Three Weeks at Gettysburg.

Three Weeks at Gettysburg.

Civilians in the Union and Confederacy provided critical support for the war effort through fundraising and volunteering. The U.S. Sanitary Commission was the only civilian-run organization to be recognized by the federal government during the Civil War. It coordinated civilian assistance to the Union forces, primarily medical care, at no cost to the government, thanks to its fundraising activities. Women played an important role at the Sanitary Commission from its formation. One of the most widely-known narratives promoting the Commission and its work is shown here, written by Nurse Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey. Nurse Woolsey and her mother had arrived at Gettysburg hoping to find her brother. Frederick Law Olmsted, the Head of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, asked them to run one of the Commission’s camps near the railroad station. There they treated soldiers from both sides and provided meals to thousands.

[Bacon, Georgeanna Woolsey].

Photograph by Vincent Dilio. Courtesy of David M. Rubenstein.

1863

[Bacon, Georgeanna Woolsey]. Three Weeks at Gettysburg. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1863.

1861–1865 Commander in Chief

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