Chapter XXVII: Part III (2)

At the very commencement of the war, she gave herself most heartily to the work of relieving the sufferings of the soldiers from sickness or wounds; laboring with great efficiency in the organization and extension of the New England Women's Auxiliary Association, and in the spring and summer of 1862, going into the Hospital Transport Service of the Sanitary Commission, where her labors were arduous, but accomplished great good. After her return, she was prevailed upon to take the Chairmanship of the Executive Committee of the Association, and represented it at Washington, at the meeting of the delegates from the Branches of the Sanitary Commission. Her executive ability was signally manifested in her management of the affairs of the Association, in her rapid and accurate dispatch of business, her prompt and unerring judgment on all difficult questions, her great practical talent, and her earnest and eloquent appeals to the auxiliaries. Yet fearless and daring as she has ever been in her denunciation of wrong, and her advocacy of right, and extraordinary as are the abilities she has displayed in the management of an enterprise for which few men would have been competent, the greatest charm of her character is her unaffected modesty, and disposition to esteem others better than herself. To her friends she declared that she had made no sacrifices in the work, none really worthy of the name--while there were abundance of women who had, but who were and must remain nameless and unknown. What she had done had been done from inclination and a desire to serve and be useful in her day, and in the great struggle, and had been a recreation and enjoyment.

To a lady friend who sought to win from her some incidents of her labors for publication, she wrote:

"The work in New England has been conducted with so much simplicity, and universal co-operation, that there have been no persons especially prominent in it. Rich and poor, wise and simple, cultivated and ignorant, all--people of all descriptions, all orders of taste, every variety of habit, condition, and circumstances, joined hands heartily in the beginning, and have worked together as equals in every respect. There has been no chance for individual prominence. Each one had some power or quality desirable in the great work; and she gave what she could. In one instance, it was talent, in another, money,--in another, judgment,--in another, time,--and so on. Where all gifts were needed, it would be impossible to say what would make any person prominent, with this one exception. It was necessary that some one should be at the head of the work: and this place it was my blessed privilege to fill. But it was only an accidental prominence; and I should regret more than I can express to you, to have this accident of position single me out in any such manner as you propose; from the able, devoted, glorious women all about me, whose sacrifices, and faithfulness, and nobleness, I can hardly conceive of, much less speak of and never approach to.

"As far as I personally am concerned, I would rather your notice of our part of the work should be of 'New England women.' We shared the privileges of the work,--not always equally, that would be impossible. But we stood side by side--through it all, as New England women; and if we are to be remembered hereafter, it ought to be under that same good old title, and in one goodly company.

"When I begin to think of individual cases, I grow full of admiration, and wish I could tell you of many a special woman; but the number soon becomes appalling,--your book would be overrun, and all, or most of those who would have been omitted, might well have been there too."

In the same tone of generous appreciation of the labors of others, and desire that due honor should be bestowed upon all, Miss May, in her final Report of the New England Women's Auxiliary Association, gives utterance to the thanks of the Executive Committee to its fellow-workers:

"We wish we could speak of all the elements that have conspired to our success in New England; but they are too numerous. From the representatives of the United States Government here, who remitted the duties upon soldiers' garments sent to us from Nova Scotia, down to the little child, diligently sewing with tiny fingers upon the soldier's comfort-bag, the co-operation has been almost universal. Churches, of all denominations, have exerted their influence for us; many schools have made special efforts in our behalf; the directors of railroads, express companies, telegraphs, and newspapers, and gentlemen of the business firms with whom we have dealt, have befriended us most liberally; and private individuals, of all ages, sexes, colors, and conditions, have aided us in ways that we cannot enumerate, that no one really knows but themselves. They do not seek our thanks, but we would like to offer them. Their service has been for the soldiers' sake; but the way in which they have rendered it has made us personally their debtors, beyond the power of words to express."

One of the most efficient auxiliaries of the New England Women's Auxiliary Association, from the thoroughly loyal spirit it manifested, and the persistent and patient labor which characterized its course was the _Boston Sewing Circle_, an organization started in November, 1862, and which numbered thenceforward to the end of the war from one hundred and fifty to two hundred workers. This Sewing Circle raised twenty-one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight dollars in money, (about four thousand dollars of it for the Refugees in Western Tennessee), and made up twenty-one thousand five hundred and ninety-two articles of clothing, a large part of them of flannel, but including also shirts, drawers, etc., of cotton.

Its officers from first to last were Mrs. George Ticknor, President; Miss Ira E. Loring, Vice-President; Mrs. G. H. Shaw, Secretary; Mrs. Martin Brimmer, Treasurer. A part of these ladies, together with some others had for more than a year previous been engaged in similar labors, at first in behalf of the Second Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry, and afterward for other soldiers. This organization of which Mrs. George Ticknor was President, Miss Ticknor, Secretary, and Mrs. W. B. Rogers, Treasurer, raised three thousand five hundred and forty-four dollars in money, and sent to the army four thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine articles of clothing of which one-third were of flannel.

