Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-05-26
SANITARY COMMISSIONS.
SEVENTH ARTICLE.
A CRY FROM THE BATTLE FIELD.

Dccn BredGly OH Ine Wune. lHe llTsJ ell
Lhusiasm, which melted men to generous
giving and women to be overlooking in
good works, has grown cold We have
become accustomed to the Thought Of
war. No moving tales of special suffer
ing have stirred us lately. The soldiers
in our thinned hospitals are comfortable,
and kindly cared for, In truth, we are
very prosperous here at home, and much
at ease, and settled down upon our loss
But now cry comes up into our ears
from OF the battlefield. Strong crying
of sorrow and anguish. Awaken, pitiful
hearts ! Arise up ye that sit at case ! 1t
is time to give and to work Let us pic
ture to ourselves those sorrowful scenes
about Fredericksburg our brothers lying
alone upon the cold ground, bleeding
their lives away, with The fevcr.thirst |
of wounds upon them, crying out unheard |
for water; waiting terrible hours, days
even, for the merces of the surgeons
knife, while their wounds turn to gan
CREME Let us picture it as of our
sons, our husbands, and then resolve
what we will do. We cannot all flock to
the battle field to minister to the sufferers,
but all can strengthen the hands and ex-
tend the power of tried and experienced
ministers by giving freely of their goods
and money
The most extended agency for such re-
lief, the longest in the field, best known
and proven, is the U. S. Sanitary Com
mission. Read the record of its works
of mercy ut Antietam, at Murlreesboro'
during all that terrible Peninsula cam
paign, and elsewhere, and then make
haste to put it in its power to repeat like
deeds. Never were its Golfers so empty,
and never were its demands so great as
now. This day-bGfore lying down in
comfortable beds this night-let every
man, every woman, resolve what of their
superiority of their comforts
even of their Iincry-they can give to al
levate that great cry of suffering which
comes from the Rappahannock.
A MEMBER
OF the Women's Pennsylvania Branch.
il" What they haze to do Vho stag At home. "
There is no time, when relief has IL
1.-THE of the value that it has when pre-
scented Immediately after battle In the
recent campaign in Maryland, the agents
of the Commission, more than once, were
distributing from its stores to the wound.
ed on the field, while engagements were
yet in progress; and within three days
after the battle of Antietam, more than
forty of its chosen agents were ON the
ground, Systematically employed in thu
same duty and succor, in one form OF
another, had been extended by them To
eight thousand sufferers.
1t may be said with confidence, that al
the goods which the Commission wer,
able to bring upon this battlefield were
made. in their lile-saving power, u hun
drcd fold more valuable than they would
| have been if they had been thrown into
/ other channels, and delivered with onll
. the usual advantages of those who ope
} rate independently of the Commission.
The Commission has been censured fo
attempting to accumulate supplies, ant
, for holding them in reserve at distnnc,
| from the seat OF war, and gifts have been
c withheld from it on this account, and sen
+ to those who were eager to bestow then
c with thoughtless liberality wherever
T. soldier could be found disabled for tim
e from duty Nothing can be more certain
{ than that had all taken this course, tin
. lives Of hundreds of brave men, Gael
n dear to some ireside would have beel
: lost at Antietam, which have now beel
4 saved This will not be regarded as al
= extravaganza statement when it is know
o that there were thirty regiments of on
G State alone, which went into this batt
c absolutely without the smallest particle u
/, medical or surgical stores in the hands q
t their surgeons; that the Government sup
plies sent out for their relief did no
= reach the ground till the third day aft
IS the battle, and that one of the largest o
5 the field hospitals was provided by tn
c Commission, not only with subsistence
c stores, bedding, clothing, and medicine
d but for several days with the only medi
c cal attendance which the patients in /
=. received.
3 Let the full meaning of this be felt, ant
i let it be remembered that, in what wa
G done here, every contributor to the trea
If sury or Tie stores of the Commission hat
h part, as much as if the aid thus given hat
Z, been rendered in person to the sufferer
on thc nelu; perhaps even more so, foI
e placed in the hands of men instructed
II and trained how best to use it, each elf
Y received value which it might not hav
IS had in the hands of the contributor. |
it will be seen, then, that in proportion a
d the principle Of Union is adhered to, il
d the bestowment of these gifts, their yalu
is increased, and that in every departur
s from this principle there is waste @
/. that which may otherwise be Il saving q
life.
!, The impulse may be natural on
G which seeks to know even the individual
person upon whom our gifts are bestowed
}. and to give them by the hands Of som
+. friend or neighbor; but it must be obvi
/, Gus that it is, to say the least, highe
:. form of benevOlence and of patriotism
>; which asks only TO have reasonable as
,, surance that the soldiers of the Uniol
n will be helped by our offerings, when an,
IS where they most need our help, and tina
!. 1t is only by the exercise of this large
benevolence that measures of relief cal
be taken at all adequate to the necessi.
ties of the army, or commensurate witt
the grandeur Of its purposes.