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{
    "localId": "24325435",
    "label": "\"Before the Red Cross\" Leaflet",
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    "id": "24325435",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "\"Before the Red Cross\" Leaflet",
    "description": "This item is a leaflet that contains the personal reminiscences of Mrs. Richard Aldrich (formerly Louisa Lee Schuyler) and Mrs. William B. Rice (formerly Gertrude Stevens) regarding their experiences and service with the U.S. Sanitary Commission.",
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        "Records of the American National Red Cross",
        "Reports, Essays, and Other Issuances"
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            "logicalDate": "1918-01-01",
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    "ocrText": "LIBRARY\nA MERICAN RED CROSS\nBEFORE THE\nRED CROSS\nPersonal reminiscences of relief work for\nsoldiers in the North during the Civil War\nby two members of the United States\nSanitary Commission; together with a\nbrief historical account of the Commission\nPresented to the Red Cross Speaker's\nInstitute of New York at the\nrequest of Mrs. Richard Aldrich\nby Mrs. William Adams Brown\n1918\nPaper\nT may seem strange to many who have not had\nI\nthe same experience and therefore cannot\n27 V25\nunderstand, that a woman old enough to have\nlived through the sufferings and sacrifices of\nPussell Saye\nfour long years of war should rejoice to see\nher country take up arms again. But so it is.\nI know well the suffering caused by war and the\nheroism which goes with it. I know those long hos-\npital wards filled with the sick and wounded, north-\nern men, southern men-we cared for all alike. How\n1907-\nbrave and patient those men were! I have seen them\ncome home with arm or leg shot away, making no com-\nplaint, uttering no murmur, regretting only that they\ncould not go back again. And those quiet deter-\nmined, gallant young fellows who went away from\nus never to return! I know the empty homes, the\nbroken hearts!\n\"But I know also that the sufferings of war are not\nto be compared with the joy of sacrifices made for\none's country. It is that which lifts us above the\nsufferings.\"*\n*\nFrom an address made by Miss Schuyler to the pupils\nof the Louisa Lee Schuyler Public School in New York,\nMay 2, 1917.\nI\nHE United States Sanitary Com-\nT\nmission was a great organized\nvolunteer agency, the predecessor\nin this country of the Red Cross\nSociety,* \"through which, outside\nof the government, individuals wrought for\nthe good of the army.\" The plan of the\ncommission came from a Unitarian clergy-\nman, but the impulse which underlay the\nthought was given by the women of the North\nat the commencement of the Civil War. The\nstory contained in the following pages is in\noutline that of the origin and development of\nthis merciful agency, together with personal\nreminiscences of one branch of its work by\ntwo noble American women who have had the\nprivilege of serving the government and the\npeople of the United States both in peace and\nin war, in ways which have earned for them\nthe lasting gratitude of their countrymen.\nMiss Louisa Lee Schuyler and Mrs. Wil-\nliam B. Rice were young women when the\nCivil War broke out. Miss Schuyler is a\ngreat-granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton\nand of General Philip Schuyler. Mrs. Rice\nwas Miss Gertrude Stevens, a granddaughter\nof Ebenezer Stevens, Lieutenant Colonel of\nArtillery during the Revolution and one of\nFor a fuller account of the United States Sanitary Com-\nmission, the reader is referred to the admirable description\nby Mr. James Ford Rhodes in his History of the United\n1866\nStates, Vol. V, and to the History of the United States\nSanitary Commission, by Dr. Charles Stillé, American His-\ntory Room, Public Library, New York.\n3\nthe founders of the Cincinnati. Together they\nbecame leaders in the war activities of the\nTHE WAR\nNew York branch of the United States Sani-\ntary Commission, and are to-day its sole sur-\nThe tension felt at the North during the months\nviving members.\nwhich intervened between the election of Mr. Lincoln\nin November, 1860, and his inauguration in March,\nThe personal reminiscences contained in\n1861, is vividly remembered by Mrs. Rice and by Miss\nthis leaflet were taken from the lips of Miss\nSchuyler. As one by one southern states, led by South\nSchuyler and of Mrs. Rice in their own homes\nCarolina assembled in state convention and solemnly\nin New York amid old-time surroundings.\nand deliberately withdrew from the Union, as the ar-\nsenals and custom houses of the United States were\nThe historical material relating to the Com-\nlost to the central government, as southern senators\nmission has been drawn chiefly from reports\nand representatives failed to appear in their usual\nand letters in specially bound volumes which\nplaces in Washington, the doubts and uncertainties\nthese ladies cherish. The faded records of\nwhich filled the minds of men of the highest public and\ncommittees and of meetings are for them eter-\nsocial standing were reflected in the conversation of\ntheir homes and in that of the intimate circle of their\nnally young and infinitely human because\nacquaintance. The attitude of their own city in the\nforever invested with the glow of patriotic\nevent of war was for some time considered an open\nemotion which led them when young girls to\nquestion. There were those who believed that New\ndedicate themselves to the service of their\nYork would never fight the South because of the ruin\ncountry, as you without reserve are dedicating\nit would bring upon prosperous and honorable citizens.\nWashington was naturally full of southern sym-\nyourselves to-day.\npathizers. Calamity was on the wing; indeed it\nwas already come. Yet Miss Schuyler remembers that\nwhen on April 14th the \"overt act\" was committed\nwhich precipitated war the news was received by\nmany in the North with surprise, almost with incre-\ndulity.\nIn the quiet of her drawing room in New York,\nsurrounded by significant mementoes of the past,\nMiss Schuyler recalled the experiences of those\ndistant days, \"It was on a bright. Sunday morn-\ning in April of 1861 when the news reached New\nYork that Fort Sumter had been attacked. The\nnews came as a shock. We could scarcely believe\nit true. I remember sitting in our parlor, sad at\nheart, when an old lady of colonial descent and\nardent spirit entered the house. Breathless with\nexcitement she exclaimed as she came into the\nroom: 'Mr. Schuyler, what are you going to do?\nAre you men going to sit still while the flag is fired\nupon? What are you going to do?' 'Madam,' he\nreplied, bowing to her with old-fashioned courtesy,\n'we are going to wait for the President's proclamation,\n4\n5\nwhich we believe will be out to-morrow.' The follow-\nimpressiveness of the scene when The Star Span-\ning morning every newspaper in New York published\ngled Banner was sung in church shortly after the\nthe memorable words of President Lincoln calling for\nfiring upon Sumter, the thrill with which she\nseventy-five thousand volunteers 'for the preserva-\nlistened to the words of Dr. Bellows, her eloquent\ntion of the Union.\"\npastor, as he exclaimed from his pulpit on the Sun-\nScarcely had the proclamation been read, when the\nday after the disaster in Baltimore, \"The blood of\n1861 is as precious as that of 75 and Baltimore is\ncity \"flamed with flags;\" not only the great thorough-\nas good a place to die in as Lexington!