, 1863, he proceeded to the vicinity of Vicksburg, with 
 the army of Gen. Grant, remained there in charge of a sanitary 
 boat loaded with stores, and, with his assistants, distributed to the 
 army during the seige of Vicksburg, and after its capture, until the 
 Fall of 1863, when he was sent to the Army of the Cumberland with 
 Gen. Sherman s 15th army corps, and established an agency at Hunts- 
 ville, Ala., remaining in charge of it till April, 1864, when he re 
 signed his position to attend to interests of his own. During his 
 two years of faithful service, he gained the esteem of the officers 
 of the army, received many testimonials of his great efficiency and 
 c 
 
34 
 
 usefulness, and always enjoyed the full confidence and support of 
 the Commission. 
 
 In December, 1862, the surgeons of the Army of the South-west 
 united in a testimonial in which they say: " The agent of the 
 Commission, Mr. A. "W. Plattenburg has always cheerfully furnished 
 for the use of the sick and the wounded, every thing* in his pos 
 session. Joining this army just after the battle of Pea llidge, he 
 came with his abundant stores most providentially, and through all 
 dangers, trials, and vicissitudes he has remained constantly with us, 
 and ever faithful to his mission." 
 
 In a letter of Maj. Gen. Curtis, dated March 1st, 1863, he says : 
 "Among the pleasant and grateful recollections of the campaign 
 of the South-west was the arrival of Mr. A. "\V. Plattenburg, the 
 agent of this noble Commission, just after the battle of Pea Ridge 
 (where the wounded were so unprovided for), with his abundant 
 sanitary stores and supplies of stimulants. In the destitute condi 
 tion of our hospitals it seemed like a providential interposition in 
 our behalf." 
 
 Among the incidents at the battle of Pea llidge worthy of men 
 tion in this connection, were the labors of Mrs. Phelps, w^ho had 
 accompanied her husband, Col. John S. Phelps, with his regiment to 
 the battle-field. While the battle was yet raging, this heroic woman 
 assisted in the care of the wounded ; tore up her own garments 
 for bandages, dressed their wounds, cooked food and made soup 
 and broth for them to eat with her own hands, remaining with 
 them as long as there was any thing she could do, and giving 
 not only words but deeds of substantial kindness and sympathy. 
 And wherever the cause of our national Union and its perils shall 
 hereafter be known, " this that this woman hath done shall be re 
 membered as a memorial of her." 
 
CHAPTER IV . 
 
 SOLDIERS HOME ESTABLISHED AT ST. Louis PREMIUMS AWARDED TO THE STEWARDS 
 AND WARDMASTERS OF THE BEST HOSPITALS, AND TO THE MOST FAITHFUL NURSES 
 THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING LARGE NUMBER OF WOUNDED ADDITIONAL 
 HOSPITAL STEAMERS FURNISHED VOLUNTEER SURGEONS AND NURSES ADDITIONAL 
 HOSPITALS FITTED up AT SAINT Louis DEMAND FOR SURGEONS NUMBER OF SICK 
 AND WOUNDED IN THE ST. Louis HOSPITALS REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 
 
 On the 13th of March, 1862, a Soldier s Home for discharged and 
 ftirloughed soldiers passing through the city, was established by the 
 Western Commission, at 29 South Fourth Street, St. Louis, capable 
 of accommodating from fifty to one hundred soldiers daily. It was 
 placed in charge of Rev. Charles Peabody as Superintendent, with 
 Miss A. L. Ostram for Matron, and has afforded many a poor, 
 penniless, and invalid soldier food and lodgings, saved others from 
 the sharpers that lie in wait to impose on the unwary, from ex 
 orbitant hotel charges, and from the bad associations and influences 
 of the lower class of hotels ; it has been an asylum to many who 
 left the hospitals to go home, not yet fully recovered some of 
 them returning to their families to die where on their way they 
 could enjoy a few days of quiet rest, have the aid of the Super 
 intendent in getting their pay and bounty, and the kind attentions 
 of the matron to nurse them and bind up their wounds. 
 
 During the first year of its existence, the Soldiers Home at St. 
 Louis entertained with meals and lodgings, twelve thousand four 
 hundred and ten (12,410) soldier guests, most of them invalids par 
 tially restored to health, passing on furlough to their homes, or 
 returning to their regiments. 
 
 During its second year to March 12th, 1864, it has entertained 
 eight thousand four hundred and thirty-six (8,436) enlisted men, 
 
36 
 
 making a total of twenty thousand eight hundred and forty-six 
 (20,846) soldiers who have enjoyed the hospitality of this Home in 
 a period of two years. And yet compared with four others after 
 wards established by the Commission at Columbus, Ky., Memphis, 
 Tenn., Helena, Ark., and Vicksburg, Mississippi, the average num 
 ber entertained has been much less than at those places. This has 
 been partly owing to its smaller accommodations and partly to its 
 greater distance from the seat of war, as our armies obtained pos 
 session of the States bordering on the Mississippi Iliver. 
 
 Of the 20,846 soldiers who have been the guests of this Home 
 5,576 have been from Illinois, 4,615 from Iowa, 4,520 from Mis 
 souri, 1,795 from Wisconsin, 1,221 from Indiana, 420 from Michigan, 
 668 from Ohio, 342 from Minnesota, 136 from Kentucky, 359 from 
 Kansas, 82 from Arkansas, 64 from the Marine Brigade, 111 from 
 the U. S. Regulars, 73 from Nebraska, 576 from other States, and 
 288 from the Invalid Corps. 
 
 The number of meals furnished to soldiers for the two years ending 
 March 12th, 1864, was eighty-five thousand nine hundred and ninety- 
 two (85,992), and the number of lodgings for the same period was 
 twenty-four thousand two hundred and ninety, (24,290). In 110 case 
 has any charge been made to any of the guests. Besides these, many 
 near relatives, fathers, mothers, and wives of sick or furloughed sol 
 diers, accompanying them, have received the hospitality of the Home, 
 of which no account has been made. 
 
 The expense incurred by the Commission in maintaining this institu 
 tion is about $3,000 a year, and the value of the rations and fuel fur 
 nished by the Government is about $2,000 more. 
 
 The conduct of the soldiers while staying at the Home has generally 
 been respectful, and such as would become good citizens. The hos 
 pitality and kind attention given have been almost uniformly received 
 with gratitude. Many on leaving have come to the office and expressed 
 their thanks to the superintendent, and often, although informed that 
 
37 
 
 every thing- they had received was freely given, have insisted on 
 bestowing something from their hard earnings to help sustain the 
 institution. On being shown to their rooms at night it has been com 
 mon to hear such expressions as these: " Oh, Jim, see here, this is a 
 nice fat pillow, as sure as you are born, the first I have seen for six 
 months," to which another would reply, "Yes, Sam, these are pillows, 
 sure enough, and this is a clean soft bed. I tell you what, this makes 
 me think of home. 
 
 On Thanksgiving and Christmas and New-Years days it has been 
 customary to provide some fowls and other extras ; and at all times, 
 butter, vegetables, milk, dried and canned fruits and tomatoes have 
 been furnished, in addition to the army ration. Very often expressions 
 are heard at the table, or after meals, indicating- the grateful appre 
 ciation of the soldier, who has been for months confined to hard bread, 
 salt meat, and coffee, without rnilk, 011 finding so wholesome and 
 palatable a change of diet. "AVell," says one, "I haven t had so good 
 a meal for two years." " Yes," answers another, " this is pretty good 
 fare; if we could only have such all the time we d get along first rate. 
 But I expect Uncle Sam does the best he can for us. It s hard getting 
 anything down among them Rebs. The sooner we can clean them 
 out and come home the better." 
 
 A reading room is provided at this as well as the other Homes, con 
 taining several hundred volumes, and the daily papers and several 
 religious journals are also furnished, so that the soldier is able to pass 
 liis time pleasantly and profitabl) r during his short stay. He is thus 
 kept from a desire to roam through the city in search of amusement, 
 and goes on his way refreshed in body and mind. 
 
 In the winter of 1863, Miss Ostram, the first matron, after nearly 
 a year of faithful service, was transferred to the Home at Memphis, 
 and the situation remained vacant, for a considerable period, during 
 which Mr. John Gibbon acted as clerk and steward, which position 
 he filled w,ith great fidelity. On his retiring, about six months ago, 
 
38 
 
 it became necessary to fill the situation of matron, when Mrs. J. E. 
 Rice, now performing the duties with satisfaction, was appointed, 
 
 The institution has been conducted with eminent success by Mr. Pea- 
 body, the Superintendent, who has shown great executive ability in 
 its management, whose courtesy and kindness to the soldier have given 
 him a place in their grateful remembrance, and whose intercourse 
 with the military authorities, and the members of the commission, has 
 always been such as to win their esteem and confidence. 
 
 In his last annual report to the Commission (March 12th, 1864) Mr. 
 Peabody very justly remarks upon the benefits to the country arising 
 from sanitary labors, and from such institutions as the Soldiers Home : 
 
 "Observing from the position I have occupied, the wrecks left 
 behind the wake of armies, the conviction forces itself upon me 
 that the labors of the Sanitary Commission, by the immense supple 
 mental aid it has rendered in furnishing sanitary supplies and estab 
 lishing Soldiers Homes, have contributed not a little to saving men 
 for the service, as well as rescuing them from death. In prosecuting 
 their wars the ancients had no hospital trains or medical staff in atten 
 dance on their armies. In their military movements the sick and 
 wounded soldiers were left behind to die. In these times, and in our 
 unhappy struggle with a giant rebellion, the soldiers are tenderly 
 cared for, not only by the medical department of the army, but by thou 
 sands of patriotic hands, working systematically, through thoroughly 
 organized channels, which often reach far beyond the routine of the 
 service. The future historian of this great struggle will be able to 
 show that the very small per cent of loss among our armies, as com 
 pared with that of modem European wars is to be attributed largely 
 to what the people themselves have done through organized voluntary 
 labors in behalf of the soldiers. 
 
 " Having aided, under your auspices, in the organization of the 
 Soldiers Home, established in this city, and watched over it daily 
 for two years, I cannot but express the conviction that for the amount 
 
39 
 
 of money expended, this enterprise has brought back in substantial 
 and lasting benefits to the soldiers quite as much as any of the noble 
 undertakings in which your Commission has engaged. It has cheered 
 the disheartened soldier in his toilsome duties. It has saved multitudes 
 from imposition and exactions, and has aided them in securing prompt 
 attention to their just rights. By the substantial comforts and kind 
 attentions which it has afforded it has served to impress on the minds 
 of those who fight our battles the fact that their toils are remembered 
 and their heroic efforts appreciated. Standing in the face of death on 
 the bloody field the recollection of such kind hospitality and attention 
 has served to strengthen their arms and exalt their courage in the 
 deadly conflict. By lending a helping hand to the weak and faltering 
 as they return homewards from their exposures, it has served to assure 
 their friends and the loyal public that the opinion, too current through 
 the land, that the common soldier is always trod upon and abused, is 
 a mistake. It has afforded kind nursing to hundreds of sick and suffer 
 ing, and by a little care and attention, has saved many valuable lives. 
 It has also afforded the opportunity of impressing moral and religious 
 truth on the minds of the soldiers, and of ministering consolation to 
 some who were just entering upon their last great conflict. In view 
 of the good it has already accomplished, and its capacity for future 
 usefulness to the soldiers and the service, it is warmly commended to 
 your special consideration." 
 
 In the early part of April, 1862, the "Western Sanitary Commission, 
 wishing to encourage and stimulate a patriotic emulation among the 
 stewards, ward masters, and nurses in the hospitals to excel in their 
 several spheres of duty, and thereby promote the welfare of the sick 
 and wounded, by securing the best possible attention, and the most 
 favorable conditions for recovery, offered a series of premiums as fol 
 lows, to be paid in gold on the 4th day of the following July : 
 
 1. To the head steward of whichever one of the large hospitals 
 
40 
 
 shall have been kept in the best condition, all tilings considered, and 
 in which the comfort of the patients shall have been uniformly best 
 cared for, in every way, through a term of three months, the sum of 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. 
 
 2. To the head steward of the best of the smaller hospitals, as above 
 estimated, the sum of FIFTEEN DOLLARS. 
 
 3. To the best assistant steward in every large hospital, who shall 
 be the most punctual, attentive and diligent in the performance of his 
 duties, the sum of TEN DOLLARS. 
 
 4. To the best assistant steward, estimated as above, in all the small 
 hospitals, the sum ot EIGHT DOLLARS. 
 
 o. To the best ward master in each of the large hospitals, whose 
 ward shall have been uniformly kept in the best and most perfect 
 order, as to cleanliness of beds and bedding, the comfort of the patients, 
 and in all other respects, the sum of TEN DOLLARS. 
 
 6. To the best ward master in each of the small hospitals, estimated 
 as above, the sum of EIGHT DOLLARS. 
 
 7. To the best twenty nurses, in all the hospitals, who shall remain 
 in service through the three months, and who shall prove themselves 
 the most kind, faithful and attentive, in the discharge of all their 
 duties to the sick, FIVE DOLLARS EACH. 
 
 8. To the best culinary department, in all the hospitals that is, for 
 the best and cleanest kitchen, the best and most wholesome cookery, 
 with the smallest w^aste, the sum of TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS, the same 
 to be divided between the head cook and assistants, in the hospital to 
 \vliich the prize shall be awarded, in such proportions as may seem just. 
 
 9. To the second best kitchen, etc., estimated as above, the sum of 
 
 FIFTEEN DOLLARS. 
 
 10. To every female nurse who shall remain in the service for three 
 months, and shall have given full satisfaction, a certificate shall be 
 awarded, with special vote of thanks. 
 
41 
 
 11. To the best hospital, all things considered, a public expression 
 of thanks shall be given, with the approval of the Medical Director 
 and of the General commanding. 
 
 To secure the just award of these premiums and testimonials, the 
 Sanitary Commission will make weekly, or more frequent, visits of 
 inspection to every hospital under direction of the Head Surgeon, and 
 in consultation with him, and a careful record of each visit and its 
 results will be kept. 
 
 A monthly inspection will also be made, Avith the same view, by 
 order of the General commanding. 
 
 In offering these premiums, the " Western Sanitary Commission" are 
 actuated by a desire to assist the medical staff in making the military 
 hospitals of the " Department of the Mississippi," the most perfect in 
 the United States. 
 
 This undertaking had the sanction of the Commanding General of the 
 Department, and of the Medical Director, and its influence was highly 
 beneficial in stimulating the best endeavors of those who filled the 
 stewardships in the hospitals, and had the immediate care of the sick 
 and wounded not so much for the sake of the pecuniary rewards 
 as from the consciousness that their labors were carefully noticed and 
 appreciated, which gave an additional spur to their humane interest 
 in the soldier, and excited a laudable and proper ambition to receive 
 the award of well doing. 
 
 The persons to whom these awards were finally made were as fol 
 lows : To Mr. George Thomas, chief steward of the Fifth Street Hos 
 pital, $25; to Mr. Kleuber, chief steward of Camp Benton Hospital, 
 $15: to Mr. Matthews, assistant steward in the Fifth Street Hospital, 
 $10; to Messrs. James McCrea, George Miran, and Henry Craw- 
 shaw, ward masters in the Fifth Street Hospital each $10; to Messrs. 
 Loar, Henry Sanders, and James Larkin, nurses in the Fifth Street 
 Hospital, and to Mr. Charles Tising, nurse in the Good Samaritan 
 Hospital, $5 ; to the chief cook and assistants in the culinary depart- 
 
42 
 
 ment of the New House of Refuge Hospital, $25; to the chief cook 
 and assistants in the culinary department of the Camp Benton Hos 
 pital, $15; and to the following female nurses, with certificates and 
 a vote of thanks, $5 each: Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Ballard, Mrs. Parker, 
 Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Aldrich, Mrs. Honghton, Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Ferris, 
 Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Plummer, Miss McNair, Mrs. Colfax, Mrs. Bar 
 ton, Miss Johnson, Miss Clark, Miss Cullom, Miss Ostram, Mrs. Starr, 
 Mrs. Freeman. 
 
 On the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, occurred the great battle of 
 Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee river, between the Union forces 
 under General Grant, and the rebel forces under General A. S. John 
 son and General Beauregard. In this battle, the loss to the Union 
 army was 1,735 killed, and 7,882 wounded; and to the rebels, 1,728 
 killed, and 8,012 wounded, many of whom fell into our hands. 
 
 The news of this terrible battle was brought to St. Louis by tele 
 graph, and Maj. Gen. Halleck immediately addressed a note to the 
 Western Sanitary Commission, requesting its co-operation with the 
 medical and quartermaster s departments in sending steamers, prop 
 erly fitted up, furnished with medical and sanitary supplies, and a 
 requisite force of surgeons, wound-dressers and nurses to take care 
 of the wounded, and return with them to St. Louis ; also in fitting 
 up additional hospital accommodations in this city to receive them. 
 
 The following note was received from the Chief Quartermaster: 
 
 QUARTERMASTER S DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OK TRANSPORTATION, ) 
 
 St. Louis, April 10th, 1862. I 
 
 JAS. E. YEATMAN, Esq., 
 
 President Western Sanitary Commission: 
 
 DEAR SIR : I have arranged with the owners of the steamers 
 " Continental" " Crescent City " and "Imperial" to remain on or 
 go to the Tennessee river for the relief and use of the sick and 
 wounded. In case you find it necessary or desirable, you will please 
 
43 
 
 direct either of these boats to such points as you may deem best for 
 these purposes, and I will settle for the time they are detained in 
 the service, on your certificate. These boats, so taken, are not to 
 be interfered with while in use for hospital purposes. 
 
 Eespectfully, 
 
 LEWIS B. PARSONS, 
 
 Capt. and A. Q. M. 
 
 The following , of the same date, was also directed to the captain 
 of the steamer "Empress" from the same source: 
 
 " You will at once proceed to Pittsburgh Term., unless otherwise 
 ordered by James E. Yeatman, Esq., President Western Sanitary 
 Commission, who will accompany you on the trip. * * You 
 
 will return to this point as soon as you can consistently be dis 
 charged from the duty on which you are sent, namely, for hospital 
 purposes. " 
 
 The hospital steamer " City of Louisiana" arrived on the 9th of 
 April from Pittsburg Landing- with three hundred and fifty sick, 
 having left there previous to the battle. On the receipt of the in 
 telligence that a battle had been fought, she returned the next day, 
 to the scene of conflict, with additional sanitary stores. 
 
 The steamer " I). A. January" which had been purchased by 
 the Government for a hospital steamer, fitted up by the Western 
 Commission, and placed in charge of Surgeon A. H. Hoff, L T . S. 
 V., was also sent to Pittsburg Landing. This boat from the date 
 of this battle to the month of August, made eight trips, and con 
 veyed 2,692 patients from ports on the Tennessee and Lower Missis 
 sippi rivers to northern hospitals, mostly to the hospitals of Saint 
 Louis. She has been remodeled, in accordance with plans of Sur 
 geon Hoff, and continued in the service, having rendered incalcu 
 lable benefits, accommodating five hundred patients, and bringing 
 from Vicksburg, Helena, and elsewhere, many thousands of sick and 
 
44 
 
 wounded to St. Louis and affording them the best possible treat 
 ment on the way. 
 
 On the evening of the 10th of April the steamer "Empress," 
 being furnished by the "Western Sanitary Commission with a com 
 plete outfit of medical and sanitary stores, with a corps of surgeons, 
 wound-dressers, and nurses, both for herself and the large and splen 
 did steamer " Imperial," (then on the Tennessee river,) started for 
 Pittsburg Landing, in charge of the President of the Commission 
 (Mr. Yeatman), where, on her arrival, the outfit for the "Imperial" 
 was transferred to that boat, and all were loaded with the wounded 
 with as much expedition as was possible. 
 
 On this expedition there accompanied Mr. Yeatman Drs. Pollak, 
 Grove, Azpell, May, Bixby, and Barnes, Surgeon Grove, U. S. V., 
 taking charge of the "Imperial" on arriving at Pittsburg, with 
 the requisite force of assistant surgeons, stewards, wound-dressers, 
 nurses, etc. 
 
 A delegation of noble women from St. Louis, members of the 
 Ladies Union Aid Society, also accompanied this expedition as 
 volunteer nurses, and rendered invaluable service. Among those now 
 remembered who thus gave their timely aid was Mrs. Washington 
 King, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Perley Child, Mrs. J. E. D. Couzins, Mrs. 
 C. B. Fisk, Mrs. J. Crawshaw, and Miss Patrick. 
 
 On the return trip the steamer "Empress" was loaded with nine 
 hundred wounded men, her guards, decks, and cabins being filled, and 
 friend and foe alike provided for ; for many wounded prisoners fell into 
 our hands on the second day of the battle. The "Imperial" also 
 returned loaded in a similar manner, and continued to run for 
 several months as a floating hospital in charge of Surgeon Grove. 
 The " City of Louisiana" " D. A. January " and the " Crescent 
 City" also returned with their cargoes of human lives, and the 
 wounded were received into the hospitals of St. Louis. 
 
 The crowded condition of the hospitals and want of room made 
 

 
 45 
 
 it necessary that additional hospital accommodations should be 
 mediately provided. The Western Sanitary Commission proceeded 
 at once to procure two large halls in Arnot s and Thornton s and 
 Pierce s buildings on Chesnut and AValnut streets, and furnished 
 them with beds and furniture and sanitary stores, and with the 
 requisite number of nurses, for the accommodation of three hun 
 dred and twenty sick and wounded men. 
 
 During the midst of these labors Maj. Gen. Halleck telegraphed 
 the Commission from Pittsburg Landing to send twenty surgeons 
 to that place for duty there. Nine were procured and went for 
 ward the same day, and afterwards an additional number. 
 
 On the first of May the Commission made a report of its labors, 
 from which the following particulars are selected as completing an 
 outline of its history to this date : 
 
 There were then fifteen military hospitals in and about St. Louis, 
 affording accommodations for for 5,750 patients, and a reserve was 
 constantly maintained in readiness by the Commission of 250 beds 
 in addition, making a total of 6,000. The number of patients ad 
 mitted to that date was 19,467, of whom 1,400 had died ; 15,717 
 had been furloughed, discharged, or returned to their regiments, 
 and 3,750 remained. There had been 162 additional deaths on float 
 ing hospitals in transit, at McDowell s military prison, the St. Louis 
 Arsenal, and at private houses. The number of patients on hand 
 was unusually small, great numbers having been furloughed, in order 
 to relieve the hospitals, pending the expected battle at Corinth. 
 
 The Commission had fitted four floating hospitals, regularly em 
 ployed for the transportation of the sick and wounded in the De 
 partment of the Mississippi, the " City of Louisiana," Dr. Wagner, 
 the " D. A. January," Dr. Huff, the "Imperial," Dr. Grove, and 
 the " Empress," Dr. Azpell, all very large and fine steamers, altered 
 and arranged for this purpose. They were capable of transporting 
 two thousand sick or wounded men, and were fully provided with 
 
46 
 
 experienced surgeons, assistant surgeons, apothecaries, stewards, 
 dressers, and male and female nurses. They had every conven 
 ience that experience could suggest, and were supplied with large 
 reserves of hospital clothing, lint, bandages, delicacies, fruit, c., 
 that they might be prepared to furnish temporary transports or 
 field hospitals whenever and wherever needed. 
 
 As these boats were constantly plying between St. Louis and 
 the immediate vicinity of all probable battle fields, no better method 
 of securing prompt relief wherever needed could have been devised 
 or desired. 
 
 The first two of these boats remained permanently in the service, 
 to which others were added at a later period. 
 
 The hospital steamer " City of Memphis, in charge of Surgeon W. 
 D. Turner, U. S. A., had also been supplied with hospital furniture 
 and stores by the Commission. 
 
 There can be no doubt that these floating hospitals have saved hun 
 dreds of priceless lives, by transporting the sick and wounded promptly 
 from the field to well regulated hospitals, and by furnishing in transit 
 good surgical attendance and nursing, and comfortable accommo 
 dations. 
 
 During the eight months the Commission had then existed it had 
 received 985 cases of goods from eighteen States, viz : 
 
 Massachusetts 223 New Hampshire 1G 
 
 Illinois 132 i New Jersey 11 
 
 Wisconsin 74 Minnesota ." 10 
 
 Rhode Island 69 ; Indiana 9 
 
 Pennsylvania 63 j Connecticut 7 
 
 Missouri 61 Vermont 6 
 
 Iowa 57 | Maine 5 
 
 New York 51 i Delaware 4 
 
 Michigan 40 I District of Columbia 3 
 
 Ohio 12 I Not ascertained 137 
 
 Besides these, it had also received large contributions in money 
 and goods from the citizens of St. Louis and vicinity, not included 
 in the above statement, for the reason that they had been received 
 
47 
 
 in bulk, in many instances by the wagon load, and in thousands 
 of small packages. 
 
 The articles distributed by the Commission, to that date, numbered 
 166,288, including 6,813 blankets, 8,065 sheets, 7,034 pillows, 11,545 
 pillow-cases, 10,443 towels, 5,249 handkerchiefs, -21,577 shirts, 11,159 
 pair drawers, 19,519 pair socks, 4,384 pair slippers, 1,841 dressing 
 gowns, 1,032 articles of clothing, 18,196 books and pamphlets, 3,084 
 pads, 981 bottles of domestic wines, 1,459 cans jelly, 2,340 pounds 
 farina, 1,400 cans fruit, and 25,000 miscellaneous articles, such as 
 mittens, games, crutches, work bags, bed pans, spit cups, picket caps, 
 pin cushions, eye shades, slings, india rubber syringes, isinglass plas 
 ters, remedies, etc. In addition to these the Commission purchased 
 large numbers of articles for the complete outfit of the city and 
 floating hospitals, and for armies in the field, embracing air and 
 water beds, washing machines, implements of various kinds, barrels 
 of stimulants, (of better quality and in larger supply than furnished 
 by Government,) of eggs and chickens, cases of oranges and lem 
 ons, hundreds of pairs of crutches, invalid chairs of novel construc 
 tion, bedsteads, cots, mattresses, graduated back-rests, stands or stools 
 for the bedside, sideboards for the proper security and arrangement 
 of medicines, disinfectants, splints, and innumerable other articles. 
 Seventy-four hospitals had then been supplied. The demand from 
 every quarter rapidly increased and the distribution had reached 
 the rate of 17,000 articles per week. 
 
 Thus the labors of the Commission were greatly increased, and 
 the work of ministering to the sick and wounded went forward night 
 and day. Another great battle, it was expected, would soon occur 
 at Corinth, and the hopes and anxieties of the loyal people of the 
 country were raised to their highest degree of intensity. But the 
 evacuation of that position by the rebel forces, and their escape 
 under their arrogant and boastful commander, General Beauregard, 
 in the presence of the powerful Union army that was arrayed 
 
48 
 
 against them by Maj. Gen. Halleck, now commanding in person, 
 disappointed the public expectation; and, notwithstanding the retreat 
 of the rebels gave us some of the fruits of a decisive victory, yet 
 they were enabled by this movement to get away without any sub 
 stantial loss, to go and assist in the defense of Richmond, and to 
 transfer the contest to Virginia, where the great battles of the 
 Peninsula followed in the summer of 1862. In the West, it only 
 remained to follow up our naval victories from Island No. 10 to 
 Memphis and Helena, and to hold the ground already gained till 
 another great campaign could be inaugurated in the fall of the same 
 year. It now became necessary to attend to the sick, occasioned by 
 the diseases of camp life, and the malaria of the southern climate, 
 to look after the camps and hospitals in Arkansas and Tennessee, 
 and to continue the supplies to the hospital steamers of the west 
 ern rivers, and to the general hospitals established at various points 
 from St. Lonis to Helena. The labors of the Commission during 
 the summer of 1862 will form the subject of the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER V . 
 
