1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,159 Speaker 1: I'm to blame a chalk reboarding and I'm fair And 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: so far in our little series about Civil War medicine, 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,479 Speaker 1: we've focused on stories about doctors, but we'd be remiss 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: if we didn't also discuss some of the other heroes 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: who fall under the umbrella Civil War nurses. And as 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: we mentioned in the podcast about Dr Mary Edwards Walker, 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: women weren't really welcome in the army or on the battlefield, 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,639 Speaker 1: especially at the start of the war. So first, all 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: of the nurses, both on the Confederate and the Union 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: side were guys. However, most of the male nurses were 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: just wounded soldiers who couldn't fight anymore, so they didn't 14 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: really know that much about how to take care of 15 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: sick people. They didn't have much experience. But when both 16 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: sides started to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: soldiers who were wounded or just say, of course it 18 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: is the Civil War after all, uh, they needed even 19 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: more help and women really started to get interested in working, 20 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: helping out and wrapped up in the whole challenge of 21 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: tending for these men, and the armies didn't relent at first, 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: but some women just kept pushing until they were able 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: to help. They just would not take no for an answer. 24 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: And then eventually the governments on both sides eased up 25 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: on their gender rules and thousands of women, about twenty 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: thousand in fact, ended up serving as nurses during the 27 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: Civil War. You'll often hear them referred to as angels 28 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: of the battlefield, hence the title to this podcast. And 29 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: some of them, like Walker, actually had some sort of 30 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: medical training, if you'll remember, she actually volunteered as a 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: nurse before being commissioned as an assistant surgeon. But there 32 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: were many others who were just courageous women who knew 33 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: something about sanitation and they had experienced treating sick family members. 34 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: And so we're going to talk about five of these 35 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: Civil War nurses, and by no means as this an 36 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: exhaust of list, there are so many that we aren't 37 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,919 Speaker 1: able to include, but we think that these are worthy 38 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: entries just the same. So first we're going to start 39 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: out with a nurse who served on the Confederate side 40 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: of the war early on in the war, by about 41 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: July eighteen sixty one, hospitals in the South filled up, 42 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: and the Confederate government asked locals to help by setting 43 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,119 Speaker 1: up private hospitals, and the most famous was one set 44 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: up by a woman named Sally Tompkins. So Sally Louisa 45 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: Tompkins was born November nine, eighteen thirty three, into a 46 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: family with a long military tradition. Her grandfather, Colonel John Patterson, 47 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: had been commissioned by George Washington himself during the Revolutionary War, 48 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: and this was probably one reason. The strong military tradition 49 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 1: was one reason that Tompkins supported the Confederate cause so passionately. 50 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: But she was also very passionate about her commitment to 51 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: the Episcopal Church, and it was through her church that 52 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: she initially got involved in charitable efforts like nursing. You're 53 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: going to see a church connection with several of these ladies. 54 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: In fact, she was used attending the thick even slaves 55 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: on plantations near where she lived, so she she had 56 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: experience um nursing, yeah, and she didn't discriminate in that department. 57 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: And after her father died, Tompkins and her mother moved 58 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: to Richmond from Matthews County, Virginia and joined St. James 59 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: Episcopal Church there, and that's where Sally got to know 60 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 1: some prominent people in Richmond, including a person named Judge 61 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: John Robertson. And after the war started, Robertson moved his 62 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: family to the country to keep them safe, and he 63 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: allowed Tompkins to convert his vacant home in Richmond into 64 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: a twenty two bed private hospital. She did this mostly 65 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: with her own funds, and she named it Robertson Hospital 66 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: in honor of the judge. The hospital opened up July one, 67 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one. So if you're gonna have a hospital, 68 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: you need to have doctors too, and she got doctor A. Y. P. 69 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: Garnett to be her chief surgeon and another six doctors 70 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: or so to work under him. And Sally also had 71 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: a group of female volunteers recruited called the Ladies of 72 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: Robertson Hospital to help her manage things and staff the 73 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: whole operation, and Robertson Hospital was known for being especially 74 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: efficient and well organized, but above all for being especially clean. 