\" She wit-\nfares but the little side streets as well,-the German\nnessed the departure of two more volunteer regi-\nquarter, the Irish quarter. \"It was the same through\nments after that of the Seventh. The Sixty-ninth\nall the city; flags everywhere, stuck into the headstalls\nwas one. She waved to Franz Sigel and to Gen-\nof the tradesmen's horses, and on the private car-\neral di Cesnola as they marched through the city\nriages.\" Among the first to volunteer were Miss\nat the head of their soldiers and remembers that\nSchuyler's father, Mr. George Lee Schuyler, her only\nItalians, Germans and Irish had loyally enlisted\nbrother, Philip Schuyler, her uncle, Alexander Hamil-\nand were marching in the ranks. From a friend of\nton, and ten cousins.\nher family she heard the following anecdote: Mr.\nA remarkable group of men soon to be known as\nSamuel Ward of New York, grandfather of Mrs.\nwar governors held executive power in the North and\nRichard Aldrich, the founder of this Institute, hap-\nWest in 1861. Governor Andrew of Massachusetts\npened to be at the fashionable club of Charleston\nwho on his private responsibility had ordered the pur-\nwhen the news was received that the Seventh Regi-\nchase of war-like material for the State was able with-\nment amid scenes of great excitement had left New\nout loss of time to send military aid. Miss Schuyler\nYork. He read the telegram and seemed greatly\nremembers lying awake on a night in April, listening\nimpressed. His southern friends could scarcely\nto the steady tramp of the men of the Massachusetts\ndisguise their amusement and sought to ridicule\nSixth as they passed through New York on their way\nthe \"important news.\" \"Why make such a fuss\nsouthward.\nover the marching of a single regiment?\" \"Gentle-\nOn the 19th of April, New York's \"crack regi-\nmen,\" said Mr. Ward, \"you don't understand. That\nment,\" the Seventh, left for Washington. As it\nregiment represents the brains, the blood and the\nformed in Lafayette Place, the news was received\nwealth of New York, and has the entire North\nthat the Massachusetts Sixth had been fired upon\nbehind it. Gentlemen, you are beaten.\"\nin Baltimore. It was the first blood shed in the\nThe departments at Washington were but ill\nwar, and it was shed upon the anniversary of the\nprepared to receive and provide for the volun-\nbattle of Lexington. The crowds in the streets\nteer regiments. Congress was not in session,\nwent wild with excitement. As the regiment marched\nand money in large amounts was immediately\ndown Broadway an old gentleman rushed from the\nneeded. In this emergency a group of prominent\nsidewalk and thrusting a roll of bills into the hands\nNew York gentlemen, Mr. Robert Minturn, Mr.\nof the young private, Philip Schuyler, cried: \"Take\nMoses Grinnell, Mr. Aspinwall, Mr. Isaac Bell, and\nthat, my young fellow, you will need it before you get\nother business men, called a mass meeting in Union\nback.\" Orders were changed, and the regiment went\nSquare, which appointed the \"Union Defence Com-\nsouth by sea to Annapolis and Washington.\nmittee,\" and pledged to Mr. Lincoln \"all the money\nAmong the thronging excitements of the weeks\nhe needed\" until Congress could be convened. Miss\nthat followed little personal incidents stand out in\nSchuyler's father, one of the members, was commis-\nMiss Schuyler's memory, slight in themselves, yet\nsioned by the Union Defence Committee to carry this\neffectual in binding the heart of the young girl to\nmessage to the President. On his way to Washington\nthe course of public events in which she was SO\nhe overtook the Seventh Regiment at Annapolis and\nsoon to take an active part. She recalls the deep\nfound the young men-his son among them-engaged\n6\n7\nin relaying the tracks which the rebels had torn up.\nsigned a stirring call* to the women of New York\nHe outdistanced the soldiers and delivered his message\nand its vicinity, asking them to meet at Cooper\nto President Lincoln, then little known in the East,\nUnion on April twenty-ninth to organize a cen-\nby whose directness, simplicity and deep sense of re-\ntral agency for sending hospital supplies and nurses\nsponsibility he was profoundly impressed.\nto the soldiers and sailors. About two thou-\nIf the men offered themselves willingly, the\nsand women answered the call. In those days\nwomen were no less eager for service. The first duty\nit occurred to no one to intrust to any of these\nof every household was to provide for its own sol-\nwomen the responsibility of addressing their own\ndiers, for the husbands, the sons and the brothers\nmeeting. It was a matter of congratulation \"among\nfor whom the government could as yet do so little.\nthe ladies\" that Mr. David Dudley Field consented\nWomen gave all they had, even stripping the\nto preside; that the vice-president of the United\nblankets from their own beds, and in addition began\nStates unexpectedly attended and spoke for their\nat once to plan for relief work on a larger scale.\ncause, and that Dr. Bellows, later the head of the\nMeetings of women for organization on behalf of the\nSanitary Commission, was present and made \"an\nsoldiers were held at Bridgeport, Connecticut, on the\neloquent appeal.\" A much beloved physician, Dr.\nvery day that President Lincoln called for volunteers,\nValentine Mott, was chosen president. Dr. Mott\nat Lowell, Massachusetts, a few days later, at Cleve-\ndied during the war and as a token of respect his\nland, Ohio, on April nineteenth. The Women's Cen-\nplace was never filled. Dr. Bellows became vice-\ntral Association of Relief was formed in New York on\npresident, Mr. Howard Potter, of the banking firm\nApril twenty-ninth.\nof Brown Brothers and Company, was appointed\ntreasurer, Mr. Peter Cooper immediately offered\n\"Quickly we saw,\" says Miss Schuyler, \"what\nrooms on the second floor of Cooper Union to serve\nthe Council of Defense has discovered in the first\nas a depot for the proposed work. A Board of Man-\nweeks of this war, that individual and desultory\nagers was created, of whom twelve were men and\nlabors accomplish little and that 'doing one's bit' is\ntwelve were women.** Women were appointed chair-\nvaluable if the various 'bits' that are done are or-\nmen of all committees.\nganized and centralized, if there is not a criss-cross\nMrs. Hamilton Fish, whose home had become a\nof plans, purposes and expenditures.\"*\nrendezvous for men and women of Union sym-\nTwo very able and distinguished New York\npathies, did splendid work as chairman of the\nwomen, Drs. Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell, were\nFinance Committee, bringing five thousand dollars\nat that time conducting an Infirmary for Women\ninto the treasury by her financial wizardry before\nin Second Avenue, and it was there, most appropri-\nately, that a preliminary meeting took place \"to\n* Among those who signed the call to this great meeting\nwere Mrs. John A. Dix, Mrs. Hamilton Fish, Mrs. William\nconsider methods of systematizing and concentrat-\nPreston Griffin, Mrs. David Lane, Mrs. George L. Schuy-\ning the popular efforts about to be made for the\nler, Mrs. Samuel Bridgham, Mrs. William B. Astor, Jr.,\nsupport of the government in caring for the health,\nMrs. Robert Minturn, Mrs. Moses Grinnell, Mrs. Charles\ncomfort and efficiency of the army.\" This first\nKing, Mrs. D. Adams, Mrs. Alonzo Potter, Mrs. Lewis M.\nRutherford, Mrs. G. Stuyvesant, Mrs. Abram Hewitt, Mrs.\nsmall group of women solicited other names and\nPeter Cooper, Mrs. Thomas Tileston, Mrs. John Sherwood,\nMrs. William M. Evarts, and many others equally well\n\"Numerous societies working without organization or\nknown. These ladies were among the most influential of\nhead, or without a common understanding with official au-\nNew York. They were especially generous and prominent\nthorities, without positive instructions as to immediate or\nin patriotic work.