INDEX

Abolitionism, Whitman on, 81–82

Affection

hospital visits and, 132–36

and integrity of Union, 12

letters of, 133–34, 235–36

medicine of, 6

same-sex, 133

for Whitman, 157, 235–36

‘‘After the Supper and Talk’’ (poem), 132

Alcott, Louisa May, 93–94, 146

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 21, 22, 24

Allen, Elijah, 104, 150

Ambulance Corps, 65

Amputations

during Civil War, 94, 95–96

Whitman’s attendance of, 37, 118, 161–62

Andersonville prison camp, 193, 198

Antietam, Battle of, 46, 62, 65

aftermath of, 97–98

Arnold, George, 21, 23, 24

‘‘The Artilleryman’s Vision’’ (poem), 170

Ashby, Mrs., 167–68

Ashby, Turner, 24, 167

Ashton, J. Hubley, 87, 198, 234

Attendants, hospital, 112–14

Babcock, William E., 190

Baker, Mrs. E. S., 148

Baker, Frank, 87

Barton, Clara, 53–54, 63

Bauldsir, John Y., 31

‘‘Beat! Beat! Drums!’’ (poem), 42–43

Benton, Myron, 153

Bliss, Willard, 163

Bloom, Nat, 120, 148

Boardman, Henry, 105–6

Bohemians, New York, 18–25

Booth, John Wilkes, 218, 219

Booth, Junius Brutus, 219

Brooks, Livingston, 126

Brown, Lewis, 132–34

gratitude to Whitman, 235

leg amputation of, 161–62

letters to, 135, 140–41, 156

siege of Washington and, 186

Buchanan, James, 16

Bucke, Richard, 39

Bull Run, Battle of, 41–42

Bullet wounds, 95

Bureau of Indian Affairs, 201–2, 233–34

Burnside, Ambrose, 46, 57, 66–67, 175, 188

Burr, Aaron, 13

Burroughs, John, 150–54, 164–65, 240

during siege of Washington, 186, 187

on Whitman, 4–5, 39, 211

Burroughs, Ursula, 164–65

Butler, Benjamin, 168, 197

‘‘By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame’’ (poem), 169

Byrd, Thomas J., 209

‘‘Calamus’’ (poem), 27–28

Calomel (mercurous chloride), 93–94

Camp, military, Whitman’s experience at, 55–70, 167–71

Carlyle, Thomas, 238

Carpenter, Edward, 39

Casualties

in Grant’s campaign, 181–82

in Rebel prisons, 198

‘‘Cavalry Crossing a Ford’’ (poem), 67

Channing, Grace Ellery, 73

Channing, William Henry, 119

Charity, Whitman’s, 151–52

Chase, Salmon P., 76, 111, 149

Chauncey, Charles, 38

Christian Commission, 108–10

Christmas Day, at camp, 69–70

Civil War

beginning of, reaction to, 40

casualties in, 181–82, 198

end of, 216

first year of, 41–47

Grand Review after, 223–26

Grant’s campaign, 174–79

last year of, 200, 202, 206–7

as salvation, 3

siege of Washington, 185–87

Clapp, Henry, 18–20, 24–25, 150

Clare, Ada, 21, 22, 24, 35, 150

Compassion, 85–86, 172, 207–8

Conflicts

family, 158–59

personal, 22–23

Conway, Moncure, 52

Corruption

postwar, 238–40

prewar, 16, 17

Cranford, Henry, 169

Crater, Battle of the, 188–89

Creativity, hospital visits and, 99–100, 144–47

Crisis of faith, 117–18, 123

Culpeper, Virginia, winter camp at, 167–71

Cunningham, Oscar H., 180–81

Custer, George Armstrong, 224

Cutter, Charles, 180

Davis, Charles, 162

Davis, Jefferson, 10, 216

Death

brother’s, 194–95

in hospitals, 114–17, 118, 142–43, 179–80, 223

in war, 59–61

in Whitman’s poetry, 102–3, 131, 229–32

Delirium tremens, 34–35

Democratic experience, Whitman’s, 12–13

Depression, Whitman’s prewar, 6, 11, 16–18, 27

Deserters, 148, 152, 207–8

Diarrhea, 84, 171

Doctors, friendship with, 37–38

Dole, William P., 202, 234

Doyle, Peter, 136, 210–15, 218

