The managers of the Philadelphia Fair, believing Mrs. Hoge to have had

an important connection with that fair, presented to her a beautiful

gift, in token of their appreciation of her services.

The Women's Relief Association, of Brooklyn, New York, presented her an

elegant silver vase.

During the second Sanitary Fair in Chicago, a few friends presented her

with a beautiful silver cup, bearing a suitable inscription in Latin,

and during the same fair, she received as a gift a Roman bell of green

bronze, or verd antique, of rare workmanship, and value, as an object of

art.

Mrs. Hoge made three expeditions to the Army of the Southwest, and

personally visited and ministered to more than one hundred thousand men

in hospitals. Few among the many efficient workers, which the war called

from the ease and retirement of home, can submit to the public a record

of labors as efficient, varied, and long-continued, as hers.

[Illustration: MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE

Eng^d. by A.H. Ritchie.]

MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE.

Few of the busy and active laborers in the broad field of woman's effort

during the war, have been more widely or favorably known than Mrs.

Livermore. Her labors, with her pen, commenced with the commencement of

the war; and in various spheres of effort, were faithfully and

energetically given to the cause of the soldier and humanity, until a

hard-won peace had once more "perched upon our banners," and the need of

them, at least in that specific direction, no longer existed.

Mrs. Livermore is a native of Boston, where her childhood and girlhood

were passed. At fourteen years of age she was a medal scholar of the

"Hancock School," of that city, and three years later, she graduated

from the "Charlestown (Mass.), Female Seminary," when she became

connected with its Board of Instruction, as Teacher of Latin, French and

Italian. With the exception of two years spent in the south of

Virginia,--whence she returned an uncompromising anti-slavery woman--her

home was in Boston until her marriage, to Rev. D. P. Livermore, after

which she resided in its near vicinity, until twelve years ago, when

with her husband and children she removed West. For the last ten years

she has been a resident of Chicago. Her husband is now editor of the

_New Covenant_, a paper published in Chicago, Illinois, in advocacy of

Universalist sentiments, and, at the same time, of those measures of

reform, which tend to elevate and purify erring and sinful human

nature. Of this paper Mrs. Livermore is associate editor.

Mrs. Livermore is a woman of remarkable talent, and in certain

directions even of genius, as the history of her labors in connection

with the war amply evinces. Her energy is great, and her executive

ability far beyond the average. She is an able writer, striking and

picturesque in description, and strong and touching in appeal. She has a

fine command of language, and in her conversation or her addresses to

assemblies of ladies, one may at once detect the tone and ease of manner

of a woman trained to pencraft. She is the author of several books,

mostly poems, essays or stories, and is recognized as a member of the

literary guild. The columns of her husband's paper furnished her the

opportunity she desired of addressing her patriotic appeals to the

community, and her vigorous pen was ever at work both in its columns,

and those of the other papers that were open to her. During the whole

war, even in the busiest times, not a week was passed that she did not

publish _somewhere_ two or three columns at the least. Letters,

incidents, appeals, editorial correspondence,--always something useful,

interesting--head and hands were always busy, and the small implement,

"mightier than the sword" was never allowed to rust unused in the

ink-stand.

Before us, as we write, lies an article published in the New Covenant of

May 18th, 1861, and as we see written scarcely a month after the

downfall of Fort Sumter. It is entitled "Woman and the War," and shows

how, even at that early day, the patriotism of American women was

bearing fruit, and how keenly and sensitively the writer appreciated our

peril.

"But no less have we been surprised and moved to admiration by the

regeneration of the women of our land. A month ago, and we saw a large

class, aspiring only to be 'leaders of fashion,' and belles of the

ball-room, their deepest anxiety clustering about the fear that the

gored skirts, and bell-shaped hoops of the spring mode might not be

becoming, and their highest happiness being found in shopping, polking,

and the schottisch--pretty, petted, useless, expensive butterflies,

whose future husbands and children were to be pitied and prayed for. But

to-day, we find them lopping off superfluities, retrenching

expenditures, deaf to the calls of pleasure, or the mandates of fashion,

swept by the incoming patriotism of the time to the loftiest height of

womanhood, willing to do, to bear, or to suffer for the beloved country.

The riven fetters of caste and conventionality have dropped at their

feet, and they sit together, patrician and plebeian, Catholic and

Protestant, and make garments for the poorly-clad soldiery. An order

came to Boston for five thousand shirts for the Massachusetts troops at

the South. Every church in the city sent a delegation of needle-women to

'Union Hall,' a former aristocratic ball-room of Boston; the Catholic

priest detailed five hundred sewing-girls to the pious work; suburban

towns rang the bell to muster the seamstresses; the patrician Protestant

of Beacon Street ran the sewing-machine, while the plebeian Irish

Catholic of Broad Street basted--and the shirts were done at the rate of

a thousand a day. On Thursday, Miss Dix sent an order for five hundred

shirts for the hospital at Washington--on Friday they were ready. And

this is but one instance, in one city, similar events transpiring in

every other large city.

"But the patriotism of the Northern women has been developed in a nobler

and more touching manner. We can easily understand how men, catching the

contagion of war, fired with enthusiasm, led on by the inspiriting

trains of martial music, and feeling their quarrel to be just, can march

to the cannon's mouth, where the iron hail rains thickest, and the ranks

are mowed down like grain in harvest. But for women to send forth their

husbands, sons and brothers to the horrid chances of war, bidding them

go with many a tearful 'good-by' and 'God bless you,' to see them,

perhaps, no more--this calls for another sort of heroism. Only women can

understand the fierce struggle, and exquisite suffering this sacrifice

involves--and which has already been made by thousands."

The inception of that noble work, and noble monument of American

patriotism, the United States Sanitary Commission, had its date in the

early days of the war. We find in all the editorial writings of Mrs.

Livermore, for the year 1861, constant warm allusions to this

organization and its work, which show how strongly it commended itself

to her judgment, how deeply she was interested in its workings, and how

her heart was stirred by an almost uncontrollable impulse to become

actively engaged with all her powers in the work.

In the New Covenant for December 18, 1861, we find over the signature of

Mrs. Livermore, an earnest appeal to the women of the Northwest for aid,

in furnishing Hospital supplies for the army. A "Sanitary Committee,"

had been formed in Chicago, to co-operate with the United States

Sanitary Commission, which had opened an office, and was prepared to

receive and forward supplies. These were designed to be sent, almost

exclusively, to Western hospitals, and a Soldiers' Festival was at that

time being held for the purpose of collecting aid, and raising funds for

this Committee, to use in its charitable work.

This Committee did not long preserve a separate existence. About the

beginning of the year 1862, the Northwestern branch of the United States

Sanitary Commission was organized at Chicago, composed of some of the

leading and most influential citizens of that city, and others in the

Northwestern States. It at once became a power in the land, an

instrument of almost incalculable good.

Soon afterward, Mrs. Livermore, and Mrs. A. H. Hoge, one of the most

earnest, able and indefatigable of the women working in connection with

the Sanitary Commission, and a resident of Chicago, were appointed

agents of the Northwestern Commission, and immediately commenced their

labors.

The writer is not aware that a complete and separate sketch of either

the joint or individual labors of these ladies exists. For the outline

of those of Mrs. Livermore, dependence is mostly made upon her

communications to the New Covenant, and other Journals--upon articles

not written with the design of furnishing information of personal

effort, so much, as to give such statements of the soldier's need, and

of the various efforts in that direction, as together with appeals, and

exhortations to renewed benevolence and sacrifice, might best keep the

public mind constantly stimulated and excited to fresh endeavor.

Running through these papers, we find everywhere evidences of the

intense loyalty of this gifted woman, and also of the deep and equally

outspoken scorn with which she regarded every evidence of treasonable

opinion, or of sympathy with secession, on the part of army leaders, or

the civil authorities. The reader will remember the repulse experienced

in the winter of 1861-2, by the Hutchinsons, those sweet singers, whose

"voices have ever been heard chanting the songs of Freedom--always

lifted in harmonious accord in support of every good and noble cause."

Mrs. Livermore's spirit was stirred by the story of their wrongs, and

thus in keenest sarcasm, she gave utterance to her scorn of this weak

and foolish deed of military tyrants encamping a winter through, before

empty forts and Quaker guns, while they ventured only to make war upon

girls: "While the whole country has been waiting in breathless suspense

for six months, each one of which has seemed an eternity to the loyal

people of the North, for the 'grand forward movement' of the army, which

is to cut the Gordian knot of the rebellion, and perform unspeakable

prodigies, not lawful for man to utter, a backward movement has been

executed on the banks of the Potomac, by the valiant commanders there

stationed, for which none of us were prepared. No person, even though

his imagination possessed a seven-leagued-boot-power of travel, could

have anticipated the last great exploit of our generals, whose energies

thus far, have been devoted to the achieving of a 'masterly inactivity.'

The 'forward movement' has receded and receded, like the cup of

Tantalus, but the backward movement came suddenly upon us, like a thief

in the night."

"The Hutchinson family, than whom no sweeter songsters gladden this

sorrow-darkened world, have been singing in Washington, to the

President, and to immense audiences, everywhere giving unmixed delight.

