She arrived just after the battle of Fredericksburg, and thus began working 12-hour days washing, feeding, dispensing medicine, and tending the wounds of these “wrecks of humanity … riddled with shot and shell, so torn and shattered … borne suffering for which we have no name” (Alcott, 45). Wishing both to help and seek adventure during the early years of the Civil War, but without any formal training (though she’d read instructional texts inspired by Florence Nightingale), Alcott traveled from Boston to Washington, D.C. "It is critical that Alcott's nursing history be brought to light," says Williams, as a "tremendous source of empowerment for all who value dedication and compassion."Īlcott was born in Concord, Mass., in 1831 into a large, often ill family that struggled with poverty. Louisa May Alcott, in 1863, of her plans to become a Civil War Union nurse.
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