From the
Richmond
Dispatch,
8/20/1861
, p. 2
General
Hospital
. – We availed ourselves of the invitation of one of the city clergymen, who
regularly visits the wounded prisoners at the
General
Hospital
, to accompany him to that place on Friday evening last. It was our first visit
to that magnificent building, and our impression before entering was, that it
had been erected for the benevolent purposes to which it is now devoted, instead
of for an Alms-House, the architect could not have been more successful in his
design, nor could the city have been more generous or humane in the noble
liberality of which it stands so proud a monument. The courteous Surgeons at the
door kindly passed us through, and while our revered friend was engaged on his
errand of mercy, we strolled promiscuously through the different wards, and
conversed freely with those we found to be most seriously wounded.
The first cot we encountered was occupied by a bright-eyed,
intelligent young man, about 30 years of age, who was in one of the last charges
made by the Federalists, and received a ball through his left thigh. His leg was
attached to cords fastened to the ceiling, and was there secured in a fixed and
comfortable position. – He seemed to be unusually exhilarated, and, taking a
seat by the side of his tidy and well-arranged cot, we entered into conversation
with him, and soon found out the cause of his evident exultation. For three
successive morning in the early part of the week, the poor fellow watched the
visit of the physician as the announcement that he must prepare to submit to
amputation. This operation, he said, he dreaded even more than death itself. On
Friday morning he was relieved from his terrible apprehensions by the
announcement, communicated to him as tenderly as if the surgeon “was my (his)
own brother,” that he thought he would save his leg. Poor fellow; he was in an
ecstasy of delight. He then told us that he was a printer, (did we not throw the
latchstring of our heart outside when we heard this,) that he worked on the
Albany Evening Journal, and that he
enlisted under a delusion. He desired to know if there was any chance for him to
get out, and, if out, if he could obtain employment in any of the printing
offices in
Richmond
.
We gave him our opinion on the matter; and when we spoke of
the preliminaries he must submit to, he expressed himself willing then and there
to take the oath of allegiance and cast his future destinies in the sunny South.
There was no momentary enthusiasm about this honest fellow. He was cool,
deliberate, and, we believe, honest. He is a native of
New York
.
The next patient we visited belonged to a
Wisconsin
regiment. He was shot through the breast – the bullet penetrating his left
lung. He was very taciturn – poor fellow, he looked like a man in the last
stage of consumption. He is hopeful, however, of his ultimate recovery, and in
the few words he spoke was lavish in his praises of “those nurses with the big
white bonnets,” (Sisters of Charity).
We visited most of the other wards, and found each neat,
clean, well-ventilated, and attended by one of the prisoners, who was ready to
answer every call.
We visited one of the kitchens, where we found three
Sisters of Charity, in front of two immense iron vats or boilers filled with
beef, water, vegetables, &c., boiling and bubbling in their transformations
to soup. This kitchen was small, the said vats and furnaces occupying more than
two-thirds of the area. We found it uncomfortably hot outside the door, and left
with a feeling almost of reverence for the noble-hearted Sisters who thus devote
themselves to so holy a cause. God bless them.
Most of the wounded prisoners are disposed to be taciturn,
and of course ordinary politeness, as well as considerations of humanity,
restrained us from engaging with them in an unwilling conversation. They all,
however, were profuse in their thankfulness and gratitude for the tender
kindness of physicians, nurses, visitors and guards, and would not believe the
reports they have heard in regard to the different treatment which our prisoners
receive at the North. The strangest fact we elicited was, that all we conversed
with were Democrats, and wished uncle Abe at the d__l when he was elected.
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