Another "Boston notion," and a very excellent notion it was, was the organization of the _Ladies' Industrial Aid Association_, which we believe, but are not certain, was in some sort an auxiliary of the New England Women's Auxiliary Association. This society was formed in the beginning of the war and proposed first to furnish well made clothing to the soldiers, and second to give employment to their families, though it was not confined to these, but furnished work also to some extent to poor widows with young children, who had no near relatives in the army. In this enterprise were enlisted a large number of ladies of education, refinement, and high social position. During four successive winters, they carried on their philanthropic work, from fifteen to twenty of them being employed during most of the forenoons of each week, in preparing the garments for the sewing women, or in the thorough and careful inspection of those which were finished. From nine hundred to one thousand women were constantly supplied with work, and received in addition to the contract prices, (the ladies performing their labor without compensation) additional payment, derived from donations for increasing their remuneration. The number of garments (mostly shirts and drawers) made by the employes of this association in the four years, was three hundred and forty-six thousand seven hundred and fifteen, and the sum, of twenty thousand thirty-three dollars and seventy-eight cents raised by donation, was paid as additional wages to the workwomen. The association of these poor women for so long a period with ladies of cultivation and refinement, under circumstances in which they could return a fair equivalent for the money received, and hence were not in the position of applicants for charity, could not fail to be elevating and improving, while the ladies themselves learned the lesson that as pure and holy a patriotism inspired the hearts of the humble and lowly, as was to be found among the gifted and cultivated. We regret that we cannot give the names of the ladies who initiated and sustained this movement. Many of them were conspicuous in other works of patriotism and benevolence during the war, and some found scope for their earnest devotion to the cause in camp and hospital, and some gave vent to their patriotic emotion in battle hymns which will live through all coming time. Of these as of thousands of others in all the departments of philanthropy connected with the great struggle, it shall be said, "They have done what they could."

NORTHWESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION.

When the United States Sanitary Commission was first organized, though its members and officers had but little idea of the vast influence it was destined to exert on the labors which were before it, they wisely resolved to make it a National affair, and accordingly selected some of their corporate members from the large cities of the West. The Honorable Mark Skinner, and subsequently E. B. McCagg, Esq., and E. W. Blatchford, were chosen as the associate members of the Commission for Chicago. The Commission expected much from the Northwest, both from its earnest patriotism, and its large-handed liberality. Its selection of associates was eminently judicious, and these very soon after their election, undertook the establishment of a branch Commission for collecting and forwarding supplies, and more effectively organizing the liberality of the Northwest, that its rills and streams of beneficence, concentrated in the great city of the Lakes, might flow thence in a mighty stream to the armies of the West. Public meetings were held, a branch of the United States Sanitary Commission with its rooms, its auxiliaries and its machinery of collection and distribution put in operation, and the office management at first entrusted to that devoted and faithful worker in the Sanitary cause, Mrs. Eliza Porter. The work grew in extent as active operations were undertaken in our armies, and early in 1862, the associates finding Mrs. Porter desirous of joining her husband in ministrations of mercy at the front, entrusted the charge of the active labors of the Commission, its correspondence, the organization of auxiliary aid societies, the issuing of appeals for money and supplies, the forwarding of stores, the employment and location of women nurses, and the other multifarious duties of so extensive an institution, to two ladies of Chicago, ladies who had both given practical evidence of their patriotism and activity in the cause,--Mrs. A. H. Hoge and Mrs. M. A. Livermore. The selection was wisely made. No more earnest workers were found in any department of the Sanitary Commission's field, and their eloquence of pen and voice, the magnetism of their personal presence, their terse and vigorously written circulars appealing for general or special supplies, their projection and management of two great sanitary fairs, and their unwearied efforts to save the western armies from the fearful perils of scurvy, entitle them to especial prominence in our record of noble and patriotic women. The amount of money and supplies sent from this branch, collected from its thousand auxiliaries and its two great fairs, has not been up to this time, definitively estimated, but it is known to have exceeded one million of dollars.

This record of the labors of these ladies during the war would be incomplete without allusion to the fact that they were the prime movers in the establishment of a Soldiers' Home, in Chicago, and were, until after the war ended, actively identified with it. They early foresaw that this temporary resting-place, which became like "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" to tens of thousands of soldiers, going to and returning from the camp, and hospital, and battle-field, would eventually crystallize into a permanent home for the disabled and indigent of Illinois' brave men--and in all their calculations for it, they took its grand future into account. That future which they foresaw, has become a verity, and nowhere in the United States is there a pleasanter, or more convenient, or more generously supported Soldiers' Home than in Chicago, standing on the shores of Lake Michigan.

MRS. A. H. HOGE.

Perhaps among all who have labored for the soldier, during the late war, among the women of our country, no name is better known that of Mrs. A. H. Hoge, the subject of this sketch. From the beginning until the successful close of the war, alike cheerful, ardent, and reliant, in its darkest, as in its brightest days, Mrs. Hoge dedicated to the service of her country and its defenders, all that she had to bestow, and became widely known all over the vast sphere of her operations, as one of the most faithful and tireless of workers; wise in council, strong in judgment, earnest in action.

Mrs. Hoge is a native of the city of Philadelphia, and was the daughter of George D. Blaikie, Esq., an East India shipping merchant--"a man of spotless character, and exalted reputation, whose name is held in reverence by many still living there."

