s ways, yet returned unscathed to their homes. Great and
noble as were the sacrifices made by these women, and fitted as they
were to call forth our admiration, were they after all, equal to those
of the mothers, sisters, and daughters, who, though not without tears,
yet calmly, and with hearts burning with the fire of patriotism,
willingly, gave up their best beloved to fight for the cause of their
country and their God? A sister might give up an only brother, the
playmate of her childhood, her pride, and her hope; a daughter might bid
adieu to a father dearly beloved, whose care and guidance she still
needs and will continue to need. A mother might, perchance, relinquish
her only son, he on whom she had hoped to lean, as the strong staff and
the beautiful rod of her old age; all this might be, with sorrow indeed,
and a deep and abiding sense of loneliness, not to be relieved, except
by the return of that father, brother, or son. But the wife, who, fully
worthy of that holy name, gave the parting hand to a husband who was
dearer, infinitely dearer to her than father, son, or brother, and saw
him go forth to the battle-field, where severe wounds or sudden and
terrible death, were almost certainly to be his portion, sacrificed in
that one act all but life, for she relinquished all that made life
blissful. Yet even in this holocaust there were degrees, gradations of
sacrifice. The wife of the officer might, perchance, have occasion to
see how her husband was honored and advanced for his bravery and good
conduct, and while he was spared, she was not likely to suffer the pangs
of poverty. In these particulars, how much more sad was the condition of
the wife of the private soldier, especially in the earlier years of the
war. To her, except the letters often long delayed or captured on their
route, there were no tidings of her husband, except in the lists of the
wounded or the slain; and her home, often one of refinement and taste,
was not only saddened by the absence of him who was its chief joy, but
often stripped of its best belongings, to help out the scanty pittance
which rewarded her own severe toil, in furnishing food and clothing for
herself and her little ones. Cruel, grinding poverty, was too often the
portion of these poor women. At the West, women tenderly and carefully
reared, were compelled to undertake the rude labors of the field, to
provide bread for their families. And when, to so many of these poor
women who