Mercy Street (2016–2017): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript
EPISODE I: NEW NURSE
Your dress
is abominable, Miss Farnham.
Most abominable,
and your hair.
I do not wish my nurses
to dress in that manner.
These boys must be looking
to their recuperation,
not the hem of your skirts.
You come highly recommended,
but I had no idea
you wore such a dress.
Miss Phinney.
You are in mourning.
My husband died a year ago.
Well, the frock suits you.
In a time of pain and chaos,
we are instruments
of mercy and order.
That and only that
is what we offer the boys.
Miss Gibson!
Quite clear, Miss Dix.
I see here you looked
after the good baron
during his illness
and two young family members
in Boston.
At a difficult
time in my life,
nursing gave me renewed purpose.
Now with the war and the
terrible plague of slavery --
Slavery, dear girl, is a matter
more of prayer than protest.
Men fight
and women pray.
It is not for us
to opine on politics.
Pardon me, Miss Dix, but...
Slavery is not a political question.
It is a moral argument.
And we are obliged, each of us, to--
To what, dear child?
I only mean to say,
emancipation is upon us.
The slaves will be free.
Those not fighting to bring
that about only slow it down,
and the more misery will come of it.
Wonderful, Miss Phinney.
Wonderful.
Another noisy abolitionist.
I have just the place for you.
The mansion house hospital
in Alexandria.
Lovely town, just across the river.
The army moved in a few months ago.
So it is a Union town, then.
More or less.
With a growing population
of contraband slaves.
Move!
Well, I'm sure I can be of use there,
among like-minded people.
Who is the nurse in charge?
I'll report to her as--
You shall be the first.
The first?
The first Dix nurse, yes.
You are my emissary,
no matter what anyone tells you.
Do I take it that I will...
Will I not be welcome there?
Army doctors do not like women
or nurses or me.
But you are dignified
and well-spoken,
firm but inoffensive,
sufficiently plain
so as not to distract.
You'll do splendidly.
And if you are not welcome,
then I am not welcome,
and I do not like to be unwelcome.
Now, come!
Let's make arrangements
for your travel.
Mansion house hospital, ma'am.
Peg legs! Glass eyeballs!
A ribbon for your honey!
Bullet went right through.
Please.
Glass eyeballs!
What's your name, Reb?
Fairfax.
T-Tom Fairfax,
17th Virginia Infantry.
Come on, now. Here we go.
All right, easy now.
This is a Union hospital, yes?
And this man is a confederate?
Orders are, we take in
whoever ends up here.
======================
Nurse? Nurse!
Nurse, over here!
My-my leg!
Nurse, excuse me. I need your help.
I-I can't feel my toes.
Nurse. Nurse, come-- come over here.
Look on him with eyes of mercy,
give him patience
under his affliction,
and, in thy good time,
restore him to health.
And enable him to lead
the residue of his life...
...to thy fear and to thy glory.
Let me go!
I took a vow to keep it flying,
and I damn well will!
Please. Please help me.
You're from Miss Dix?
You need to see Dr. Summers.
Are you the matron? I'm Miss Phinney.
I know who you are.
Well...
This must have been quite a hotel.
Certainly,
for the Secesh upper crust.
Family that owned it, the Greens,
they love it so much,
they refuse to leave.
Blasted rebels
live right down the street.
Please, be careful.
That is true Indian ivory,
brought back by my husband's
grandfather, the admiral.
Listen, you must store it
very, very safely.
How shall we reclaim it?
Please be careful with that, please!
McClellan's got them turning tail.
We'll have Richmond before long.
No doubt about it.
We got more boys headed
down there all the time.
Morning, papa.
Mama.
They broke the Indian chest!
One of the elephant heads
fell off in the yard.
I found a tusk in the hallway.
I'm sorry, Mother.
Don't ask for an apple.
Yankees took the last of them.
All right. Then I'll get an egg.
Soldiers ate them all up yesterday.
Foul intruders.
My father would have taken
a paddle to every last one.
Fortunately, your father's not here.
That chest was an heirloom,
James, from your family.
Exactly. You don't see me fretting.
All we can do is make the best
of the situation.
That's not all.
We could go.
- Leave our home?
- Other families have.
And other families
have lost everything,
relying upon the generosity
of other people in other places.
Not us. Alexandria is our home.
- Have you tried the jam?
- Yes. Quite good.
When this is over,
three or four months from now,
our life will resume much as it was.
Until then,
we share our house with them.
Not only our house!
Our streets, our food, our milk,
and our hotel is turned
into their charnel house.
- Emma.
- I will not have you talk that way.
I'm sorry.
But the confederacy
will make it right.
- Soldiers like Frank.
