Illustration from Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, 1864. Modifications © Jone Lewis 2002. (larger version of this image)

More of This Feature • Page 1 • Page 2 • Page 3 • Page 4 • Page 5 • Page 6 • Page 7 • Page 8 • Page 9 • Page 10 • Page 11

Join the Discussion How is the woman's perspective on battle different from that of the men? Add your two cents

Related Resources • About Sarah Emma Edmonds • Female Union Spies • Top Picks: Books on Women and the Civil War • Women in the Civil War • Picture Gallery - Women and the Civil War • Nurses and Nursing • Women at Reenactment: Bull Run/First Manassas, 2001 • Reenactment Videos: Bull Run/First Manassas, 2001

From Other Guides • American Civil War Menu • American Civil War 1861-65 • Manassas Reenactment, 2001

Elsewhere on the Web • Battle of Bull Run (1st Manassas) July 21, 1861 • Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds

This extract is from Chapter II and III (pp. 29-54) from Edmonds' memoir published in 1864: Nurse and Spy in the Union Army: The Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields. Subtitles have been taken from the original text.

Previous page > Page 2 > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Fatigues of the March

Early the next morning the reveille beat, the whole camp was soon in motion, and after a slight breakfast from our haversacks the march was resumed. The day was very hot, and we found great difficulty in obtaining water, the want of which caused the troops much suffering. Many of the men were sun‑struck, and others began to drop out of the ranks from exhaustion. All such as were not able to march were put into ambulances and sent back to Washington. Toward noon, the tedium of the march began to be enlivened by sharp volleys of musketry, in the direction of the advance guard; but those alarms were only occasioned by our skirmishers, pouring a volley into everything which looked as if it might contain a masked battery, or a band of the enemy's sharpshooters.

Considerable excitement prevailed throughout the day, as we were every hour in expectation of meeting the enemy. Carefully feeling its way, however, the army moved steadily on, investigating every field, building, and ravine, for miles in front and to the right and left, until it reached Centerville --  where we halted for the night.

The troops now began to feel the effects of the march, and there was evidently a lack of that pic‑nic hilarity which had characterized them the day before. Several regiments had been supplied with new shoes the day before leaving camp, and they found by sad experience, that they were not the most comfortable things to march in, as their poor blistered feet testified; in many cases their feet were literally raw, the thick woolen stockings having chafed the skin off. Mrs. B. and I, having provided ourselves before leaving camp, with a quantity of linen, bandages, lint, ointment, etc. found it very convenient now, even before a shot had been fired by the enemy.

Preparations for Battle

Our surgeons began to prepare for the coming battle, by appropriating several buildings and fitting them up for the wounded -- among others the stone church at Centerville ‑‑ a church which many a soldier will remember, as long as memory lasts. Late that evening as I was returning from this church, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. B., I proposed that we should walk through the entire camp to see how the boys were employed, on this, the eve of their first battle. We found many engaged in writing by the glimmering light of the camp‑fire -- soldiers always carry writing materials on a march; some were reading their bibles, perhaps with more than usual interest; while others sat in groups, conversing in low earnest tones; but the great mass were stretched upon the ground, wrapped in their blankets, fast asleep, and all unconscious of the dangers of the morrow.

Next page > Page 4 > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

 

Also on this site

• About Sarah Emma Edmonds
• Female Union Spies
• Top Picks: Books on Women and the Civil War
• Women in the Civil War
• Picture Gallery - Women and the Civil War
• Nurses and Nursing
• Women at Reenactment: Bull Run/First Manassas, 2001
• Reenactment Videos: Bull Run/First Manassas, 2001