Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1898-06-16
WARTIME MEMORIES.

land, Oregon, former well-known
ShepherdstOwn lady, writes the fol-
lowing interesting article for the Port
land OregOnian
Reading of the patriotic women of
Portland brings to my mind many
"reminiscences of our war Of over thir-
ty years ago /; indeed, feel l am lv-
ing those days over again. Residing
as l did, at that time, at Shepherds
town, which is Immediately upon the
Potomac river, ten miles from Har-
per's Ferry, ten miles from Charles
town, and four miles from Anhetam,
we had one army or the other with us
during the entire war. Battles were
fought everywhere, on our hillsides,
in our streets, and around our houses.
Who attended to the poor wounded
Why, we women of the South. Ny
experience was that of every Southern
woman. We formed emergency corps
in every town. Every mother wished
her boy Godspeed, every wife wished
her husband Godspeed, every sister
her brother, and every lassie had her
laddie, and she, too, wished him God
speed. As they marched to the war,
every mother every wife, every sister
and every sweetheart marched beside
the ranks, cheering one and all on to
victory. We saw that all went well
provided with tobacco bags, pincush-
ions, camphor bags, needle cases and
socks. Sandwiches, Maryland biscuits
coffee and corn-bread were made as a
send-off feast for all, ladies taking
them from each house as the soldiers
passed.
There is no leveler equal to war.
The millionaire's wife did what poor
er woman did, and all went hand-in-
hand to aid and comfort the soldiers
In the South your neighbors boy is
your boy, so he not only had what his
own mother gave him, but other moth
ers did not forget him. During the
battle of Antietam, which | saw from
housetop, the wounded were brought
to our town and our women turned
out en- masse to attend TO them. Men
could not be spared from the battle.
Churches, town halls, vacant houses,
even our porches were converted into
hospitals, and every spare room in our
houses was filled with wounded friends.
My first experience was to assist the
surgeon amputate soldiers leg, and
we had no chloroform then, in our pow
erty.
Did | faint' No did not think
Of myself. l thought Of the poor SOL
der and how to do all could to aid
and comfort him. We young girls
We'd with each other how many wounds
we could dress each day. Every house,
hold made bandages and we carried
trays from our houses to the hospitals
with delicacies for the wounded. When
you reflect that we girls had to snug
gle everything from the Maryland
side, you will see that it was not an
easy task but huge hoops were the
fashion then, God bless those hoops !
What contraband goods they did hide.
On one occasion upon my return
from one of those smuggling trips, my
mutton.leg sleeves were filled with
spool cotton, darning cotton balls, etc,
and Northernsoldier, in assisting me
out Of the boat, said "How thin you
have become; the bones are quite prom
inent in your arms" "Yes," said,
these are starvation war times, and,
with emile, he let me go. Little did
he know that | had a pair Of cavalry
boots, uniform and cap under my
hoops for a Southern soldier whose
mother in Maryland bad sent them to
her son; and that the hem Of my skirt
was filed with quinine.
Silk-lined skirts were not the fash
ion then Ny gO-tO-meeting"
dress was calico, for which gave
$50 in Confederate money. How was
it made? Well, it takes a Southern
woman's taste to know how TO make
calico, or any other wash material, look
more stylish than a silk. How could
we think Of having good time, when
all was 50 very depressing? We got
so used to battles and lodging bullets
passing our doors, our esgernsss TO see
if any of our friends were killed or
wounded, made US forget ourselves.
War takes selGshness ont Of one (;
that is, if one goes into it, as one should
do. Days and nights have half Of our
town-black and white-spent in the
cellars Of the stone houses to escape
the cannon balls. That is what war