Uniforms of Honor

August 15, 1864

            All of the nurses had to look like conservative, non-flashy women.  Nurses had to wear practical clothing to be able to work out in the battlefield for days.  If I wanted to be eligible to be a nurse, I had to wear a brown or black dress with no jewelry.  Most of my friends learned how to pattern their dresses so that some stains wouldn’t show.  If I got a blood stain on my dress, I was likely not to get it out!  If the person’s blood that got on his shirt and my dress tested positive for a sickness, I could get really sick if I wasn’t really careful.  If I were a nurse for the Union, I was given a traditional jacket and a skirt like I was going somewhere fancy.  Since I am a nurse for the Confederate Army, I have to wear my plain boring uniform.  I was very upset about that because I had to make my own uniform and it was very boring to me. And the Union nurses were given theirs to wear and they looked really nice. 

            Today, I was making a new dress for myself because my old one ripped while I was helping a soldier, Sam Smith, with his injuries.  He was in a lot of pain and grabbed my dress to help relieve some of the pain.  I didn’t mind that my dress ripped, I was glad to be able to help him.  While I was bandaging Sam’s leg in the battlefield, I saw Clara Barton helping another wounded soldier in the battlefield.   I really felt honored to be working in her company and proud that I could help the wounded soldiers like she was. 

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Allyssa D.