men "at the front," in the long and terrible campaign of the
Army of the Potomac in 1864-5, was Miss Cornelia Hancock, of
Philadelphia. Of this lady's early history or her previous labors in the
war, we have been unable to obtain any very satisfactory information.
She had, we are told, been active in the United States General Hospitals
in Philadelphia, and had there learned what wounded men need in the way
of food and attention. She had also rendered efficient services at
Gettysburg. Of her work among the wounded men at Belle Plain and
Fredericksburg, Mr. John Vassar, one of the most efficient agents of the
Christian Commission, writes as follows:

"Miss Cornelia Hancock was the first lady who arrived at Fredericksburg
to aid in the care of the wounded. As one of the many interesting
episodes of the war, it has seemed that her good deeds should not be
unheralded. She was also among the very first to arrive at Gettysburg
after the fearful struggle, and for days and weeks ministered
unceasingly to the suffering. During the past winter she remained
constantly with the army in winter quarters, connecting herself with the
Second Division of the Second Corps. So attached were the soldiers, and
so grateful for her ministration in sickness, that they built a house
for her, in which she remained until the general order for all to leave
was given.

"When the news of Grant's battles reached the North, Miss Hancock left
Philadelphia at once for Washington. Several applications were made by
Members of Congress at the War Department for a permit for her to go to
the wounded. It was each time declined, as being unfeasible and
improper. With a woman's tact, she made application to go with one of
the surgeons then arriving, as assistant, as each surgeon was entitled
to one. The plan succeeded, and I well remember the mental ejaculation
made when I saw her at such a time on the boat. I lost sight of her at
Belle Plain, and had almost forgotten the circumstance, when, shortly
before our arrival at Fredericksburg, she passed in an ambulance. On
being assigned to a hospital of the Second Corps, I found she had
preceded me, and was earnestly at work. It was no fictitious effort, but
she had already prepared soup and farina, and was dispensing it to the
crowds of poor fellows lying thickly about.

"All day she worked, paying little attention to others, only assiduous
in her sphere. When, the next morning, I opened a new hospital at the
Me