\nfuture wants, are liable to waste their enthusiasm, to over-\nlook some claims and to overdo others, while they give\n\"This,\" Miss Schuyler comments, \"is as it should be. Or-\nunnecessary trouble in official quarters by the variety and\nganizations for the common welfare should be composed of\nirregularity of their proffers of help or of their inquiries\nmen and women. They supplement each other.\"\nfor guidance.\"--Miss Schuyler in 1861.\nBoard of Managers of the Women's Central Association of\n8\n9\nthe combined efforts of all the others had secured\ndred candidates one hundred women suited in all\ntwo thousand. Mt. Vernon had just been bought\nrespects to become nurses. Distinguished physi-\nfor the nation by a group of patriotic women. The\ncians of New York have consented to train and\nlists of subscribers were in the possession of Miss\neducate these nurses and the Committee asks that\nSchuyler's aunt, Miss Mary Morris Hamilton, vice\nthey be received on wages in such numbers as may\nregent for the State of New York. It was to the\nbe required.\" During the first year of the war\nwomen whose names were on these lists that the first\none hundred nurses were trained and sent, but after\nappeal of the Women's Central Association was sent\nthe appointment of Miss Dorothea Dix by the Gov-\nout.\nernment as Head of the Department of Nursing\nThe Chairman of the Committee on Supplies was\nno more applicants were received. Members of\nMiss Ellen Collins, a member of the Society of\nthe New York Branch of the Sanitary Commission,\nFriends, who directed the affairs of the Committee\nhowever, rendered distinguished service to the\nwith great ability, exactness and devotion. Mr.\nwounded in other ways.\nHoward Potter said of her that she would be worth\nMiss Louisa Schuyler's connection with the work\n$5000 a year in the banking office of Brown Bro-\ncame about almost by accident. Her mother had\nthers. Miss Collins did fine work later in connec-\nbeen among the first women chosen for a position\ntion with Tenement House reform. With her were\nof trust on the Executive Committee, but illness\nassociated Mrs. William B. Rice (then Gertrude\novertook Mrs. Schuyler, and Dr. Bellows turned to\nStevens), Mrs. d'Orémieulx, mother of Mrs. West\nher young daughter, half hesitating because of her\nRoosevelt, and others. The untiring services of Mr.\nyouth, to ask her to take her mother's place. Dr.\nSamuel W. Bridgham should be mentioned. Not\nBellows soon discovered Miss Schuyler's special\nstrong enough to serve in the Army as he desired, he\ncapacity for organization, and when he went to\ncame daily to the office and superintended the work\nlarge cities like Philadelphia to address mass meet-\nof the porters.\nings in order to win public interest for the Sani-\nAt first Dr. Blackwell and afterwards Mrs. Wil-\ntary Commission, he would often ask her, young\nliam Preston Griffin undertook to find and train\nas she was, to accompany him and to remain behind\nnurses for the army. There being no training\nafter he had left, in order to talk to smaller groups,\nschools in existence and the need being very urgent,\nto organize the workers and to place the work on\na stable basis.\nthe committee could only provide a single month's\ntraining of the most elementary kind in hospital\nMiss Schuyler became chairman of a Committee\nwards for the women who offered themselves as\non Publicity called at first in formal phrase, \"The\nnurses. The entrusting of wounded men to the care\nCommittee on the Diffusion of Information.\" Later\nof volunteers inadequately trained seems hazardous\nher committee was called the \"Committee on Organi-\nto us, but the committee appears to have had\nzation, Correspondence and Publicity.\" Its name\nno doubts or fears. \"The Committee are select-\nsuggests the multiplicity of her duties. Duties less\ning\" they report confidently \"out of several hun-\nexacting would hardly have satisfied her ardent nature.\nThis is her description written in 1865 of the\nRelief, appointed April 29, 1861, New York: Mrs. C. Aber-\nfirst days of the work in Cooper Union and of its\nnethy, George F. Allen, Mrs. H. Baylis, Rev. Henry W. Bel-\nlater development: \"We began life in a little room\nlows, D.D., Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., Mrs. Vincenzo Botta,\nMiss Ellen Collins, W. H. Draper, M.D., Mrs. Cyrus W.\non the second floor. It contained two tables, one\nField, Mrs. Hamilton Fish, Mrs. William Preston Griffin, Rev.\ndesk, half a dozen chairs and a map on the wall.\nWilliam Hague, D.D., Elisha Harris, M.D., Mrs. C. M.\nWe had one man who was by turns clerk, carpenter,\nKirkland, J. H. Markoe, M.D., Valentine Mott, M.D., Rev.\nerrand boy and porter. For many days we sent\nWilliam A. Muhlenberg, D.D., Frederick Law Olmsted, Mrs.\nT. d'Oremieulx, Howard Potter, Mrs. George Lee Schuyler,\nout circulars and looked out of the windows, some-\nRev. Asa D. Smith, D.D., Mrs. John A. Swett, John D. Wolfe.\ntimes hopefully and sometimes in despair. After\nIO\nII\nwhat seemed an endless time of waiting our first\nbox arrived. It came from Orange, New Jersey.\nNo box ever before or since underwent closer\nscrutiny. We were jubilant! We told everybody\nTHE SANITARY COMMISSION\nthat our first box had come. During the past four\nyears our one little room has expanded into an\nThe U. S. Sanitary Commission as at first con-\noffice ninety-seven feet long, running through the\nstituted was a mixed board of civilians and army\nbuilding on the first floor from one street to an-\nmen representing different parts of the country.\nother, a large storeroom next door, and three lofts\nIt was appointed by the Secretary of War June 9th,\nfor storage across the street. The man of all work\n1861, and approved by President Lincoln on the\nhas multiplied himself into two clerks, three porters\n13th of June. Its members were to serve without\nand an errand boy. The one box stands at the head\nremuneration. It was called a Commission of Inquiry\nof a list of seventeen thousand boxes. Gradually\nand Advice in Respect of the Sanitary Interests of\nwe found ourselves launched into an enormous\nthe United States Forces. Its chief duties were: (1)\nbusiness, of a character entirely without precedent,\nto suggest to the Government means of preventing the\nof such a nature that few ordinary business rules\nspread of disease among the men of the army; (2)\ncould be of service to us. We had to feel our way\nto inspect camps and hospitals and suggest methods\ncarefully; we were ignorant and blundered; but we\nof improving their sanitary condition; (3) to act as\nlearned by experience and our organization now\nan officially approved clearing house for volunteer\nmeets the requirements of our work.\"\nrelief.\nAfter the first days of expectant waiting which\nThe Rev. Henry W. Bellows, one of the founders of\nseemed so long to the young women eager to begin\nthe Commission, was President of the Board. Its gen-\nwork-(Miss Schuyler called them \"ladies of the\neral secretary was Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, Archi-\norder of the brown linen apron\")—boxes and bales\ntect of the Central Park in New York City. The\nof all descriptions began to appear in rapid succes-\nheadquarters of the Commission were in Washington,\nsion at the headquarters at Cooper Union. \"At\nwith an office scarcely less important at Louisville,\nfirst the idea of the women was to send things to\nKentucky, from which the work in the West was\ntheir own regiments; but we found it quite impos-\ndirected.\nsible, for the express companies were not allowed\nThe name of the United States Sanitary Commis-\nto go inside the lines.