 LETTER OF THE COMMISSION TO THE SURGEON-GENERAL SCOLLAY S DEODORIZING 
 BURIAL, CASE CAPTURE OF FORT PILLOW AND MEMPHIS OPENING OF THE MISSIS 
 SIPPI RIVER TO YICKSBURG FITTING OUT THE NAVAL HOSPITAL BOAT "RED 
 ROVER" ARRIVAL OF GEN. CURTIS ARMY AT HELENA ITS DESTITUTE CON 
 DITIONSICKNESS OF THE ARMY AT HELENA SANITARY DEPOT ESTABLISHED 
 THERE OVERTON HOSPITAL AT MEMPHIS SlCK FROM THE ARMY IN TENNESSEE 
 HOSPITALS AND REGIMENTS SUPPLIED THE XAVY LETTER FROM COMMODORE 
 DAVIS AN EARNEST APPEAL FROM THE COMMISSION GENEROUS RESPONSE FROM 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 THE intimate connection of the Western Sanitary Commission 
 with the hospitals of St. Louis, and of the Department of the Mis 
 sissippi, and the frequent inspections made by its members, had 
 given opportunity to observe defects, and to suggest remedies. 
 Among the evils that arrested attention was that of insufficient space 
 and air to each patient, many of the hospitals being too much 
 crowded, hindering and preventing the recovery of the sick, espe 
 cially in cases of typhoid fever, erysipelas, and badly wounded men. 
 
 On the 8th of May, the Commission addressed the following com 
 munication to the Surgeon-General of the U. S. Army, at Washing 
 ton: 
 
 SAINT Louis, May 8th, 1862. 
 Dr. WM. A. HAMMOND, 
 
 Surgeon- General U.S.A.: 
 
 SIR : The Western Sanitary Commission of the Department of the 
 Mississippi, most respectfully suggest the importance and necessity 
 of some rule or law regulating the amount of space allowed to every 
 patient in hospital. In the absence of such a rule great mistakes 
 are made, and in many hospitals, otherwise well conducted, the beds 
 D 
 
50 
 
 are so crowded together, and the number of cubic feet of air to each 
 patient is so inadequate, that fatal consequences result. 
 
 The members of the Commission having had large opportunities of 
 observation, confidently express the opinion that not more than half 
 the space necessary for the successful treatment of the sick, and 
 especially of the wounded men, is usually allowed in the general 
 and post hospitals. 
 
 By actual measurement they find that the average of square feet 
 on the floor, allowed in some of the best hospitals even, for typhoid 
 and erysipelas and badly Avounded patients is only forty or fifty 
 feet per bed, and sometimes less ; and of cubic feet of air only 
 three hundred and fifty to eight hundred feet, little regard being 
 paid to the height of the rooms occupied. 
 
 They believe that 110 degree of cleanliness or care, or of professional 
 skill can remove the evil effects of such over crowding, and that there 
 is no way of preventing its continuance except by positive regulation. 
 
 In making these suggestions the Commission has no design of 
 complaint. The hospitals of this department are almost all well 
 conducted and the patients well and skillfully treated, and the sur 
 geons would undoubtedly be glad to have authority to correct the 
 evils referred to. The near approach of warm weather makes the 
 subject one of urgent importance, and it has already become of 
 painful interest to the Commission, during a recent thorough in 
 spection of hospitals, containing over four thousand sick and wounded 
 men, many of whom are seriously suffering from the causes named. 
 
 The Commission is of the opinion that the minimum space in 
 well ventilated hospitals should be six hundred and forty cubic 
 feet for each bed, and for typhoid cases, erysipelas, and severely 
 wounded men, not less than twelve hundred feet. Larger space 
 would be desirable, but practical difficulties of various kinds fre 
 quently occur to make it unattainable consistently with the general 
 interests of the service. 
 
51 
 
 The Commission therefore respectfully and earnestly submit this 
 matter to the consideration of the Surgeon General, and have the 
 honor to remain, 
 
 His obedient servants, 
 
 JAMES E. YEATMAN, 
 0. S. GREELEY, 
 J. B. JOHNSOX, 
 GEOKGE PARTRIDGE, 
 WM. G. ELIOT. 
 
 The subject submitted to the Surgeon General in this letter re 
 ceived his favorable consideration, and in the hospitals afterwards 
 established a sufficient and specified number of cubic feet of air 
 was allowed to each bed. In the case of the Lawson Hospital on 
 Broadway, the regulation has been carried out very thoroughly, and 
 the prescribed number of cubic feret of air allowed to the beds, in 
 the several wards, is lettered over the entrance ; the ward having 
 the largest space containing 778 cubic feet to a bed, and the lowest 
 allowance in any ward being 606 cubic feet to a bed. 
 
 In the spring of this year a most useful invention was brought 
 to the attention ol the Western Commission, designed to afford a 
 safer, cheaper, and better method of preserving the remains of 
 deceased persons without burial, for transportation to friends at a 
 distance, an object greatly desired by those having relations killed 
 in battle, or dying in the military hospitals. The invention bore 
 the name of "Dr. Scollay s Deodorizing Coffin or Burial Case," 
 and was submitted to a series of experiments before a committee 
 of the Commission, consisting of Drs. S. Pollak, Chas. A. Pope, and 
 J. B. Johnson, Rev. M. Schuyler, D. D., and R. R. Hazard, Jr., Esq. 
 The burial case is thus described in the report of this committee: 
 " Taking the ordinary wooden coffin he [Dr. Scollay] has so im 
 proved it as to make it in all respects equal, and in many superior, 
 to the iron, or any other case now in use. The coffin is made 
 
52 
 
 effectually air-tight by a peculiar match joint and a coating- of ce 
 ment, which not only renders it impervious to air and fluid under 
 ordinary pressure, but must greatly preserve the wood from decay. 
 To preserve the coffin from rupture under the extraordinary press 
 ure of the gases arising from decomposition^ and to render the 
 escape of such gases impossible, unless deodorized, a provision is 
 made which constitutes the principal feature of the improvement. 
 This consists of a deodorizing chamber, placed inside, at the foot 
 of the coffin, of such size and so arranged as not to increase its 
 bulk or alter its form. * * * This chamber is so arranged and 
 divided that the escaping gases pass freely through apertures into 
 the lower division, and thence into the middle apartment, which is 
 filled with a deodorizing chemical compound. Through this they 
 pass into the upper apartment, which is furnished with a self-adjust 
 ing valve, which yields to a moderate pressure and permits their 
 escape.- 
 
 The experiments of the committee proved that bodies may be pre 
 served in these burial cases without becoming offensive for many 
 months, not the slightest smell being perceived, even in the warmest 
 weather in one case after 150 days. In another instance, in which 
 antiseptic agents were used before encasing, it was observed, after 
 nearly two months, that decomposition had been very slight, and the 
 body was quite natural in its appearance, and in a recognizable con 
 dition. 
 
 The committee concluded their report as follows : " The cases can be 
 furnished at a trifling advance upon the ordinary wooden coffin in gen 
 eral use. They are light for handling and transportation, not liable to 
 explosion, and it is reasonable to believe from the tests already pre 
 sented that bodies may be kept in them from thirty to fifty days, and 
 perhaps longer, without becoming offensive, and the necessity of imme 
 diate burial and a disagreeable interment be avoided." 
 
 The subsequent use of these deodorizing coffins, by Mr. Smithers, 
 
53 
 
 government undertaker of this city, has more than established the 
 correctness of the foregoing conclusions. The deodorizing coffin was 
 afterwards sent to Washington, and after a series of experiments there, 
 was approved by the Surgeon General, and Mr. Smithers was con 
 tracted with by Colonel Myers, A. Q. M., at St. Louis, to use it in the 
 burial of all soldiers from the hospitals of this city, so that they might 
 afterwards be more conveniently removed by their friends. But the 
 Quartermaster General at Washington disapproved the contract, and 
 it was never carried into effect. 
 
 On the 12th of April the gunboats of the Mississippi Naval Squadron 
 left New Madrid, just below Island No. 10, and proceeded down the 
 river to Fort Pillow in Tennessee. An attack was made on the fort 
 the next day, but was not attended with immediate success. On the 
 4th of May a severe naval battle occurred at this point between our 
 gunboats and a Confederate ram and gunboats from below, who came 
 up and commenced the attack, in the hope of destroying or capturing 
 our naval force, including the mortar boats. The result of the engage 
 ment was disastrous to the rebels, one of their boats having been sunk 
 and two others blown up, while their whole fleet was crippled, and 
 withdrew down the river. One of our boats, the " Cincinnati," was 
 disabled, and four of her crew wounded. 
 
 On the 4th of June Forts Pillow and Kandolph were evacuated by 
 the Confederates, and on the 5th our fleet arrived at Memphis, con 
 sisting of the gunboats Benton, Cairo, Carondelet, Louisville, and St. 
 Louis, and the four rams Monarch, Lancaster, No. 3, and the Queen of 
 the West. On the 6th a great naval battle ensued, the Confederates 
 bringing into the engagement the gunboats Beauregard, Little Rebel, 
 General Price, General Bragg, General Lovell, General Van Dorn, 
 Jeff. Thompson, and the Sumpter. The scene of the battle was in 
 front of the city, viewed by thousands of spectators, and the result of 
 an hour s fighting was the destruction of the entire Confederate fleet, 
 which was either sunk, or run ashore, except the General Yan Dorn, a 
 
54 
 
 swift vessel, which escaped down the river. By this victory Memphis 
 was captured, and the Mississippi river opened as far down as Vicks- 
 burg, against which some naval operations were undertaken, and 
 an attempt made to change the current of the river by a canal, 
 which were afterwards abandoned. 
 
 By these events a new field of operations was opened to the Western 
 Sanitary Commission. The naval squadron had now its own sick and 
 wounded to be provided for, and general hospitals were immediately 
 established at Memphis and Jackson, Tenn., and at Helena, Ark. 
 
 At a meeting of the Commission held the 22d of May, the President 
 reported that Capt. Wise of the gunboat flotilla had proposed that the 
 steamer "Red Rover" a fine large boat, captured from the enemy at 
 Island No. 10, should be fitted up by the Commission, as a floating hos 
 pital, for the Mississippi Naval Squadron, towards which he would 
 furnish $2000, of the expense. 
 
 She was accordingly remodeled in her cabin arrangements, and a com 
 plete outfit of beds, bedding, furniture, sanitary stores, medical dispen 
 sary, etc., supplied by the Commission, the services of surgeons, an 
 apothecary, steward and nurses were engaged, and the boat placed in 
 charge of Dr. Geo. H. Bixby, surgeon, and Dr. Hopkins, assistant sur 
 geon, two thoroughly educated and skillful young physicians who were 
 sent out from Boston by that philanthropist and friend of the soldier, 
 James M. Barnard. Their services were so highly appreciated that, in 
 a few months, they received the unsolicited honor of a regular com 
 mission in the U. S. Navy as assistant surgeons. Dr. Bixby has con 
 tinued in charge of the "Red Rover" to the present date, and Dr. 
 Hopkins also remains in the service, in which they have both acquired 
 a high reputation and are greatly esteemed. The expense incurred 
 by the Commission out of its own funds, in fitting up this boat, was 
 $3,500, which was done with the greatest satisfaction for the brave 
 men who had fought so nobly, and gained so many victories on our 
 western waters. 
 
65 
 
 On the 10th of .hily the Army of the South-west under Maj. 
 Gen. Curtis, arrived at Helena in a condition of great destitution. 
 The toilsome march from Batesville under the intense heats of 
 summer, the want of provisions, the difficulty of finding water to 
 drink, and what was procured being often muddy and stagnant, 
 caused much sickness to follow the severe privation of the troops 
 on that terrible march, in which the heroes of Pea Ridge fought 
 their way through to a new base of supplies and a river communica 
 tion with St. Louis. 
 
 In midsummer, this army of ten thousand men pitched their tents 
 on the bottom lands of the Mississippi, around, above and below 
 Helena, and 011 the hill-sides and in the woods lying back of the 
 town, and a more unhealthy location could scarcely have been found. 
 But it was the only situation that could be occupied on the west side 
 of the Mississippi below Memphis; its communication with Little 
 Rock by the Clarendon road, its commercial advantages, -its excellent 
 houses, its convenience for storage of commissary and ordnance stores 
 all made it important that it should be held as a military post. 
 
 The regiments suddenly changing their mode of life from the rug 
 ged and toilsome marches to which they had been accustomed, to one 
 of comparative inactivity, using water from the Mississippi, or from 
 the poor springs and rivulets that were found along the margin of the 
 stagnant cypress swamps that lie back of Helena, it was not surpris 
 ing that many of these stalwart men were soon brought down with 
 bilious, remittent, intermittent and typhoid fevers, and with diarrhea, 
 so that during the autumn months, the regimental hospitals were 
 filled, and the five churches of the town, with one exception, were 
 all converted into hospitals. 
 
 Mr. Plattenburg, the agent of the Commission, who had continued 
 with this army from Pea Ridge through all its lengthy march over 
 the Ozark Mountains and through the plains and bottom lands of 
 Arkansas, by a circuitous route of nearly eight hundred miles, now 
 
56 
 
 opened a depot at Helena, and received a full supply of sanitary 
 stores, which he dispensed liberally to the regimental surgeons for 
 their sick ; and to all the troops many articles of comfort were 
 given, such as towels, handkerchiefs, combs, canned fruits, and 
 vegetables, potatoes, onions, &c. These gifts were received with 
 the strongest expressions of gratitude, after so much destitution, 
 hardship and suffering, and did much to prevent disease and alle 
 viate distress. 
 
 At Memphis one of the largest and finest buildings in the city, 
 intended orignally for a hotel, was taken for hospital purposes, 
 and called "The Overton Hospital." To Surgeon Derby, who was 
 placed in charge of it, frequent sliipments of sanitary stores were 
 sent to meet the wants of the sick from the armies of Tennessee. 
 
 At St. Louis the work of friendly inspection and oversight of 
 hospitals went on through the summer and autumn of 1862, and 
 large supplies of sanitary goods were sent to the hospitals and 
 regiments, hospital steamers and gunboats, throughout the Depart 
 ments of Missouri, the Tennessee, and the Mississippi. 
 
 The gunboats and naval hospital boat of the Mississippi squadron 
 had also been kept liberally supplied during this year. In September, 
 the following letter was received from Commodore Davis, showing 
 his high appreciation of the services rendered by the Commission : 
 
 >ORT, 1 
 J, 1862. J 
 
 FLAGSHIP EASTPORT, 
 HELENA. September 18, 
 
 SIR : The present season is about drawing to a close, and upon the 
 recommendation of Dr. Bixby, I have sent the hospital steamer Red 
 Rover to St. Louis, to be properly fitted up for the winter. 
 
 1 cannot let her return to your vicinity without expressing, in behalf 
 of myself and the officers and crews of the vessels under my command, 
 our heartfelt and grateful acknowledgments for your uniform kindness 
 and attention to the wants of the sick of the squadron. 
 
5V 
 . t 
 
 I beg you to believe that your benevolent labors in our behalf have 
 been fully appreciated. 
 I have the honor to be, with the utmost respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant and friend, 
 (Signed,) C. H. DAVIS, 
 
 Commodore Commanding Western Flotilla. 
 JAMES E. YEATMAX, ESQ., 
 
 President Western Santary Commission. 
 
 Letters were also received from Acting Rear Admiral David D. 
 Porter, and from the Surgeon in Chief of the Naval Flotilla, W. 
 Whelan, in October, expressive of similar sentiments, and acknowl 
 edging the receipt of sanitary stores. 
 
 The resources of the Commission at this time had become very much 
 reduced. The great battles in Virginia and Maryland, between Gen 
 erals McClellan and Lee, commencing on the Peninsula, in May, 
 continued before Richmond, and ending at Antietam, in November, 
 had caused all voluntary contributions from New England and the 
 Middle States, to flow in that direction, and the Western Commission 
 had for months been thrown on its own resources and the aid of the 
 citizens of St. Louis. Notwithstanding this diminution of its resources, 
 the "Western Commission also responded to the call of the Surgeon 
 General, and forwarded fifty boxes containing supplies of lint, band 
 ages, &c., to Washington. 
 
 It now became necessary, however, to issue an earnest appeal for 
 a replenishment of its stores, from which an extract is here given, 
 showing its wants, the extent of its opportunities, and the work to 
 be done. 
 
 " The demands upon this Commission are as great a.s at any previous 
 time, and the field of its labors is daily enlarged. An army of not less 
 than one hundred and fifty thousand men, in Tennessee, Kentucky, 
 Arkansas and Missouri, and the gunboat flotilla, looks to St. Louis for 
 nearly all its sanitary supplies, and must continue to do so through the 
 
58 
 
 war, as the most convenient and accessible place at all seasons of the 
 year. Heretofore the Commission has been able to meet all requisitions. 
 It has never refused to send liberally and promptly to any point, what 
 ever has been needed to alleviate suffering and to cure or prevent 
 sickness. 
 
 " In Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas, the demand for all kinds of 
 hospital supplies is great, and increasing, for a war of unprecedented 
 malignancy has begun to be waged, and exposures of our brave men 
 both to disease and wounds are fearfully great. Those who are at a 
 distance from the scene of action, can have no adequate idea of the pri 
 vations and hardships of the service, or of the number of those broken 
 down by it. The casualties of the battle-field are but a small item in 
 the estimate. Forced inarches, the murderous rifle of an unseen and 
 skulking enemy, who knows the work of the assassin better than that 
 of the soldier, fill our hospitals, and thin our ranks. To such risks 
 are our sons and kindred exposed from day to day, in defense of the 
 country which we all love so well. Has money any value greater than 
 to supply their need ? Ought we to become niggardly in gifts, or 
 weary of work in such a cause ? Can the women of America enjoy or 
 endure the luxury of peaceful homes, except on condition of giving 
 the labor of their hands and the prayers o f their hearts to those who 
 
 are defending them at such a cost ? 
 
 ********* 
 
 " This appeal is most earnestly and affectionately made to all loyal and 
 humane persons in the Union. They have already done much, but 
 redoubled efforts in all departments of the war must now be made. 
 The 600,000 new recruits will not be without their sick and w^ounded, 
 and many a hard battle must yet be fought. Let the rich give of their 
 abundance. Let the poor spare all they can. 
 
 " Especially we appeal to LOYAL WOMEN, wherever they may be. They 
 are the true " Home Guards" of the nation the ministering angels to 
 sickness and suffering. Without them Sanitary Commissions can do 
 
59 
 
 hut a small part of their work, and upon their efficient assistance we 
 principally depend." 
 
 This appeal was nobly responded to from New England, Boston alone 
 sending $9,000 at this time, and a few months later contributing 
 $50,000 more, for sanitary purposes in the western armies. One noble 
 and patriotic woman in that city, Mrs. Thomas Lamb, has appro 
 priated a room in her own house for the reception of sanitary goods, 
 for the western soldiers, letting it be known to her friends, and the 
 result has been that she has packed and forwarded to this Commission 
 of her own and their contributions, over one hundred boxes of hospital 
 supplies, garments, etc., besides generous sums of money, the boxes 
 ranging in value from $150 to $200 each. Other humane and patriotic 
 friends, among them Messrs. James M. Barnard and R. C. Greenleaf, 
 have also labored most indefatigably in the same way, and endeared 
 themselves forever to all who knew of their noble services to the 
 soldiers in the armies of the west. When it is remembered that Massa 
 chusetts has had her own sons, mainly in the armies of the Potomac, 
 and in the Department of the South and of the Gulf, and that without 
 neglecting her duty to them, she has made the most generous dona 
 tions of any other State to our western troops, no one can fail to 
 appreciate so noble an example of disinterested patriotism and benevo 
 lence. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ARMY OF THE FRONTIER AGENT SENT TO SPRINGFIELD, Mo., WITH STORES BAT 
 TLES AT CROSS HOLLOWS, CANE HILL, AND PRAIRIE GROVE ARRIVAL OF REV. MR. 
 NEWELL AT FAYETTEVILLE WITH AMBULANCES AND SANITARY GOODS His USEFUL 
 SERVICES His DEATH AT A LATER PERIOD NOTICE OF HIS CHARACTER FLYING 
 HOSPITALS ADDITIONAL HOSPITALS AT ST. Louis THE MARINE, JEFFERSON BAR 
 RACKS AND LAWSON HOSPITALS THE DIMINISHING PERCENTAGE OF DEATHS THE 
 
 HOPEFUL CONDITION OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNION THE SYMPATHY OF THE PEO 
 PLE WITH THE SOLDIERS PROSPECTS OF ULTIMATE VICTORY. 
 
 Iii the Fall of 1862 Brig. Gen. Schofield took command of the Army 
 of the Frontier, beyond Springfield, Mo., and on leaving St. Louis, 
 expressed the desire that the Commission would forward a full supply 
 of sanitary stores to that post. The suggestion was favorably regarded 
 and acted upon, and an agent, Mr. J. E. Tefft, sent forward, furnished 
 with every thing necessary as a supplement to the medical stores 
 allowed to the surgeons in the field. 
 
 Many supplies had been previously sent to Surgeon Melcher, Medical 
 Director at Springfield, and the additions now made were forwarded 
 in view of the probability of more active hostilities between the Union 
 and rebel forces of the south-west. 
 
 This anticipation proved to be well founded. Towards the end of 
 October, in the north-west part of Arkansas, near the old battle-field 
 of Pea Ridge, at Cross Hollows, Gen. Herron had a severe engage 
 ment with the enemy; and again on the 28th of November, Gen. Blunt 
 made an attack on Gen. Marmaduke, with about eight thousand men, 
 at Cane Hill, forty-five miles north of Van Buren, in which the rebels 
 were defeated, and retreated to that place. Again, on the 7th of 
 December, the combined Confederate forces, under the command of 
 Gen. Hindman, estimated at fifteen thousand men, attempted to cut 
 off the reinforcements of Gen. Blunt, ten miles south of Fayetteville, 
 
01 
 
 and made an attack on Gen. Herron before he had formed a junction 
 with Gen. Blunt. Gen. Herron s forces, however, held their ground 
 until Gen. Blunt, who was informed of the movement, came upon the 
 rear of the rebel army, at Crawford s Prairie, when there occurred 
 what has since been called the battle of Prairie Grove, in which the 
 rebels were defeated, the loss in killed and wounded on both sides 
 being very great. 
 
 The wounded from this battle were removed to Fayetteville, and 
 public buildings and private houses were taken for hospitals ; but there 
 was a great deficiency of means to take proper care of the men, the 
 town and the country around it having been greatly impoverished by 
 the war, and the inhabitants being of the poorest class. There was 110 
 adequate supply of bandages, lint, bedding, stimulants, nor means of 
 fitting up the empty houses and making them comfortable, nor of 
 cooking food. 
 
 Previous to this battle the Commission had sent forward Rev. Fred 
 erick E. Xewell to Springfield, to take the place of Mr. TefFt, with two 
 ambulances and additional stores, and on hearing of this battle he 
 proceeded on from Springfield to Fayetteville. His arrival was most 
 timely, and, with an earnest devotion to duty, he turned over every 
 thing he had to Surgeon Ira Russell, U. S. V., in charge, and Assistant 
 Surgeon Carpenter, and went to work himself at whatever his hands 
 could find to do. For a time he acted as carpenter, ambulance driver, 
 nurse, wound-dresser, and general worker, and in the report afterwards 
 made by the Surgeons, his services were spoken of in the highest terms 
 of commendation. 
 
 In the report of Surgeon Russell, he said: "My thanks are due to 
 the Western Sanitary Commission for the valuable aid rendered to the 
 wounded from the battle of Prairie Grove, by its agent, Mr. F. R. 
 Newell." In Dr. Carpenter s report he said: "Mr. Newell s sanitary 
 stores were a perfect God-send to our poor fellows, many of whom had 
 lost nearly all their clothing on the battle field. He made a judicious 
 
62 
 
 distribution of his shirts, drawers, and other articles, among the most 
 needy. He also placed at our disposal two ambulances, without which 
 we could hardly have carried on the hospital. Enough cannot be said 
 of an institution which performs such deeds." 
 
 As Mr. Newell has since been removed from his earthly labors to the 
 heavenly life, it is proper that some further mention should here be 
 made of him. After the battle of Prairie Grove he continued for seve 
 ral months to act as the agent of the Western Commission at Springfield, 
 Mo., and in May, 1863, returned to St. Louis, where he was, soon after, 
 elected chaplain of the 1st Missouri State Militia, and assigned, by an 
 order of Maj. Gen. Schofield, to the duty of superintendent of freed- 
 meii in this city. For several months he attended to this work in a 
 faithful and conscientious manner, interrupted occasionally by illness, 
 when, on the 8th of January, 186-4, after a severe attack of inflammatory 
 rheumatism, he died suddenly, at Benton Barracks, at his post. 
 
 As a friend of the poor freedmen and their families, as a Christian 
 minister and a citizen, as a man of amiable, forbearing, and Christ- 
 like spirit, he will be long remembered by those who were associated 
 with him in his labors, and who knew of his fidelity to the cause of his 
 Divine Master. 
 
 During the fall of 1863 the idea originated in the Western Sanitary 
 Commission of a Flying Hospital, to accompany the army in the 
 field, prepared for the emergencies of battle, with the means of 
 immediately providing for wounded men. The President of the 
 Commission was authorized to fit out three ambulances, with hos 
 pital and shelter tents, cots, bedding, towels, sanitary stores, food, 
 liquors, bandages, lint, sponges, vessels for supplying the wounded with 
 water and stimulants, the whole to be in charge of a competent person, 
 with a corps of male nurses and wound-dressers in attendance, to 
 accompany the army, to be under the direction of the medical direc 
 tor, and ready at all times to assist the surgeons when required. Two 
 pannier mules were also to accompany each ambulance, with straps 
 
03 
 
 and fixtures, by which kegs of water and stimulants, and other ar 
 ticles of immediate utility on the battle field, could be carried on their 
 backs, and be at hand when most needed. The plan was submitted 
 to Assistant Surgeon General Wood, and met with his entire ap 
 probation. 
 
 The first of these Flying Hospitals was fitted up for Gen. Grant s 
 army, then at Corinth, Miss., and a letter, endorsed by the Assistant 
 Surgeon General, was addressed to Maj. Gen. Grant, asking per 
 mission for it to accompany his movements. The Flying Hospital 
 went forward to Lagrange, Tennessee, where the Medical Director, 
 Surgeon "Wirtz, refused his sanction, and would not permit it to go 
 any further. The letter to Gen. Grant probably never reached him, 
 as no answer was ever received, and the opposition of his chief 
 surgeon defeated an enterprize which was, in every respect, practicable 
 and unobjectionable, having for its object the better care and prompt 
 relief of our wounded soldiers on the field of battle. Some prejudice 
 against Sanitary Commissions, or too great a readiness to regard 
 their proffered assistance as an interference with official dignity and 
 routine, or some failure of military etiquette, are supposed to have 
 stood in the way of this beneficent project. The mules and ambulances 
 were afterwards returned to the Soldiers Homes at Columbus and 
 Memphis, where they did good service ; the stores were distributed 
 to the sick, and the nurses and wound-dressers performed valuable 
 services in the hospitals at LagTange and elsewhere. 
 
 The outfit of Rev. Mr. Newell, as an agent of the Commission with 
 Gen. Schofield s army, with his ambulances and stores, was similar in 
 its character, and proved exceedingly useful, after the battle of Prairie 
 Grove, though not arriving in time to be present at the battle. 
 
