Joanne Zukerman

Dr. Thomas Long

American Literature 241

July 2, 2002

A Report on

A Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields

 On my first visit to the Virginiana Room at the Hampton Public Library on Victoria Boulevard to search for an interesting volume to report on, I explained to the librarian on duty exactly what my requirements were and where my interests lay. She had no idea that I am, by profession, a nurse, yet she walked over to a shelf and pulled out a fairly small book and said she had no doubt that this book would suit me perfectly. The title of the book was Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields. As I carefully leafed through the rough pages, I too had no doubt that the book was exactly what I had in mind. The book was written with the help of many of the author’s journal entries during her days in the Civil War battlefields and was rife with the emotions she felt during her experiences. There were numerous pictures (engravings on steel), and the frontispiece was actually an engraving of the author in the dress of the day, standing with her horse, followed by the publisher’s notice stating, "…the moral character of the work – being true to virtue, patriotism, and philanthropy" (6).

The author, S. Emma E. Edmonds, which in actuality was a pseudonym, was the nurse and spy in question. Born in New Brunswick, Canada, her thirst for education and adventure led her to move to New England where she had been considering a life as a foreign missionary. She was on the way back from a trip to the West when she heard of the fall of Fort Sumter and ten days later offered her services to the government as a nurse. In her journal entry dated July 15, 1861 she wrote of receiving her marching orders as a member of the Army of the Potomac, and described the preparations being made by the young soldiers on their way to war. She reported that most of these young men took along writing materials and all were given copies of the Bible.

She wrote freely of her nursing duties, of the horrors she encountered assisting the doctors. Medications, including anesthesia, were limited and she spent many hours not only changing wound dressings, but also providing any comfort measures or distractions possible, such as writing letters home, reading and singing to them, praying with them, and holding their hands as they lay dying. During the battle at the stone church at Centerville, she wrote, "Oh, there was suffering there which no pen can ever describe" (46). One extract from her journal dated August 3, 1861 in Georgetown, D.C. stated, "Oh, what an amount of suffering I am called to witness every hour and every moment. There is no cessation, and yet it is strange that the sight of all this suffering and death does not affect me more. I am simply eyes, ears, hands and feet" (58).

Most of those involved, including herself, had a strong faith in God and the hereafter, and there were several instances where she noted the last words of soldiers, such as "I am going – the way is bright, don’t weep – farewell! Christ! Christ!" (27). Ms. Edmonds also frequently quoted entire verses of hymns or spirituals, and I feel that it was in part because she was so full of emotion that there was no other way to put to paper what she was feeling.

After a close friend died of a gunshot wound, she felt she could do more for the war effort by becoming a spy, and following interviews with several commanding officers, she was accepted and thus began her undercover work. She utilized many disguises including that of a "darky" named Bob and was able to infiltrate enemy lines at least 11 times with complete success. Eventually, after coming close to both physical and mental breakdowns, she was released on disability but eventually returned to nursing behind the lines, because she felt that her hospital labors were the most important part of her life.

Although her writing was simple and straightforward, it was highly descriptive and it was not limited to the horrors of the war. She described Hampton, Virginia as "formerly a beautiful little village containing about 500 houses…now lay a blackened mass of ruins…burned a few months previous by order of rebel General Magruder" (70). She had much admiration for the slaves and felt "…much pleased with their cheerful, happy appearance…exceedingly ignorant, yet …converse freely and intelligibly…anxious for instruction…how I should like to teach these people…" (73).

There were many Biblical references, not only with the hymns and spirituals, but also with the use of typology and allegory. After a visit to slave (contraband) quarters, she wrote, "As the Jews of old were looking for the promised Messiah, so the slaves universally regarded the advent of the northern army as the harbinger of their deliverance" (72), a classic example of Biblical typology. Another example of this is in her entry after being caught in crossfire, yet escaping with no injury, when she wrote, "…almost as much a miracle as that of the 3 Hebrew children coming forth from the fiery furnace without even the smell of fire upon them" (218). She also used allegory during the recording of this same event when she wrote, "Nothing but the Almighty could have shielded me from such a storm of shot and shell…" (218).

The author also addressed the reader several times during the course of her story, a characteristic of sentimental romanticism, as when she spoke of the elderly, mistreated slaves, "Reader, has your heart ever been taken by storm…" (337).

Ms. Edmonds had strong convictions for her time and she let nothing keep her from those convictions. She appeared to be highly opinionated and very verbal with those opinions. She stressed that females who were more educated and refined make better nurses and that old black women "had more soul than white Virginian women" (337). She also felt that slavery was an injustice, that all men were equals in the eyes of God, and that the"…poor, downtrodden descendants of Africa…" (383) were more courageous than many whites.

This book was a clear and concise accounting of the two years Ms. Edmonds spent with the Army of the Potomac and left no doubt of the importance she placed on patriotism, faith in the human spirit, and faith in God. Towards the end of the journal references, she wrote of her desire to live to write of "… the annihilation of rebellion, and the final triumph of Truth, Right, and Liberty." (384), and this book was clearly the beginning of the fulfillment of that desire.

 Works Cited

Edmonds, S.E.E. Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, comprising the Adventures and

Experiences of a Woman in Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields. Hartford, Conn.:

W.S. Williams & Co., 1865.