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“Economy Rules the Day:”
The Civil War Sacrifices of Judith Walker McGuire
by Tim Sheehan

Table of Contents | Introduction | Conclusion | Endnotes | Printable HTML version | Images | Related Web Resources

Women Regarded as Hospital Pests (conintued)

Whatever hospital McGuire visited in Lynchburg, it appears she was only a passive observer to the hospital scene. McGuire discloses in the Diary that she could not participate in that city’s hospitals mainly because she was “a stranger” in Lynchburg, although she also uses another excuse of a “patient at home” needing attention (meaning Rev. McGuire). The only contribution she made to the soldiers during this visit was to “knit for them all the time, and give them a kind word in passing.” Lynchburg appears to have not taken kindly to refugees during the Civil War. McGuire states in the Diary that she socialized with the “refugee society" of her boardinghouse instead of “Lynchburg society.” McGuire's account gives the impression that Lynchburg treated war refugees as a separate, lower class. Even though she had good intentions to assist the wounded, McGuire’s refugee status appears to have prevented her from visiting Lynchburg’s hospitals. (43)

En route back to Richmond from Lynchburg, the McGuires stopped at Charlottesville. The Diary’s 3 October 1862 entry contains a second hand description of women’s contributions to the Charlottesville military hospitals. McGuire recorded that it “seems" to her that “every lady” in Charlottesville participates with the hospitals. “The kitchens are presided over by ladies; each lady knows her own day to go to a particular kitchen to see that the food is properly prepared and served to the patients—I mean those who are confined to their beds or wards—the regular ‘matrons’ do every thing else.” As described by McGuire, Charlottesville had a women’s organization that prepared food for ill soldiers. The Charlottesville General Hospital and the Midway Hospital employed women as matrons. Women could participate in some way in the hospitals. However, the Charlottesville way did not cater to McGuire’s desire to casually pay a visit to the wounded with words of cheer and readings from the Bible. Once again, she could only observe other women contribute towards the recuperation of the Confederate soldiers. (44)

In July of 1863, Reverend McGuire received a post chaplainry to the Richmond Officer’s Hospital. Throughout the remainder of the Diary, Judith McGuire mentions her interest in the patients of that hospital, which she obtained via conversations with her husband. Yet she never visited the soldiers at this Hospital. In her 18 September 1864 entry, Judith McGuire states that she often attends Sunday service given by her husband and other chaplains at the Officer's Hospital. The Rev. McGuire had his wife act as the chorister. After that day’s service, the Reverend went to the bedsides of the soldiers for conversation and prayers. Judith McGuire left once the services ended, going across the street, “as I have done several times before,” to the Shockoe Hill Cemetery, apparently to pass the time as she waited for Rev. McGuire. Although she never expresses such notions in the Diary, it appears that Judith McGuire never visited with that Hospital’s patients, possibly due to either hospital rules or by her husband's insistence. Judith McGuire appears to have considered the Officer’s Hospital as her husband’s turf, for the Diary often refers to the Officer’s hospital as “Mr _____’s hospital.” In one entry of the Diary describing the location of rooms the McGuires had obtained, Judith McGuire states the rooms as being near “my hospital,” meaning the Robertson Hospital, whereas “Mr. M_____’s hospital” was farther away. The Officer’s Hospital belonged to Rev. McGuire’s domain. (45)

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This page last updated 23 August 2008