 The difficulty of procuring the necessary sanction, and co-operation 
 of the regular army surgeons to such an enterprize has prevented its 
 renewal, although there is never a great battle where these Flying- 
 Hospitals w^ould not be of the greatest utility and benefit, and save 
 
64 
 
 many valuable lives. It is due, however, to Assistant Surgeon Gen 
 eral AYood, whose humanity is always paramount to official etiquette, 
 to mention the fact of his hearty approval, and that it was at his 
 request that one of these hospitals was sent to the Army of the Fron 
 tier, then at Fayetteville, Arkansas. 
 
 During the present year three additional military hospitals were 
 added to those already established in St. Louis, the Marine, the Jef 
 ferson Barracks, and the Lawson Hospitals. The necessity for this 
 arose from the large number of sick brought by the hospital steamers 
 from the armies of the Frontier, the South-west, the Tennessee and 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 Thej_Marine Hospital was a government institution, originally in 
 tended for persons engaged in the navigation of the Mississippi river. 
 It is a four story stone and brick edifice, surrounded by extensive and 
 well shaded grounds, a garden in which the convalescent patients per 
 form a part of the labor, and has every convenience of a model hospitals. 
 
 It was opened as a military hospital May the 4th, 1862, and then had 
 accommodations for 150 patients. From that date till May 1st, 1864, 
 it had received 1574 patients, and its per centage of death was 9. 
 During the summer of 1863 its accommodations were enlarged for 100 
 more patients by the addition of wooden barracks, in which a new and 
 excellent mode of ventilation was introduced by Mr. Leeds of Phila 
 delphia, by means of stoves, drawing fresh air through an air chamber, 
 under the floor, and passing it through the heating chamber of the 
 stoves into the wards. There being also a ridge ventilation at the 
 top of the barracks, and a ventilating shaft in each ward, with open 
 ings at the top and bottom of the rooms, no more perfect system of 
 ventilation could possibly be devised, securing at the same time what 
 ever temperature may be desired. 
 
 The officers are Assistant Surgeon James H. Peabody, U. S. V., 
 in charge, L. H. Galloway, M. D., Acting Assistant Surgeon, and 
 Rev. James A. Page, Chaplain. 
 
-ryi i 
 
 % JMT 
 
 , 
 
 ***V 
 
 
 
Go 
 
 Jefferson Barracks was formerly a military post at which United 
 States troops were stationed, situated about twelve miles below St. 
 Louis, on the west bank of the Mississippi river. It consists of long- 
 rows of buildings, one and two stories high, with basement kitchens 
 and dining-rooms, and wide piazzas, extending 011 three sides of a 
 large plat of ground, in the form of a parallelogram, shaded with fine 
 trees, the open end of the grounds being towards the river, with a 
 high flag-staff on the bluff, from which the flag of the Union is always 
 unfurled to the breeze. The old post hospital stands near on an 
 adjoining eminence, and is two stories high, and the post chapel is 
 situated several hundred yards back from the river, in a pleasantly 
 shaded spot, retired from the barracks. 
 
 In April, 1862, these buildings, except the post chapel, which is 
 still reserved for worship, were converted into a large hospital, for 
 which purpose they were admirably suited, the rooms being large, 
 having numerous windows on both sides, opposite each other, and the 
 piazzas and shaded walks, affording excellent opportunities for exercise. 
 
 Beside the old buildings, the Government, during the summer of 
 18G2, erected others on the ample grounds belonging to it, cii the west 
 side, so as to afford accommodations for two thousand five hundred 
 patients. These new buildings are one story high, in triple rows six 
 hundred feet long, divided into wards of three hundred feet each. 
 There are three groups or sets of these new hospitals, some distance 
 apart, the entire grounds in every direction being beautifully shaded 
 by large oak trees. They are so arranged that each group has the 
 central row appropriated to a dining-room, and surgeons , nurses and 
 stewards quarters, the outside rows being for sick wards. Besides 
 these improvements, a system of water works has been introduced, 
 with reservoir and pipes, by which the water of the Mississippi is 
 carried through all the buildings. 
 
 The institution is in charge of Surgeon J. F. Randolph, U. S. A., 
 assisted by Dr. H. It. Tilton, U. S. A., and P. C. McLane, M. D.; A. 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 L. Allen, M. D.; T. F. Rumbold, M. D.; Hiram Latham, M. D.; S. 
 Leslie, M. D., and J. J. Marston, M. D. The Post Chaplain, Rev. J. 
 F. Fisli, has been stationed here many years, and continues his ser 
 vices, in connection with Rev. S. Pettigrew, Hospital Chaplain. 
 
 The number of patients received and treated in this hospital in two 
 years, ending April 30, 1864, is 11,434. The per centage of deaths the 
 first year was eleven and a half, which was much increased by the 
 large number brought to it in a dying condition. The per centage of 
 deaths for the year just ended is nine and eight-tenths. 
 
 The Lawson Hospital is situated on the corner of Broadway and 
 Carr streets, and was fitted up during the latter part of the fall of 1802. 
 The edifice was originally intended for a hotel, is seven stories high, 
 and is divided into eight wards, besides office rooms, nurses quarters, 
 linen room, kitchen, dining hall, and store rooms. It is well ventilated; 
 an average number of seven hundred and fifty cubic feet is allowed 
 to each bed ; and it is provided with a steam engine and elevator, 
 furnished by the Western Sanitary Commission, at an expense of two 
 thousand five hundred dollars. The institution is in charge of Surgeon 
 C. T. Alexander, U. S. A., assisted by W. II. Bradley, M. D.; L. H. 
 Bottomley, M. D., and Wm. Fritz, M. D. Rev. Phillip McKim is 
 Hospital Chaplain. 
 
 The hospital w T as opened January 17th, 1863, since which the whole 
 number of patients received has been 3,021. For the first four months 
 the per centage of deaths was very large, being twenty-five and nine- 
 tenths, which was owing to the fact that during that period it received 
 the wounded from the battles of Vicksburg and Arkansas Post, and 
 the sick from Milliken s Bend and Helena, which were of the worst 
 description, having many hopeless cases both of wounds and of chronic 
 diarrhea, some of whom died as they were being brought into the 
 hospital. The per centage of deaths for the last year, ending April 
 30th, 1864, has been much less, being 7 8-10. 
 
 The diminished per centage of deaths in the military hospitals during 
 
67 
 
 the third year of the war, which the statistics of other hospitals will 
 show, is evidence of a most gratifying improvement in the manage 
 ment of these institutions, and in the care and treatment of the 
 sick and wounded soldier. This result has been influenced also by 
 the sifting out from our armies, by death and discharges from the 
 service, during the first two years of the war, all those who were 
 not able to endure its hardships and exposures, those who remain 
 being mainly veteran troops. Xo war has ever been conducted in 
 which the per cent of deaths from disease has been so small, and the 
 health and vigor of the troops so well maintained ; nor one in which 
 there has been so strong a current of sympathy and aid from the 
 people at home towards the soldiers in the field, as in this war for 
 the unity and national supremacy of the American Republic. Civilians, 
 unable to bear arms, men of science and of letters, the orators and poets, 
 and clergy of the land, and the noble and self-sacrificing women of our 
 free commonwealths, have all vied with each other in their etforts to 
 give help and sympathy to the soldier, and to inspire an interest in his 
 welfare. With such an influence to encourage and cheer the armies 
 of the Union, there is an explanation of the health, the spirit, and 
 the unconquerable bravery of our troops, who, under their present 
 tried and able commanders, are bearing the flag of freedom on to 
 victory. May the spirit of liberty continue thus to animate all hearts, 
 and welcome home our brave defenders when the last battle shall 
 be fought, and our peace and prosperity be established on sure 
 foundations. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN S FIRST ATTACK ON VICKSBURG WORKS ASSAULTED SEVERE 
 LOSSES TO THE UNION ARMS HOSPITAL STEAMERS BRING THE WOUNDED TO 
 MEMPHIS AND ST. Louis BATTLE OF ARKANSAS POST MORE WOUNDED BROUGHT 
 TO ST. Louis DELEGATION OF THE LADIES UNION AID SOCIETY OF ST. Louis 
 IOWA STATE AGENT RENEWAL OF THE EXPEDITION AGAINST A ICKSBURG BY 
 GENERAL GRANT INCREASED HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATIONS REQUIRED VISIT OF 
 MR. YEATMAN TO GEN. GRANT S ARMY His LETTER BENTON BARRACKS 
 HOSPITAL, ST. Louis ADDITIONAL HOSPITALS AT MEMPHIS THE FLOATING 
 HOSPITAL, "CITY OF ALTON," THE "RUTH," AND " GLASGOW" SECOND VISIT 
 OF MR. YEATMAN TO GENERAL GRANT S ARMY His REPORT SANITARY STORES 
 SENT TO GEN. GRANT S ARMY FALL OF VICKSBURG ITS UNTITLED HEROES. 
 
 IN the latter part of December, 18G2, Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman 
 embarked an army of twenty thousand troops on transports, at 
 Memphis and Helena, and commenced an expedition against Vicks- 
 burg, under the direction of Maj. Gen. Grant, who was to co-operate 
 by land, in a movement through Holly Springs to Jackson, taking 
 Vicksbnrg in the rear. On the 26th of December, the main forces, 
 under Gen. Sherman, disembarked successfully at Johnston s Landing, 
 near the mouth of the Yazoo river, and prepared for an assault the 
 next day on the northern works that defended the city. On the 27th, 
 28th, and 29th, several attempts were made to take the fortifications, 
 but a stern and terrible resistance was made by the rebels, who 
 outnumbered our forces, and who had the advantage of the strongest 
 natural defenses and artificial earthworks known in modern warfare. 
 
 The result of the three days fighting was a terrible loss in killed 
 and wounded to the Union forces, and a temporary relinquishmeut 
 of the undertaking. An unforeseen contingency, the capture of Holly 
 Springs, in General Grant s rear, cutting off his communication 
 and his supplies, had compelled his return to that point, and the aban- 
 
CO 
 
 doiimeiit of his part of the undertaking-, which had enabled the rebels 
 to concentrate their forces at Vicksburg, and accomplish Gen. Sher 
 man s defeat. The wounded of his army were immediately forwarded 
 to the Memphis and St. Louis hospitals by transports and hospital 
 steamers. On their way they were met by a delegation of the Ladies 
 Union Aid Society, of St. Louis, hastening on the first boats with boxes 
 of sanitary goods, to minister to their necessities. 
 
 The Western Commission put in charge of these ladies a large supply 
 of stores, to be used by them or turned over to the surgeons, as they 
 should be needed. The agent of the Commission, Mr. Plattenburg, 
 also went down with Gen. Sherman s expedition from Helena, and 
 was on hand with his sanitary stores immediately after the fighting. 
 
 The delegation of the St. Louis Ladies Union Aid Society consisted 
 of Mrs. Alfred Clapp, the President of the Society, Mrs. J. E. D. Cou- 
 /ins, Mrs. Washington King, Mrs. J. Crawshaw, Mrs. Wm. Clark, and 
 Miss Breckinridge. Besides these there was also a delegation from 
 the Chicago Branch of the U. S. Commission of Mrs. M. A. Liver- 
 more and Mrs. Hoge of Chicago, and Mrs. Henrietta J. Colt of Mil- 
 waukie; and there was likewise Mrs. Annie Wittenmier, the State 
 agent of the Iowa Sanitary Commission, who had in charge a large 
 supply of sanitary goods from that State. All these noble women 
 were indefatigable in their efforts to relieve and comfort the sick and 
 wounded, and to minister to them. 
 
 The disastrous attack on Vicksburg, which ended the year 62, was 
 followed up, almost immediately by another expedition, with the same 
 army, under Gen. J. A. McClernand, assisted by the navy, against 
 Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas river, which was taken, after another 
 severe battle on the llth of January, 63, with eight thousand prison 
 ers, and a large number of cannon, ordnance stores and small arms, 
 the gunboats " Louisville," "DeKalb," " Cincinnati, "and " Lexington," 
 under Admiral Porter, co-operating with the land forces. 
 
 The fortifications at Arkansas Post were destroyed, and the cxpe- 
 
70 
 
 dition then returned up the river to Helena and Memphis, bringing 
 along several hundred wounded on transports, who suffered many 
 privations, the surgeons being poorly provided with the means of 
 making them comfortable. The boats were much crowded, the weather 
 was cold, draughts of air were blowing through the cabins, the sick 
 and wounded men had to lie on the floors, and there were not nurses 
 enough to take care of them. 
 
 On reaching Helena a portion of the St. Louis delegation of the 
 Ladies Union Aid Society, who had just returned from Vicksburg, 
 went on board these transports, took such sanitary stores with them 
 as were needed, and remained on them till they reached St. Louis, 
 bestowing the tenderest care and nursing upon those poor suffering 
 and wounded men. 
 
 The severity of these wounds, the unavoidable exposure in winter, 
 the long passage to St. Louis, both of those from Vicksburg, as well 
 as of those from Arkansas Post, resulted in the loss of many of these 
 brave men, and a great percentage of deaths followed in the Lawson 
 Hospital at St. Louis, where most of them were taken, as well as of 
 the very sick, from Helena, being 25 9-10th per cent of all who were 
 admitted during that winter, till the first of the next June. 
 
 It was at this time, while there were so many sick in the camps 
 and hospitals of the army in Tennessee and Arkansas, during the 
 worst winter known for many years, and when so many wounded 
 were thrown upon our care, that additional hospitals were opened 
 at St. Louis and Memphis, and additional hospital steamers fitted up 
 to ply to and fro on the Mississippi river, between the army and the 
 well-furnished and well-managed hospitals farther north. 
 
 This was done also in view of the renewal of operations against 
 Vicksburg. On the failure of Gen. Grant s movement through 
 Mississippi, to take Jackson, and attack Vicksburg in the rear, while 
 Gen. Sherman attacked the city on the north side, he returned to, 
 Holly Springs,, punished the recreant commander, Col. li. C. Murphy 
 
71 
 
 who had surrendered that post without any proper effort to defend it, 
 by dismissal from the service, and thence proceeded with his army 
 to Memphis, where he embarked his forces on transports for Young s 
 Point and Milliken s Bend, La. Here he landed his troops on the 
 2i)th of January. It does not come within the legitimate object of this 
 work to give even a sketch of military operations, beyond what is 
 necessary to show how the Sanitary Commission followed the army 
 and navy, and improved its opportunities of usefulness. 
 
 During February and March, while the army of Gen. Grant was 
 occupying the low region of country above Vicksburg, on the Lou 
 isiana shore, trying to change the bed of the river, by cutting a canal 
 across the large bend, opposite the city ; while gunboats and transports, 
 with troops, were sent to explore the bayous leading to the Yazoo 
 and Red rivers ; and while an expedition was sent to open the Yazoo 
 Pass, to effect a passage through the Cold Water and Tallahatchie rivers 
 to the Yazoo, by which to destroy rebel vessels in that river, capture 
 Yazoo City, and take Vicksburg in the rear, the Mississippi was 
 overflowing the low lands in every direction, the camping grounds 
 of many of the regiments were flooded, the rains were incessant, 
 and, as a necessary consequence, there was a large amount of sickness 
 in the army. Exaggerated reports were circulated by letter writers 
 through the Northern press, and much anxiety and uneasiness were 
 felt in regard to the health of the troops. 
 
 At this time Mr. Yeatman, the President of the Western Commission, 
 went down to make a personal inspection, and on his return, on the 
 13th of March, published a letter, giving an account of his visit, 
 and of the actual state of things. In this letter he says: 
 
 " For a short time after the landing of the army at and near Young s 
 Point, consequent upon long confinement upon transports, there was 
 much sickness; but the health of the troops improved rapidly, and 
 the per centage of sickness is below what I have generally found it 
 in camps in other portions of the country which I have visited. Besides 
 
72 
 
 many others, I visited every regiment in Sherman s corps, which was 
 reported in the worst condition. While in some of the new regiments 
 the amount of sickness was large, in others it was unusually small. 
 The great danger to be apprehended was from want of vegetable diet, 
 symptoms of scurvy having already made their appearance. 
 
 Mr. Yeatman recommended that the friends of the soldiers should 
 send large quantities of vegetables, fruits, and pickles, and the Com 
 mission at once sent a large supply, and directed its agent, Mr. 
 Plattenburg, to proceed immediately and establish his headquarters 
 with the army near Vicksburg. 
 
 Mr. Yeatman remarked, with great satisfaction, the interest taken 
 by Generals Sherman and Grant in the health of their troops, lie 
 says of the former: "I saw Gen. Sherman going through the camps 
 on foot, giving particular directions in regard to sanitary regulations. 
 No one could look after liis men more carefully than he does. While 
 he maintains a strict, discipline, he mingles with and goes among his 
 men to ascertain personally their wants. lie has a kind word for all, 
 and is greeted, by his men, as one who cares for, and thinks of their 
 comfort. With the sick he is as delicate and tender as a woman. I 
 am thus particular in mentioning General Sherman s corps, as my 
 attention was particularly directed to it, owing to reports which had 
 been made to me." 
 
 After describing the ample arrangements made for the care of the sick 
 .and wounded, he remarked still further : " Gen. Grant is determined 
 to have provision, made for the sick equal to any contingency that may 
 arise, and before long will quarter his army on high ground, on the 
 opposite side of the river. Assistant Surgeon General Wood is accom 
 plishing, and will accomplish, all that is possible to be done." 
 
 While these arrangements were being carried out near the scene 
 of conflict, the Assistant Surgeon General was making extensive pre 
 parations, at St. Louis and Memphis, to be well provided against future 
 emergencies. Under his directions, the large amphitheatre building 
 
73 
 
 in the old fair grounds at Bcnton Barracks, a few miles northwest 
 from St. Louis, and north of the St. Charles road, was taken pos 
 session of by the Government for hospital purposes. It was enclosed? 
 provided with windows, floored, partitioned, divided into wards, 
 thoroughly whitewashed, furnished with iron bedsteads and good 
 beds, and converted into one of the largest, most thoroughly ventilated 
 and best hospitals in the United States, capable of accommodating 
 two thousand live hundred patients. Numerous other buildings, near 
 the main edifice, on the same grounds, formerly used by the Agricul 
 tural Society for its exhibitions, were used for oflicers quarters, 
 medical dispensary, commissary rooms, special diet kitchens, &c., and 
 the fine walks and splendid shade added much to the beauty and 
 attractiveness of the place. 
 
 The institution was at first placed in charge of Surgeon Ira Russell, 
 U. S. V., under whose administration it was conducted with entire 
 success. It was opened March 1st, 1863, and during the following 
 three months received two thousand and forty-two patients. For 
 that period the per centage of deaths was only four and a half of the 
 whole number. From June 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, there were 
 four thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight patients received, and 
 the per centage of deaths was seven and one-tenth. 
 
 In this hospital there was appointed an excellent corps of female 
 nurses, who were placed under the immediate oversight and direc 
 tion of a supervisor of nurses, acting under the surgeon in charge, 
 which position was ably and successfully filled by Miss Emily 
 Parsons, of Cambridge, Mass. The good order, attention to duty, 
 and faithfulness of the nurses, in the several wards, were greatly 
 promoted by this system. Fortunately for the experiment it had 
 the hearty approval of the surgeon in charge ; and it is due to 
 him, as well as the supervisor of nurses, to say that probably, in 
 no hospital in the United States, was the nursing of the sick and 
 wounded brought to greater perfection than here. 
 
74 
 
 Auxiliary to this system the Ladies Union Aid Society also estab 
 lished a special diet kitchen, in one of the buildings in the amphi 
 theatre, which is wholly conducted by members of that society, 
 provided with delicacies for the sick, wines, stimulants, &c., to 
 which the Western Sanitary Commission also contributes, and from 
 this kitchen any delicate food needed for the very sick can always 
 be ordered, by the surgeons, and be immediately prepared. 
 
 For a few months of the autumn of : 63, Surgeon Russell was relieved 
 by Surgeon J. H. Grove, U. S. V., who conducted the institution 
 on the same principles, and under whom it maintained the same high 
 character. 
 
 In the winter of 1863-4 Benton Barracks became a recruiting station 
 for colored troops ; hospital accommodations were needed for the sick 
 of the colored regiments ; several of the wards were appropriated for 
 their use ; and Dr. Grove, having been assigned to another position 
 of responsibility and trust, Dr. Russell was again placed in charge. 
 Under his management the institution still maintains its original 
 character ; the female nurses act under Miss Parsons, as supervisor ; 
 the special diet kitchen is still maintained, in charge of Mrs. Shepard 
 Wells, of the Ladies Union Aid Society ; and the sick soldiers, 
 whether of the white troops or of the regiments of African descent, 
 each occupying separate wards, are treated with the care and kind 
 attention due to the soldiers of the Union. 
 
 Besides the general hospital, there is also a post hospital at Benton 
 Barracks, likewise in charge of Surgeon Russell. During the fall of 
 1863, and winter of 64, many of the sick of the new colored regi 
 ments were treated here. The whole number of patients received 
 was 6140, and the per centage of deaths 8 2-10. Female nurses are 
 provided for this hospital by the Western Sanitary Commission, the 
 Government only allowing them to the general hospitals. 
 
 At Memphis, by direction of Assistant Surgeon General Wood, 
 several additional hospitals were fitted up there in tire winter and 
 
75 
 
 spring of 1863. They were generally the largest and best buildings 
 in the city, having been originally designed lor hotels, or blocks of 
 stores, four and five stories high. These hospitals were named the 
 Overtoil, Washington, Gayoso, Jackson, Jefferson, Marine, Webster, 
 Union, Gangrene, and Officers , and were capable of accommodating 
 about 5000 sick and wounded men. During the summer of 63, 
 while Gen. Grant s army was operating against Vicksburg, and after 
 the fall of that city, these hospitals were filled, and there was a 
 constant demand for sanitary stores. Maj. T. P. Eobb, of Illinois, 
 acted as a Sanitary agent for that State, and also for the Western 
 Sanitary Commission, and distributed largely both to the regiments 
 encamped at Memphis, and to the hospitals. 
 
 Many commissioned officers having been wounded at the battles of 
 Vicksburg, were also without their pay, and were not allowed by 
 regulations the ordinary accommodations of enlisted men. Their 
 condition being made known to the Commission, it furnished a 
 complete outfit of every thing necessary for a hospital of one hun 
 dred beds, called the Officers hospital. 
 
 The United States Sanitary Commission also maintained a well- 
 supplied agency at Memphis, in charge of Dr. H. A. Warriner, an 
 able and efficient officer, who had a general supervision of the work 
 of that Commission, on the Mississippi river, and often acted in 
 friendly co-operation with the agents of the Western Commission. 
 
 During the same winter and spring the large and splendid steamer 
 " City of Alton, was used as a floating hospital, being fitted up for 
 this purpose; and the steamer "Ruth" of equal dimensions and mag 
 nificence, (since destroyed), the steamer " Glasgow," and a number 
 of smaller boats were likewise used as transports for conveying the 
 sick and wounded from the Lower Mississippi to the hospitals at Mem 
 phis and St. Louis. Besides these, the large and commodious floating 
 hospital " Nashville" was fitted up so as to accommodate one thousand 
 patients, and located permanently near Milliken s Bend, in charge 04 
 
76 
 
 Surgeon L. D. Strawbridge, U. S. A. ; and the hospital steamers " City 
 of Memphis," and "1). A. January," capable of accommodating twelve 
 hundred more, were under the order of the Medical Director, either 
 for transportation to hospitals, or for the care of the sick and wounded 
 for any length of time that might be needed there. The Medical Pur 
 veyor also had a boat set apart exclusively for medical supplies of all 
 kinds, with cots and bedding sufficient to extemporize several other 
 floating hospitals, in case of necessity. Two large boats were likewise 
 turned over to the United States and Western Sanitary Commissions, 
 whose agents were constantly receiving and distributing supplies. No 
 army was ever better provided for than the army of Gan. Grant at this 
 period, and to these efforts to keep up the health and vigor of the 
 troops was due much of that courage and endurance which resulted 
 in the splendid victories that crowned our arms, in the series of great 
 battles fought at Fort Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, 
 the Big Black river, and before the entrenchments of Vicksburg, to 
 the fall of that city. 
 
 When at last this Gibraltar of the enemy fell into our possession, 
 with thirty thousand prisoners of war, there were many sick and 
 wounded men in the camps and hospitals around the city. These had 
 still to be cared for and brought up the river, away from the heats 
 of summer in that Southern latitude. 
 
 At the time of Gen. Grant s investment of Vicksburg, and the two 
 unsuccessful assaults made on the rebel works on the 19th and the 22d 
 of May, there were four thousand five hundred of our brave troops 
 wounded. The President of the Western Sanitary Commission made 
 a second visit at that time in charge of the steamer " Champion" 
 loaded with commissary and sanitary stores. A large portion of the 
 sanitary goods, and many tons of ice, having been furnished by the 
 merchants of St. Louis, Mr. Yeatman, on his return, publishhd a 
 report of his visit, in which he says : 
 
 " On the evening of the 26th of May I left here on I ae steamer 
 
77 
 
 " Champion" accompanied by a corps of surgeons, nurses and dressers 
 of wounds, numbering fifty-five in all, with some two hundred and fifty 
 tuns of sanitary supplies, besides cots, mattrasses, and every thing 
 necessary for taking care of a thousand wounded men, in case of ne 
 cessity, the latter articles having been furnished by order of the 
 Assistant Surgeon General K. C. Wood. 
 
 "We did not arrive at Chickasaw Bluffs, near Vicksburg, until 
 the evening of the 31st of May, where we found that the number 
 of the wounded had been greatly exaggerated, the actual number 
 not exceeding four thousand five hundred. The arrangements of 
 the Medical Department were most excellent, and the transportation 
 of the sick and wounded, on the hospital steamer, " D. A. January ," 
 in charge of Surgeon A. H. Huff , were most perfect. I found that the 
 greater part of the wounded, who required attention, and who could 
 be removed, had been attended to. Of those who had been thus 
 cared for there were about 1,900; and about 2,000 more, who were 
 but slightly wounded, were treated in division hospitals, together 
 with a few hundred who were too severely wounded to be moved. 
 The division hospitals were being consolidated with the army corps 
 hospitals, which were to be placed in shady, sequestered spots, where 
 an abundance of pure, fresh water could be had. 
 
 " The wounded being so well provided for it was not necessary 
 that our steamer should be used for hospital purposes ; the hospi 
 tal beds, bedding, and supplies were turned over to the proper 
 medical officers, and the dressers of wounds and nurses were placed 
 where they could be most useful, some of them in hospitals and 
 others on hospital steamers. By the time we arrived at Vicksburg 
 all sanitary stores had become completely exhausted, and the new 
 supplies, in my charge, were greatly needed. They were at once 
 placed in the hands of our Agent, Mr. A. W. Plattenburg, by 
 whom they were distributed, most liberally, whenever they were 
 most wanted. Blessings were invoked, by both Surgeons and men, 
 
78 
 
 for this timely care in providing for them, in the great extremity 
 which always succeeds a series of battles, and which can only be 
 fully provided for in this way. No parched and thirsty soil ever 
 drank the dews of heaven, with more avidity, than did those 
 wounded men receive the beneficent gifts and comforts, sent to 
 them through this Commission." 
 
