Seventy-second Pennsylvania
Volunteers, and served throughout the war, and though often in peril,
escaped any severe wounds. A daughter, Miss Amanda Lee, imbued with her
mother's spirit, accompanied her in most of her labors, and emulated
her example of active usefulness.

Mrs. Lee was one of the noble band of women whose hearts were moved with
the desire to do something for our soldiers, when they were first
hastening to the war in April, 1861, and in the organization of the
Volunteer Refreshment Saloon at Philadelphia, an institution which fed,
during the war, four hundred thousand of our soldiers as they passed to
and from the battle-fields, and brought comfort and solace to many
thousands of the sick and wounded, she was one of the most active and
faithful members of its committee. The regiments often arrived at
midnight; but whatever the hour, whether night or day, at the firing of
the signal gun, which announced that troops were on their way to
Philadelphia, Mrs. Lee and her co-workers hastened to the Union
Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, near the Navy Yard, and prepared an ample
repast for the soldiers, caring at the same time for any sick or wounded
among them. No previous fatigue or weariness, no inclemency of the
weather, or darkness of the night was regarded by these heroic women as
a valid excuse from these self-imposed duties or rather this glorious
privilege, for so they deemed it, of ministering to the comfort of the
defenders of the Union. And through the whole four and a-third years
during which troops passed through Philadelphia, no regiment or company
ever passed unfed. The supplies as well as the patience and perseverance
of the women held out to the end, and scores of thousands who but for
their voluntary labors and beneficence must have suffered severely from
hunger, had occasion to bless God for the philanthropy and practical
benevolence of the women of Philadelphia.

But this field of labor, broad as it was, did not fully satisfy the
patriotic ardor of Mrs. Lee. She had heard of the sufferings and
privations endured by our soldiers at the front, and in hospitals remote
from the cities; and she longed to go and minister to their wants.
Fortunately, she could be spared for a time at least from her home.
Though of middle age, she possessed a vigorous constitution, capable of
enduring all necessary hardships, and was in full health and strength.
She was well known as a skilful cook, an admirable nurs