75 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: Sally had been described as being obsessed with cleanliness and sanitation, 76 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: and of course this was really before people knew a 77 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: whole lot about the link between sanitation and preventing infection, 78 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: but it suspected that this is why she was able 79 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: to save an unusually high number of lives at her hospital, 80 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that a little more 81 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: in just a bit. But the road wasn't entirely smooth 82 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: for Sally's hospital. In September of eighteen sixty one, just 83 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: a few weeks after the hospital had opened, the government 84 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: decided to close all private hospitals. And that's I mean, 85 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: there are several reasons for this, but some of the 86 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: hospitals were charging too much and keeping soldiers longer than 87 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: they really needed to, and so the Army wanted to 88 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: place them under the control of the utter A Medical 89 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: Department instead. But Robertson Hospital was going to be closed 90 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: as part of this decision, but Tompkins fought back. She 91 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: appealed to President Jefferson Davis himself, and she showed him 92 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: her records which showed the really high percentage of soldiers 93 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: that she had helped get back to the battlefield already. 94 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: And Davis was convinced by this, and he agreed to 95 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: let Robertson Hospital come under the Army's control, which would, 96 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: among other things, give them access to whatever supplies the 97 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: Army had and as part of this, Sally was commissioned 98 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: as a captain in the Confederate Cavalry on September nine, 99 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one. But even though she accepted that commission, 100 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: she refused to accept any army pay and preferred to 101 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: get food in medicine for the men instead. And that's 102 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: another thing I think you'll notice with a few of 103 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: these ladies, this real selfless quality, sometimes to their own 104 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: detriment in the end. But this commission as captain in 105 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: the Confederate Cavalry made her the first woman in the 106 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: country to hold a military rank during wartime and the 107 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: only woman officer to serve in the Confederate Army, and 108 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: it caught on soon. She became known affectionately as Captain Sally. 109 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: And Robertson Hospital stayed open for the duration of the war, 110 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: and Captain Sally spent basically all of her time they're 111 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: tending to patience with her medicine bag and her bible 112 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: and tow and really earned a reputation for her healing hands. Actually, 113 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: patients seemed to seem to notice her hands in particular. 114 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: You know, they called her the little lady with the 115 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: milk white hands. That was one of her nicknames in 116 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,040 Speaker 1: addition to Captain Sally, And according to an article by 117 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: Reid Albert and Civil War Times, several soldiers proposed marriage 118 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: to her. And I mean they weren't just taken by 119 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: her hands. I guess they were taken by her whole package. Yes, 120 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: But she turned them all down and would say, quote, 121 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: poor fellows, they are not yet well of their fevers. 122 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: And she stayed single her entire life. So on June 123 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: Robertson Hospital closed and in four years, one thousand thirty 124 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: three patients had been treated there and out of all 125 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: of those patients, only seventy three had died, which is 126 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: a point five percent survival rate, and it's said to 127 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: have had the lowest mortality rate of any military hospital 128 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: during the Civil War. Again, maybe because of her insistence 129 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: on high sanitation standards, cleanliness, all of that. And she 130 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: didn't stop there. Captain Sally continued to devote her life 131 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: to philanthropy until she died in July of nineteen sixteen 132 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: at the age of eighty three, and she was buried 133 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: with full military honors. But we should say that at 134 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: her time of death she was pretty much completely broke 135 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: because she had spent all of her money on these 136 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: philanthropic efforts, all right, So for our next entry, we're 137 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: going to move to the Union side and talk about 138 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: the famous nurse Mary Anne Bickerdyke. And she was originally 139 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: from Knox County, Ohio, and attended Oberlin College and later 140 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: trained in botanic and homeopathic medicine. And after her husband, 141 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: Robert Bickerdyke, died in eighteen fifty nine, she continued to 142 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: practice botanic medicine and apparently did some private nursing as well. 143 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: So she had a she had a good background going 144 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: into this whole thing, and she wanted to spend the 145 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: rest of her life helping people who were ill or 146 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: who were in pain. Yeah, I've read that desire to 147 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: help people actually stemmed from her reaction to her husband's 148 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: death and her grief there. But in June of eighteen 149 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: sixty one, her church congregation put her in charge of 150 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: making sure a bunch of food and medical supplies made 151 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: it to a makeshift army hospital in Cairo, Illinois. And 152 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: she was in her mid forties or so at the time. 153 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: But when she got there, she was really appalled at 154 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: the conditions