Week before last they obtained a pass to the camps the other side of the

Potomac, with the laudable purpose of spending a month among them,

cheering the hearts of the soldiers, and enlivening the monotonous and

barren camp life with their sweet melody. But they ventured to sing a

patriotic song--a beautiful song of Whittier's, which gave offense to a

few semi-secessionists among the officers of the army, for which they

were severely reprimanded by Generals Franklin and Kearny, their pass

revoked by General McClellan, and they driven back to Washington. A

backward movement was ordered instanter, and no sooner ordered, than

executed. Brave Franklin! heroic Kearny! victorious McClellan! why did

ye not order a Te Deum on the occasion of this great victory over a band

of Vermont minstrels, half of whom were--girls! How must the hearts of

the illustrious West-Pointers have pit-a-patted with joy, and dilated

with triumph, as they saw the Hutchinson troupe--Asa B., and Lizzie C.,

little Dennett and Freddy, _naive_ Viola, melodeon and all--scampering

back through the mud, bowed beneath the weight of their military

displeasure! Per contra to this expulsion, be it remembered that it

occurred within sight of the residence of a family, in which there are

some five or six young ladies, who, it is alleged, have been promised

"passes" to go South whenever they are disposed to do so,--carrying, of

course, all the information they can for the enemy. The bands of the

regiments are also sent to serenade them, and on these occasions orders

are given _to suppress the national airs_, as being offensive to these

traitors in crinoline."

During the year 1862, Mrs. Livermore, besides the constant flow of

communications from her pen, visited the army at various points, and in

company with her friend, Mrs. Hoge, travelled over the Northwestern

states, organizing numerous Aid Societies among the women of those

states, who were found everywhere anxious for the privilege of working

for the soldiers, and only desirous of knowing how best to accomplish

this purpose, and through what channel they might best forward their

benefactions.

In December of that year, the Sanitary Commission called a council, or

convention of its members and branches at Washington, desiring that

every Branch Commission in the North should be represented by at least

two ladies thoroughly acquainted with its workings, who had been

connected with it from the first. Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore were

appointed by the Chicago Branch.

They accordingly proceeded to Washington--a long and arduous journey in

mid winter, but these were not women to grudge toil or sacrifice, nor to

shrink from duty.

Both these ladies had laid their talents upon the altar of the cause in

which they were engaged, and both felt the pressing necessity at that

time of a determined effort to relieve the frightful existing need.

Sanitary supplies were decidedly on the decrease, while the demand for

their increase was most piteously pressing. There was a strong call for

the coming "council" of friends.

There were hindrances and delays. Delay at starting, in taking a

regiment on board the cars, necessitating other delays, and waiting for

trains on time through the whole distance.

The days spent in Washington were filled with good deeds, and a thousand

incidents all connected in some way with the great work. Of the results

of that council, the public was long since informed, and few who were

interested in the work, did not learn to appreciate the more earnest

labor, the greater sacrifice and self-devotion which soon spread from it

through the country. Spirits, self-consecrated to so holy a work, could

scarcely meet without the kindling of a flame that should spread all

over the country, till every tender woman's heart, in all the land, had

been touched by it, to the accomplishment of greater and brighter deeds.

While in Washington, Mrs. Livermore spent a day at the camp near

Alexandria, set apart for convalescents from the hospitals, and known as

"Camp Misery." The suffering there, as we have already stated in the

sketch of Miss Amy M. Bradley's labors, was terrible from insufficient

food, clothing and fuel, from want of drainage, and many other causes,

any one of which might well have proved fatal to the feeble sufferers

there crowded together. The pen of Mrs. Livermore carried the story of

these wrongs all around the land. While she was in Washington, eighteen

half sick soldiers died at the camp in one night, from cold and

starvation. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," and

the blood of these soaking into the soil where dwelt patriotic,

warm-souled men and women, presently produced a noble growth and

fruitage of charity, and sacrifice, and blessed deeds.

Mrs. Livermore has given her impressions of the President, gained from a

visit made to the White House during this stay. She was one capable

fully of appreciating the noble, simple, yet lofty nature of Abraham

Lincoln.

Early in this year, Mrs. Livermore made a tour of the hospitals and

military posts scattered along the Mississippi river. She was everywhere

a messenger of good tidings. Sanitary supplies and cheering words seem

to have been always about equally appreciated among the troops.

Volunteers, fresh from home, and the quiet comfort of domestic life,

willing to fight, and if need be die for the glorious idea of freedom,

they yet had no thought of war as a profession. It was a sad, stern

incident in their lives, but not the life they longed for, or meant to

follow. Anything that was like home, the sight of a woman's face, or the

sound of her voice, and all the sordid hardness of their present lives,

all the martial pageantry faded away, and they remembered only that they

were sons, brothers, husbands and fathers. Everywhere her reception was

a kind, a respectful, and even a grateful one.

There was much sickness among the troops, and the fearful ravages of

scurvy and the deadly malaria of the swamps and bottom-lands along the

great river were enemies far more to be dreaded than the thunder of

artillery, or the hurtling shells.

During this trip she found in the hospitals, at St. Louis, and

elsewhere, large numbers of female nurses, and ladies who had

volunteered to perform these services temporarily. The surgeons were at

that time, almost without exception, opposed to their being employed in

the hospitals, though their services were afterwards, as the need

increased, greatly desired and warmly welcomed. For these she soon

succeeded in finding opportunities for rendering the service which they

desired to the sick and wounded.

Were it possible in the space allowed for this sketch, to give a tithe

of the incidents which came under the eyes of Mrs. Livermore, or even a

small portion of her observations in steamer, train, or hospital, some

idea of the magnitude and importance of her work might be gained. But

this we cannot do, and must content ourselves with this partial allusion

to her constant and indefatigable labors.

The premonitory symptoms of scurvy in the camps around Vicksburg, and

its actual existence in many cases in the hospitals, so aroused the

sympathies of Mrs. Livermore and Mrs. Hoge, on a second visit to these

camps, that after warning General Grant of the danger which his medical

directors had previously concealed from him, these two ladies hastened

up the river, and by their earnest appeals and their stirring and

eloquent circulars asking for onions, potatoes, and other vegetables,

they soon awakened such an interest, that within three weeks, over a

thousand bushels of potatoes and onions were forwarded to the army, and

by their timely distribution saved it from imminent peril.

In the autumn of 1863, the great Northwestern Sanitary Fair, the first

of that series of similar fairs which united the North in a bond of

large and wide-spread charity, occurred. It was Mrs. Livermore who

suggested and planned the first fair, which netted almost one hundred

thousand dollars to the Sanitary Commission. Mrs. Hoge, had at first, no

confidence in the project, but she afterward joined it, and giving it

her earnest aid, helped to carry it to a successful conclusion. It was

indeed a giant plan, and it may be chiefly credited, from its inception

to its fortunate close, to these indefatigable and skilful workers. The

writer of this sketch was present at the convention of women of the

Northwest called to meet at Chicago, and consider the feasibility of the

project, and was forcibly impressed with the great and real power, the

concentrated moral force, contained in that meeting, and left its doors

without one doubt of the complete and ultimate success of the plan

discussed. Mrs. Livermore held there a commanding position. A brilliant

and earnest speaker, her words seemed to sway the attentive throng. Her

commanding person, added to the power of her words. Gathered upon the

platform of Bryan Hall, were Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. Colt, of Milwaukee, and

many more, perhaps less widely known, but bearing upon their faces and

in their attitudes, the impress of cultured minds, and an earnest active

resolve to do, which seemed to insure success. Mrs. Livermore, seated

below the platform, from time to time passed among the crowd, and her

suggestions whether quietly made to individuals, or given in her clear

ringing voice, and well selected language to the convention, were

everywhere received with respect and deference. As all know, this fair

which was about three months in course of preparation, was on a mammoth

scale, and was a great success, and this result was no doubt greatly

owing to the presence of that quality, which like every born leader,

Mrs. Livermore evidently possesses--that of knowing how to select

judiciously, the subordinates and instruments to be employed to carry

out the plans which have originated in her mind.

When this fair had been brought to a successful close, Mrs. Livermore

returned to the particular work of her agency. When not traveling on the

business connected with it, she spent many busy days at the rooms of the

Commission in Chicago. The history of some of those days she has

written--a history full of pathos and illuminated with scores of

examples of noble and worthy deeds--of the sacrifices of hard-worked

busy women for the soldiers--of tender self-sacrificing wives concealing

poverty and sorrow, and swallowing bitter tears, and whispering no word

of sorrows hard to bear, that the husband, far away fighting for his

country, might never know of their sufferings; of the small but

fervently offered alms of little children, of the anguish of parents

waiting the arrival through this channel of tidings of their wounded or

their dead; of heroic nurses going forth to their sad labors in the

hospitals, with their lives in their hands, or returning in their

coffins, or with broken health, the sole reward, beside the soldiers'

thanks, for all their devotion.

Journey after journey Mrs. Livermore made, during the next two years, in

pursuance of her mission, till her name and person were familiar not

only in the camps and hospitals of the great West, but in the assemblies

of patriotic women in the Eastern and Middle States. And all the time

the tireless pen paused not in its blessed work.

In the spring of 1865, another fair was in contemplation. As before,

Mrs. Livermore visited the Eastern cities, for the purpose of obtaining

aid in her project, and as before was most successful.

In pursuance of this object, she made a flying visit to Washington, her

chief purpose being to induce the President to attend the fair, and add

the eclat of his presence and that of Mrs. Lincoln, to the brilliant

occasion. An account of her interview with him whom she was never again

to see in life, which, with her impressions of his character, we gain

from her correspondence with the New Covenant, is appended.

"Our first effort was to obtain an interview with the President and

Mrs. Lincoln--and this, by the way, is usually the first effort of all

new comers. We were deputized to invite our Chief Magistrate to attend

the great Northwestern Fair, to be held in May--and this was our errand.

With the escort of a Senator, who takes precedence of all other

visitors, it is very easy to obtain an interview with the President, and

as we were favored in this respect, we were ushered into the audience

chamber without much delay. The President received us kindly, as he does

all who approach him. He was already apprised of the fair, and spoke of

it with much interest, and with a desire to attend it. He gave us a most

laughable account of his visit to the Philadelphia Fair, when, as he

expressed it, 'for two miles it was all people, where it wasn't houses,'

and where 'he actually feared he should be pulled from the carriage

windows.' We notified him that he must be prepared for a still greater

crowd in Chicago, as the whole Northwest would come out to shake hands

with him, and told him that a petition for his attendance at the fair,

was in circulation, that would be signed by ten thousand women of

Chicago. 'But,' said he, 'what do you suppose my wife will say, at ten

thousand ladies coming after me in that style?' We assured him that the

invitation included Mrs. Lincoln also, when he laughed heartily, and

promised attendance, if State duties did not absolutely forbid. 'It

would be wearisome,' he said, 'but it would gratify the people of the

Northwest, and so he would try to come--and he thought by that time,

circumstances would permit his undertaking a short tour West.' This was

all that we could ask, or expect.

