Member Review Louisa May Alcott was a runner!

[matthew mckeon]

Louisa May Alcott on the Front Lines
This short book by Samantha Seiple begins with a fascinating fact: Alcott, in the middle of the 19th century, ran daily for exercise and enjoyment!

Seiple focuses on the six weeks Alcott, (who she calls "Lu" her family nickname) spent as a nurse in the Civil War. Seiple argues that it shaped and enriched her writing, and was a pivotal life experience.

 

[matthew mckeon]

Louisa May Alcott on the Front Lines
This short book by Samantha Seiple begins with a fascinating fact: Alcott, in the middle of the 19th century, ran daily for exercise and enjoyment!

Seiple focuses on the six weeks Alcott, (who she calls "Lu" her family nickname) spent as a nurse in the Civil War. Seiple argues that it shaped and enriched her writing, and was a pivotal life experience.

Well, maybe.
Seiple sketches in the Alcotts' hand to mouth existence, as their father proved utterly impractical and nearly unemployable. (Louisa's anger at her father for the hardships they endured is barely suppressed in the savagely satirical "Transcendental Wild Oates" an article she wrote mocking their year in a farcical commune in Harvard, Mass.)

The vigorous Louisa turns to writing "blood and thunder" tales, she considered trash, but were money makers.

 

[matthew mckeon]

Well, maybe.
Seiple sketches in the Alcotts' hand to mouth existence, as their father proved utterly impractical and nearly unemployable. (Louisa's anger at her father for the hardships they endured is barely suppressed in the savagely satirical "Transcendental Wild Oates" an article she wrote mocking their year in a farcical commune in Harvard, Mass.)

The vigorous Louisa turns to writing "blood and thunder" tales, she considered trash, but were money makers.

The Alcotts were committed abolitionists and when the war came Louisa was determined to play a part.

The massive causalities demanded new solutions. Dorothy Dix(unaffectionately known as "Dragon" Dix) is appointed to recruit paid, professional female nurses. Dix's criteria was plain women 30 to 50 years of age. Alcott counts down the days to her 30th birthday and then applies. She reads Florence Nightingales account of nursing in the Crimean War, and articles on gunshot wounds to prepare.

 

[matthew mckeon]

If you've read "Hospital Sketches" you have Alcott's impressions of "Hotel Hurly Burly", the badly organized hospital she was assigned, the doctors pompous and incompetent, the nurses empathetic and hard working, the young and broken bodies heart breaking.

Maybe incompetent is the wrong word, but their skills and knowledge were incredibly inadequate compared the flood of wounded.

 

[matthew mckeon]

Alcott cleans and tends the patients, quick with a joke and a clever remark. She's good at the job, she has to overcome her natural and socially trained reserve.

 

[Pat Young]

Alcott cleans and tends the patients, quick with a joke and a clever remark. She's good at the job, she has to overcome her natural and socially trained reserve.

How did you like the book?

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

If you've read "Hospital Sketches" you have Alcott's impressions of "Hotel Hurly Burly", the badly organized hospital she was assigned, the doctors pompous and incompetent, the nurses empathetic and hard working, the young and broken bodies heart breaking.

Maybe incompetent is the wrong word, but their skills and knowledge were incredibly inadequate compared the flood of wounded.

That's Union Hotel Hospital- once tried to find that incredibly heart rending case she wrote of, the blacksmith? DC newspapers listed wounded and those who died in city hospitals. There were just too many men dying daily to narrow it down. Still, someone with a much better grasp on research could probably find the poor man.

A runner! That's brand, new information thank you! Wonder if it's a safe conjecture thinking she survived typhoid because she was fit? I did 4 miles a day for years and years, religiously, and was just never ever sick. ( down to 2 ..... dogs get bored ). Sorry to get side tracked, wonder what on earth she wore? We have our sneakers and shorts. Can't imagine long skirts and hard soled shoes!

 

[matthew mckeon]

That's Union Hotel Hospital- once tried to find that incredibly heart rending case she wrote of, the blacksmith? DC newspapers listed wounded and those who died in city hospitals. There were just too many men dying daily to narrow it down. Still, someone with a much better grasp on research could probably find the poor man.

A runner! That's brand, new information thank you! Wonder if it's a safe conjecture thinking she survived typhoid because she was fit? I did 4 miles a day for years and years, religiously, and was just never ever sick. ( down to 2 ..... dogs get bored ). Sorry to get side tracked, wonder what on earth she wore? We have our sneakers and shorts. Can't imagine long skirts and hard soled shoes!

Sieple focused on one patient, wounded at Fredericksburg, whose death Alcott describes. She argues that the suffering, but stoic soldier was an alternate model of manhood that influenced Alcott. I don't know.

