Braving Dangers by Annie Wittenmyer
In December 1862, Annie Wittenmyer joins Mr. Plattenburg aboard the White Cloud, loaded with Sanitary Commission supplies, as it travels with two gunboats down the Mississippi toward Sherman’s forces. Though forbidden to civilians and reporters, the hazardous mission proceeds under fire from shore batteries and sharpshooters, with the White Cloud repeatedly sent ahead to expose hidden enemy positions. At Milliken’s Bend, Wittenmyer finds Sherman’s army and crowded vessels holding sick and wounded men from the fighting near Vicksburg. Given a tugboat, she distributes comforts among the suffering soldiers. The most serious cases, about seven hundred and fifty men, are crammed onto the City of Memphis for transport upriver. Death is so frequent that funeral salutes have been stopped. Among the patients is a delirious Missouri soldier who cries throughout the night for his sister and water. After an amputation leaves him near death, he rejects all food until he asks for sauer-kraut. Allowed to eat as much as he wishes, he unexpectedly begins to recover. Months later, he finds Wittenmyer in a St. Louis hospital, cheerfully calling himself her “sauer-kraut man.” The soldier tells her that he had left home because Missouri bushwhackers threatened his life, forcing him to hide and sleep outdoors for months. During the voyage to Cairo, twenty men die, including one suffering lockjaw who can communicate only by writing. At Cairo, ladies, nurses, surgeons, and supplies arrive; many patients are transferred to hospitals. After nearly ten days without uninterrupted sleep, Wittenmyer finally rests for thirty-six hours.
By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Civil War Memoir, Autobiography, War Literature · 1,718 words
First lines
In December, 1862, General W. T. Sherman gathered his forces at the landing at Helena, Ark., and on the 21st of the month the great fleet, with flags flying, moved down the Mississippi River. A very strict order had been issued by him against any citizen or reporter accompanying the expedition; and severe penalties were threatened in case the order should be disobeyed.
It was well known that the movement was against Vicksburg, but the bravest reporter feared to defy that order.
Similar titles
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- Very Timely Arrest by Annie Wittenmyer
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Genres
- Civil War Memoir — A first-person recollection of Annie Wittenmyer's wartime service transporting sanitary supplies and aiding Union wounded during the Vicksburg campaign.
- Autobiography — The narrative centers on the author's direct experiences, actions, observations, and personal responses during a specific episode of her life.
- War Literature — Its subject is the physical danger, suffering, military movement, medical crisis, and human cost of the American Civil War.
- Historical Nonfiction — The work documents real events, locations, military figures, river expeditions, hospital conditions, and wartime relief efforts in 1862–1863.
Tags
American Civil War · Union Army · Mississippi River campaign · Vicksburg campaign · 1862 · Helena, Arkansas · Milliken's Bend, Louisiana · Cairo, Illinois · St. Louis hospitals · hospital ships · Sanitary Commission · women war relief workers
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Braving Dangers is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Annie Wittenmyer, dated 1895 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Historical account
- Author: Annie Wittenmyer
- Date: 1895 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Civil War Memoir, Autobiography, War Literature, Historical Nonfiction, Military History
- Length: 1,718 words
- Structure: 1 section, 22 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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