"We remained for some time, watching the crowds that surged through the

spacious apartments, and the President's reception of them. Where they

entered the room indifferently, and gazed at him as if he were a part of

the furniture, or gave him simply a mechanical nod of the head, he

allowed them to pass on, as they elected. But where he was met by a warm

grasp of the hand, a look of genuine friendliness, of grateful

recognition or of tearful tenderness, the President's look and manner

answered the expression entirely. To the lowly and the humble he was

especially kind; his worn face took on a look of exquisite tenderness,

as he shook hands with soldiers who carried an empty coat sleeve, or

swung themselves on crutches; and not a child was allowed to pass him by

without a kind word from him. A bright boy, about the size and age of

the son he had buried, was going directly by, without appearing even to

see the President. 'Stop, my little man,' said Mr. Lincoln, laying his

hand on his shoulder, 'aren't you going to speak to me?' And stooping

down, he took the child's hands in his own, and looked lovingly in his

face, chatting with him for some moments."

The plans of Mrs. Livermore in regard to the fair were carried out--with

one sad exception. It was a much greater success pecuniarily than the

first. And the war was over, and it was the last time that wounded

soldiers would call for aid. But alas! the great and good man whose

presence she had coveted lay cold in death! She had promised him "days

of rest" when he should come, and long ere then, he had entered his

eternal rest, and all that remained of him had been carried through

those streets, decked in mourning.

Like her friend, Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. Livermore was cheered during her labors

by testimonials of appreciation from her co-laborers, and of gratitude

from the brave men for whom she toiled. An exquisite silver vase was

sent her by the Women's Relief Association, of Brooklyn, the counterpart

of that sent Mrs. Hoge at the same time. From her co-workers in the last

Sanitary Fair, she also received a gold-lined silver goblet, and a

verd-antique Roman bell--the former bearing this complimentary

inscription, "_Poculum qui meruit fuit_." But the gifts most prized by

her are the comparatively inexpensive testimonials made by the soldiers

to whom she ministered. At one time she rejoiced in the possession of

fourteen photograph albums, in every style of binding, each one

emblazoned with a frontispiece of the maimed or emaciated soldier who

gave it.

GENERAL AID SOCIETY FOR THE ARMY, BUFFALO.

This Society, a Branch of the Sanitary Commission, was organized in the

summer of 1862, and became one of the Branches of the Commission in the

autumn of 1862, had eventually for its field of operations, the Western

Counties of New York, a few counties in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and

received also occasional supplies from one or two of the border counties

in Ohio, and from individuals in Canada West.

Its first President was Mrs. Joseph E. Follett, a lady of great tact and

executive ability, who in 1862, resigned, in consequence of the removal

of her husband to Minnesota. Mrs. Horatio Seymour, the wife of a

prominent business man of Buffalo, was chosen to succeed Mrs. Follett,

and developed in the performance of her duties, abilities as a manager,

of the highest order. Through her efforts, ably seconded as they were by

Miss Babcock and Miss Bird, the Secretaries of the Society, the whole

field was thoroughly organized, and brought up to its highest condition

of efficiency, and kept there through the whole period of the war.

A friendly rivalry was maintained between this branch and the Soldiers'

Aid Society of Northern Ohio, and the perfect system and order with

which both were conducted, the eloquent appeals and the stirring

addresses by which both kept their auxiliaries up to their work, and

the grand and noble results accomplished by each, are worthy of all

praise. In this, as in the Cleveland Society, the only paid officer was

the porter. All the rest served, the President and Secretaries daily,

the cutters, packers, and others, on alternate days, or at times

semi-weekly, without fee or compensation. Arduous as their duties were,

and far as they were from any romantic idea of heroism, or of notable

personal service to the cause, these noble, patient, and really heroic

women, rejoiced in the thought that by their labors they were indirectly

accomplishing a good work in furnishing the means of comfort and healing

to thousands of the soldiers, who, but for their labors would have

perished from sickness or wounds, but through their care and the

supplies they provided, were restored again to the ranks, and enabled to

render excellent service in putting down the Rebellion.

In her closing report, Mrs. Seymour says:

"We have sent nearly three thousand packages to Louisville, and six

hundred and twenty-five to New York. We have cut and provided materials

at our rooms, for over twenty thousand suits, and other articles for the

army, amounting in all to more than two hundred thousand pieces. Little

children, mostly girls under twelve years of age, have given us over

twenty-five hundred dollars."

Like all the earnest workers of this class, Mrs. Seymour expresses the

highest admiration for what was done by those nameless heroines, "the

patriot workers in quiet country homes, who with self-sacrifice rarely

equalled, gave their best spare-room linen and blankets, their choicest

dried fruits, wines and pickles,--and in all seasons met to sew for the

soldiers, or went about from house to house to collect the supplies to

fill the box which came regularly once a month." Almost every woman who

toiled thus, had a family whose sole care depended upon her, and many of

them had dairies or other farm-work to occupy their attention, yet they

rarely or never failed to have the monthly box filled and forwarded

promptly. We agree with Mrs. Seymour in our estimate of the nobleness

and self-sacrificing spirit manifested by these women; but the patriotic

and self-denying heroines of the war were not in country villages, rural

hamlets, and isolated farms alone; those ladies who for their love to

the national cause, left their homes daily and toiled steadily and

patiently through the long years of the war, in summer's heat and

winter's cold, voluntarily secluding themselves from the society and

social position they were so well fitted to adorn, and in which they had

been the bright particular stars, these too, for the great love they

bore to their country should receive its honors and its heartfelt

thanks.

MICHIGAN SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY

Few of the States of the Northwest, patriotic as they all were, present

as noble a record as Michigan. Isolated by its position from any

immediate peril from the rebel forces, (unless we reckon their

threatened raids from Canada, in the last year of the War), its loyal

and Union-loving citizens volunteered with a promptness, and fought with

a courage surpassed by no troops in the Armies of the Republic. They

were sustained in their patriotic sacrifices by an admirable home

influence. The successive Governors of the State, during the war, its

Senators and Representatives in Congress, and its prominent citizens at

home, all contributed their full share toward keeping up the fervor of

the brave soldiers in the field. Nor were the women of the State

inferior to the other sex in zeal and self-sacrifice. The services of

Mrs. Annie Etheridge, and of Bridget Divers, as nurses in the

field-hospitals, and under fire are elsewhere recorded in this volume.

Others were equally faithful and zealous, who will permit no account of

their labors of love to be given to the public. There were from an early

period of the war two organizations in the State, which together with

the Northwestern Sanitary Commission, received and forwarded the

supplies contributed throughout the State for the soldiers to the great

depots of distribution at Louisville, St. Louis, and New York. These

were "The Soldiers' Relief Committee," and the Soldiers' Aid Society of

Detroit. There were also State agencies at Washington and New York, well

managed, and which rendered early in the war great services to the

Michigan troops. The Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit, though acting

informally previously, was formally organized in November, 1862, with

Mrs. John Palmer, as President, and Miss Valeria Campbell, as

Corresponding Secretary. In the summer of 1863, the Society changed its

name to "The Michigan Soldiers' Aid Society," and the Soldiers' Relief

Committee, having been merged in it, became the Michigan Branch of the

Sanitary Commission, and addressed itself earnestly to the work of

collecting and increasing the supplies gathered in all parts of the

State, and sending them to the depots of the Commission at Louisville

and New York, or directly to the front when necessary. At the time of

this change, Hon. John Owen, one of the Associate members of the

Sanitary Commission, was chosen President, B. Vernor, Esq., Hon. James

V. Campbell, and P. E. Demill, Esq., also Associates of the Commission,

Miss S. A. Sibley, Mrs. H. L. Chipman, and Mrs. N. Adams, were elected

Vice Presidents, and Miss Valeria Campbell, continued in the position of

Recording Secretary, while the venerable Dr. Zina Pitcher, one of the

constituent members of the Sanitary Commission was their counsellor and

adviser.

Of this organization, Miss Campbell was the soul. Untiring in her

efforts, systematic and methodical in her work, a writer of great power

and eloquence, and as patriotic and devoted as any of those who served

in the hospitals, or among the wounded men on the battle-field, she

accomplished an amount of labor which few could have undertaken with

success. The correspondence with all the auxiliaries, the formation of

new Societies, and Alert clubs in the towns and villages of the State,

the constant preparation and distribution of circulars and bulletins to

stimulate the small societies to steady and persistent effort, the

correspondence with the Western Office at Louisville, and the sending

thither invoices of the goods shipped, and of the monthly accounts of

the branch, these together, formed an amount of work which would have

appalled any but the most energetic and systematic of women. In her

labors, Miss Campbell received great and valuable assistance from Mrs.

N. Adams, one of the Vice Presidents, Mrs. Brent, Mrs. Sabine, Mrs.

Luther B. Willard, and Mrs. C. E. Russell. The two last named ladies,

not satisfied with working for the soldiers at home, went to the army

and distributed their supplies in person, and won the regard of the

soldiers by their faithfulness and zeal.

