The American Pietà: memorializing Civil War Nurses

I have the highest admiration for nurses (particularly military ones) since as a Marine I was treated by Navy Corpsmen and nurses and I married a career Army nurse. And I heartily agree with the statement that book learning will only take you so far as I watched an "old hand" nurse start a particularly difficult IV on another nurse (my wife) and even my wife was impressed.
 
I have the highest admiration for nurses (particularly military ones) since as a Marine I was treated by Navy Corpsmen and nurses and I married a career Army nurse. And I heartily agree with the statement that book learning will only take you so far as I watched an "old hand" nurse start a particularly difficult IV on another nurse (my wife) and even my wife was impressed.


Communicated on the topic of Army nurses with a woman who'd been at it as a career for life, wish I could remember her rank all these years later. She was incredibly helpful, an historian on the topic, too. There's not a lot of information on them pre-WWI but what there is, she has beautifully documented. I'm not sure the topic is front and center enough into 2020.
 
It does seem the South didn't have the same number of dedicated facilities and organisations for caring for the sick and wounded, from what I have read many of them being cared for in private homes, halls, etc, and ordinary citizens being required to care for them. They must be some of the many unsung heroes of the war.


I know this is from a few years ago, thought it worth addressing because the lack of information about hospitals and the Southern networks drives me a little crazy. I'd thought that too, that there wasn't an organized system? There was, we just don't hear of it. Civilians did take wounded home, too- wonderful account in an era paper describing luxurious buggies down to farm wagons that showed up after one battle to scoop up wounded. Confederate soldier remembered being so pampered he put on weight and it was a jolt getting back to camp.

Then came across how Wayside Hospital was really a system of them with a crazy shigh urvival rate! A young girl turned ( I think it was ) a RR station house into a soldier's relief station first, then it grew from there. Someone said so many records were destroyed, esp in Richmond's famous fire/riot, there's not much documentation. Love to know more!
 
I know this is from a few years ago, thought it worth addressing because the lack of information about hospitals and the Southern networks drives me a little crazy. I'd thought that too, that there wasn't an organized system? There was, we just don't hear of it. Civilians did take wounded home, too- wonderful account in an era paper describing luxurious buggies down to farm wagons that showed up after one battle to scoop up wounded. Confederate soldier remembered being so pampered he put on weight and it was a jolt getting back to camp.

Then came across how Wayside Hospital was really a system of them with a crazy shigh urvival rate! A young girl turned ( I think it was ) a RR station house into a soldier's relief station first, then it grew from there. Someone said so many records were destroyed, esp in Richmond's famous fire/riot, there's not much documentation. Love to know more!
Thank you so much for adding more information around this @JPK Huson 1863 . Really appreciate it. And you always provide great stories and insights. The destruction of records is unfortunate when it comes to researching history.
 
The Friend to Friend Monument comes to mind, along with the original which I saw in May 2008.

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