\" Many thousand boxes were\nsion was suggested to the founders by the Sanitary\npiled up in the warehouses of such companies as\nCommission which had been sent to the Crimea\nthe Adams Express Company, which could not be de-\nlivered to those to whom they were addressed. In\nseveral years earlier by the British Government to\nface of this and other difficulties Dr. Bellows de-\nThe members of the Sanitary Commission appointed by\ncided to go to Washington for help and informa-\nthe Secretary of War Simon Cameron and approved by\ntion, taking with him three doctors representing vari-\nPresident Lincoln were: Henry W. Bellows, D.D.; Alex-\nous associations in New York-Dr. Van Buren, Dr.\nander Dallas Bache, LL.D.; W.H. Van Buren, M.D.; Wol-\ncott Gibbs, M.D.; Samuel G. Howe, M.D.; R. C. Wood, Sur-\nHarsen, Dr. Elisha Harris. After repeated confer-\ngeon, U. S. A.; T. W. Cullem, U. S. A.; Alexander E.\nences with one another and with the authorities at\nShiras, U. S. A. These gentlemen having power to add to\nWashington the plan of the United States Sanitary\ntheir number elected the following members: Dr. Cornelius\nCommission was finally evolved as a volunteer agency\nR. Agnew, Dr. Elisha Harris, George T. Strong, Dr. J. S.\nofficially recognized and authorized by the Govern-\nNewberry, Frederick Law Olmsted, Bishop T. M. Clark,\nHon. Mark Skinner, Rev. John H. Heywood, Prof. Fair-\nment to suggest measures for improving the health\nman Rogers, J. Huntington Wolcott, Horace Binney, Jr.,\nand comfort of the army and to represent the people\nCharles J. Stille, Ezra B. McCagg. Dr. Stille speaks of the\nwho desired to offer their services for relief during\n\"perfect generosity of personal toil\" shown by Dr. Agnew\nand other members of the Commission.\nthe war.\n12\n13\ncheck the ravages of disease in the army before\nno money from the Government. The members of\nSevastopol. But, whereas the British Sanitary\nthe Commission and the associate members who were\nCommission had power not only to form plans, but\nin charge of the branches and the centres of collection\nto execute them, the American Commission was a\nreceived no pay; but the Commission found it wise to\nstrictly auxiliary body, formed to supplement the\npay a moderate sum (about two dollars a day) to its\nGovernment, to do what the Government could not\nlarge corps of several hundred relief agents in order\ndo, but always in subordination to the military au-\nto maintain discipline and insure regularity in work.\nthorities through whom the relief was adminis-\nThe payment was so moderate that only men who\ntered.* The agents of the United States Sanitary\nfound in the work reward other than material were\nCommission were taught to tell the soldier that the\nlikely to undertake it.\nGovernment was his best friend; that what was\nbeing done by voluntary relief agencies of every\nThe organizing genius of the commission was its\nsort, including the United States Sanitary Commis-\ngeneral secretary, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, who\nsion, was little in comparison with what was ac-\nfor many months laid aside all private work\nand devoted himself without remuneration to the\ncomplished through the regular governmental\nagencies. Agents of the Commission were expected\nservice of the enlisted men. His first report to the\nto report regularly to the army officers. They\nSecretary of War Mr. Rhodes writes: \"Reflects a\nnoble mind directed to the common affairs of life.\"\nwere not allowed to write to the newspapers or to\ngossip in the camps. To such prudent regulations\nMindful of the Napoleonic maxim that \"the soup\nas these and to the loyalty with which they were\nmakes the soldier,\" he worked his brain and his\nobserved by the employees of the Commission\nphysical strength day and night without sleep and\na great part of its success was no doubt due. There\nsometimes without food, in order to solve the prob-\nwere other agencies at work for the relief of the\nlems of the supply department. \"Mastery in battle,\"\narmy, state agencies and other volunteer organi-\ncontinues Mr. Rhodes, \"is of course the chief end;\nzations; but the United States Commission was the\nbut men cannot fight if they are sick.\" In view of the\nofficially recognized channel of volunteer relief,\nemphasis laid to-day on recreational plans it is inter-\nwith permission to enter and inspect camps and\nesting to find Mr. Olmsted recommending \"systematic\nhospitals, to accompany armies on the march and\nathletic recreation\" for the men and reporting that the\nto pass with supplies through the army lines. The\nmusic of the regimental bands has a wholesome effect\nSecretary of War ordered army officers to afford to\nupon their health, their discipline and their efficiency.\nthe agents of the Commission every facility in the\n\"He is a man,\" writes Miss Katherine Prescott\nperformance of their duties. During its active exis-\nWormeley in \"The Other Side of the War,\" \"of\na most resolute self-will\nHis reticence is\ntence of nearly five years from June, 1861, to Janu-\nary, 1866, the Commission raised and spent about\none of his strong points. He directs everything\nseven million dollars, and received and distributed\nin the fewest possible words. There is a deep\nabout $15,000,000 worth of supplies. It received\nthoughtfulness about him.\" In another place she\nspeaks of him as \"a man who knows everything.\"\n* More power was hoped for by its originators but they\nwere denied it.-Rhodes History, Vol. V, p. 245.\nFrom the diary of one of the employees of the\nCommission we quote a brief description of his\n** For reasons satisfactory to the military authorities, Cali-\nwork at Fredericksburgh, May 16th, 1864. \"I am\nfornia sent few men to the Northern army; but its generosity\none of one hundred and fifty men at Fredericks-\nin the matter of money was noteworthy. Of the one mil-\nburgh engaged in the same way and working eigh-\nlion dollars received by the Sanitary Commission during\nteen to twenty hours a day. Let me record what\nthe first three years of the war, nearly three-quarters came\nfrom the Pacific Coast. The bank draft which conveyed\nI have given out during the past three hours:\nCalifornia's first gift took twenty-five days to reach New\nWarm clean woolen shirts and drawers, one or\nYork-Rhodes History of the United States, Vol. V, p. 256.\nboth, to thirteen men having none, or only those\n14\n15\nblood-soaked or badly dirt-soiled; arm slings to\ncost of distribution of supplies is less than three\nseven men wounded in the arm or shoulder;\nper cent. Our vast human machinery stretches\ncrutches to four men having wounded legs or feet\nfrom Texas to the Potomac and from Kansas to\n(many more needed); ring pads or cushions for\nCharleston. Ice is sent to Texas and vegetables\neight, who are compelled to lie in one position until\nto the army of the Cumberland with as much ease\na sore is produced; six pillows for wounded heads,\nas a case of flannel shirts to the army in Vir-\nor to support stumps of amputated limbs; socks\nginia.\"\nfor nine men without any or having only those\n\"The food situation,\" as Miss Schuyler recalls it,\nsoaked in mud; cloth head-dresses for two men\n\"was not acute except that the lack of fresh vege-\nlying near windows, whose hats were lost in battle;\ntables was found to be the cause of much sickness\na pair of slippers for the blistered feet of a man\nin the army. The idea of home-grown vegetables\nwho was otherwise able to walk; tea or prepared\nto aid the army,\" she continues, \"is not a new idea.\ncoffee, with sugar and condensed milk, to some\nThe army of the Civil War was supplied almost\nthirty or more; soft bread or crackers to a like\nentirely with fresh vegetables by the Sanitary Com-\nnumber who are unable to eat \"hard tack;\" cooked\nmission. Everything was done to induce women\nfarina, with flavoring extracts, to several needing\nand children to grow green stuff on every spare\nthis; milk punch, or brandy and water from my\npatch of ground just as they are doing now.