The
tents were the last visited, and by the time I had finished the
rounds, it was time to make some arrangements for the patients'
supper, for wounded men are always hungry.
I remember gratefully to this day the comfort and moral support I
received during this trying ordeal from a South Carolina soldier, who
even then knew that his own hours were numbered, and was looking death
in the face with a calm resignation and courage which was simply
sublime. He had been shot in the spine, and from the waist down was
completely paralyzed. After he had been wounded, some one
unintentionally having laid him down too near a fire, his feet were
burned in a shocking manner. He was one of the handsomest men I ever
saw, and, even in his present condition, of commanding presence and of
unusual intelligence. I strive in vain to recall his name, but memory
in this as in many other cases of patients to whom I was particularly
attracted will present their faces only. Calling me to his bedside he
spoke kindly and cheerfully, praising my efforts, encouraging me to go
on, drawing upon his store of general knowledge for expedients to meet
the most trying cases.
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