WHITE HOUSE.
Sixty Sisters depart from Baltimore for the station in Virginia.
Wounded and dying men upon transport boats. Nurses who shared
every horror with their patients. Two Sisters who were martyrs to
duty and humanity. The worn-out Sister of Charity buried with
military honors upon the banks of the Potomac. Death of a
deserter.
[Illustration]
The many appeals for Sisters to repair to the war-stricken sections of
the country, both North and South, had widely separated the members of
the Emmittsburg community. The venerable Mother Ann Simeon remained in
executive charge at home. Father Burlando visited as well as he could
the various military hospitals where the Sisters were stationed. His
care would not extend beyond the line of hostilities, but, fortunately,
the Sister assistant had been sent to superintend the missions in the
South before the blockade.
On July 14, 1862, the surgeon general at Washington wrote for one
hundred Sisters to be sent to a station called White House, in Virginia,
then in possession of the Northern forces. So many were already in
service that it was impossible to comply fully with this request. Sixty
Sisters, however, started from Baltimore for that place. As all
traveling was attended with much difficulty, the Sisters experienced
many hardships. The authorities intended to make a hospital encampment
in the vicinity of White House, as many thousands of wounded had been
brought there from the recent battles. No preparations had been made for
accommodating the Sisters, although the officers and doctors were
rejoiced at their coming. General George B. McClellan, then chief in
command, was some miles distant at the time, but sent orders that every
possible care and attention should be offered to the Sisters. Father
Burlando accompanied the Sisters to this place, and after receiving
assurances that proper arrangements had been made for them returned
home. They had only passed a few days here when suddenly all hands were
ordered to leave with the greatest haste--the enemy was only two miles
distant. Then began confusion and additional suffering.
The wounded and dying men were hurriedly placed upon transport boats.
These vessels were so overcrowded that they seemed more like sinking
than sailing. The Sisters were detailed to accompany the wounded to the
several cities where they were destined, the work of transportation
continuing for several weeks. The Sisters shared with their patients
every horror but their bodily pains. They were in the under cabin, the
ceiling of which was low and the apartment lighted by hanging lamps and
candles. The men lay on beds on the floor, with scarcely enough space to
walk between them. The Sister in charge of this lower ward was so
persevering in her zealous attention that even the doctor declared he
did not know how human nature could endure such duties. A few months
later this Sister died from the effects of overwork--a martyr to duty.
The remaining Sisters not engaged with the sick returned to Baltimore,
but in a few days received a summons to go to Point Lookout, situated at
the southern extremity of Maryland, bounded on one side by the
Chesapeake Bay and on the other by the Potomac River.
On the 14th of July, 1862, Father Burlando, with twenty-five Sisters,
left Baltimore, and in twenty-four hours reached the hospital encampment
of Point Lookout. The Sisters were soon destined to have another martyr
in their band. They were only at Point Lookout two weeks when one of the
zealous band, who had contracted typhoid fever on the transport boat,
died from that disease. She gave up her whole being as generously as she
had offered her zealous labors. Father Burlando had returned to
Baltimore, but a good priest, who came occasionally to the encampment,
heard her confession, and she received communion a day or two previous
to her death. The priest being stationed twelve miles distant could not
reach the encampment in time to administer the last sacraments, but
arrived in time to perform the burial service. The kind doctors and
officers made every effort to suitably honor the departed Sister. The
men said they deemed it a great privilege to act as the pall-bearers.
All of the soldiers who had died had been buried with only a sheet
wrapped around them, but for the Sister a white pine coffin was
procured. The authorities walked in procession, the drum corps playing a
dead march. There on the banks of the Potomac rested the worn-out Sister
of Charity. What a subject for the pen of the poet or the brush of the
painter!
Several cottages and tents, as well as wooden wards for the
accommodation of thousands of sick and wounded, made this narrow strait
a thickly-inhabited place. Many of the men were in a deplorable state
from the effects of their wounds and painful removals from distant
battle-grounds. The priest often came on Friday and remained until
Monday, constantly engaged among the soldiers, instructing, baptizing
and hearing confessions. On Sunday mornings he said the first Mass at
the encampment and the second in the little chapel. The first Mass was
said in a tent surrounded by soldiers. The captain of the guards marched
his company to Mass on that day, and at the elevation a drum was sounded
and all adored profoundly.
Later on the officers gave the Sisters more cottages, and by removing
the patients they had a good-sized chapel. With but few exceptions the
doctors and officers were very kind to the Sisters. Removals by death
and the arrival of more wounded men sometimes caused the wards to be
emptied and refilled again the same day. As soon as a boat would land a
horn was blown to let the Sisters know that they must go to their wards.
Then they would appoint a place for each sufferer, giving the best
accommodations to those Who were enduring the greatest anguish. Many
among the new arrivals were Confederate prisoners.
