es of all
tremble with cold and anxious fear. The cold had been preceded by a
great rain, which added to the general discomfort. Mrs. Bickerdyke
went from tent to tent in the gale, carrying hot bricks and hot
drinks to warm and to cheer the poor fellows. 'She is a power of
good,' said one soldier. 'We fared mighty poor till she came here,'
said another. 'God bless the Sanitary Commission,' said a third,
'for sending women among us!' The soldiers fully appreciate 'Mother
Bickerdyke,' as they call her, and her work.

"Mrs. Bickerdyke left Vicksburg at the request of General Sherman,
and other officers of his corps, as they wished to secure her
services for the then approaching battle. The Field Hospital of the
15th (Sherman's) Army Corps, was situated on the north bank of the
Genesee river, on a slope at the base of Mission Ridge, where,
after the struggle was over, seventeen hundred of our wounded and
exhausted soldiers were brought. Mrs. Bickerdyke reached there
before the din and smoke of battle were well over, and before all
were brought from the field of blood and carnage. There she
remained the only female attendant for four weeks. Never has she
rendered more valuable service. Dr. Newberry arrived in Chattanooga
with Sanitary goods which Mrs. Bickerdyke had the pleasure of
using, as she says, 'just when and where needed,' and never were
Sanitary goods more deeply felt to be _good goods_. 'What could we
do without them?' is a question I often hear raised, and answered
with a hearty 'God bless the Sanitary Commission!' which is now,
everywhere, acknowledged as a great power for good.

"The Field Hospital was in a forest, about five miles from
Chattanooga, wood was abundant, and the camp was warmed by immense
burning 'log heaps,' which were the only fire-places or
cooking-stoves of the camp or hospitals. Men were detailed to fell
the trees and pile the logs to heat the air, which was very wintry.
And beside them Mrs. Bickerdyke made soup and toast, tea and
coffee, and broiled mutton, without a gridiron, often blistering
her fingers in the process. A house in due time was demolished to
make bunks for the worst cases, and the brick from the chimney was
converted into an oven, when Mrs. Bickerdyke made bread, yeast
having been found in the Chic