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** * ROBERT W. BARNWELL * * FRIEND OF THE SICK. * * --* * Plea for Memorial to Him in * Trinity Churchyard. * * * ** * * * * * * * * ~:* * *** (Written for The State by James Me Intosh.) The Confederate soldier with his battle fields and monuments will evcr live in history, and coming genera tions will read of his valor and pat riotism. The women who loved, sif fered and died for the Lost Cause wiU have their monuments to tell of the trials and privaitiions they endur ed. But as I see these evidences of re membrances and honor, I am remind ed of one who brougfht home from Virgini, and laid away in the bosom of his native State, gave his life for his country, in that wonderful work of his for the relief of the sick and wounded Confederate soldier. One whose name is now seldom mention ed, as most of this associates and the greater number of the thousands of sick and wounded who are ?heltered and nursed back to life in the bospi tals (he established have passed over the river. But his work will ever rank with that of Florence Nightin gale and others who have given their lives to the relief of the suffering soldiers. And of the dead heroes of the Civil war there is no one more deserving of love and honor and remembrance than Robert W. Barnwell, Jr., origi nator and developer of the State his pitals during the Civil war. Mr. Barnwell was born on May 23, 1831, and graduated from the South Carolina college in the class of 1850. He was elected wrofessor of moral philosophy and sacred literature and was also made chaplain of the college in the year 1857. While the young est member of the faculty, he was a man of rare scholarly .attainments for one of his years, gained by a thorough and continuous eourse of study in the schools of his own and foreign lands. He impressed himself at once upon his colleagues and the students, for his well trained mind and brilliant in tellect always commanded their atten tion, and impressed his teachings up on willing bhear'ers. 'As a preacher his clear simple sty-le of expression, that would upon oceaision rise to impas sioned flights of eloquence, always earried his congregation with him, and gave him greart hold upon the spiritu-al life of many of the students. But we turn from this to a new as pect of his life. He was a student, not of books only, but of men and the practical phases of human life. And beneath this quiet student's life there klrked a power, a capacity, a magnetism, that was only waiting the opportune moment to develop a leader with a broad comprehensive mind, able to grasp and master the new problems that the future was britnging forth. Early in the Civil war his field opened up before him, and at once aissuming i>ts new and untried r'esponsibilties,:he came to the front, and originated and developed the Hospital Associration of Virginia. Through this bureau supplies 'of food and elothing were furnished to all needy soldiers. And he, through his efforts, prepared large hospital ac commodations, with all the necessary nursing and attention for hundreds of the sick and wounded, and did a noble work, tihe memory of which will linger in, the minds of many. a Carolina soldier as he recalls the pleasure it gave lhim\ to find a nurse from .his native State ready to wait 'upon h-im. Without any detraction of the work done by others, it ean truly ba. said that R. W. Barnwell, from June, 1861, to his death, did more than any liv ing man towards the relief of the siek, wounded and suffering soldier. For hundreds and thousands of the Con federate sick and wounded have boirne grateful testimony to the re lief given them ~through his labors and thoughtful work. The temporary tent camps at the Salem hospital, some 20 miles from Manassas, the Wayside hospital near Fairfax -Station. the Warren Sprngs 'hospital, 'which was afterward turned ov er to the G-sorgia State association, and the Cellpepper hospital served their purposes. But the pressing de mands for increased accommodations grew daily, and selecting Charlottes ville, Va.., as his baise, he established .there his first permanent ih%pital, then one at Manchester, then mne at Petersbhrg, as well as the Soldiers' home at Richmond-all models in their day, and. to the end of the Civil war. monuoments to the brain that conseerated itself to the love of the sick andI suffer'ing soldier. With the Civil war came demands that no hu tman man could have fore seen. The newly organized Confeder aev wa a war, with neither men, materials nor money. As the Confed ert orce.s 5r-nuere at various raw troops thus assembled suffered as soldiers alway., do, until they are accustomed to camp life. From these se.attered camps. with the seeds of disease :already sown, the troops were hastily -athered at Manassas. To furnish food, arms. equipment and transportation taxed the g0vernnent to its utmost capaeity; there was onlv one poorly equipped railroad from Riehmond to Manasses. and the ordi na,ry box car was used for the trans portation of the supplies and the soldiers and was often the only means of 'transport of the sick to th-e rear. Medical supplies were almost an un known quantity. A surgeon and as sistant surgeon and hospital steward, with a small camp ehest of medicine and surgical supplies for a regiment and its camp followers numbering 1, 000 men, was the ordinary