\" The\ncanteen to those exhausted by surgical operations\nstory that a soldier had once paid twenty-five cents\nor by wound-dressing, left with nurses four cans\nfor an onion inspired the efforts of one patriotic\nof condensed milk, twelve lemons, a paper of cocoa,\ncountry girl who wrote in her local paper. \"The\nsome dried fruit, some bandages and lint, a can of\ngreen tops of my onions may flavor soup for the\npreserved tomatoes and a cup of pickles; gave\nhome guard, but every bulb shall be sacred to those\npaper, envelopes and pencils to those able to write\nwho have seen active service.\"\nhome, and took memoranda from eight who are un-\nBooks such as \"Hospital Days,\" by Miss Geor-\nable to write, for whom I will prepare letters\ngiana Woolsey, and \"The Other Side of the War\"\nto-night; gathered into my haversack twenty or\nby Miss Katherine Prescott Wormeley, give a graphic\nthirty letters ready to be mailed, gave out some\npicture of the conditions in hospitals and on trans-\npipes and smoking and chewing tobacco to those\nports in the North during the Civil War. They\nlonging for this, to them a luxury. All these things\npresent a record of hard and indispensable service\nwere drawn from the central stores and tents of\nwell and bravely done; but how curiously naive and\nthe commission here as wanted, part of them being\nundisciplined the art of nursing then was appears\ncarried along in haversacks slung over my shoul-\non every page. Mix\\ /ormeley's book will repay\nders. In the same round I have noted to be sup-\na visit to the New 1 y rk Public Library, where it\nplied, as soon as we can, twenty-one blankets (for\nis to be found among the treasures of the Lenox col-\nthose without any, or having only one to lie upon),\nlection. Miss Woolsey's book is preserved in the\nforty to fifty clean shirts, sponges for nine rooms,\nprivate libraries of her friends and deserves re-\nbrooms for ten rooms, six pails, towels, as many as\nprinting.\npossible, etc., etc. So much for one-sixth of a single\nThe chairman of the Committee on Nursing of\nday's work on the part of only one out of a hundred\nthe Women's Central Association of Relief in New\nand fifty men similarly engaged.\nYork was Mrs. William Preston Griffin, a sister of\nMrs. Hamilton Fish. When it was decided to place\n\"We are purchasing,\" wrote Dr. Bellows, \"such\nsupplies as are not found in the country home, con-\ncertain transports belonging to the Quartermaster's\ndensed milk by the ton, wine and spirits by the barrel,\n* Canned vegetables with few exceptions were not to be\ntea and coffee by the hogshead, crutches and mat-\nhad, though dessicated vegetables were used to a certain\ntresses by the hundred, crackers by the ton. The\nextent.-Rhodes History, p. 249.\n16\n17\nDepartment at the disposal of the Sanitary Commis-\nrelief, but we must not forget that important as was\nsion to be fitted up as hospital ships for the purpose of\nthe distribution of comforts to the soldiers, it was\nbringing wounded soldiers north from the Peninsula,\nnever more than a part of the usefulness of the Com-\nMrs. Griffin volunteered to accompany the first trans-\nmission. The constant medical inspection of camps\nport, the \"Daniel Webster,\" and care for the wounded.\nand hospitals continued all through the war. \"Advice\"\nWith her went Miss Katherine Prescott Wormeley\ngiven to the Government as a result of \"Inquiry\" led\nfrom her home in Newport. \"We shuffle about with-\nto an Act of Congress re-organizing the Medical Bur-\nout hoops,\" reports Miss Wormeley in one of her first\neau in 1861, and to the erection of new military hos-\nletters, \"for Mrs. Griffin says that it is de rigueur\npitals on an improved plan. Valuable preventive work\nto wear no hoops in the nursing service.\" The\nwas done for the soldiers. The Commission fitted\nduties of the ladies were very largely those which\nup steamers as hospital transports and brought thou-\nwe associate with the office of housekeeper; the\nsands of men from the battlefields to places of care\ncare of the beds, the pantry, the food, etc. Mrs.\nand safety. A member of the Commission devised a\nGriffin was a woman of great personal dignity. \"I\nsystem of moving wounded men in hospital cars with-\nnever saw her hurried or worried for a single mo-\nout taking them from their stretchers. The stretchers\nment.\" Miss Wormeley tells us of the horror of the\nwere hung on rubber bands which acted as springs.\n\"awful hour\" when the surgeons and their assistants\nThis device, it is said, is used with modification in\nmade their rounds to change the dressings of the\nthe hospital cars of France. Medical monographs\nwounded, \"I sat with my fingers in my ears this\nwere published which formed a sort of traveling\nmorning.\" \"When all is over, we go back to the\nlibrary for the Army Surgeon.\nmen, giving them clean handkerchiefs with a little\nAs the war went on new forms of relief had to\ncologne or bay water on them so prized in this\nbe developed to meet the needs of the human wreckage\nsickening atmosphere of wounds.\" The devotion,\nleft by the battles and for soldiers returning \"naked\n\"whole-souled and whole-bodied,\" of the doctors\nand famished\" from southern prisons. A corps of\nand medical students impresses her. \"I hope that\ndevoted young men was organized to look after the\npeople will continue to sustain the Sanitary Com-\nwounded left on the battlefield or in temporary hos-\nmission. Hundreds of lives are being saved by it.\"\npitals by the army on the march. Feeding stations,\nIn a letter to her mother she characterizes Mr.\nconvalescent camps and many other helpful agencies\nFrederick Olmsted: \"I like him exceedingly, auto-\ncame into existence. Soldiers' Homes sheltered thou-\ncrat and aristocrat as he is.\" After some particu-\nsands-claim agencies and detectives protected the\nlarly trying hours she wrote home bravely, \"Let\nfeeble and unwary. A hospital directory was effective\nno one pity or praise us. I admit painfulness, but\nin finding missing relatives. \"Our directory,\" writes\nno one knows how sweet it Is to be the drop of\nDr. Bellows, \"costs us twenty thousand a year and is\ncomfort in so much agony.\" When the transport serv-\nworth a million, if human anxiety can be measured in\nice was discontinued Miss Wormeley describes with\nmoney.\"\ncharacteristic liveliness her last hours as a hospital\nnurse. \"The last I saw of Mr. Olmsted he was disap-\nThe Commission finally became \"a great machine\npearing over the side of the 'Webster' clad in the garb\nrunning side by side with the Medical Bureau wher-\nof a fashionable gentleman. I rubbed my eyes and\never the army went\" (The Other Side of the War, P.\nfelt that all was indeed over. I myself had risen\n10). It ran so smoothly and served so well that the\nto the occasion by putting on a 'black lace table\nmilitary authorities who at first most feared volunteer\nspoon' (such were the bonnets of the period) in\ninterference were warmest in its praise. One of its\nwhich I became at once conventionally civilized.\"\nagents writes: \"The commander on board his flag-ship\nAs time went on, the original office of the Sani-\nformed his fleet into double lines to receive the Sani-\ntary Commission as a Board of \"Advice and\ntary Commission's brig as she passed along on her er-\nInquiry\" was overshadowed by its vast work of\nrand of mercy.\" Another says: \"An officer stepped\n18\n19\ninto our depot to say, 'Never so great a work done\nwith so little waste,' and still another tells the interest-\ning news that 'army surgeons in Europe are urging\ntheir governments to form sanitary commissions.'