Episode 13: Louisa May Alcott and the Georgetown Union Hospital after the Battle of Fredericksburg

First Person Civil War Podcast

Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women in 1868, decided to become a Nurse in late 1862 and was assigned to the Union Hospital, a converted Hotel, which was in the Georgetown Neighborhood of Washington D.C. "Nurse Periwinkle," as she called herself, arrived at the "Hurly-burly House," the nickname of the Union Hospital, just three days before 40 wagons carrying wounded men from the Battle of Fredericksburg, 11-15 December 1862, arrived to receive medical treatment, which included at least one wounded Confederate Soldier.

Nurse Alcott proceeded to wash the wounded men, help them write letters back home, and fed them. She was eventually assigned the night shift, and recalled tending to one wounded Soldier from New Jersey as he relived the horrors of the Battle of Fredericksburg in his dreams.

Sources used for this episode:

Alcott, Louisa M. Hospital Sketches. Boston: James Redpath, 1863. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=dul1.ark:/13960/t4dn4zw6t&seq=7.

Veterans Affairs. “History of PTSD in Veterans: Civil War to DSM-5.” Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/history_ptsd.asp.