MARY ANN BICKERDYKE Mother to the Union Boys

MARY ANN BICKERDYKE Mother to the Union Boys BY M ARCENA WALKER n spring 1861, members of the physician, a widow with two young tents, setting up field kitchens and intro- IBrick Congregational Church in Gales- sons, volunteered. ducing army laundries. Where she burg, Illinois, listened as a visiting Born in Knox County, Ohio, in 1817, found sick and wounded men bedded pastor, the Rev. Dr. Edward Beecher Mary Ann was raised by her grandpar- on filthy straw in fetid tents, she had (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe), ents from infancy after her mother’s fresh straw spread and provided clean read a letter from a volunteer doctor death. At sixteen she studied briefly water and air. She had barrels cut in half stationed with the Union Army in with a doctor of botanic medicine, so the men could bathe and dress in the Cairo, Illinois. The doctor, a Galesburg learning the healing qualities of herbs clean clothes sent by the congregation. native, complained about the and fruits, and the benefits of fresh air Bickerdyke set up huge kettles over deplorable condition of the camp and and cleanliness. She met and married raging fires, where she brewed hot hospitals. Robert Bickerdyke in 1847, and they soups, porridge, tea and coffee. She The congregation responded with settled in Galesburg. baked bread in brick ovens. She bought pledges of money and supplies to be The townsfolk of Galesburg and bartered for eggs, milk and fresh used for “their boys.” A trustworthy, promised to care for her children so vegetables from the local farmers, using efficient volunteer, who would be Bickerdyke could deliver the supplies them to prepare nutritious meals in field acceptable to the military, was needed to Cairo. Seeing the horrific conditions, kitchens. to deliver supplies. Mary Ann Bick- Bickerdyke stormed through camp like After transforming the camp at Photo: Courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Knox College, Galesburg, IL erdyke, a forty-four-year old botanical a whirlwind, cleaning and sanitizing Cairo, Bickerdyke felt compelled to JCN/Spring 2003 35 up cooking and laundry operations at all established hospitals and camps. A trav- The U.S. Sanitary Commission eling version, including washing machines, stoves, tubs and kettles, went Established in 1861, a few months after Mother Bickerdyke set out for with her from camp to camp. Cairo, the United States Sanitary Commission initially had two From battle to battle, Mother fought missions: constantly for the personal welfare of 1. To systemically collect and distribute donations such as food, wine her boys. The nurse in gray calico was and spirits, clothing, bedding and funds to buy drugs and medical always there, changing a bloody supplies. dressing, serving a hot meal, cooling a 2. To improve the daily life of the Union soldier, through the new feverish brow, carrying heated bricks to science of sanitation as outlined in England by Florence Nightin- a bed and quieting a soldier’s fears. gale six years earlier. These new methods provided fresh air, Once when Mother Bickerdyke sunlight, central heating, convenient plumbing and laundry facilities extended her usual care and kindness to under one roof, dubbed “pavilion hospitals.” a man that most considered miserable When inspectors from the Sanitary Commission visited, they found that and worthless, she was questioned about Mother Bickerdyke was already employing much of the new science. why she wasted her time on a lowly They urged her to join the Commission and become an agent. individual. Her convictions became clear in her blunt reply, “Because when At first, she was reluctant to accept the offer of fifty dollars a month. there’s any creature around here so low She was offended at the notion of being paid for doing something she down and miserable that there’s nobody wanted to do. When she realized the money could be used to buy to care for him, he’s still got two friends extras for her boys and gain easy access to military stores, she finally in this army. One’s God, and the other is agreed and became an official agent of the United States Sanitary me.”2 Commission. At the close of the war, Mother Bick- erdyke was rewarded for her service and friendship as she rode beside General remain. She realized that the work had many, a few considered her a nuisance. Sherman and his sixty-five thousand just begun. She was needed to maintain Fiercely devoted to her boys, she ran men in the Grand Review Parade standards in Cairo, as well as at other roughshod over officers, surgeons and through Washington, DC. She was camps and hospitals where poor condi- medical staff, spewing orders that few nearly forty-nine years old when she tions existed. With this decision, she failed to obey. She often helped herself retired, after helping with the final began years of military service, to supplies to which she was not offi- mustering out of the army. For four improving sanitation and living condi- cially entitled. More than once her years Mother Bickerdyke had given tions while nursing countless sick and authority was questioned. On one occa- every thought and all her energy to “her wounded soldiers, both Union and sion a surgeon boldly asked, “Madam, boys.” IJCN Confederate. you seem to combine in yourself a sick- 1 Bickerdyke became instantly diet kitchen and a medical staff. May I Robin McKown, Heroic Nurses (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1966), 89. popular with the men. A matronly inquire under whose authority you are 2Marjorie Barstow Greenbie, Lincoln’s Daughters of woman with a friendly face, she moved working?” Mercy (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1944), 192. among the soldiers offering a Mother simply replied, “I have comforting word with a caring smile. received my authority from the Lord I Marcena Walker, RN, Wearing her gray calico dress and God Almighty. Have you anything that BSN, is an RN educational Shaker bonnet as she doted over each ranks higher than that?”1 The surgeon specialist at the Brethren Home Community in New soldier, she probably looked like the was speechless. Oxford, Pennsylvania. She mother many had left behind. When For the next four years, Mother Bick- has nursing experience in med-surg, OR, geriatrics one loyal helper dubbed her “Mother,” erdyke continued her untiring efforts, and as a nurse recruiter. She is a contributor in the the name stuck, and she became known following the armies of the western recently published, Caring to generals and soldiers alike as theater led by Generals John “Black Stories, an inspirational book by caregivers. She Mother Bickerdyke. Jack” Logan, William Tecumseh attends St. Paul’s United Although “Mother” was loved by Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. She set Church of Christ and lives in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. 36 JCN/Volume 20, Number 2.

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