Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-23
BELOVED BY SOLDIERS
VETERANS WHO OWE THEIR
LIVES TO MOTHER BIcKERDYKE
To Erect a Monument in Memory OF
This Heroine of the Civil
War.

Clad in a homely calico gown and an old
fashioned sun bonnet, and riding her horse
with perfect grace, was the odd and i'm
pressive figure presented in perhaps thu
most impressive and imposing military pa
rade that ever passed over the streets OF
Washington. This was away back In the
sixties when the grand review of the VIC
tortous armies OF the Union took place
after the surrender OF General Lee at APP
pomattox. The woman on horseback. In
her simple rament of calico, was Mrs.
Mary A. Bickerdyke. affectionately known
to the soldiers In blue as Mother Bicker-
dyke" She rode with the troops from
Illinois, her native state, to whom she had
endeared herself through her self-sacrifices
and her untiring work a nurse on the
battlefields and In the hospitals Of the
south
On the occasion of the grand review In
this city In 1865 the battle-stained soldiers
OF the republic did this noble woman a sig
nal honor because they loved her and APP
preciated the sacrifices she had made for
them by leaving her comfortable home and
going to the front with them to share their
dangers and to nurse them when sick or
wounded.
The soldiers In gray who fought under
| tne stars and bars of the south respected
| Mother Bickerdyke" as much as those of
the north, 1t is said, for she made no dis
junction in her charity and her philan-
thropy Therefore 1t is recorded that this
woman In calico dress and sunbonnet was
greeted with cheer upon cheer as she roda
along with the legfons of soldiers I'm blue
NOW 1t is proposed to erect a monument
lone TO ner memory In her home town of Gales
Durg. Ill, and 1T is said the soldiers from
that state who are residents of Washing
ton VIII soon call a meeting for the pur-
pose OF cooperating in the movement, and
also to consider the ACCESSIBILITY of erect
Ing some soft of a tribute In this city to
commemorate her services to her country
In its hour of need.
Received an Ovation.
We'll do I remember Mother Bicker-
dykes appearance in the grand review on
that memorable day in 1865" said an old
citizen to reporter for The Star She
was cheered to the echo and the cheering
became a continuous roar as she proceed
ed along the muddy roadway of Pennsyl-
vania avenue. Generals and colonies did
not receive half as much Of an ovation as
did this woman who had been such an an
gel TO 3h the boys at the he frSRt Men who had
tie or in the face of a deadly artillery fire
were lost in silence while cheers rent the
air for Mother Bickerdyke'
Il understand" continued the old citi-
Zen. that her faded old sunbonnet was
purchased as a relic on the day after the
parade for 500 by a distinguished states
man. and that a wealthy woman in West
Washington offered double that amount for
the homely old calico dress worn by the
woman who had won high honOrs by her
humane attention to the fighting men Of
Uncle Sans army"
1t Is said the monument to Mother Bick-
erdyke" will be the handiwork Of Mrs.
Theodore A Ruggles. one Of the most
noted women sculptors in the United
States. Her design has been accepted, IL is
stated, by Illinois veterans in Washington,
and she has begun work on the modelling
of the full-size monument.
A Fitting Monument.
The design of the monument will show .
wounded soldier on the battlefield who has
been lifted into a half-sitting posture by
the army nurse while she holds a cooling
drink to his parched lips. The nurse will.
1t is said. be patterned from a wartime
photograph of Mother Bickerdyke. The
life-size group. which will be cast In
bronze, will rest on a granite pedestal
The only inscription will be Mary A. Bick-
-erdyke-Mother"
The movement to have a monument also
erected in Washington in memory Of this
noble woman was started several years ago
by Charles G. Gales, formerly of Chicago.
who was severely wounded during the civil
war. and who declares that his life was
saved by the kind ministrations of Mother
Bickerdyke, who dressed his wound and
nursed him back to health. For some rea-
son this movement did not come to fruition,
and now, 1t Is stated. renewed efforts will
be made to have such a tribute placed In
one of the public parks here or In the In
fsl0G of hfcfn ArI rtyfn