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TWELVE THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LA YMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA FEBRUARY 28, 1948 Union and Confederate Leaders Praised Work of Catholic Chaplains and Nuns During the War Between the States <N. C. W. S. News Service) NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Letters of praise for Catholic priests and Sisters written by the great Union and Confederate generals of the Civil War have been released for the first time by the Rev. Thomas T. MacAvoy, C. S. C., head of the history department of the Univers ity of Notre Dame. The letters are a part of an unpublished manuscript written by Maj. David Power Conyngham, New York Herald correspondent during the Civil War and author of a history of the Irish Brigade. The Manuscript entitled “Soldiers of the Cross,” tells the story of the Catholic chaplains and nuns who served in humanitarian roles for both sides during the conflict. Major Conyngham, after comple tion of the manuscript, asked the various generals of both sides to express their opinions of the ser vice rendered by the Catholic priests and nuns during the war. “Catholic chaplains . . . were kind and attentive to the temporal and spiritual wants of the men of their brigades, and were assiduous in their attentions in encouraging the well and comforting the sick of the army,” wrote Gen. Robert E. Lee. “There were three regular chap lains attached to General Stofford and Heyz’ Louisiana Brigades," General Lee continued, “namely, Father Sheeran, Father Hubert and Father Mulders. Other Catho lic clergymen occasionally visited the army, conspicious among whom the Bishop McGill of Rich mond.” General Lee had praise for the nuns. too. “The Catholic Sisters in Richmond devoted themselves to the sick and wounded in the hospitals,” he wrote, “and I was told were unremitting in their at tentions to the soldiers.” On the Union side, Gen. George B. McClellan wrote: “My attention was very frequently drawn to their disinterested and most valuable efforts in the cause of hu manity. ...” Another famous Union military leader, Maj. General A. E. Burn side wrote: “. . . The Catholic clergy were eminently distinguished for the self sacrificing manner - in which they performed their duties. They spared no pains and shrank from no exposure or hardships in their labor for the relief of the sick and wounded. Wherever there is sympathy for suffering there will be gratitude for the self-sacrific ing labors of these devoted men. Of the Sisters of Mercy there is little need for me to speak. Their good deeds are written in the grateful hearts of thousands of our soldiers, to whom they were ministering angels.” Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Hooker, Union leader, said he had had little contact with the work of the Sisters but praised the chaplains saying: . “ . . . I always found the Catho lic chaplain faithful, attentive and zealous in the discharge of his duties. His mission seemed to be to devote himself solely to the spiritual and temporal wants of the soldiers. In camp, by his pious example and religious teach ings, he greatly softened and Christianized the tone and actions of the men; while, in the field, he was ever found regardless of danger, where his duty called him and where the wounded or the dying soldiers needed his mini stration.” General W. S. Rosecrans, an other Union leader, who was a convert to the Catholic Church, wrote: “I always expected from the Catholic chaplains and Sisters works stamped with the impress of that Divine Charity which has God for its author and final end and do not remember an instance in which I felt disappointed. “If you wish to compare the fruits of the various kinds of charity, displayed during the late war, I think considerable contrast may be found between those which spring from natural and those which spring from super natural motives.” General Rosecrans already had become a Catholic when he wrote this letter. Maj. Gen. W. S. Hancock, also of the Union forces, wrote that Catholic priests and nuns “had the respect of the troops, without re gard to their religious views, from the general highest in command to the drummer boy.” Gen. P. G. Beauregard, a Con federate leader, wrote: “The services of both chaplains and Sisters were most devoted and invaluable during the most trying periods of the war; their efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded and sick, Federal as well as Confederates, were in defatigable and unremitting. Even Protestant commanding officers were always happy to avail them selves of the self-sacrificing, un tiring and generous assistance of the Sisters who were so kind and devoted to the poor, helpless, sick and wounded soldiers placed under their care, that these heroes of many hard fought bat tles, looked upon them as their own sisters or mothers. Protestant chaplains in the Civil War thought highly of their Catholic fellow-chaplains. Chap lain George Pepper, a Methodist minister in the Union Army, wrote: “I was well and intimately ac quainted with many Catholic chap lains and truly express the senti ments of thousands of my own faith, when I say that a more self less, more devoted, and more courageous set of men never served in any army. In battle they splendidly defied the bullets <>f the enemy, and were always present in the front among the bravest of the brave. I have beau tiful memories of the Rev. Fathers Tracy, Cooney, and also of the brave Chaplain Brady of the 15th Michigan. The last time I saw these gifted and gallant priests was at the battles of Atlanta, with the chivalrous Stanley, where they displayed rare heroism and pa triotism.” General Stanley, mentioned by Chaplain Pepper, became a con- Pastor in Rome FATHER GRADY The Rev. James H. Grady, Pas tor. of St. Mary’s Church, Rome, Georgia. Pupils at School in Rome Being Served Breakfast During Lent ROME, Ga.