Mrs. Hoge was educated at the celebrated seminary of John Brewer, A. M., (a graduate of Harvard University) who founded the first classical school for young ladies in Philadelphia, and which was distinguished from all others, by the name of the Young Ladies' College. She graduated with the first rank in her class, and afterward devoting much attention, with the advantage of the best instruction, to music, and other accomplishments, she soon excelled in the former. At an early age she became a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, with which she still retains her connection, her husband being a ruling elder in the same church.

In her twentieth year she was married to Mr. A. H. Hoge, a merchant of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where she resided fourteen years. At the end of that period she removed to Chicago, Illinois, where she has since dwelt.

Mrs. Hoge has been the mother of thirteen children, five of whom have passed away before her. One of these, the Rev. Thomas Hoge, was a young man of rare endowments and promise.

As before stated, from the very beginning of the war, Mrs. Hoge identified herself with the interests of her country. Two of her sons immediately entered the army, and she at once commenced her unwearied personal services for the sick and wounded soldiers.

At first she entered only into that work of supply in which so large a portion of the loyal women of the North labored more or less continuously all through the war. But the first public act of her life as a Sanitary Agent, was to visit, at the request of the Chicago branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, the hospitals at Cairo, Mound City and St. Louis.

Of her visit to one of these hospitals she subsequently related the following incidents:

"The first great hospital I visited was Mound City, twelve miles from Cairo. It contained twelve hundred beds, furnished with dainty sheets, and pillows and shirts, from the Sanitary Commission, and ornamented with boughs of fresh apple blossoms, placed there by tender female nurses to refresh the languid frames of their mangled inmates. As I took my slow and solemn walk through this congregation of suffering humanity, I was arrested by the bright blue eyes, and pale but dimpled cheek, of a boy of nineteen summers. I perceived he was bandaged like a mummy, and could not move a limb; but still he smiled. The nurse who accompanied me said, 'We call this boy our miracle. Five weeks ago, he was shot down at Donelson; both legs and arms shattered. To-day, with great care, he has been turned for the first time, and never a murmur has escaped his lips, but grateful words and pleasant looks have cheered us.' Said I to the smiling boy, some absent mother's pride, 'How long did you lie on the field after being shot?' 'From Saturday morning till Sunday evening,' he replied, 'and then I was chopped out, for I had frozen feet.' 'How did it happen that you were left so long?' 'Why, you see,' said he, 'they couldn't stop to bother with us, _because they had to take the fort_.' 'But,' said I, 'did you not feel 'twas cruel to leave you to suffer so long?' 'Of course not! how could they help it? _They had to take the fort_, and when they did, we forgot our sufferings, and all over the battle-field went up cheers from the wounded, even from the dying. Men that had but one arm raised that, and voices so weak that they sounded like children's, helped to swell the sound.' 'Did you suffer much?' His brow contracted, as he said, 'I don't like to think of that; but never mind, the doctor tells me I won't lose an arm or a leg, and I'm going back to have another chance at them. There's one thing I can't forget though," said he, as his sunny brow grew dark, 'Jem and I (nodding at the boy in the adjoining cot) lived on our father's neighboring farms in Illinois; we stood beside each other and fell together. As he knows, we saw fearful sights that day. We saw poor wounded boys stripped of their clothing. They cut our's off, when every movement was torture. When some resisted, they were pinned to the earth with bayonets, and left writhing like worms, to die by inches. I can't forgive the devils for that.' 'I fear you've got more than you bargained for.' 'Not a bit of it; we went in for better or worse, and if we got worse, we must not complain.' Thus talked the beardless boy, nine months only from his mother's wing. As I spoke, a moan, a rare sound in a hospital, fell on my ear. I turned, and saw a French boy quivering with agony and crying for help. Alas! he had been wounded, driven several miles in an ambulance, with his feet projecting, had them frightfully frozen, and the surgeon had just decided the discolored, useless members must be amputated, and the poor boy was begging for the operation. Beside him, lay a stalwart man, with fine face, the fresh blood staining his bandages, his dark, damp hair clustering round his marble forehead. He extended his hand feebly and essayed to speak, as I bent over him, but speech had failed him. He was just brought in from a gunboat, where he had been struck with a piece of shell, and was slipping silently but surely into eternity. Two days afterward I visited Jefferson Barracks Hospital. In passing through the wards, I noticed a woman seated beside the cot of a youth, apparently dying. He was insensible to all around; she seemed no less so. Her face was bronzed and deeply lined with care and suffering. Her eyes were bent on the ground, her arms folded, her features rigid as marble. I stood beside her, but she did not notice me. I laid my hand upon her shoulder, but she heeded me not. I said 'Is this young man a relative of yours?' No answer came. 'Can't I help you?' With a sudden start that electrified me, her dry eyes almost starting from the sockets and her voice husky with agony, she said, pointing her attenuated finger at the senseless boy, 'He is the last of seven sons--six have died in the army, and the doctor says he must die to-night.' The flash of life passed from her face as suddenly as it came, her arms folded over her breast, she sank in her chair, and became as before, the rigid impersonation of agony. As I passed through another hospital ward, I noticed a man whose dejected figure said plainly, 'he had turned his face to the wall to die.' His limb had been amputated, and he had just been told his doom. Human nature rebelled. He cried out, 'I am willing to die, if I could but see my wife and children once more.' In the silence that followed this burst of agony, the low voice of a noble woman, who gave her time and abundant means to the sick and wounded soldiers, was heard in prayer for him. The divine influence overcame his struggling heart, and as she concluded, he said, 'Thy will, O God, be done!' ''Tis a privilege, even thus, to die for one's country.' Before the midnight hour he was at rest. The vacant bed told the story next morning."

