Elizabeth Lucas (born May 1835) was a Union (American Civil War) nurse during the American Civil War.[1]

Elizabeth Lucas
An older white woman wearing a dark high-collared dress.
Elizabeth Lucas, from an 1897 publication
BornMay 1835
Darlington, Ontario
NationalityCanadian
OccupationNurse

Early life edit

Lucas was born in Darlington, Ontario in May 1835.[2] Both her maternal and paternal grandparents were settlers in Connecticut and served in the American Revolution under George Washington, allegedly crossing the Delaware with him.[2]

On September 28, 1852, Lucas married William Lucas. The couple later moved to Michigan.[2]

Civil War Service edit

Of the pair, Lucas's husband enlisted first on January 5, 1864, in the 4th Michigan Cavalry. In the fall of that year, when the regiment was in Louisville for recruitment, William Lucas fell ill and Elizabeth Lucas went to care for him.[3][2] When the regiment left for the front, Lucas followed. In January of the following year, Lucas served at the Brown Hospital in the linen room.[2][3] When her husband later broke his leg, she had him transferred to Brown Hospital so she could monitor his care. Lucas's daughter also worked with her, but as she was too young to be a nurse, she served exclusively in the linen room.[2]

After the war edit

Brown Hospital eventually was broken up, and Lucas was discharged in August 1865 after three years of service and moved to a farm in Swan Creek, Michigan.[2] She received a pension for her service.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Michigan women in the Civil War. Lansing: Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission. 1963. p. 18.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Holland, Mary Gardner (1897). Our Army Nurses : Interesting sketches and photographs of over one hundred of the noble women who served in hospitals and on battlefields during our late Civil War, 1861-65. Boston : Lounsbery, Nichols & Worth. pp. 350–352.
  3. ^ a b Hall, Richard (2006). Women of the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 247. ISBN 9780700614370.
  4. ^ House, United States. Congress (1918). "Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States". 65 (2): 799. Retrieved 4 December 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)