Nurses in the Civil War

Clara Barton

Probably the name most remembered as a nurse during the Civil War is that of Clara Barton.  Her fame resulted in many locations and  structures being named after her.  Barton County, Kansas is named after Clara Barton, although she had no specific connection with Kansas.  However, many Civil War Veterans homesteaded in Kansas, and it may have been such a soldier who suggested her name for the county.  

At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, much doctoring was done in homes by family members.  There were only about 150 hospitals in the entire nation at the time the War began.

Dorothea Dix

Another significant woman is Dorothea Dix, who recruited nurses but demanded very specific qualifications:  at least 30 years old, plain looking, dressed in brown or black, and free of curls, jewelry, or hoops.  Her nurses were paid 40 cents a day, plus rations, housing, and transportation.  (Male nurses received $20.50 a month, plus other benefits.)

Both of these women provided significant leadership in establishing the needed organization to the care of Civil War Soldiers.  Dix was eager to employ her organizational skills, but her exacting standards annoyed hospital administrators and nurses, and Sec. of War Stanton removed Dix from that role to avoid the friction she caused. 

Mary Ann Bickerdyke

Mary Ann Bickerdyke was especially skilled as a nurse, having been trained in botanic and homeopathis medicine, as well as having been a private-duty nurse.  She was 45 at the start of the war and gained the respect of the high-ranking officers, acquiring the nickname of the "Cyclone in Calico" somewhere along the way.

Other women, whose names were well known at the time, in addition to thousands of women whose names are long forgotten, simply showed up to serve.  The three women described in this blog are among those particularly recognized for providing the much needed organization for care for wounded soldiers.  However, while the soldiers' wounds needed that care, it was sickness that created the greatest danger to Civil War soldiers.

The thousands of women who came to tend the sick and wounded allowed many of those soldiers to recover and return to civilian life following the War.

The Farmington Cemetery in Macksville, Kansas has 49 Civil War Graves--48 men and one woman.  These are the fortunate who survived the war and came to Kansas at some time later in their lives.  Most Civil War soldiers were between the ages of 18 and 29, and if they survived the disease and injury of the war, they had years ahead of them.

Photo Credit:  Lyn Fenwick

Mary C. Hill, the lone women that is buried in Farmington Cemetery in Macksville, Kansas, after having served in the Civil War, was also young.  She was an Army nurse from 1861 to 1865, beginning her military service at the age of 17.  According to the 1900 census, she married Paul H. Hill in 1862.  Whether they met during the war, fell in love, and married, or they were sweethearts and she became a nurse in order to be near him during the fighting, I do not know.  It was not unusual for women to become nurses in order to be near their family members.

Louisa May Alcott

Many of you will remember that in "Little Women," a telegraph arrived, which read:  "Mrs. March:  Your husband is very ill.  Come at once."  Mrs. March does not hesitate.

She says, "...I must go prepared for nursing.  Hospital stores are not always good.  Beth, go and ask Mr. Laurence for a couple of bottles of old wine:  I'm not too proud to beg for father; he shall have the best of everything."  Those of you who are fans of "Little Women" will probably remember Jo's sacrifice for her father's care.  After having sold her beautiful hair for $25, she tells her mother, "That's my contribution towards making father comfortable and bringing him home."  

"Little Women" shares in fiction the lack of government provisions for the sick and wounded Union soldiers, and the response of wives and family to step forward to provide what was needed.  In real life, Louisa May Alcott was one of those women who became briefly a Civil War nurse.

 

Your Favorite Children's Books, Part 3

For all my love of books, I regret that I ignored a wonderful set available on the bookshelves of my home when I was a child.  My grandparents had the 1909 edition of Journeys Through Bookland, a collection in ten volumes of children's literature, poetry, and fables with black and white illustrated plates and pen and ink illustrations.  I believe I opened the books once or twice but was disappointed by the absence of color illustrations.  What a shame to have ignored these wonderful books.

Comments from readers of this blog continued to mention fairy tales.  Lynn Suiter wrote:  "Strangely, the Norwegian fairy tale, "Three Billy Goats Gruff" comes to mind as an early memory.  All I can remember is the goats need to cross a bridge to get to grass for eating.  Under the bridge is a mean troll who eats anyone passing.  I can't remember being scared of this plot but that it was so far fetched."  I, too, remember this tale.  It is one of the fairy tales collected by Asbjornsen and Moe.  The plot is similar to other fairy tales involving "eat-me-when-I'm-fatter," such as Hansel and Gretel.

Jill Bowden provided a special surprise by posting pictures of the covers of some of her childhood favorites--"Jack & Jill magazine, Nancy Drew, My Big Story Book, Read with Dick & Jane" and the cover pictured to the left, "The Red Fairy Book."  She added, "I also read Laura Ingalls Wilder and Louisa May Alcott."  We certainly would not want to forget learning to read with the "Dick and Jane" books.

Linda Koebrich spotted the image of "365 Bedtime stories" and wrote, "Loved that book."  Nancy Moore, who shared her favorites last week, added her children and grandchildren's favorites, admitting that it was "hard to get all the way through because we kept laughing so hard!"  Those books are "Berenstiens B Book," in which almost every word starts with B, and "Because a Little Bug Went Ca-Choo," in which one action creates a long list of reactions!"  Genile Allton Rawson chose "The Trixie Belden mystery series [which she] started reading at age 10 and couldn't put them down."

One of the first replies to my call for followers to share their favorites came from Wes Fisk, who even provided biographical information about his favorite author, Dr. Thomas Clark Hinkle.  Hinkle was born in Illinois but came to Kansas with his parents in a covered wagon when he was two.  First ordained as a minister, he then became a doctor.  However, he found time to write more than 24 books for children about horses and dogs.  Wes said, "I loved his books."

Allan Hingston included books about dogs among his favorites, but he regretted the disappearance of some old favorites.  "Books I don't see anymore are ones like [The Adventures of] Ol Mistah Buzzard."  Its author, Thornton W. Burgess was a naturalist and conservationist who wrote more than 100 books, as well as countless short stories. His books were filled with characters like Little Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, and Buster Bear.  Fortunately, new editions are still available on Amazon.

Along with book titles, people shared wonderful stories.  Linda Nathan wrote:  "When I was a young child my family lived two blocks from the library in San Bernardino, California.  The children/young adults' library was located below street level with a separate street entrance down steps from the sidewalk.  It was a much safer time and at age five my parents began to allow me to make the two block walk by myself.  ...It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with books and reading."  She admitted that some days she checked out the 3 book limit in the morning and returned those for 3 more in the afternoon.

After reading the stories in last week's blog, Linda added "They bring back many good memories--reading Zane Grey westerns aloud to my younger sister, hiding a book in the bathroom, and making my dad angry when the dishwater got cold while I was happily reading away.  Little Golden Books, Nancy Drew, Little House Books, Little Women.  Oh my!"

In my earlier blog about children's books I said I did not know what Isaac B. Werner read as a child.  I still do not know, but given his love of Shakespeare, I think it is reasonable to suggest that he may have begun reading Shakespeare when he was quite young.  While young people today may find Shakespeare heavy going, that was not necessarily true in the 1800s, and Isaac was certainly a great fan when he was in his twenties, already familiar with Shakespeare's plays.  I suspect he began reading Shakespeare very early.

Thank you to everyone who has shared their favorite childhood books and stories about their early love of reading.  Next week I will conclude this series on children's books with a special look at two specific types of books.