Union Hotel Hospital
The Appointment
Unfortunately Louisa was not placed at the Armory
Square Hospital
as she had hoped but at the more decrepit, Union Hotel Hospital in Georgetown in Washington
D.C. “Though a hard place,” Louisa wrote in her
journal, “help was needed. I was ready
and when my commander said ‘March!’ I marched.”[8] In an apparent recognition of the need to
immediately serve Union Army soldiers Louisa hastily began preparations to
leave.
"Cheered by the Arrival of Ms. Alcott"
With the help of her mother Abba and sisters Anna and May, Louisa was ready to leave for Union Hotel Hospital within a day. The first leg of her journey took her into Boston where she stayed the night with her cousin. Always frugal, Louisa spent much of Friday attempting to get the free train pass that was promised to those in the service of the Union Army. After a day of traveling between the railroad office, the State House, and other offices, Louisa obtained her pass and took the train to New London, Connecticut. From Connecticut she traveled by steamboat to New Jersey. Another train brought her from Jersey City, through Philadelphia and Baltimore, to Washington D.C. Louisa completed her journey to Union Hotel Hospital by carriage. The director of nurses at the hospital remarked on Louisa’s arrival in her journal, “We are cheered by the arrival of Miss Alcott from Concord - the prospect of a really good nurse, a gentlewoman who can do more than merely keep the patients from falling out of bed.”[9] Clearly, Louisa was a welcome addition to Union Hotel Hospital; qualified nurses were needed to deal with the decrepit conditions there and to care for the soldiers.
"A Much Less Desirable Location"
Louisa opens Hospital Sketches with her frustration at being sent to Union Hotel Hospital (which she calls Hurly Burly House), “a much less desirable [location],” instead of the Armory Hospital.[10] Union Hotel Hospital was an “overcrowded, rundown, and poorly ventilated building,” as historian Sarah Ebert describes “hastily converted into a hospital.”[11]
Tiny Windows, Broken Toilets, Dampness and Decay
Despite its poor condition as relative to the Armory Hospital, historians point out that Union Hotel Hospital was representative of the poor condition of other empty buildings such as churches, schools, and factories that were taken over and converted into makeshift hospitals. In actuality, Union Hotel Hospital may have been even worse than the other makeshift hospitals, as it was abandoned in 1861 as unacceptable and was only reactivated in 1862 because of the high Union casualties. The building had tiny windows, many which were bolted shut for fear of possible Confederate attacks, narrow hallways, many broken toilets and sinks, a lack of ventilation, dampness in the cellar, decaying woodwork, shabby carpets and wallpaper. Despite its poor condition, a report from the United States Sanitary Commission indicated that “the men seemed well cared for and were uniformly contented and cheerful. Undoubtedly the feeling that everything possible was being done for them resulted from the presence of “female nurses…of great comfort to the sick.”[12] There is much irony in the fact that the Union Army had been hesitant to use female nurses, as they provided much more benefit to patients than the Union Hotel Hospital building and its supplies ever could.
"Never in a Stranger Place than This"
Life for Louisa at Union Hotel Hospital was as far from her situation in Concord as it possibly could be. “I never began the year in a stranger place than this” she wrote in her journal, “five-hundred miles from home, alone, among strangers, doing painful duties all day long…surrounded by three or four hundred men in all stages of suffering, disease, and death.”[13] Upon arrival at Union Hospital, Louisa immediately set to work. The majority of the soldiers at the hospital at that time were suffering from various serious diseases, including pneumonia, diphtheria, and typhoid. Louisa was not eased into the horrors of war as she witnessed the death of a soldier on her first morning at the hospital. Louisa soon was put in charge of a ward of forty beds located in a former ballroom of the hotel. She worked to clean patients, provide medicines, and maintain a professional and motherly manner. It is amazing to think of what Louisa must have seen and smelled at Union Hospital: “unspeakable odors, sight of men without arms and legs, the sound of heavy feet, and the urgent shouts of doctors, nurses, and orderlies.”
The situation at Union Hotel Hospital aligned with historians’ reports that disease was the main cause of death for Civil War armies, and that while there were many failures with Civil War health care, a good standard of care was frequently provided.[14] Further, Louisa’s descriptions of the work of a nurse, and the conditions for soldiers at Union Hotel Hospital bring a strong humanity to the subject of disease and medicine in the Civil War.
The situation at Union Hotel Hospital aligned with historians’ reports that disease was the main cause of death for Civil War armies, and that while there were many failures with Civil War health care, a good standard of care was frequently provided.[14] Further, Louisa’s descriptions of the work of a nurse, and the conditions for soldiers at Union Hotel Hospital bring a strong humanity to the subject of disease and medicine in the Civil War.