that she found. They were extremely unsanitary, so 155 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: she immediately got to work cleaning, cooking, and offering her 156 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: nursing services there. Soon she became matron or head nurse there, 157 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: and her cleanup effort spread to several other military hospitals 158 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: in the area. By spring of eighteen sixty two or so, 159 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: Marianne began traveling around to other areas to trying to 160 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: set up clean conditions for medical treatment wherever she went, 161 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: and established mobile laundries and kitchens. And she was also 162 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,599 Speaker 1: relentless and trying to forge for supplies for wounded or 163 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: six soldiers. She really was. She would raid government supplies 164 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: without permission. She would even take things from care packages 165 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: that had been sent to healthy soldiers. So, in other words, 166 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: she did not always play by the rules. And at 167 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: first marian really didn't have any sort of official status 168 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: with the army, but that didn't stop her from being 169 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: pretty pushy and lending a hand or lending her opinion 170 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: when it came to the medical treatment of soldiers. She 171 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: even called doctors out on certain occasions when she thought 172 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: that they were stealing soldiers medicine or food, or just 173 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: somehow not acting professionally. And at one point when a 174 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: battlefield surgeon asked her who gave her permission to do 175 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: what she was doing? You know, like, why are you here? 176 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: Mary Anne famously responded, quote, I have received my authority 177 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: from the Lord God Almighty. Have you anything that ranks 178 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: higher than that? It's tough to argue. Yes, she was, 179 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: and she eventually did get a bit more influence. She 180 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: was named an agent of the U. S. Sanitation Commission 181 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty two, and she earned the respect and 182 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: friendship of two very important men, General's Ulysses S. Grant 183 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: and William T. Sherman. And when someone once complained about 184 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: Marianne to Sherman, Sherman said to have told the person, quote, well, 185 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,239 Speaker 1: she ranks me, and recommended that that person the complainer, 186 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: register his complaint with Abraham Lincoln instead of pick it 187 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: up a notch. Exactly Once, though, Sherman did get frustrated 188 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: with Marianne and asked if she had ever heard of 189 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: a little thing called in subordination. According to an article 190 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,959 Speaker 1: in America's Civil War by Alice Stein, Marianne responded, quote, 191 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: you bet I've heard of it. It's the only way 192 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: I ever get anything done in this army. And she 193 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: really did get a lot done. In addition to improving 194 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 1: hospital conditions and scavenging for supplies and helping treat soldiers, 195 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: she became well known for scouring battlefields to make sure 196 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: that no wounded but living soldiers were out there all alone, 197 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: and on at least one occasion, she's said to have 198 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: done this by herself at night with just a lantern 199 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: two soldiers she cared for. Marianne became known as Mother Bickerdyke, 200 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: and because she was so tireless, some also called her 201 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: the cyclone in Calico, which I think, doesn't that sound 202 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: like maybe a young adult story. It really does. The 203 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: whole war nurses go right at somebody. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 204 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: about three hundred field hospitals were built under marianne supervision 205 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: during the war, and when the war was over, she 206 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: resigned from the Sanitary Commission to devote the rest of 207 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: her life to charitable deeds until she died in nineteen 208 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: o one. Alright, so moving on to our next entry, 209 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: we're heading south again, and this time we're going to 210 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: talk about Juliette and Opie Hopkins, who is also known 211 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 1: appropriately enough as the Angel of the South and Unlike 212 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,719 Speaker 1: some of the other nurses on our list, Juliette and 213 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 1: Opie Hopkins is probably better remembered as a hospital administrator 214 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: than as a hands on nurse. So she did get 215 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: shot in the hip during the Battle of Seven Pine, 216 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: so she certainly put in her time. Still, though her 217 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: influence was great enough for Robert E. Lee to praise 218 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: her work and for her to become a pretty well 219 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: known figure in the South during the war. Just a 220 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: little bit about her background. She was born juliet and 221 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: Obi May seven, eighteen on a Virginia plantation, and she 222 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: was pulled out of school at sixteen when her mother died, 223 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: making her mistress of the house and of more than 224 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: two thousand slaves. She was married in her teens and 225 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: widowed in her early twenties, and Opie didn't marry again 226 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: until her mid thirties, when she would Arthur Francis Hopkins, 227 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: a much older widower and the former Chief Justice of 228 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: the Alabama Supreme Court and at the time president of 229 