Chronicles of Notre Dame du Lac
Edward Sorin, CSC -- Translated by John M. Toohey, CSC, 1895

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1861

pg 456       entirely by surprise.  In some months two hundred thousand 
             soldiers were in the field, and by the end of autumn about six 
             hundred thousand had abandoned everything to defend their country.
                  Of this number one third were Catholics.  Notre Dame du Lac 
             at once thought of providing those Catholic soldiers with the 
             helps of their holy religion.  F. Paul Gillen was the first sent 
             to Washington, the headquarters of the grand army, towards the end 
             of June.  He did much good there.  Three other Fathers were 
             successively sent thither and accepted by the government as 
             chaplains, namely: FF. J. Dillon, PP. Cooney, and W. Curley.
                  The Sisters were also called by the government to take charge 
             of the wounded.  In autumn twenty-two Sisters of Holy Cross took 
             charge of several military hospitals:  at Cairo, Paducah, and 
             Mound City.  In this latter hospital there were about one thousand 
             beds.
                  It would be hard to speak too highly of the good done by 
             those Sisters wherever they went.  Before the end of this year