At the commencement of the war, Mrs. Spencer was living at Oswego, New
York, which had been her residence for many years. Her husband, Captain
R. H. Spencer, had been formerly commander of several of the finest
vessels which sail from that port in the trade upon the upper lakes. But
for some years he had remained on shore, and devoted himself to the
occupation of teaching, in which he had a very fine reputation. Mrs.
Spencer was also a teacher, and both were connected with the public
schools for which that city is celebrated.

Mr. Spencer was a member of that wing of the Democratic party which
opposed the war, and his age already exempted him from military duty.

[Illustration: MRS. R. H. SPENCER.
Eng^d. by A.B. Walter.]

When, therefore, immediately after the battle of Antietam he announced
to Mrs. Spencer that he had resolved to enlist in the Regiment then
rapidly forming in that city, she knew well, as did all who knew him,
that only an imperative sense of personal duty had led to the decision.

Oswego had to mourn the most irreparable losses in that battle. The
flower of her young men had been cut down, and many homes made desolate.
Mr. Spencer, like many others, felt impelled to add himself to the
patriot ranks, and help to fill the gaps left by the fallen.

Mrs. Spencer, whose name and person had long been familiar to the sick
and suffering at home, had often longed for the power of ministering to
those who had taken their lives in their hands, and gone forth in the
service of their country. And she now not only gave her husband to the
work, but resolved to aid him in it. She might not stand by his side, in
the armed ranks, but there was, for her, service as arduous and
important, for which she was peculiarly fitted, not only by the extreme
kindness and benevolence of her nature, but by experience in the care of
the sick.

When her husband had enlisted and was sworn into the service, she, too,
took the oath to faithfully serve her country, and her place by his
side.

The regiment (one hundred and forty-seventh New York) left Oswego the
27th of September, 1862, and arrived in Washington the 1st of October.
Mrs. Spencer, fatigued and ill, overcome with the excitement of
preparation, perhaps, and the grief of parting with her friends, found
herself thus in a strange city and upon the threshold of a strange new
life. She obtained a little sleep upon a bench outside the Soldiers'
Rest, and though scarcely r