outfit. There were no hospital supplies. Sickness to an alarming extent soon became prevalent: accounts of the sick and suffering soldiers lving ex posed to the weather without tents or bedding or food or nurse. moved every heart with anguish and sym pathy, and every one ,soldier and civ ilian, asked what could be done. The college chaplain, as he read these reports in his quiet study. felt his call. Immediately upon the clos ing of the college term. in June. 1861, he hurried on to Manassas. Upon the field his clear and comprehensive mind took in the situation at once. He saw, he planned. *le went to work. From Manasses he went to Richmond to lay his plans before the authorities and in his report made afterward to the State legislature we find t:h-e fol lowing: "On the 4th day of July. 1861. a proposition was made by the Rev. R. W. Barnwell, with the advice of Dr. LaBorde. to Presid6nt Davis. and to the surgeon general, Dr. Camden De Loach. to give permission and coun tenance to the establishment of hos pitals along the line of our defenses, under the care of certain ladies and gentlemen of the State, who had vol unteered for the work. It did not meet with such approval as was de sirable, and the seheme was deemed impracticable and promotive only of confusion and evil; it was said that it could not promise any permanent re iief, and was calculated to impede rather than promote t'he operations of the medicail staff of the army.'' Not discouraged by this failure, Mr. Barn-well returned to Manassas and imediateliv planned establish ing a depository of hc.spital supplies. This met with the approval of the medical director' of the army, Sur geon T. H. Williams, and was at once put in operation. The battle of Manassas added fear fully to the distress and suffrin'g of the soldiers. owing to the inadequate supply of -hospital equipment a.nd nurses. Mr. Barnwel'l .at onee tele graph'ed and wrote fo.r aid to Caro lina, making suggestions with plans for est.ablishing district and village hospital aid societ,ies, that were promptly adopted. and supplies of all sorts came pouring in and p)hysicianfs and nurses were soon on hand. Cul peper was first selected, but Char lottesville was soon made the centre for the reception of supplies and- a large tw.o-story building rented for their storage and distribution. The sick and wouinded, often lying exposed at the depot without food or shelter, led to t:he renting of a build ing nearby for 'their protection. Soon afterward Dr. J. L. Cabell, surgeon of the post, offered -to turn over to Mr. Barn well, if he would pay the ren.t and furn-ish the house, the large four-story brick building, containing 24 rooms, besides the basement; that fronted upon tihe beautiful Midway aven'ue leading down from the univer sity to the 'town. The offer was ac epted promptly and from that day -to the close of tihe war it was known as Mi'dway hospital. Thus during Au gust, 1861, the first South Carolina State hxospit'al.-and 'the first State hos itall was opened for the reception of d:e sick. As rapidly as t-hey could be ( rnished the Harris House. the Dun klan House, and Daniel House. form er boarding houses for the students of the university, were opened, anid were i full operat.ion by the last of Oe tober, when, under orders from Sur ge'n General Moore, I reported for duty and found Dr. Theodore (Gour din in charge. The Monticello horel was afterward opened, making four hospitals that were at first known as the South Carolina division, and af ter t-heir transfer in 1862, as the sec ond division of the Confederate hos pi'tals in Charlottesville, Va. During September an arrangement was made with the surgeon general and the .South Carolina and Georgia State associations, under which other hospita'l could he estabhshed. The State association paying for rent an funiture, with the privilege of nominating surgeonis for a Conife~der' ate commnission,. who should draw ra tions. medical supplies and contIract for nurses at the g'overnment's ex anee of Drs. J. J. (lii.ulm aid 11Fis1 bun, e.tablished the MIanchester hos pital. With the need of a place to furnish food and shelter to tha sold iers passing .thr.ugh Richmond, es pecially as t.he seat of war was draw .ing nearer -to. that city, t.he bureau of su pp'.es was moved from Charlottes ville, and with the Soldiers' home they were both re-uilarly established at Richmond. Mr. Barnwell selected from his tried and faithful corps of sistants. G. H. MeMaster as superintendent, placing thle home in his eharge, and many an old .soldier remembers that when friendless a.nd .alone in Rich mond this Soldiers' home was a home indeed, with a cheerful welcome and kind attention to be found beneath its sheltering roof. As Geni. McClellan's peninsular campaign became a possibility Mr. Ba-rnwell 's foresight- le'd to the estab lishment of a large hospital in Peters burg,. that was ready for occupancy by April. 