Iowa's Annie Wittenmyer: A Different Kind of Civil War Soldier
(Editors note:
This excerpt comes from the book entitled Iowa Past to Present by Dorothy
A. Schwieder, Thomas Morain and Lynn Nielsen.)
Most soldiers in the civil war were
men, but one woman was a different kind of soldier. Annie Wittenmyer probably
did more than anyone else to provide care for the sick and wounded in the Union
army. General Ulysses Grant, commander of the Union army said:
"No soldier on the firing line
gave more heroic service than she did."
Annie Wittenmyer and her husband had moved to Keokuk in 1850, 10 years before the Civil War began. At that time, Keokuk had no free public schools. Unhappy about that situation, Mrs. Wittenmyer hired a teacher and opened a free school for poor children. Along with other church women, she also provided meals and clothes for the needy children.
When the Civil War began, Mrs. Wittenmyer
joined the Keokuk Aid Society - [which] provided care for the wounded in army
hospitals. In a hospital in Sedalia, Missouri, Mrs. Wittenmyer... saw what poor
food the sick received ... cold coffee, greasy bacon and a slice of bread.
Mrs. Wittenmyer decided that something
had to be done. So she wrote letters to army officials, telling them about these
miserable conditions and she urged women throughout Iowa and northern states
to send food for the wounded. Soon she was put in charge of all hospital kitchens
for the Union army... [ultimately] winning her the praise of President Lincoln.
When the Civil War ended, Mrs. Wittenmyer
saw that more things needed to be done. The orphan children of soldiers killed
in the war needed homes. Mrs. Wittenmyer worked to provide for them. In Davenport,
one children's home was named for her.
In 1898, Congress rewarded the unselfish work that Mrs. Wittenmyer had done. Her volunteer efforts had used up much of her own money, and so Congress voted to grant her a pension for volunteer services rendered for the sick and wounded in the field.