A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. HavilandHaviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith)
Religion
A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland
Haviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith)
Freed persons; Haviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith), 1808-1898; Underground Railroad
At 4 P.M. we visited the colored Sabbath-school of seven hundred at the
Medical College. Chaplain Conway superintended. Colonel Hanks, General
Banks's wife, and a number of other visitors were present. Dr. John P.
Newman addressed the school, and gave a thrilling narrative of his
visit to the Holy Land, exhibiting the native scrip, sandals, girdle,
goat-skin bottle, a Palestine lantern, and sundry other curiosities.
After a few encouraging remarks by Col. Hanks, the superintendent
unexpectedly called upon me to address the school. After the session
closed I was introduced to Mrs. Banks, who wished me to write out the
sketch of the facts I had gathered on Ship Island for her to send to
her husband. This I did. She said that Judge Attocha promised General
Banks that he would do all in his power for the Union cause, and now in
this way he was paying him for his promotion.
After giving my statements to Mrs. Banks, and the petition to General
Weitzel, I felt that I could leave for home on the first boat going
North; yet we had but little hope of success in behalf of the 3,000
prisoners in this department. We took passage on the hospital transport
_Thomas_, bound for Cairo, with eighty wounded soldiers from the Red
River expedition, all discharged or furloughed for home. Medical
Inspector Stipp kindly gave us a state-room. We were grateful to our
Heavenly Father for the many kind friends we everywhere found, although
surrounded by bitter enemies. The boat did not design stopping until it
reached Baton Rouge; but I wanted to stop at Plaquemine to get the
little girl Matilda, previously mentioned, to take to her mother, who
had made her escape a few years before.
After breakfast, dressing wounds was the order of the day. I kept off
the flies during the process, as it was very difficult otherwise to
keep them away, the stench being so great. Poor boys! there were all
sorts of wounds among them,--saber-cuts and bullet-wounds in the head,
neck, shoulders, arms, hands, body, legs, and feet, of all shapes and
sizes. O what horrid mangling! Yet the same patience that so remarkably
characterized the Union soldier everywhere was seen here. It was hard
to restrain tears in their presence, but we gave vent to them when in
our state-room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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