1862, and immediately fill ed witlh sick and wounded. In the fall of 1862, the medical de partment, having been thoroughly or franized mreder Surgeon Genirai Moore. Mr. Barnwell, realizing that the time had come when all hospital-s should be mder one management, turned over to the Confederate au thorities all the hospitals, known as the Sout-h Carolin'a 1hospitals, retain inz control of the Soldiers' hoe nd the bure.ii of supplies, both oi which continued in operation af.ar his death. even to the close of %e war, rendering aid and assistance to the so'dierc L'pon the completion o ih trans for he prepared his report that was nresellted to the legislature in Decem ber 1862. with an itemized statement of all receipts and disbursements, in eldingx the State appropriatio.ns and volantary contributions. The State had appropriated $1S, 452.50 and- the voluntary contribu tions amounted to $32,512.61,1 mak ing tie total of money received $50, 995.11, of whieh $28,883.83 had been expended, leaving a balance on hand of $22,111.28. The estimated vale of the supplies received up to that time was $219, 000. a considerable portion of which were stiH on -hand in Richmond, and &istribmted with tihe later receipts n der the bureau's management up tol the close of the war.. This report a.lso gave the name, company, regiment of eaeh soldier dy ing in the different South Carolina hospitals from August, 1861, to No vember, 1862, s'howing that daring that period there were 9,218 siek a.nd wounded .admitted to these different h'ospitas, with 526 deaths. Thus in the early and most trying months of the war, his wounderful work fur nihdshelter. food and nursing for over 9,000 s'iek. It seems almost ineredible that one man could ' 'e accomplished such a work comme'ncing as he did with "thi 4 - w' t: enly the assistance of :' v Krv e'rry: of 'helpers, whom he !nod :-anize and train for their wor'k. and em.ee.Uidl when so much was accomplished with such *a small outlayv in comparimon with what was done by the evernmnent and oth-er State organizations. Alabama gave to Mrs. Hopkins $30,000. Genreia ear }v in 1861 .appropria:ted $200,000, and North Carolina and other States gave ge'nerouslv for the care of their sick and wounded. It was t-he man himself; the confi dence he inspi-red, that carried the FOR It DAME F/'SHION ti t d4 ci at -: K f *. as t \Ii f ir AMERICAN BEAU TY Style 43 lil Kalamazoo Corset Co., Maksf" 25 OR M~ATRO'iC uok forwV':m. 11: deVonn to the iek h ' Is tirele s enIerg-y, h1is "&nthuLS iasm, his magnetism. inspired all around him. Such an instance as this ilhistrates the man and his work: The sick had overflowed all accommoda tions. were :eeding shelter, food and nursing. A day's search secured a building. The next (ay the cleaning up went virgo-rously on, wagons roll ed up with lumber and straw. bolts of coitton homespun. and sheets and pillkws were brought from the bu reau. The carpenter was soon at work making the bunks, the ladies were making the ticks and it was but a short time before this cot, with a tick filled with fresh straw, with nice clean sheets and pillow, presented a very inviting bed for the weary sol dier as he was lifted from his blank et on the floor and made comfortable, before offieial red tape would have written its first order. The transfer of the hospitals was a great relief from a terrible mental and physical strain: but it eame too late. The great. respoinsibility resting on mind and he.art, with no rest night or day, as he kept in close touch witii every bearing of his work, had done it- work. His strong constitution was shattered, his health completely brok en by the work-answering the calls of the hundreds of sick and the thousands inquiring after them, be tween the days at Petersburg, at Charlottesv-ille, at Richmond, receiv ing and distributing supplies and of ten accompanying these supplies to the field and assisting personally in their distribution to soldiers. His vis .its to the hospitals, with a prayer at one bedside, a word of comfort to the next, a message from home to anoth er, a burial service over the late oc cupant of another-for it was the rule of the hospital that no soldier should be buried from the wards without some burial service: and af ter a day of continuous labor, as he sat down to the table, and another call came, he would respond imme diately. leaving his food untasted un til he had -taken care of 'the sick. This was more. than mortal man could stand; his i-ron will 'refused to yield, but nature could stand no more. A severe attack of fever laid him up on his bed and disease claimed him on June 23, 1863. -and from'his sick bed as hils spirit passed away, a life was given for his countiry, filled wiIth selfsac.rifice, kindness and good wish es, leaving behind a name that was never forgot by the Confederate sol dier. And in history he will be known as one of the noblest benefactors of the human race that any age has pro duced. And has not the day come when South Carolina should erect a memo rial to mark the spot where lies *his body in the gra.veyard of Trinity chrch, Columbia, in remembrance of the sufferings relieved and of the lives saved through 'the labors of this no ble self-sacrificing son? Newberry, S. C. The Road to Success has many obstructions, but none so desperate as poor health. Success today demands health, but Electric Bitters is the greatest health builder the world has ever ki.wn. It com pels perfect action of Gomach, liver, kidneys, bowels, purifies and enriches the blood, and tones and invigorates the whole system. Vigorous body and keen brain follow their use. You can't afford to slight. Electric Bitters if weak, run-down or sickly. Only 50e. Guaranteed by W. E. Pelhiam & Son, Newberry, S. C.' . 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