April 15, 1861. |
April 19. |
April 29, |
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We have alluded to the labors of the United States Sanitary Commission, and the United States Christian Commission. These were mighty agencies for good, evolved by the kindling fires of Civil War from the noblest impulses of a patriotic people.
The Sanitary Commission appeared first, in tangible form.
Its origin and organization have been mentioned in a few words, in this work.1 It was the product of divine seed, that took root in the heart of woman, and by her it was chiefly nourished.
It is well to take a note of the germs, while contemplating the majestic plant.
On the day
when the President called for seventy-five thousand men to suppress the Slave-holders' insurrection, women of Bridgeport, Connecticut, organized a society for the purpose of affording relief and comfort to the volunteers.
This was the first in all the land.
In Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the same day, a woman took steps for the formation of a society, for the same purpose;2 and a few days later, the women of Lowell did the same.3 Their numbers were few. Their zeal was unbounded, but their power was inadequate to carry out their plan, which was to supply nurses for the sick and wounded, and provisions, clothing, and other comforts not furnished by the Government; also to send books and newspapers to the camps, and to keep up a constant communication with their friends in the field.
The women of Cleveland, Ohio, formed an association
for the more immediately practical purpose of taking care of the families of volunteers.
These were the first outcroppings of the tenderest feelings of women, everywhere, when the men were summoned to the field.
They were suggestions which speedily developed the most powerful associated effort.
Earnest women in New York, at the suggestion of the Reverend H. W. Bellows, D. D., and Doctor Elisha Harris, met,
with a few earnest men, as we have observed,4 and formed the Women's Central Association
1 See pages 574 and 575, volume I.
2 On the afternoon of that day, Miss Almena Bates, of Charlestown, Massachusetts, read the President's call for men, and the idea at once occurred to her that some of the men must go from Charlestown, and that they would need aid and comfort from home. She suggested the formation of a society for the purpose of affording such aid, and it was done.--The Tribute Book, by Frank B. Goodrich, page 112.
3 Goodrich says that “the first subscription-list to which the Rebellion gave birth,” was signed, at the head of thirty other names, by Moses H. Grinnell, in New York City, on the morning of the 17th of April, 1861. Each subscribed one hundred dollars. It was for the use of the Seventh (New York) Regiment. The first public subscription for the personal relief of the soldiers, was made in Lowell, on the following day, by Judge N. Crosby, who gave one hundred dollars, saying in the letter that bore it:--“Our men have left us at the tap of .the drum, without wavering, and without preparation. They have left home without shutting their doors, friends without adieus, and their hammers upon their benches. We must comfort those friends, and prevent loss in their business. We who stay at home, can well afford to do all this for them, and make our sacrifices in money, and thus care for our country, our constitution and laws. The burden of this struggle must rest upon every man's shoulders, in some form.” These expressions form the key-note to the feelings of the loyal people at that time.
On the 20th of April, three ladies and one gentleman of Philadelphia (Mrs. Israel Bissell, Miss Eliza Austin, Mrs. S. Calhoun, and Peter E. M. Harris) signed a notice of a meeting of the ladies of several churches in that city, to make arrangements for providing hospital materials, which was read by the Rev. Dr. Taylor, from the pulpit of the Third Reformed Dutch Church of that city, on the next afternoon. This led to the formation of the “Ladies' aid Society” of Philadelphia, which, during the war, collected and distributed money and supplies of the value of over three hundred thousand dollars. The “Ladies' Association for soldiers' relief,” was formed in Philadelphia the next year, with Mrs. Mary A. Brady at its head. Many other associations were organized in Philadelphia for kindred purposes. Indeed, that city seemed to be a vast benevolent institution, during the whole war. It is believed that one of its citizens was the first person who left his home to visit the soldiers in camp, for the purpose of affording them comforts. That was the excellent Joseph Patterson, afterward the treasurer of the United States Christian Commission. He left Philadelphia for the purpose, on the morning of the 24th of April, and visited the camps at Havre de Grace, Annapolis, and Washington City.4 See page 575, volume I.
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