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Kate Cumming, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, was living in Mobile, Alabama, at the outbreak of the Civil War. Despite opposition from family members, she became a nurse for the Confederate cause. In April 1862, she boarded the train that carried her into action. Cumming arrived in Corinth just after the Battle of Shiloh and quickly assumed the duties of a nurse. Most of these activities centered around the Tishomingo Hotel. In her diary, she described bathing wounds, delivering water, and a host of other duties. The mutilation and deaths of soldiers often saddened her, but Kate persevered. She remained in Corinth until the threat of Federal occupation pushed her southward. She later served the Confederacy in Okolona, Mississippi and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Ella King Newsome, known as the Florence Nightingale of the South, was a native Mississippian and is considered a pioneer in Civil War nursing. The widow of Dr. Frank Newsome at the outbreak of the Civil War, Ella King, living in Arkansas, resolved to devote her energy and wealth to the field her husband loved - medicine. To do her part in the War effort, Ella took servants and supplies to Memphis, Tennessee, where she worked in the City Hospital with camp soldiers. Later, she went to Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; and Winchester, Tennessee. It was from Winchester that she was summoned to Corinth. She served at the Corinth House Hotel Hospital. Kate Cumming, in Corinth at the same time as Ella, deeply admired her work.
Mary Ann "Mother" Bickerdyke was born in Knox County, Ohio, in 1817. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Mary Ann was Mrs. Bickerdyke, a widowed mother of two young sons, living in Galesburg, Illinois. When her church sent supplies to Cairo, Illinois, for Federal soldiers, she went along and was subsequently devoted to the Cause. After the Battle of Shiloh, Bickerdyke was put in charge of the field hospital at Farmington, Mississippi, and once the Federal Army secured Corinth, she took responsibility over Corona College Hospital. Mother Bickerdyke quickly became a favorite among the soldiers, for she saw that their needs were met, whether it be a cold drink of water or clean dressings. Bickerdyke also gained the respect of many Northern Generals, including Grant and Sherman. When one lower ranking officer began to complain about "that woman Bickerdyke" to Sherman, the General heartily replied, "Only God outranks her."
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