 The number of articles sent to Gen. Grant s army from the Western 
 Commission during the month of June, preceding the fall of Vicks- 
 burg, was 114,697, consisting of 3,090 hospital shirts, 3,080 hospital 
 drawers, 1,260 sheets, 4,400 bandages, 2,412 bottles of Catawba wine, 
 1,337 cans of fresh fruit, 1,976 cans of condensed milk, 10,000 lemons, 
 1,600 gallons of lager beer, 5,477 Ibs. dried apples, 2,400 Ibs. dried 
 peaches, 2,088 Ibs. codfish, 1,850 Ibs. herring, 11,710 Ibs. crackers, 
 23,060 Ibs. ice, 1,800 chickens, 3,171 dozen eggs, 3,068 Ibs. butter, 
 1,840 Ibs. corn meal, 3,145 bushels potatoes, 2,500 fans, 6,004 books 
 and pamphlets, and of the following articles in similar proportions : 
 Blankets, pillows, socks, slippers, handkerchiefs, towels, Ibs. of rags, 
 Ibs. of lint, eye shades, oil silk pads, pin cushions, rolls of adhesive 
 plaster, tourniquets, crutches, back rests, close stools, spit cups, 
 sponges, splints, air beds, bottles of whisky, bottles of brandy, 
 bottles of Catawba bitters, bottles of ginger wine, bottles of cassia 
 syrup, bottles of blackb3rry syrup, Ibs. of farina, Ibs. of corn starch, 
 Ibs. of oat meal, Ibs. of arrowroot, Ibs. of tapioca, Ibs. of sago, Ibs. 
 of pinola, Ibs. of flaxseed, Ibs. of cassia, Ibs. of allspice, Ibs. of mus 
 tard, Ibs. of nutmegs, Ibs. of pepper, bottles of pepper sauce, bottles 
 of horseradish, bottles of tomato catsup, bottles of cranberry sauce, 
 bottles of flavoring extracts, cans of clams and oysters, cans of spiced 
 tripe, cans of jelly, cans of condensed soup, cans of cocoa paste, Ibs. 
 of chocolate, cans of portable lemonade, gallons of ale, bottles of drugs, 
 bottles of extract of ginger, Ibs. of dried small fruit, Ibs. of dried 
 beef, Ibs. of extract of beef, Ibs. of mackerel, Ibs. of cheese, Ibs. of 
 bread, Ibs. of zwieback, Ibs. of coffee, Ibs, of tea, Ibs. of sugar, Ibs. 
 
79 
 
 of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of fine 
 pickles, ibs. of carbonate of soda, Ibs. of saleratus, Ibs. of citric acid, 
 Ibs. of castile soap, Cook s Manual, stationery, faucets, combs and 
 brushes, Ibs. of hops, Ibs. of tobacco, bread trays, water coolers, 
 scales, cooking stoves, brooms, tin cups, tin basins, tin plates, tin 
 boilers, tin buckets, tin dippers, tin skimmers, coffee pots, tea pots, 
 spoons, stew pans, cork screws, knives and forks, and iron boilers. 
 
 Fortunate was it for these brave men that so much preparation 
 and provision had been made for their comfort, and that loving hearts 
 and kind hands had labored for them at home, sending contributions 
 and agents, and volunteer surgeons and nurses, after them, wherever 
 the fortunes of war had led them, to assist in binding up their wounds, 
 in nursing them when sick, and in making them whole. On the fall 
 of Vicksburg, on the following 4th of July, none rejoiced more than 
 these untitled heroes, in the celebration of that day, by so great a vic 
 tory, and none were more worthy to claim their share of its honors, 
 and to partake in the glory of this, the greatest achievement of 
 the war. 
 
C II A P T E R VIII. 
 
 SOLDIERS HOMES AT COLUMBUS, KY., MEMPHIS, VICKSBURG, AND HELENA OVER 
 L">(),000 SOLDIER GUESTS ENTERTAINED FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE ST. Louis 
 HOSPITALS WHOLE NUMBER OF PATIENTS TREATED NUMBER OF DEATHS PER 
 
 CENTAGE OF DEATHS THE MILITARY PRISONS AT ST. LOUIS AND ALTON, ILL. 
 
 HUMANE TREATMENT OF SICK PRISONERS. 
 
 ON Mr. Yeatman s first visit to the army of Gen. Grant, in the 
 winter of 63, he became satisfied of the necessity of Soldiers Homes 
 at Memphis, Term., and Columbus, Ky., where there Avere many 
 troops stationed, and many others constantly arriving-, either going- 
 home discharged, or on furlough to visit their friends, or returning 
 to their regiments, being frequently without means to pay hotel 
 expenses, and needing a place of refreshment and rest. The change 
 of transportation from the river to the railroads, leading to Jackson 
 and Corinth, made this the more necessary. 
 
 On the 13th of February, 63, the Soldiers Home at Memphis was 
 opened for the reception of guests. According to previous arrange 
 ment made by the President of the Western Sanitary Commission 
 with Gen. T. C. Hamilton, then in command of the 16th army corps, 
 the large residence on Beal street, known as the " Hunt Mansion, 
 was turned over to Mr. O. E. Waters, as agent of the Commission, 
 for this purpose. 
 
 It had formerly been the head-quarters of Maj. Gen. Grant, and 
 more recently of Gen. Hamilton, and was the property of a Mr. Win. 
 llichardson Hunt, a very wealthy planter, owning a great number 
 of slaves, and now a colonel in the rebel army, many of his slaves 
 still residing in Memphis and providing for themselves. He spent 
 over forty thousand dollars in building and beautifying this mansion 
 
81 
 
 with its elegant grounds, little dreaming that in doing this he was 
 preparing so comfortable a home for the soldiers of the Union, and 
 the defenders of the flag he himself dishonored by his infidelity and 
 treason. AVlicn the city of Memphis was captured by the United States 
 navy he was among the first to flee, with his fellow traitors, and 
 abandon his home and country for an uncertain abode at Atlanta, 
 Georgia. 
 
 AV r hen the Home was made ready for guests a card was published 
 inviting the weary soldier to come and partake of its hospitalities, and 
 it was not long till the place was much sought for, and groups of 
 soldiers, dusty and travel-worn, could be seen occupying its piazzas and 
 pleasant rooms, or sitting beneath its evergreen arbors and magnolia 
 shades. 
 
 The Superintendent, in his annual report, gives the following account 
 of the opening of the institution : 
 
 " Our first guests were brought in by Mrs. Governor Harvey. She 
 found them wandering through the streets, sadly in need of a kind 
 friend to give them assistance and care. One of them, a little drummer 
 boy of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry, when brought in and laid upon a 
 soft mattress, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, Oh, how pleasant 
 this is ! Brave little drummer boy ! his spirit found a brighter home 
 and a softer couch ere the morrow s sun arose. 
 
 "During the first three months we were confined exclusively to the 
 care of discharged and invalid soldiers, very often having from twenty to 
 thirty helpless men at a time, when papers must be examined, pay col 
 lected and comfortable transportation secured, on some steamer going 
 North. Many of these men I found lying upon the hard pavements in 
 the streets, and on the bluff, near the steamboat landing, in a helpless 
 condition, with no friend to assist them. Three-fourths of them were 
 delayed here, from one to eight weeks, on account of imperfect papers. 
 If the oflicers in our army, having this duty to perform, only knew 
 of the suffering and anguish caused by their carelessness, they would 
 f 
 
82 
 
 certainly look well to the careful and correct execution of the 
 soldier s discharge papers and final statements. Many a weak, war 
 worn soldier, with his steps turned toward his Northern home, full 
 of bright anticipations and cheering hopes that he will soon be 
 mingling Avith the loved ones there, when told that his papers are 
 defective, and rejected by the paymaster, and that they will have to 
 be returned to his regiment for correction, has felt his heart sink 
 within him, and the radiant smile has passed away from his face, in 
 the bitterness of his disappointment. In some instances, before their 
 papers have returned, they have waited, unable to go home, 
 sinking in health, until their final discharge carne from the court of 
 Heaven, and, without seeing their loved ones on earth again, they 
 went up to their heavenly home, and their eternal reward. 
 
 " Since the Home was established, thirteen deaths have occurred 
 within its walls. This number is small, comparatively, with the 
 number of very sick men we have entertained. 
 
 "After the first of May, ? 63, soldiers of all classes were admitted 
 to the Home, and our numbers began to increase rapidly. The least 
 number entertained in a single day was six, and the greatest number 
 three hundred and fifty. After the siege of Vicksburg was over, and 
 our army sent to other scenes of action, the number of sick materially 
 decreased, and our attention was directed more to the care of well 
 men, providing food, transportation, etc." 
 
 Of this class of guests the number has steadily increased, and the 
 usefulness of the Home was never greater than at the present time. 
 From its establishment, February 18th, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, the 
 whole number of guests entertained has been 25,830, the number of 
 meals furnished 55,894, and the number of lodgings provided 18,986. 
 Of these guests the record shows them to have been largely Illinois, 
 Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana troops, with considerable num 
 bers from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and other States. The soldiers 
 from Illinois stopping at this Home, to the 1st of March, were 3018; 
 
83 
 
 from Missouri, 1,524; from Iowa, 1,289; the remainder from other 
 States. 
 
 Besides the regular guests entertained here, often the wife, mother, 
 sister, or father of the sick soldier, accompanying him home, and hav 
 ing limited resources, have been received as guests, and members of 
 the United States Christian Commission, engaged in the work of min 
 istering to the army, have also been welcomed to its hospitality, and 
 their religious services in the house have given it a religious and moral 
 character that was highly beneficial to its inmates. 
 
 From the opening of this Home, to the present date, it has been under 
 the superintendence of Mr. O. E. Waters, whose services have been 
 constant, faithful, and satisfactory, in the highest degree. For several 
 months he was assisted by Miss A. L. Ostram, as matron, who resigned 
 her position to fill a similar one at Cairo, Illinois. She was succeeded 
 by Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, who has occupied the position for nearly a 
 year, and has imparted so cheerful a spirit to the Home, and been so 
 unremitting in her labors that her praise is every where spoken by 
 those who have been the guests of the institution. 
 
 On the 16th of February, 63, the Soldiers Home at Columbus, Ky., 
 was opened, and has entertained many thousand soldier guests. It 
 was at first superintended by Mr. Brown, and for a short time by 
 Mr. Geo. E. "\Vyeth, when Chaplain Ephraim Xute, became superinten 
 dent in the spring of 63, and continued in charge till September of the 
 same year, when he went to jSTew Orleans to establish another Home for 
 the Commission in that city.* He was succeeded at Columbus by Mr. 
 S. J. Orange, the present excellent and faithful superintendent. The 
 first matron was Mrs. S. A. Plummer, who was assisted by Miss Ida 
 
 The Soldiers Home at New Orleans was duly established in October, 18(52, by 
 Mr. Nute, acting as the agent of the Western Sanitary Commission, under a special 
 order from Maj. Gen. Grant. He was provided with furniture, stores, and funds for this 
 pin-pose, to the value of several thousand dollars, and the Home, on its first opening, was 
 crowded with guests. Late in November it was transferred to the U. S. Commission, 
 under whose auspices it is still continued. Rev. Mr. Nute, from the date of this transfer) 
 ceased to be the agent of the Western Commission, and soon after returned to his 
 regiment. 
 
84 
 
 Johnson, and to both these ladies great praise is clue, lor their devotion 
 to the interests of the Home, and their kind and faithful service to the 
 soldiers, who were their guests . In August, 63, Mrs. Plummer was 
 transferred to the Soldiers Home, at Vicksburg, where she has con 
 tinued as matron to the present date. She was succeeded at Columbus 
 by Mrs. Orange, who has performed the duties of matron with the 
 utmost satisfaction. Many letters have been received from soldiers 
 who have been the guests of this home, testifying their appreciation of 
 the services of Mr. and Mrs. Orange, and their gratitude for the 
 kind hospitalities received. 
 
 The whole number of guests entertained at the Columbus Home 
 from February 16th, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, has been 52,259, the 
 number of meals furnished, 96,694, and the number of lodgings 
 provided, 20,315. The number of troops from Illinois, among the 
 above guests, for the year ending February 16th, 1864, was 2,243; 
 from Iowa, 888; from Wisconsin, 1,211; from Missouri, 864; the 
 remainder being from the other Western States. 
 
 The Soldiers Home, at Vicksburg, was opened August 6th 1863, 
 with Mr. E. K. Foster for Superintendent, and Mrs. S. A. Plum 
 mer for Matron. On the taking of this city, it became the base 
 of movements into the interior, and with its garrison and the 
 moving of troops, and the changing of transportation from the 
 river to the land it was foreseen that a Soldiers Home would be 
 necessary here. A large and good building was obtained from the 
 Government for the purpose, furniture and supplies were sent for 
 ward from St. Louis, sufficient for two hundred guests, and from 
 the opening of the institution to the present date, it has been crowded 
 to its utmost capacity. 
 
 Mr. Foster continued in charge till the 28th of November, when he 
 was succeeded by Mr. N. M. Mann, the present competent and 
 excellent superintendent. Mr. Foster continued to act as Sanitary 
 agent for the Commission, at Vicksburg, from the transfer of Mr. 
 
85 
 
 Plattenburg to tlie 15th army corps, till in January, 1864, when lie 
 was transferred to Helena, Ark., to open a Home at that place. 
 
 Mrs. Plummer has continued to act as matron of the Vicksburg 
 Home from the beginning, and devoted herself to its duties with her 
 usual zeal and interest in the welfare of the soldiers. She has been 
 ably assisted in her labors by Miss Hattie Wiswall, assistant matron, 
 another of the excellent and devoted women, who have been untiring 
 in their services to our brave defenders in arms, from the beginning 
 of the war. For many months this Home has also enjoyed the volun 
 tary labors of Mrs. Governor Harvey, of Wisconsin, who, finding it 
 crowded with guests, has lent a helping hand in its management, 
 besides giving much of her time and energy to the interests of the 
 poor freedmen and their families, and to the destitute Union refugees. 
 Mr. Mann has also labored most efficiently for these people, of which 
 an account will be given in a chapter devoted to that subject. 
 
 The number of soldiers entertained at the Vicksburg Home, from 
 August 6th, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, has been 49,738; the number of 
 meals furnished 81,144, and the number of lodgings provided 30,882. 
 Of the guests for six months, 3,866 have been from Illinois regiments ; 
 1,919 from Iowa regiments; 829 from Wisconsin regiments; 451 from 
 Missouri regiments; the rest being from other States. 
 
 There have also been entertained at this Home quite a number of 
 persons, laboring as agents and teachers to the freedmen, and mem 
 bers of the Christian Commission, who, being engaged in a similar 
 work of benevolence and Christianity, and the city being without 
 sufficient hotel accommodations, have been welcomed, from time to 
 time, to its hospitalities. 
 
 On February llth, 1864, another Soldiers Home was opened at 
 Helena, Ark. Having 1 a large army in Arkansas, and many troops 
 passing through Helena, on their way to and from their regiments, it 
 was deemed advisable, with the concurrence of Brig. Gen. X. B. 
 Buford, commanding that post, to establish a Homo there. In this 
 
80 
 
 work Gen. Buford and his excellent lady afforded much aid, and one 
 of the churches of the place having been assigned for the purpose, 
 with new buildings erected for office room, kitchen, and dining hall, 
 the institution was soon comfortably fitted up with bedsteads, beds, 
 bedding, kitchen furniture, stores, etc., sent from the Western Com 
 mission, and was immediately filled with guests. For a brief period 
 Mr. K. K. Foster acted as superintendent, when he returned to St. 
 Louis, and Rev. John I. Herrick, chaplain of the 29th Wisconsin 
 infantry, being on detached service at Helena, was detailed by Gen. 
 liuford, at the request of the Commission, to act as superintendent, 
 and continues in charge at this date. Mrs. II. A. Haines, an expe 
 rienced and capable person, was sent down to be matron, and has 
 filled the position thus far very successfully, and with entire satisfaction 
 to the Commission. During the three months the Home has been 
 established, it has entertained 3527 guests, furnished 8062 meals, and 
 and provided 3162 lodgings. 
 
 Summing up the statistics of all these Homes, including the one at 
 St. Louis, it will be found that there have been entertained in them 
 152,200 soldier guests, 327,786 meals furnished, and 96,635 lodgings 
 provided, and that of this number there have been 14,703 guests from 
 Illinois regiments, 7,359 from Missouri regiments, and 8,711 from 
 Iowa regiments, up to March 1st, 1864, the remainder being divided 
 among soldiers from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
 Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, 
 and the U. S. regulars. 
 
 Besides the hospitals of St. Louis, of which a previous account has 
 been given, there are two Post hospitals, one on Hickory street, and 
 the other at Benton Barracks, the Gratiot Prison hospital, and the 
 Small-pox hospital on Duncan s Island. The first of these was 
 originally a General hospital, and there was formerly a Post hospital 
 at Schofield Barracks, in the immediate vicinity, on Chouteau Avenue, 
 which was consolidated with it November 1st, 1863. The whole 
 
87 
 
 number of patients received at Hickory street, to that date, was 1826, 
 and the per centage of deaths was 6 1-10, and at Schofield Barracks 
 the number of patients received was 206, and the per centage of deaths 
 4 3-10. At the Military Prison hospital, in McDowell s College, 
 Gratiot street, the number of patients received to May 1st, 64, is 
 3,514, and the per centage of deaths 11 4-10. The surgeon in charge 
 is B. B. Breed, U. S. V. The number of patients received at the 
 Small-pox hospital to June 1st, 63, was 871, and the per centage of 
 deaths 22 9-10. The number of prisoners received at the same institu 
 tion, for the same period, was 162, and the per centage of deaths 34 1-2. 
 The great mortality of prisoners in this hospital, and at McDowell s 
 College, Gratiot street, was owing largely to the neglected and ex 
 hausted condition in which they fell into our hands. Xo statistics 
 have been received from this institution, for this work, although 
 requested of the surgeon in charge. 
 
 The number of patients treated at the Post hospital on Hickory 
 street, from November 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, is 1,412, and the 
 per centage of deaths 2 9-10. The institution is in charge of Frank 
 W. White, M. D., A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 
 The Good Samaritan, the Fifth street, the Elliott, and the New 
 House of Refuge hospitals, having been discontinued, the statistics 
 of them may be found in the second Annual Report of the Commis 
 sion, June 1st, 1863. 
 
 The whole number of patients treated in the hospitals of St. Louis, 
 including those at Jefferson and Benton Barracks, up to May 1st, ? 64, 
 is 61,744, the number that have died is 5,684, and the per centage of 
 deaths 9 1-10. 
 
 The military prisons of St. Louis have, from the beginning of the 
 war, received the constant attention of the Western Sanitary Com 
 mission, and sanitary stores have been issued to them in all cases of 
 urgent need, upon the requisitions of the surgeon in charge. 
 
88 
 
 In November, 1862, the hospital of Gratiot Street Prison, iu Mc 
 Dowell s College, used exclusively for prisoners of Avar, was found to 
 be much crowded, and the building also needed a thorough renovation 
 and cleansing. The facts were reported to Maj. (-Jen. Curtis, then 
 commanding the department, and the crowded condition both of the 
 prison and the hospital, was obviated by sending a considerable num 
 ber to the large military prison at Alton, Illinois. The Commission 
 then had the whole interior of the prison and hospital thoroughly 
 cleansed and whitewashed, by wards, and the condition of things was 
 much improved. Assistant Surgeon General Wood also assigned two 
 surgeons to the prison, and made its hospital entirely separate, with 
 its own arrangements complete. 
 
 The Commission made an effort at the same time to induce the gov 
 ernment to rent other and larger buildings for a military hospital, but 
 the necessity having in a measure ceased, with a removal of a part 
 of the patients to Alton, it was not successful. 
 
 The Myrtle Street Prison, in which military offences by United States 
 troops are punished, was also thoroughly inspected at the same time, 
 and measures of improvement were carried into effect. 
 
 The Commission has extended its inspections to the military 
 prison at Alton, Illinois, and furnished supplies, to most urgent cases 
 of need, on the requisition of the surgeon in charge. This prison is 
 the same formerly occupied as the Illinois State Penitentiary, which 
 was removed to Joliet, just before the breaking out of the war. It 
 has a large area of ground, 420 by 323 feet, enclosed by a high stone 
 wall, with the prison buildings inside, is in a healthy location, within 
 a few rods of the Mississippi river, on the east side, has good water, 
 excellent drainage, a free circulation of pure air, and could not be better 
 adapted to the purposes for which it is used. 
 
 A committee from the Western Sanitary Commission visited it in 
 December, 1862, and in a published report of the visit, said, ""We 
 
80 
 
 found the hospital to be a good, brick structure, 104 by 35 feet, well 
 ventilated, but insufficiently warmed. It contains sixty-three patients. 
 Many of the sick were needing proper under-clothing. Most of the 
 buildings in the enclosure stand isolated, with considerable ground 
 between them, so that in a moral and sanitary point of view, they are 
 very favorably situated. The prisoners are furnished abundantly with 
 good wholsonie food, and they appear to be entirely satisfied with the 
 kind treatment of officers and attendants. The clothes of the prisoners 
 are washed outside the walls, by laundresses, paid out of the prison 
 funds. There is also a washing apparatus on the ground, with a plen 
 tiful supply of hot water, and soap, which is freely resorted to by 
 the inmates." 
 
 There were then 700 prisoners confined in this prison, with accom 
 modations for 1,300. Since then, it has frequently contained over one 
 thousand. During a recent visit of the Secretary of the Commission, he 
 found the hospital in an excellent condition, in charge of Surgeon T. A. 
 Worrell, U.S.Y., Dr. Hez. Williams, A. A. Surgeon, with beds for three 
 hundred patients ; the floors clean, and the arrangements similar to the 
 military hospitals for our own troops. There were 120 sick prisoners 
 out of 1000, then in prison. The four female nurses in attendance Avere 
 Sisters of Charity. A chaplain is also allowed the prison, Rev. Father 
 Vehay, of the Catholic church. A supply of sanitary stores has been 
 recently sent to the Surgeon in charge, on his requisition. The small 
 pox patients are treated in tents, on the island, just opposite Alton. 
 There were recently but few cases of this disease. 
 
 Those who die in this prison, are buried in a ground about two miles 
 out of the city, set apart especially for that purpose. They are fur 
 nished with a coffin, the same as the Union soldier, and are in all 
 respects decently interred. Head boards, with the initials of their 
 names are placed at each grave, so that there can be no difficulty iden 
 tifying the spot. 
 
90 
 
 The statistics of the prison and hospital were recently requested, for 
 the purpose of giving a more complete statement for this work, but 
 were refused by Brig. Gen. Copeland, commanding the post. It is 
 believed that the facts would show that this prison and its hospital 
 have been conducted in a manner creditable to the humanity of the 
 United States Government, and would convey, by contrast, a terrible 
 rebuke to the inhumanity with which our soldiers have been starved 
 and treated in the prisons of the South. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SANITARY STORES SENT TO THE ARMY OF GEN. DAVIDSON, AT BLOOMFIELD, Mo. 
 PART OK THEM CAPTURED BY GUERRILLAS NARROW ESCAPE or THE AGENT 
 STORES SENT TO THE ARMY OF GEN. STEELE, AT DUVALL S BLUFF AND LITTLE 
 ROCK AGENCY ESTABLISHED AT LITTLE ROCK ACKNOWLEDGMENTS STORES SENT 
 TO FORT BLUNT, CHEROKEE NATION ACKNOWLEDGMENT STORES SENT TO COLOR 
 ED TROOPS AT MILLIKEN S BEND, GOODRICH s LANDING, AND VICKSBURG LET 
 TERS OF REV. DR. ELIOT AND MR. YEATMAN BOOKS AND INSTRUCTION FURNISH 
 ED TO COLORED TROOPS AT BENTON BARRACKS LETTER FROM COL. A. WATSON 
 WEBBER STORES SENT TO NASHVILLE AND MURFREESBORO, TENN. AGENCY AT 
 HUNTSVILLE, ALA. STORES SENT TO THE NAVAL FLOTILLA VETERAN REGIMENTS 
 ENTERTAINED AT ST. Louis STORES TO THE 33o ILLINOIS INFANTRY ACKNOW 
 LEDGMENTSTORES TO BANKS ARMY ON RED RIVER SEVERAL IMPORTANT QUES 
 TIONS ANSWERED Do THE SOLDIERS GET ANY OF THE SANITARY STORES? IL 
 LUSTRATIONS ACCOUNTABILITY OF AGENTS HOSPITALS, REGIMENTS, HOSPITAL 
 STEAMERS AND GUNBOATS SUPPLIED WITH SANITARY STORES LIST OF FEMALE 
 NURSES WHO HAVE PROVED THEIR WORTH IN THE HOSPITALS OF SAINT Louis. 
 
 DURING the month of August, 1863, Brig 1 . Gen. Davidson, command 
 ing 1 a force of cavalry, was stationed at Bloomfield, Mo., preparatory 
 to a movement on Little Rock. His sick were to be left at that place, 
 in hospital, and, in accordance with his request, the Commission sent 
 an agent there, Mr. H. J. Waterman, with a large supply of sanitary 
 stores. On the way from Cape Girardeau to Bloomfield, with a com 
 missary train, in which six of the wagons were loaded with the stores 
 of the Commission, the train was attacked, while encamped at night, 
 by a band of guerrillas of the enemy, twelve soldiers and teamsters 
 were killed, the mules were carried off, and the wagons, commissary 
 stores, and sanitary goods set fire to and burned, with the exception 
 of two wagons, which happened to contain sanitary stores. The 
 guerrillas then made their escape, and Mr. Waterman, with the captain 
 of the train, who had narrowly escaped, proceeded on the next day 
 to Bloomfield, in a very crippled condition. On arriving there, what 
 was left of the sanitary stores were distributed to the sick, in hospital, 
 
where they were much needed, and most thankfully received, and 
 Mr. Waterman returned to Cape Girardcau, where he had left about 
 half of his original supply, being unable to procure transportation. 
 
 Previous to his reaching Bloomtield, Gen. Davidson had moved on, 
 towards Little liock, with his available forces, and as it was now 
 known that Maj. Gen. Steele was about to move from Helena, with a 
 large force, to the same point, it was deemed advisable, by the Com 
 mission, that a permanent agent should accompany this expedition. 
 Mr. Waterman was accordingly ordered to proceed, from Cape 
 Girardeau, with his stores, to Helena, by the river, and there join 
 the command of Gen. Steele. On his arrival at Helena, the expedition 
 had moved as far as Clarendon, on White river, and the weather being 
 warm, it was reported that already there were many sick at that 
 point. Mr. Waterman, with difficulty, procured transportation, and 
 reached Clarendon, where, being himself taken very sick, with an 
 attack of fever, he turned over his stores to the Medical Director, 
 Surgeon James C. Whitehill, and returned home. 
 
 In the meantime the Commission had forwarded additional supplies 
 for this expedition, which were on the way to Helena, to be re- 
 shipped there up White river to Clarendon. Another agent, Mr. 
 George M. Wyeth, who had been sent to Helena to act at that point, 
 was now sent forward to take the place of Mr. Waterman. By the 
 urgent advice of Surgeon Casselberry, Medical Director at Helena, 
 he proceeded at once to join Gen. Stecle s army at DuvalFs liluft , 
 taking along the sanitary stores with him, which had previously 
 arrived at Helena, and distributing them to the surgeons, for their 
 sick, in general hospital, and to the regimental hospitals. 
 
 The army of Gen. Steele having 1 advanced upon Little liock, the 
 capital of Arkansas, and after a battle with the rebel forces, under 
 Gen. Price, captured the city, many sick were still left at DuvalFs 
 Bluff, where a general hospital had been established. 
 
 Better hospital accommodations, however, were found at Little Rock, 
 
03 
 
 which now had become the head-quarters of the Army of Arkansas, 
 and the sick were soon removed and provided for there. Mr. Wyeth 
 immediately established his agency at Little Rock, and distributed to 
 the hospitals, and camps of the army, according 1 to their necessities, 
 receiving regular shipments of supplies from St. Louis, and fulfilling 
 the duties of his position with fidelity and success. 
 
