Woman's Work in the Civil War Part 54

It would have been more wisely distributed had it been entrusted to Mrs.

Griffin, as she was more thoroughly cognizant of the condition and real wants of the people than the Bureau could be. Mrs. Griffin has pursued her work of providing situations for the freedmen, and watching over their interests to the present time; and so long as life and health lasts, she is not likely to give it up.

MRS. M. M. HALLOWELL.

The condition of the loyal whites of East Tennessee and Northern Alabama and Georgia, deservedly excited the sympathy and liberality of the loyal North. No portion of the people of the United States had proved their devotion to the Union by more signal sacrifices, more patient endurance, or more terrible sufferings. The men for the mere avowal of their attachment to the Union flag and the Const.i.tution were hunted like deer, and if caught, murdered in cold blood. Most of them managed, though with great peril, to escape to the Union army, where they became valuable soldiers, and by their thorough knowledge of the country and their skill in wood-craft rendered important service as scouts and pioneers.

Whenever they escaped the Rebels visited them, their houses were plundered, their cattle and other live stock seized, and if the house was in a Rebel neighborhood or in a secluded situation, it was burned and the wife and children driven out penniless, and often maltreated, outraged or murdered. If they escaped with their lives they were obliged to hide in the caves or woods by day, and travel often hundreds of miles by night, to reach the Union lines. They came in, wearied, footsore, in rags, and often sick and nearly dead from starvation. When they reached Nashville, or Knoxville after it came into our possession, they were in need of all things; shelter, food, clothing, medicine and care. A few of them were well educated; the majority were illiterate so far as book knowledge was concerned, but intelligent and thoughtful on the subject of loyalty and the war; not a few were almost reduced to a state of fatuity by their sufferings, and seemed to have lost all distinct consciousness of what was occurring around them. Nashville and Knoxville a little later, Memphis, Cairo, St. Louis, and Louisville swarmed with these poor loyal people, and efforts were made in each city to aid them.

In the Northern cities large contributions of money and clothing were made for their relief. In Boston, Edward Everett, ever ready to aid the suffering, gave the great influence of his name, as well as his personal efforts, (almost the last act of his well-spent life) in raising a liberal fund for their help. In New York, Brooklyn and other cities, efforts were made which resulted in large contributions. In Philadelphia, Mrs. M. M. Hallowell, a lady of high position and great energy, appealed to the public for aid for these unfortunate people, and Governor Curtin and many other State and National official personages, gave their influence and contributions to the work. A large amount of money and stores having been collected, Mrs. Hallowell and a committee of ladies from Philadelphia visited Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Huntsville to distribute their stores in person. The journey undertaken early in May, 1864, was not unattended with danger; for, though General Sherman had commenced his great march toward Atlanta, Forrest, Morgan and Wheeler were exerting themselves to cut his communications and break up his connection with his base. Along some portions of the route the guerrillas swarmed, and more than once the cars were delayed by reports of trouble ahead. The courageous ladies, however, pushed forward and received from the generals in command the most hearty welcome, and all the facilities they required for their mission. They found that the suffering of the loyal refugees had not been exaggerated; that in many cases their misery was beyond description, and that from hunger, cold, nakedness, the want of suitable shelter, and the prevalence of malignant typhoid fever, measles, scarlet fever and the other diseases which usually prevail among the wretched and starving poor, very many had died, and others could not long survive. They distributed their stores freely yet judiciously, arranged to aid a home and farm for Refugees and Orphans which had been established near Nashville, and to render future a.s.sistance to those in need at Knoxville, Chattanooga, &c., and returned to Philadelphia. Mrs.

Hallowell visited them again in the autumn, and continued her labors for them till after the close of the war. The Home for Refugees and Orphans near Nashville, formed a part of the battle ground in the siege and battles of Nashville in December, 1864, and was completely ruined for the time. Some new buildings of a temporary character were subsequently erected, but the close of the war soon rendered its further occupation unnecessary.

