The contributions of more than six hundred Catholic nuns to the care of Confederate and Union sick and wounded made a critical impact upon nineteenth-century America. Not only did thousands of soldiers directly benefit from the religious sisters’ ministrations, but both professional nursing and Catholics’ acceptance within mainstream society advanced significantly as a result. In To Bind Up theWounds, Sister Mary Denis Maher writes this heretofore neglected Civil War chapter in rich detail, telling a riveting story shot with suspicion and prejudice, suffering and self-sacrifice, ingenuity, beneficence, and gratitude.
Sister Mary Denis Maher is chair of the English department at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. She is a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and also serves as archivist for the community.
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