Saving the Life of Young Pike
Annie Wittenmyer finds a young soldier abandoned near the road outside Vicksburg amid heat, dust, smoke, and artillery fire. Though attendants have left him believing he will die, she revives him with water and restoratives, then angrily demands that the nearby hospital take responsibility. Surgeons and attendants carry him in and labor to save him; Wittenmyer continues to minister to him until he is safe. Years later, she recognizes the rescued boy as Hon. E. M. Pike, an Illinois senator, prosperous manufacturer, husband, and father, whose respected life proves him “well worth saving.”
By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Civil War memoir, War narrative, Historical nonfiction · 740 words
First lines
BROTHER OF MRS. SUE PIKE SANDERS, PAST NATIONAL PRESIDENT, W. R. C.
The atmosphere was thick with dust, and stifling with the sulphurous smoke that came in clouds from the near battle-field, as I drove around Vicksburg. The air was as hot as a furnace, under the pitiless rays of a June sun, and vibrated with the roar and thunder of heavy artillery and bursting shells, till every nerve was on the rack.
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Genres
- Civil War memoir — A first-person recollection of Annie Wittenmyer's wartime relief work near Vicksburg, centered on rescuing an abandoned Union soldier.
- War narrative — The account is set amid artillery fire, battlefield smoke, military hospitals, and the suffering of soldiers during the American Civil War.
- Historical nonfiction — It recounts a purported real incident involving Civil War medical care and identifies the rescued soldier as the later Illinois senator E. M. Pike.
- Personal narrative — The story is told from Wittenmyer's personal perspective, emphasizing her observations, actions, emotions, and memory of the event.
Tags
American Civil War · Vicksburg campaign · Mississippi battlefield · June heat · battlefield medicine · military hospitals · wounded soldiers · abandoned soldier · teenage soldier · artillery fire · smoke and dust · humanitarian aid
What this Textopian page supports
Saving the Life of Young Pike 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, War narrative, Historical nonfiction, Personal narrative, Humanitarian literature
- Length: 740 words
- Structure: 1 section, 27 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Saving the Life of Young Pike by Annie Wittenmyer
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