Confederate Nurses, Pt 1

Both the television show Mercy Street,  and Heroines of Mercy Street* look at Civil War nurses through the lens of a single Union hospital, Mansion House Hospital in the occupied city of Alexandria, Virginia.  I use the “memoirs” of two women who nursed there, Mary Phinney von Olnhausen and Anne Reading,** as a framework for…

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Amy Morris Bradley: Civil War Shin-kicker

I must admit to a sneaking fondness for the Civil War nurses who found a way to work outside Dorothea Dix’s nursing corps.  Some of them, like Cornelia Hancock, were too young and/or too pretty to meet “Dragon Dix”‘s specifications.  Others, like Clara Barton, were too independent.  Amy Morris Bradley was simply too ornery. When…

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Did Civil War nurses have uniforms?

A Brief Commercial: I will be speaking about Civil War nurses at the Lyceum in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday, February 4. (Here’s the link to the details–please note the snow date. I’m hoping Alexandria has had it’s share of snow for the winter, but you never know.) If any of you live in the area,…

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