The Red Rover began her military career with the rebels. The 786-ton side-wheel steamer was built in 1859 at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and was being used by the Confederates as a floating barracks for troops at Island Number 10 on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River. She was holed by Union mortar fire during the bombardment of the island and abandoned. There she was captured by the Union gunboat, Mound City, on 7 April 1862 and was used first by the Army and then the Navy to care for and transport sick and wounded soldiers and sailors on the western rivers. In December 1862, Red Rover was purchased by the U. States Navy and converted to a hospital ship with all the latest modern accommodations: an operating room, an elevator, a convalescent ward, separate kitchen facilities for the patients, nine water closets, and an icebox with a maximum storage capacity for 300 tons of ice. The value of such large quantities of ice for convalescing patients in this pernicious and fever-inducing climate, particularly in summer on the lower Mississippi, was inestimable. The quality of medical care that patients received on board the Red Rover is said to have far exceeded the standards of sanitation and hygiene of many of the land-based hospitals treating sick and wounded military personnel.
Serving on board the Red Rover was Sister M. Veronica, who, along with her three fellow nuns, became the first females to serve on a naval vessel. Sister Veronica is from the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She was transferred to the vessel from the Army hospital at Mound City, Illinois. She and Sister Adela from her Order dutifully remained with the ship for the entire duration of the Red Rover's service. Sister Veronica well remembers the ship following the movements of the Mississippi squadron in operations up and down the river from Cairo to New Orleans. Evacuating and succoring the wounded after such major battles as the siege of Vicksburg, the attacks on Fort Pillow and Fort Hindman, and the Red River Expedition, often exposed the Red Rover to enemy fire despite her peaceful mission. Following the Fort Hindman engagement, as the ship waited to receive the wounded at the mouth of the White River, for example, Sister Veronica vividly recalled the Red Rover sustaining two direct hits, both shots crashing through the hospital ward though, providentially, causing no casualties. On another occasion, the Red Rover caught fire while steaming just off Helena, Arkansas. With the assistance of the gunboat Benton, the flames were extinguished, and Red Rover was able to continue her work not being seriously damaged. Under every adverse condition, Sister Veronica and the other nurses, doctors, and attendants continued to treat the wounded in a calm and dispassionate manner, despite the near misses.
All in all, the hospital ship, USS Red Rover, has treated nearly 3,000 patients since the ship's commissioning. While many of the illnesses suffered by the seamen were of the ordinary variety, usually attributed to the heat and malarial climate of the deep South, Sister Veronica also remembers treating some of the worst cases. Typically, following an engagement with the enemy, the terrible suffering of sailors horribly mangled by shot and shell, or scalded by escaping steam from a boiler explosion, has been indelibly seared in her memory. She also points out that sick and wounded Confederate prisoners received the same compassionate treatment on board the Red Rover as did the Union men.
Sister Veronica looks with resigned sadness to the upcoming decommissioning of the Red Rover, which is scheduled for 17 November 1865. Currently she says there are only eleven patients still on board, and those few remaining will soon be transferred off the vessel.
Sister Veronica and all the nuns of the Order hope and pray that people in this reunited Country will look upon their service and recognize that charity for one's fellow man should not be restricted by the color of his uniform; nor should compassion fail to transcend ancient animosities existing between the Catholic and Protestant faiths. Indeed, even as Christ hath said:
"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
"Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (St. Matthew 25:37 - 40)
-H. J. W.
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| Sister Veronica (portrayed by Judi Buncher) at first declines to be interviewed by the brash, young reporter. |
Sister Veronica displays a painting of the Red Rover.
[Both photos courtesy of William Myers]
[Editor's note: For more information, see The Scofield Reference Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.; 1945.]