Draft riots, 137–39

Drum-Taps, 144

attempts to publish, 184–85, 215, 217, 221

publication of, 233

Whitman’s description of, 217–18

Early, Jubal, 185–86, 187

Eckler, Peter, 217

‘‘The Eighteenth Presidency!’’ (essay), 16–17

Eldridge, Charles W., 50, 71, 80, 139, 167, 190, 240

Elliott, John, 118

Emancipation proclamation, 77–78

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

letter of recommendation by, 76–77

letters to, 145–46

on Whitman’s poetry, 10–11

Employment, 10

in Bureau of Indian Affairs, 201–2, 233–34

in paymaster’s office, 83, 87

search for, 76–77, 198–99

Eyre, Ellen, 35–36

Family, Whitman’s, 25–26

conflicts in, 158–59

reunion with, 154–55

worries about, 141–42

Ferrero, Edward, 188

Fevers, surgical, 96–97

Field hospitals, 63–66, 171

‘‘Fifty-First New York City Veterans’’ (article), 191

Fillmore, Millard, 16

Finances, 26–27, 106, 111

‘‘First O Songs for a Prelude’’ (poem), 43–44

Forbes, Edwin, 56

Ford, Joshua, 114

Fox, Elijah Douglass, 157

letter to, 156–57

Francis, Henry W., 55

Fred Gray Association, 38, 187

Fredericksburg, Battle of, 46–47, 51

aftermath of, 56–59

Frémont, John C., 16

Friendships, 39–40

with bohemians, 18–22

with Burroughs, 150–54, 164–65

with doctors, 37–38

with O’Connors, 71–74, 124

in Washington, 87–88

Fritsch, Hugo, 38

Front

impressions from, 168–70

journey to, 50, 52

Fund-raising drives, 106

Gangrene, hospital, 98–99

Garfield, James A., 163

Gere, Thomas, 30

Gilded Age, 238–40

Glover, Stewart C., 179–80

The Good Gray Poet (O’Connor), 234–35

Gottschalk, Louis, 21

Grand Review, 223–26

Grant, Ulysses S., 173–74

and Battle of the Crater, 188–89

campaign of, 174–79

casualties in, 181–82

and prisoner exchanges, 193

Gray, Frederick Schiller, 38, 46, 120

‘‘The Great Army of the Sick’’ (article), 85–86, 106–7, 111

Greeley, Horace, 19

Grey, Ellen, 35

Gurowski, Count Adam, 21, 88

Haley, Thomas, 114–15

Hall, George, 199

Hammond, William A., 93

Hapgood, Lyman, 50, 139, 167

Harlan, James, 233, 234

Haskell, Erastus, 127–30

Hawley, Harriet, 110

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 19

Hay, John, 149

Health, Whitman’s, deterioration of, 119–20, 142, 183–84, 240

Heenan, John, 21–22

Heyde, Charles, 25

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 4, 243

Hinton, Richard, 109

Hitchcock, Ethan Allan, 197, 204

Holman, George J., 77

Holmes, John A., 84–86, 126

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 186

Homesickness, 141, 182

Hospital(s)

attendants at, 112–14

Confederates in, 208–9

death in, 114–17, 118, 142–43, 179–80, 223

field, 63–66, 171

general access to, 107–8

during Grant’s campaign, 182

missionary work at, 107–10

mistakes in care at, 93–94, 114

pavilion design for, 106–7

after war’s end, 222

Washington, 88–90, 93

Whitman’s visits to. See Hospital visits

Hospital visits, 5–6

affections born in, 132–36

and creativity, 99–100, 144–47

effect on soldiers, 151, 163

gifts in, 104–6, 162, 181, 188

inspiration of, 120–21

letter writing in, 105, 127–30

in New York

prewar, 32–38

wartime, 44–45, 187–88

personal appearance in, 103–4

and sexuality, 101

sketches of soldiers from, 114–17, 118, 125–30, 142–43, 179–81, 208–9, 222–23, 241