 Among the testimonials of the great good accomplished by this 
 agency, a letter was received, September 30th, 1863, from Rev. E. S. 
 Pcake, Chaplain 28th Wisconsin Infantry, who had assisted Mr. "Wycth, 
 in his work, in which he says: 
 
 " The Sanitary Commission has accomplished so much good by pro 
 viding and forwarding supplies of the articles most needed for the 
 relief and comfort of the sick in the Arkansas expedition, that it gives 
 me great pleasure to send a brief statement of the facts. Your agent. 
 Mr. Wyeth, arrived at Helena in time to learn the wants of the expe 
 dition, and followed the army up White river, to Duvall s Bluff, where 
 our general hospital was established under temporary sheds. He 
 brought some tons of sanitary stores, and remained there, attending 
 to their proper distribution, until the order was given to remove all 
 the sick to Little Rock. These supplies have been the means of saving 
 many valuable lives to the army and to the country. 
 
 "Mr. Wyeth visited Little Rock by the first railroad train that came 
 through, and took a tour of inspection through the hospitals, general 
 and regimental, learning the actual condition of the sick, and their 
 wants. He has sent to us all the supplies remaining at the Bluff, 
 and has now gone to Helena, hoping to find another shipment from 
 St. Louis at that point. The U. S. Sanitary Commission has sent 
 its contributions to us through Dr. Fithian, so that we have been 
 able to meet the call for aid, which cornes from the hospitals of a large 
 army, in a very satisfactory degree. We look upon this, however, as 
 only the beginning in a great work of charity, which must be con 
 tinued for several months to come. 
 
94 
 
 "Let not our friends be weary in doing well. If they could see the 
 good that they are doing, and the relief that their contributions afford, 
 to the sick and wounded in the army, who, from their position, are 
 helpless and dependent, it would prove an abundant encouragement 
 and reward. The moral effect of this work upon the army is of great 
 importance. It makes men braver and better soldiers and patriots, to 
 see these tokens of interest, care, and love following them from their 
 homes.* 
 
 On the same day, Surgeon James C. Whitehill, medical director at 
 Little Rock, also wrote to the President of the Commission : 
 
 "Permit me through Surgeon J. T. Hodgen to acknowledge the 
 receipt of a fine supply of sanitary stores, and on behalf of our sol 
 diers to thank you and the generous donors for so opportune a testi 
 monial of their and your continued care and sympathy. We have had 
 a great deal of sickness, and the country through which we have 
 passed has been able to furnish but little adapted to the wants of the 
 sick soldier. I have myself receipted to your agent, Mr. "Wyeth, for 
 the goods received, and placed them under the care of a most reliable 
 and worthy man, who attends to their faithful distribution. Your Com 
 mission is doing an inconceivable amount of good for our sick soldiery- 
 and deserves the hearty co-operation and liberal support of Christians 
 and philanthropists." 
 
 During the summer the Commission had also sent a shipment of 
 stores to the colored soldiers at Fort Blunt, in the Cherokee country, 
 which was duly received and acknowledged by Surgeon S. C. Harring 
 ton, of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, in a letter, in which he says : 
 "The goods were exceedingly opportune, as there was a great desti 
 tution of such things here. Were it not for your Commission, the 
 army must suffer greatly for want of those things it most needs." 
 
 During the autumn of 63, generous supplies of sanitary stores were 
 sent to the colored regiments, at Milliken s Bend, Goodrich s Landing, 
 and Vicksburg. In a letter of Rev. Dr. Eliot, under date of August 
 
95 
 
 21st, to friends in Boston, he wrote: " \Ve have the whole army west 
 of the Mississippi, to see to, and a large part of Gen. Grant s, arid 
 the gunboats, and the summer sickness are daily becoming worse. 
 At Helena, where such grand lighting was done on the 4th of July, 
 there are two thousand sick, left by armies moving forward. Gen. 
 Steele writes, that he never needed our services more than now; and 
 from every direction the claims come in upon us. We are making 
 very large shipments daily, and are, this week, under the necessity 
 of taking a large additional store-room for our bulky stores. 
 
 Under the same date, in answer to inquiries respecting colored 
 troops, Mr. Yeatman writes: "We care for the sick and wounded 
 colored soldiers, just as we do for the white. We have supplied a 
 number of regiments in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, and in this 
 city. The accounts we have of them entitle them to our confidence." 
 
 During the fall and winter of 1863-4, Brig. Gen. Win. A. Pile, 
 organized three brigades of colored troops, at Benton Barracks, and 
 in order that they might have every benefit that was possible, during 
 the period of their organization and drill, the Commission purchased 
 three thousand copies of Sargent s Standard Primer, for their use, and 
 teachers were provided to instruct them in reading ; their officers and 
 liev. Wm. H. Bradley, in the service of the Commission, taking part 
 in this work. The sick of these brigades, in hospital, received the 
 same treatment and attention as white troops; and sanitary stores 
 were supplied, both from the Commission and from the Ladies Union 
 Aid Society, as they were needed. 
 
 Among the acknowledgments received from the officers of colored 
 troops, the following is given, from the colonel of the 1st Mississippi 
 
 Vol. Infantry, A. D., dated: 
 
 " VICK.SBURG, DEC. 29, 1863. 
 "REV. J. G. FOKMAN, 
 
 " Sec ry Western Sanitary Commission: 
 
 "DEAR SIR I forward enclosed herewith, a receipt for sanitary 
 stores, so kindly sent to my regiment. They will be of great benefit 
 
06 
 
 to my men, and I am very much obliged for so bountiful a supply. 
 They will perform a great and needed good, not only for the sick, but 
 for those on duty. I cannot but regard the prevention of disease, by 
 suitable additions to the diet and comfort of the men, as important as 
 it is to cure them, after they have filled the hospitals. I propose that 
 my brave colored troops should have something extra on New Year s 
 day. 
 
 " There is no limit to the good that can easily be done for this most 
 susceptible people. How the minds of men have been blinded in 
 regard to them ! AYhat outrageous sins has not our white humanity 
 to account for ! How dark blindness seems when one has passed from 
 it to the broad light of day ! 
 
 " The officers from the old * Third Missouri send their kindest 
 
 regards. 
 
 " Yours, very truly, 
 
 "A. WATSON WEBBER, 
 
 " Colonel Commanding " 
 
 During the fall and winter of 1863-4 generous supplies were sent 
 by the Commission to the Nashville Branch of the Ladies Union Aid 
 Society, of St. Louis, and to Mrs. Barker, and other ladies, who were 
 laboring in connection with the U. S. Christian Commission, both 
 there and at Mu rf re esbo rough, Tenn., in the general hospitals. The 
 long-tried and faithful agent of the Commission, Mr. A. "W. Flatten 
 burg, also went forward to Nashville with stores, and afterwards up 
 the Tennessee river, as far as Eastpori, to Gen. Sherman s army, and 
 still later established an agency at Huntsville, Ala., from which point 
 liberal supplies of sanitary goods have been furnished to the hospitals, 
 and of vegetables to the troops, eliciting the warmest expressions of 
 gratitude. 
 
 In a letter of Mr. Flattenburg, dated March 4th, 1864, he says : 
 "The vegetables sent by the Commission were issued directly to 
 the soldiers, and a more thankful and pleased set of men has not been 
 seen since the war." 
 
97 
 
 This was at a time of great scarcity of vegetable food, and when 
 the scurvy was making its appearance among the troops. 
 
 During the recent winter, supplies have also been furnished to the 
 gunboats, and to the naval hospital steamer, " Red Rover." Among the 
 goods sent were seventy-five libraries of books, one for each boat in the 
 flotilla, and seventy-five sanitary store chests to the same number of 
 vessels, each chest containing a good supply of hospital clothing, band 
 ages, lint, adhesive plaster, condensed milk, farina, and other articles 
 useful to the sick. 
 
 On the return of the veteran regiments of Missouri troops, on fur 
 lough, to return to the war for another three years, they have been 
 received with a generous hospitality by the city of St. Louis, provided 
 for at Turners Hall, and escorted through the city by the Home G-uards, 
 with marked honor. Whenever they have needed any thing from the 
 Sanitary Commission, as they went back to the army, it has been freely 
 given. The veterans of Illinois, Iowa, and other States, have been 
 treated in like manner, as regards their sanitary wants. 
 
 The 33d Illinois infantry, which had been stationed in Texas, and 
 re-enlisted as veterans, on returning from their furlough, received from 
 the Commission a sanitary chest, filled with excellent stores. The 
 following acknowledgment was afterwards received, in which there 
 are some of the reminiscences of the siege of Vicksburg given : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS MEDICAL DEPARTMENT U. S. FORCES IN TEXAS? ) 
 
 "FORT ESPERANZA, MATAGORDA ISLAND, Jan. 15, 1864. \ 
 
 "REV. J. G. FORMAX, 
 
 " Sec ry Western Sanitary Commission: 
 
 "MY DEAR SIR: Your timely supply of sanitary goods has been 
 received, and in behalf of our noble soldiers, I would return to the 
 Commission our grateful thanks for this and many other manifestations 
 of kindness and interest in our sick and wounded men. I take pleasure 
 in adding my testimony to that of many others, of the vast amount of 
 G 
 
98 
 
 good the Western Sanitary Commission has been instrumental in doing. 
 I vividly remember the last 22d day of May, after the charge upon the 
 fortifications of Vicksburg. Our division, (Gen. Carr s,) had about 
 four hundred badly wounded men, brought into our division hospital 
 on that day. We had been cut oft from our base of supplies for over 
 two weeks, had fought three successful battles, and had entirely ex 
 hausted all our medical and hospital stores. Our men were brought 
 from the battle field with their winter clothing on, and in many cases 
 their clothing and woolen blankets were saturated with blood, and 
 covered with fly-blows, and we had no change to give them. We 
 heard that communication was opened with Chickasaw Landing, twelve 
 miles distant, and that a U. S. Government boat was there with sup 
 plies. At once, four wagons were sent there, with a request from the 
 officer to send us the supplies that were so urgently needed, and the 
 necessary papers could be executed afterwards. The wagons returned 
 empty, and the men were told that nothing would be issued, unless 
 the papers had gone through all the proper channels, and were tied 
 with red tape, which would require several days to accomplish. 
 
 "One of the teamsters remarked to me, that he saw the boat of the 
 Western Sanitary Commission, coming up the Yazoo river, as they 
 were leaving. Our wagons were sent back, and our situation made 
 known to that noble hearted gentleman, A. W. Plattenburg, agent of 
 the Sanitary Commission, who at once loaded them with every thing 
 necessary for the comfort and health of our wounded soldiers, and 
 in a few hours a great change was seen in the hospital. 
 
 "The clothing was all changed, good beds were provided, nutritious 
 food and proper stimulants prepared ; and, but for this timely aid 
 from your Commission, it is probable many of these poor soldiers 
 would have died. This is only one instance. I could cite many others 
 of a similar character, if time would permit. 
 
 "Go on in your noble efforts to ameliorate the condition of our unfor 
 tunate sick and wounded soldiers ; and may God bless your efforts, 
 
90 
 
 and put it into the hearts of our loyal peonle to contribute still larger 
 means to enable you to accomplish a greater amount of good. 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 " GEORGE P. REX. 
 
 " Surgeon 33d Illinois Infantry, 
 " Medical Director U. S. Forces in Texas" 
 
 A very large shipment of sanitary goods has also been sent this 
 winter, to the army of Gen. Banks, on the Red river, and the Com 
 mission is at this date, (May 16th, 1864,) sending forward all the stores 
 that can possibly be shipped to the army of Gen. Sherman, at Chatta 
 nooga, Da4ton and Tunnel Hill, Georgia, to be prepared for the care of 
 the sick and wounded of his army. Mr. H. E. Collins, its efficient and 
 energetic agent, (late Cashier of the Commission,) is at Xashville, 
 Tenn., pushing them forward, that no time may be lost, no pains 
 spared, to meet any emergency that may arise. He will go on to 
 Chattanooga, leaving Mr. Albert Clark at Xashville, to attend to future 
 shipments. Mr. James Tompkins, another agent of the Commission, is 
 now at Chattanooga, and will go forward to the front with his stores as 
 soon as he can communicate with the Medical Director. 
 
 Having thus exhibited something of the work of the Western San 
 itary Commission for the soldiers and sailors of the western armies and 
 navy, there are several questions often raised, which may be appro 
 priately answered here: 
 
 It is sometimes asked what need there is of Sanitary Commissions ? 
 Why don t the Government do this work, and take proper care of the 
 soldiers, without depending on voluntary contributions? The answer 
 is plain. The Government can only act through a system of regula 
 tions, by its authorized agents, who must be governed by prescribed 
 rules and limitations, and held to a strict responsibility, or there would 
 be no end to the waste and loss and imposition to which it would be 
 subjected. Hence the necessity of a fixed ration for the soldier, and 
 of supply tables for the hospitals, by which so much can be drawn and 
 
TOO 
 
 no more, the amount of hospital supplies being 1 regulated according 
 to the average number of sick. Thus it will often happen that the 
 wants of an army in a time of sickness, or in an unhealthy locality, 
 or after a battle, will greatly exceed the supplies on hand; and there 
 is no way of meeting these emergencies, except through some such 
 instrumentality as the Sanitary Commission. 
 
 In the army ration there is a deficiency of vegetable food. The amount 
 of potatoes, for instance, to each ration, is not one-quarter of what 
 would be a sufficient supply for a well man at home. In the hospitals 
 it will barely answer for the hash that is given for breakfast, three 
 times a week ; and very often the proportion allowed to the well sol 
 dier is not given him, because the commissary has none. Sometimes 
 for weeks and months, in the field, the regiments will receive no pota 
 toes ; and onions and other vegetables (still more rarely allowed) will 
 be wanting. Such a want of vegetable diet soon engenders scurvy and 
 other diseases that incapacitate the men for duty, and destroy life. To 
 meet this want, the Western Sanitary Commission has forwarded many 
 thousands of bushels of potatoes and onions, and thousands of cans of 
 tomatoes, and kegs of pickles, to the army. And besides these supplies 
 the surgeons in charge of hospitals make constant requisition for 
 articles not furnished by Government, or not in sufficient quantity 
 to meet the necessities of their patients. 
 
 Prejudicial stories have been circulated by many dissatisfied 
 and fault-finding persons about the waste and consumption of sani 
 tary stores by officers, accompanied by assertions that what is sent 
 never reaches the private soldier. Much harm has been done in this 
 way, by suspicious and evil-minded persons, discouraging contributions 
 and preventing supplies from being sent to the army. In the early 
 part of the war, before this great sanitary work had been reduced to 
 a system, instances of waste and theft, and misappropriation of sanitary 
 goods did no doubt sometimes occur; but even then they were the 
 exception and not the rule. This evil has, however, been constantly 
 
101 
 
 diminishing ; persons detected in it have been disgraced and dismissed 
 from the service ; and a greater degree of responsibility has been 
 secured, with more ample means of exposure, so that now the mis 
 appropriation of sanitary goods can scarcely take place without bring 
 ing disgrace and punishment on the parties engaged in it. 
 
 Nevertheless, the impression still prevails with many that the private 
 soldier never gets any of the sanitary stores sent to the army, and 
 many soldiers themselves, who have received them in their hospital 
 diet, and at the Soldiers Homes, slept in comfortable beds, rested 
 upon soft pillows, worn dressing-gowns, and socks, and shippers, in 
 sick wards, and eaten vegetables, fruits, butter and delicacies at their 
 meals, (not being informed of the fact) have never known that these 
 things came from the Sanitary Commissions. 
 
 An interesting illustration of this is mentioned by Rev. Glen Wood, 
 General Agent of the American Tract Society, who has spent much 
 time in the army, in the distribution of reading matter. During a 
 visit to a general hospital, which I think he said was at Murfreesboro 
 or Jackson, Tenn., he engaged in conversation with a convalescent 
 soldier in one of the wards, who had just finished a letter to his wife. 
 The soldier said to him: 
 
 " I received a letter from my wife, away in Wisconsin, and she 
 writes that the Soldiers Aid Society are getting up some sanitary stores 
 to send to us, and that she is helping to make up a nice lot of things. 
 I have just written to her, and told her not to do any such thing ; that the 
 soldiers never get what is sent to them : and that the surgeons and stew 
 ards and officers only feast on them, while the common soldiers get none." 
 
 Several of the other soldiers responded to the statement of their 
 comrade, " That s so ; we never see any sanitary stores here." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wood said, " My dear sir, I think you must be mistaken. 
 I have been through the army a good deal, and have seen a great many 
 things received by the soldiers that were sent from home, through the 
 Sanitary Commissions, and otherwise." 
 
102 
 
 He continued, addressing the first speaker, " 1 see you have on a 
 comfortable dressing-gown, and socks and slippers, and clean sheets, 
 and a pillow on your bed ; where did you get these things from ?" 
 
 " Well/ said the soldier, "I reckon Uncle 8am fitted up this hos 
 pital, and these here articles came from the linen room." 
 
 Mr. Wood remarked again, " I noticed at dinner that you had pota 
 toes, and pickles, and onions, and butter, and dried fruit, and tomatoes; 
 where did you get these things from ?" 
 
 " O," said the former speaker again, " I reckon Uncle Sam provided 
 em, or may be they were bought with the hospital fund/ 
 
 " But," says Mr. Wood, " such things can scarcely be bought here 
 for love or money. I don t see any in the market, and the sutlers 
 ask a great price for them. Suppose we call in the steward, and see 
 if he cannot throw some light on this question." 
 
 The steward was then requested to come in, and Mr. Wood asked 
 him if he would be kind enough to state to these men where most of 
 the articles of hospital clothing that had been mentioned, and the butter 
 and fruit and vegetables, and other delicacies on the table, had come from. 
 
 " Why, boys," said the steward, " didn t you know we got those 
 things from the Sanitary Commission ?" 
 
 Instantly the men dropped their heads in some confusion, and the 
 first speaker replied, "No, sir, we didn t know it. "Why didn t you 
 tell us, and we shouldn t have said what we did to this gentleman. I 
 hope he will excuse our mistake. As for me, I m going to tear up 
 my letter to my wife, (tearing it in pieces) and write her another, 
 and tell her to go ahead with them sanitary stores, and right glad we 
 shall be to get them." 
 
 The men seemed much pleased with this turn of affairs, and Mr. 
 Wood left them, having made a most salutary impression, and giving 
 them all the reading matter they wished. 
 
 There is no doubt that much harm has been done, by letters from 
 men who are naturallv croakers and fault-finders, in discouraging 
 
tf 
 
 103 
 
 O 
 s 
 contributions to the, Sanitary Commissions. The well soldier, 
 
 has always enjoyed his health, ought not, of course, to receive t 
 delicacies and comforts designed only for the sick, and for hospital 
 use. The vegetables distributed by the Commission he eats, without 
 inquiring where they came from, and writes home that he has never 
 received any thing from the Sanitary Commission. 
 
 The following method was adopted by Surgeon Charles H. Hughes, 
 1st Missouri State Militia, to cure one of these croakers of his fault 
 finding spirit. Surgeon Hughes stands very high in the esteem of 
 those who know him, and his statement is worthy of all credit. He 
 says in a letter to the Secretary, from De Soto, Mo., May 2d, 1864, 
 acknowledging the receipt of sanitary stores : 
 
 " I will tell you how I cured a croaker in the St. Louis Hickory 
 street hospital once. He said the steward got half the things sent by 
 the Sanitary Commission. I took every thing from him. for a week, 
 which had been furnished him by the Commission, his pocket comb, 
 pocket handkerchief, slippers, socks, and gown, and reading matter. 
 I deprived him of the looking-glass, feather pillow, and comforts, 
 and, for the two latter, gave him a hard, hair pillow and Government 
 blanket, and let him take his meals at a separate table, on the rations 
 furnished by the commissary, and bought out of the fund. After that 
 he croaked about the parsimony of Uncle Sam, and I put him in the 
 guard-house. When he rejoined his company he was effectually cured. 
 
 " Much wrong has been done to the Sanitary cause, and to medical 
 officers in the service, by the letters of these croakers. People are 
 foolish enough to believe them, not knowing that the things which are 
 usually sent to, and relished by the sick, are unwholesome, oftentimes, 
 to the stomach of a healthy man, because they vitiate his appetite for 
 the more substantial food which he most needs. A physician seldom 
 indulges in sweetmeats, and the wearing apparel, hospital clothing, 
 etc., sent by the Commission, always bear a stamp, which would dis 
 grace any one but the legitimate wearer the patriot soldier." 
 
104 
 
 A strict accountability is maintained between the Western Sanitary 
 Commission and all its agents in the field. Whenever stores are sent 
 to the agents, they are forwarded by the United States quartermasters 
 as Government freight, and they receipt for them, and are responsible 
 for their delivery. When delivered to the agents of the Commission 
 they receipt to the quartermasters, and the receipted bills of lading 
 are returned to the chief quartermaster at St. Louis, and acknowledg 
 ments are also made to the Commission. When sanitary stores are 
 distributed to the surgeons for the sick and wounded in hospitals, it 
 is done in answer to written requisitions, and their receipts are taken 
 and returned to the Commission at St. Louis. Piles of these documents 
 are now on file at the Western Sanitary Commission rooms, and it can 
 easily be shown what regiments and hospitals have received sanitary 
 stores, and the use made of them, by the surgeons and stewards, 
 inquired into. 
 
 The following General, Post, and .Regimental hospitals are among 
 the number that have been supplied by this Commission : New House 
 of Refuge, St. Louis and City hospitals, General hospital, (corner of 
 Fifth and Chesnut street,) Good Samaritan, Eliot, (Fourth street,) 
 Pacific, Hickory street, Jefferson Barracks, Marine, Benton Barracks, 
 Lawson and Small-pox hospitals, hospitals in Arnot s and Thornton 
 & Pierce s buildings, Schofield Barracks and Military Prison ; hospitals 
 in Cairo, and Mound City, 111. ; at Paducah, and Columbus, Ky. ; 
 Pittsburg Landing, Union City, Jackson, Lagrange, Memphis, Nash 
 ville, and Murfreesboro , Tenn. ; Corinth, and Vicksburg, Mississippi ; 
 Huntsville, Ala. ; Helena, Clarendon, Brownsville, Duvall s Bluff, 
 Fayetteville, Salem, and Little Rock, Ark. ; Fort Blunt, Cherokee 
 Nation; Young s Point, Milliken s Bend, Goodrich s Landing and 
 Duckport, La.; hospitals of the 6th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th army 
 corps ; and of Quimby s, Hovey s, Steele s, Logan s, McPherson s, Her- 
 ron s, KimbalPs, McArthur s^ and Blair s divisions ; and of Thayer s, 
 Irving s, Wilder s, and the Marine brigade ; hospitals at Otterville, Pacific 
 
105 
 
 City, Kolla, St. Joseph, Sulphur Springs, Sedalia, Tipton, Commerce, 
 St. Charles, Ironton, Pilot Knob, Cape Girardeau, Lebanon, Patterson, 
 Jefferson City, Kansas City, Springfield, Mo. ; Fort Scott, Fort Leav- 
 enworth, Kansas; Fort Halleck, Idaho; Evansville, Ind.; Quincy, 111; 
 and Keokuk, Iowa. Many stores were also issued to convalescent 
 camps, and personally to large numbers of convalescent soldiers. 
 
 Among the regiments supplied, are all the Missouri troops, from 
 the 1st to the 37th infantry ; from the 1st to the 14th cavalry ; Wellfly s 
 and the other Missouri batteries of artillery ; Bissell s engineer corps ; 
 Benton and Fremont Hussars, and Merrill s and Curtis Horse; the 
 Iowa troops, from the 1st to the 40th regiments of infantry; and the 
 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Iowa cavalry; and the 1st Iowa and 
 Dubuque and Dodge s batteries; the 2d, 4th, 8th, 10th, llth, 13th, 
 14th, loth, 17th, 18th, 20th, 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32d, 33d, 36th, 
 40th, 41st, 42d, 43d, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, 53d, 54th, 55th, 56th, 
 61st, 62d, 63d, 76th, 77th, 81st, 87th, 90th, 93d, 94th, 95th, 97th, 99th, 
 101st, 103d, 106th, 108th, lllth, 113th, 114th, 116th, 117th, 118th, 122d, 
 124th, 126th, 127th, 130th, 131st, 145th, and 147th Illinois infantry; 
 the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th Illinois cavalry ; and Peoria, Mercan 
 tile, Board of Trade, Taylor s, and 1st Illinois batteries; the 7th, 
 8th, llth, 12th, 16th 18th, 23d, 24th, 25th, 34th, 39th, 43d, 47th, 48th, 
 49th, 53d, 54th, 56th, 59th, 60th, 67th, 72d, 83d, 93d, 96th, 97th, 99th, 
 and 100th Indiana infantry; Coggswcll s 1st Indiana battery; and the 
 1st Indiana cavalry; the 1st, 16th, 20th, 22d, 30th, 32d, 36th, 37th, 42d> 
 46th, 47th, 48th, 53d, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 68th, 70th, 72d, 76th, 
 77th, 78th, 80th, 83d, 95th, 96th, 114th, and 120th Ohio infantry ; 5th 
 Ohio cavalry; and the 2d, 4th, 8th, llth, 16th, and 26th Ohio batter 
 ies: the 1st, 2d, 6th, 8th, 9th, llth, 12th, 14th, Kith, 17th, 18th, 23d, 
 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 32d, 33d, and 41st Wisconsin infantry ; 12th 
 Wisconsin battery; and 1st, 2d, and 3d Wisconsin cavalry; the 2d, 
 7th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 20th, and 27th Michigan infantry ; and 2d and 3d 
 Michigan cavalry; the 3d, 4th, 5th, llth, and 17th Minnesota infan- 
 
106 
 
 try; and 1st Minnesota battery; the 1st, 2d, 5th, 10th, llth, [and 
 13th Kansas infantry; and 1st and 5th Kansas cavalry ; the 1st Ar 
 kansas, (white), 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Arkansas colored infantry ; and 
 the 1st, 3d, and 4th Arkansas cavalry ; the 5th Maine infantry ; the 
 llth New Hampshire infantry ; the 32d Massachusetts infantry ; the 
 17th and 178th New York infantry; the 34th and ooth New Jersey 
 infantry ; and 2d New Jersey cavalry ; the 45th Pennsylvania infantry ; 
 the 4th Virginia infantry; the 7th, 19th, and 22d Kentucky infantry; 
 the 8th, dth, 10th, llth, and 12th Louisiana colored infantry; the 1st, 
 2d, 3d, 4th, and 6th, Mississippi colored infantry; and 1st Mississippi 
 colored cavalry ; the 13th United States regular army ; and the 48th, 
 49th, 51st, 58th, and 59th United States colored infantry ; and 2d 
 and 6th United States colored artillery. 
 
 The hospital steamers supplied by the Western Sanitary Commission, 
 are the "City of Louisiana," afterwards refitted and named the "R. C. 
 Wood," the "D. A. January," the "Empress," the "Imperial," the 
 "Eed Rover," the "City of Alton," the "City of Memphis," the 
 "Nashville;" and of the transports, -Conveying the sick and wound 
 ed, the "Ruth," the "Glasgow" the "Diana," the "Nebraska," and 
 the "Baltic." 
 
 Of the gunboats of the Mississippi naval squadron, supplies have 
 been sent to nearly all, among which the following may be named : 
 the Louisville, Mound City, Carondelet, Chillicothe, Judge Torrence, 
 Lafayette, NaumJceag, Ratler, Autocrat, Black Hawk, Petrel, Gen 
 eral Price, Romeo, Choctaw, Benton, Avenger, Tyler, Monarch, 
 Switzerland, Pairpaw, Tawha, Key West, and No. 11, tliere being 
 many more, to whom contributions have been sent quite recently, 
 including the whole Mississippi squadron. 
 