—In order that chil dren attending St. Mary’s School might more conveniently attend Mass and receive Holy Communion daily during Lent, breakfast is be ing served the children at the school through the cooperation of members of St. Mary’s Parish Council of Catholic Women and members of the Knights of Colum bus in Rome. Present enrollment of one hun dred and six pupils at St. Mary’s School is exactly double the num ber that were enrolled at the school when it opened two years ago. Sister Martin Marie, O. P., prin cipal of the school, also teaches the seventh and eighth grades. Other members of the school faculty are Sister Mary Annette O. P., who teaches the first and second grades; Sister Mary Faith, O. P., who teaches the third and fourth grades, and Sister Mary Angelitn, O. P., who teaches the fifth and sixth grades. American Catholics Must Continue Sending Aid to Rumanian People Declares Bishop Gerald O’Hara NEW YORK.—(NO—Rumania is still in critical need of food, clothing and medicines, accord ing to an American Bishop who is acting as Regent of the Papal Nunciature in Bucharest and has helped to administer aid sent to Rumanians by American Catho lics. “Rumania, like most of Europe, is still plagued by want and it is to be fervently hoped that the ino- mense good done by Catholics of the United States in the past will be continued in the future until the crisis will have passed,” wrote Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara of Savan- nah-Atlanta in a letter received here by War Relief Services-Na- tional Catholic Welfare Confer ence. Bishop O’Hara described how a two-year drought in Rumania had occasioned many deaths from hun ger and had reduced thousands of people to skin and bones. He said that War Relief Services, the American Catholic agency, joined hands with the American, Swiss, Swedish, Danish and Irish Red Cross units in supplying aid at a most urgent time. This was in March, 1947. “The first efforts of W. R. S.," he related, “were directed to wards the Moldavian region of Ru mania, which was the section where conditions were particular ly pitiful. W. R. S. agents, hasti ly organized, opened food and clothing distribution centers. Through consignments of food and clcthing sent directly by Our Holy Father from Vatican City and from the Catholics of the United States through W. R. S., milk cen ters for . children were opened in many places.” “Other canteens were opened wherever possible and wherever the needs were greatest. Food, clothing and medicine were dis tributed through the Bishops and other Catholic authorities of the country. In this distribution, the wishes of the donors were care fully observed—that is to say, their bounty was dispensed with out respect to religious belief, race or political affiliation,” Bish op O’Hara continued. Medicines of all kinds are “ex ceedingly scarce” in Rumania, the Bishop reported, and added: “In the hospitals in which Catholic Sisters are engaged in their work of mercy, such essential things as sheets and pillow cases, bed cloth ing of various kinds, not to speak of toweling material, soap, etc., are greatly needed.” He said that the clergy has a pressing need of black cloth from which to make cassocks and hab its, and observed that in his visits to Rumanian seminaries he found the students wearing all kinds of clothing in lieu of cassocks. He also wrote of a shortage in philoso phical and theological books es sential for seminary studies. “From all sides,” he concluded, “Rumanians, Catholics and non- Catholics alike, appeal to us for help of every kind but especially for food and clothing. Our Amer ican Catholics have given them new hope and new courage . * A COMMITTEE to restore Der- rynane, the home of Daniel O' Connell, great Irish statesman who secured the passage of the Catholic Relief Act in 1829 is organizing an Ireland-wide drive for funds. Holy Cross Missioner Conducts Novena at Savannah Cathedral W. S. GENTRY FURNITURE CO. Incorporated “It’s a Fact, You Can Do Better at Gentry’s” FLOOR COVERINGS • WINDOW SHADES RADIOS • RANGES • HEATERS Telephone 5302 Rome, Ga. 420 Broad St. (Special to The Bulletin) SAVANNAH, Ga.—The Very Rev. Michael A. Foran, C. S. C, 1 Superior of the Holy Cross Mis sion Band, with headquarters at the University of Notre Dame,! conducted the usual Solemn No vena to Our Lady of Lourdes at the Cathedral of St. John the Bap- tist, from February 1 to 9. vert to the Church during the war years. The book gives a full account of the lives of the chaplains and the nuns. One of the most interesting chapters includes a Catholic chap lain’s account of the death of Stonewall Jackson, a distinct ver sion never before told in the full details of this incident. The book includes many letters of other Catholic chaplains, recounting their experiences in the field. STUDENT NURSES IN SAVANNAH RECEIVE CAPS—Sixteen student nurses at St. Joseph’s Hos pital School of Nursing were capped at exercises held in. the hospital chapel, at which the principal address was delivered by Father James Conlin, hospital chaplain. Pictured with the student nurses is Sister Mary Joseph, R. S. M., Director of Nurses at St. Joseph’s. The nurses in the class are Misses Ann Theresa Byrnes, Savannah Beach; Mary Madeline Bunger, Savannah; Lois Vinnie Coop er, Savannah; Patricia Ann Cox, Savannah Beach; Lois Mary Dills, Canton: Mary Jean Gardner, Savannah; Norma Phyllis Hall, Savannah; Juanita Ann Hickox, Savannah; Carol Marie Lamb, Sa vannah: Marguerite Theresa Lyons, Augusta; Dorothy Isabella Mauney, Leesburg, Fla.; Genevieve Hay Pinckney, Pritchardville, S. C.; Gloria Theresa Goodwin, Savannah; Eloise Mildred Mitchem, Ludowici; Joan Susan Speed, Townsend; Glenise Alma Woods, Dorchester.—(Photo by Southern Photo Service—Courtesy of The Savannah Evening Press) Compliments S. H. KRESS & CO. ROME, GEORGIA Best Wishes FROM SCHWARTZ’S ROME’S POPULAR PRICE SHOPPING CENTER TELEPHONE 3341 241-3 BROAD ST. ROME, GA. DRINK IN BOTTLES Rome Coca-Cola Bottling Company 106-108 FIFTH AVENUE ROME, GA.