|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 39
On the 17th of April, the surgeon-general to whose staff I was
attached left Corinth for Mobile, nearly three hundred miles
distant, with a train conveying about forty wounded men. The journey
was tedious, and to the wounded, painful, as they occupied box-cars
without springs, and the weather was exceedingly warm. A few of the
men were left under the care of physicians by the way, being unable
to endure the motion of the cars. We proceeded leisurely from
station to station, stopping long enough to receive provisions for
all on board from the citizens on the line of the road, which were
freely and gratuitously furnished. Wherever we stopped long enough
to give the people time to assemble, crowds came to offer
relief,--ladies with flowers, jellies, and cakes for the poor
fellows, and men with the more substantial provisions. One rich old
gentleman at Lauderdale Springs, named Martin, sent in a wagon
loaded with stores. This exuberance of supplies thus voluntarily
furnished, is an index of the feeling of the masses in the South as
to the cause in which they have embarked their all.
At the end of two and a half days we reached Mobile, and were met at
the depot by a large company of ladies with carriages, to take the
wounded men to a spacious and airy hospital, prepared with every
necessary and comfort which could be devised. A large number of
servants were in attendance, to carry those too severely wounded to
ride in the carriages; and whatever water, and clean suits, and
food, and smiles, and sympathy, and Christian conversation, and
religious books, could do for their comfort, was done.
After seeing the men nicely cared for, and resting, I set myself to
investigations as to the possibility of escape from Mobile out to
the blockading fleet, in case I could not get my pay to go home by
land. I met no cheering facts in this search. There were about 4000
troops in and around the city. Fort Morgan was strongly guarded, and
egress was difficult, while the Union fleet lay far out. I gave this
up, as not feasible for the present, at least.
Mobile was stagnant commercially, business at a stand-still, many
stores closed, and all looked gloomy. The arrival from Havana of a
vessel which had eluded the blockading fleet, loaded with coffee,
cigars, &c., produced a temporary and feeble excitement. But so
frequent were these arrivals that the novelty had worn off: though
in this fact I see no ground for reproaching either the heads of
department at Washington or the commanders of the blockading
squadron at that point. The whole coast is indented with bays, and
interior lines of navigable water are numerous; so that nothing but
a cordon of ships, in close proximity along the whole coast, could
entirely forbid ingress and egress.
Another instance of the rigid surveillance of the press maintained
in the Confederate States is suggested by this incident. The city
papers of Mobile made no mention of this arrival, though all knew
it. Early in the year, Southern papers boasted of the number of
ships which accomplished the feat, giving names, places, and
cargoes; but months ago this was forbidden, and wisely for their
interests. Recently I have seen no mention in Southern papers of the
importation of cannon or any thing else, except in purposely blind
phrase as to time and place.
I returned to the hospital, feeling that my destinies were wrapped
up with it for a while yet. Here I witnessed an illustration of the
power of popular enthusiasm worthy of mention. A miserly old
gentleman, who had never been known, it was said, to do a generous
act, and who had thrown off all appeals for aid to ordinary
benevolent causes with an imperative negative, was so overcome by
the popular breeze in favor of the soldiers, that he came into the
hospital with a roll of bank-bills in his hand, and passing from cot
to cot gave each wounded man a five-dollar bill, repeating, with a
spasmodic jerk of his head and a forced smile, "Make yourself
comfortable; make yourself comfortable, my good fellow." I am afraid
he, poor fellow, did not feel very comfortable, as his money was
screwed out of him by the power of public opinion.
The Surgeon-general, a man as noble in private life as distinguished
in his profession, asked me to take charge of a hospital at Selma,
one hundred and eighty miles up the Alabama river, under the
direction of Dr. W.P. Reese, post-surgeon; and on the 21st of April
I left for that place, with twenty-three wounded men under my care.
We reached the town the next day, my men improved by the river
transit. Here we were again met by carriages, in readiness to convey
the wounded to a hospital, fitted up in a large Female Seminary
building, admirably adapted for the purpose, with spacious rooms,
high ceilings, and well ventilated. One wing of this building,
containing a large music-room, was appropriated to my charge. The
sick men of a regiment organizing there, occupied another part of
the building. The school, like so many others in the South, was
scattered by the war.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|