By Grace W
Description: Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Image copyright: liv42.glogster.com
(1817-1901)
Mount Vernon, Ohio
Mary Ann Bickerdyke was an intelligent, strong-willed nurse in the Civil War. 1. As a child she was passed around the family because of her parents deaths. 2. When she was 30 years old she married her husband Robert. Together they helped slaves escape in a wagon. Sadly, Robert died after Galesburg Illinois. 3. Then Mary was appointed matron of a makeshift hospital in Clairo, Illinois in 1861. There, she practiced the use of botanical medicines like steam from clean water, wet compresses, herbal teas and healthy soups with lots of vegetables. What Mary strived for the most was clean areas. Studies later showed that more lives were saved in cleaner conditions. 4. She found liquor and food being stolen by surgeons and wardmasters. She told the chief surgeon but he simply ignored it. So, she spiked a batch pf stewed peaches with a medicine that causes vomiting. A bit later she found a group of groaning and choking men and threatened to use rat poison next time. Another time she caught the wardmaster wearing clothing meant for soldiers and made him strip to his underwear in front of the patients just to give the clothes back. 5. She started to follow the army’s movement. In 1862 she was given the job as sanitary agent. She helped cook, clean, and care for the soldiers. Following the army, she followed them along Sherman’s March. Sherman would not let Bickerdyke pass Atlanta. For the remainder of the war she traveled setting up hospitals for injured soldiers. She stayed an army nurse even after the war had ended. She resigned on March 21, 1866. Mary’s health began to fail so she went to San Francisco for a warmer climate to help her with her sons. There she helped veterans. She died November 8, 1901 and is buried at Bunker Hill, Kansas.
http://www.britannica.com/woman/artozl.9079109