ave seen a good deal of
suffering among our volunteers, and observed the marvellous variety and
energy of the beneficence bestowed by the patriotic and philanthropic in
camp, in hospital, and on transports for the sick; but nothing has ever
impressed me so deeply as this. Perhaps I can better illustrate my
meaning by sketching a few of the daily labors of the agents of the
Commission as I saw them. The sick and wounded were usually sent down
from the front by rail, a distance of about twenty miles, over a rough
road, and in the common freight-cars. A train generally arrived at White
House at nine P. M., and another at two A. M. In order to prepare for
the reception of the sick and wounded, Mr. Olmstead, with Drs. Jenkins
and Ware, had pitched, by the side of the railway, at White House, a
large number of tents, to shelter and feed the convalescent. These tents
were their only shelter while waiting to be shipped. Among them was one
used as a kitchen and work-room, or pantry, by the ladies in our
service, who prepared beef-tea, milk-punch, and other food and comforts,
in anticipation of the arrival of the trains. By the terminus of the
railway the large Commission steamboat 'Knickerbocker' lay in the
Pamunkey, in readiness for the reception of four hundred and fifty
patients, provided with comfortable beds and a corps of devoted
surgeons, dressers, nurses, and litter-bearers. Just outside of this
vessel lay 'The Elizabeth,' a steam-barge, loaded with the hospital
stores of the Commission, and in charge of a store-keeper, always ready
to issue supplies. Outside of this again lay 'The Wilson Small,' the
headquarters of our Commission. As soon as a train arrived, the
moderately sick were selected and placed in the tents near the railroad
and fed; those more ill were carried to the upper saloon of 'The
Knickerbocker,' while the seriously ill, or badly wounded, were placed
in the lower saloon, and immediately served by the surgeons and
dressers. During the three nights that I observed the working of the
system, about seven hundred sick and wounded were provided with quarters
and ministered to in all their wants with a tender solicitude and skill
that excited my deepest admiration. To see Drs. Ware and Jenkins,
lantern in hand, passing through the trains, selecting the sick with
reference to their necessities, and the ladies following to assuage the
thirst, or arouse, by judiciously administered stimulants, the failing
strength