Page 155 - Arkansas Confederate Women

136 Confederate Women of Arkansas

very worthy citizen, was murdered and scalped by the Indians
within three miles of Fort Smith.

Another circumstance should be mentioned, not merely

that the position of the Sisters of Mercy may be better under-
stood, but also that the noble sacrifices of the women of Fort
Smith and the State may be properly estimated. To give the

little delicacies to the sick and wounded, generally called for per-

sonal privations. It is related that a woman in Eichmond, Va.,
in the last year of the war, when scarcely a cup of tea or coffee

could be had for love or money, was entertaining Gen. Robert

E. Lee. He came to her house fagged 'and worn out, to rest an

hour or two. She knew his love for a cup of good tea. It hap-
pened that there was barely enough to make two cups of tea.
She gave Gen. Lee one, and, having deftly filled her own cup
with colored water, prevailed on him to take the second cup,
which revived his exhausted strength in a wonderful manner.
She knew well enough that had he known the facts he would
not have taken a second cup. This is a specimen of the work
of Southern women. Hundreds of instances could be given.

In those early days there were no railroads. Large side-
wheel steamboats traversed the waters of the Arkansas river
up as far as Fort Smith. The merchants were accustomed to
get six or twelve months' supplies at a time, and every citizen
was expected to act accordingly. Steamboats ceased to run af-
ter 1861, except as army transports. Some effort was made
to obviate the necessity of distant supplies, by home manufac-
ture of leather, salt, breadstuffs and such necessaries, and by
the raising of chickens and hogs for meat. All the grains that
could be procured, barley, wheat, corn, and also sweet potatoes,
were used to obtain a substitute for coffee. But time and trou-
ble rendered almost every substitute a costly and sometimes a

dangerous affair for the noble women who visited the hospitals.
In fitting out the soldiers for the campaign of Oak Hill,

Elk Horn and Prairie Grove one article was generally a roll of
lint bandage for wounds which every soldier was expected to re-
ceive. While some of the soldiers, for reasons best known to
themselves, preferred the articles that came from the hands of
special young ladies, many others thought there was some virtue