Unanswered Letters: A Civil War Nurse’s Love Story
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“I have packed a loaf of bread, several pieces of ham, apples and a wedge of cheese in this basket for your journey and the first days at the seminary”, said Anna in a shaky voice as she kissed her eldest child. First a strong handshake, followed by a tearful embrace from his father as Jan grabbed up his suitcase and hurried onto the last passenger car of the train. He took the seat across from the young lady who had just passed by him at the station and overheard the conductor who examined each person’s ticket say that arrival time in Pittsburgh would be close to midnight. She looked so familiar to Jan. There was something about her brilliant green eyes, or maybe the unusual red of her hair, that Jan recalled seeing before. She might have been a customer in one of the fabric or lace shops who spoke with the accent called a brogue; someone looking for a pattern in the material that reminded them of a faraway homeland. The young lady read her book throughout the journey but noticed Jan looking at her with curiosity. She heard his German accent and noted his full head of straight blonde hair. She realized that he was the unusually tall and handsome young man she had bumped into just before boarding the train. “Now I see that he looks so familiar” thought Maura. “Might I have seen him riding along the creek, or walking about the fabric shops in Germantown?”
Jan silently practiced how he might say, “Please excuse my interruption of your reading, Miss, but I believe I might have had the good fortune to have met you in the past. May I reintroduce myself? I am Jan Huber at your service.” “Next stop, Gettysburg” shouted the conductor from the front of the carriage, interrupting Jan’s imagination. He was met at the station by a senior seminarian who brought along a horse for Jan to ride back to the dormitory where he would live for the next two years. Just as he untied his mount from the wooden hitching post, the thunderous whistle declared the train’s departure from the station, but not from Jan’s thoughts.
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About the Book
Reconstructed from actual letters and diaries, this is the story of four young people living in Philadelphia whose lives become intertwined when the American Civil War begins in 1861. Jan is a German immigrant who begins his studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. Emma is a Quaker who has learned survival skills growing up in a thick forest. Gabrielle, is a Southerner, was raised by her governess and wealthy Virginian father. Maura travels alone to America from Ireland to escape the potato famine and eventually enters the convent as a Sister of Mercy. Each girl grows up separated from her mother either through a natural or man-made disaster, and each is destined to choose nursing as a career. Many women served as trained nurses in both the Union and Confederate Armies caring for wounded soldiers without preference for which side they fought. It is a little known fact that many of the nurses working to save lives following the Battle of Gettysburg were Catholic nuns from the orders of Sisters of Mercy and Daughters of Charity. This is not a book about war: it is a story about love of God, love of family and friends, and love of country.
About the Author
Mary F. Belmont, a graduate of Cornell University New York Hospital School of Nursing, is a third-generation nurse midwife. She earned both a masters and doctoral degree from Columbia University, Teachers College before serving in the US Army Nurse Corps. Mary was raised along the Wissahickon Creek where this story originates. Currently, she holds the title of Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College Bellevue School of Nursing and is a volunteer at Mary Manning Walsh Home in New York City.