 In concluding the present chapter, it is deemed an appropriate place 
 to mention the names of those female nurses, who, by long and faithful 
 service, and special devotion to the care of the sick and wounded sol 
 diers, in the St. Louis hospitals, have earned the gratitude of the West- 
 
107 
 
 crn Sanitary Commission, and of those who have been the objects of 
 their kind solicitude and^ self-sacrificing labors. In giving this list of 
 honored names, it is not improbable that some will be omitted, who 
 deserve a place in it, for it is made up under many disadvantages, 
 and without all the means of a careful examination. It is also to be 
 regretted that the Christian names of some are not within the knowledge 
 of the writer, and cannot be easily obtained. The list is as follows : Mrs. 
 M. I. Ballard, Mrs. E. O. Gibson, Mrs. L. D. Aldrich, Mrs. Houghton, 
 Mrs. S. A. Plummer, Miss Carrie C. McNair, Mrs. Harriet Colfax, Mrs. 
 Sarah A. Barton, Miss Ida Johnson, Miss Clark, [Miss A. L. Ostrarn, 
 Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, Mrs. Olive Freeman, Mrs. Anne M. Shattuck, 
 Mrs. E. C. Brendell, Mrs. E. J. Morris, Mrs. Dorothea Ogden, Mrs. E. 
 C. Witherell, Miss N. A. Shepherd, the Sisters of Charity at the New 
 House of Refuge Hospital, Miss Emma L. Ingalls, Miss Emily E. Par 
 sons, Miss Fanny Marshall, Miss Louisa Maertz, Miss Harriet N. Phil 
 lips, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Nichols, Miss Eebecca Craighead, Mrs. H. A. 
 
 
 Haines, Mrs. H. A. Reid, Miss Hattie Wiswall, Mrs. Reese, Mrs. Maria 
 
 Brooks, Mrs. Mary Allen, Mrs. Bickerdike, Miss Cornelia M. Tomp- 
 kins, Mrs. M. A. Steller, Mrs. Carrie Gray, Mrs. M. J. Dykman, 
 Misses Marian and Clara McClintock, Mrs. Otis, Mrs. Sager, Mrs. Pea- 
 body, Mrs. Rebecca S. Smith, Miss Melcenia Elliott, Mrs. C. C. Hagar, 
 Mrs. J. E. Hickox, Mrs. Lucy L. Campbell, Miss C. A. Harwood, Miss 
 Deborah Daugherty, Miss Phebe Allen, Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Ferris, and 
 Miss Lucy J. Bissell. 
 
 Of these honored women, Mrs. E. C. Witherell laid down her life in 
 this service. She had served very faithfully in the Eliot Hospital, St. 
 Louis, for many months, and was always most gentle, kind, and 
 unremitting in her attention to the sick and wounded. In the spring 
 of 1862, she was transferred to the hospital steamer "Empress" as 
 matron, and continued on her till the next July, when, on the 10th 
 of the month she died, a victim of fever, contracted in performing the 
 arduous duties of a nurse. The Western Sanitary Commission passed 
 
108 
 
 a preamble and resolutions, commemorative of her virtues, in which 
 she was mentioned as one who was "gentle and unobtrusive, with a 
 heart warm with sympathy, and unshrinking in the discharge of duty, 
 energetic, untiring 1 , ready to answer every call, and unwilling to 
 spare herself where she could alleviate suffering, or minister to the 
 comfort of others. In self-sacrifice and devotion to duty she was 
 regarded as " not a whit behind the bravest hero on the battle field," 
 giving, as she did, her life for her country and humanity. 
 
 If the history of the present war shall ever be faithfully written, it 
 will contain many touching incidents of woman s heroism, and a noble 
 record of the inestimable services rendered by her, in the hospitals 
 of the army, living in an impure atmosphere, amid scenes of suffering 
 and death, that the soldiers of the Union may be gently nursed and 
 cared for, and sent forth again to do battle for a righteous cause. A 
 young woman is now present to the mind of the writer, and her name 
 
 is in the foregoing list, who came from her country home, in Iowa, a 
 
 
 volunteer to nurse her country s defenders, among whom were all of 
 
 her own brothers, who were old enough to fight. She had education, 
 strength, and a holy resolution to undertake the hardest service she 
 could find. For months she served in the hospitals of Tennessee, went 
 home alone in charge of the corpse of a neighbor of her father s, who 
 had died in the hospital at Memphis, returned to St. Louis, and when, 
 in one of the large hospitals, a volunteer was called for, to serve in the 
 erysipelas ward, a position of danger and of trying service, while 
 others were reluctant, she made a ready and willing offer of herself, 
 was accepted, and spent months in the cheerful performance of her 
 duty there, without a murmur or complaint. She is still filling a 
 position of arduous service and much responsibility, and may occa 
 sionally be seen, leading a blind soldier, in his visits to the surgeon, 
 for the treatment of his eyes, taking delight in every opportunity of 
 doing good to those who are giving their lives for their country. 
 Another one we also knew, whose name is likewise in this simple 
 
109 
 
 record, who, at Helena, Ark., in the fall and winter of 1862-3, was 
 almost the only female nurse in the hospitals there, going from one 
 building to another, in which the sick were quartered, when the streets 
 were almost impassable with mud, administering sanitary stores, and 
 making delicate preparations of food, spending her own money in pro 
 curing milk and other articles that were scarce and difficult to obtain, 
 and doing an amount of work which few persons could sustain, living 
 without the pleasant society to which she had been accustomed at 
 home, never murmuring, always cheerful and kind, preserving in the 
 midst of a military camp such gentleness, strength, and purity of char 
 acter, that all rudeness of speech ceased in her presence, and, as she 
 went from room to room, she was received with silent benedictions, 
 or an audible " God bless you, dear lady, for your kindness to me," 
 from some poor sufferer s heart. 
 
 When such women are willing to leave their pleasant homes, and 
 forsake almost every comfort, for such a service, and in. such a cause, 
 there is still hope for the land of their birth ; for while virtue and 
 self-sacrifice remain, the cause of liberty and free government cannot 
 perish from the earth, but must grow stronger and more triumphant 
 with every conflict, as ages roll away. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FREEDMEN OF THE MISSISSIPPI FIRST EFFORTS FOR THEIR RELIEF AT HELENA 
 Miss MARIA R. MANN MR. YEATMAN S VISITS TO THE FREEDMEN, FROM ISLAND 
 No. 10 TO NATCHEZ CHAPLAIN H. D. FISHER DETAILED AS AN AGENT OF THE 
 COMMISSION TO MAKE AN APPEAL FOR AID IN NEW ENGLAND GENEROUS CON 
 TRIBUTIONS RECEIVED MR. YEATMAN S REPORT CONDITION OF THE FREEDMEN 
 THE SUBJECT PRESENTED TO THE ATTENTION OF THE GOVERNMENT MR. W. P. 
 MELLEN AND MR. YEATMAN RETURN TO CARRY INTO EFFECT AN IMPROVED SYSTEM 
 OF LEASING THE ABANDONED PLANTATIONS, AND OF SECURING BETTER WAGES TO 
 THE LABORERS SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON MILITARY PROTECTION GIVEN 
 NATIONAL AND OTHER FREEDMEN S RELIEF ASSOCIATIONS MESSRS. MARSH AND 
 FOSTER GO TO VICKSBURG AS AGENTS TEACHERS SENT DEATH OF ONE OF THE 
 NUMBER FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FREEDMEN ARRIVE WITH THE RETURN 
 OF GEN. SHERMAN S ARMY FROM MERIDIAN THEIR CONDITION AID GIVEN- 
 UNION REFUGEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REFUGEE HOME AT ST. Louis 
 REFUGEES AT PILOT KNOB LABORS OF SUPERINTENDENT A. WRIGHT REFUGEE 
 HOME AT VICKSBURG SCHOOL FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN. 
 
 INCIDENTAL to its great work of ministering to the sick and wounded 
 of the Western armies and navy, and of promoting the health and en 
 ergy of our soldiers in the field, the Western Sanitary Commission has 
 felt itself called to devote a portion of its labors to the relief of forty 
 thousand freedmen, along the banks of the Mississippi river, from 
 Columbus, Ky., to Natchez, many of whom, in their transition from the 
 ownership and control of slave masters, to the condition of freedmen, 
 have suffered untold hardships and privations, in a country stripped by 
 the ravages of war, with no demand for labor, except in a few favored 
 localities, nor any means of providing for their most urgent wants, food, 
 clothing, and shelter. Seeing in them the victims of a life-long oppres 
 sion, thrown destitute and almost naked upon the tender mercies of our 
 armies in the field, many of them dying of exposure, hardship, and dis 
 ease, the members of the Western Commission could not turn a deaf 
 ear to their silent appeals for assistance and Christian sympathy. 
 
 Their attention was first called to the sufferings of these people at 
 
Ill 
 
 Helena, in the beginning of the winter of 1862-3, where there were 
 between three and four thousand, men, women and children, part of 
 them living in a place back of the town, established for them, by Gen. 
 C. C. Washburne, the previous summer, called " Camp Ethiopia," in 
 the condemned and cast-off tents of the army, and in caves and shelters 
 of brush the best arrangement that could be made at the time, but 
 wholly insufficient for winter. Others dwelt in the poorer houses of 
 the town, sixteen and twenty persons occupying the same room, and 
 others still in the few huts that remained on the neighboring planta 
 tions. The able-bodied men had been worked very hard on the fortifi 
 cations of the place, and by the quartermasters, in unloading coal from 
 barges and freight from steamboats, and also as grave-diggers, team 
 sters and wood choppers, and in all manner of fatigue duty. For these 
 services many of them never received any compensation, through the 
 neglect of the officers, having them in charge, to keep proper pay rolls, 
 and the indifference of several of the military commanders, immedi 
 ately succeeding Maj. Gen. Curtis. At one time an order was issued 
 forbidding their payment, on the ground that their masters would have 
 a claim against the Government for their services. All the while they 
 were compelled to do most of the hard work of the place, and press- 
 gangs were sent out to take them in the streets and put them to work, 
 sometimes by night as well as by day, taking no account of their names 
 or labor, and dismissing them without compensation. Sometimes they 
 were shot down, and murdered with impunity. 
 
 Under such circumstances they were not able to provide for their 
 families, and rations had to be drawn for them from the Government. 
 Herded together as they were, in camps and the poorest dwellings, it was 
 no wonder that they sickened and died at a fearful rate. The writer of 
 this, who was then on duty at Helena, has seen the streets patroled by 
 mounted orderlies, to gather up the "contrabands," as they were called, 
 for forced labor, while their women and children were driven from their 
 little houses, to Camp Ethiopa, under an arbitrary military rule, with 
 
112 
 
 a view of expelling them from the town ; and there being no additional 
 shelter at the camp, they had to suffer there, till the order became par 
 tially a dead letter, by reason of its inhumanity. A military order was 
 as one time issued, to carry them beyond the lines, under which many 
 of them were delivered up to rebel masters, in violation of the Articles 
 of War. "With hundreds of sick, their only hospital was a small build 
 ing, not sufficient for the care of twenty persons. 
 
 It was under these circumstances, that the Western Sanitary Com 
 mission, early in January, 1863, sent to Helena, that excellent and 
 philanthropic woman, Miss Maria R. Mann, with a large supply of 
 sanitary stores, clothing, hospital goods, furniture, stove, &c., to fit up 
 a better hospital for the sick of this class, and to minister generally to 
 their wants. 
 
 At this time, Rev. Samuel Sawyer, chaplain of the 47th Indiana in 
 fantry, and Rev. J. G. Forman, chaplain of the od Missouri infantry, 
 both of them on detached service at Helena, were doing what they 
 could for these poor people, and welcomed the arrival of Miss Mann 
 with great satisfaction. Mr. F. secured rooms for her and her stores in the 
 same house occupied by himself and others, and the work of ameliora 
 tion was immediately commenced. The hospital w T as soon renovated; 
 and a month or two later, on the removal of a portion of the army, a 
 larger and better building was obtained, when the sick of the freed 
 people were better situated, and army surgeons were detailed to attend 
 them. It was now known that a change of policy towards the emanci 
 pated people had been inaugurated by the Government. Adjutant 
 General Thomas was on his way to look after these people, and organ 
 ize regiments of fighting men from them, and the military commanders 
 became more willing to grant favors in their behalf. 
 
 In the Spring a splendid regiment of the 1st Arkansas infantry, A. D., 
 was recruited in a few days, commanded by Col. Wm. F. Wood, and a 
 second was commenced. Miss Mann remained till the following Au 
 gust, performing a great amount of useful service to the wives and 
 
113 
 
 children of these men, giving" clothing to the poor and needy, selling to 
 those who had money to buy with, and replenishing her stock with the 
 proceeds ; teaching women to cut and make their own garments, provid 
 ing medicines for the sick, visiting them in their camps and dwellings, 
 giving them excellent advice, and in every possible way improving their 
 condition. 
 
 Her labors there were also sustained by friends in New England, with 
 whom she was in correspondence, and several thousand dollars worth 
 of clothing, material for clothing, medicines, etc., were* used by her in 
 the most judicious manner, Rev. Dr. Eliot, at St. Louis, acting for 
 the Commission, as Treasurer of a special fund for this purpose, contri 
 buted mostly by humane people in New England. Rev. Jonathan E. 
 Thomas, chaplain 56th Ohio infantry, was also detailed to assist in this 
 work, and his humanity and kindness to the poor " contrabands/ as 
 well as the faithful service of Rev. Mr. Sawyer, and the devoted labors 
 of Miss Mann, will long be remembered by them, and by the writer of 
 this sketch, who was providentially associated with them, for a time, in 
 their benevolent work. It is due to Major Generals S. R. Curtis, C. C. 
 "Washbume, and Prentiss, who were in command at Helena for a brief 
 period, to say that it was not during their administration of affairs that 
 the evils here narrated occurred, and that they were always ready to do 
 whatever was in their power, for the amelioration of the condition of the 
 colored people at that post. 
 
 During the month of October, 63, the condition of the freed people, 
 along the Mississippi river, again enlisted the earnest consideration of 
 the Western Sanitary Commission. The same state of things that had 
 existed at Helena, was reported as existing at many other points, be 
 tween Columbus, Kentucky, and Xatchez, chiefly the result of neglect, 
 inability to procure remunerative employment, failure of quartermasters 
 to enroll and pay the freedmen their wages, and the helpless condition of 
 many, in consequence of the taking of the strong and able-bodied men 
 H 
 
114 
 
 for United States soldiers, leaving their wives and children, for a time, 
 unprovided for. 
 
 On the 6th of November the Commission addressed a letter to the 
 President of the United States, calling- his attention to the condition of 
 these people, the necessity of assistance, before another winter should 
 set in, and proposing to assume the labor of soliciting contributions 
 and extending relief, as an incidental part of its work. The proposal 
 was favorably regarded, assurances were given by the Secretary of War 
 that all possible aid would be rendered, in the way of transportation 
 and otherwise, and, a few weeks later, Mr. Yeatman made a special 
 visit down the river, to ascertain and report the actual state of things. 
 
 At the same time, Maj. Gen. Schofield, who gave his hearty approval 
 and sympathy to the work, detailed, by special order, Chaplain H. D. 
 Fisher, of the 5th Kansas Cavalry, to visit New England, under the 
 direction of the Commission, and make a suitable appeal for contribu 
 tions for this object. Mr. Fisher s visit was entirely successful, and 
 very large contributions of clothing, material for clothing, shoes, and 
 other necessary articles, amounting in value to about $30,000, and 
 $13,000 in money, were obtained, by a committee in Boston, composed 
 of Chas. G. Loring, Chairman, M. S. Scudder, Secretary, Alpheus 
 Hardy, Treasurer, A. A. Lawrence, James M. Barnard, Wm. Endi- 
 cott, Jr., Edward Atkinson, and sixteen others. These contributions 
 came from Boston, Salem and other neighboring towns and cities, to 
 whom the appeals of the Western Sanitary Commission have never 
 been made in vain. Many valuable boxes of clothing material and 
 shoes were sent by the Boston Educational Commission for Freedmen, 
 of which Messrs. Barnard, Atkinson and Endicott, of the other com 
 mittee, were also members. 
 
 On the 17th of December, Mr. Yeatman returned from his first visit 
 to the freedmen of the lower Mississippi, and made a full report to the 
 Commission, of which five thousand copies were printed and circulated. 
 He stopped at Island No. 10, at Memphis, Helena, Goodrich s Landing, 
 
115 
 
 Milliken s Bend, Young s Point and Vicksburg, the plantations of Jeff 
 and Joe Davis, and at Natchez, and returning, visited some of these 
 points a second time. 
 
 The report, consisting of sixteen pages of closely printed matter, is so 
 full of information that it is impossible to make even an abstract of it 
 for this work. It is sufficient to say, that he found about forty thou 
 sand of these people in camps, at the above and other places, between 
 Cairo and Xatchez, in various degrees of poverty and wretchedness; 
 that among them he found several volunteer agents, missionaries, and 
 teachers, from the United Presbyterians, the Friends, and the Freed- 
 men s Aid Associations, laboring for their benefit as well as they could, 
 without system or co-operation; that in the cotton growing region, from 
 Goodrich s Landing to Vicksburg, on the abandoned plantations, leased 
 by the Government, he saw over twenty colored men, and heard of 
 others who had raised from five to ten bales of cotton, on their own 
 account, proving their capacity for self-maintenance, with a fair chance ; 
 that where they were laboring under the lessees their wages were whol 
 ly inadequate, being but five dollars per month for women, and seven 
 dollars per month for men, with subsistence of the poorest kind ; that 
 they suffered many wrongs under this system; that when they were em 
 ployed by Government Quartermasters, to cut wood for steamboats, they 
 were frequently not paid ; that they were charged an unreasonable 
 price for goods, and Were really suffering wrongs and hardships, equal 
 to those they had borne in a state of slavery, while they were enjoying 
 none of the blessings of liberty. 
 
 Mr. Yeatman, in his report, thus sets forth some of the wrongs of 
 these people: " Within the city of Memphis, not directly connected 
 with any of the camps, or with the colored regiments, there are some 
 three thousand freed men and women, mostly freed men, who are em 
 ployed in various ways, and at various rates of compensation. Those 
 employed by Government, receive but ten dollars per month, while 
 
110 
 
 many could readily earn Irom thirty to fifty dollars per month. Those 
 thus employed are outside of the military organization. 
 
 "To give an instance: One quartermaster told me that he had in his 
 employment, a harness maker, to whom he could only pay ten dollars 
 per month, while he was paying white men, doing the same work, 
 forty-five dollars per month; and that the colored man could readily 
 procure the same wages, were he allowed to seek a market for his labor 
 in the same town. I saw a number of colored men pressed into service, 
 (not military,) to labor at the rate of ten dollars per month, one of 
 whom petitioned to be released, as he had a good situation at thirty 
 dollars per month. The firemen on the steamboat on which I was a 
 passenger from St. Louis to Memphis, were all colored, and were re 
 ceiving forty-five dollars per month. These men were afraid to go ashore 
 at Memphis, for fear of being picked up and forced into Government 
 employment, at less than or ^-fourth their existing wages. 
 
 "Besides the fact that men are thus pressed into service, thousands 
 have been employed for weekj and months, who have never received 
 any thing but promises to pay. This negligence and failure to comply 
 with obligations, have greatly disheartened the poor slave, who comes 
 forth at the call of the President, and supposes himself a free man, and 
 that, by leaving his rebel master, he is inflicting a blow on the enemy, 
 ceasing to labor and to provide food for him and for the armies of the 
 rebellion. Thus he was promised freedom, but how is it with him ? 
 He is seized in the street, and ordered to go and help unload a steam 
 boat, for w^hich he will be paid, or sent to work in the trenches, or to 
 labor for some quartermaster, or to chop wood for the Government. 
 He labors for months, and at last is only paid with promises, unless 
 perchance it may be with kicks, cuffs, and curses. 
 
 "Under such treatment, he feels that he has exchanged one master 
 for many masters ; these continued abuses sadden and depress him, and 
 he sighs to return to his former home and master. He, at least, fed, 
 
117 
 
 clothed, and sheltered him. Something should be done, and 1 doubt 
 not, will be done, to correct these terrible abuses, when the proper 
 authorities are made to comprehend them. The President s proclama 
 tion should not thus be made a living- lie, as the Declaration of In 
 dependence has too long- been, in asserting the inalienable rights 
 of man, while the nation continued to hold millions of human beings 
 in bondage." 
 
 In another place he says : 
 
 " The poor negroes are everywhere greatly depressed at their con 
 dition. They all testify that if they were only paid their little wages as 
 they earn them, so that they could purchase clothing, and were furnished 
 with the provisions promised, they could stand it ; but to work and get 
 poorly paid, poorly fed, and not doctored when sick, is more than they 
 can endure. Among the thousands whom I questioned, none showed 
 the least unwillingness to work. If they could only be paid fair wages, 
 they would be contented and happy. They do not realize that they are 
 free men. They say that they are told they are, but then they are taken 
 and hired out to men who treat them, so far as providing for them is 
 concerned, far worse than their " secesh" masters did. Besides this they 
 feel that their pay or hire is lower now than it was when the " secesh" 
 used to hire them. This is true/ 
 
 And yet, under all their accumulated wrongs, these people manifest a 
 wonderful faith in Divine Providence ; they seem to be sensible that God 
 has some better thing in store for them, and to realize that, through this 
 wilderness of suffering and sorrow is the only ^ath to their deliverance. 
 Mrs. Porter, at Camp Holly Spring, near Memphis, related to Mr. 
 Yeatman an instance of this. When she first went there to teach, an 
 old negro came out to meet her, whose head had been whitened by the 
 frosts of ninety winters, and who was almost blind, supporting himself by 
 his staff. "With his hand stretched forth he accosted her, saying, " "Well, 
 you hab come at las . I se been spectin you, lookin for you, for de 
 las twenty years. I knowed you would come, and now I rejoice." She 
 
118 
 
 said, "I have come to teach you." " Yes, yes, I know it, and I tank 
 de Lord." 
 
 At this same camp Mr. Yeatman saw a colored man, who, after his 
 return from his work, was seated in his cabin, surrounded by his own 
 children and a" few others from the adjoining cabins, teaching them their 
 lessons for the morrow. At another school he met an old woman, aged 
 eighty-five, who was intent on her books. When asked if she was not 
 too old to begin to learn, she said, " Xo," that she must learn now or 
 not at all, as she had but little time left, and she must make the most of 
 it. When asked what good it would do her, she said " she could read 
 de bible, and teach de young." At other places similar instances of 
 faith and piety, and the desire of knowledge, were witnessed. 
 
 Mr. Yeatman was most favorably impressed with the capacity of the 
 negroes to become soldiers. He gives an account of several successful 
 expeditions, under Col. Farrar, at Natchez, in which they brought 
 in prisoners. In one instance he says, " The prisoners were much 
 chagrined at being taken by negroes, and asked if they could not have 
 another guard to take them through town ; but as they were captured 
 by negroes, they had to be guarded and escorted by them." 
 
 He says of another experience he had, " In going from Goodrich s 
 Landing to Milliken s Bend, I was escorted by twenty colored troops, 
 mounted on mules captured from the enemy. They rode gallantly and 
 fearlessly, putting our their advance guard and arranging themselves 
 in true military order, conducting themselves with as much propriety 
 as an equal number of well behaved gentlemen. When we arrived at 
 the Bend, and dashed into the fort, surrounded by troops, my com- 
 panion Dr. May and myself, dressed in citizen s clothes, and mounted 
 in an old wagon, were taken for prisoners, and our escort was called 
 out to by the soldiers, "Rebs! Rebs!" and an amount of ivory dis 
 played that 1 have seldom seen exceeded. 
 
 "I could but compare my first visit to this point years ago, when I 
 landed to take charge of a large estate, as executor, with my present 
 
119 
 
 one. It was here in these swamps that I first saw and knew what a dead, 
 leaden thing slavery is, and the wrong and injustice which could be 
 inflicted, even by one, considered the kindest and most humane of mas 
 ters. I doubt not the seed was then sown in my heart which has since 
 germinated, and makes me now not only willing, but anxious to labor 
 for these poor sons of soil. What a revolution a few short years has 
 brought about ! Who can doubt that an infinitely wise and just God 
 governs the world?" 
 
 On submitting his report to the Commission, Mr. Yeatman was dele 
 gated to visit Washington, and present this subject to the Government. 
 In doing so, he also presented a series of printed "suggestions of a plan 
 of organization for freed labor and the leasing of plantations along the 
 Mississippi river." His report and suggestions were most favorably 
 received at Washington, and he was urged and authorized to accom 
 pany Mr. W. P. Mellen, the special supervising agent of the Treasury 
 Department, to Vicksburg, to mature and carry them into effect. This 
 trust of the Government he accepted, as a voluntary work, declining 
 an official position, which was offered him ; and he proceeded a second 
 time, now in company with Mr. Mellen, to the region of the leased 
 plantations, near Vicksburg. 
 
 The new plan of labor in view of the high price of cotton, and 
 the profit to be derived from its cultivation provided that the freed- 
 men should receive from 812 to $25 a month, according to age, sex, 
 ability, etc.; that there should be a secure method of enforcing the 
 contract for labor and wages ; that the lessee should furnish goods at an 
 advance of ten per cent. 011 the cost; that there should be established 
 "Home Farms," under a superintendent, for the young and old, the 
 infirm and destitute; that there should be schools and teachers, for 
 all children under twelve years old ; and that a tax should be paid to 
 the Government of four dollars, on each bale of cotton raised, and of 
 two cents per pound, for the support of the "Home Farms," and 
 the schools; and that the system should be carried out by commis- 
 
120 
 
 sioners of plantations, acting under the Treasury Department, who 
 should see that justice is administered; that the freed people are treated 
 as free, and encouraged to respect and observe the institutions of 
 religion, marriage, and all the customs of virtuous and civilized 
 society, and to become worthy of the blessings of a Christian civ 
 ilization. 
 
 On their way down the river, Messrs. Me lien and Yeatrnan had a new 
 form of lease, and printed regulations prepared at Memphis, and on ar 
 riving at Vicksburg, inaugurated the new order of things. At first it 
 met with some opposition from the old lessees, who saw in it a diminu 
 tion of their gains; but seeing that it was promulgated with authority, 
 it was acquiesced in, local agents were appointed, and about six hundred 
 plantations were immediately leased, under the new system. 
 
 The withdrawal of the troops, from some of the districts, had caused 
 considerable discouragement at first, but on a second visit of Messrs. 
 Mellon and Yeatman to Washington, the Secretary of War was induced 
 to give the services of the Marine Brigade, for the purpose of affording 
 protection to the plantations and freed people ; and the work of growing 
 cotton, the present year, is already progressing with satisfaction to all 
 concerned, with a great improvement in the prospects of the laborers, 
 and their ultimate success as independent cultivators of the soil ; for 
 the more intelligent of them do not fail to see the advantages of pos 
 sessing land of their own, and are ambitious to work for themselves, 
 instead of a master. In almost every instance where they attempted, 
 last year, to cultivate cotton, on their own account, they were entirely 
 successful, numerous instances of which Mr. Yeatman gave in his pub 
 lished report. 
 
 While these changes were being effected, a National Freedman s 
 Relief Association had been organized^!! New York city, and a North 
 western Freedmen s Relief Commission at Chicago, besides which there 
 were two similar associations already existing at Cincinnati, and another 
 was formed at Indianapolis, Harmonious relations were at once estab- 
 
lished between these Associations and the Western Sanitary Commission. 
 