and stress, 143–44, 166, 172–73

in Washington

beginning of, 83–84

regularity of, 86–87, 202–3

in search of George, 49–50

stepped-up, 124–30

‘‘Hours Continuing Long’’ (poem), 28

‘‘How Solemn as One by One’’ (poem), 226–27

Howells, William Dean, 19

Hunter, David, 15

Huse, Frederick, 114

‘‘Hush’d Be the Camps To-day’’ (poem), 221

Individuality, in Whitman’s poetry, 13–14

Infections, postoperative, 96–99

Invalid Corps, 113–14

Irish immigrants, in draft riots, 137–39

Irwin, Frank H., 222–23

Isolation, Whitman’s, 19–20, 39–40

Jackson, Andrew, 13

Jackson, Stonewall, 185

Johnson, Andrew, 224

Johnston, Joseph E. 216, 225

Keen, W. W., 96

King, Preston, 111

Kingsley, Charles, 38

Lacy, J. Horace, 52

Lacy House, 52, 54, 63

Lafayette, Marquis de, 13, 212

Lander, Frederick, 24

Leaves of Grass

anticipation of brother’s end in, 194–95

anticipation of hospital visits in, 101–3

anticipation of war in, 7, 11–12

death in, 102–3, 131

patriotism in, 13–14

personal relationships in, 39–40

promise of, 10

publishing of, 184–85

Lectures, on Lincoln, 242–43

Ledlie, James H., 189

Lee, Robert E., 52, 66, 168, 176, 200, 216

Legacy, Whitman’s, 234–37

Letterman, Jonathan, 65

Letters

of affection, 133–34, 235–36

of condolence, 128–30, 222–23

for sick soldiers, 105, 127, 209

‘‘Life Among Fifty Thousand Soldiers’’ (article), 111–12

Lincoln, Abraham

assassination of

reaction to, 218, 220

Whitman’s account of, 218–21

Civil War and, 57, 66–67, 187

election of, 9–10

emancipation proclamation, 77–78

empathy for, 137

at end of Civil War, 216

first inaugural address of, 12

funeral cortege of, 221–22

and Grant, 174, 177

memorial lectures for, 242–43

New York visit of, 9, 15

and prisoner exchanges, 193

reelection of, 191–92

second inauguration of, 200, 205–6

siege of Washington and, 186

on war casualties, 182

Whitman’s impressions of, 15–16, 17, 150, 206

Whitman’s tribute to, 220–21, 228–32, 242–43

Lindly, Thomas, 125

Logan, John C., 188

Love. See also Affection

Whitman on, 211, 244

Loving, Jerome, 35

Lowell, James Russell, 32, 43

Lowery, John, 64, 83

Ludlow, Fitz-Hugh, 21, 24

McCausland, John, 186

McCaws, Lafayette, 212

McClellan, George B., 191–92

MacDonald, James M., 24

Mahay, John, 115–16

Mason, James, 139

Meade, George Gordon, 224

Medicine

state of (1860s), 90–93, 95–99

Whitman’s experience with, 37–38

Medori, Josephine, 155

Meigs, Montgomery C., 111

Memoranda During the War, 240–41

proposal for, 145–47

Menken, Adah Isaacs, 21–22, 150

Mental illness

among soldiers, 182

brother’s, 158–59, 194

delirium tremens, 34–35

Whitman and, 183–84

Mercurous chloride, 93–94

Millis, William H., 236

Minimalism, poetic, 61, 67