The object of these visits was to examine those hospitals which were under the immediate supervision of the Branch, and report their condition, also to investigate the excellent mode of working of the finely conducted, and at that time numerous hospitals in St. Louis. This report was made and acted upon, and was the means of introducing decided and much needed reforms into similar institutions.

The value of Mrs. Hoge's counsel, and the fruits of her great experience of life were generally acknowledged. In the several councils of women held in Washington, she took a prominent part, and was always listened to with the greatest respect and attention--not by any means lessened after her wide relations with the Sanitary Commission, and her special experience of its work, had become known in the following years.

Mrs. Hoge was accompanied to Washington, when attending the Women's Council in 1862, by her friend and fellow-laborer, Mrs. M. A. Livermore, of Chicago. After the return of these ladies they immediately commenced the organization of the Northwest for sanitary labor, being appointed agents of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission, and devoting their entire time to this work.

They opened a correspondence with leading women in all the cities and prominent towns of the Northwest. They prepared and circulated great numbers of circulars, relating to the mode and necessity of the concentrated efforts of the Aid Societies, and they visited in person very many towns and large villages, calling together audiences of women, and telling them of the hardships, sufferings and heroism of the soldiers, which they had themselves witnessed, and the pressing needs of these men, which were to be met by the supplies contributed by, and the work of loyal women of the North. They thus stimulated the enthusiasm of the women to the highest point, greatly increased the number of Aid Societies, and taught them how, by systematizing their efforts, they could render the largest amount of assistance, as well as the most important, to the objects of the Sanitary Commission.

The eloquence and pathos of these appeals has never been surpassed; and it is no matter of wonder that they should have opened the hearts and purses of so many thousands of the listeners. "But for these noble warriors," Mrs. Hoge would say, "who have stood a living wall between us and destruction, where would have been our schools, our colleges, our churches, our property, our government, our lives? Southern soil has been watered with their blood, the Mississippi fringed with their graves, measured by acres instead of numbers. The shadow of death has passed over almost every household, and left desolate hearth-stones and vacant chairs. Thousands of mothers, wives and sisters at home have died and made no sign, while their loved ones have been hidden in Southern hospitals, prisons and graves--the separation, thank God, is short, the union eternal. I have only a simple story of these martyred heroes to tell you. I have been privileged to visit a hundred thousand of them in hospitals; meekly and cheerfully lying _there_, that you and I may be enabled to meet _here_, in peace and comfort to-day.

"Could I, by the touch of a magician's wand, pass before you in solemn review, this army of sufferers, you would say a tithe cannot be told."

And then with simple and effective pathos she would proceed to tell of incidents which she had witnessed, so touching, that long ere she had concluded her entire audience would be in tears.

By two years of earnest and constant labor in this field, these ladies succeeded in adding to the packages sent to the Sanitary Commission, fifty thousand, mostly gifts directly from the Aid Societies, but in part purchased with money given. In addition to this, over four hundred thousand dollars came into the treasury through their efforts.

Early in 1863, Mrs. Hoge, in company with Mrs. Colt of Milwaukee, at the request of the Sanitary Commission, left Chicago for Vicksburg, with a large quantity of sanitary stores. The defeat of Sherman in his assault upon that city, had just taken place, and there was great want and suffering in the army. The boat upon which these ladies were traveling, was however seized as a military transport at Columbus, and pressed into the fleet of General Gorman, which was just starting for the forts at the mouth of the White River.

General Fisk, whose headquarters were upon the same boat, accorded to these ladies the best accommodations, and every facility for carrying out their work, which proved to be greatly needed. Their stores were found to be almost the only ones in the fleet, composed of thirty steamers filled with fresh troops, whose ranks were soon thinned by sickness, consequent upon the exposures and fatigues of the campaign.

Their boat became a refuge for the sick of General Fisk's brigade, to his honor be it said, and these ladies had the privilege of nursing hundreds of men during this expedition, and undoubtedly saved many valuable lives.

Early in the following spring, and only ten days after her return to Chicago, from the expedition mentioned above, Mrs. Hoge was again summoned to Vicksburg, opposite which, at Young's Point, the army under General Grant was lying and engaged, among other operations against this celebrated stronghold, in the attempt to turn the course of the river into a canal dug across the point. Scurvy was prevailing to a very considerable extent among the men, who were greatly in need of the supplies which accompanied her. Here she remained two weeks, and had the pleasure of distributing these supplies, and witnessing much benefit from their use. Her headquarters were upon the sanitary boat, Silver Wave, and she received constant support and aid from Generals Grant and Sherman, and from Admiral Porter, who placed a tug boat at her disposal, in order that she might visit the camps and hospitals which were totally inaccessible in any other way, owing to the impassable character of the roads during the rainy season. Having made a tour of all the hospitals, and ascertained the condition of the sick, and of the army generally, she returned to the North, and reported to the Sanitary Commission the extent of that insidious army foe, the scurvy. They determined to act promptly and vigorously. Mrs. Hoge and Mrs. Livermore, as representatives of the Northwestern Sanitary Commission, by unremitting exertions, through the press and by circulars, and aided by members of the Commission, and by the noble Board of Trade of Chicago, succeeded in collecting, and in sending to the army, in the course of three weeks, over one thousand bushels of potatoes and onions, which reached them, were apportioned to them, and proved, as was anticipated, and has been universally acknowledged, the salvation of the troops.

