A Terrible Storm at Chattanooga
During a fearful storm at Chattanooga, wounded and sick soldiers in an unheated field hospital face freezing weather, collapsed tents, and desperate shortages of food and clothing. Annie Wittenmyer and Mrs. Jeremiah Porter leave the Christian Commission rooms at daybreak with delegates, ambulances, and such comforts as can be gathered. On the way they pass dead, frozen mules and horses; at the hospital they find helpless men endangered beneath wind-torn canvas. Mother Bickerdyke directs the rescue, ordering workers to raise the tents, heat rocks in great log fires, and place the wrapped stones around the patients. The fires are fueled by timbers taken from surrendered Confederate forts after the surgeon declines to authorize their use and Mother Bickerdyke acts on her own responsibility. Throughout the day, workers carry coals into the tents, distribute supplies, examine bare and injured feet, and fit men with warm woollen socks. At the final tent, Wittenmyer discovers only one pair of socks for two men. The men laugh and explain that each has lost a leg, so one pair will serve them both. Deeply moved, Wittenmyer and Mrs. Porter each place a sock on a remaining foot. The patients endure their wounds with gratitude and humor, and an Irishman thanks Wittenmyer by calling her an angel and wishing that she may reach heaven before the devil learns she is dead.
By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Memoir, Civil War Literature, Historical Nonfiction · 1,790 words
First lines
HOW THE MEN IN THE HOSPITAL TENTS WERE SAVED FROM FREEZING.
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Genres
- Memoir — The work is a first-person recollection by Annie Wittenmyer of her direct experiences providing relief in a Civil War field hospital during the Chattanooga storm.
- Civil War Literature — Its setting, events, characters, military conditions, and central conflict are rooted in the American Civil War, specifically the Union army's suffering at Chattanooga in 1863.
- Historical Nonfiction — The narrative presents factual historical circumstances, named military figures, wartime logistics, hospital conditions, and an account of relief work during a documented period.
- War Memoir — It recounts the human consequences of war through an eyewitness's personal account of wounded soldiers, military shortages, exposure, and emergency aid.
Tags
American Civil War · Union Army · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Lookout Mountain · winter of 1863 · field hospitals · wounded soldiers · military nursing · humanitarian relief · Mother Bickerdyke · Christian Commission · extreme winter storm
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A Terrible Storm at Chattanooga is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Annie Wittenmyer, dated 1895 CE.
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- Work type: Historical account
- Author: Annie Wittenmyer
- Date: 1895 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Memoir, Civil War Literature, Historical Nonfiction, War Memoir, Autobiographical Nonfiction
- Length: 1,790 words
- Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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