Letters of a Civil War Nurse: Cornelia Hancock, 1863-1865

by Cornelia Hancock, Jean V. Berlin (Introduction), Henrietta Stratton Jaquette (Editor)

She was called “The Florence Nightingale of America.” From the fighting at Gettysburg to the capture of Richmond, this young Quaker nurse worked tirelessly to relieve the suffering of soldiers. She was one of the great heroines of the Union. Cornelia Hancock served in field and evacuating hospitals, in a contraband camp, and (defying authority) on the battlefield. Her letters to family members are witty, unsentimental, and full of indignation about the neglect of wounded soldiers and black refugees. Hancock was fiercely devoted to the welfare of the privates who had “nothing before them but hard marching, poor fare, and terrible fighting.”

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, American Civil War, Biography

179 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

this little book brought to life the amazing things one woman accomplished during a horrible period of our war...this woman had gumption....

[Ruth York · Rating 3 out of 5]

While at first I found Cornelia Hancock's letters interesting, they became near carbon copies of the previous ones. They provided a look into what life was like in the military hospitals of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War, which I liked. But I soon became irritated with Ms. Hancock herself. In any single letter, she would thank (usually her sister or mother) for their recent letter. And then go on about how she was disappointed that she wasn't getting more letters from them. Although when you looked at the dates of the letters, and several that said she had just received a letter, it seemed like she was more complaining just for the sake of complaining. She also appears to have had a VERY high opinion of herself. Not that I mean to take away from the good work she obviously did. But she brags about herself to her mother and sister quite a bit. And this became annoying. However, if one wants to get a view into life in a Civil War mobile hospital, this was good.

[Lisa Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an historically valuable collection of letters of a great Civil War Nurse. Cornelia Hancock was a heroine of the Union.

[Logan Truesdell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this was a really interesting book, I did get a feeling that Cornelia Hancock let the power go to her head. I really enjoyed the first few chapters, hit a "boring doldrum" and then enjoyed everything until the last 2 chapters. She really let the fact that she was one of the best nurses where she was go to her head and she was very haughty when something didn't go her way. It was also a little bit hard to read because of all the misspellings and the use of thou, art, and thy. Over all I thought that it was a really good book, besides being a bit hard to read and Cornelia thinking very highly of herself.

[Joshua Booher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a Quaker nurse in the Northern army. Taken from her personal letters. It was interesting to see the blind spots in her views. Makes me more aware of the fact that I am sure I have equally obvious blind spots. Well worth the time to read for any interested in the Civil War.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I put it on my Nook and only read it when I went to the gym. It was a way to keep exercising.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

One hates to pick at such a book, given that it's actual letters from someone who lived through this war etc, but there's very little inner life here...