Again, in the following June, on the invitation of General Fuller, Adjutant-General of the State of Illinois, Mrs. Hoge visited Vicksburg, on the Steamer City of Alton, which was despatched by Governor Yates, to bring home the sick and wounded Illinois soldiers. She remained till shortly before the surrender, which took place on the fourth of July, and during this time visited the entire circle of Hospitals, as well as the rifle-pits, where she witnessed scenes of thrilling interest, and instances of endurance and heroism beyond the power of pen to describe.

She thus describes some of the incidents of this visit:

"The long and weary siege of Vicksburg, had continued many months previous to the terrific assaults of our brave army on the fortifications in the rear of that rebel stronghold. On the 19th and 22d of May, were made those furious attacks, up steep acclivities, in the teeth of bristling fortifications, long lines of rifle-pits, and sharp-shooters who fringed the hill-tops, and poured their murderous fire into our advancing ranks. It would seem impossible that men could stand, much less advance, under such a galling fire. They were mowed down as wheat before the sickle, but they faltered not. The vacant places of the fallen were instantly filled, and inch by inch they gained the heights of Vicksburg. When the precipice was too steep for the horses to draw up the artillery, our brave boys did the work themselves, and then fought and conquered. When they had gained the topmost line of rifle-pits, they entered in and took possession; and when I made my last visit to the Army of the Mississippi, there they were ensconced as conies in the rock, enduring the heat of a vertical sun, and crouching, like beasts of prey, to escape the rebel bullets from the earthworks, almost within touching distance. The fierce and bloody struggle had filled long lines of field-hospitals with mangled victims, whose sufferings were soothed and relieved beyond what I could have conceived possible, and it rejoiced my heart to see there the comforts and luxuries of the Sanitary Commission. The main body of the army lay encamped in the valleys, at the foot of the rifle-pits, and spread its lines in a semi-circle to a distance of fourteen miles. The health of the army was perfect, its spirit jubilant. They talked of the rebels as prisoners, as though they were guarding them, and answered questions implying doubt of success, with a scornful laugh, saying, 'Why, the boys in the rear could whip Johnston, and we not know it; and we could take Vicksburg if we chose, and not disturb them.' Each regiment, if not each man, felt competent for the work. One glorious day in June, accompanied by an officer of the 8th Missouri, I set out for the rifle-pits. When I reached them, I found the heat stifling; and as I bent to avoid the whizzing minies, and the falling branches of the trees, cut off by an occasional shell, I felt that war was a terrible reality. The intense excitement of the scene, the manly, cheerful bearing of the veterans, the booming of the cannon from the battlements, and the heavy mortars that were ever and anon throwing their huge iron balls into Vicksburg, and the picturesque panorama of the army encamped below, obliterated all sense of personal danger or fatigue. After a friendly talk with the men in the extreme front, and a peep again and again through the loop-holes, watched and fired upon continually, by the wary foe, I descended to the second ledge, where the sound of music reached us. We followed it quickly, and in a few moments stood behind a rude litter of boughs, on which lay a gray-haired soldier, face downward, with a comrade on either side. They did not perceive us, but sang on the closing line of the verse:

'Come humble sinner in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve;
Come with thy sins and fears oppressed,
And make this last resolve,'

I joined in the second verse;

'I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
Have like a mountain rose,
I know His courts, I'll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.'

