Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-12-05
A Morning ia the Hospitals.
ifrun he special Correspondent Of tho So iosas r,sub
licsul

ing out. Why our sick and wounded sol
ders have so much unnecessary suffering
eniailed upon them, one who beholds il
from the outside of con plicated army reg
ulaIioas cannot possibly say. But ii is
very easy 10 sec ,ha; if half the entire corps
of quarermasters, army surgeons and hos
pital stewards we're making every effort how
not TO care for these victims Of war, they
could not succeed more Ierfectly than they
do. During the summer aionlis the gov
ernment buildings on the hill opposite, and
the mansions of the old armory paymaster
and Of other officials, were used as hopitals.
Then the number of our sick was very
small, compared with what it now is. Every
4 patient received at least the benson Of
4 light, air and sunshine. Suddenly there
came an " ORDER The sick sce,e all to be
carried to Frederick. They were carried
10 Frederick. They were dragged from
their beds tw,niy-seven miles, and reached
their new quarters jus: in time to be driven
out at midnight by the arrival Of jackson.
If there is a pitiful sight under the sun, il
is a retreaiing army Of the sick and wound
ed. Hearing for certainty OF the arrival
Of the rebel hosts, they c.ept from the hard
cots on which they had just been laid, out
under cover of the protecting night, to go
! they knew not whittier. Some of the
stronger conva!escents were able to reach
IIagerstown, just before the rebels, again
TO be driven away. Many, overcome by
disease. exposure and suffering, dragged
themselves to some shcltering spot to die
others, sooner worn out, sank down and
died by the roadside. After the shameful
surrender, when the grand army of the re-
public again marched into Harper's Ferry,
the airy spacious rooms Of the Morphy
mansion were once more filed with our
wounded and sick Through the broad en-
brasures of its windows their weary eyes
could gaze upon the Potomac and Shenan-
doah upon the heights CT Loudoa and
Maryland upon the valley and the vii
lage below; upon a panorama OF nature
ever changing and ever glorious. 1t was
grand spot. So thought Gen. ----- -------
1t was just what he wanted for bis head
quarters. The lesser mansions, browning
the hill, would make such pleasant rendez-
vous for his dashing staff officers. Again |
our sick were taken from their beds from
these houses SO commodious and comtoria-
Bile for all hospital purposes. And this time
where were they carried Across the street,
TO low, dilapidated houses, into houses with
out windows, without doors. Here, in low,
narrow rooms, blazing with the sun through
the day, damp and chill with dew and frost
at night, their knapsack for pillow, their
blanket for bed. they were laid on the
floor TO die. They did die. A plague-like
fever swept them off like chaff.
One rainy evening two weeks ago, they
carried the sick of the - Pennsylvania |
regiment from house opposite. 1t was
dismal sight to see them carry the poor fell |
lows out and thrust them into the shivering
ambulances waiting in the rain before the
door. There were two brothers, suffering
with hopeless disease in the head, beside
being distorted with rheumatism, who more
than once, in piteous accents, had expressed
to me the wish TO see their wives, who we're
" always so kind" 1T would do them so
much good" they said. "Oh il they could
only be at home, if but for single day.
With feeling of painful solicitude, !
watched them carry these poor men away,
! sadly wondered where. found out this
morning. The snow lies deep upon the
ground, the air is bitter cold; such lweath-
er thus early in November has not been
known in Virginia for many years,-yet
in passing through the tent wards of the
general hospital, found hundreds upon
i hundreds OF sick men, some in the last
stages OF consumption, dysentery anrfeyers,
lying crowded apon the ground, with
nothing but a single blanket between them
and its lev dampness. In one tent, stood
at the head of man who seen ed TO me
dying. His features had the pinched sunk
en- look which is the sure precursor of death.
! went and stood where / could see his face
and 10 my establishment discovered the poor
Pennsylvania who had so longed TO see
his wife. The change ia him since had
looked on him last was appalling. And
when said, +" l have been looking for YOU
but did not expect TO find you here" he
gasped, 80, we have been moved half ,
dozen times since they took US from til,
brick house on the hill. 1t is killing me I,
lie upon the ground. wish was At home
and my poor brother" Then lis sunke,
eyes closed, and he sank INTO death lik,
lethargy, from which it is too late to rous,
: him. One must be made OF such stuff a
: one half of our conceited boy surgeons, /,
gaze on ssch sight unmoved without max
u ING an effort for its alienation. one yeun
man, low with typhoid fever said: :. Yo
. rememberI was almost we'll when they too
: us from the brick house on the hill.
should have been able to have doae duty !