Mrs. Hallowell's earnest and continued labors for the refugees drew forth from the loyal men and women of East Tennessee letters full of grat.i.tude and expressive of the great benefits she had conferred on them. Colonel N. G. Taylor, representative in Congress from East Tennessee, and one of the most eloquent speakers and writers in the West, among others, addressed her an interesting and touching letter of thanks for what she had done for his persecuted and tried const.i.tuents, from which we quote a single paragraph.

"Accept, my dear madam, for yourself and those a.s.sociated with you, the warmest thanks of their representative, for the n.o.ble efforts you have been and are making for the relief of my poor, afflicted, starving people. Most of the men of East Tennessee are bleeding at the front for our country (this letter was written before the close of the war) whilst their wives and little ones are dying of starvation at home. They are worthy of your sympathy and your labor, for they have laid all their substance upon the altar of our country and have sacrificed everything they had for their patriotism."

OTHER FRIENDS OF THE FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES.

In many of the preceding sketches we have had occasion to notice the labors of ladies who had been most distinguished in other departments of the great Army work, in behalf of the Freedmen, or the Refugees. Mrs.

Harris devoted in all five or six months to their care at Nashville and its vicinity. Miss Tyson and Mrs. Beck gave their valuable services to their relief. Miss Jane Stuart Woolsey was, and we believe still is laboring in behalf of the Freedmen in Richmond or its vicinity. Mrs.

Governor Hawley of Connecticut was among the first to instruct them at Fernandina and Hilton Head. Miss Gilson devoted nearly the whole of the last year of her service in the army to the freedmen and the hospital for colored soldiers. In the West, Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, while Matron of the Soldiers' Home at Memphis, bestowed a large amount of labor on the Refugees who were congregated in great numbers in that city. Mrs.

Clinton B. Fisk, the wife of the gallant Christian, General Fisk, exerted herself to collect clothing, money and supplies for the Refugees, black and white, at Pilot k.n.o.b, Missouri, and distributed it to them in person. Mrs. H. F. Hoes and Miss Alice F. Royce of Wisconsin, were very active in instructing and aiding the children of Refugees at Rolla, Missouri, in 1864 and 1865. Mrs. John S. Phelps established with the aid of a few other ladies a school for the children of Refugees at Springfield, Missouri, and Mrs. Mary A. Whitaker, an excellent and efficient teacher, had charge of it for two years.

At Leavenworth and Fort Scott, large and well conducted schools for the children of Refugees and Freedmen were established, and several teachers employed, one of them, Mrs. Nettie C. Constant, at Leavenworth, winning a very high reputation for her faithfulness and skill as a teacher.

The Western Sanitary Commission, the National Freedmen's Relief a.s.sociation, Relief Societies in Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and elsewhere, and later the American Union Commission, were all engaged in labor for either the Freedmen or the Refugees or both.

All these organizations employed or supported teachers, an all worked in remarkable harmony. At Vicksburg the Western Sanitary Commission sent, in the spring of 1864, Miss G. D. Chapman of Exeter, Maine, to take charge of a school for the children of Refugees, of whom there were large numbers there. Miss Chapman served very faithfully for some months, and then was compelled by her failing health, to return home.

The Commission then appointed Miss Sarah E. M. Lovejoy, daughter of Hon.

Owen Lovejoy, to take charge of the school. It soon became one of the largest in the South, and was conducted with great ability by Miss Lovejoy till the close of the War.

The National Freedmen's Relief a.s.sociation had, at the same time, a school for Freedmen and the children of Freedmen there, and Miss Mary E.

Sheffield, a most faithful and accomplished teacher from Norwich, Connecticut, was in charge of it. The climate, the Rebel prejudices and the indifference or covert opposition to the school of those from whom better things might have been expected, made the position one of great difficulty and responsibility; but Miss Sheffield was fully equal to the work, and continued in it with great usefulness until late in May, 1865, when finding herself seriously ill she attempted to return North, but on reaching Memphis was too ill to proceed farther, and died there on the 5th of June, 1865, a martyr to her faithfulness and zeal.

