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

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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.

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Wounded at Centerville

Mrs. B. and I made our way to the stone church around which we saw stacks of dead bodies piled up, and arms and legs were thrown together in heaps. But how shall I describe the scene within the church at that hour. Oh, there was suffering there which no pen can ever describe. One case I can never forget. It was that of a poor fellow whose legs were both broken above the knees, and from the knees to the thighs they were literally smashed to fragments. He was dying; but oh, what a death was that. He was insane, perfectly wild, and required two persons to hold him. Inflammation had set in, and was rapidly doing its work; death soon released him, and it was a relief to all present as well as to the poor sufferer.

I went to another dying one who was bearing patiently all his sufferings. Oh, poor pale face! I see it now, with its white lips and beseeching eyes; and then the touching inquiry, "Do you think I'll die before morning?" I told him I thought he would, and asked: "Has death any terrors for you?" He smiled that beautiful trusting smile which we sometimes see on the lips of the dying saint, as he replied: "Oh no, I shall soon be asleep in Jesus"; and then in a low plaintive voice he repeated the verse commencing,

Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep.

While I stood beside him thus, some one tapped me on the shoulder. On turning round I was beckoned to the side of one who was laid in a corner, on the floor, with his face toward the wall. I knelt beside him and asked : "What can I do for you, my friend?" He opened his eyes, with an effort, and said, "I wish you to take that," pointing to a small package which lay beside him, "keep it until you get to Washington, and then, if it is not too much trouble, I want you to write to mother and tell her how I was wounded, and that I died trusting in Jesus." Then I knew that I was kneeling beside Willie L. He was almost gone -- just ready "to lay down the cross and take up the crown." He signed to me to come nearer; and as I did so, he put his hand to his head and tried to separate a lock of hair with his fingers, but his strength failed; however, I understood that he wished me to cut off a lock to send to his mother with the package. When he saw that I understood him he seemed pleased that his last request was complied with.

Death of Willie L.

Chaplain B. came and prayed with him, and while he was praying, the happy spirit of Willie returned to Him who gave it. Heaven gained in this instance another soul, but there was mourning in that widowed mother's heart. I thought, oh, how appropriate were the words of the poet to that lonely mother

Not on the tented field,
            O terror‑fronted war!
Not on the battle‑field,
            All thy bleeding victims are;

But in the lowly homes
            Where sorrow broods like death,
And fast the mother's sobs
            Rise with each quick‑drawn breath.

That dimmed eye, fainting close -­
            And she may not be nigh!
'Tis mothers die -- O God!
            'Tis but we mothers die.

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• 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

 

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