| The Life of Dr. J.R. Miller |
Chapter 3 |
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The paper is dated at Harper’s Ferry, December 30, 1864, and begins:
“I have the honour to submit the following report of the operations of the Christian Commission in this field, from the organizations of the department, in September, till the close of the year. The impossibility of keeping full records during the hurried work of organizing, while an active campaign was in progress, will account for any deficiencies in the first part of my report.”
After speaking of his arrival at Sandy Hook, Maryland, on September 19, he says:
“Both difficulties and dangers attended the forwarding of supplies and delegates to the field for the sufferers at Winchester. The railroad from Harper’s Ferry to Winchester was destroyed. Guerrillas infested the country in search of plunder. We had to hire poor wagons and teams, until good ones could be purchased and sent to us. The difficulties were overcome; the dangers did not stop us. Our wagons, supplies and delegates were hastened forward, and reached the front in safety.
“Arriving at Winchester, a room was secured, where the stores were deposited, while the wagons went back immediately for more supplies. In two days we again went forward with two wagonloads of choicest hospital stores, and with reinforcement of ten delegates. This second supply I accompanied myself. I at once visited all the hospitals, and reported to all the different surgeons in charge that we had a band of workers who had come to do their part in caring for the brave sufferers. In every instance the proffered aid was gratefully accepted. To many of these officers, as well as to their men, the Christian Commission was almost unknown. The sixth corps had served long in the Potomac army, and, of course, he had met the Commission in every camp and field had met the Commission in every camp and field since its organization. But the Nineteenth Corps had known but little of our operations previously to this campaign. And the Eighth Corps, having been serving in the mountains of West Virginia mainly, knew but little of us. However, every facility was granted us, and with no ceremony, our ten delegates, fresh from home, and anxious to do all in their power to alleviate suffering, went to work. Since that time, we have had a great and uninterrupted work at Winchester.
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