Posted by Gayle on April 15, 1998 at 15:24:29:
In Reply to: Nursing during the F & I War posted by Victoria on April 15, 1998 at 14:51:32:
: For all you in the health care field I found the following information interesting. It's from "Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community During the American Revolution," pg. 8, by Holly A. Mayer, University of South Carolina Press.
: "Almost all the British army's nurses were female by 1750. The matron was the highest paid woman in the medical services and had considerable respect and prestige. She supervised the nurses and had the general responsibility of overseeing the patients' comfort. Charlotte Browne was a matron of the British army hospital organized for General Braddock's campaign in 1755. During her service that season she dealt with recalcitrant servants (dismissing one for theft), absent nurses who preferrred to be with their soldier-husbands, miserable roads, desolate camps, her brother's death, and her own illness. She also had to deal with the wounded refugees of Braddock's defeat, and follow the remnants of that force to Frederick's Town, MD. While there, she was visited, probably to be examined for propriety, by the town's ladies." She left a journal of her experiences. "Journal of Mrs. Browne, Braddock's Expedition, 1754-1757," copy in the NY Historical Society, NYC; or in Isabel M. Calder, ed., "Colonial Captivities, Marches and Journeys."
Victoria,
With all the reading I have been doing lately on that very area of history, I would be fascinated to get hold of Mrs. Browne's journal. It's got to be a real eye-opener! The conditions under which the military functioned were so miserable, that I can't even imagine anyone having the strength to serve as a nurse. She must have seemed like a real angel of mercy, just by being there. Goodness knows, there must have been little enough she could do medically, all things considered. What a remarkable story she must tell. Thanks for bringing the journal to our attention.