Visiting Hospitals under the Guns
Annie Wittenmyer brings supplies to the siege and uses a captured silver-mounted carriage that Confederate sharpshooters repeatedly fire upon, believing it carries a high-ranking general. While visiting a hospital with Mrs. General Stone, she narrowly escapes a shell and learns that all the hospitals are under fire because the army must keep its lines drawn in. Though frightened at first, she prays and returns to her work convinced that faith protects her, enduring bullets and strikes on her carriage without fear. She leaves the unhealthy Yazoo Landing to camp beside Mrs. Stone on the bluffs, where lizards trouble the women at night. As battle continues day and night, the women grow accustomed to shells, explosions, and the terrible noise of war.
By Annie Wittenmyer · First published 1895 · Genre: Civil War memoir, War nonfiction, Autobiography · 802 words
First lines
I came down the river with a heavy lot of supplies at the beginning of the siege. I sent an order to the quartermaster for an ambulance. Instead of sending the ambulance, he sent me a fine silver-mounted, easy carriage captured at Jackson, which I afterwards found drew the fire of the enemy.
It was reported in Vicksburg that an old, experienced general, too crippled to ride on horseback, made his rounds in that carriage, and the Confederates made it a target every day.
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Genres
- Civil War memoir — A first-person recollection of Annie Wittenmyer's work among Union hospitals during the Siege of Vicksburg, emphasizing direct personal experience of wartime danger.
- War nonfiction — The narrative documents military conditions, artillery fire, siege warfare, camps, hospitals, and the daily realities of operating near an active battlefield.
- Autobiography — The account centers on the narrator's own actions, emotions, religious resolve, observations, and decisions while serving in the war.
- Historical nonfiction — It provides eyewitness evidence about the Vicksburg campaign, including military logistics, hospital placement, civilian participation, and battlefield conditions.
Tags
American Civil War · Siege of Vicksburg · Vicksburg, Mississippi · Yazoo Landing · Union military hospitals · women in wartime · Civil War nursing · sanitary relief work · humanitarian aid · hospital visits · battlefield danger · artillery fire
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Visiting Hospitals under the Guns 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: Civil War memoir, War nonfiction, Autobiography, Historical nonfiction, Medical history
- Length: 802 words
- Structure: 1 section, 16 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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