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At the height of the siege of Vicksburg during the American Civil War, Emily Parsons (1824-1880) acted as the tireless supervisor of nurses at the Benton Barracks Hospital, where thousands of the war’s injured were sent for treatment after their long and physically harrowing journey up the Mississippi. Reading the letters she sent home during this time, one gets a glimpse into the demands of the position - the organizing of individualized care for a constantly shifting roster