7 May 1863: “AN APPEAL For The Sick And Wounded Soldiers

Item Description: In this broadside, members of the Salisbury [N.C.] Way-Side Hospital committee call for donations of “provisions, medicines, delicacies for the sick, and money” to help care for wounded and sick soldiers. The appeal ends with a call to listen to “the voice of the poor maimed and bleeding soldier that asks of you to give him ‘food and fire’ in exchange for the blood he has shed for you.” It also includes a list of soldiers, including their home counties, that have been “entertained” over the past few months.

Transcription:

AN APPEAL
For the Sick and Wounded Soldiers.

SALISBURY, May 7th, 1863.

The brave soldiers of our Army on the Rappahannock have again met the enemy on the field of battle and scattered them

“Like leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown.”

The flag of our young Republic floats gloriously over another field of blood. But victory is obtained at a fearful cost. The best blood of our nation has been shed freely on the Rappahannock, and in addition to those who have fallen in death, there are thousands of others who are wounded and disabled from present service. These will seek their own quiet homes as soon as their wounds will admit of their removal; some, whose wounds are not so serious, will come at once; others as soon as they are able. While on their way home they need places where they can obtain rest and refreshment without charge. Such a place is the Salisbury Way-Side Hospital, where more than twelve hundred of our sick and wounded soldiers have been fed and lodged, and clothed, and nursed since July last, and where all who come in the future shall be carefully provided for. But we need provisions, medicines, delicacies for the sick, and money. Will you help us now to take care of your own, or your neighbor’s sons and brothers and fathers, who have so bravely fought and bled for us on the terrible fields of the Rappahannock? It is not the Hospital Committee that calls on you, it is the voice of the poor maimed and bleeding soldier that asks of you to give him “food and fire” in exchange for the blood he has shed for you. A word to the patriotic is sufficient.

JAMES C. SMYTH,
L. BLACKMER,
J. J. BRUNER,
J. D. BROWN,
WM. OVERMAN,
M. W. JARVIS,
F. M. Y. McNEELY,

Hospital Committee.
From the 14th of July to the 1st of April, 1,235 soldiers have been entertained at the Salisbury Way-Side Hospital, to wit: From Alexander county 135; Alleghany 9; Anson 19; Ashe 16; Alamance 2; Buncombe 38; Burke 61; Cabarrus 21; Caldwell 51; Catawba 208; Cherokee 2; Cleaveland 1; Davie 49; Davidson 19; Forsythe 1; Gaston 1; Haywood 19; Henderson 5; Iredell 179; Jackson 1; Lincoln 5; McDowell 36; Montgomery 19; Mecklenburg 1; Madison 1; Mitchell 9; New Hanover 1; Rowan 69; Rutherford 10; Richmond 2; Randolph 1; Sampson 1; Stanly 61; Surry 14; Stokes 2; Transylvania 1; Wayne 1; Watauga 19; Wilkes 74; Yadkin 21; Yancey 2; Union 3. From the State of Virginia 4; South Carolina 29; Florida 3; Georgia 6; Alabama 2; Louisiana 2; Texas 3; Mississippi 1. Since the 1st of April about 200 more have been entertained, making in all about 1500 soldiers who have been entertained in our hospital since it was opened in July last.

Item citation: Salisbury Way-Side Hospital (N.C.). An appeal for the sick and wounded soldiers. [Salisbury, N.C. : s.n., 1863]. Cb970.77 S16. North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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