In the year ending November 1st, 1864, one thousand two hundred and

thirty-five boxes, barrels, etc., were sent from this branch to the

Army, besides a large amount supplied to the Military Hospitals in

Detroit, nearly six thousand dollars in money was raised, besides nearly

two thousand dollars toward a Soldiers' Home, which was established

during the year, and furnished forty-two thousand seven hundred and

eighty-five meals, and fourteen thousand three hundred and ninety-nine

lodgings to five thousand five hundred and ninety-nine soldiers from

eight different States. In the organization of this Home, as well as in

providing for the families of the soldiers, Miss Campbell was, as usual,

the leading spirit. In both the Fairs held at Chicago, September, 1863,

and June, 1865, the Michigan Branch of the Sanitary Commission, rendered

essential service. Their receipts from the second Fair, were thirteen

thousand three hundred and eighty-four dollars and fifty-eight cents

less three thousand one hundred and thirty-seven dollars and sixty-five

cents expenses, and this balance was expended in the maintenance of the

Soldiers' Home, and caring for such of the sick and disabled men as were

not provided for in the Hospitals. Of the aggregate amount contributed

by this branch to the relief of the soldiers in money and supplies, we

cannot as yet obtain a detailed estimate. We only know that it exceeded

three hundred thousand dollars.

WOMEN'S PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH OF U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION.

Philadelphia was distinguished throughout the war by the intense and

earnest loyalty and patriotism of its citizens, and especially of its

women. No other city furnished so many faithful workers in the

hospitals, the Refreshment Saloons, the Soldiers' Homes and

Reading-rooms, and no other was half so well represented in the field,

camp, and general hospitals at the "front." Sick and wounded soldiers

began to arrive in Philadelphia very early in the war, and hospital

after hospital was opened for their reception until in 1863-4, there

were in the city and county twenty-six military hospitals, many of them

of great extent. To all of these, the women of Philadelphia ministered

most generously and devotedly, so arranging their labors that to each

hospital there was a committee, some of whose members visited its wards

daily, and prepared and distributed the special diet and such delicacies

as the surgeons allowed. But as the war progressed, these patriotic

women felt that they ought to do more for the soldiers, than simply to

minister to those of them who were in the hospitals of the city. They

were sending to the active agents in the field, Mrs. Harris, Mrs.

Husband, Mrs. Lee, and others large quantities of stores; the "Ladies'

Aid Association," organized in April, 1861, enlisted the energies of one

class, the Penn Relief Association, quietly established by the Friends,

had not long after, furnished an outlet for the overflowing sympathies

and kindness of the followers of George Fox and William Penn; and "the

Soldiers' Aid Association," whose president, Mrs. Mary A. Brady,

represented it so ably in the field, until her incessant labors and

hardships brought on disease of the heart, and in May, 1864, ended her

active and useful life, had rallied around it a corps of noble and

faithful workers. But there were yet hundreds, aye, thousands, who felt

that they must do more than they were doing for the soldiers. The

organizations we have named, though having a considerable number of

auxiliaries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, did not by any

means cover the whole ground, and none of them were acting to any

considerable extent through the Sanitary Commission which had been

rapidly approving itself as the most efficient and satisfactory agency

for the distribution of supplies to the army. In the winter of 1862-3

those friends of the soldier, not as yet actively connected with either

of the three associations we have named, assembled at the Academy of

Music, and after an address from Rev. Dr. Bellows, organized themselves

as the Women's Pennsylvania Branch of the Sanitary Commission, and with

great unanimity elected Mrs. Maria C. Grier as their President, and Mrs.

Clara J. Moore, Corresponding Secretary. Wiser or more appropriate

selections could not have been made. They were unquestionably, "the

right women in the right place." Our readers will pardon us for

sketching briefly the previous experiences and labors of these two

ladies who proved so wonderfully efficient in this new sphere of action.

Mrs. Maria C. Grier is a daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Cornelius C.

Cuyler, a clergyman, formerly pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church in

Poughkeepsie, and afterward of the Second Presbyterian Church,

Philadelphia, and married Rev. M. B. Grier, D.D., now editor of the

"Presbyterian," one of the leading papers of the Old School Presbyterian

Church. Dr. Grier had been for some years before the commencement of the

war pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Wilmington, at the outbreak of the war, shared with Charleston and

Mobile the bad reputation of being the most intensely disloyal of all

the towns of the South. Dr. and Mrs. Grier were openly and decidedly

loyal, known everywhere throughout that region as among the very few who

had the moral courage to avow their attachment to the Union. They knew

very well, that their bold avowals might cost them their lives, but they

determined for the sake of those who loved the Union, but had not their

courage, to remain and advocate the cause, until it should become

impossible to do so longer, bearing in mind that if they escaped, their

departure, to be safe, must be sudden.

Early in the morning of the 1st of June word was brought them that there

was no time to lose. Dr. Grier's life was threatened. A vessel was ready

to sail and they must go. Hurriedly they left a home endeared to them by

long years of residence; Dr. Grier's valuable library, a choice

collection of paintings and other treasures of art and affection were

all abandoned to the ruthless mob, and were stolen or destroyed. Leaving

their breakfast untouched upon the table, they hastened to the vessel,

and by a circuitous route, at last reached Philadelphia in safety, and

were welcomed by kind and sympathizing friends. Mrs. Grier's patriotism

was of the active kind, and she was very soon employed among the sick

and wounded soldiers who reached Philadelphia after Bull Run and Ball's

Bluff, or who were left by the regiments hurrying to the front at the

hospitals of the Volunteer and Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloons. With the

establishment of the larger hospitals in January, 1862, Mrs. Grier

commenced her labors in them also, and remained busy in this work till

June, 1862, when at the request of the surgeon in charge of one of the

Hospital Transports, she went to White House, Virginia, was there when

McClellan made his "change of base," and when the wounded were sent on

board the transport cared for them and came on to Philadelphia with

them, and resumed her work at once in the hospitals. The battles of

Pope's campaign and those of South Mountain and Antietam, filled the

land with desolate homes, and crowded not only the hospitals, but the

churches of Philadelphia with suffering, wounded and dying men, and Mrs.

Grier like most of the philanthropic ladies of Philadelphia found

abundant employment for heart and hands. Her zeal and faithfulness in

this work had so favorably impressed the ladies who met at the Academy

of Music to organize the Women's Branch of the Commission that she was

unanimously chosen its President.

Mrs. Clara J. Moore, formerly a Miss Jessup, of Boston, is the wife of

Mr. Bloomfield H. Moore, a large manufacturer of Philadelphia. She is a

woman of high culture, a poetess of rare sweetness, and eminent as a

magazine writer. She possessed great energy, and a rare facility of

correspondence. In her days of Hospital work, she wrote hundreds of

letters for the soldiers, and in the organization of the Women's Branch,

of which she was one of the most active promoters, she took upon herself

the burden of such a correspondence with the Auxiliaries, and the

persons whom she desired to interest in the establishment of local Aid

Societies, that when she was compelled by ill health to resign her

position, a Committee of nine young ladies was appointed to conduct the

correspondence in her place, and all the nine found ample employment.

Her daughter married a Swedish Count, and returned with him to Europe,

and the mother soon after sought rest and recovery in her daughter's

Scandinavian home.

Of the other ladies connected with this Pennsylvania Branch, all were

active, but the following, perhaps in part from temperament, and in part

from being able to devote their time more fully than others to the work,

were peculiarly efficient and faithful. Mrs. W. H. Furness, Mrs.

Lathrop, Mrs. C. J. Stille, Mrs. J. Tevis, Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, Mrs.

A. D. Jessup, Mrs. Samuel H. Clapp, Mrs. J. Warner Johnson, Mrs. Samuel

Field, Mrs. Aubrey H. Smith, Mrs. M. L. Frederick, Mrs. C. Graff, Mrs.

Joseph Parrish, Miss M. M. Duane, Miss S. B. Dunlap, Miss Rachel W.

Morris, Miss H. and Miss Anna Blanchard, Miss E. P. Hawley, and Miss M.

J. Moss.

Of Mrs. Grier's labors in this position, one of the Associates of the

Sanitary Commission, a gentleman who had more opportunity than most

others of knowing her faithful and persistent work, writes:

"When the Women's Branch was organized, Mrs. Grier reluctantly consented

to take the head of the Supply Department. In this position she

continued, working most devotedly, until the work was done. To her

labors the success of this undertaking is largely due. To every quality

which makes woman admired and loved, this lady added many which

peculiarly qualified her for this post; a rare judgment, a wonderful

power of organization, and a rare facility for drawing around her the

most efficient helpers, and making their labors most useful. During the

whole period of the existence of the Association, the greatest good

feeling reigned, and if ever differences of opinion threatened to

interrupt perfect harmony, a word from Mrs. Grier was sufficient. Her

energy in carrying out new plans for the increase of the supplies was

most remarkable. When the Women's Pennsylvania Branch disbanded, every

person conected with it, regretted most of all the separation from Mrs.

Grier. I have never heard but one opinion expressed of her as President

of the Association."

A lady, who, from her own labors in the field, and in the promotion of

the benevolent plans of the Sanitary Commission, was brought into close

and continued intercourse with her, says of her:

"She gave to the work of the Sanitary Commission, all the energies of

her mind,--never faltering, or for a moment deterred by the many

unforeseen annoyances and trials incident to the position. The great

Sanitary Fair added to the cares by which she was surrounded; but that

was carried through so successfully and triumphantly, that all else was

forgotten in the joy of knowing how largely the means of usefulness was

now increased. Her labors ceased not until the war was ended, and the

Sanitary Commission was no longer required. Those only who have known

her in the work, can form an idea of the vast amount of labor it

involved.

"With an extract from the final report of the Women's Pennsylvania

Branch, made in the spring of 1866, which shows the character and extent

of the work accomplished, we close our account of this very efficient

organization.