\nWOMEN'S WORK FOR THE ARMY\nBefore the end of the war, it was said that every\nnorthern general had put on record his feeling of pro-\nWe must return to our \"ladies of the order of the\nfound gratitude to the Commission. Miss Wormeley\nbrown linen apron,\" whom we left busily at work in\nrefers to it as \"a channel through which every\nNew York. \"We did,\" said Miss Schuyler, \"all the\nwoman in the land feels that she can work with\nthings you are now doing. We rolled bandages and\nthe government,\" and again as \"that great artery\nscraped lint (then used in place of gauze) ; we knitted\nwhich bears the people's love to the people's army.\"\nsocks and mufflers and jackets.\"\nEarly in the war the seal of popular approval and\nconfidence was set upon the work of the Commis-\nAs a result of an excellent home and field or-\nsion, and in spite of temporary misunderstandings,\nganization the contributions from New York,\ninevitable in SO great and SO new an enterprise,\nConnecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Vermont,\nthat confidence was never perceptibly diminished or\nwere now pouring in a continuous stream, into the\nwithdrawn.\ncentral depot at Cooper Union. Help came even\nfrom outside the country. \"The records of the\nSanitary Commission show,\" writes Miss Schuyler,\n\"that no absence from home can change the hearts\nIn an issue of the official organ of the Sanitary\nof our American women. To our call of distress\nCommission, \"The Sanitary Bulletin,\" of September\n15, 1864, appears a quotation from the New York\nthey have responded from Italy, from France, from\n\"Evening Post\" which suggests an interesting point\nEngland, from Canada, from every quarter where\nof connection between the work of the Commission\nour appeal has followed them.\" Consignments\nand the later international work of the Red Cross.\nfrom the country districts contained gifts of the most\nThe writer states that the success of the United\nvaried character; jam came packed with shirts (direc-\nStates Sanitary Commission had particularly at-\ntions as to the safe packing of jam appear in al-\ntracted the attention of Monsieur Henri Dunant,\nmost every letter from the Association to its con-\nthe Swiss philanthropist, and had been a determin-\ntributors) wines were sent with underclothing, and\ning factor in causing him to be instrumental in sum-\nquilts with jellies. It was the duty of the faith-\nmoning the International Sanitary Convention which\nful band of volunteers at Cooper Union to unpack,\nmet at Geneva in October, 1862, and which in turn\nclassify, store, list, pack again and deliver at the\nled to the assembling at Geneva in August, 1863,\nrequisition of the Commission-a herculean task\nof the official International Sanitary Congress, com-\nwhen we consider the extent of its operations and\nthe lack of mechanical aids such as we use today.\nposed of representatives of various European govern-\nments, at which the protocol of a treaty was signed,\nMrs. Rice speaks of boxes full of thousands of\non the basis of which the International Red Cross\nflannel shirts, drawers, blankets, stockings, slippers,\nhandkerchiefs without number. Among the helpers\nSociety was organized and at which the Red Cross\non whose efficiency and regularity so much depended,\narm badge and flag were adopted.\nwere Mrs. General Barlow, Mrs. Josephine Shaw\nLowell, then a girl of twenty, Miss Susannah Shaw,\na sister of Mrs. Lowell, and Miss Agnes Irwin, later\nDean of Radcliffe.\nMiss Josephine Shaw was connected with the\nWomen's Central Relief Association but a short\ntime, although coming regularly to the office until\n20\n21\njust before her marriage to Colonel Charles\nMiss Schuyler's chief interest lay with the work-\nRussell Lowell. She then went with him to his head-\ners who actually made the supplies in the villages\nquarters. When Colonel Lowell was ordered to the\nand the countryside. She drafted and circulated\nfront with the Army Mrs. Lowell returned to her\nan excellent plan for the formation of Soldiers' Aid\nfather's house on Staten Island. There the tragic\nSocieties, showing the leading women in the village\nnews of his death reached her. He was killed\nhow to call the neighbors around them and how to\nat the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864. His\norganize and systematize their work. Miss Schuy-\ncommission as Brigadier General had been signed\nler's advice is clear, practical and simple, although\nthat day. General Sheridan said of him, \"I do not\nperhaps a precautionary suggestion that at the first\nthink there was a quality which I could have added\nmeeting \"a gentleman conversant with parlia-\nto Lowell. He was the perfection of a man and\nmentary rulings might be asked to preside\" might\na soldier.\" Mrs. Lowell's life thereafter was devoted\nbe laid on the table to-day. Later on, when the\nto the service of others. She first worked on the\ncollection of funds for the Aid Societies presented\nState Board of Charities of New York. In 1882 she\na difficulty, Junior Auxiliaries known as Alert\nfounded the Charity Organization Society and in\nClubs were started, composed of little boys and\n1890 the Consumers' League. The beautiful fountain\ngirls who went about collecting weekly or monthly\nin Bryant Park, back of the Public Library, fitly\ncontributions of from five to twenty-five cents;\ncommemorates her memory.\nMiss Schuyler sensibly observing that while old\npeople like to sit still at home and dislike to ask\nAt the outset of the war little circles for sewing\nfor money, young people like to go from house to\nor other forms of soldiers' aid had sprung up all\nhouse, and have no objection to asking for subscrip-\nover the North, as has been well said, like cir-\ntions.*\ncles multiplying on the surface of a pool. But\nhad there been no central organization to organize\nDuring the six months preceding November,\nand standardize their activities they would, no\n1864, the New York Branch alone sent to the aid\ndoubt, soon have passed away like watery circles.\nof the government 17,000 cotton shirts, 24,000\nThis centralizing force, as we have already seen,\nwoolen shirts, 9,000 cotton drawers, 10,000 woolen\nwas almost immediately supplied by the foresight\ndrawers, 700 socks, 46,000 handkerchiefs, 9,000\nand wisdom of the women of New York and of\nsheets, 2,000 blankets, 200 barrels of dried fruit,\nother large cities who soon created what Miss\n2,500 gallons of blackberry cordial and brandy.\nSchuyler called \"an organization adequate to our\nWonderful indeed was the perseverance of the\nneeds.\"\ncountry people who loved their army and showed\nit in such practical ways. The village women often\nIn 1864 the Women's Central Association of Relief had\ngave their all, even to the cherished curtains on\nfour committees: the Committee on Correspondence and the\nDiffusion of Information; the Purchasing Committee, the\ndivisions and was in charge of one or more resident\nCommittee on Supplies; the Committee on Special Relief.\nassociate managers. Soldiers' Aid Societies either sent\nThe Committee on Correspondence had five departments-\nsupplies to centres of collection, and through them to the\ncorrespondence, organization, lecturing, publication, the press.\nbranch headquarters, or sent them directly to the branch.\nThe Committee on Organization had charge of the appoint-\nIn some cases the Soldiers' Aid Societies preferred to send\nment of the associate managers. The Purchasing Committee\nsupplies directly to Washington.\nbought material wholesale and sold it to the aid societies.\nThe Committee on Supplies received, packed, shipped, listed.\nstamped, acknowledged all supplies received at the central\n* On Sept. 19, 1917, Pres. Wilson addressed a message to\noffice. The Committee on Special Relief attended to the\nthe children of the U. S., asking them to become members\nwants of individuals who applied to the office.