Sunday, November 30. [Chattanooga] —Called on Mrs. Newsom this afternoon; had a long talk over our hospital trials. She related some of the hospital scenes at Bowling Green, which were truly awful—Corinth was heaven in comparison. I met Major Richmond there, one of General Polk’s aids. He is a fine-looking man, and very intelligent, with all the suavity of manner characteristic of the southern gentleman. He has traveled much, and related a number of anecdotes of scenes on the continent of Europe; told some few of England and Englishmen, and seemed to judge the whole, as many others have done, both in this country and the old, by the little he had seen, a mistake we are all liable to fall into. On the whole, his conversation was very interesting.
Dr. Hunter has gone on a visit to Mississippi; Dr. Abernethy of Tennessee has taken his place. We have a nice old negro man belonging to the latter, who cooks for us. We get a good deal of money now, as the hospitals are out of debt. Some days we have as many as seven hundred patients; not more than one half of them are confined to bed.
