From the Richmond Enquirer, 6/4/1862, p. 2, c. 5

THE LADIES AND THE WOUNDED. – No tribute can adequately reward the self-sacrificing zeal with which the ladies of Richmond have devoted their time, attention and tenderness to the care of the sick and wounded. They have passed, and still passing, through trials unknown and undreamed of before, and which, under other circumstances, must have proven too much, both for their strength and their delicacy. They have mingled amidst scenes of blood and disease of the most appalling character, and with unblanched cheek, and unfaltering step, scattered roses of Paradise over the couches of the suffering, the dead and dying. No labor seems to have been to great for them, but there is a generosity in their labors which demands that their endurance should not be overtaxed. In many of the hospitals, they have attended, unaided, day and night, cooling the fevered brows and soothing the sleepless heats of the known and the unknown alike. Many of them have watched silently and unremittingly for twenty-four hours at a time, appropriating to themselves no moment of repose, and barely time to refresh themselves m the exhaustion of hunger. Large numbers of regular nurses should be distributed through the various hospitals, if only t relieve them at times, when weary and weakened by watching and labor, nature demands that they rest. It is to be hoped that the war authorities will spare no effort to render this assistance as speedily as possible. It is a necessity which only those who have passed through the ordeal can thoroughly appreciate.

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