Invalid's Camp Hospital-Northern avenue, Baltimore,

Maryland.

Fortifications around Baltimore-Maryland.

Magnolia-Harford Co., Maryland.

Harper's Ferry-Virginia.

Sandy Hook-Maryland.

Point of Rocks-Frederick Co., Maryland.
Monocacy Junction-Frederick Co., Maryland.

Martinsburg-Virginia.
Winchester-Virginia.

Shenandoah Valley-Virginia.
Near Petersburg-Virginia.
Bermuda Hundred-Virginia.
Fortress Monroe-Virginia.
City Point-Virginia.
Mount Savage, Maryland.
Cumberland, Maryland.
Clareyville, Maryland.

Hand of God Mysteriously Interposed.

The lot of our labor has been one of anxious and earnest solicitude. It has been wrought amid varying circumstances and conditions. We have been obliged to work, on the one hand, against the diversified views of army officials, and on the other, through the conflicting sentiments occasioned by denominational divisions. It was not, therefore, to be supposed that we would be able to steer our bark over waters ruffled by these antagonizing agencies without interruption. But the hand that led us has been mysteriously interposed. The opposing elements have been harmonized. The antagonizing agencies have been reconciled. The troubled waters have been calmed. We have been enabled to work the devious passage with comparatively but little hindrance. The warring elements of political and sectional dissention have appeared upon the horizon. They were stormily portentous, but they failed to do us harm. The threatening instrumentalities that foreshadowed evil in the prospect have been reduced as we approached them, and instead of arresting us in our course, or resulting in serious

damage, they have been converted by an unseen power into potent auxiliaries, and greatly assisted us in facilitating our progress. It is true that a momentary pause has sometimes been occasioned by the impending providence, and we have waited to consider the consequences of our action, and to determine upon the propriety of our procedure, but the arrest has been temporary, and the discouragement slight. The difficulties have been removed, we have hardly known how, and our progress has been rendered the more certain, and our labor the more effective by the interruption. When the storms of nature pass over, the sky seems brighter and more beautiful than it was before they appeared. The removal of the dark clouds reveals a brilliancy unenjoyed before their gloomy forms came lowering over the heavens. So with our transient troubles; they were momentarily fearful and discouraging. But when they were passed, the path in the prospective has seemed to be the more pleasant and inviting.

Friendly Association with Army Officials.

When it is considered that our service is voluntary and admissible only on sufferance, while that of the army and navy is compulsory, and regulated by stringent laws, the dissimilar natures of the departments indicate the probability that misunderstandings may occur, and suggest the propriety of every precautionary measure that may be used in order to prevent them. That such precautionary measures. have been used we have abundant evidence in the correspondence of the Committee. In the few cases of interruptions that have occurred through the misunderstandings and misapprehensions of army officers and agents in relation to supposed interferences with established regulations, after proper explanations, the parties have expressed, not only their satisfaction in the adjustment of the difficulty, but their gratification that an auxiliary of relief as effective as the Christian Commission had been instituted. The temporary opponents of the Commission have thus been changed into fast friends and co-laborers, so that we have lost but little and gained considerably in the issue.

Kindness and Courtesy of Officers.

The officers generally of the Army and Navy with whom we have had to hold intercourse have been kind and courteous to us, and they have afforded us every needed facility for the prosecution of our work. Through their co-operation and assistance many opportunities of doing good have been opened before us and much efficient help afforded in occupying them. It is but justice to those gentlemen that we should acknowledge with thankfulness their uniform kindness, and the courteous and gentlemanly manner in which they have wrought with us in the performance of our labors. To many of the Surgeons in charge of hospitals and Chaplains we are greatly indebted for the assistance they have given us, for the kind approval of our plans, and their generous acknowledgement of the services rendered their respective departments in the labors performed in behalf of our Commission. In making this acknowledgment it is gratifying to state that we include officers of the Army and Navy from the highest in command, through all the departments with which we have been in association. By the orders of commanding Generals our delegates and agents have been protected and assisted in the discharge of their duties. In obedience to their instructions, officers of every grade have willingly and cheerfully co-operated with us in the performance of our Christian work.