In an instant, each man turned and would have stopped, but I sang on with moistened eyes, and they continued. At the close, one burst out, 'Why, ma'am, where did you come from? Did you drop from heaven into these rifle-pits? You are the first lady we have seen here,' and then the voice was choked with tears. I said, 'I have come from your friends at home to see you, and bring messages of love and honor. I have come to bring you the comforts that we owe you, and love to give. I've come to see if you receive what they send you.' 'Do they think so much of us as that? Why, boys, we can fight another year on that, can't we?' 'Yes! yes!' they cried, and almost every hand was raised to brush away the tears. 'Why, boys,' said I, 'the women at home don't think of much else but the soldiers. If they meet to sew, 'tis for you; if they have a good time, 'tis to gather money for the Sanitary Commission; if they meet to pray, 'tis for the soldiers; and even the little children, as they kneel at their mother's knees to lisp their good-night prayers, say, God bless the soldiers.' A crowd of eager listeners had gathered from their hiding-places, as birds from the rocks. Instead of cheers as usual, I could only hear an occasional sob and feel solemn silence. The gray-haired veteran drew from his breast-pocket a daguerreotype, and said, 'Here are my wife and daughters. I think any man might be proud of them, and they all work for the soldiers.' And then each man drew forth the inevitable daguerreotype, and held it for me to look at, with pride and affection. There were aged mothers and sober matrons, bright-eyed maidens and laughing cherubs, all carried next these brave hearts, and cherished as life itself. Blessed art! It seems as though it were part of God's preparation work, for this long, cruel war. These mute memorials of home and its loved ones have proved the talisman of many a tempted heart, and the solace of thousands of suffering, weary veterans. I had much to do, and prepared to leave. I said, 'Brave men, farewell! When I go home, I'll tell them that men that never flinch before a foe, sing hymns of praise in the rifle-pits of Vicksburg. I'll tell them that eyes that never weep for their own suffering, overflow at the name of home and the sight of the pictures of their wives and children. They'll feel more than ever that such men cannot be conquered, and that enough cannot be done for them.' Three cheers for the women at home, and a grasp of multitudes of hard, honest hands, and I turned away to visit other regiments. The officer who was with me, grasped my hand; 'Madam,' said he, 'promise me you'll visit my regiment to-morrow--'twould be worth a victory to them. You don't know what good a lady's visit to the army does. These men whom you have seen to-day, will talk of your visit for six months to come. Around the camp fires, in the rifle-pits, in the dark nights or on the march, they will repeat your words, describe your looks, your voice, your size, your dress, and all agree in one respect, that you look like an angel, and exactly like each man's wife or mother. Such reverence have our soldiers for upright, tender-hearted women. In the valley beneath, just having exchanged the front line of rifle-pits, with the regiment now occupying it, encamped my son's regiment. Its ranks had been fearfully thinned by the terrible assaults of the 19th and 21st of May, as they had formed the right wing of the line of battle on that fearful day. I knew most of them personally, and as they gathered round me and inquired after home and friends, I could but look in sadness for many familiar faces, to be seen no more on earth. I said, 'Boys, I was present when your colors were presented to you by the Board of Trade. I heard your colonel pledge himself that you would bring those colors home or cover them with your blood, as well as glory. I want to see them, if you have them still, after your many battles.' With great alacrity, the man in charge of them ran into an adjoining tent, and brought them forth, carefully wrapped in an oil-silk covering. He drew it off and flung the folds to the breeze. 'What does this mean?' I said. 'How soiled and tattered, and rent and faded they look--I should not know them.' The man who held them said, 'Why, ma'am, 'twas the smoke and balls did that.' 'Ah! so it must have been,' I said. 'Well, you have covered them with glory, but how about the blood!' A silence of a minute followed, and then a low voice said, 'Four were shot down holding them--two are dead, and two in the hospital.' 'Verily, you have redeemed your pledge,' I said solemnly. 'Now, boys, sing Rally round the Flag, Boys!'--and they did sing it. As it echoed through the valley, as we stood within sight of the green sward that had been reddened with the blood of those that had fought for and upheld it, methought the angels might pause to hear it, for it was a sacred song--the song of freedom to the captive, of hope to the oppressed of all nations. Since then, it seems almost profane to sing it with thoughtlessness or frivolity. After a touching farewell, I stepped into the ambulance, surrounded by a crowd of the brave fellows. The last sound that reached my ears was cheers for the Sanitary Commission, and the women at home. I soon reached the regimental hospital, where lay the wounded color-bearers. As I entered the tent, the surgeon met me and said, 'I'm so glad you've come, for R---- has been calling for you all day,' As I took his parched, feverish hand, he said, 'Oh! take me home to my wife and little ones to die,' There he lay, as noble a specimen of vigorous manhood as I had ever looked upon. His great, broad chest heaved with emotion, his dark eyes were brilliant with fever, his cheeks flushed with almost the hue of health, his rich brown hair clustering in soft curls over his massive forehead, it was difficult to realize that he was entering the portals of eternity. I walked across the tent to the doctor, and asked if he could go with me. He shook his head, and said before midnight he would be at rest. I shrank from his eager gaze as I approached him. 'What does he say?' he asked quickly. 'You can't be moved.' The broad chest rose and fell, his whole frame quivered. There was a pause of a few minutes. He spoke first, and said, 'Will you take my message to her?' 'I will,' I said, 'if I go five hundred miles to do it,' 'Take her picture from under my pillow, and my children's also. Let me see it once more.' As I held them for him, he looked earnestly, and then said, 'Tell her not to fret about me, for we shall meet in heaven. Tell her 'twas all right that I came. I don't regret it, and she must not. Tell her to train these two little boys, that we loved so well, to go to heaven to us, and tell her to bear my loss like a soldier's wife and a Christian.' He was exhausted by the effort. I sat beside him till his consciousness was gone, repeating God's precious promises. As the sun went to rest that night, he slept in his Father's bosom."

Early in January, 1864, another Council of women connected with the Branch Commissions, Aid Societies, and general work of Supply, assembled in Washington, and was in session three days. Mrs. Hoge, was again a Delegate, and in relating the results of her now very large experience, helped greatly the beneficial results of the Council, and harmonized all the views and action of the various branches. As before, she was listened to with deference and attention, and we find her name mentioned in the most appreciative manner in the Reports of the meeting. Her remarks in regard to the value of free use of the Press, and of advertising, in the collection of supplies for the Army, stimulated the Commission to renewed effort in this direction, which they had partially abandoned under the censorious criticism of some portion of the public, who believed the money thus expended to be literally thrown away. The result was, instead, a very large increase of supplies.