About this time orders came from Washington that no women nurses were to
remain at the Point. After the Sisters had begun their work a band of
young ladies arrived for the purpose of nursing the sick, and they were
surprised to find the Sisters there before them. When the Sisters heard
the order from Washington concerning “women nurses,” they made
preparations for leaving, but the chief physician said to them:
“Remain here, Sisters, until I hear from Washington, for we cannot
dispense with your services at this time.”
The physician telegraphed to the national capital and received this
reply:
“The Sisters of Charity are not included in our orders. They may serve
all alike at the Point, prisoners and others, but all other ladies are
to leave the place.”
About 5 o’clock on the morning of the 6th of August, 1864, the Sisters
were at meditation in their chapel, when they were startled by a noise
like thunder, and, looking out, saw the air darkened with whirling sand,
lumber, bedsteads, stovepipes and even the roofs of houses. A raging
tornado and waterspout were tearing and destroying all in their way,
taking in everything from the river to the bay. The little chapel shook
from roof to foundation. Doors and windows were blown down. Sick and
wounded men were blown out on the ground. Wards and cottages were
carried several feet from their base. Two Sisters who had not yet
arisen, terrified at finding their lodgings falling to pieces, ran out
and in their efforts to reach the chapel were struck down by the flying
doors and as often raised from the earth by the violent wind.
The Sisters were too stunned with surprise to know what to do, though
truly nothing could be done, for they would only have left one part of
the chapel for another when the last part would be blown away. In one of
these intermissions a Sister seized hold of the tabernacle, fearing that
its next place would be in the bay, but the altar was the only spot in
the chapel that the angry elements seemed to respect. Lumber and iron
bedsteads were carried over the tops of the cottages. The wards were
nearly all filled with patients, and several of these buildings were
leveled to the ground. The men who were able to move about were running
in all directions for safety, many of them only half dressed. One house
was seen sailing through the air, and the bodies in it at the time of
the storm were not discovered until some days afterward. The storm
lasted about ten or fifteen minutes, but in this time heavy mattresses
were carried through the air like so many feathers. It was some time
before all could be repaired. The poor patients had to be cared for in
some way or other, and it was not an unusual sight to see the Sisters
standing by the stove with their saucepans of broth in one hand and
umbrellas in the other, only too happy thus to relieve the poor
sufferers.
The Sisters going to the Provost one day were informed that a deserter
was to be shot the next morning, and they were requested to see him.
They visited the prison for the purpose of consoling the condemned but
the man showed no desire to see them, and they sorrowfully returned
home. Later the prisoner regretted not having seen the Sisters, and
asked to have them sent for. The kind Provost sent an orderly, telling
the Sisters of the poor man’s desire. It was now very dark, and some of
the authorities advised the Sisters not to go until the next morning.
The orderly carried this message to his superior but was sent back again
with a note from the Provost, saying:
“I will call for you on horseback and will be your pilot with the
ambulance. I will guide the driver safely through the woods and will
also conduct you home safely. I think circumstances require your
attendance on the prisoner.”
This was enough for the Sisters, and they were soon at the prison, but
found a minister of the prisoner’s persuasion with him. After he had
finished his interview the Sisters were taken to the man, who apologized
for not seeing them sooner. One of the Sisters asked him if he had been
baptized. He said, “No, never.” Then she informed him of its necessity,
and he regretted, with much fervor, that he had not known this sooner.
The Sisters remained with him some hours, giving him such instructions
as his condition required. After baptizing him he expressed his desire
to see a priest. The Provost, looking at his watch, replied that he
could not be there in time. It was now late and the execution must take
place early in the morning. The young man resigned himself fully to his
fate, saying:
“I deserve death, and freely pardon anyone who will take part in it. I
know I must die by the hand of one of my company, but whoever it may be
I forgive him.”
Then he returned to his devotions with such a lively faith that the
Sisters had no fear for his salvation. They bade him adieu and promised
to assemble before the altar in his behalf when the hour of his trial
drew near and to remain in prayer until all would be over with him. The
kind Provost made all arrangements for the Sisters’ return home, and
said, when leaving the prison:
“May I have such help at my death and die with such a good disposition.”
At the dreaded hour in the morning the Sisters knelt before their humble
altar, most fervently imploring the Redeemer to receive the soul of the
poor deserter. They continued very long after the sound of the fatal
fire had told them that his destiny had been decided. The soldiers
remarked afterwards that every one on the Point was present at the
execution with the exception of the Sisters, who had retired to pray for
the doomed man.
Peace being declared, preparations were made for a general removal. The
doctors desired the Sisters to remain until all the sick and wounded had
gone. After this they, too, left the Point on the 1st of August, 1865,
going to their home at Emmittsburg.
The Sisters carried away with them a sense of duty well done. The
sacrifices they made while at Point Lookout were never fully made known,
not even to their superiors. Several Sisters fell victims to death and
disease. One of the most conspicuous of these was Sister Consolata
Conlan, who in the twentieth year of her age yielded up her spotless
life while in attendance upon the sick and wounded soldiers.