THE BOYS IN WHITE.
Julia S. Wheelock
THE BOYS IN WHITE;
THE
EXPERIENCE
OF
A HOSPITAL AGENT
IN AND AROUND WASHINGTON.
BY JULIA S. WHEELOCK.
NEW YORK:
PRINTED BY LANGE & HILLMAN,
STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 207 PEARL ST.,
NEAR MAIDEN LANE.
1870.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
JULIA S. WHEELOCK,
In the Clerk’s Office of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Printed by Lange & Hillman,
207 Pearl Street,
Near Malden Lane, N.Y.
[Pg v]
PREFACE.
From September, 1862, to July, 1865, I was in the hospitals in andaround Washington. I kept a journal of my experience, portions of whichappear in this volume. The journal was kept for my personal benefit,and not for publication. Much of it was written late at night when sowearied by excessive labor, anxiety, and excitement, that I would notunfrequently fall asleep with the pen in my hand. I often sat upon abox or some rude bench, and held my book on my lap as I wrote, and nowthis journal, condensed, is thrown into the lap of the public and ofmy friends, who have earnestly requested that “The Boys in White” maybe embalmed, as well as the “Boys in Blue.” My object in going Southwas to help care for a wounded brother. When I left home I expectedto remain only until he became able to travel; but, upon arriving inAlexandria, we found that death had already done its work. A littlemound of earth in the soldier’s cemetery marked the spot where thatdear, almost idolized brother slept, and[Pg vi] thus our bright hopes andfond anticipations were suddenly and forever blighted. I resolved toremain and endeavor, God being my helper, to do for others as I fainwould have done for my dear brother. A field of labor soon presenteditself which I most gladly entered. Justice to our noble soldiersdemands that I should here state that, during my hospital and armyexperience of nearly three years, I was uniformly treated with theutmost courtesy and respect. I know it was thought and even said bysome, that a lady could not be associated with the army without losingher standard of moral excellence. I pity those who have such a lowestimate of the moral worth and true nobility of the soldier.
I have sometimes been asked if I did not feel afraid when in the midstof so many soldiers. I can truthfully say that I never knew what fe