In the two great Sanitary Fairs, which were held in Chicago, the efforts of Mrs. Hoge were unwearied from the inception of the idea until the close of the successful realization. Much of this success may be directly traced to her--her practical talent, great experience in influencing the minds and action of others, and sound judgment, as well as good taste, producing thus their natural results. The admirable conduct of these fairs, and the large amounts raised by them, are matters of history.

In an address delivered at a meeting of ladies in Brooklyn, New York, in March, 1865, Mrs. Hoge thus spoke of her work and that of the women, who like her, had given themselves to the duty of endeavoring to provide for the sick and suffering soldier:

"The women of the land, with swelling hearts and uplifted eyes asked 'Lord, what wilt thou have us to do?' The marvellous organization of the United States Sanitary Commission, with its various modes of heavenly activity, pointed out the way, saying 'The men must fight, the women must work, this is the way, follow me.' In accepting this call, there has been no reservation. Duty has been taken up, in whatever shape presented, nothing refused that would soothe a sorrow, staunch a wound, or heal the sickness of the humblest soldier in the ranks. Some have drifted into positions entirely new and heretofore avoided. They have gone forth from the bosom of their families, to visit hospitals, camps, and battle-fields; some even to appear as we do before you to-day, to plead for aid for our sick and wounded soldiers suffering and dying that we may live. The memory of their heroism is inspiring--the recollection of their patience and long-suffering is overwhelming. They form the most striking human exemplification of divine meekness and submission, the world has ever seen, and bring to mind continually the passage, 'He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.'"

During the continuance of her labors, Mrs. Hoge was frequently the recipient of costly and elegant gifts, as testimonials of the respect and gratitude with which her exertions were viewed.

After a visit to the Ladies' Aid Society, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, she was presented by them with a testimonial, beautifully engrossed upon parchment, surmounted by an exquisitely painted Union flag.

The managers of the Philadelphia Fair, believing Mrs. Hoge to have had an important connection with that fair, presented to her a beautiful gift, in token of their appreciation of her services.

The Women's Relief Association, of Brooklyn, New York, presented her an elegant silver vase.

During the second Sanitary Fair in Chicago, a few friends presented her with a beautiful silver cup, bearing a suitable inscription in Latin, and during the same fair, she received as a gift a Roman bell of green bronze, or verd antique, of rare workmanship, and value, as an object of art.

Mrs. Hoge made three expeditions to the Army of the Southwest, and personally visited and ministered to more than one hundred thousand men in hospitals. Few among the many efficient workers, which the war called from the ease and retirement of home, can submit to the public a record of labors as efficient, varied, and long-continued, as hers.

MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE.

Few of the busy and active laborers in the broad field of woman's effort during the war, have been more widely or favorably known than Mrs. Livermore. Her labors, with her pen, commenced with the commencement of the war; and in various spheres of effort, were faithfully and energetically given to the cause of the soldier and humanity, until a hard-won peace had once more "perched upon our banners," and the need of them, at least in that specific direction, no longer existed.

Mrs. Livermore is a native of Boston, where her childhood and girlhood were passed. At fourteen years of age she was a medal scholar of the "Hancock School," of that city, and three years later, she graduated from the "Charlestown (Mass.), Female Seminary," when she became connected with its Board of Instruction, as Teacher of Latin, French and Italian. With the exception of two years spent in the south of Virginia,--whence she returned an uncompromising anti-slavery woman--her home was in Boston until her marriage, to Rev. D. P. Livermore, after which she resided in its near vicinity, until twelve years ago, when with her husband and children she removed West. For the last ten years she has been a resident of Chicago. Her husband is now editor of the _New Covenant_, a paper published in Chicago, Illinois, in advocacy of Universalist sentiments, and, at the same time, of those measures of reform, which tend to elevate and purify erring and sinful human nature. Of this paper Mrs. Livermore is associate editor.

Mrs. Livermore is a woman of remarkable talent, and in certain directions even of genius, as the history of her labors in connection with the war amply evinces. Her energy is great, and her executive ability far beyond the average. She is an able writer, striking and picturesque in description, and strong and touching in appeal. She has a fine command of language, and in her conversation or her addresses to assemblies of ladies, one may at once detect the tone and ease of manner of a woman trained to pencraft. She is the author of several books, mostly poems, essays or stories, and is recognized as a member of the literary guild. The columns of her husband's paper furnished her the opportunity she desired of addressing her patriotic appeals to the community, and her vigorous pen was ever at work both in its columns, and those of the other papers that were open to her. During the whole war, even in the busiest times, not a week was passed that she did not publish _somewhere_ two or three columns at the least. Letters, incidents, appeals, editorial correspondence,--always something useful, interesting--head and hands were always busy, and the small implement, "mightier than the sword" was never allowed to rust unused in the ink-stand.

Before us, as we write, lies an article published in the New Covenant of May 18th, 1861, and as we see written scarcely a month after the downfall of Fort Sumter. It is entitled "Woman and the War," and shows how, even at that early day, the patriotism of American women was bearing fruit, and how keenly and sensitively the writer appreciated our peril.

