and died in their huts, and in and out
of the very places into which they had crawled for concealment,
neglected and alone.

This state of things was fully known to the Generals commanding, and to
the medical director, and the army surgeons at Helena, without the least
effort being made on their part towards their improvement or
alleviation. From August, 1862, to January, 1863, they continued to
suffer in this manner, until the printed report and appeal of the
chaplains at Helena for aid, brought some voluntary contributions of
clothing, and secured the attention of the Western Sanitary Commission,
at St. Louis, to the great need of help at Helena, for the
"contrabands."

It was at this juncture that the Commission proposed to Miss Mann to go
to Helena, and act the part of the Good Samaritan to the colored people
who had congregated there; to establish a hospital for the sick among
them; to supply them with clothing and other necessaries, and in all
possible ways to improve their condition. The offer was readily accepted
by her, and in the month of January she arrived at Helena, with an ample
supply of sanitary goods and clothing, and with letters commending her
to the protection and aid of the commanding general, and to the chaplain
of the post, (who now furnishes this sketch from his memory), and to the
superintendent of freedmen, who welcomed her as a providential messenger
whom God had sent to his neglected and suffering poor.

The passage from St. Louis to Helena, a distance of six hundred miles,
in mid-winter, at a time when the steamers were fired on by guerrillas
from the shore, and sometimes captured, was made by Miss Mann,
unattended, and without knowing where she would find a shelter when she
arrived. The undertaking was attended with difficulty and danger, and
many obstacles were to be overcome, but the brave spirit of this noble
woman knew no such word as fail. Fortunately, the post chaplain, who had
been detailed to a service requiring clerks, was able to receive Miss
Mann, provide rooms for her, give her a place at the mess board, and
render useful aid in her work. He remembers with a grateful interest how
bravely she encountered every difficulty, and persevered in her humane
undertaking, until almost every evil the colored people suffered was
removed. A new hospital building was secured, furnished, and provided
with good surgeons and nurses, and the terrible sickness and mortality
reduced to the mini