one of the effects of the war. the productive force of the nation deprived by death, disease and disability of one million men. the task of caring for the sick and wounded. four notable orders—the sisters of charity, sisters of mercy, sisters of st. joseph and sisters of the holy cross. their history and the discipline, experience and self-sacrifice brought to bear upon their work during the war.
on the twelfth day of april, 1861, the first shot fired upon fort sumter, formally inaugurated the civil war in the united states. on the ninth of april, 1865, grant and lee were the principals in the historic meeting at appomattox court house, by which hostilities were virtually terminated. the interval between those two memorable dates presents the greatest ordeal in the history of the republic.
as a result of these four momentous years of conflict the nation was deprived by death and disease of one million men. the total number of enlisted soldiers in the union army during the whole of the war amounted to 2,688,523. as many of these men were mustered in twice, and as a certain percentage deserted, it is 20 reasonable to estimate that 1,500,000 men were actively engaged in the northern armies.
of this number 56,000 died on the field of battle, 35,000 expired in the hospitals from the effects of wounds received in action, and 184,000 perished by disease. it is probable that those who died of disease after their discharge from the army would swell the total to 300,000. if the effects of inferior hospital service and poor sanitary arrangements are added to the other results of war, it is safe to assume that the loss of the south was greater than that of the north. but, considering the southern loss equal to that of the north, the aggregate is 600,000. add to this 400,000 men crippled or permanently disabled by disease, and the total subtraction from the productive force of the nation reaches the stupendous total of 1,000,000 men. these figures seem almost incredible, but they come from what, in this particular at least, must be regarded as a trustworthy source1.
the task of caring for such an army of dead and wounded was no light one. in the beginning of the war this feature of military life was conducted in an uncertain and spasmodic manner. as time wore on, it became evident that the war was not to consist of a few skirmishes, but was likely to be a protracted struggle between two bodies of determined men2. then the necessity of a systematic sanitary and hospital service made itself apparent. as a result of the pressing needs of the hour the sanitary commission and the christian commission were organized. the meritorious nature of the work of these great 21 charities has been made known by reports and books published since the war. the details of the good deeds of both organizations in supplying nurses and in caring for invalids generally are too well known to need repetition.
but the story of the labors of the catholic sisters is not so well known. to begin with, the sisters brought to their aid in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers the experience, training and discipline of the religious bodies with which they were identified. self-denial was a feature of their daily life, and the fact that they had taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience peculiarly fitted them for a duty that demanded personal sacrifices almost every hour of the day and night.
from the data obtainable it appears that the members of four catholic sisterhoods participated in the merciful work incident to the war. these included the sisters of charity, the sisters of mercy, the sisters of st. joseph and the sisters of the holy cross3. the soldiers, like many people in civil life, made no distinction between the orders, and to them the dark-robed angels of the battlefields were all “sisters of charity.”
there are now three orders of the sisters of charity in the united states. the “black caps,” or mother seton sisters, who have establishments in new york, cincinnati and other places; the “white caps,” or cornette sisters, of emmittsburg, md., and the sisters of charity, of nazareth, ky. there are probably 5000 members of these three orders of sisters of charity in this country to-day. the nazareth community was founded in 1812 by a few pious 22 american ladies near nazareth, ky., under the good bishop david. mother catherine spalding, a relative of the late archbishop of baltimore, and of the present bishop of peoria, ill., was the first superioress. the members of all these three branches of the sisters of charity did good work during the war.
the congregation of the sisters of mercy was founded by miss catherine mcauley, in dublin, ireland, september 24, 1827. seven sisters, who came from carlow, ireland, established the order in the united states, locating in pittsburg, pa. the sisters of the holy cross have a mother house at notre dame, ind., and conduct establishments in a large number of dioceses.
the congregation of the sisters of st. joseph was founded in france, in 1650. in the general ruin incident to the french revolution, near the close of the last century, the convents of the order were destroyed. the body was subsequently reorganized, and six sisters from the mother house at lyon came to st. louis in 1836, at the request of bishop rosati, and founded a house at carondelet, mo. this became the mother house in this country. a number of independent houses of the order have since been established, notably the one at chestnut hill, philadelphia.
abraham lincoln. 23