"But no less have we been surprised and moved to admiration by the regeneration of the women of our land. A month ago, and we saw a large class, aspiring only to be 'leaders of fashion,' and belles of the ball-room, their deepest anxiety clustering about the fear that the gored skirts, and bell-shaped hoops of the spring mode might not be becoming, and their highest happiness being found in shopping, polking, and the schottisch--pretty, petted, useless, expensive butterflies, whose future husbands and children were to be pitied and prayed for. But to-day, we find them lopping off superfluities, retrenching expenditures, deaf to the calls of pleasure, or the mandates of fashion, swept by the incoming patriotism of the time to the loftiest height of womanhood, willing to do, to bear, or to suffer for the beloved country. The riven fetters of caste and conventionality have dropped at their feet, and they sit together, patrician and plebeian, Catholic and Protestant, and make garments for the poorly-clad soldiery. An order came to Boston for five thousand shirts for the Massachusetts troops at the South. Every church in the city sent a delegation of needle-women to 'Union Hall,' a former aristocratic ball-room of Boston; the Catholic priest detailed five hundred sewing-girls to the pious work; suburban towns rang the bell to muster the seamstresses; the patrician Protestant of Beacon Street ran the sewing-machine, while the plebeian Irish Catholic of Broad Street basted--and the shirts were done at the rate of a thousand a day. On Thursday, Miss Dix sent an order for five hundred shirts for the hospital at Washington--on Friday they were ready. And this is but one instance, in one city, similar events transpiring in every other large city.

"But the patriotism of the Northern women has been developed in a nobler and more touching manner. We can easily understand how men, catching the contagion of war, fired with enthusiasm, led on by the inspiriting trains of martial music, and feeling their quarrel to be just, can march to the cannon's mouth, where the iron hail rains thickest, and the ranks are mowed down like grain in harvest. But for women to send forth their husbands, sons and brothers to the horrid chances of war, bidding them go with many a tearful 'good-by' and 'God bless you,' to see them, perhaps, no more--this calls for another sort of heroism. Only women can understand the fierce struggle, and exquisite suffering this sacrifice involves--and which has already been made by thousands."

The inception of that noble work, and noble monument of American patriotism, the United States Sanitary Commission, had its date in the early days of the war. We find in all the editorial writings of Mrs. Livermore, for the year 1861, constant warm allusions to this organization and its work, which show how strongly it commended itself to her judgment, how deeply she was interested in its workings, and how her heart was stirred by an almost uncontrollable impulse to become actively engaged with all her powers in the work.

In the New Covenant for December 18, 1861, we find over the signature of Mrs. Livermore, an earnest appeal to the women of the Northwest for aid, in furnishing Hospital supplies for the army. A "Sanitary Committee," had been formed in Chicago, to co-operate with the United States Sanitary Commission, which had opened an office, and was prepared to receive and forward supplies. These were designed to be sent, almost exclusively, to Western hospitals, and a Soldiers' Festival was at that time being held for the purpose of collecting aid, and raising funds for this Committee, to use in its charitable work.

This Committee did not long preserve a separate existence. About the beginning of the year 1862, the Northwestern branch of the United States Sanitary Commission was organized at Chicago, composed of some of the leading and most influential citizens of that city, and others in the Northwestern States. It at once became a power in the land, an instrument of almost incalculable good.

Soon afterward, Mrs. Livermore, and Mrs. A. H. Hoge, one of the most earnest, able and indefatigable of the women working in connection with the Sanitary Commission, and a resident of Chicago, were appointed agents of the Northwestern Commission, and immediately commenced their labors.

The writer is not aware that a complete and separate sketch of either the joint or individual labors of these ladies exists. For the outline of those of Mrs. Livermore, dependence is mostly made upon her communications to the New Covenant, and other Journals--upon articles not written with the design of furnishing information of personal effort, so much, as to give such statements of the soldier's need, and of the various efforts in that direction, as together with appeals, and exhortations to renewed benevolence and sacrifice, might best keep the public mind constantly stimulated and excited to fresh endeavor.

Running through these papers, we find everywhere evidences of the intense loyalty of this gifted woman, and also of the deep and equally outspoken scorn with which she regarded every evidence of treasonable opinion, or of sympathy with secession, on the part of army leaders, or the civil authorities. The reader will remember the repulse experienced in the winter of 1861-2, by the Hutchinsons, those sweet singers, whose "voices have ever been heard chanting the songs of Freedom--always lifted in harmonious accord in support of every good and noble cause." Mrs. Livermore's spirit was stirred by the story of their wrongs, and thus in keenest sarcasm, she gave utterance to her scorn of this weak and foolish deed of military tyrants encamping a winter through, before empty forts and Quaker guns, while they ventured only to make war upon girls: "While the whole country has been waiting in breathless suspense for six months, each one of which has seemed an eternity to the loyal people of the North, for the 'grand forward movement' of the army, which is to cut the Gordian knot of the rebellion, and perform unspeakable prodigies, not lawful for man to utter, a backward movement has been executed on the banks of the Potomac, by the valiant commanders there stationed, for which none of us were prepared. No person, even though his imagination possessed a seven-leagued-boot-power of travel, could have anticipated the last great exploit of our generals, whose energies thus far, have been devoted to the achieving of a 'masterly inactivity.' The 'forward movement' has receded and receded, like the cup of Tantalus, but the backward movement came suddenly upon us, like a thief in the night."