men of East Tennessee are bleeding at the front for
our country (this letter was written before the close of the war) whilst
their wives and little ones are dying of starvation at home. They are
worthy of your sympathy and your labor, for they have laid all their
substance upon the altar of our country and have sacrificed everything
they had for their patriotism."
OTHER FRIENDS OF THE FREEDMEN AND REFUGEES.
In many of the preceding sketches we have had occasion to notice the
labors of ladies who had been most distinguished in other departments of
the great Army work, in behalf of the Freedmen, or the Refugees. Mrs.
Harris devoted in all five or six months to their care at Nashville and
its vicinity. Miss Tyson and Mrs. Beck gave their valuable services to
their relief. Miss Jane Stuart Woolsey was, and we believe still is
laboring in behalf of the Freedmen in Richmond or its vicinity. Mrs.
Governor Hawley of Connecticut was among the first to instruct them at
Fernandina and Hilton Head. Miss Gilson devoted nearly the whole of the
last year of her service in the army to the freedmen and the hospital
for colored soldiers. In the West, Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, while Matron of
the Soldiers' Home at Memphis, bestowed a large amount of labor on the
Refugees who were congregated in great numbers in that city. Mrs.
Clinton B. Fisk, the wife of the gallant Christian, General Fisk,
exerted herself to collect clothing, money and supplies for the
Refugees, black and white, at Pilot Knob, Missouri, and distributed it
to them in person. Mrs. H. F. Hoes and Miss Alice F. Royce of Wisconsin,
were very active in instructing and aiding the children of Refugees at
Rolla, Missouri, in 1864 and 1865. Mrs. John S. Phelps established with
the aid of a few other ladies a school for the children of Refugees at
Springfield, Missouri, and Mrs. Mary A. Whitaker, an excellent and
efficient teacher, had charge of it for two years.
At Leavenworth and Fort Scott, large and well conducted schools for the
children of Refugees and Freedmen were established, and several teachers
employed, one of them, Mrs. Nettie C. Constant, at Leavenworth, winning
a very high reputation for her faithfulness and skill as a teacher.
The Western Sanitary Commission, the National Freedmen's Relief
Association, Relief Societies in Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and
elsewhere, and later the American Union Commission, were all engaged in
labor for either the Freedme
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