\nof the Children's Branch of the Red Cross. \"You will\nField organization. The Central Association of Relief in\nlearn,\" he writes, \"by doing kind things under the direction\nNew York had auxiliaries in other cities called Centres of\nof your teachers, to be the future good citizens of this\nCollection. Each centre of collection had its sections and\ncountry which we all love.\"\n22\n23\ntheir windows. In hundreds of instances they con-\nin France can never be the same again. Their lives\ntinued patiently to stitch, to strain, to pack, after\nwill be consecrated to nobler aims.\" At the close\nthe problems of the simple home had been com-\nof the Civil War Miss Schuyler's strength gave way\nplicated by the return of a disabled soldier or by\nand for several years she was obliged to travel in\nthe necessity for caring for his widow or orphans.\nEurope seeking for health.\nThe Women's Central Relief Association had set\nThe New York Branch of the United State Sani-\nan excellent example of subordination early in the\ntary Commission was, as we have seen, the eldest\nwar. As soon as the Sanitary Commission was\ndaughter of the Commission. Its connection with\nappointed, the Central Association voluntarily gave\nWashington was particularly close since it was\nup its independence and, placing itself under orders\nwhile acting as its agent at the capital that the idea\nfrom headquarters, became simply the eldest branch\nof a Sanitary Commission had been developed by Dr.\nof the United States Sanitary Commission. Miss\nBellows. The president of the national commission\nSchuyler herself offered the resolution that\nwas always a member of the board of directors of\nbrought about the change. To-day she remembers\nthe New York Branch, But the work done in New\nit with true satisfaction. \"Such crude work,\" she\nYork was but one division of a great achievement.\nwrites, \"that resolution, but I like to think of it\nHundreds of other women in other branches did\nnow when we want the large relief societies to\ngood work, in New England, in Philadelphia, and\ncome in under the Red Cross-the Government\nin the West. The object of the efforts of all was\nagency in this war as the Sanitary Commission was\nto collect supplies. Each branch adopted its own\nin the Civil War.\" Miss Schuyler could therefore\npolicy to secure what was needed, but in the distri-\nask with a good conscience for subordination on\nbution of what was sent, each acted under orders\nthe part of her Aid Societies. \"You, dear friends,\"\nfrom the central organization. \"Each of us,\" writes\nshe writes, \"have received orders from us, as we\nMiss Schuyler, \"had our merits and our defects,\nhave received them from the Commission.\" The\nbut we were all animated by the same spirit of de-\nrelationship between the central organization and\nvotion to the interests of our soldiers and sailors—\nthe contributing societies being entirely voluntary\nwe were all united by a common love of country.\"\nwas often most affectionate. Twenty-five thick vol-\nPerhaps no better work was done for our nation by the\numes of letters written in long hand (for there\nwomen of the Sanitary Commission than that\nwere no typewriters or stenographers) showed\nwhich appeared under the headlines of no report;\nthe constant effort on the part of the central branch\nthis gradual training of high and low in the habit\nto keep in touch with the widely scattered aid societies.\nof \"renouncing selfish aims, in the pursuit of a com-\nmon end, of forgetting sectional differences in con-\nMiss Schuyler sent patterns and she also set\nsecration to a greater cause.\"\nforth principles. Her letters are eager and in-\nspiring. \"Let us,\" she cries, \"in the security and\nThe widely separated branches of the Sanitary\nhappiness of our own homes as good soldiers of\nCommission felt the need of meeting for counsel\nChrist fight the good fight of humanity, fight it\nand conference. From time to time delegates from\nthrough all reverses, knowing no discouragements,\nall the branches were summoned to Washington for\nno compromises, no defeats.\" These are brave\nthis purpose. \"They were earnest women,\" Miss\nwords for a young girl, and they were addressed to\nSchuyler writes, \"strong in their quiet enthusi-\na great audience. Almost fifty years afterwards she\nasm and deep love for their work, desirous only\nwrote in reply to a friend who had expressed aston-\nof gaining information as to the best means of\nishment at her maturity at the time of the Civil War:\ngoing on with it.\" As they conceived their\n\"The young people of Civil War days were indeed\nduty, it was to aid the government by sending sup-\nprematurely old and thoughtful. Those who have\nplies to the army, \"abundantly, persistently me-\ncome face to face in this war with suffering and death\nthodically.\" For it was soon apparent that regu-\n24\n25\nlarity was the very watchword of success. After\nbers of Soldiers' Aid Societies near New York were\na battle the emotions of the loyal states would take\ninvited to the city to meet the members of the\nvisible form in increased offerings of food, clothing\nCentral Association of Relief.\nor dressings; but a wounded man needs help at\nthe moment and not a week after the date of the\nThe Sanitary Fairs which began in Chicago in\nbattle. It was vital that clothing and other sup-\nthe autumn of 1863 and which were held in large\nplies should be ready to send days and weeks in\ntemporary structures in Boston, Washington,\nadvance to points where the government store-\nPhiladelphia, New York, and other cities, did much\nhouses were depleted, or where a battle was ex-\nto replenish the funds of the Sanitary Commission,\npected.\nand also accomplished a good work in bringing\nthe cities and the country districts together.\nThere were other problems of quite a different\n\"Ladies of high social position,\" writes Mr. James\nnature to be discussed at these conferences. Evil\nFord Rhodes, \"took hold of these enterprises in the\nrumors were rife. Credulous people believed that\nconduct of which they presented a variety of enter-\nthe gifts which they sent to the Commission at the\ntainment, drawing a crowd willing to pay for being\ncost of so much real self-denial were lost, sold,\namused. Phillips Brooks was active in the Phila-\nstolen or misappropriated. We see the same traits\ndelphia Sanitary Fair.\" Mr. Thatcher Adams, of\nof human nature re-appearing to-day in connection\nNew York, son of Dr. Wm. Adams, remembers as a\nwith the Red Cross Society. The following signed\nboy going night after night to the Sanitary Fair\nparagraph from a country newspaper shows how\nin his own city where he \"noted with admiration\nthe devoted work of the women who conducted it\nvague such accusations often were. \"I see you ad-\nand who raised what in those times was considered\nvise all the people of Chatauqua to pick, dry and\nsend all the berries in the county to the soldiers\nan immense sum.\" The treasury of the Commission\nthrough the Sanitary Commission. This I should\nwas enriched by nearly three million dollars in con-\nhave approved some months ago, but now I believe\nsequence of these fairs.* Mrs. Richard Aldrich\nthat the Sanitary Commission is a regular cheating\ntells us, as an illustration of the willingness of the\nagency.\" This typical story is taken from one of\ncrowd to pay for novelty, that the presence of\nthe reports of the Women's Association of Relief.