a pile of tin
numbers before me corresponding to the numbers on the beds in the
wards. There was an under-steward whose business it was to supply the
plates; also two helpers. The head-nurse from Ward No. 1 having come
down with his subordinates would call out, "No. 1, full diet," or as
the case might be. As the plate was filled, I handed out the
corresponding number, which was put upon the plate. The plates having
been placed upon large wooden trays, were carried off to the ward.
Then came No. 2, and so on, all the special patients having been
attended to previously.

Everything relating to the bedding, clothing, and the personal
belongings of the sick and wounded I found in a fearful state. In one
room down-stairs perhaps two or three hundred knapsacks, haversacks,
canteens, etc., were thrown upon the floor in large piles. No one knew
to whom they belonged, no one seemed to care, and it appeared to me
_impossible_ to bring any degree of order out of the chaotic mass of
wet, half-dry, rough-dry, in some cases mildewed clothing lying
everywhere about. Prompt measures were taken with the washerwoman,
which resulted, in a day or two, in a procession of darkies, each
bearing a pile of clothing embracing almost every article of men's
apparel. A "linen master" having been detailed, a "linen-room" set
apart and shelved, the articles were placed upon large tables to be
sorted and piled upon the shelves, ready for reclamation by the
convalescents and others who were not too ill to identify their own.
Some of these clothes were torn and buttonless. My detailed men could
not sew. The demands of the sick and the duties of general supervision
left me no time. Taught by my experience of the devoted women of
Virginia and Alabama, I resolved to visit some of the ladies of
Gainesville, and to solicit their aid. The response was hearty and
immediate. Next day the linen-room was peopled by bright, energetic
ladies, at whose hands the convalescents received their renovated
garments with words of warm sympathy and encouragement that cheered
their hearts.

The lack of clean bedding being made known, these generous, patriotic
women sent in soft, clean old sheets, pillow-slips, etc., also a few
old shirts,--some of them even bearing with me the horrors of the
scurvy and gangrene wards to assist in making the sufferers more
comfortable. Details for all purposes were made as soon as I asked for
them, and as "many hands make light work," ord