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. So she moved south to Alabama, 230 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: but she and her husband really didn't stay in Mobile 231 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: for very long because when the Civil War started and 232 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: Alabama went along with the whole thing. Hopkins knew that 233 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: the Alabama men fighting up Virginia would need some sort 234 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: of medical assistance. They would be without help essentially, and 235 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: at the start of the war, there wasn't yet a 236 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: United Confederate response to treating the wounded, as we know 237 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: from talking about Tompkins a minute ago, So it was 238 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: left to states or even individuals like Tompkins or like Hopkins, 239 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: to take care of setting up hospitals for long term treatment, 240 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: as well as for setting up those field camps at 241 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: the front lines of battles. So by the first Battle 242 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: of Manassas, she had already had a great reputation for 243 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: quickly setting up facilities, for staffing them, and for provisioning them. 244 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: And she could turn a tobacco factory into a hospital 245 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: in a matter of hours if there were wounded men 246 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: waiting for beds, just to give you an example of 247 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: how quick she was. By November eighteen sixty one, and 248 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: the Alabama legislature finally began authorizing and provisioning state hospitals 249 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: in Virginia. They set aside thirty thousand dollars for costs 250 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: and made Judge Hopkins the hospital superintendent although they likely 251 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,560 Speaker 1: knew well that the ailing sixty nine year old judge 252 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: wouldn't be the one who was doing all the work 253 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: his wife would. Mrs Hopkins would, and one of Mrs 254 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: hopkins great skills was not relying on that patchy funding 255 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: from the Alabama state legislature, though, according to an article 256 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: by James Knowles in American Civil War, she would raise 257 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: money from women's auxiliary clubs, from the Grand Lodge of 258 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: the Masonic Order of Alabama, and even Tuskegee school girls 259 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: who would put on concerts and send fifty or sixty 260 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: dollars something like that. Um She also used a considerable 261 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: part of her own and her husband's fortunes to staff 262 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: those field camps and and set them up in the 263 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: first place. By late eighteen sixty two, the Confederate Congress 264 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: was starting to consolidate these state run hospitals into larger 265 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: facilities in Richmond, as we mentioned with Tompkins. By December 266 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, the Alabama legislature finally stopped funding and 267 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: the Hopkins hospitals were looped in under one Confederate department. 268 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: So Mrs Hopkins went home to Alabama and how her 269 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: picture put on some of the state's currency. She was 270 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: kind of a hero in her own state. Yep. She 271 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: nursed her husband until his death shortly after the war, 272 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: and ultimately relocated to New York, where she lived for 273 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: several more decades before dying in Washington, d c. And 274 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: being buried in Arlington Cemetery. We wanted to include a 275 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: quote about Mrs Hopkins, because, of course, for a nurse, 276 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: the best testimony is not going to come from General Lee, 277 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: but from one of her own patients. One of these guys, 278 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: Private Willie S. Campbell, from the fifth Alabama Infantry, wrote 279 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: of his eighteen sixty Tuesday in one of her hospitals quote, 280 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: I'm very comfortably located in the hospital and expect her 281 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: remain here but a few days. This hospital and also 282 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: the second Alabama, are under the charge of Mrs Hopkins 283 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: of Mobile. They're kept clean and nice. The fair though 284 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: playing is nevertheless good and such as the sick ought 285 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: to have. The physicians in charge, Doctors Morgan and Stinson 286 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: are very attentive. In short, a sick man fares finally 287 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: here in Comparis, then to the other hospital. Next up 288 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: on our list, we have a very well known nurse 289 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: who was involved in the Union War effort, Dorothea Dix, 290 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: and she's probably one of the most notable names on 291 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: this list, and it seems like a really natural fit 292 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: due to her prestigious title during the war, Superintendent of 293 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: Army Nurses. But strangely enough, it's her career before the 294 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: war that she's best known for, and it's her decidedly 295 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: non military experience that got her that job in the 296 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: first place. She's kind of a contradiction here, so. Born 297 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: April four, eighteen o two in Hampden, Maine, Dix was 298 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: the daughter of a prosperous Boston family's black sheep. She 299 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: has such an interesting kind of sad childhood. But her father, Joseph, 300 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: had been a divinity student at Harvard when he met 301 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: and married a lady eighteen years his senior and much 302 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: below his social standing. And not only did Joseph get 303 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: kicked out of school for this because he couldn't be 304 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: married at the time, his father also exiled him to 305 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: the main frontier to manage land. He really didn't do 306 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: much of that. He preferred to pursue itinerant preaching, which 307 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: was not a lucrative career. So Dorothea grew up poor 308 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: and with an often absent father and a sickly mother 309 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: and two little brothers, so not much of a childhood 310 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,359 Speaker 1: at all. So at twelve she decided she wanted something 311 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: better for herself, and she ran away. And she went 312 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: to her wealthy Boston grandmother, who tried to turn her 313 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: into a nice young lady and give her an education. 