Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 10:43am

Nuns of the Battlefield

 

Visitors to Washington DC might be surprised at first to encounter a monument to nuns and sisters entitled Nuns of the Battlefield.  It was erected by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in 1924 to honor the some 600 Catholic nuns and sisters who during the Civil War nursed soldiers on both sides.  It bears this inscription:

THEY COMFORTED THE DYING, NURSED THE WOUNDED, CARRIED HOPE TOTHE IMPRISONED, GAVE IN HIS NAME A DRINK OF WATER TO THE THIRSTY

Anti-Catholic propaganda prior to the Civil War often focused on alleged lurid misdeeds involving nuns, the completely fictional account written by Maria Monk being a typical example, thus combining both bigotry and near pornography.  A convent was burned by an anti-Catholic mob in 1834 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, their minds poisoned by just such allegations.

Nuns and sisters prior to the Civil War would not wear their habits outside of their convents for fear of insult or attack.  Then, in the words of Lincoln, the war came.

Nuns on both sides swiftly volunteered to served as nurses, and they proved superb at this task.  Mary Livermore, who served on the United States Sanitary Commission and who would later win fame as an early fighter for the rights of women, wrote this tribute after the War:

“I am neither a Catholic, nor an advocate of the monastic institutions of that church . . . But I can never forget my experience during the War of the Rebellion . . . Never did I meet these Catholic sisters in hospitals, on transports, or hospital steamers, without observing their devotion, faithfulness, and unobtrusiveness. They gave themselves no airs of superiority or holiness, shirked no duty, sought no easy place, bred no mischiefs. Sick and wounded men watched for their entrance into the wards at morning, and looked a regretful farewell when they departed at night.”

Soldiers were impressed both by the quality of the nursing they received from the nuns and their good cheer and kindness.  Generations of bigotry melted away by the ministrations of these women of God.  A Confederate chaplain recalled this incident between a soldier and a sister:

“Sister, is it true that you belong to the Catholic Church?”

“Yes, sir, it’s true. And that’s the source of the greatest happiness I have in this life.”

“Well, I declare. I’d never have suspected it. I’ve heard so many things . . . I thought Catholics were the worst people on earth.”

“I hope you don’t think so now.”

“Well, Sister . . . I’ll tell you. If you say you’re a Catholic, I’ll certainly have a better opinion of Catholics from now on.”

At the battle of Shiloh Sister Anthony O’Connell earned the title of the American Florence Nightingale by her tireless efforts to tend the wounded of both sides, her name becoming a household word in the North and the South.

Generals, seeing the results of the nursing that the Catholic nuns bestowed,  demanded that their governments send forward every Catholic nun and sister willing to volunteer.  Secretary of War Edwin Stanton placed two military hospitals, one in Washington, DC and one in Pittsburg, under the supervision of the Pittsburg Sisters of Mercy.  Abraham Lincoln paid this tribute to them:

Of all the forms of charity and benevolence seen in the crowded wards of the hospitals, those of the Catholic sisters were among the most efficient. … More lovely than anything I had ever seen in art, so long devoted to illustrations of love, mercy and charity, are the pictures that remain of these modest sisters going on their errands of mercy among the suffering and the dying.”

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Mike Jarman
Mike Jarman
Tuesday, September 3, AD 2013 9:58am

And their successors get 7-figure salaries and support Medicaid expansion!

Spambot3049
Spambot3049
Tuesday, September 3, AD 2013 11:17am

Visitors to Washington DC might be surprised at first to encounter a monument to nuns and sisters entitled Nuns of the Battlefield.

Some of us who live and work here would be surprised by it, too. I had no idea, so thank you.

Found it on street view of Google Maps here:
http://goo.gl/maps/mJZxQ

On metro it’s halfway between Farragut North and Dupont Circle stations.

Dante alighieri
Admin
Tuesday, September 3, AD 2013 11:21am

Right across from St. Matthew’s Cathedral, a spot I’ve walked by thousands of times (literally) and had no idea that was there. Wow.

Pinky
Pinky
Tuesday, September 3, AD 2013 12:52pm

Not thousands of times for me, but close to a hundred. I never think of looking at the memorials around town. Lesson learned.

Dante alighieri
Admin
Tuesday, September 3, AD 2013 12:58pm

There are so many of them, Pinky, that it’s easy to lose sight of them. This memorial is also not in the best spot for pedestrian traffic. Of course I had to go see it today during my lunch break. Thanks for alerting us to it, Donald.

CAM
CAM
Thursday, September 5, AD 2013 1:34pm

Thank you. I had seen that monument as a child. Your article brought back memories of the nursing sisters I was exposed to as a child: in Mobile the Sisters of Charity with their winged bonnets and the German Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in Mankato MN. My grandfather practiced at the latter’s hospital and was very impressed with their character and their nursing skills. One was an MD. The time frame 1926-1956.

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Monday, September 9, AD 2013 8:00am

[…] have a monument honoring them in Washington, D.C. with an inscription that […]

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Thursday, September 12, AD 2013 10:57am

[…] Fr. Z’s Blog Reconstructing the Christian Past – Alvino-Mario Fantini, Crisis Magazine Nuns of the Battlefield – Donald R. McClarey JD, The American Catholic 4 Reasons to Believe in Jesus: A Reply to […]

Marie Lucey OSF
Marie Lucey OSF
Monday, September 16, AD 2013 1:50pm

As a Catholic sister, I am proud of these devoted, courageous women and humbled by their commitment to God and to wounded, suffering solders on both sides of this horrendous war. Thank you for bringing to light this monument and the story of these sisters. We sisters, today, stand on the shoulders of women like them and others who have gone before us.

Spambot3049
Spambot3049
Tuesday, September 17, AD 2013 12:35pm

Had a chance to visit the Cathedral of St. Matthew today and took a pick of the side of the monument:

http://t.co/PyJVLu3En4

Spambot3049
Spambot3049
Tuesday, September 17, AD 2013 12:37pm

Sorry, this is the link.

http://t.co/FnqrB3rTd5

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