Respect of all the Generals of the Army of the Potomac.

It is with a high degree of satisfaction that we refer to the fact that all the Generals that have been at the head of the Army of the Potomac have treated our Commission with the most marked respect and kindest consideration. As the actual witnesses of our work, they have been convinced of its necessity, and it has seemed to afford them pleasure to act as co-laborers with us in its performance. Passes and letters have been received from them whenever they were desired, and it was proper to give them, by means of which our delegates and agents have been afforded facilities which could not otherwise be obtained. Their efficiency has been greatly enhanced by this assistance.

Faithfulness of Delegates.

It is proper in this connection to add that in no case have we heard that an accredited delegate or agent has, in the least degree, abused the confidence reposed in him, either by the Commanding General or any other official of the Army or Navy. But very few have, in any way, given cause for regret in their appointment. Faithfully and efficiently, and in accordance with general and special orders, with but two or three exceptions, all have wrought under the badge of the Commission. Testimonials of this fact have reached us from officers of various grades, who have strongly commended our work and urged the importance and necessity of its continuance. Mention has been made, both officially and otherwise, of the unobtrusive manner, as well as of the faithfulness and self-devotion in which the badge of our Commission has been used. Several instances are upon record in which the workmen of the Commission have received especial commendation for the timely interposed and important service they have rendered.

Emergencies from Various Causes.

Emergencies have arisen from partial invasions and raids and more extended battles when it has become necessary that we should hasten with all possible dispatch in the furnishment of the men and means by which the disabled were to be relieved, and proper ministrations afforded to the dying and the dead. With stores on hand, and delegates in waiting, we have always been prompt in the application of the needed aid. In no instance have we been taken by surprise, but with our facilities immediately at hand we have entered at once upon the work of relief. Our means, though abundant, have not always been sufficient for the demand. In the needed supply, after heavy battles, we have sometimes fallen short, both in delegates and stores, but to the extent of our ability our resources have been used. We have employed them to the very best advantage, in the discharge of the obligations we have assumed, under our Christian title to our disabled defenders, and in the relief of the sufferings, even of those of our enemies, who have fallen wounded into our hands.

Always Prepared for the Emergency.

In the case of each emergency as it arose, whether from the raid, the skirmish, or the sanguinary battle, we have had numbers of excellent delegates and agents in attendance, who, at a moment's warning, have obeyed the call of the roll, and equipping themselves at our office, they have started in eager haste, impelled by earnest hearts to the scenes of their labor. While there engaged in the performance of their painfully oppressive duties, frequent telegrams and letters have informed us of the faithful manner in which they have discharged their obligations, self-imposed and eagerly sought, to their suffering fellow-men. Assistance has been rendered by them to Surgeons and Chaplains. In many instances, after the battle, but for the aid thus afforded, hundreds and thousands of the sufferers of the battlefields must have perished from the effects of their wounds. The relief extended in this way has been very considerable.

Various Services of Delegates.

Not only have our delegates assisted Surgeons and other officers and agents of the army in bearing the wounded from the field of battle and placing them as comfortably as possible in hospitals, and attending them while there, but they have rendered a large amount of aid in the burial of the dead, and relieving the fresh battle-field from the frightful aspect presented in the indiscriminate mass of mangled forms that were stretched upon it. It is a work worthy of humanity, but severely oppressive in its execution, to hunt out the living among the dead of the battle-field in order to bear them to places of security and comfort. The first impulse of a badly wounded man is to crawl away from the dead bodies that surround him, and find, if possible, a place of relief; a spot perhaps where he may die in loneliness, and away from the scenes of horror that he has witnessed and experienced in the shrieks and groans of the mortally wounded and dying. Such have been found in frequent instances. Some have died, leaving evidences of great agony upon their persons; others were dying and craving but a drop of water to moisten a swollen and fevered tongue.