AUGUST 14, 1863:
Cornelia
Hancock, the 23-year-old Union nurse deemed “too young and too pretty” to be aiding
the wounded at Gettysburg writes a surprisingly upbeat letter home. It reads in
part:
“I received thy
letter this morning and was glad to get it; letters are the desideratum in this
part of the world. I am regularly
installed in the General Hospital now, and like it better even than the Corps
Hospital. The main reason for my
staying, aside from duty, is that I am so well, if it only lasts. I feel like a new person, eat onions,
potatoes, cucumbers, anything that comes up and walk as straight as a soldier,
feel life and vigor which you well know I never felt at home. The place here is very healthy. I cannot explain it, but I feel so erect, and
can go steadily from one thing to another from half past six o'clock in the
morning until ten o'clock at night, and feel more like work at ten than when I
got up at home.”
