Walt Whitman, nurse: "Life Among Fifty Thousand Sick Soldiers"

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Walt Whitman, poet, essayist and former editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, never served as a soldier in the Civil War. However, after visiting and caring for his brother George in Virginia, he volunteered as a nurse's assistant. While he did this he observed and recorded the soldiers' experiences and sent them back to New York newspapers, among them the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. His book of poetry, Drum-Taps, is a record of his strong feelings about the war and its consequences for society.

Read Whitman's entire article: "The Great Washington Hospitals: Life Among Fifty Thousand Sick Soldiers" (March 19, 1863).

Another Brooklyn Daily Eagle article discusses the difficulties female nurses encountered in trying to obtain pensions from the United States Army: "Former Army Nurses Now Old And In Want." (November 28, 1900).

 

 

 

Citation - Document 49
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online
March 19, 1863
Brooklyn Public Library – Brooklyn Collection
www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar