Mary Brady
Mary Brady(1821-1864)[1] was an Irish-born civil war nurse who co-founded of the Ladies Association for Soldiers Relief, of which she was later elected its president which would help support soldiers mainly in a medical sense.
Early/personal life
There is little information about Mary's early life before moving to the United States but she was born in Ireland in 1821. There is also little information on her upbringing, but what we know is that Mary married an English attorney, Edward Brady in Manchester England in 1846 and they had five children. Brady and her husband immigrated to the United States in 1849 where her husband became a prominent attorney in Philadelphia. Brady's story doesn't start until the civil war when she had no brothers, sons, or even her husband fighting in the war so she's a rare case of a woman going into war simply for her at this time.[2]
Women in the civil war
The women during the civil war usually would be nurses and they followed their husbands or another relation; most of these nurses had little to no medical experiences. Women would also help provide these soldiers with uniforms, blankets, etc. This was the first time in America's history that women played a significant role in the war and some women even tried to work their way into the frontlines of battle to help support soldiers who needed the most help. There were up to 20,000 women working for the union side alone.[2]
Legacy
Mary Brady didn't have any reason to fight in this since she was an immigrant] and had noone in this war. She and a couple of her friends saw some 3,000 sick and wounded soldiers and decided to see what they could do to help. By doing this she became a co-founder of the Ladies Association for Soldiers Relief. In the beginning, she was confined to a hospital but later on she would travel to the front lines in a 4-mule wagon and would stop where there were red flags which meant there was a soldier in need. She also visited about 40 hospitals and is said to have been in contact with up to 30,000 patients in 2 years. She didn't forget about her family because she would frequently go back and forth from the front lines to see visit them. This took a huge toll on her body. After her fifth trip to the front lines she arrived home feeling weak. She was later diagnosed with ironically a weak heart and even with this she would try to help out local hospitals when she felt able to. Mary died a couple of months after this diagnosis and her legacy is so great that hundreds of soldiers she helped attended her funeral while several more sent tributes. Mary was very well appreciated and very well respected for what she did.[2]
Further Readings
Moore, Frank. Women of the war: their heroism and self-sacrifice
References
- ^ Gannon, Joe (3 May 2016). "Mary Brady: Angel of the Battlefield". The Wildgeese. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c "Brady, Mary (1821–1864)". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 26 March 2022.