Monk, George, 141

Moore, Amer, 125

Morgan, John W., 209

Mother, 25, 26, 240

New Year’s celebration (1864), 159–60

New York City

bohemians in, 18–25

celebration of war’s end, 217

draft riots in, 137–39

hospital visits in

prewar, 32–38

wartime, 44–45

Lincoln’s visit to, 9, 15

returns to, 154–56, 183, 184, 187

‘‘O Captain! My Captain!’’ (poem), 243

O’Brien, Fitz-James, 21, 24, 167

O’Connor, Jeannie, 73

O’Connor, Nelly, 71, 73–74, 88, 106, 124, 159, 240

romantic interest of, 165–66

O’Connor, William D., 72–74

admiration for Whitman, 4, 72–73, 185, 198

assistance to Whitman, 50, 71–72, 149, 184, 198–99

and Burroughs, 164–65

in defense of Washington, 186

friendship with, 86–87, 124

The Good Gray Poet, 234–35

political views, 164

racial views, 78–79, 82, 119

‘‘Old War-Dreams’’ (poem), 178

Otto, W. T., 198–99

Paine, Thomas, 13

Parker, Charley, 58

Patriotism

Civil War and, 40–44

in Leaves of Grass, 13–14

‘‘Pensive on Her Dead Gazing’’ (poem), 241

Pessimism, temporary, 117–18

Pfaff’s beer cellar, 18–19

doctors at, 38

patrons of, 20–25

Whitman’s description of, 23–24

Piatt, John James, 77

Pierce, Franklin, 16

Pinkerton, Allan, 15

Political atmosphere, prewar, 9–10

Pope, John, 15

Poplar Springs Church, Battle of, 189, 190

Porter, Horace, 176

Potter, Robert S., 61–62

Preachers, in hospitals, 108, 109

Price, Abby, 203

Prisoner(s), Confederate, 118

Prisoner exchanges

issue of, 192–93

resumption of, 203–4

Whitman’s position on, 196–98

Proctor, Thomas, 228

Publication, of Whitman’s works, 184–85, 233

Pyemia, 97

Racial issue

and prisoner exchanges, 192–93

Whitman’s position on, 78–82, 119, 139–40, 198

Raymond, Henry, 111

Redgate, Stephen, 144

Redpath, James, 146

Reed, William H., 63

‘‘Respondez!’’ (poem), 17–18, 239

‘‘Return of a Brooklyn Veteran’’ (article), 215–16

Reynolds, David S., 27

Richmond, Virginia

fall of, 216

Wilderness battle near, 176, 177, 178

Romantic relationships, 28–29, 210–11, 213–15

Roosa, D. B. St. John, 37, 38

Salvation, Civil War as, 3

Sanitary Commission, 110

Saunders, Fred, 177

Sawyer, Thomas, 132–36

Secession

events leading to, 10

Whitman’s response to, 11–12

Second Bull Run, Battle of, 65

Seward, William, 76, 213

Sexuality, Whitman’s, 27–30, 35–36

Burroughs and, 154

hospital visits and, 101

Sheridan, Phil, 216, 217

Sherman, William Tecumseh, 174, 200, 225, 226

Sibbett, Walter, 162

‘‘A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim’’ (poem), 59–61

‘‘Sights—The Army Corps, Encamped on the War Field’’ (poem), 68–69

Slavery, Whitman’s view of, 81–82, 119

Small, Marcus, 125

Smith, William, F., 46

‘‘The Sobbing of the Bells’’ (poem), 164

Soldier(s)