In Helena, a Refugee Home was established by the Western Sanitary Commission, and Mrs. Sarah Coombs, a benevolent and excellent lady of that town, placed in charge of it. At Nashville, Tennessee, the Nashville Refugee Relief Society, under the management of Mrs. Mary R.

Fogg, established a Refugees' Home which was aided by the Western Sanitary Commission, the Philadelphia ladies, and other a.s.sociations. At Little Rock, Arkansas, was another Home which did good service. But the most extensive inst.i.tution of this description, was the Refugee and Freedmen's Home at St. Louis, occupying the Lawson Hospital in that city, and established by the Western Sanitary Commission with the co-operation of the Ladies' Union Aid Society, and the Ladies'

Freedmen's Relief a.s.sociation. Mrs. H. M. Weed was its efficient matron, and was supported by a staff of six or seven a.s.sistants and teachers.

Over three thousand Refugees were received and aided here in the six months from February to July, 1865, and both children and adults were taught not only elementary studies but housework, cooking and laundry work; the women were paid moderate wages with which to clothe themselves and their children, and were taught some of the first lessons of a better civilization. In the superintendence of this good work, Mrs.

Alfred Clapp, the President of the Ladies' Union Aid Society, Mrs.

Joseph Crawshaw, an active member of that Society, Mrs. Lucien Eaton, the President of the Ladies' Freedmen's a.s.sociation, and Mrs. N.

Stevens, one of the managers of that Society, were a.s.siduous and faithful.

There were great numbers of other ladies equally efficient in the Freedmen's Schools and Homes in the Atlantic States, but their work was mainly under the direction of the Freedmen's Relief, and subsequently of the American Union Commission, and it is not easy to obtain from them accounts of the labors of particular individuals. The record of the women who have labored faithfully, and not a few of them to the loss of their health or lives in work which was in some respects even more repulsive to the natural sensibilities than that in the hospitals, if smaller in numbers, is not less honorable than that of their sisters in the hospitals.

PART V.

LADIES DISTINGUISHED FOR SERVICES IN SOLDIERS' HOMES, VOLUNTEER REFRESHMENT SALOONS, ON GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL TRANSPORTS, ETC.

MRS. O. E. HOSMER.

At the opening of the late war, the subject of this sketch, Mrs. O. E.

Hosmer, was residing with her family in Chicago, Illinois. Hers was by no means a vague patriotism that contented itself with verbal expressions of sympathy for her country's cause and defenders. She believed that she had sacrifices to make, and work to do, and could hope for no enjoyment, or even comfort, amidst the luxuries of home, while thousands to whom these things were as dear as to herself, had resolutely turned away from them, willing to perish themselves, if the national life might be preserved.

Her first sacrifice was that of two of her sons, whom she gave to the service of the country in the army. Then, to use her own words, "feeling a burning desire to aid personally in the work, I did not wait to hear of sufferings I have since so often witnessed, but determined, as G.o.d had given me health and a good husband to provide for me, to go forth as a volunteer and do whatever my hands found to do." Few perhaps will ever know to the full extent, how much the soldier benefited by this resolve.

To such a spirit, waiting and ardent, opportunities were not long in presenting themselves. Mrs. Hosmer's first experiences, away from home, were at Tipton, and Smithtown, Missouri. This was early in the winter of 1862, only a few months after the commencement of the War; but as all will remember there had already been desperate campaigns, and hard fighting in Missouri, and there were the usual consequences, devastation, want and suffering to be met on all sides.

At this time the effects of that beneficent and excellent inst.i.tution, the Northwestern Sanitary Commission, had not been felt at all points where need existed; for the field was vast, and even with the wonderful charities of the great Northwest, pouring into its treasury and store-houses, with a powerful organization, and scores of willing hands and brains at command, time was necessary to enable it to a.s.sume that sort of omnipresence which afterward caused it to be found in all places where battles were fought, or hospitals erected, or men suffered from the casualties of war, throughout that great territory.

