National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1866-09-07

The Inconvenience, suffering and
consequences of ignO-
rance OF military regulations, en-
dured by women who went to take
care of sons. husbands. or brothers,
sick in southern hospitals, might
form an interesting though sad chap
ter in the history our great war. and
/ give you some instances.
At the sunset OF sultry day, l
sat by my win low, writing to the
" friends at home,' when my door
was thrown unceremoniously open,
and a lady entered, exclaiming,
:. What shall dOr l knew fiom
her face that she was a quiet, res
pectaLIe, though uncultivated wo-
man, and that nothing but the des-
.s,erateness of her situation could
Kave forced her to this abrupt en-
trance and question.
gave her a chair and listened to
her story. Her husband had been
so severely wounded in the leg as-to
make amputatiOn necessary; and
she had left home with a hundred
dollars, which she had borrowed
from a friend, ard had come all the
way to Nashville.
She had never travelled before,
and had been troubled so much in
/ getting passes and transportation,
/ and her nervous system seemed quite
exhausted.
Boarding and lodgings were so
dear that she found it impossible to
pay for them in the city, while hos
pital regulations would not allow
her to stay there The surgeon said
it would be weeks before her hus-
band would be able to go home. ~
cannot stay-and if ] go back, he
will die! What shall | dos" she
cried. wringing her han DIS, and Sob
bing bitterly.
] proposed to walk into the ward
and see her husband, while thought
what | could do for her. To my
surprise she took me to the cot Of
one of my :. especial cases." " Is it
your wife that has come J" | ex-
claimed. :. Yes, it's my rife" he re-
piled, while his eyes filed with d
happy, peaceful light. 80 Hattie,
have dreamed so often of your
coming, that I am afraid l shall
wake and find-But no, you are
here ain't.you Hattie ?"
Yes, Charlie, yes;" and the tears
fell fast upon the c!asped hands.
The surgeon in charge consented to
let her occupy an empty cot next to
her husband, and the nurses chang
ed him from the centre to one cGr-
nar of t e ward. For her board she
helped us in the " special diet kitch.
en-
Eternity can only reveal the good
done by her in the month she was in
hat large ward, containing hun
dred beds. She remembered thai
Christ had said, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least 0
these. We have done it unto me |;
aud day and night occupied he
l spare time in administering to he
husbands fellow sufferers.
One day of the fifth week of he
Il stay. | saw a cloud on her sunny fac
0 and inquired The cause. She said
t man had died in the ward, and TIN
g nurses had carried him out hea'
' foremost, and that she and her hus
band deemed this bad sign. Sh
; had tried to divert his attention from
it, but he had replied, 6 1t is no use
Hattie | shall go next And h
did. | cannot calmly recall tha
a parting scene. You who have lait
a dear one under the sod, near you
e own home. while friends and rela
,, tives wept with you can know a par
d of her grief. But you who have
Il like her, left the dear dust to mingl
o with that of strangers, can realiz
the depth of her woe. AS the ca1
$ riage was announced to take her t
l. the depot. she shrank back, exclaim
ing, ''How can / go home to m'
II children! l promised l would nc
# return without their father; and
L. leave him in the cold grOnndw HeI
e was indeed sad case. Her tri
D. home would use up the last of tn
l. borrowed money, and she woul
have to take in washing to suppOl
2 her children and pay back the boz
y rOwed hundred dollars.