"On the 26th of March, 1863, the supply department of the Philadelphia

agency was transferred to the Executive Committee of the Women's

Pennsylvania Branch. A large and commodious building, Number 1307

Chestnut Street, was rented, and the new organization commenced its

work. How rapidly the work grew, and how greatly its results exceeded

our anticipations are now matters of pleasant memory with us all. The

number of contributing Aid Societies was largely increased in a few

weeks, and this was accompanied by a corresponding augmentation of the

supplies received. The summer came, and with it sanguinary Gettysburg,

with its heaps of slain and wounded, giving the most powerful impulse to

every loving, patriotic heart. Supplies flowed in largely, and from

every quarter; and we found that our work was destined to be no mere

holiday pastime, no matter of sudden impulse, but that it would require

all the thought, all the time, all the energy we could possibly bring to

bear upon it. We had indeed put on the armor, to take it off only when

soldiers were no more needed on our country's battle-fields, because the

flag of the Union was waving again from every one of her cities and

fortresses. Then came the bloody battles and glorious victories, with

their depressing and their exhilarating effects. But, through the clouds

and through the sunshine alike, our armies marched on, fought on,

steadily and persistently advancing towards their final triumph. And so

in the cities, in the villages, in the quiet country homes, in the

luxurious parlor, in the rustic kitchen, everywhere, always, the women

of the country too pursued their patriotic, loving work, content if the

toil of their busy fingers might carry comfort to even a few of our

bleeding, heroic soldiers. And as they labored in their various spheres,

the results of their work poured into the great centres where supplies

were collected for the Sanitary Commission. Our Department came to

number over three hundred and fifty contributing Societies, besides a

large number of individuals contributing with almost the regularity of

our auxiliaries. Associate Managers, whose business it was to supervise

the work in their own neighborhoods, had been appointed in nearly every

county of the entire Department, fifty-six Associate Managers in all.

The time came when the work of corresponding with these was too vast to

be attended to by only one Corresponding Secretary. The lady who had

filled that office with great ability, and to whose energetic zeal our

organization owed its first impulse, was compelled by ill health to

resign. Her place was filled by a Committee of nine, among whom the duty

of correspondence was systematically divided. The work of our Associate

Managers deserves more than the passing tribute which this report can

give. They were nearly all of them women whose home duties gave them

little leisure, and yet the existence of most of our Aid Societies is

due to their efforts. In one of the least wealthy and populous counties

of Pennsylvania, one faithful, earnest woman succeeded in establishing

thirty Aid Societies. When the Great Central Fair was projected their

services were found most valuable in the counties under their several

superintendence, and they deserve a share of the credit for the

magnificent success of that splendid undertaking.

"The total cash value of supplies received is three hundred and six

thousand and eighty-eight dollars and one cent. Of this amount,

twenty-six thousand three hundred and fifty-nine dollars were

contributed to the Philadelphia Agency before the formation of the

Women's Branch. The whole number of boxes, barrels, etc., received since

the 1st of April, 1863, is fifty-three hundred and twenty-nine. Of these

packages, twenty-one hundred and three were received, from April 1st,

1863, until the close of the year; twenty-one hundred and ninety-nine

were received in 1864; and one thousand and twenty-seven have been

received since January 1st, 1865. During the present year, three hundred

and ninety-six boxes have been shipped to various points where they were

needed for the Army, and sixteen hundred and ninety-nine were sent to

the central office at Washington City. The last item includes the

transfer of stock upon closing the depot of this Agency. The total

number of boxes shipped from the Women's Pennsylvania Branch, since

April 1st, 1863, is two thousand and ninety-five. This means, of course,

the articles contributed by Societies, and does not include those

purchased by the Commission, excepting the garments made by the Special

Relief Committee.

"At length our work is done. Our army is disbanding, and we too must

follow their lead. No more need of our daily Committee and their

pleasant aids, to unpack and assort supplies for our sick and wounded.

God has given us peace at last. Shall we ever sufficiently thank him for

this crowning happiness? Rather shall we not thank him, by refusing ever

again to be idle spectators when he has work to be done for any form of

suffering humanity? And if our country shall, after its baptism of blood

and of fire, be found to possess a race of better, nobler American

women, with quickened impulses, high thoughts, and capable of heroic

deeds, shall not the praise be chiefly due to the better, nobler aims

set before them by the United States Sanitary Commission?

"The following is a list of the expenses of the Supply Department, from

the time of its organization to January 1st, 1866. These charges were

incurred upon goods purchased in this city, as well as upon those

contributed to the Women's Pennsylvania Branch. Their total value is

five hundred and ninety-six thousand four hundred and sixty-eight

dollars and ninety-seven cents."

Rent of Depository $2,876 66

Wm. Platt, Jr., Superintendent, for expenses incurred by him on

supplies contributed 2,159 73

Salary of Storekeeper and Porter 3,093 50

Freight, express charges, cartage 7,115 22

Boxes and material for packing 261 78

Labor, extra 352 96

Printing and Stationery 928 49

Advertising 2,310 59

Fuel and Lights 344 03

Fitting up Depository, including repairs 619 13

Insurance on Stock 244 00

Postages 940 66

Miscellaneous 668 11

---------

Total $21,914 86

---------

RELIEF COMMITTEE.--This Committee was organized in April, 1863, and had

for its object, during the first months of its existence, the relief of

the wants of soldiers; but finding a Committee of women unequal to the

proper performance of this duty, and at the same time having had brought

before them the great necessities of the families of our volunteers,

they resigned to other hands the care of the soldiers, and determined to

devote themselves to the mothers, wives, and children, of those who had

gone forth to battle for the welfare of all.

The rooms in which this work has been carried on, are at the South-east

corner of Thirteenth and Chestnut streets.

Two Committees have been in attendance daily to receive applications for

relief, work, fuel, etc. Persons thus applying for aid are required to

furnish proof that their sons or husbands were actually soldiers, and

are also obliged to bring from some responsible party a certificate of

their own honesty and sobriety. It then becomes the duty of the

Committee in charge to visit the applicant, and to afford such aid as

may be needed.

The means for supplying this aid have been furnished principally through

generous monthly subscriptions from a few citizens, through the hands

of Mr. A. D. Jessup. Donations and subscriptions, through the ladies of

the Committee, have also been received, and from time to time,

acknowledged in the printed reports of the Committee.

It has been the aim of the Committee to provide employment for the

women, for which adequate compensation has been given. The Sanitary

Commission furnished material, which the Relief Committee had cut and

converted into articles required for the use of the soldiers by the

Sanitary Commission. Thirty-seven thousand nine hundred and fifteen

articles have been made and returned to the Commission, free of charge.

Finding the supply of work from this source inadequate to the demands

for it, the Committee decided to obtain work from Government

contractors, and to pay the women double the price paid by the

contractors. Twenty thousand one hundred and seventy-four articles were

made in this way, and returned to the contractors who were kind enough

to furnish the work. Eleven hundred and twenty-nine articles have been

made for the freedmen, and five hundred and five for other charities;

making in all, fifty-nine thousand seven hundred and twenty-three

articles.

Eight hundred and thirty women have been employed in the two years

during which the labors of the Committee have been carried on; and it is

due to the women thus employed to state, that of the number of garments

made, but two have been missing through dishonesty.

The sources from which work has hitherto been obtained having failed,

through the blessed return of peace, and the destitution being great

among those near and dear to the men whose lives have been given to

purchase that peace, the Committee have determined not to cease their

labors during the present winter.

Two hundred women, principally widows, are now employed in making

garments from materials furnished by the Committee. These garments are

distributed to the most needy among the applicants for relief.

More than four hundred tons of coal have been given out to the needy

families of soldiers during the past two years, the coal being the gift

of a few coal merchants.

The receipts of the Committee have been as follows:

From Subscriptions and donations $28,300 00

From Entertainment given for the benefit of the Committee 1,444 00

From Contractors in payment for work done 1,681 31

From the Sanitary Commission 2,551 50

----------

Total $33,976 81

----------

This amount has all been expended, with the exception of two hundred and

forty-eight dollars and forty-seven cents, which balance remained in the

hands of the Treasurer on the 31st of December, 1865.

WISCONSIN SOLDIER'S AID SOCIETY.

Early in the summer of 1861, Mrs. Margaret A. Jackson, widow of the late

Rev. William Jackson, of Louisville, Kentucky, in connection with Mrs.

Louisa M. Delafield and others, engaged in awakening an interest among

the ladies of Milwaukee, in regard to the sanitary wants of the

soldiers, which soon resulted in the formation of a "Milwaukee Ladies'

Soldiers' Aid Society," composed of many of the benevolent ladies of

this city. The society was very zealous in soliciting aid for the

soldiers, and in making garments for their use in the service.

Very soon other Aid Societies in various parts of the State desired to

become auxiliaries to this organization, and soon after the battle of

Bull Run it became evident that their efficiency could be greatly

promoted by the Milwaukee Society becoming a branch of the United States

Sanitary Commission, and that relation was effected. The name of the

society was at this time changed to "Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society."

Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Delafield continued to be efficient as leaders in

all the work of this society, but in its reorganization, Mrs. Henrietta

L. Colt was chosen Corresponding Secretary, and commenced her work with

great zeal and energy. She visited the Wisconsin soldiers in various

localities at the front, and thus brought the wants of the brave men to

the particular knowledge of the society, and in this way largely

promoted the interest, zeal and efficiency of the ladies connected with

it. She described the sufferings, fortitude and heroism of the soldiers

with such simple pathos, that thousands of hearts were melted, and

contributions poured into the treasury of the society in great

abundance.

The number of auxiliaries in the State was two hundred and twenty-nine.

The central organization at Milwaukee, beside forwarding supplies, had

one bureau to assist soldiers' families in getting payments from the

State, one to secure employment for soldiers' wives and mothers through

contracts with the Government, under the charge of Mrs. Jackson, one to

secure employment for the partially disabled soldiers, and one to

provide for widows and orphans. The channels of benevolence through the

State were various; the people generally sought the most direct route to

the soldiers in the field; but the gifts to the army sent by the

Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society (their report says without any "Fair"),

alone amounted--the packages, to nearly six thousand in number, the

value to nearly two hundred thousand dollars.

