[ Autographs ] CIVIL WAR NURSE'S CORRESPONDENCE An extremely rare andwell-written correspondence of a Civil War nurse, comprising 26 predominantly multi-paged letters from May of 1864 to May of 1865, penned by nurse Fannie H. Titus to the mother of Eddie Mullen, a soldier in her care, with the run continuing after his death until theend of the war.. The letters provide an insightful and penetrating glimpse into the work of Civil War nurses and the extraordinary attachments that some of them developed to their charges. In small part : "...I will hasten to answer your telegram in regard to your son..the ball entered his left shoulder touching his left lung and has not yet been extracted...he does not cough much and what he raises is fresh blood, not old, and that is favorable...I fix up all the little delicacies for him that will tempt his appetite. Rest assured that he will receive every attention which I would render my own brothers, andI have two in the army...". Though Fannie continued to tend Edwin, hiscondition steadily worsens: "...Mar. 30...he is not quite as well as when his father was here. The wound discharges very freely and that makes him feel sick at times...I do not think that he will get better while the ball is in and it is impossible to get at it...July 11...we dress the wound three times a day...Saturday a piece of his coat came out about 1/2 an inch in length, and this morning some little globulesof powder...July 20...Dr. Marsh...examined his side and lung today, hehas no use of the upper part of his lung and says the ball is somewhere in the region of the heart...in such a place we cannot remove it...another small piece of coat came out this noon...Sept .4..Eddie...is calm and tranquil and said to say that it would be a blessing to him when his sufferings were over...and if anything seems to think of it with pleasure. I think perhaps he will go suddenly at last....Sept 13....he will not last much longer...We dress him only inthe morning now, were it not for the brandy he would sink down entirely...". Eventually Mullen succumbs to his wounds as Fannie describes: "...he said, I think I will go tonight...I asked `you are all ready?' he answered yes and closed his eyes...He expressed a willingness, almost eagerness, to go .He was embalmed yesterday...his ribs were fractured , poor boy it is a wonder how he lived so long... We have just been fixing him to go. Dr. Vosburg...put the adhesive plaster on to keep his eyes and mouth from opening. Embalming him makes him look dark but...that is as it always does...". Fannie also writes about her other patients in the ward, including her brother, who was in the 4th Vermont, and unexpectedly turns up in her ward: "..He was brought in with a load of wounded last Saturday evening...you may imagine my surprise...so glad to think he came under my care... wounded in the head with a shell, it cut a gash...but did not fracturethe skull...I have Ward 8 in addition to my division in the house and we have been filled up with the wounded from Petersburg...many of themmortally...among them is a rebel fellow, he is quite decent...When I returned there was but one man on my ward that could do anything and that was the one-arm Frenchman...I have 58 patients now. We do not receive the supplies we used to last Summer...I have three men with amputations and shattered thighs and six wounded in various ways...". Later in the war, Fannie receives word that her brother had been exchanged from Andersonville, and goes to Annapolis to see him and theother former prisoners, in part: "...a wreck of his former self...whenhe reached our boats at Savannah he could not walk, only crawl on his hands and knees...It was most heartrending to see those poor fellows, just living skeletons without strength to walk or help themselves in the least...mother did not know him...". There is much more detail that could not be included for the sake of brevity. Needless to say, nurse's correspondences are far rarer than those of soldiers, and thisis the first that we have carried. Completely transcribed, in very good condition.