 On the llth December, Messrs. Win. L. Marsh and U.K. Foster, from 
 the National Freedmen s lielief Association of New York, arrived at St. 
 Louis, with a letter of introduction from Hon. F. G. Shaw, the Presi 
 dent of the Association, on their way to Vicksbtirg, to establish an 
 agency there, for the distribution of goods to the needy, the sale of them 
 to those who could pay, and for the employment of teachers to instruct 
 the people. Mr. Yeatnian was at the time down the river; but these 
 gentlemen, seeing the advantages of co-operation and unity of purpose, 
 consented to act also as agents of the Western Sanitary Commission, 
 and thereby secured an arrangement for the re-shipment of their goods 
 from St. Louis to Vicksburg, which they were expecting from New 
 York, and the Commission also secured the benefit of their valuable 
 services, as agents in the field. 
 
 Very large shipments of clothing soon began to arrive from New 
 York, directed to Mr. Marsh, and were forwarded with shipments from 
 the Western Sanitary Commission, at the earliest period. They were 
 unfortunately delayed several weeks by the severe cold of December 
 and January, which closed the navigation for awhile, but were ulti 
 mately received, and accomplished great good. Of the proceeds of the 
 goods sold by these gentlemen, on account of the Western Sanitary 
 Commission, they have returned $1000. Their services have been in 
 every respect most useful and satisfactory, and have been extended to 
 Natchez, and other places besides Vicksburg. 
 
 D uring the winter they wrote to the Commission to send them two 
 teachers, to assist in the work of instruction and distribution at Vicks 
 burg. Miss A. M. Knight, of Sun Prairie, Wis., and Miss Sarah J. 
 Hagar, of this city, were commissioned, and their services have been 
 very acceptable and useful. In February, Mrs. Lydia H. Daggett, of 
 Boston, a very excellent and capable person, was sent into the same 
 field, to act under the direction of Mr. Marsh. 
 
 Within a few days, the friends of Miss Hagar have been pained to 
 
122 
 
 receive the news of her unexpected death, at Vicksburg, from a sudden 
 attack of disease. She was a devoted, and estimable young woman. 
 It is due to her memory, that the following letter, from Mr. Marsh, 
 should have a place here, since she died in the service of the Commis 
 sion, and in so good a cause. 
 
 "NATCHEZ, May 6, 1864. 
 " REV. J. G. FORMAN, 
 
 "Sec ry Western Sanitary Commission: 
 "My DEAR SIR You have already received from Mr. Mann, the sad 
 
 
 
 intelligence of the death of Miss Hagar, one of the teachers sent by 
 you, to labor among the freed people in this valley. 
 
 "I was at Natchez when she was taken ill, and did not receive 
 intelligence of it in time to reach Vicksburg, until after her death; 
 which occurred on Tuesday, May 3d. 
 
 "In her death, the Association have lost a most earnest, devoted 
 and Christian laborer. She entered upon her duties at a time of great 
 suffering and destitution, among the freedmen, at Yicksburg, and when 
 we were much in need of aid. The fidelity with which she performed 
 her labors, and the deep interest she manifested in them, soon endeared 
 her to us all. "We shall miss her sorely; but the noble example she 
 has left us, will encourage us to greater elforts and more patient toil. 
 She seemed to realize the magnitude and importance of the work upon 
 which she had entered, and the need of Divine assistance, in its per 
 formance. She seemed also to realize what sacrifice might be demand 
 ed of one engaged in a work like this, and the summons, although sud 
 den, did not find her unprepared to meet it. She has done a noble 
 work, and done it well. The sacrifice she made, is the greatest one 
 that can be made for any cause, the sacrifice of life. i Greater love 
 than this, hath no man ; that a man lay down his life for his friends. 
 She has gone to receive her reward. 
 
 "The family thus suddenly bereaved, and plunged in affliction, by 
 this sad occurrence, has our sympathies and prayers. When they meet 
 
123 
 
 to perforfn the last sad rites due to the dead, may they not look in the 
 close, narrow, burial-case for their loved one, but rather raise their eyes 
 to behold a spirit, freed from earthly fetters, clothed in spotless robes, 
 and wearing the crown bestowed only upon those who prove faithful 
 
 to the end. Respectfully, 
 
 " W. L. MARSH." 
 
 Besides the labors of Messrs. Marsh and Foster at Vicksburg, the 
 regular agent of the Commission, Mr. X. M. Mann, has taken a deep 
 interest in the same work, and though much occupied in the superin 
 tendence of the Soldiers Home, and the care of the refugees, he has 
 found time to lend a helping hand. An interesting letter was received 
 from him, dated the 7th of March, in which he gives a full account of 
 the arrival of the four thousand five hundred freedmen, who returned 
 with Gen ? l Sherman s Army, from Meridian, and of his distributions of 
 food and clothing among them. " Anticipating a need," he says, "I 
 had drawn heavily on the Commissary for bread and had a large amount 
 on hand. I had the ambulance of the Western Sanitary Commission 
 loaded with this bread, and taking along half a dozen kind-hearted 
 soldiers, we went the whole length of this wagon train and gave to each 
 family a loaf or two. It was but a little thing to do, but the eagerness 
 with which they took and ate it told how grateful it was to them. I 
 assure you I never was more happy than that night, amid all that 
 wretchedness, giving bread to those hungry creatures. That night they 
 lay on the levee, in their wagons, and on the ground. Many who came 
 from plantations this side of Jackson were without conveyances, having 
 walked in, bearing their " effects" on their heads. The next morning 
 they were sent on Steamboats to camps at Davis Bend, and Oswego 
 Landing, and in company with Mrs. Harvey, of Wisconsin, and Miss 
 Dart, a teacher from New England, I went to Oswego with a quantity 
 of old clothing, furnished by the National Freedmeirs Relief Associa 
 tion, of New York, for distribution. To all the most destitute, or rather 
 the most torn and naked, for all are destitute, we gave some of the 
 
124 
 
 more necessary articles of clothing-. 1 only wish that the donors of 
 those articles could have witnessed the distribution. I do not know 
 where on the face of the globe, out of the Southern Confederacy, a 
 thousand people could be got tog-ether that would present to charity so 
 strong an appeal as these. I wish I could send to every Northern home 
 of plenty, a photograph of these bare-footed, ragged, half-naked 
 creatures, as they appeared to me that day. They had been fed, and 
 although their destitute, filthy, tattered and homeless condition was 
 enough to draw tears from a heart of stone, many were cheerful and 
 gave evidence that, with a very little comfort, they would be happy. 
 The endurance of the negro has always been a marvel. It was never 
 so much so as now. It is his difference from the white man, in this 
 respect, that is to save him, if he is saved, in this great trial." 
 
 The Union refugees have also received a share in the labors of the 
 Western Sanitary Commission. During the fall and winter of 1861-2 
 many refugees were driven, by the rebels, from the interior and south 
 west parts of Missouri to St. Louis, and were in a condition of want and 
 suffering. A home, on Elm street, was opened for the most helpless 
 and destitute, and others were assisted, according to their necessities. 
 Mr. John Caveuder, an old and respectable citizen, eminent for his 
 integrity and Christian character, devoted his whole time to their care. 
 A fund was raised at first, by a call of the Western Sanitary Commis 
 sion, amounting to about $3,800, besides a large amount of clothing. 
 A further sum of $15,000 was raised by an order of Maj. Gen. Halleck, by 
 assessing the wealthy class of secessionists, in St. Louis, for this object, 
 and from this resource Mr. Cavender was able to render very important 
 aid to these persecuted and destitute people. For two years he took 
 almost the entire charge of this work, in which he had the counsel ot 
 the members of the Commission, and was sometimes aided with 
 funds for the purpose, when other sources failed. During the winter 
 of 1863, Mr. Cavender, whose health had been failing, was taken sick 
 and died, and there was but little demand from that time, till the next 
 
125 
 
 September, for any further aid to the refugees. In this charitable 
 service no one could have been more faithful and constant than Mr. 
 Cavender had been; and in other relations and duties, during- an 
 honorable and well spent life, he had been distinguished as the upright 
 citizen, and patron of Christian learning 1 and philanthropy, and his 
 death was greatly lamented. 
 
 In August, 63, there began to be further arrivals of destitute refugees 
 from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. 
 Many of them were women, with small children, poorly clad, often 
 barefooted, brought up the river on Government steamers, and landed 
 here, without the means of procuring a place of shelter for a single 
 night. Their husbands had been killed in the war, had been murdered 
 by guerrillas, had been conscripted into the rebel army, or had died 
 from the effects of exposure in lying out in the woods, in dens and 
 caves of the earth, to escape the blood-hounds of the rebel conscription. 
 At first these poor refugee families fell into the hands of the police 
 but the police station was not a fit place for them, although some of 
 them found shelter there. 
 
 One day, late in August, the President of the Commission was called 
 to see what could be done for a poor blind woman, and her family of 
 six children, who had walked all the way from Arkansas to Holla, Mo., 
 her little children leading her several hundred miles by the hand, and 
 from Rolla they had been brought on the cars to St. Louis, as a charity. 
 They were in an upper unfurnished room of the Pacific hotel, the 
 woman, and a boy about twelve years old, being sick, and she totally 
 blind. They sat upon the floor, clothed in rags, and presented a sight 
 that would have moved the stoutest heart to pity and to tears. 
 
 The children of this woman, whose name was Mrs. Hargrave, were 
 adopted by Rev. Dr. Eliot, and placed in the Mission school on Eighth 
 street, and the mother was sent to the St. Louis hospital, kept by the 
 Sisters of Charity. Her youngest children she had never seen, they 
 having been born since she became blind. The parting of the blind 
 
126 
 
 mother from her little ones was a touching- scene. But she gave them 
 up willingly, knowing it to be a necessity, and for their good. At the 
 Sisters hospital, her health, after several months, was restored, and, 
 by a surgical operation of Dr. Pope, the cataracts were removed from 
 her eyes, and she was able to see. Her children were then brought to 
 her, and the meeting can be better imagined than described. 
 
 A little later, another refugee mother came, and, with two little 
 children, stood at the door of the Commission, on Fifth street, having 
 no place to go. They were barefooted, dusty with travel, and mise 
 rably clad. The mother told her sad story. 
 
 Her husband had been murdered by guerrillas, near Fort Smith, 
 Ark., and she had walked, with her children, to Holla, riding part of 
 the way in Government wagons, and had reached St. Louis, as a place 
 of refuge. She had to stay at the police station that night. The next 
 day, three women and children arrived from Jackson, Tenn., in an 
 equally destitute condition. There was no alternative but to open 
 another refugee home. The President of the Commission rented the 
 house, 39 Walnut street, for the purpose, on the 1st of September, and 
 from that date to the present, not less than fifteen hundred refugees 
 have been sheltered, provided for, or sent on their way to friends, or 
 places of employment, in the free States. By an arrangement with 
 Generals Schofield and Rosecrans, rations and fuel are allowed from 
 the Government, and the rent is paid by the Quartermaster; but the 
 incidental expenses of the home, and the charities in clothing, money, 
 &c., are provided by the Commission. It is under the superintendence 
 of Rev. Mr. Forman, the Secretary of the Commission, and its domestic 
 arrangements are conducted by Miss M. Elliott, as Matron, who, in a 
 spirit of true self-sacrifice, devotes her time and strength to the service 
 of these poor outcasts from the rebellion. The expenses and charities 
 of the Home, and for destitute refugee families in the city, and to those 
 going beyond St. Louis, have been about $1,000 in six months, beyond 
 the aid received from the Government in rations, fuel, rent, and trans- 
 
127 
 
 portation. Several valuable boxes of clothing have been received from 
 New England; also contributions of money from Boston, from the 
 Ladi es Loyal League, of St. Louis, and from various other sources. 
 The receipts for this charity and for the Freedmen, and the disburse 
 ments are kept separate from the other funds and resources of the 
 Commission, so that there is no misappropriation of what is designed 
 for the soldiers to these objects. Contributors are always requested 
 to designate the object of their charities, and if no designation is 
 made, they go into the sanitary fund. 
 
 The number of refugees at Pilot Knob, at the present time, is over 
 1700 persons, mostly women and children. They are chiclly from 
 Arkansas, and are under the superintendence of a faithful and excellent 
 man, Chaplain A. Wright, who has been specially assigned to that duty. 
 Contributions to the value of several thousand dollars in goods, 
 clothing, shoes, medicines for the sick, hardware and sash to assist 
 in building cheap houses, and over $1000 in money have been sent 
 to Mr. Wright, and expended in a judicious manner. At a time of 
 special distress the Commission sent him fifteen barrels of clothing ? 
 eighty dollars in material for clothing, (purchased by Mrs. Genera} 
 Fisk ) twenty dollars in money, sixty dollars in medicines, thirty dollars 
 worth of glazed sash, half a dozen axes for women, who cut their own 
 wood ; and of the other contributions a large portion was collected by 
 Mrs. Fisk, who made visits to Pilot Knob, and was most energetic and 
 successful in her endeavors to relieve and benefit these poor people. 
 Brig. Gen. Fisk, also, while commanding the District, did every thing 
 in his power to minister to their wants. 
 
 The Western Commission also responded to an appeal from Mr. J. R. 
 Brown, agent U. S. Sanitary Commission at Leavenworth City, for aid 
 to refugees at that post, and at Fort Scott, Kansas, and sent thirty 
 boxes of clothing to those points, and a thousand Union Spellers for 
 schools of the freed children at Leavenworth. 
 
 At Rolla, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Columbus, Memphis, 
 
1-28 
 
 Helena, and Vicksburg, there are multitudes of these poor refugees, 
 numbered by thousands, who have come to us from rebel persecution 
 and outrage., or have been driven, by the ravages of war, and the 
 destitution of food and clothing, to seek a refuge within our lines. 
 Humanity requires that they should be aided, at least to the extent 
 of saving life, and to "enable them to reach places, where employment 
 and subsistance can be found. 
 
 Recently a necessity has arisen for a Refugee Home at Vicksburg, 
 and the Commission has established one there, under the superinten 
 dence of Mr. Mann, with Mrs. Maria Brooks for matron. It was 
 opened on the 1st of April, and has already received and aided 2,160 
 of these poor people. On the 7th of May, there Avere 620 remaining, 
 mostly women and children. Transportation had been furnished to 
 those wishing to emigrate North, and employment for the able-bodied 
 men. 
 
 The large number of destitute white children, belonging to these 
 tamilics, having no means of instruction, has induced the Commission 
 to send a teacher, Miss G. C. Chapman, to Vicksburg, to open a school 
 for them, in connection with the Home, also under Mr. Mann s super 
 intendence. This lady is now on her way, with a supply of school 
 books for this purpose. 
 
 In all these enterprises of benevolence, Mr. Mann, as the agent 
 of the Commission, has had the sanction, advice and co-operation of 
 General McArthur, commanding at Vicksburg, who has assigned to 
 the Commission suitable buildings for the purpose, and shown his 
 great friendliness in this and many other ways. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RESOURCES OF THE WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION APPROPRIATIONS BY THE 
 GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE OF MISSOURI LIBERALITY OF ST. LOUIS-DONATIONS 
 FROM MASSACHUSETTS AND CALIFORNIA GIFTS OF THE PEOPLE CONTRIBUTIONS 
 FROM THE WOMEN OF THE LOYAL STATES DISTRIBUTIONS BY THE COMMISSION 
 NUMBER OF ARTICLES GIVEN ESTIMATED VALUE, ONE AND A HALF MILLIONS or 
 DOLLARS EXPENSES OF THE COMMISSION FOR SALARIES OF AGENTS, RENTS, AND 
 DISTRIBUTION OF STORES LESS THAN ONE PER CENT. FRIENDSHIP OF MAJOR 
 GENERALS FREMONT, HAI.LECK, CURTIS, SCHOFIELD, ROSECRANS, SHERMAN, AND 
 LIEUT. GEN. GRANT FOR THE COMMISSION ALSO, OF ASSISTANT SURGEON GENERAL 
 WOOD, GEN. ALLEN, COLONELS PARSONS, MYERS, HAINES, AND MAJ. SMITH LADIES 
 UNION AID SOCIETY OF ST. Louis ITS WORK RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS 
 FREEDMEN S RELIEF SOCIETY OF ST. Louis ITS WOHK RECEIPTS AND DISBURSE 
 MENTS MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR CONCLUSION. 
 
 The resources of the Western Sanitary Commission have consisted of 
 the voluntary contributions of the people of the loyal States. Noble 
 men and women in the leading towns and citizens of New England, in. 
 the great Northwest, and in a few of the great cities of the seaboard 
 Boston, Providence, New York, and Philadelphia have for nearly 
 three years given liberally of their means and influence to strengthen 
 this Commission, and help it to do the work which Providence has 
 given it to do. 
 
 But, beside all these, the city and comity of St. Louis, and the 
 Legislature of Missouri, have acted with a generosity and patriotism 
 worthy of all honor. In addition to the liberal contributions of the 
 citizens, during the first year of the labors of the Commission, the late 
 Gov. Gamble, from an appropriation by the Convention of Missouri, 
 for the benefit of Missouri troops, placed $50,000 in the treasury of the 
 Commission, to be used for sick and wounded soldiers of the State of 
 Missouri. This sum was used, not by singling out that class of soldiers 
 for special care, but caring for all United States soldiers alike, an ac- 
 i 
 
130 
 
 count was kept of the extent to which Missouri troops shared in these 
 benefits, and the amount, being far beyond the appropriation, the State 
 authorities were abundantly satisfied and pleased with the use made 
 of these funds. 
 
 Again, in the winter of 1864, the Legislature of Missouri made an 
 other appropriation of $25,000 to the Commission, to be used in the 
 same way, and the county court of the county of St. Louis made a 
 donation of $2,000. Besides these gifts, there was raised, at the Mer 
 chants Exchange, St. Louis, a liberal subscription of money and goods 
 to the Commission, for the army of Gen. Grant, during the siege of 
 Vicksburg, amounting in value to about $5,000, and December 25th, 
 1863, a committee of the merchants, of which Mr. Joseph C. Cabot was 
 chairman, raised another subscription of $25,000 additional, for the 
 general purposes of the Commission. 
 
 Besides a constant now of contributions from Boston and neighbor 
 ing towns and cities of Massachusetts, that city at one time, through 
 a committee, of which R. C. Greenleaf was treasurer, in response to 
 an appeal from Kev. Dr. Eliot, on behalf of the Commission, contribut 
 ed $50,000 ; and the distant State of California, stimulated by the 
 eloquence and patriotism of the lamented Thomas Starr King, sub 
 scribed $50,000, being part of a donation of $200,000, the balance of 
 which went to the United States Sanitary Commission. These contri 
 butions of money, with the gifts of friends in New York city, through 
 that noble and patriotic citizen, James A. Roosevelt, and from other 
 towns and cities of the loyal States, have amounted in the aggregate, 
 to $275,000 in money ; while the stores contributed from the same 
 sources, and from the Ladies L T nion Aid Societies, of almost every 
 village and city from Maine to Minnesota, and from Boston to St. Louis, 
 consisting of blankets, comforts, sheets, pillows, pillow-slips, socks, 
 slippers, mittens, bandages, lint, salves, cotton and woolen shirts and 
 drawers, hospital garments, dressing gowns, dried and canned fruits, 
 tomatoes, jellies, domestic wines, blackberry cordials, butter, vegeta- 
 
131 
 
 blcs, pickles, books, reading matter, and thousands of other useful 
 articles, have amounted in value to more than a million and a quarter 
 of dollars. 
 
 Out of these contributions, the Commission has issued to the western 
 armies; 985,984 articles ; 28,838 to the western navy ; 80,505 to freedmen, 
 and 5,848 to Union refugees, making an aggregate of 1,101,174 articles. 
 
 In addition to these, many thousands of articles were given out 
 during the first three months of the labors of the Commission, that no 
 account was made of; and we have reason to believe, that many 
 thousand more have escaped entry ; it is so difficult, in the hurry 
 occasioned by a great battle, or a pressing emergency, to keep an ac 
 curate record. During the months of June, 1863, and February, 64, 
 the distributions of the Commission reached 184,333 articles. These, 
 it is true, were busy months, but not more so than those which suc 
 ceeded the battles of Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, and Pittsburgh Land 
 ing. During the first nine months of the labors of the Commission, its 
 records show a distribution of over 250.000 articles, so that we are 
 quite confident of a large under estimate in the statistics here given, 
 but they accord with the books, and we are not willing to make any 
 exaggerations. The expenses of the Commission, during the whole 
 period of its labors, for the salaries of agents, employees, rents, etc., is 
 less than one per cent, of the whole amount distributed. The services 
 of the members of the Commission, which includes the President and 
 Treasurer, are gratuitous. 
 
 Through all this immense labor, from September 5th, 1861, to the 
 present date, the Commission has enjoyed the friendly confidence and 
 co-operation of every commander of the Department; and to Major 
 Generals Fremont, Halleck, Curtis, Schofield, and Rosecrans, to the 
 Secretary of "War, and to Lieut. Gen l Grant, and Maj. Gen l Sherman 
 in the field, it is much indebted for their support, and the facilities 
 it has enjoyed in the transportation of supplies, in letters of commen 
 dation, in access to the armies, in the respect paid to it by surgeons 
 
132 
 
 and subordinate officers, and in varied opportunities of usefulness. To 
 Assistant Surgeon General R. C. Wood, Gen. Robert Allen, Colonels 
 L. B. Parsons, and William M. Myers, of the Quartermaster s Depart 
 ment; to Col. Haiues and Capt. King of the Commissary Department, 
 and to Maj. Robert Smith, of the Pay Department, the Commission is 
 indebted for many favors, and for obliging and gentlemanly treat 
 ment on all occasions. 
 
 The names of contributors to the funds and stores of the Commission, 
 it would be a pleasure to record here, yet their number is so great, 
 and the space allotted to this work already so nearly filled, that the 
 writer is not able to do them this honor ; but their names are registered, 
 in the Lamb s Book of Life, recorded by the angels in Heaven, and they 
 shall all be known and recognized in the resurrection of the just. 
 
 Before concluding this work, it remains to give a brief account of two 
 co-operative associations in St. Louis : the Ladies Union Aid Society, 
 and the Freedmeir s Relief Society, and to notice the Mississippi Valley 
 Sanitary Fair, now in successful operation, while these concluding 
 pages are being written an euterprize inaugurated for the benefit of 
 the cause in which the Western Sanitary Commission, and these kindred 
 associations, are engaged. 
 
 The Ladies Union Aid Society of St. Louis was organized August 
 2d, 1861. Mrs. C. W. Stevens was the first President. Its officers at 
 present are, Mrs. Alfred Clapp, President, Mrs. Saml. C. Davis, Mrs. 
 T. M. Post, and Mrs. Robert Anderson, Vice-Presidents ; Mrs. S. B. 
 Kellogg, Treasurer; Miss II. A. Adams, Recording Secretary, and 
 Miss Belle Holmes, Corresponding Secretary. Miss A. S. Debenham 
 and Miss S. F. McCracken have also acted as Secretaries in the absence 
 of the regular Recording Secretary, for several months, at Nashville, 
 Tennessee. 
 
 The friendly connection and co-operation of this association with the 
 Western Sanitary Commission has already appeared in the course of 
 these pages, and want of space now precludes a full statement of its 
 
133 
 
 separate work, which has been already made public iu a valuable re 
 port of forty-eight pages for the year 1863. 
 
 The work of the society has consisted in hospital visiting, in aid to 
 soldiers families, in the distribution of religious reading, from the 
 Christian Commission, in volunteering as nurses after the great battles, 
 in making up hospital garments and rolling bandages, in receiving and 
 distributing sanitary stores, in preparing delicate food for the sick, at 
 its special diet kitchen at Beuton Barracks, where 19,382 dishes had 
 been prepared from May 20th to October 1st, 1863, and in assisting the 
 Western Sanitary Commission in its work. Of articles made, up to 
 October 1st, 1863, its report shows 37,676 sheets, 2,664 shirts, 1,765 
 pairs of drawers, 2,568 bed sacks, 79,324 pillow cases, 3,558 towels, 
 amounting to 127,555 articles. In doing this work soldiers wives were 
 given employment, and $6,130.85 paid out for the purpose, the articles 
 being used by the Western Sanitary Commission, and the Medical Pur 
 veyor. The receipts of the Society, in money alone, up to Sept. 25th, 
 1863, had been $31,137.42, and its disbursements $28,987.85. Its re 
 ceipts in sanitary stores have been very great, coming largely from the 
 noble women of St. Louis, and its distributions of the same class of 
 articles issued by the Western Sanitary Commission, to Oct. 1st, 1863, 
 were 225,134 articles. 
 
 The Freedmen s Relief Society of St. Louis is a local organization 
 of ladies, who have rendered most useful service and aid in behalf of 
 the poor frecdmen, and their families at St. Louis, and in sending con 
 tributions to Memphis, Helena, and other points on the lower Missis 
 sippi. Their co-operation with the Western Sanitary Commission has 
 been very efficient, and thousands of poor " contrabands," at Benton 
 Barracks, and elsewhere, have had occasion to bless them. 
 
 The officers of this association are Mrs. Washington King, President, 
 Mrs. Lucien Eaton, Vice President, Mrs. C. C. Bailey, Treasurer, Mrs. 
 Wm. T. Hazard, Corresponding Secretary, and Mrs. Enos Clarke, 
 Recording Secretary. Its Board of Managers are Mrs. H. A. Nelson, Mrs. 
 
134 
 
 H. Kennedy, Mrs. O. H. Platte, Mrs. N. Chapman, Mrs. Wm. McKee, 
 Mrs. J. H. Parker, Mrs. Dr. McMurray, Mrs. John McLean, Mrs. Tru 
 man Woodruff, Mrs. L. Brawner, Mrs. W. D. Butler, and Miss A. L. 
 Forbes. The following gentlemen are also an advisory committee: 
 Rev. II. A. Nelson, D.D., Rev. Henry Cox, Lucieu Eaton, Esq., and 
 Henry Hitchcock, Esq. 
 
 During the summer of 1863, several thousands of freedmen were 
 brought from Helena and elsewhere, to St. Louis, and quartered in the 
 old Missouri Hotel ; a hospital was opened for the sick, on Sixth street, 
 and the society had its hands full in assisting to clothe them, and min 
 ister to their necessities. Many of these people were afterwards for 
 warded to Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois, as hired laborers. But a large 
 work still remained for the freedmen s families at Benton Barracks, 
 where there are many rejected recruits, and families of colored soldiers, 
 to be assisted and provided for. A school for colored children is now 
 taught at that place, by Miss Knight, a lady employed by the ATestern 
 Sanitary Commission, books are furnished, and a similar work of 
 instruction is carried on for the colored soldiers while they remain. 
 
 The receipts of this society, for the year 1863, were, in money, 
 $4,863.20, and its expenditures $3,800.36, and its receipts and dis 
 bursements in goods, clothing, etc., a large, but unestiinated amount. 
 The articles of clothing distributed were 4,356, besides large quantities 
 of linseys, osnaburgs, and blue checks, to be made into garments. Five 
 hundred dollars were also appropriated towards a church and school 
 house, at Island No. 10, and 93 boxes of clothing, were sent to Colum 
 bus, Memphis, Helena, Bolivar, Pittsburg Landing, and Benton 
 Barracks. 
 