The Wisconsin Aid Society and its officers also rendered large and

valuable aid to the two Sanitary Fairs held in Chicago in September,

1863, and June, 1865.

The Wisconsin Soldiers' Home, at Milwaukee, connected with the Wisconsin

Aid Society, was an institution of great importance during the war. Its

necessity has not passed away, and will not for many years. The ladies

who originated and sustained it were indefatigable in their labors, and

the benevolent public gave them their heartiest sanction. It gave

thousands of soldiers a place of entertainment as they passed through

the city to and from the army, and thus promoted their comfort and good

morals. The sick and wounded were there tenderly nursed; the dying

stranger there had friends.

During the year ending April 15, 1865, four thousand eight hundred and

forty-two soldiers there received free entertainment, and the total

number of meals served in the year was seventeen thousand four hundred

and fifty-six, an average of forty-eight daily. These soldiers

represented twenty different States, two thousand and ninety belonging

in Wisconsin. A fair in 1865 realized upwards of one hundred thousand

dollars, which is to be expended on a permanent Soldiers' Home, one of

the three National Soldiers' Homes having been located at Milwaukee, and

the Wisconsin Soldiers' Home being the nucleus of it.

[Illustration: MRS. HENRIETTA L. COLT.

Eng^d. by A.H. Ritchie.]

Mrs. Colt was so efficient a worker for the soldiers, that a brief

sketch of her labors, prepared by a personal friend, will be appropriate

in this connection.

MRS. HENRIETTA L. COLT, was born March 16th, 1812, in Rensselaerville,

Albany County, New York. Her maiden name was Peckham. She was educated

in a seminary at Albany, and was married in 1830, to Joseph S. Colt,

Esq., a man well known throughout the State, as an accomplished

Christian gentleman. Mr. Colt was a member of the Albany bar, and

practiced his profession there until 1853, when he removed to Milwaukee.

After three years' residence there he returned to New York, where he

died, leaving an honored name and a precious memory among men.

The death of Mr. Colt brought to his widow a sad experience. In a letter

to the writer, she expresses the deep sense of her loss, and the effect

it had in preparing her for that devotion to the cause of her country,

which, during the late rebellion, has led her to leave the comforts and

refinements of her home to minister to the soldiers of the Union, in

hospitals, to labor in the work of the Wisconsin Soldiers' Aid Society,

to go on hospital steamers as far as Vicksburg to care for the sick and

wounded, as they were brought up the river, where they could be better

provided for, to visit the camps and regimental hospitals around the

beleaguered city, and to return with renewed devotion to the work of

sending sanitary supplies to the sick and wounded of the Union army,

until the close of the war. After portraying the character of her

lamented husband, his chivalric tenderness, his thoughtful affection,

his nobility of soul, his high sense of justice, which had made him a

representative of the best type of humanity, she goes on to say: "The

sun seemed to me to go out in darkness when he went to the skies.

Shielding me from every want, from all care, causing me to breathe a

continual atmosphere of refinement, and love, and happiness, when he

went, life lost its beauty and its charm. In this state of things it was

to me as a divine gift--a real godsend--to have a chance for earnest

absorbing work. The very first opportunity was seized to throw myself

into the work for my country, which had called its stalwart sons to arms

to defend its integrity, its liberty, its very existence, from the most

gigantic and wicked rebellion known in history."

It is among the grateful memories of the writer of this sketch, that

during the winter of 1863, while stationed at Helena, he went on board a

steamer passing towards Vicksburg, and met there Mrs. Colt, in company

with Mrs. Livermore, and Mrs. Hoge, of Chicago, on their way to carry

sanitary stores, and minister to the sick and wounded, then being

brought up the river from the first fatal attack on Vicksburg, in which

our army was repulsed, and from the battle of Arkansas Post, on the

Arkansas river, in which we were successful, and from an expedition up

the White river, under General Gorman. He was greatly impressed with her

intelligence, her purity of character, the beautiful blending of her

religious and patriotic tendencies, the gentleness and tenderness with

which she ministered encouragement and sympathy to the sick soldier, and

the spirit of humanity and womanly dignity that marked her manners and

conversation. The same qualities were characteristic of her companions

from Chicago, in varied combination, each having her own individuality,

and it was beautiful to see with what judgment and discretion, and union

of purpose they went on their mission of love.

On their first visit, she and Mrs. Hoge, improvised a hospital of the

steamer on which they went, which came up from Vicksburg loaded with

wounded men, under the care of the surgeons. The dressing of their

wounds and the amputation of limbs going on during the passage, made the

air exceedingly impure, and yet these noble women did not flinch from

their duty, nor neglect their gentle ministrations, which were as balm

to the wounded heroes who lay stretched on the cabin floors from one end

of the boat to the other.

On the renewal of the siege of Vicksburg, by General Grant, and while

our army lay encamped for miles around, Mrs. Colt made a second visit to

the scene of so much suffering and conflict, and visited the camps and

regimental hospitals, where the very air seemed loaded with disease. Men

with every variety of complaint were brought to the steamer, where it

was known there were ladies on board, from the Sanitary Commissions, in

the hope of kinder care and better sustenance. It was amidst dying

soldiers, helpless refugees, manacled slaves, and even five hundred worn

out and rejected mules, that their path up the Mississippi had to be

pursued with patience, and fortitude, and hope.

In a note recently received from Mrs. Colt, she thus speaks of her

visits to the hospitals, and of the brave and noble bearing of the

wounded soldiers:

"I visited the Southwestern hospitals, in order to see the benefits

really conferred by the Sanitary Commission, in order to stimulate

supplies at home. Such was my story or the effect of it, that Wisconsin

became the most powerful Auxiliary of the Northwestern Branch of the

United States Sanitary Commission. I have visited seventy-two hospitals,

and would find it difficult to choose the most remarkable among the many

heroisms I every day witnessed.

"I was more impressed by the gentleness and refinement that seemed to

grow up and in, the men when suffering from horrible wounds than from

anything else. It seemed always to me that the sacredness of the cause

for which they offered up their lives gave to them a heroism almost

super-human--and the sufferings caused an almost womanly refinement

among the coarsest men. I have never heard a word nor seen a look that

was not respectful and grateful.

"At one time, when in the Adams' Hospital in Memphis, filled with six

hundred wounded men with gaping, horrible, head and hip gunshot wounds,

I could have imagined myself among men gathered on cots for some joyous

occasion, and except one man, utterly disabled for life, not a

regret--and even he thanked God devoutly that if his life must be given

up then, it should be given for his country.

"After a little, as the thought of his wife and babies came to him, I

saw a terrible struggle; the great beads of sweat and the furrowed brow

were more painful than the bodily suffering. But when he saw the look of

pity, and heard the passage, 'He doeth all things well,' whispered to

him, he became calm, and said, 'He knows best, my wife and children will

be His care, and I am content.'

"Among the beardless boys, it was all heroism. 'They gained the victory,

they lost a leg there, they lost an arm, and Arkansas Post was taken;

they were proud to have helped on the cause.' It enabled them apparently

with little effort to remember the great, the holy cause, and give leg,

arm, or even life cheerfully for its defense.

"I know now that love of country is the strongest love, next to the love

of God, given to man."

Besides the good done to the sick and wounded of our army by these

visits, an equal benefit resulted in their effect upon the people at

home, in inspiring them to new zeal and energy, and increasing

generosity on behalf of the country and its brave defenders.

Another service of great value to the soldiers, was rendered by Mrs.

Colt, under an appointment from the Governor of Wisconsin, to visit the

Army of the Cumberland, and see personally all sick Wisconsin men. She

went under the escort of Rev. J. P. T. Ingraham, and saw every sick

soldier of the Wisconsin troops in hospital. Their heroic endurance and

its recital after her return, stimulated immensely the generosity of the

people.

In such services as these Mrs. Colt passed the four years of the war,

and by her self-sacrifice and devotion to the cause, in which her heart

and mind were warmly enlisted, by the courage and fortitude with which

she braved danger and death, in visiting distant battle-fields, and

camps and hospitals, and ministering at the couch of sickness, and pain,

and death, that she might revive the spirit, and save the lives of those

who were battling for Union and Liberty, she has won the gratitude of

her country, and deserves the place accorded to her among the heroines

of the age.

MRS. ELIZA SALOMON, the accomplished and philanthropic wife of Governor

Salomon, of Wisconsin, was at the outbreak of the war living quietly at

Milwaukee, and amid the patriotic fervor which then reigned in

Wisconsin, she sought no prominence or official position, but like the

other ladies of the circle in which she moved, contented herself with

working diligently for the soldiers, and contributing for the supply of

their needs. In the autumn of 1861, her husband was elected Lieutenant

Governor of the State, on the same ticket which bore the name of the

lamented Louis Harvey, for Governor. On the death of Governor Harvey, in

April, 1862, at Pittsburg Landing, Lieutenant Governor Salomon was at

once advanced by the Constitution of Wisconsin, to his place for the

remainder of his term, about twenty-one months. Both Governor and Mrs.

Salomon, were of German extraction, and it was natural that the German

soldiers, sick, wounded or suffering from privation, should look to the

Governor's wife as their State-mother, and should expect sympathy and

aid from her. She resolved not to disappoint their expectation, but to

prove as far as lay in her power a mother not only to them, but to all

the brave Wisconsin boys of whatever nationality, who needed aid and

assistance.

At home and abroad, her time was almost entirely occupied with this

noble and charitable work. She accompanied her husband wherever his duty

and his heart called him to look after the soldiers. She visited the

hospitals East and West, in Indiana, Illinois, St. Louis, and the

interior of Missouri, and all along the Mississippi, as far South as

Vicksburg, stopping at every place where Wisconsin troops were

stationed.

