BOSTON, August, 1863.
The dating of the stories, the city of publication and—not mentioned here—the fact that these sketches first appeared in The Commonwealth newspaper of Boston all point to the real underlying impetus of the tales told within. The very first sketch was actually published May 22, 1863 and there is significance in the date. Pres. Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation just a scant few months before as the new year dawned. Louisa May Alcott was a fiery proponent of the abolition of slavery and her fictionalized heroine, Tribulation Periwinkle, expresses much the same viewpoint. The plight of the negro is as essential to the text as the proffering of medical aid by the nurses. It is all one and the same in Alcott’s grander scheme of life, liberty and the pursuit of equality.
I have a confused recollection of spending the afternoon in pervading the house like an executive whirlwind, with my family swarming after me, all working, talking, prophesying and lamenting, while I packed my "go-abroady" possessions, tumbled the rest into two big boxes, danced on the lids till they shut, and gave them in charge, with the direction.
The narrative begins in earnest with Tribulation Periwinkle admitting she wants “something to do.” In response to this pronouncement, familial advice is forthcoming: write a book, teach a class, become an actress and even—horrors!—take a husband. (Alcott would pass away in 1888 having never married.) Miss Periwinkle decides instead to become a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. It is purely by accident, doubtlessly, that it would eventually lead to having written a book. The elements of Hospital Sketches were originally—as previously mentioned—published in serial form with the sketches collected into book form published later in 1863. Little Women was still five years in the future.
"Every breath he draws is like a stab; for the ball pierced the left lung, broke a rib, and did no end of damage here and there; so the poor lad can find neither forgetfulness nor ease, because he must lie on his wounded back or suffocate. It will be a hard struggle, and a long one, for he possesses great vitality; but even his temperate life can't save him; I wish it could."
In addition to Dr. P, the sketches also relate stories about a Dr. H and a Dr. Z as well as Chief Surgeon Dr. O. Miss Periwinkle also speaks of a Mrs. B and a Mrs. C. On the other hand, there is a Dr. Watts and a patient named John. It is John of whom Dr. P speaks in this instance, providing a harsh glare of reality on the daily tribulations faced by Periwinkle, nurses and physicians. The truth is unavoidable and inevitable for John and his agony touches the author deeply. In fact, at his passing, she offers a touching testament while leaving him behind in the “Government Lot” which becomes his final resting place, asserting that she was “glad to have known so genuine a man, and carrying with me an enduring memory of the brave Virginia blacksmith.”
