Letters of a Civil War Nurse

At 23 years old, Cornelia Hancock (1840–1927) was denied permission to be a nurse by the Union’s superintendent, who required her military employees to be plain or homely and “by no means liberally endowed with personal attractions.” But Hancock snuck into Gettysburg anyway and would become known as the Florence Nightingale of America, opening a school for African Americans and serving as president of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War. Her letters were published in 1937 and give eloquent account of the horrific aftermath of battle.

Medicine at the time of the Civil War was primitive. Doctors did not have antibiotics or understand the importance of clean instruments. Often, the way to fight infection was to amputate the infected limb. 

Before text messaging and email, written communication was slower. Letters at that time were longer and more detailed than what we are currently used to. Weeks might pass between letters, so the writer would update the reader on everything that had happened since the last writing. Ask students to imagine combining their social media updates for a week into one document. 

This is a battlefield nurse’s letter to her mother. Consider what you would tell worried loved ones if you were in a risky situation.