Entered upon my
duties to-day, as lady nurse of two divisions of tents at Small Pox Hospital.
Not obliged to come
here, but have accepted this most disagreeable place, as there are so few who
are willing to take it. Expect to be quite confined to the place; and the hope
of doing good in a position which otherwise would be vacant, is the inducement.
The Hospital is
about a mile out from the city, and near Camp Cumberland. It consists of tents
in the rear of a fine, large mansion which was deserted by its rebel owner. In
these tents are about 800 patients-including convalescents, contrabands,
soldiers and citizens. Everything seems done for their comfort which can well
be, with the scarcity of help. Cleanliness and ventilation are duly attended
to; but the unsightly, swollen faces, blotched with eruption, or presenting an
entire scab, and the offensive odor, require some strength of nerve in those
who minister to their necessities. There are six physicians each in charge of a
division. Those in which I am assigned to duty are in charge of Drs. R. &
C. There is but one lady nurse here, aside from the wives of three surgeons,
each of whom, however, has her special duty.
Mrs. B., the nurse,
went with me through the tents, introduced me to the patients and explained my
duties.
SOURCE: Elvira J.
Powers, Hospital Pencillings: Being a Diary While in Jefferson General
Hospital, Jeffersonville, Ind., and Others at Nashville, Tennessee, as Matron
and Visitor, p. 42