\nMrs. John Brown at the fairs was always a great\nAn old soldier is mustered out at Washington and,\nfinancial asset; throngs being ready to give an en-\ntrance fee in order to see the wife of SO unfortunate\nbeing too weak to return home at once, is received\ntemporarily into a private house. As he drops upon\na husband! President Lincoln was present and\na couch and attentively observes the covering\nmade an address at the close of the fair in Washing-\nwhich is laid over his weary limbs, he is heard\nton, and when he spoke \"after careful thought,\" Mr.\nto murmur: \"It is, it is my wife's best spare-room\nRhodes says he \"spoke better than any one else.\"\nquilt!\" Miss Schuyler comments: \"But whose bed-\nAt the beginning of the war the President had\nspread was it, and in what house was it dis-\nnot encouraged the idea of a Sanitary Commission;\ncovered?\" History did not supply the details.\nindeed, he had regarded it as \"the fifth wheel to\nLecturers were sent into the country districts to\nthe coach;\" but now his attitude had changed and\nreassure the people by explaining to them exactly\nhe spoke with a feeling \"intense and unique.\"\nwhat was being done with their contributions. The\n\"This extraordinary war,\" he said, \"in which we\nSanitary Commission Bulletin was widely circu-\nare engaged falls heavily upon all classes of people,\nlated in the North and supplied the villages with\ninteresting reading, as well as with correct informa-\nThe Metropolitan Fair of New York was held during the\ntion. Every effort was also made to create oppor-\nSpring of 1864 in Union Square in temporary buildings. Its\ntunities for personal contact between members of\nsuccess was largely due to Mrs. David Lane. The Sanitary\nFairs of New York and Brooklyn raised thirteen hundred\nthe branches and of the central association. Mem-\nthousand dollars for the cause.-Stillé, p. 484.\n26\n27\nbut the most heavily upon the soldier. For it has\nsaddened and when the streets had so often \"re-\nbeen said that all that a man hath will he give for\nechoed to the funeral tread.\" As a result of the meet-\nhis life, and while all contribute of their substance,\ning, several hundred women pledged themselves to\nthe soldier puts his life at stake and often yields\n\"abstain from the purchase of foreign luxuries, mir-\nit up in his country's cause. In this extraordinary\nrors, bric-a-brac, laces and jewels during the continua-\nwar extraordinary developments have manifested\ntion of the war.\"\nthemselves, and among these manifestations noth-\ning has been more remarkable than these fairs for\nthe relief of the suffering soldiers and their fam-\nilies, and the chief agents in these fairs are the\nwomen of America. I am not accustomed to the\nlanguage of eulogy; I have never studied the\nart of paying compliments to women; but I must\nsay that if all that has been said by the orators\nWeave no more silks, ye Lyons looms,\nand poets since the creation of the world in praise\nTo deck our girls for gay delights;\nof women were applied to the women of America,\nFor the red flower of battle blooms,\nit would not do them justice for their conduct dur-\nAnd solemn marches fill the nights.\ning this war. God bless the women of America!\"\nWhen the Civil War ended, and the time at last\nWeave but the Flag whose bars today\ncame for Miss Schuyler to bid farewell to her be-\nDroop heavy o'er our early dead,\nloved Aid Societies, she did SO in words of sincerest\nAnd sombre garments, coarse and gray,\nemotion, expressing her personal gratitude to her\nFor orphans that must earn their bread.\nco-workers for the inspiration she had received\nfrom their true and steadfast patriotism. \"As mem-\nKeep back your tunes, ye viols sweet,\nbers of this branch of the United States Sanitary\nThat pour delights from other lands;\nCommission,\" she wrote, \"we have been brought\nRouse there the dancer's restless feet-\ninto immediate contact on the one hand with the\nThe trumpet leads our warrior bands.\nearnest, active minds of the officers of the Com-\nmission, and on the other with the most patriotic,\nYe Sibyl Arts, in one stern knot\nthe most earnest, the noblest hearted men and\nBe all your offices combined;\nwomen from among our people. It is impos-\nStand close, while Courage draws the lot,\nsible to be engaged with such a cause and for\nThe destiny of humankind!\nso long a time without feeling one's own nature\nelevated and deepened.\"\nAnd if that destiny could fail,\nThe sun should darken in the sky;\nToward the end of the war Miss Schuyler took a\nThe eternal bloom of Nature fail,\nleading part in calling another large meeting of\nAnd God, and Truth, and Freedom, die!\nwomen at Cooper Union to consider the question of\nwar economy, particularly in the matter of dress. Pro-\nA poem by Julia Ward Howe, published in The\nfessor Hitchcock, Mr. William E. Dodge, and Mr.\nAtlantic Monthly for July, 1861, seven months before\nPeter Cooper addressed this women's meeting. Pro-\nthe \"Battle Hymn of the Republic.\"\nfessor Hitchcock spoke with much feeling. He\ndoubted if any patriotic woman could be found in that\naudience who would be willing \"to sweep the streets\nwith Lyons velvet, or to go flashing up and down\nBroadway in costly jewels,\" when so many faces were\n28\n29\nthese wonderful friends for their leadership\nin a work of humanity in behalf of our army\nwell and wisely planned and carried on with\ncomplete unselfishness; a pioneer work of\nMiss Schuyler and Mrs. Rice began to\nwhich all American women can be proud, the\nwork together in 1861. They are still serving\nspirit of which it is the privilege of the mem-\nside by side. In 1872 Miss Schuyler founded\nbers of the Red Cross Society to perpetuate\nthe State Charities Aid Association. Mrs.\nand to extend throughout the world until wars\nRice entered into the work of the Association\nshall cease and the Will of God be done \"in\nthree years later and has been actively en-\nEarth as it is in Heaven.\"\ngaged in it ever since. Her chief interest has\nbeen in work for the children.\nWhen in 1907 Mrs. Sage created the Rus-\nsell Sage Foundation she made Miss Schuyler\nand Mrs. Rice trustees.\nThe story of the achievements of more re-\ncent years can not be told here; but we can\npay a tribute of admiration and respect to\n* A remarkable work in behalf of foundlings and abandoned\nbabies was initiated by the States Charities Aid Association\nin 1898 and carried on by a Joint Committee of the States\nCharities Aid Association and the Association for Improving\nthe Condition of the Poor until 1907. During these nine\nyears foundlings picked up in the streets and babies aban-\ndoned by their parents were cared for by two volunteer\nagencies, the Joint Committee (Protestant) and the Guild\nof the Infant Saviour (Catholic). The Guild was formed\nafter the work was initiated by the Joint Committee to care\nfor babies whose parents were known to have been Roman\nCatholics. The City adopted the plan of assigning the\nfoundlings alternately to the Committee and to the Guild.\nThe total number of children received from the City by\nthe Joint Committee was one thousand. Over forty thousand\ndollars was raised by the Committee in voluntary subscrip-\ntions to care for these waifs in addition to the two dollars\na week per child allowed them by the City. The Joint Com-\nmittee either placed the babies in homes, restored them to\ntheir parents, or otherwise gave them individual care, thus\nreducing the terribly high death rate which had prevailed\namong infants when they were sent to the Asylum on Ran-\ndall's Island, to a rate a little below the normal. To the\ngreat regret of the State Charities Aid Association the plan\nwas discontinued by the City in 1907; but the new methods\nthen so successfully employed have exerted an important in-\nfluence ever since. Mrs. Rice was the first chairman of the\nCommittee on Mothers and Babies, the Placing Out Com-\nmittee and the County Agencies Committee.\n30\n31"
}