Jane Stuart Woolsey to Joe Howland. 8 Brevoort Place, 4 May (letter continued from previous day). Sunday.–A day of great events. At 1 P. M., Cousin William came in to tell us he had seen a man who had seen a man (literal) who had read McClellan’s telegram to his wife, announcing the evacuation of [...]

Georgeanna to Mother. Off Ship Point. It was the Wilson Small (a little steamboat chartered by the Commission to run up the creeks and bring down sick and wounded), that came alongside with our first patients, thirty-five in number, typhoid cases, from Ship Point, who were slung through the hatches on their stretchers. . . [...]

Mother to Georgy and Eliza. New York, Sunday P. M. My Dear Girls: I have an unexpected opportunity of writing, or rather of getting my letter to you. Dr. Gurden Buck was telegraphed this morning, through the Sanitary Commission, to leave for Yorktown on board the “Ocean Queen,” and he is off for Baltimore at [...]

Hugh Lenox Hodge writes: Ship Point, May 3, ‘62. Dear Georgy: The 8th Illinois Cavalry arrived several days ago. They are disembarking today. Cannot the Daniel Webster take the sick off from Ship Point? They will be doing a great service if they can.

Jane Stuart Woolsey to Joe Howland. 8 Brevoort Place, 3d May, Chi Alpha night. So you three have met again, Georgy, Eliza and the Colonel. . . . It must have been a jolly meeting for you all on the floating Hospital, and Eliza says you showed symptoms of illness immediately on seeing the comfortable [...]

Abby Howland Woolsey to Georgeanna and Eliza. New York, May 2nd. My Dear Girls: We have received this, morning your letter of Monday and Tuesday (Georgy’s) written at intervals and mailed off Ship Point. What a strange life you are leading on board a hospital ship, sewing hospital flags, dispensing medicines, etc., etc. You two [...]

From Hugh Lenox Hodge (sent on board the hospital ship to Georgeanna.) Cheeseman’s Landing, Friday. Dear Georgy: I hope to see you and Eliza to-day. . . . We received all the wounded from the assault on the lunette alluded to, except one too badly hurt to move (who has since died, they tell me) [...]

Georgeanna to Mother. May 1, ‘62. We are in sight of the abandoned rebel quarters at Ship Point, now used as a hospital, on low, filthy ground surrounded by earth-works, rained on half the time and fiercely shone on the other half, a death place for scores of our men, who are piled in there [...]

Eliza‘s Journal. Before we were up this morning, Joe came over to the Webster to ask us to go down to Fortress Monroe for the day with him, General Slocum and Colonel Bartlett of the 27th New York. Finding I was not likely to be wanted, I accepted gladly, Georgy preferring to go over to [...]

Abby Howland Woolsey to Georgeanna and Eliza. New York, May 1st, 1862. My Dear Girls: Never were two creatures pounced on and whirled out of sight more completely than you. Fate seems to descend and wrap you from the vision and the reach of your family, and every event only carries you farther off. Do [...]

Abby Howland Woolsey to Joe. April 30. . . . We had a very pleasant visit the other night from Charles Johnson, of Norwich, just returned from Port Royal. He went down as Allotment Commissioner from Connecticut and had pretty good success. He was particularly indignant about the chaplain of the Connecticut __th who had [...]

From Eliza’s Journal. S. S. Daniel Webster. Just before sunset, last night, we passed the mouth of the York River, and could see our gunboats and a fleet of some four hundred sloops and schooners lying a little way up it–among them our fleet, Franklin’s Division, still lying off Ship Point. We made our way [...]

Georgeanna to Mother. Floating Hospital, Daniel Webster. Cheeseman’s Creek, April 30, ‘61. The sail down the Potomac to Acquia Creek, where we anchored for the night, was extremely pretty. Just as we started the little gunboat “Yankee” passed up, bringing, all on a string, five rebel craft she had just taken in the Rappahannock. Late [...]

Eliza Woolsey Howland to Joe Howland. Monday Morning, April 28. Where do you think I am? On the “Daniel Webster No. 1,” which the Sanitary Commission has taken as a hospital ship. We are now on the way down to Cheeseman’s Creek, near Ship Point, and when you receive this we shall be lying just [...]

Abby Howland Woolsey to Georgeann and Eliza. New York, April 28. My dear Sisters: Mother’s letter of Sunday morning, giving the startling intelligence of your having gone off suddenly to Fort Monroe, came before breakfast. Since it was your very earnest wish, and, as Mr. Prentiss tells us, you might have chafed at being held [...]

Harriet Roosevelt Woolsey to Georgeanna. Ebbitt House, April 27. Everybody was delighted with what you left in Washington for the hospitals. Some of the jellies and wine (I found a whole box of it left without orders), and some shoes, I took over to Georgetown to Mrs. Russell, who was just out of all. Mother [...]

Eliza to Joe Howland. Washington, April 26. Mr. Knapp, of the Sanitary Commission, has just been over and offers to take a note for me when he goes to Yorktown to morrow. We like him so much, and shall be in communication with him all summer if we succeed in going down, and we are [...]

Abby Howland Woolsey to Mother. New York, April 26th. My Dear Mother: We are all bright and well this fine morning. Jane and Charley have gone to the Philharmonic rehearsal and Carry is practicing some of her old music on the piano, in a way to make you, who love to hear it, happy. Mr. [...]

Jane Stuart Woolsey to Georgeanna. New York, April 25, ‘62. . . . I always have a little talk with Col. Betts coming out of church, he keeps out such a sharp eye. He predicted all that business of the sub-division of McClellan’s command and the Rappahannock department exactly as it fell out. He predicts [...]

Joe Howland to Eliza Woolsey Howland. York River, April 24 Yesterday, at last, I landed the regiment, having asked permission to do so and have the boat thoroughly cleaned. Having picked out a piece of level ground at the head of a little bay where there are lots of oysters, I got a stern-wheeler and [...]

Joe Howland to Eliza Woolsey Howland. York River, April 22 Here we still lie awaiting orders, without a word of news and nothing to do. The boat is so crowded and dirty that life is becoming intensely disgusting, yet there does not appear any prospect of getting away. Last night there was heavy firing towards [...]

Joe Howland to Eliza Woolsey Howland. Near Fortress Monroe, Sunday, April 20. No orders. The boat is becoming very dirty and cannot be cleaned as she is so crowded that there is no place to put any number of the men while cleaning is being done. The decks are swept and shoveled once or twice [...]

From H. L. Hodge. Fortress Monroe, April 19th, 1862, Dear Georgy: We were summoned to Yorktown, and about twenty of us left Philadelphia yesterday morning. We passed on the Bay this morning many transports bearing, as I suppose, Franklin’s Division. I presume that Joe and myself were not far apart. He goes, however, if report [...]

Cousin Margaret Hodge to Georgeanna. Philadelphia, April, 62. My dear Georgy: I feel a great interest in dear Eliza and yourself, and also in your dear mother, and all the family, knowing how anxious you must all be about Joe. I do wish you could get to Fortress Monroe, or, as you say, to the [...]