at camp, 57–58, 168–69

gratitude to Whitman, 235–36

impoverished, 83

sick

neglect of, 84–85, 126, 127, 171

sketches of, 114–17, 118, 125–30, 142–43, 179–81, 208–9, 222–23, 241

Whitman’s inability to be, 4–5

‘‘Song of Myself’’ (poem), 14

South, Whitman on, 81–82

‘‘Spirit Whose Work is Done’’ (poem), 226, 227–28

Spotsylvania Courthouse, battle at, 178–79

Stage drivers, 31–33, 38, 187

Stanton, Edwin, 193, 196–97

Stedman, Edmund, 24

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 80

Stress, hospital visits and, 143–44, 166, 172–73

Strong, Lorenzo, 142–43

Sumner, Charles, 76, 111

Sumner, Edwin, 15, 52, 70

Surgery

during Civil War, 94, 95–99

postoperative infections, 96–99

Whitman’s attendance of, 37–38, 118, 161–62

Survivor’s guilt, 215–16

Swinton, John, 21, 111, 203

Swinton, William, 87

Taylor, Bayard, 21

Taylor, James, 162

Tetanus (lockjaw), 97–98

Tindall, William, 211

‘‘To a Stranger’’ (poem), 29–30

Traubel, Horace, 19, 80, 100, 119, 203, 214, 243

Trollope, Anthony, 38

Trowbridge, John Townsend, 39, 148–49, 168

Typhoid fever, 125–26

Union

salvation of, Civil War and, 3

Whitman’s devotion to, 13, 14

Vaughan, Fred, 28–29

Veteran Reserve Corps, 114

Vliet, Amos, H., 64, 82

Wake-Robin (Burroughs), 153

Wallace, Lew, 186

War. See also Civil War

Whitman on, 173

Ward, Artemus, 20–21, 24

Warren, Gouverneur K., 182, 216

Washington

Confederate strike on, 185–87

Grand Review in, 223–26

hospitals in, 88–90, 93

journey to, 48

9th Corps march into, 175

scenes from, 143, 147–48

squalor of, 49, 87

after war’s end, 221, 223

‘‘What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand?’’ (poem), 30

‘‘When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d’’ (poem), 228–32

Whitman, Andrew, 25, 26

death of, 158

declining health of, 141–42, 155

during war, 45

Whitman, California, 154–55

Whitman, Eddy, 25, 26

Whitman, George, 25, 26

enlistment in war, 41, 45

letters of, 51, 57, 78, 139

in march into Washington, 175

military career of, 46, 54–55, 62, 146–47, 171, 177, 179

as prisoner of war, 189, 195–96

release from prison, 204–5

and survivor’s guilt, 215–16

after war’s end, 223, 224, 240

wounding of, 47, 50–52

Whitman, Hannah, 25, 26

Whitman, Jeff, 25, 26, 45, 106, 142

and family relations, 158–59

on Irish immigrants, 139

Whitman, Jesse, 25, 26, 45

mental illness of, 158–59, 194

Whitman, Louisa, 25, 26, 240

Whitman, Mattie, 25, 155, 158–59

Whitman, Mannahatta, 25, 148

Whitman, Nancy, 25, 26, 155

Whitman, Walt, 4, 10

compassion, 85–86, 172, 207–8

crisis of faith, 117–18

democratic experience, 12–13

finances of, 26–27, 106, 111

friends of. See Friendships

health of, 119–20, 142, 183–84, 240

hospital visits of. See Hospital visits

isolation of, 19–20, 39–40

legacy of, 234–37

physical description of, 30–31

poetic debut of, 10

racial views of, 78–82, 119, 139–40, 198

romantic attachments of, 28–29, 210–11, 213–15

sexuality of, 27–30, 35–36, 101, 154

women and, 21–22, 35–36, 165–66

work. See Employment

Widner, William, 162

Wilber, Oscar, 116–17

Wilcox, Cadmus Marcellus, 189

Wilderness campaign, 176, 177, 178

Wilkins, Edward G. P., 21, 22, 24

Wilkins, Ned, 24

Wilson, Benton H., 236

Winter, William, 22–23

Witness, wartime, Whitman as, 4

Women, Whitman’s relations with, 21–22, 35–36, 165–66

Wood, Fernando, 10

Working class, in hospitals, 32–34

Wormley, John, 208

‘‘The Wound-Dresser’’ (poem), 121–23

Wounds, Civil War, 94–95

Wright, Horatio, 187