Thanks for the link and story. Once in awhile we hear some nonsense on how females acting as spies or smugglers of medical goods is overdone. Emma is only one who got caught, poor girl, and not overdone, with so many in Southern hospitals in desperate need of help.
Yes, illegal and I've always thought medical supplies should have been exempt from the Blockade and borders. It was barbaric, war or no, disallowing crucial medicine through. Hospitals were generally exempt from being attacked, why did this protection not extend to all wounded? This policy also ensured, with the Confederacy so short on medical supplies, wounded prisoners would be unlikely to receive what they required, too.