Introduction
When the first cannonball was fired at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, propelling the North and South into war, the Sisters of Mercy had been serving the people of Pittsburgh for almost 18 years. Emigrating from Ireland and founding a new community on December 21, 1843, the Mercy Sisters were familiar with extending mercy to the less fortunate in their midst. Invited to the United States by Catholic Bishop Michael O’Connor, the 7 sisters who crossed the Atlantic Ocean were resolute in their promise to “bring relief to the poor, offer education and religious instruction to children and adults and care for the sick and dying.”[1] After a few years of making home visits to the infirmed, the Sister-Nurses opened the first Mercy hospital in 1847 in response to a smallpox outbreak. Thanks to their respected medical experience, it was not surprising that the Pittsburgh sisters’ nursing assistance would soon be sought after once the Civil War began.
By establishing a community in Western Pennsylvania, the stage was also set for the Sisters of Mercy to be sent to other Mid-Atlantic cities in the 1840s. At the “personal appeal” of Bishop Hughes, 7 more Irish nuns sailed westward and arrived in New York City on May 16, 1845. Like their Pennsylvania sisters, the New York community was also invested in helping the immigrants, the imprisoned, and the ill through daily social work calls. In fact, the convent records of 1853 indicate that “700 sick persons had been visited, consoled, and instructed, many of whom received material aid and relief” by the Sisters of Mercy. Driven by their mission of mercy, the women religious had “immediately” volunteered to travel after news of the war reached them; however, they were advised to “wait until their services were needed.”[2]
Prior to the declaration of war, though, as the Mercy Sisters tended to the poor, sick, and uneducated, they attracted the attention of like-minded women who wished to join their communities. One of these young ladies, Fannie Browne, eventually known as Mother Mary de Sales Browne, entered the Pittsburgh convent in 1845 and “received thorough training” at Mercy Hospital.[3] As a surgical nurse, Sister de Sales was requested to take charge of Washington Infirmary in 1852 and, with four other Pittsburgh nurses, continued to hone her skills.[4] Following the formation of the Mercy congregation in Baltimore, she led a group of 6 sisters to Vicksburg, MS, where they founded a school in 1860. According to the mapped photograph below, Sr. Mary was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery but is best remembered for her decision to not flee Vicksburg and, instead, minister to the wounded Confederate soldiers.
[1] "Mercy Then and Now.” Sisters of Mercy. 19 Sep. 2018, https://www.sistersofmercy.org/about-us/news-and-events/the-sisters-of-mercy-celebrate-175-years-in-the-united-states/. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.
[2] Herron, Mary Eulalia. “Work of the Sisters of Mercy in the United States, Diocese of New York, 1846-1921.” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 33, no. 3, 1922, pp. 216–237. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44208579. Accessed 23 Mar. 2021, p. 222.
[3] Oakes, Mary P. Angels of Mercy: An Eyewitness Account of Civil War and Yellow Fever by a Sister of Mercy: a Primary Source by Sister Ignatius Sumner. Baltimore, Md: Cathedral Foundation Press, 1998, p. 50.
[4] Eulalia, Mary. “The Work of the Sisters of Mercy in the United States Pittsburg: 1843 to 1921.” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 32, no. 3, 1921, pp. 151–176. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44208556. Accessed 26 Mar. 2021, p. 164.