At first
sight her youthful, delicate, refined, and lady-like appearance,
showing she had never been accustomed to any hardships of life,
caused me to doubt her capacity to fill the position of matron.
"She said she desired to do something while her husband was at the
front defending our Southern homes. I soon found what she lacked in
age and experience was made up in patriotism, devotion to the
Southern cause, constant vigilance, and tenderness in nursing the
Confederate sick and wounded. I soon learned to appreciate her
services and to regard her as indispensable.
"She remained with me as hospital matron while I was stationed at
Gainesville, Alabama, Ringgold, Georgia, Newnan, Georgia, and Port
Valley, Georgia, embracing a period of nearly three years. She was
all the time chief matron, sometimes supervising more than one
thousand beds filled with sick and wounded, and never did any woman
her whole duty better. Through heat and cold, night and day, she
was incessant in her attentions and watchfulness over the
Confederate sick and wounded, many times so worn down by fatigue
that she was scarcely able to walk, but never faltering in the
discharge of her duties.
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