Her voyage to Vicksburg in May, 1863, was one of considerable peril,

from the swarms of guerrillas all along the river, who on several

occasions fired at the boat, but fortunately did no harm.

She found at Vicksburg, a vast amount of suffering to be relieved, and

abundant work to do, and possessing firm health and a vigorous

constitution, she was able to accomplish much without impairing her

health. At the first Sanitary Fair at Chicago, Mrs. Salomon organized a

German Department, in which she sold needle and handiwork contributed by

German ladies of Wisconsin and Chicago, to the amount of six thousand

dollars. When, in January 1864, Governor Salomon returned to private

life, Mrs. Salomon did not intermit her efforts for the good of the

soldiers; her duty had become a privilege, and she continued her efforts

for their relief and assistance, according to her opportunity till the

end of the war.

PITTSBURG BRANCH, U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION.

Pittsburg, as the Capital of Western Pennsylvania, and the center of a

large district of thoroughly loyal citizens, early took an active part

in furnishing supplies for the sick and wounded of our armies. As its

commercial relations and its readiest communications were with the West,

most of its supplies were sent to the Western Armies, and after the

battle of Belmont, the capture of Fort Donelson, and the terrible

slaughter at Shiloh, the Pittsburg Subsistence Committee, and the

Pittsburg Sanitary Committee, sent ample supplies and stores to the

sufferers. The same noble generosity was displayed after the battles of

Perryville, Chickasaw Bluffs, Murfreesboro' and Arkansas Post. In the

winter of 1863, it was deemed best to make the Pittsburg Sanitary

Committee, which had been reorganized for the purpose, an auxiliary of

the United States Sanitary Commission, and measures were taken for that

purpose by Mr. Thomas Bakewell, the President, and the other officers of

the Committee. The Committee still retained its name, but in the summer

of 1863, a consolidation was effected of the Sanitary and Subsistence

Committees, and the Pittsburg Branch of the Commission was organized.

Auxiliaries had previously been formed in the circumjacent country,

acknowledging one or the other of these Committees as their head, and

sending their contributions and supplies to it. The number of these was

now greatly increased, and though latest in the order of time of all

the daughters of the Commission, it was surpassed by few of the others

in efficiency. The Corresponding Secretary and active manager of this

new organization was Miss Rachael W. McFadden, a lady of rare executive

ability, ardent patriotism, untiring industry, and great tact and

discernment. Miss McFadden was ably seconded in her labors by Miss Mary

Bissell, Miss Bakewell, and Miss Annie Bell, and Miss Ellen E. Murdoch,

the daughter of the patriotic actor and elocutionist, gave her services

with great earnestness to the work. In the spring of 1864, the people of

Pittsburg, infected by the example of other cities, determined to hold a

Sanitary Fair in their enterprising though smoke-crowned city. In its

inception, development and completion, Miss McFadden was the prime mover

in this Fair. She was at the head of the Executive Committee, and Miss

Bakewell, Miss Ella Steward, and Mrs. McMillan, were its active and

indefatigable Secretaries. The appeals made to all classes in city and

country for contributions in money and goods were promptly responded to,

and on the first of June, 1864, the Fair opened in buildings expressly

erected for it in Alleghany, Diamond Square. The display in all

particulars, was admirable, but that of the Mechanical and Floral Halls

was extraordinary in its beauty, its tasteful arrangement and its great

extent. The net results of the Fair, were three hundred and thirty

thousand four hundred and ninety dollars, and eighty cents, and while it

was in progress, fifty thousand dollars were also raised in Pittsburg,

for the Christian Commission. The great Central Fair in Philadelphia,

was at the same time in progress, so that the bulk of the contributions

were drawn from the immediate vicinage of Pittsburg.

The Pittsburg Branch continued its labors to the close of the war.

After the fair, a special diet kitchen on a grand scale was established

and supplied with all necessary appliances by the Pittsburg Branch. Miss

Murdoch gave it her personal supervision for three months, and in

August, 1864, prepared sixty-two thousand dishes.

MRS. ELIZABETH S. MENDENHALL.

This lady and Mrs. George Hoadley, were the active and efficient

managers of the Soldiers' Aid Society, of Cincinnati, which bore the

same relations to the branch of the United States Sanitary Commission,

at Cincinnati, which the Woman's Central Association of Relief did to

the Sanitary Commission itself. Mrs. Mendenhall is the wife of Dr.

George Mendenhall, an eminent and public-spirited citizen of Cincinnati.

Mrs. Mendenhall was born in Philadelphia, in 1819, but her childhood and

youth were passed in Richmond, Virginia, where a sister, her only near

relative, still resides. Her relatives belonged to the society of

Friends, and though living in a slaveholding community, she grew up with

an abhorrence of slavery. On her marriage, in 1838, she removed with her

husband to Cleveland, Ohio, and subsequently to Cincinnati, where she

has since resided, and where her hatred of oppression increased in

intensity.

When the first call for troops was made in April, 1861, and

thenceforward throughout the summer and autumn of that year, and the

winter of 1861-2, she was active in organizing sewing circles and aid

societies to make the necessary clothing and comforts which the soldiers

so much needed when suddenly called to the field. She set the example of

untiring industry in these pursuits, and by her skill in organizing and

systematizing their labor, rendered them highly efficient. In February,

1862, the sick and wounded began to pour into the government hospitals

of Cincinnati, from the siege of Fort Donelson, and ere these were

fairly convalescent, still greater numbers came from Shiloh; and from

that time forward, till the close of the war, the hospitals were almost

constantly filled with sick or wounded soldiers. To these suffering

heroes Mrs. Mendenhall devoted herself with the utmost assiduity. For

two and a half years from the reception of the first wounded from Fort

Donelson, she spent half of every day, and frequently the whole day, in

personal ministrations to the sick and wounded in any capacity that

could add to their comfort. She procured necessaries and luxuries for

the sick, waited upon them, wrote letters for them, consoled the dying,

gave information to their friends of their condition, and attended to

the necessary preparations for the burial of the dead. During the four

years of the war she was not absent from the city for pleasure but six

days, and during the whole period there were not more than ten days in

which she did not perform some labor for the soldiers' comfort.

Her field of labor was in the four general hospitals in the city, but

principally in the Washington Park Hospital, over which Dr. J. B. Smith,

who subsequently fell a martyr to his devotion to the soldiers,

presided, who gave her ample opportunities for doing all for the

patients which her philanthropic spirit prompted. During all this time

she was actively engaged in the promotion of the objects of the Women's

Soldiers' Aid Society, of which, she was at this time, president, having

been from the first an officer. The enthusiasm manifested in the

northwest in behalf of the Sanitary Fair at Chicago, led Mrs. Mendenhall

to believe that a similar enterprise would be feasible in Cincinnati,

which should draw its supplies and patrons from all portions of the Ohio

valley. With her a generous and noble thought was sure to be followed by

action equally generous and praiseworthy. She commenced at once the

agitation of the subject in the daily papers of the city, her first

article appearing in the _Times_, of October 31, 1863, and being

followed by others from her pen in the other loyal papers of the city.

The idea was received with favor, and on the 7th of November an

editorial appeared in the _Cincinnati Gazette_, entitled "Who speaks for

Cincinnati?" This resulted in a call the next day for a meeting of

gentlemen to consider the subject. Committees were appointed, an

organization effected and circulars issued on the 13th of November. On

the 19th, the ladies met, and Mrs. Mendenhall was unanimously chosen

President of the ladies' committee, and subsequently second

Vice-President of the General Fair organization, General Rosecrans being

President, and the Mayor of the city, first Vice-President. To the

furtherance of this work, Mrs. Mendenhall devoted all her energies.

Eloquent appeals from her facile pen were addressed to loyal and

patriotic men and women all over the country, and a special circular and

appeal to the patriotic young ladies of Cincinnati and the Ohio valley

for their hearty co-operation in the good work. The correspondence and

supervision of that portion of the fair which necessarily came under the

direction of the ladies, required all her time and strength, but the

results were highly satisfactory. Of the two hundred and thirty-five

thousand dollars which was the net product of this Sanitary Fair, a very

liberal proportion was called forth by her indefatigable exertions and

her extraordinary executive ability.

The aggregate results of the labors of the Women's Aid Society, before

and after the fair, are known to have realized about four hundred

thousand dollars in money, and nearly one million five hundred thousand

in hospital stores and supplies.

The fair closed, she resumed her hospital work and her duties as

President of the Women's Soldiers' Aid Society, and continued to perform

them to the close of the war. Near the close of 1864, she exerted her

energies in behalf of a Fair for soldiers' families, in which fifty

thousand dollars were raised for this deserving object. The testimonies

of her associates to the admirable manner in which her hospital work was

performed are emphatic, and the thousands of soldiers who were the

recipients of her gentle ministries, give equally earnest testimonies to

her kindness and tenderness of heart.

The freedmen and refugees have also shared her kindly ministrations and

her open-handed liberality, and since the close of the war her

self-sacrificing spirit has found ample employment in endeavoring to

lift the fallen of her own sex out of the depths of degradation, to the

sure and safe paths of virtue and rectitude.

With the modesty characteristic of a patriotic spirit, Mrs. Mendenhall

depreciates her own labors and sacrifices. "What," she says in a letter

to a friend, "are my humble efforts for the soldiers, compared with the

sacrifice made by the wife or mother of the humblest private who ever

shouldered a musket?"

DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH.

Dr. M. M. Marsh was Medical Inspector of the Department of the Gulf and

South, his charge comprising the States of Georgia, South Carolina, and

Florida. He held his appointment in the capacity mentioned from the

Sanitary Commission, and from Government, the latter conferring upon him

great authority over hospitals and health matters in general throughout

his district.

It was in the early part of the year 1863 that Mrs. Marsh left her home

in Vermont and joined her husband at Beaufort.

The object of Mrs. Marsh in going thither, was to establish a home with

its comforts amidst the unfamiliar scenes and habitudes of the South.