314 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: Biographer Dorothy Wilson wrote that her grandmother tried to instill 315 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: quote industry inflexible dignity, economy, perfection and manners, spartan discipline, 316 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,719 Speaker 1: and puritanical piety in her and it must have worked, 317 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: because only two years later, the formally uneducated Dorothea went 318 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: to live with a great aunt in Wooster and started 319 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: school for the children of the city's elite. They're a 320 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: fourteen year old teacher or a fourteen year old school mistress. Actually, 321 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: it's it's pretty remarkable to think of how much she 322 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: must have learned in this two years. It isn't she 323 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: didn't stop there. By the time she returned to Austin, 324 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: she was considered by the way quite beautiful and accomplished. 325 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,479 Speaker 1: She skipped out on a debutante lifestyle and opted instead 326 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: to start a school there as well, so soon she 327 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: was managing two schools. She was educating wealthy children in 328 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: her grandmother's home in the morning and then teaching poor 329 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: kids in the afternoon for free. So by her mid 330 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: thirties she had had a broken engagement over her refusal 331 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: to stop teaching and stop writing and stop all of 332 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: her charitable pursuits um and had also suffered from several 333 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: spells of exhaustion and ill health. Dorothea was trying to 334 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: figure out what she was going to do with her life, 335 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: and by this point also with her wealth, because her 336 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 1: grandmother had left her pretty sizable fortune. So by chance, 337 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: Dorothea was asked by a Harvard divinity student in eighteen 338 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: forty one whether she knew anybody who might like to 339 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: teach Sunday school to female prisoners in Cambridge, and Dorothea 340 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: volunteered herself, and after the lesson, she had a little 341 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: tour of the jail, including the areas where the crim 342 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: only insane were kept, and she was just horrified by 343 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: what she saw there. They were kept in cold, dank 344 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: cells with no heat. I mean, this is this is 345 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: Massachusetts too, so think about that, and only rags for clothing, 346 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 1: and Dorothea was told that they couldn't feel things like 347 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: saying people could don't worry about them. It was all okay, 348 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: But she was deeply disturbed and started to talk to 349 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: doctors and mental health experts who were beginning to understand that, 350 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,679 Speaker 1: contrary to popular belief at the time, mental illness was 351 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: something that was physical, not a spiritual problem, and therefore 352 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 1: not something that families needed to be ashamed of, because 353 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: often if families couldn't tend for their own mentally ill 354 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: at home, the sick would just wind up in jail 355 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: or in poor houses, where the conditions were often terrible. 356 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: So Dix began a campaign for better state facilities, first 357 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: surveying the mentally ill of Massachusetts and moving on from there. 358 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: In the eighteen fifties, she did similar servi ways in Russia, 359 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: at the Vatican, and in Turkey, and it was her 360 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: fame as a champion for the mentally ill and her 361 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: connection to governor, senators and other really high powered people 362 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: that got her appointed as the superintendent of Army nurses. 363 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,880 Speaker 1: And interestingly, it wasn't until the war that Dix had 364 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: even become a public critic of slavery although she had 365 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: long been personally against it. It's just that she hadn't 366 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: wanted to risk alienating the South exactly. But once the 367 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: war really started, she worked to organize volunteer nurses into 368 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: cores and improve conditions in the hospitals and camps. But 369 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: she wasn't quite as beloved in her service for the 370 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: army as she was in her civilian life. Some of 371 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: her critics thought she was kind of inflexible as an administrator, 372 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: and that drive for perfection, which was of course the 373 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: quality that had made her so successful as a reforming 374 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: or a really vigilant kind of person, made her less 375 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: popular with doctors when she went about trying to reform 376 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: their operation ends. And so as soon as the war 377 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: was over, she was completely relieved to get back to 378 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: her work as a champion for the mentally ill, and 379 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 