Carrie Eliza Cutter (1842–1862) was an American nurse. She was the daughter of surgeon Calvin Cutter. An 1861 graduate of

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United State ...

, she helped her father in the

21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry The 21st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized in Worcester, Massachusetts and mustered into service on August 23, 1861. After garrison duty at the United Stat ...

as a nurse. She was referred to as "the

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...

of the 21st." During

Burnside's North Carolina Expedition Burnside's North Carolina Expedition (also known as the Burnside Expedition) was a series of engagements fought along the North Carolina Coast between February and June 1862. The expedition was part of Winfield Scott's overall Anaconda Plan, which ...

in 1862, she worked in the field with the regiment. Cutter served as a translator for German soldiers who did not speak English. She was engaged to Private Charles E. Colledge from the 25th Massachusetts. She traveled to Newbern Harbor after learning that he had contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

. He died and she was infected, dying on March 24, 1862. A memorial at the Elm Street Cemetery references her as the first female death of the Civil War. Congress granted special permission for Cutter to be interred with full military honors at

New Bern National Cemetery New Bern National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of New Bern, in Craven County, North Carolina. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, had 7, ...

in Section 10, grave 1698 next to her betrothed, Charles Colledge. She was the first woman to be buried in the cemetery. Later,

Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...

wrote a poem in Cutter's memory.

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Further reading