Everything was strange, unnatural, unreal. Beaufort was in conquered

territory occupied by its conquerors. The former inhabitants had fled,

leaving lands, houses and negroes--all that refused to go with them, or

could not be removed. Military rule prevailed, and the new population

were Northern soldiers, and a few adventurous women. Besides these were

blacks, men, women and children, many of them far from the homes they

had known, and strange alike to freedom and a life made independent by

their own efforts. From order to chaos, that was the transition a

Northern woman underwent in coming to this place and state of society.

Mrs. Marsh had no sooner arrived than she found there was work to do and

duties to perform in her new home on which she had not calculated. Her

husband was frequently absent, sometimes for long periods. To his charge

came the immense stores of supplies constantly forwarded by the Sanitary

Commission, which were to be received, accounted for, unpacked, dealt

out to the parties for whom they were intended. All this must be done by

an intelligent person or persons, and by the same, reports of the

condition of the hospitals must be made, together with the needful

requisitions.

Here was business enough to employ the time, exhaust the strength, and

occupy the thoughts of any single individual. It was a "man's work," as

Mrs. Marsh often declares. Be that as it may, it was accomplished by a

woman, and in the most admirable manner. The Sanitary Commission feels

both proud and grateful, whenever the name of Mrs. Marsh is mentioned.

Her services were not of a nature to elicit great applause, or to

attract much attention. They were quietly performed, and at a point

quite aside from battle-fields, or any great center where thousands of

spectators had the opportunity to become cognizant of them. But they

were not, on account of these facts, less beneficent or useful.

Mrs. Marsh often visited the hospitals and made the acquaintance of the

sick and wounded, becoming frequently, deeply interested in individuals.

This was a feeling entirely different from that general interest in the

welfare of every Union soldier which arose as much from the instincts of

a patriotic heart, as from philanthropy.

She never became a hospital nurse, however, for she was fully occupied

in other ways, and her husband, Dr. Marsh did not cordially approve,

save in a few particular instances, of the introduction of women to the

hospitals in that capacity. But living in the immediate vicinity of the

hospitals, her benevolent face was often seen there, and welcomed with

grateful smiles from many a bed of suffering.

A young officer from one of the Northern States and regiments, wounded

at the battle of Olustee, was brought to Beaufort Hospital for treatment

and care. Long previously there had been a compact between him and a

comrade that the one first wounded should be cared for by the other if

possible. The exigencies of the service were at that time such that this

comrade could not without much difficulty obtain leave of absence. He

finally, however, triumphed over all obstacles, and took his place

beside his friend. Mrs. Marsh often saw them together, and listened, at

one time, to a discussion or comparison of views which revealed the

character and motives of both.

The unwounded one was rejoicing that his term of service was nearly

expired. It was at a time when many were re-enlisting, but he

emphatically declared he would not. "I would, then," replied the wounded

man, "if I had the strength to enter upon another term of service, I

would do so. When I did enlist it was because of my country's need, and

that need is not less imminent now. Yes," he added, with a sigh, "if God

would restore me to health, I would remain in the service till the end

of the war. The surgeon tells me I shall not recover, that the next

hemorrhage will probably be the last. But I am not sorry, _I am glad_,

that I have done what I have done, and would do it again, if possible."

That this was the spirit of many of the wounded men, Mrs. Marsh delights

to testify. This man was God's soldier, as well as the Union's. He had

learned to think amid the awful scenes of Fort Wagner, and when wounded

at Olustee was prepared to live or die, whichever was God's will. Mrs.

Marsh was sitting beside his bed, in quiet conversation with him, when

without warning, the hemorrhage commenced. The plash of blood was heard,

as the life-current burst from his wound, and, "Go now," he said in his

low calm voice. "This is the end, and I would not have you witness it."

The hemorrhage was, however, checked, but he died soon after. Meantime

the Sanitary Commission stores were constantly arriving, and Mrs. Marsh

continued to take the entire charge of them. A portion of her house was

used for store-rooms, and there were received thousands of dollars'

worth of comforts of all kinds from the North--a constant, never-failing

flood of beneficence.

The first prisoners seen by Mrs. Marsh had come from Charleston. There

were nine privates and three or four officers. Their rags scarcely

covered them decently. They were filthy, squalid, emaciated. They halted

at a point several miles from Beaufort, and a requisition was sent by

the officers at this outpost, for clothing and other necessaries for the

officers of the party. These were sent, but Mrs. Marsh thought there

must be others--private soldiers, perhaps, for whom no provision had

been made. She accordingly dispatched her nephew, who was a member of

her family, to make inquiries and see that the wants of such were

provided for.

In a short time she saw him returning at the head of his ragged brigade.

The poor fellows were indeed a loathsome sight, worn, feeble, clad only

in the unsightly rags which had been their prison wear. They were not

shown into the office, but to a vestibule without, and their first

desire was for water, soap--the materials for cleanliness. Mrs. Marsh

examined her stores for clothing. That which was on hand was mainly

designed for hospital use. She would have given each an entire suit, but

could find only two or three pairs of coarse blue overalls, such as are

worn by laborers at the North. As she stepped to the door to give them

this clothing, she remarked upon the scarcity, and said the overalls

must be given to the men that most needed them, but at once saw that

where all were in filthy rags, there seemed no choice. The one who stood

nearest her had taken a pair of the overalls, and was surveying them

with delight, but he at once turned to another, "I guess he needs 'em

most, I can get along with the old ones, a while," he said, in a

cheerful tone, and smothering a little sigh he turned away.

This spirit of self-sacrifice was almost universal among the men of our

army, and was shown to all who had any care over them. How much every

man needed an entire change of clean, comfortable garments, was shown

the instant they left, when the nephew of Mrs. Marsh commenced sweeping

the vestibule where they had stood, with great vigor, replying to the

remonstrances of his aunt, only "I must," and adding, in a lower tone,

"They can't help it, poor fellows," as he made the place too hot to hold

anything with life.

It was in the summer of 1864, that communication was first obtained with

the prisoners in Charleston, a communication afterwards extended to all

the loathsome prison-pens of the South, where our men languished in

filth, disease, and starvation.

At this time Dr. Marsh's duties kept him almost entirely at Folly

Island, and there he received a letter from General Seymour who was

confined, with other Union officers, in Charleston, a part of the time

under fire, asking that if possible certain needful articles might be

sent to him. This letter was immediately sent to Mrs. Marsh, who at once

prepared a box containing more than twice the amount of articles asked

for, and forwarded them to the confederate authorities at Charleston,

for General Seymour. Almost contrary to all expectations, this box

reached the General, and but a short time elapsed before its receipt was

acknowledged. The General wrote touchingly of their privations, and

while thanking Mrs. Marsh warmly for the articles already sent,

represented the wants of some of the other gentlemen, his companions.

Supplies were sent them, received and acknowledged, and thus a regular

channel of communication was opened.

One noticeable fact attended this correspondence--namely, the extreme

modesty of the demands made; no one ever asking for more than he needed

at the time, as a pair of stockings, or a single shirt, and always

expressing a fear lest others might need these favors more than himself.

When, soon after, by means of this entering wedge, the way to the

prisons of Andersonville, Florence, and Salisbury, was opened, the same

fact was observed. In the midst of all their dreadful suffering and

misery, the prisoners there made no large demands. They asked for but

little--the smallest possible amount, and were always fearful lest they

might absorb the bounty to which others had a better claim.

After this communication was opened, Mrs. Marsh found a delightful task

in preparing the boxes which in great numbers were constantly being sent

forward to the prisons. It was a part of her duty, also, to inspect the

letters which went and came between the prisons and the outside world.

The pathos of many of these was far beyond description. Touching appeals

constantly came to her from distant Northern homes for some tidings of

the sons, brothers, fathers of whose captivity they had heard, but whose

further existence had been a blank. Where are they? and how are they?

were constantly recurring questions, which alas! it was far too often

her sad duty to answer in a way to destroy all hope.

And the letters of the prisoners, filled to the uttermost, not with

complaints, but with the pervading sadness that could not for one moment

be banished from their horrible lives! No words can describe them, they

were simply heart-breaking! Just as the horror of the prison-pens is

beyond the power of words to fitly tell, so are the griefs which grew

out of them.

Mrs. Marsh continued busily employed in this work of mercy until it was

suddenly suspended. Some formality had not been complied with, and the

privilege of communication was discontinued; and all their friends

disappointed and disheartened. This we can easily imagine, but not what

the suspension was to the suffering prisoners who had for a short season

enjoyed this one gleam of light from the outer world, and were now

plunged into a rayless hopeless night. When the time of deliverance

came, as we all know, many of them were past the power of rejoicing in

it.

Dr. Marsh was for a long time detained at Folly and Morris Islands. The

force at Beaufort was quite inadequate, and exceedingly onerous and

absorbing duties fell to the share of Mrs. Marsh. Communication was

difficult. Dr. Marsh at times could not reach his home. Vessels which

had been running between New York and Port Royal and Hilton Head were

detained at the North. The receipt and transmission of sanitary stores,

and the immense correspondence growing out of it; the general oversight

of the needs of the hospitals, and the monthly reports of the same all

fell heavily upon one brain and one pair of hands.

It was at just such an emergency that the army of Sherman, the "Great

March" to the sea nearly completed, arrived upon the scene. The sick and

disabled arrived by hundreds, the hospitals were filled up directly, and

even thronged; while so numerous were the cases of small-pox, which had

appeared in the army, that a large separate hospital had to be provided

for them.

We may perhaps imagine how busy was the brave woman, left with such an

immense responsibility on her hands.

Early in 1865, Dr. Marsh received notice that it had been determined to

send him to Newbern, North Carolina, but he never went, being attacked

soon after by a long and dangerous illness which for a time rendered it

improbable that he would ever see his Northern home again.