1: was ultimately responsible for creating thirty two asylums in the 380 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: US and improving many many more, and maybe most importantly, 381 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: helping to change people's attitudes about how to how to 382 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: care for people with mental illnesses. She died in New 383 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: Jersey in eight seven. The last person on our list 384 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: is perhaps even more well known than Dicks. I feel 385 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: like we get requests to cover this person every so often, 386 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: don't you think, Sarah. I think we do. And she 387 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: was known as the Angel of the Battlefield. I think 388 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: that was her nickname first we mentioned just generally known 389 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: as all the nurses were the angels. Clara Barton was 390 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: the Angel of the Battlefield. Yes, And while she didn't 391 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: go into the war as famous as Dorothea Dick, she 392 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: came out of it even better known. Was probably maybe 393 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: the best known of all the Civil War nurses. She 394 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: was born Clarissa Harlowe Barton in North Oxford, Massachusetts, on 395 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: Christmas Day in eight one, and she was the youngest 396 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: of five kids of a prosperous farmer, and she grew 397 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: up riding horses, hearing war stories from her father, and 398 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: getting her early nursing training by tending to her brother 399 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: who had been injured in a fall. So at age eighteen, 400 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: she became a teacher, worked at that for about ten 401 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: years before leaving briefly to attend college, and then when 402 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:27,959 Speaker 1: she was done with that, went back to work as 403 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: a teacher and even established her own school in New Jersey. 404 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: She had a bad experience with that, though she had 405 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: raised funds for the school and set it up successfully, 406 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 1: and as soon as it was kind of on its 407 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: feet and doing well, um Man was appointed as her supervisor. 408 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: So she quit quit teaching entirely and moved to Washington, 409 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: d C. To go to work for the Patent Office 410 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,439 Speaker 1: as a copyist. And that was a good place for 411 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: her to be because she started making some influential friends 412 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: like Senators Charles Sumner, who we talked about I think 413 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 1: on the Interview with David McCullough podcast, and Senator Henry 414 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: Wilson as well. And just incidentally, I know a lot 415 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: of the nurses we've talked about have been single. Barton 416 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: never married as well, even though she had numerous suitors, 417 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: including a forty niner who must have done quite well 418 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,960 Speaker 1: in his pursuit of goal because he sent her ten 419 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: thousand dollars at one point as an unsuccessful enticement to wed. 420 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,199 Speaker 1: It was still shot down. I can't believe it. So 421 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: when the Civil War began, Barton started volunteering immediately. She'd 422 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: meet men arriving in d C. From New England and 423 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: treat their sunstroke or other ailments from the road, and 424 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: she recognized a lot of the kids from New England 425 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: as her former students, and soon enough, families from Massachusetts 426 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,239 Speaker 1: and New Jersey started to send her supplies, knowing that 427 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: she'd get them to their boys. So not long after 428 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: Barton started doing this, she decided to leave her job 429 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 1: and start working as a volunteer nurse for the Union 430 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: Army full time. Her for order of business was to 431 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: single handedly start a campaign to get the word out 432 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,399 Speaker 1: that the army was really badly in need of supplies. 433 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 1: So she advertised in newspapers and talked to as many 434 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: people as she could, and people from just about every 435 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: northern state responded, sending food, medicine advantages. Eventually she needed 436 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: three warehouses to store it all, and by eighteen sixty 437 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: two Clara was visiting battle grounds herself. She would lead 438 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: teams of volunteers out to the front lines and deliver supplies, 439 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: and once she was there, she'd walk around and tend 440 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: to the wounded men lying on the ground and bring 441 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: them things like gruel or tea and wine and um. 442 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: Just as an example, in August eighteen sixty two, she 443 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: arrived at the Second Battle of bull Run, or Manassas 444 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: as we called it earlier, with three railroad cars of 445 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 1: supplies and four volunteers, and she stayed just until the 446 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: last possible second. The train carried her off just as 447 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: the Confederate troops were rounding a hill behind her, right 448 00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: where she had been tending to men a few minutes earlier. 