Susie Baker King Taylor
Civil War Nurse , 1848 - 1912
What’s unique about Susie King Taylor isn’t her work as a nurse in the Civil War but her ability to document her experiences. She was born a slave in Georgia in 1848. As a child, she was educated by white schoolchildren and slave neighbors. During the Civil War, Taylor attained freedom when an uncle smuggled her with his family to St. Catherine Island, South Carolina, then under Union army administration. At age fourteen, she taught island children by day and conducted night classes for numerous adults. Later in 1862, Taylor joined a troop of African-American soldiers and her duties included washing and cooking for the men, but she also served as a regimental nurse. After the war, she and her husband moved to Boston. During Reconstruction, Taylor organized the Women's Relief Corps, gaining national recognition for African-American war heroes-men and women alike. In 1902, she published her autobiography called Reminiscences of My Life in Camp. Of the hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of African-American women to serve with the Union army's "colored" regiments during the second half of the war, Susie King Taylor is the only one that left a published memoir of her experiences. This unique memoir provides readers with a good look at the workings of the first African-American regiment formed during the war, and it demonstrates the dedication and sacrifices made by African-American army women.
