An appeal in behalf of the Maryland Hospital.
Editors Dispatch: Prompted by an ardent sympathy for the
Southern cause, and an implacable hostility to the tyrant whose fetters are around their native State, thousands of Marylanders have fled from their homes and kindred to enlist in the army of the
Confederacy.
From the
Pennsylvania line to the
Potomac, from the mountains to the sea, there is scarcely a family, "native and to the manor born, "without a representative in this band of brave and devoted patriots.
The best blood of the
State is here, to flow freely if necessary in the sacred cause of freedom.
The ‘"bone and sinew"’ of
Maryland has spurned the rule of the despot, and prays for an opportunity to contribute to the success of Southern arms.
In a word, her youth, her old men, her soldiers, and her statesmen are this day proudly arrayed under the ‘"stars and bars,"’ anxiously awaiting the day of vengeance, and ready to attest their loyalty even by the sacrifice of their-lives.
The sons of
Maryland have faced death in every conflict without a quailing nerve or a blanching cheek.
They have borne without a murmur all the trials, hardships, and dangers of a soldier's life.
They have asked no favors, made no complaints, uttered no repining.
Sustained, until necessity, by the hope of a
speedy and triumphant return to their ‘"mother State,"’ they have seemed proof alike against the bullets of the foe, the shape of disease, and all the sad disappointments of this brilliant, but to them, most fruitless campaign.
Alas! a new era has dawned upon them — They have awakened to the painful, yet certain conviction, that the period of their probation must be extended,--that the promised land of their hopes, prayers, and aspirations is still far in the distance, and that many long and dreary months will elapse before their feet can press again the hallowed soil they move so well.
‘"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,"’ and it must be confessed that, though confident of the ultimate realization of their fondest and brightest dreams, their spirits have drooped under the postponement of that triumphant return to home, and friends, and native land, for which so many fervent prayers have been breathed to Heaven on both sides of the
Potomac.
The result of this temporary revulsion of feeling has been the breaking of that spell which so long seemed to protect these brave soldiers against disease when so many of their brethren were falling around them.
At this moment, many of the
Maryland troops are sick, scattered about in the various camps and hospitals, with no friends to minister to their wants, and dependent alone upon the charity of the
Government or the kindness of strangers.
Most of these poor unfortunates have been reared in the lap of luxury,--all are good and true men; and, separated as they are from the warm hearts and tender hands of those who love them, their sufferings must awaken the liveliest sympathy not only of their exited comparison, but of the humane and generous throughout the
Confederacy.
The Maryland Society, recently established in this city, in view of the above facts, has determined to make an effort to establish a Hospital for the special accommodation of the sick and wounded soldiery from the
State of Maryland.
The
Surgeon General, with
characteristic liberality and kindness, has promised his hearty co operation, and it only remains for the liberal and patriotic citizens of the
Confederacy to come forward with their donations, in order to secure the immediate success of this most commendable object.
To them, then, we appeal in this emergency; exhorting them in the name of a common humanity to aid in the noble work of comforting the desponding, succoring the distressed, and providing a home for the refugee in his loneliness and need; calling upon them in behalf of those who have sacrificed all but honor to fight for the
Southern cause, to contribute of their attendance to an institution wherein something of comfort may be secured to those patriotic martyrs when sick or wounded; and urging them, for the sake of the heroic, but suffering mothers, wives, and sisters, of a prostrate State, to remember the wants, and to relieve the necessities of her exiled children.
All contributions should be addressed to the undersigned, to the care of
Messrs. Weston &
Williams, No. 15, Pearl street,
Richmond, Virginia.
The District of Columbia is regarded as a portion of the
State of Maryland, and the privileges of the
Hospital will be cheerfully extended to all the soldiers from that locality.
Southern papers generally are requested to republish this appeal.
Edwd Warren,
Surgeon P. A. C. S.
In charge of Maryland Hospital.