 

[matthew mckeon]

How did you like the book?

Its got a lot of problems. There are a couple of excellent sections, but its some of the writing is awkward, and suddenly it runs out of steam and stops.

 

[matthew mckeon]

The account of Alcott's time in the hospital in wartime Washington is interesting, as the nurses and wounded soldiers had to first break social taboos, such as washing down the mudcaked and blood stained men, a procedure both the men and nurses found mortifying, at least at first.

Her description of Alcott's bout with typhoid fever is very vivid. Alcott was on death's door, and her condition was worsened by the mercury based drugs she was administered in the hospital. Her father brought her home to Concord, where she was convulsed by nightmarish hallucinations and paranoia.

 

[Pat Young]

The account of Alcott's time in the hospital in wartime Washington is interesting, as the nurses and wounded soldiers had to first break social taboos, such as washing down the mudcaked and blood stained men, a procedure both the men and nurses found mortifying, at least at first.

Her description of Alcott's bout with typhoid fever is very vivid. Alcott was on death's door, and her condition was worsened by the mercury based drugs she was administered in the hospital. Her father brought her home to Concord, where she was convulsed by nightmarish hallucinations and paranoia.

The mercury led to lifetime health problems and may have killed her.

 

[Eark]

Alcott related inquiry. Viewed a mention she sewed uniform buttons. Is there documentation of "Lu" performing this activity, when, where, & for whom? Given loose buttons, & cottage activity on manufacturing cards at her home? Or for Individuals she was caring for? The blurb leaves out all the interesting parts where this may lead. Old buttons are my in-hand device opening windows as a guide to focus on vast "all history". So this Alcott "sewed uniform buttons" is interesting.
Edit note, focus on all periods, not military. Berdan, US lockets, RAF compass representatives. Manufacturing to uniform is a point I'd like to include. Will start a direct inquiry on that in future.

 

[matthew mckeon]

Alcott related inquiry. Viewed a mention she sewed uniform buttons. Is there documentation of "Lu" performaning this activity, when, where, & for whom? Given loose buttons, & cottage activity on manufacturing cards at her home? Or for Individuals she was caring for? The blurb leaves out all the interesting parts where this may lead. Old buttons are my in-hand device opening windows as a guide to focus on vast "all history". So this Alcott "sewed uniform buttons" is interesting.

Before becoming a nurse, according to the book, Alcott and the other ladies of Concord sewed uniforms for the Massachusetts troops on several occasions. I don't have the book with me, so I don't know the source off hand. I'll look tonight.

 

[Eark]

Thanks Matthew! Exactly what I hoped for.

 

[matthew mckeon]

The book has a short end chapter. In the 1870s, unsurprisingly, Alcott favored women's suffrage. The Concord Town Meeting, decided that women should have the right to vote in local matters like the school committee, a duty that Louisa May Alcott performed with pride.

 

[James N.]

Well, maybe.
Seiple sketches in the Alcotts' hand to mouth existence, as their father proved utterly impractical and nearly unemployable. (Louisa's anger at her father for the hardships they endured is barely suppressed in the savagely satirical "Transcendental Wild Oates" an article she wrote mocking their year in a farcical commune in Harvard, Mass.)

The vigorous Louisa turns to writing "blood and thunder" tales, she considered trash, but were money makers.

Apparantly a BIG part of their problem stemmed from Bronson Alcott's notion that eating things that came from the GROUND was bad, so he inflicted a diet largely depending on apples on his family, hence the name Orchard House on his home in Concord where Louisa penned some of her first works. Also, he quarreled with other members of the commune, further isolating him and his family; I must say he sounds like a crackpot!

 

[James N.]

If you've read "Hospital Sketches" you have Alcott's impressions of "Hotel Hurly Burly", the badly organized hospital she was assigned, the doctors pompous and incompetent, the nurses empathetic and hard working, the young and broken bodies heart breaking.

Maybe incompetent is the wrong word, but their skills and knowledge were incredibly inadequate compared the flood of wounded.

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/

Here's a link to my review of it; if read along with another entertaining short memoir by William McCarter called My Life in the Irish Brigade :https://civilwartalk.com/threads/my-life-in-the-irish-brigade-by-william-mccarter.135777/ together they give a very good idea of the condition of the general hospitals in Alexandria following the Battle of Fredericksburg where she worked and he was a patient.

 

[Pat Young]

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/

Here's a link to my review of it; if read along with another entertaining short memoir by William McCarter called My Life in the Irish Brigade :https://civilwartalk.com/threads/my-life-in-the-irish-brigade-by-william-mccarter.135777/ together they give a very good idea of the condition of the general hospitals in Alexandria following the Battle of Fredericksburg where she worked and he was a patient.

Both are good.