journey, he replied, "I would
like to see my mother and sisters before I go home." Miss Bradley was
much affected by his earnestness, and seeing that his recovery was
improbable, begged Dr. Palmer to let her care for him for his mother and
sisters' sake, until he went to his last home. He consented, and she
soon installed herself as nurse of most of the fever cases, several of
them her old pupils. From morning till night she was constantly employed
in ministering to these poor fellows, and her skill in nursing was often
of more service to them than medicine.

Colonel Oliver O. Howard, the present Major-General and Commissioner of
the Freedmen's Bureau, had been up to the end of September, 1861, in
command of the Fifth Maine Regiment, but at that time was promoted to
the command of a brigade; and Dr. Palmer was advanced to the post of
brigade surgeon, while Dr. Brickett succeeded to the surgeoncy of the
Fifth Regiment.

By dint of energy, tact and management, Miss Bradley had brought the
hospital into fine condition, having received cots from friends in
Maine, and supplies of delicacies and hospital clothing from the
Sanitary Commission. General Slocum, the new brigade commander, early in
October made his first round of inspection of the regimental hospitals
of the brigade. He found Dr. Brickett's far better arranged and supplied
than any of the others, and inquired why it was so. Dr. Brickett
answered that they had a Maine woman who understood the care of the
sick, to take charge of the hospital, and that she had drawn supplies
from the Sanitary Commission. General Slocum declared that he could have
no partiality in his brigade, and proposed to take two large buildings,
the Powell House and the Octagon House, as hospitals, and instal Miss
Bradley as lady superintendent of the Brigade Hospital. This was done
forthwith, and with further aid from the Sanitary Commission, as the
Medical Bureau had not yet made any arrangement for brigade hospitals,
Miss Bradley assisted by the zealous detailed nurses from the brigade
soon gave these two houses a decided "home" appearance. The two
buildings would accommodate about seventy-five patients, and were soon
filled. Miss Bradley took a personal interest in each case, as if they
were her own brothers, and by dint of skilful nursing raised many of
them from the grasp of death.

A journal which she kept of her most serious cases, illustrates very
forcibly her deep interest and rega