449 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: So obviously life on the front lines did mean some 450 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: close call. She had a bullet passed through her sleeve 451 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: and kill a wounded man who she was tending, and 452 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: she also had an exploding shell tear off part of 453 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: her skirt as an officer was helping her over a 454 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: bridge and some debris. She became known as the Florence 455 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: Nightingale of America, or the Angel of the Battlefield, as 456 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: we mentioned, and troops would cheer when she arrived, even 457 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: get out the brass bands sometimes. But by the war's midpoint, 458 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: better organization meant that the provisioning wasn't quite as desperate, 459 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: so officers with the U. S. Sanitary Commission started to 460 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 1: turn down Barton's help. She got sent back to d 461 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: C and was actually depressed, maybe even suicidal at this time, 462 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,360 Speaker 1: according to the Women in World History Encyclopedia. Fortunately, though 463 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: Senator Henry Wilson pulled through her for his buddy Clara 464 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: and got her papers restored, and she went to work 465 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: for Grant's army and served through out the remainder of 466 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: the war. But even after the fight was over, she 467 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 1: really kept her position as a soldiers advocate and worked 468 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: at first independently to locate missing men on behalf of 469 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: families who had been writing to her throughout the war, 470 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: and was ultimately granted a government allowance and helped to 471 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: create these lists of missing men that were circulated around 472 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: the country so you could um run them by hospitals 473 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: or or prisons and determine which ones had actually died 474 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: in battle and and presumably give some closure to some 475 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: of those families. In her later years, Barton is of 476 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: course known for creating the American Red Cross in the 477 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: United States and for heading it up for twenty three years. 478 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: She died in Maryland in nineteen twelve. So that rounds 479 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: out our Nurses podcast or Civil War Nurses podcast. Again. 480 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: There were so many to choose from, and so many 481 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: who would be great interesting entries. Yeah, or full length podcasts. 482 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,879 Speaker 1: I mean, I think several of these ladies could have 483 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: could have had entire podcasts, And honestly, I think that's 484 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: probably why We didn't bring in a couple of them 485 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,360 Speaker 1: because we thought they could probably deserve a little bit. Yeah, 486 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: not that these don't. We'll probably mention a few of 487 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: these ladies down the road too, but we just thought 488 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: it would be cool to include them on this list. 489 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,119 Speaker 1: I think to looking at the big picture of several 490 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: of the nurses we've talked about, it does seem like 491 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: they have uh an interesting role they play in how 492 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 1: the war progresses. There there in the beginning when things 493 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: are really desperate and help is much needed, and then 494 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: some of them get sort of shuttled to the side 495 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: as things get better organized and um men get put 496 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: into the higher up positions. Yet some of them managed 497 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: to hold on to Like Mariann Bickerdyke, I mean, it 498 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: just depends on the personality and maybe the people they 499 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: were working under two Yeah, and even if they even 500 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: after the war ended, they didn't let that slow them down. 501 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 1: That they just kind of kept going and kept serving others. 502 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: And it just showed that that was such a big 503 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,959 Speaker 1: part of not just what they needed to do in 504 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: that moment to help their country, but of who they were. 505 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: It reminded me very slightly of women going to work 506 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: during World War two and that obviously affecting some people, 507 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: making them want to keep working after the war. And 508 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,879 Speaker 1: I have to imagine that at least some of these 509 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,680 Speaker 1: what did you say, twenty nurses wanted to keep working 510 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,000 Speaker 1: after the actual battle is done. Well, Like I said, 511 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: we'll probably make an effort to try to find out 512 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: about some more of those in the future, and maybe 513 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: even another part of the series, maybe another episode for 514 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: the series down the road. Um, if we are so inclined, 515 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: or if you guys are so inclined, you're certainly welcome 516 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: to write to us and let us know if there 517 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: are other nurses that you would love to hear about. 518 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: And before we sign off, we want to give a 519 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: shout out to all our listeners who are nurses. We 520 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: hear from a lot of you guys, We do thank you, 521 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening, and if you have any suggestions 522 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: of nurses or any other kind of episode topic for us, 523 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: please write us where History Podcast at how staff works 524 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also look us up on Facebook 525 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: or we're on Twitter. In this industry and we have 526 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: lots of medical health type of content on our website. 527 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: You can find it all by visiting our homepage at 528 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: www dot how staff works dot com. Be sure to 529 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. 530 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: Join How staff Work staff as we explore the most 531 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The house stapp Works 532 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: iPhone app has a rise. Download it today on iTunes.