Summary Of Reminiscences Of My Life In Camp, By Susie King Taylor

Stories from the Civil War often are told from a man's perspective and rarely from a woman's point of view. In 1902, Susie King Taylor wrote her memoir, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33d United States Colored Troops Late 1st S. C. Volunteers, to explain her role in the war as a wife to a soldier, the regiments' laundress, a teacher, and a nurse. Taylor is famously known for being the first black nurse during the Civil War, but her memoir gives historians a closer look at her life and multiple roles during the war. In 1848, Taylor was born into slavery in Savannah, Georgia. At age fourteen, she escaped enslavement with her uncle, and they fled to St. Catherine's Island. Taylor and her family landed under Union protection, which is

Simon's Island, 1862," Taylor elaborates on the numerous positions she possessed during the war. One crucial position that Taylor had was a laundress; she washed and sewed the soldiers' uniforms. Taylor emphasizes that she was not the only woman to hold this job and that other women also worked as laundresses. However, most women had no choice but to work because African American soldiers were not paid at the beginning of the war. Taylor explains that the soldiers' wives "were obliged to support themselves and children by washing for the officers of the gunboats and the soldiers, and making cakes and pies which they sold to the boys in camp." Taylor's shared experiences relate to slavery because although everyone fought in the same war, African Americans were not paid the same as white soldiers. It shows the inequality in pay and how although African American soldiers were free, they still were not equals. The government offered African American soldiers half the income of white soldiers, but black soldiers refused. Taylor explains that they wanted full pay or nothing. In the end, African American soldiers received their full

She talks about one soldier in particular, Edward Davis, who had a severe case of the illness. Davis was isolated in a tent, and even though the doctor and camp steward were the only ones allowed to see Davis, Taylor still visited him every night to nurse him. Taylor expresses, "The last thing at night, I always went in to see that he was comfortable, but in spite of the good care and attention he received, he succumbed to disease." This relates to the content from class because it talks about a soldier dying from disease. Most soldiers died from diseases rather than being killed in the war. This relates to slavery because it shows Taylor nursing an African American soldier. Once again, even though black soldiers are free, they are still not treated as equals. The soldiers in the 33rd regiment were not allowed to get help at the same hospitals as white soldiers. Taylor's role as a nurse is essential because black soldiers needed black nurses to care for them when wounded since they were segregated from white soldiers and