 As the last pages of this work are passing through the press, a noble 
 enterprize is in progress, in this city, for replenishing the funds of the 
 Western Sanitary Commission, and of these kindred and co-operative 
 associations, that they may be enabled to go on with their noble and 
 philanthropic labors, during the continuance of the war. The great 
 
135 
 
 fairs that had been held in the large cities of the East, and in Chicago 
 and Cincinnati, in aid of the United States Sanitary Commission, gave 
 nothing to the funds of the Western Commission. Illinois, Indiana, 
 and Ohio, neighboring States, have poured their great and generous 
 contributions chiefly through that channel; and their own regiments, 
 as this history will show, have been the constant care of the "Western 
 Sanitary Commission, both in the field and in its Soldier s Homes. 
 With large and increasing demands upon its treasury and supplies, 
 its resources had begun to fail. The example of other cities sug 
 gested the idea of a Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair at St. Louis, 
 and the enterprise was commenced in the latter part of the month 
 of January, by a large preliminary meeting, at Mercantile Library 
 Hall, presided over by the Mayor of the city, Hon. Chauncey 
 I. Filley ; at which an organization was effected for this purpose. 
 Speeches were made by the Mayor, by Eev William G. Eliot, D. D., 
 by Brig. Gen l C. B. Fisk, by Major Gen l W. S. Rosecrans, by Maj. 
 McKee Dunn, and Professor Amasa McCoy. A letter was read from 
 Lieut. Gen l Grant, in which he expressed the heartiest sympathy in 
 the undertaking, and bore testimony to the many tons (amounting to 
 thousands,) of sanitary stores furnished to his army by the Western 
 Sanitary Commission. The following officers and committees were then 
 elected, to inaugurate and conduct this great enterprise. 
 
 Maj. Gen l W. S. Rosecrans, President; Gov. Willard P. Hall, 1st 
 Vice President ; Mayor C. I. Filley, 2d Vice President; Brig. Gen. 
 C. B. Fisk, 3d Vice President; Brig. Gen. J. W. Davidson, 4th Vice 
 President ; Mayor Jas. S. Thomas, 5th Vice President ; Sam l Copp, jr., 
 Treasurer ; Maj. Alfred Mackay, Cor. Secretary. 
 
 STANDING COMMITTEE. James E. Yeatman, Wm. G. Eliot, George 
 Partridge, Carlos S. Greeley, John B. Johnson, members of the West 
 ern Sanitary Commission. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF GENTLEMEN. James E. Yeatman, Chair 
 man, J. H. Lightner, E. W. Fox, Sam l Copp, jr., Geo. D. Hall, S. R. 
 
136 
 
 Filley, Charles B. Hubbell, Jr., James Blackmail, Win. D Oench, Wm. 
 Patrick, J. O. Pierce, Gustavus W. Dreyer, II. A. Homeyer, B. R. 
 Bonner, Adolphus Meier, Chas. Speck, Wm. Mitchell, Wm. Adriance, 
 George E. Leighton, M. L. Linton, Wm. H. Beiiton, Dwight Durkec, 
 Amadee Yalle, Wyllys King, George P. Plant, Morris Collins, J. C. 
 Cabot, N. C. Chapman, John D. Perry, S. H. Laflin, Jas. Ward. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF LADIES. Mrs. C. I. Filley, President; 
 Miss Anna M. Debenham, Recording Secretary ; Mr. Gen l V. P. Van 
 Antwerp, Corresponding Secretary; Miss Phoebe W. Conzins, Corres 
 ponding Secretary; Mrs. Samuel Copp, Jr., Treasurer; Mrs. Robert 
 Anderson, Mrs. George Partridge, Mrs. J. E. D. Couzins, Mrs. E. M. 
 Weber, Mrs. Truman Woodruff, Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, Mrs. F. A. Dick, 
 Mrs. Alfred Clapp, Mrs. Dr. E. Hale. Mrs. A. S. W. Goodwin, Mrs. 
 H. T. Blow, Mrs. Amelia Reihl, Mrs. N. C. Chapman, Mrs. Washing 
 ton King, Mrs. S. A. Ranlett, Mrs. T. B. Edgar, Mrs. C. S. Greeley, 
 Mrs. W. T. Hazard, Mrs. Charles D. Drake, Mrs. Wm. McKee, Mrs. 
 Samuel C. Davis, Mrs. McKee Dunn, Mrs. R. H. Morton, Mrs. Dr. 
 O Reilly, Mrs. S. B. Kellogg, Mrs. S. A. Collier, Mrs. W. A. Doan, 
 Mrs. Dr. Hseussler, Mrs. Adolphus Abeles, Mrs. F. P. Blair, Mrs. 
 Elizabeth W. Clarke, Mrs. II. Dreyer, Mrs. John Wolff, Mrs. Ulrich 
 Busch, Mrs. John J. Hoppe, Mrs. Charles Eggers, Mrs. Wm. D Oench, 
 Mrs. Dr. Hill, Mrs Adolphus Meier, Mrs. John C. Vogel, Mrs. R. 
 Barth, Mrs. H. C. Gernpp, Mrs. O. D. Filley, Mrs. Henry Stagg, 
 Mrs. E. W. Fox. 
 
 Various subordinate committees were afterwards appointed, repre 
 senting all the trades and branches of business in St. Louis, and a 
 committee was appointed to conduct a department in the Fair for the 
 benefit of freedmen and Union refugees, so that contributions might 
 be made for this charity, by itself, and kept separate from the general 
 sanitary work of the army. 
 
 Appeals were immediately sent out to the people of the Mississippi 
 valley, and to the whole country ; the newspaper press of St. Louis 
 
137 
 
 lent their columns, with great generosity, to the promotion of the 
 enterprise, and published largely in its interests ; and friendly papers 
 abroad have given it all the publicity that could be desired. 
 
 The merchants and private citizens, the noble men and women of St. 
 Louis, have taken hold of the enterprise with a generous zeal, and 
 determined to make it a decided success. Friends in Boston, New 
 York, New Bedford, New Haven, have made handsome donations, 
 and some of them have sent representatives to aid in the work. While 
 these labors were being performed, a splendid building was erected on 
 Twelfth Street, from Olive St. to St. Charles St., 500 feet long and 114 
 feet wide, with wings on Locust street, 100 feet each in length, beyond 
 the main building, and 54 feet wide, with an octagon centre 75 feet in 
 diameter, and 50 feet high. A stercoscopticon has also been built at one 
 side ; and the whole has been arranged, decorated, divided into apart 
 ments, and filled with contributions from art and nature, of the most 
 valuable kinds. From the mineral and agricultural, and manufactur 
 ing resources of Missouri and the great west, from lakes and oceans, 
 and rivers, from battle fields and farms and workshops, and stores of 
 merchandize, gifts have come that make one of the most beautiful and 
 valuable collections that has ever been gathered on this continent. 
 
 Besides these contributions in goods, at the opening of the Fair, on 
 the 17th of May, $200,000 in money had already been given towards the 
 object, of which much the largest portion comes from the citizens of 
 St. Louis, a city that has probably suffered more from the war than any 
 of the loyal cities of the Union. 
 
 For three days the Fair has been in successful progress, and before it 
 closes, this sketch of the labors and history of the Western Sanitary Com 
 mission will be added to its contributions, and explain more fully the 
 great work for which it has been held, and to which its results will be 
 sacredly appropriated. Written under a pressure of other duties, and 
 without opportunity of revision, its chapters going to press as fast as 
 they can be given to the printers, it must needs contain some imper- 
 
138 
 
 fections and errors, and some omissions will doubtless have occurred ; 
 but a frequent demand has been made for such a work, and it is hoped 
 that it will be of some service to the great cause we have at heart, and 
 give to the world a better appreciation of the labors and sacrifices that 
 are necessary to sustain our heroes in the great conflict in which we are 
 engaged a conflict of the free States of the Republic with the slave- 
 power of the South, which has undertaken to divide our country, build 
 itself up on the ruins of a beneficent Government, and perpetuate, 
 through coming ages, the crime of holding millions of the human race 
 in bondage. In this contest, in which the Providence of a just God 
 is clearly seen, vindicating itself, let it be our part to be found on 
 the side of humanity, of Christian civilization, of liberty and law; and 
 may God save the right! 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Accountability of agents , 104 
 
 Alexander, C. T., Surg. U. S. A 66 
 
 Allen, A. L., M. D 66 
 
 Allen Gen . Robert 132 
 
 Appeal of Western Sanitary Commission, 57, 58 Response. . . 59, 114 
 
 Army of the Frontier, 60 Agents and stores sent to 60 
 
 Army of the South-West, 28 its arrival at Helena, 55 its toilsome march, 55 its pri 
 vations and bravery , 55 sickness at Helena 55 
 
 Arkansas Post, battle or, 66, 69 
 
 Arnot s buil ling converted into a hospital 45 
 
 Atkinson , Edward 114 
 
 Azpell, T.F., Surg. U. S. V 27, 44, 45 
 
 Battles, of Booneville, Dug Spring, Carthage and Wilson s Creek, 5 of Lexington 9 
 of Pea Ridge, 15, 27 of Fort Donelson, 23 Naval fight at Memphis, 53 of Cross 
 
 Hollows, 60 of Cane Hill, 60 of Prairie Grove, 61 
 
 Banks , Gen . , his army supplied 99 
 
 Bailley , Dr 5 
 
 Barker, Mrs 96 
 
 Barnard , James M 59, 114 
 
 Benton Barracks 13, 14 
 
 Benton Barracks Hospital, 10, 73 number ol patients, 73 per centage of deaths 73 
 
 Bixby, Geo. H., Ass t Surg. U. S. N 54 
 
 Blunt, Gen 60 
 
 Bloomtield, Mo 91 
 
 Boston, Mass., its liberality 59 
 
 Bottomley, L. H.,M. D 66 
 
 Bradley, W. H..M. D 66 
 
 Bradley, Rev. W. H 95 
 
 Breckenridge, Miss 69 
 
 Breed, B. B., Surg. U. S. V 87 
 
 Brooks, Mrs. Maria ]2 
 
 Cabot, Joseph C . . . , 130 
 
 California, liberal donation 130 
 
 Calloway, L. H., M. D % 64 
 
 Cane Hill , battle of 60 
 
 Cape Girardtr ati 92 
 
 Carthage , battle of. 5 
 
 Casselberry, Surg., U. S. V 92 
 
 Cavender, John, 124, his labors for refugees, death and character 124, 125 
 
 1 Champion, Steamer sent with Sanitary goods to Vicksburg 77 
 
 Chapman, Miss G. C., teacher for refugees at Vicksburg 128 
 
 Chattanooi-a, stores sent to, 99 agent there 99 
 
 Christmas at Soldiers Home 37 
 
 Christian Commission, U. S 83, 96 
 
 " City of Alton," hospital boat 75, 106 
 
 1 City of Louisiana, hospital boat 25, 44, 45, 106 
 
140 
 
 "City of Memphis," hospital boat 46, iw 
 
 Clapp, Mrs. Alfred 69, 132, 13G 
 
 Clark, Mrs. Wm 69 
 
 Clark, Albert 09 
 
 Clarendon , Ark 92 
 
 Columbus, Ky . , Soldiers Home at 83 
 
 Collins, H. E 99 
 
 Colt, Mrs. Henrietta L 69 
 
 Colored troops, 74 sick of at Benton Barracks 74 
 
 Conclusion 138 
 
 Contributions, from what States, Cities, and Towns, 10, 11, 12, 46, 59, 114 from Boston, 
 
 114, from other sources 127, 129 
 
 Copeland , Gen 90 
 
 Cotton on leased plantations, 119 taxed, 119 raised by tVeedmen for themselves 120 
 
 Couzins, Mrs. J. E. D 69 
 
 Crawshaw, Mrs. J 69 
 
 Crescent City , hospital boat 44, 45, 106 
 
 Cross Hollows , battle of ; 60 
 
 Cullum, Geo. \V., Brig. Gen 15 
 
 Curtis, S. R., Maj. Gen., 15, 34, 113, 131 letter of 34 
 
 Daggett , Mrs . Lydia II 121 
 
 Dart, Miss 123 
 
 Davidson, J. W. Brig. Gen 91 
 
 Davis, C. H. Commodore, his Letter to the Commission 56 
 
 De Camp, Medical Director 5, 16 
 
 Deodorizing coffin 51 
 
 Derby, Stirg. U. S. A 55 
 
 Diseases at Benton Barracks, winter of -61-2 13 
 
 Distributions of Sanitary Stores, 15, 47, 77 to Grant s army, 78, 94, 97 to Banks 
 Army, 99-at Memphis, 75 -what Hospitals supplied, 104, 105 -what Regiments sup 
 plied, 105, 106 what Hospital Steamers supplied, 106 what Gunboats supplied, 106 
 
 to Freedmen , 121 to Refugees , 127 -whole number of articles 131 
 
 Dix, MissD. L., Sup t of Female Nurses in the U. S. Hospitals 7, 20 
 
 Drummer Boy, 81- death of. 81 
 
 D u vail s Bluff . 92 
 
 Educational Commission for Freedmen, Boston, 114 Contributions from 114 
 
 Eliot, W. G., D. D., 8, 113, 130- Letter of, 94 orphans adopted by 125 
 
 Eliot Hospital, St. Louis 10 
 
 Elliott, Miss Melcenia 126 
 
 1 Empress, Hospital boat 44, 45 
 
 Endicott, Wm . , Jr 114 
 
 Farrar, Col 118 
 
 Fifth Street Hospital, St. Louis 8, 9 
 
 Fish, Rev. J. F., Post Chaplain 66 
 
 Fithian, Dr., agent U. S. Sanitary Commission 93 
 
 Fisher, Rev. H. D 114 
 
 Fisk, Mrs C. B., 127 her labors for refugees 127 
 
 Fisk, C. B., Brig. Gen 127 
 
 Floating Hospitals , origi n of 25 
 
 Flying Hospitals 62, 63 
 
 Forman, Rev. J. G., Secretary 16, 112, 126 
 
 Fort Donelson, battle of, 23, 131 wounded brought to St. Louis 24 
 
 Fort Blunt, 94 Sanitary Stores sent to 94 
 
 Foster, R. K., Supt 84 
 
 Foster, H . R 121 
 
 Franklin, E. C 27 
 
 Fremont, John C., Maj. Gen 7, 10, 13, 131 
 
141 
 
 Fremont, Mrs 
 
 Fremont Relief Society 18 
 
 Freedmen of the Mississippi, 110 sufferings of, 110 relief sent to Helena, 112 labors 
 of Miss Maria R. Mann at Helena, 112, 113 visit of Mr. Yeatman to, 114 letter of 
 the Commission to the President concerning them, 114 Chaplain Fisher s visit to 
 New England on account -of, 114-arrival of at Vicksburg, 123 -distributions to, 
 123 Freedmen s Aid Committee formed at Boston, 114 Educational Commission, 
 114 contributions from, 1H other associations, 115 wages of Freedmen not 
 
 paid, wrongs by military authorities, 116, 117 Freedmens Home farms 119 
 
 Freedmen s Relief Society of St. Louis, 133-its officers, 133 its work 134 
 
 Friends 115 
 
 Fritz, Wm., M. D ^ 
 
 Gamble, late Governor 129 
 
 Gangrene Hospital, Memphis 75 
 
 Gayoso Hospital , Memphis 75 
 
 Gibbon, John 37 
 
 Glasgow, Hospital transport 75 
 
 Good Samaritan Hospital 10 
 
 Grant, U. S. Maj. Gen., 08, 131 his care of the health of his Army 72 
 
 Greeley, C. S 8 
 
 Qreenleaf, R . C 59, 130 
 
 Grove, J. H. Surg., U. S. V 23, 74 
 
 Guerrillas Destroy Sanitary Stores , 91 Murder 126 
 
 Guests at Soldiers Homes 35, 36, 82, 84, 85, 86 
 
 Gunboats, 53, 69 supplied with Stores, 106 - rebel Gunboats destroyed at Memphis 53 
 
 Hagar, Miss Sarah J. , Teacher to Freedmen, 121 death and character 122 
 
 Haines , Col . 132 
 
 Halleck, Maj. Gen 13, 131 
 
 Hamilton, Gen. T. C 80 
 
 Hammond, Dr. Wm. A., Surg. Gen., U. S. A., Letter to 49 
 
 Hardy , A Ipheus 114 
 
 Hargrave, Mrs. , blind refugee 125 
 
 Harrington , S . C . , Surg 94 
 
 Harvey, Mrs., of Wisconsin 81, 123 
 
 Helena, Ark., occupied, 55-sickness there, 55 churches converted into hospitals, 55 
 
 Soldiers Home at 84 
 
 Herron , Gen 61 
 
 Hodgen, JohnT., Surgeon U. S. V 9 
 
 Hoge, Mrs 69 
 
 Holly Springs, Miss 68 
 
 Hopkins, Surgeon U. S. X 54 
 
 Hospitals. ^ 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 27, 45, 56, 64, 65, 66, 75, 86, 87, 89 
 
 Hospital Cars 10 
 
 Hospital Steamers 25, 26, 44, 45, 46, 54, 75 
 
 Hughes, Charles H. , Surgeon U. S. V 103 
 
 Hunt, Win. Richardson, (rebel), 80 Mansion converted to a Soldier s Home 80, 81 
 
 Hunter, Maj. Gen 10 
 
 Hun tsville , Ala 96 
 
 Illustration , of erroneous complaints 101 
 
 Imperial , Hospital Boat 44 . 45 
 
 Incidents 11, 34, 37, 91, 101, 117, 118, 125, 126 
 
 Ironton 14 
 
 Jackson Hospital , Memphis 75 
 
 "January, D. A." Hospital Boat 44, 45 
 
 Jefi erson City, Mo 14 
 
 Jefferson Barrack 8 Hospital 64, 65 
 
142 
 
 Jefferson Hospital, Memphis 75 
 
 Johnson, J.B., M.D 8 
 
 Johnson , Miss Ida 33 
 
 King, Capt 132 
 
 King, Rev. T. S 130 
 
 King, Mrs . Washington 69 
 
 Knight, Miss A. M 121 
 
 Ladies Union Aid Society, St. Louis, 18, 23, 69, 70, 96 officers of, 132 its work 133 
 
 Ladies Union Aid Societies, 130 
 
 Ladies Loyal League 127 
 
 Lamb , Mrs . Thomas 59 
 
 Latham, II., M. 1) 66 
 
 Lawrence , A . A 114 
 
 Lawson Hospital 64, 66 
 
 Leeds, Mr 64 
 
 Leslie, S., M. D 66 
 
 Letters, of Gen. Curtis, 34- of Mr. Yeatman,71, 95-of Col. Parsons, 43-of the Commis 
 sion, 49, 114-of Commodore Davis, 56-of Chaplain Peake, 93 of Surg. Whitehill, 
 94 of Surg. Harrington, 94-of Rev. Dr. Eliot, 94, 95-of Col. Webber, 95-of A. 
 
 W. Plattenburg, 96 of Surg. Rex 97 
 
 Livermore, Mrs. M. A 69 
 
 Lodgings at Soldiers Homes 36, 37, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 
 
 Loring, Chas. G 114 
 
 Mann , N . M . , S up t . . . 84 , 1 23 
 
 Mann, Miss Maria R 112, 113 
 
 May, Dr 118 
 
 Marine Brigade 120 
 
 Marine Hospital, St. Louis, 64 ditto at Memphis 75 
 
 Marsh, W. L., 121 letter from 122 
 
 Marston, J. J.,M. D 60 
 
 Me Arthur, Gen 128 
 
 McLane, P., M. D 65 
 
 McClernand, J. A., Maj. Gen 69 
 
 McKim, Rev. Philip, Chaplarn 66 
 
 Massachusetts 59 
 
 Meals at Soldiers Homes 36, 83, 84, ,85 
 
 Memphis Captured, 53-Soldiers Home at, 80, 81, 82-hospitals at 75 
 
 Merchants Exchange 130 
 
 Mellen, W. P., Treasury Dept 119, 120 
 
 Military prisons at St. Louis, 45, 88 at Alton, 111. , 88 report of 88 
 
 Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, 134-its organization, 135 its success 137 
 
 Mission School, St. Louis 125 
 
 Missouri Legislature, appropriation of 129, 130 
 
 Missouri troops cared for 129, 130 
 
 Mound City Hospital 27 
 
 Murphy, Col. R. C., disgraced 70 
 
 Myers, Col. Wm. M 132 
 
 1 Nashville, hospital boat ." 75 
 
 National Freedmen s Relief Association 120, 123 
 
 Naval Squadron of the Mississippi 53, 54, 56, 57 
 
 New England, its liberality 9 
 
 Newell, Rev. F. R., agent, 61 his death 62 
 
 New House of Refuge Hospital 5 
 
 New Orleans Soldiers Home 83 
 
 N ightingale , Florence 3 , 20 
 
 Northwestern Freedmen s Aid Commission 120 
 
143 
 
 Nurses, Female, qualifications of, 20 number employed, 21 General Order, 20, 21 
 character of Nurses, 20-premiums awarded to, 42-only allowed to General Hos 
 pitals, 74 list of honor 107 
 
 Xute, Chaplain E . , Sup t ^ 
 
 Officers Hospital , Memphis 75 
 
 Orange, S. J., Sup t, 83- Mrs. Orange, matron 84 
 
 Origin of Sanitary Commissions, 3 of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, 4 of the West 
 ern Sanitary Commission 47 
 
 Ostram, MissA.L....f 35 83 
 
 Overton Hospital, Memphis 75 
 
 Pacific Hospital, St. Louis 1 
 
 Paige, Jas. A., Chaplain 64 
 
 Parsons, Col. L. B., Letter of 43, 131 
 
 Parsons, Miss Emily 73, 74 
 
 Partridge, George 8 
 
 Peabody, Rev. Chas., Sup t, 35 Peabody, J.H., Surg., U. S. V 64 
 
 Pea Ridge, Battle of, 27, 131 wounded, 27 Agent sent with stores, 29 his account of.30, 32 
 
 Peake, E. S., Chaplain, Letter of. 93 
 
 Pettigrew, S . , Chaplain 66 
 
 Phelps, Mrs . John S. , her heroism at Pea Ridge 34 
 
 Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 42, 131- wounded of, 43, 44 delegations and hospital 
 
 steamers sent, for them 43, 44 
 
 Plattenburg, A. W., 29, 30, 33. 34 letter of. 96 
 
 Plummer, Mrs. S. A., matron 83, 84, 85 
 
 Post Hospitals , St. Louis 74, 87 
 
 Prairie Grove, battle of, 61 supplies furnished 61 
 
 Prem iums , given to uest stewards , nurses , etc i9 
 
 Pope , Dr 126 
 
 Pope, Maj . Gen 2 
 
 Porter, D . D . Admiral 57 
 
 Prentiss, B. M. Maj. Gen 113 
 
 Questions answered . 99, 100, 101, 102 
 
 Randolph, J. F. Surg. U. S. A 65 
 
 "Red Rover," naval hospital boat , 54, 97, 106 
 
 Reid, Rev. H. A., 12-Mrs. Reid 12 
 
 Refugees, 124 their destitution, 124 fund raised for, 124 further arrivals, 125 Sad 
 
 story, 126 at what places, 127 distributions to 124, 127 
 
 Refugee" Homes at St. Louis, 124, 126 at Vicksburg, 128- School for 128 
 
 Reports, of soldiers Homes, 38, 81 of Mr. Yeatman s visit to Grant s army, 71, 77 of 
 
 freedmen 114, 119 
 
 Resources of Western Sanitary Commission 129 
 
 Rex, Geo. P. Surg. 33d 111. Infantry, letter of 97 
 
 Ripley, L. B 16 
 
 Robb, Maj. T. P 75 
 
 Rolla, Soldiers Graves there .". 14, 15 
 
 Roosevelt, Jas. A 130 
 
 Rosecrans , Major Gen 131 
 
 Rumbold, T. F., M.D., 66 
 
 Russell, Ii-a, Surgeon U. S. V 73, 74 
 
 Ruth, Hospital Transport 75 
 
 Sanitary Stores , number and value of articles issued 131 
 
 Sawyer, Rev. Samuel 112, 113 
 
 Schofield, Maj. Gen ]14, 131 
 
 Scollay s deodorizing coffin, 51 Report on it 51, 52, 53 
 
 Scudder, M. S 114 
 
 Secessionists assessed for Refugees 124 
 
144 
 
 Sedalia 14 
 
 Sherman, W. T. , General, 68, 131 his care for the sick of his army 72 
 
 Sick and wounded in St. Louis hospitals, 14 number of, 45, 87 of Grant s army 72 
 
 Sisters of Charity 3, 125 
 
 Smith , M:ij . Robt 132 
 
 Small Pox, 14 Hospital at St. Louis 14, 87 
 
 Special Diet K itchen 74 
 
 Soldiers Homes 35, 36, 87, 33, 39, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85 
 
 Soldiers at the Soldier s Home -From what States, 36, 82, 84, 85, 86 Character. ... 36 
 
 St. Louis Hospitals 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 45, 64, 65, 66, 75, 86, 87 
 
 St. Louis, its liberality, 129-County Court 129 
 
 Starr, Mrs. Lucy E., Matron 83 
 
 Steele , Major Gen . 92 
 
 Surgeons of the Regular Army 17 
 
 Tax on Cotton growing 119 
 
 Tefl t, J. E 60, 61 
 
 Thanksgiving at Soldiers Homes 37 
 
 Thomas, J. E., Chaplain 113 
 
 Thornton & Pierce s building converted to a hospital 45 
 
 Tilton, E. II., Surg , U. S. A 65 
 
 Tompkins, James 99 
 
 Union Hospital, Memphis 75 
 
 United Presbyterians 115 
 
 United States Sanitary Commission 4, 93, 135 
 
 Value of contributions estimated 131 
 
 Ventilation in Marine Hospital, St. Louis, 64 ventilating stoves introduced 64 
 
 Veteran regiments, 97 cared lor by Missouri 97 
 
 Vicksburg, 68 battle of, 68 -wounded from 69 
 
 Visitors of hospitals, 18 noble women, 18 soldiers tribute 19 
 
 Wages of Freedmen 115, 116 
 
 Wagner, Dr ^ 
 
 Warriner, Dr. H. A 75 
 
 Washington Hospital , Memphis 75 
 
 Washburne, C. C., Maj. Gen HI, 113 
 
 Waters, O. E., Sup t 80, 83 
 
 Waterman, H. J 91, 92 
 
 Webber, Col. A. W., Letter of. 95 
 
 Webster Hospital , Memphis 75 
 
 Wells , Mrs . Shepherd 74 
 
 Western Sanitary Commission, origin of, 4 to 7 of whom composed, 8 -its rooms, 
 
 16 appeal of, 57 resources of I- 9 
 
 Whelan, W., Surg., U. S. X 57 
 
 Whitehill, Jas. C., Surg., U. S. V., 92 Letter of 94 
 
 White, Frank W., Surg., U. S. V 87 
 
 Wilson s Creek, battle of 5 
 
 Wood, Ass tSurg. General 26, 72, 74, 132 
 
 " Wood, R. C.," hospital boat 26 
 
 Wood, Rev. Glen 1Q 1 
 
 Wood, Col. W. F 112 
 
 Wounded, at new House of Refuge Hospital, 6-1 rom Fort Donelson, 23-of PeaRidge, 
 
 28, 29 -of Pittsburg Landing, 42-of Vicksburg, 69, 77 Arkansas Post 70 
 
 Wright, J. J. B., Surgeon U. S. A., Medical Director, 16 Relations to the Western 
 
 Sanitary Commission 17 
 
 Wright, Chaplain A . , Sup t. of Refugees at Pilot Knob, 127 His work 127 
 
 Yeatman, Jas. E.8-His visit to Gen. Grant s army, 71 His report, 72 His second 
 visit, 76 Report, 77 Visit to the Freedmen of the Mississippi, 114 His report, 114 
 His suggestions, 119-Visit to Washington, 119 -Suggestions carried into effect 120 
 
 OF THE \ 
 
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 (( UN! 
 
 UNIVERSITY II 
 
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
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 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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