Baroness Mary Phinney von Olnhausen (1818–1902) was an American

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, and

diarist A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...

. Historians look to the book extracted from her diaries '' Adventures of an Army Nurse in Two Wars'', edited by her nephew

James Phinney Munroe James Phinney Munroe (June 3, 1862 – February 2, 1929) was an American author, businessman, professor and genealogist of the Clan Munro. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated in 1882, although remained active in th ...

, to understand the medical techniques of the Civil War.

Early life and family

She was born in Lexington,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

to Elias, a lawyer, and Catherine Bartlett Phinney, the daughter of a doctor. Phinney was well educated at several academies. When her father died in 1849 at age 69, the farm was sold and she "sought employment as a designer of print goods" at the Manchester Mills company in

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Gustav Adolph von Olnhausen (born in 1809) left

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

after the

German revolutions of 1848–1849 The German revolutions of 1848–1849 (), the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution (), were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated p ...

and also due to financial troubles, which led him to sell of his property. In the 1850s he was making a meager living as a chemist in a dye-house of the Manchester

Mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

s, where he met Mary Phinney. They married on May 1, 1858 (she was 40 years old at the time) and he died two years later in 1860.

American Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, von Olnhausen served as a nurse at the

Mansion House Hospital Mansion House Hospital was a Union hospital during the American Civil War, formed after Union occupation of Alexandria, Virginia and the seizure of the Mansion House Hotel. History Mansion House Hotel The hospital was built in the old Mansion Hous ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

and Mansfield General Hospital at Morehead, North Carolina. After the war, she was discharged in August 1865, returning home to help raise her brother's children in Illinois.

Franco-Prussian War

With the outbreak of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in 1870, she volunteered to serve as a nurse with the Prussian Army and was accepted on the basis of being the Baroness von Olnhausen. She served in field hospitals in Meung and Vendome.

Awards

Phinney was awarded a

Cross of Merit for Women and Girls The Cross of Merit for Women and Girls, or literally Women and Virgins (''Ehrenkreuz für Frauen und Jungfrauen''), was created on 22 March 1871 by Kaiser Wilhelm I, German Emperor, in his capacity as King of Prussia. The award was presented only ...

in 1873 by

Kaiser Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany ...

, which is similar to an

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

. Reprint of ''Das Verdienst-Kreuz für Frauen und Jungfrauen'', hrsg. v. L. Schneider, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Berlin 187
pdf
/ref> She died in Boston in April, 1902.

In popular culture

The book Adventures of an Army Nurse in Two Wars was edited in 1903 by

and published in 1904, after Mary had died. It is based on the diaries and correspondence of Mary Phinney von Olnhausen. The first part of the book talks about the lives of the people that worked in the

in Alexandria as well as her work at the Mansfield General Hospital at Morehead, North Carolina. The second part discusses her work as a nurse again in 1870 in the

. In 2015, the '' PBS Masterpiece Theatre'' produced ''

Mercy Street "Mercy Street" is a song written by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth studio album '' So'' (1986). Development on the song began a few years prior to the recording sessions for ''So'' and began with some percussion tracks re ...

'', a fictional mini series portraying life in the

where Phinney was stationed. The show relied heavily on her diaries and portrays Phinney as the lead character, played by

Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Her first major role was that of Jessica Bennett (Passions), Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera ''Passions'' (1999–2000). She came to wider attention for h ...

Early life and family

American Civil War

Franco-Prussian War

Awards

In popular culture

References

Further reading