Existing comment:
Birds Eye View of Sixth Street Wharf, Washington, DC
The wharf on the Potomac River at the end of Sixth Street was one of the busiest places in Washington in normal times, and war only increased its activity. The wharf served as the conduit for moving military supplies -- everything from boxes of crackers to cannons and caissons -- in and out of the city. Its docks also provided makeshift bunks for tens of thousands of wounded soldiers until hospital beds could be found within the city. "All around -- on the wharf, on the ground, out on side places -- the men are lying on blankets, old quits, etc., with bloody rags bound 'round heads, arms, and legs," wrote Walt Whitman in may 1862, as the wounded from the Peninsula Campaign near Richmond began arriving.
Charles Magnus, publisher, c 1863 |