Mrs. Hosmer found the hospitals at Tipton and Smithtown in the worst possible condition, and the men suffering for almost everything required for their comfort. This, under the circ.u.mstances, caused no surprise, for medical stores were not readily available at points so remote. But Mrs. Hosmer had the pleasure of causing a large box of Sanitary stores and comforts to be sent them by the kind and efficient agent at St.

Louis, which she helped to distribute. She was thus enabled to leave them in a much more comfortable condition.

On her return to Chicago, a number of influential ladies residing there, formed an a.s.sociation to which the name of the "Ladies' War Committee"

was given. Mrs. Hosmer was appointed secretary of this organization.

This a.s.sociation was very useful and efficient, and met daily to work for the soldiers, particularly in making up garments for the Regiments sent out by the Board of Trade of Chicago.

When these, the Eighty-eighth and Seventy-second Illinois Regiments, and the Board of Trade Battery, partic.i.p.ated in any battle, they volunteered to go and look after the wounded. The first volunteers were sent out upon this charitable mission after the battle of Stone River, about the 1st of January, 1863, when two ladies, Mrs. Hosmer and Mrs. Smith Tinkham proceeded to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with a large quant.i.ty of supplies. They remained there, in constant and unwearied attendance upon the large number of wounded from this important battle, for nine or ten weeks.

The writer of this sketch was at that time in Chicago, and well remembers the return of these ladies from this errand of mercy, and the simple pathos of the report they then made, to the Board of Trade, of their work and their stewardship of the funds entrusted to them by that body for the expenses of the expedition, and the use of the wounded.

As these ladies were the first volunteers upon the ground, they were warmly welcomed by the medical director and surgeons, and their services at once rendered available both in the preparation of delicacies for the sufferers, and in personal attendance upon them. Here Mrs. Hosmer met with a most singular and touching incident. A soldier who had been wounded in the leg, and taken prisoner, had his leg amputated by a Rebel surgeon. He was afterwards recaptured, and being found in a dreadful and dangerous condition, had to suffer a second amputation. It was only by the closest and best of care that there remained a possibility that his life might be saved; and this the surgeon in charge requested of Mrs.

Hosmer.

On approaching his bed, Mrs. Hosmer was almost painfully struck by his strong resemblance to one of her sons, while he was at the same instant, bewildered and excited by discovering in her an equally strong likeness to the mother he was never to see again.

It need hardly be said that this accidental likeness caused a strong bond of feeling between those till that moment utter strangers. The soldier begged to be allowed to call the lady mother, and she was only too glad to minister to him as she hoped some kind soul might do to the son he resembled, should an hour of need occur. She found him to be an educated and intelligent young man. She did for him all she could, and watched and tended him with real devotion, but in vain. It was found impossible to save him; and when he was gone, she performed the last of her sad offices, by cutting from above his brow a ma.s.s of cl.u.s.tering, raven curls, which she enclosed in a letter to his mother, telling her all she knew of her boy's bravery, and his fate.

These days at Murfreesboro were days of hard labor, but of great satisfaction. There had been more than five thousand men in hospital, but these were thinned out by deaths, convalescence, etc., until but few remained. Then Mrs. Hosmer and her friend returned to their home.

The following summer that admirable and most useful inst.i.tution, the "Soldiers' Home," was established in Chicago, and Mrs. Hosmer was appointed first vice-president.

This "Home" occupied much of her time for the following year. In connection with this was the Soldiers' Rest, where hundreds, and sometimes thousands of men, _in transitu_, were furnished with good warm meals, and with lodging for the sick, to the extent of its accommodations. This was entirely sustained and carried on by the ladies of Chicago, and Mrs. Hosmer often pa.s.sed entire days and nights there, in these labors of love.

After the battle of Chickamauga she again felt it a duty and privilege to proceed to the field, on a mission of mercy. Her friend, Mrs.

Tinkham, again accompanied her. As they neared Chattanooga, they were unfortunately taken prisoners. They suffered much fatigue, and many privations, but no other ill-treatment, though they were, a part of the time, in great danger from the sh.e.l.ls which were exploding all about them. They were however soon recaptured, and proceeded on their way.