- And Tom.
They're fighting for us.
Oh, yes, if only we green men
were as brave as your two beaus.
Well, at least they're willing
to stand up for something.
Or die for nothing.
How do you think it looks
to have a brother and father
doing business here
while all the other men have
either gone to fight or fled?
All right, now. Leave Jimmy alone.
Let's all breathe and have some...
stewed rhubarb.
Rhubarb? For breakfast?
Beggars and choosers, dear.
Beggars and choosers.
Dr. Summers, I was sent by Miss Dix.
I'm aware, Miss Phinney,
or should I say
Baroness Von Olnhausen?
"Miss Phinney" will do, thank you.
I aim to be of service here.
Oh, yes, yes.
A fancy Teutonic widow
should come in handy.
The men are always clamoring
for spanferkel.
My husband, the baron, was German.
I myself am a born-and-bred
New Englander.
So, no spanferkel, then?
I believe you'll find
I have more to contribute
than suckling pig.
You underestimate suckling pig.
I have experience as a nurse.
I've looked after
several invalid relatives,
including my husband.
What, the dead Duke?
Well, that didn't turn out
so well, did it?
Eh, gangrene has set in.
The smell is the least of it.
- Kendrick, change this.
- Yes, sir.
Contribute, will you?
As soon as I find you
a room with a bed
and a looking glass--
of which we're in
very short supply, by the way--
and someone to fetch meals
and get little things for you?
Perhaps a pretty young houseboy
to rub your feet at night?
I require only minimal comforts.
Oh, my eye!
My eye!
You've no idea what you're
signing up for here, do you?
Go back to Boston.
I will not.
Miss Dix dispatched me
with precise instructions.
You tell dragon Dix
that I'll choose my own staff,
nurses included.
If I need her help, I'll ask for it.
Uh, you're needed
in the ballroom, sir.
Matron...
See what accommodations
can be arranged for the duchess.
The nurses' rooms
be on the top floor.
You may have to share one.
All I need is a bed somewhere.
Haven't had a... head nurse before.
It should help, don't you think?
I guess Miss Dix thinks it does.
It may be prudent for me
to proceed at a deliberate pace.
For now, I'll take some time
to acclimate,
study, learn how things work.
Come. Here's the surgical room.
Just that leg.
Pass the saw, please? In there deep.
Yes.
Ah, you must be the new nurse.
I am Dr. Hale,
Chief Operating Surgeon.
You do speak German, don't you?
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What I can't understand
is why we're bringing
in their wounded.
How many wounded would you say?
Five or six.
Butternuts? Here?
Virginia boys.
I say, leave them out there
for the buzzards.
You look a bit faint, dear.
In Washington city, everything
was much more... civilized.
I need help in here!
Oh, Lord blind me,
what's this ruckus?
Put it down!
- Off of me, you butcher!
- Put it down.
Ah, Matron, will you explain
to this good man
that chloroform will not kill him?
- Soldier, put that gun down now!
- I ain't putting nothing down.
I appreciate your
practical approach, Matron,
but we've tried that tack already.
I said stay back, now!
Stay back!
Put it down!
Put it down, I say!
Swear you ain't gonna be tossing
my arm out the window in an hour?
I have neither intention nor
desire to amputate your arm.
- Tell me the truth, God damn it!
- The wound's infected.
The ball needs to come out.
But God as my witness,
I'll do everything in my power
to keep you and your arm attached.
I want out of this death house!
Provisions and a horse, now!
* Maid of golden hair *
* Sunshine came along with thee *
Now, I don't mean to hurt you,
miss, but I will, if needs be.
Soldier, this is a place
of peace and healing,
not a place for guns.
That's a damn lie!
It's a place of war!
Help him!
- Settle down!
- Stop your struggling.
- You termagant!
- You coward!
Somebody tend to that one, quickly.
- My arm.
- Matron, escort that lady out.
Any more of her Christian care
may just get one of us killed.
Impressive for a civilian.
Husband or son?
Who are you here to visit?
No one. I was sent by Miss Dix.
No! You're the duchess?
Yes. I mean no. Baroness.
Did you bring spanferkel?
All right, then.
Start by scrubbing
that bunch over there.
They're quite fetid.
Haven't you got a room?
No, not yet.
Leave your bags there,
against the wall.
Oh, military hospitals
and crinoline don't mix, dearie.
Do your parents know you're here?
I've come to lend comfort
to the soldiers.
Is that so? What sort of comfort?
Sympathy? And a friendly face?
Well, that's just fine, dearie,
but our Union boys are entitled
to proper nursing care.
No. Not the Yankees.
The confederates.
I understand you have some.
Why, yes, we do, and you're
just the thing they need.
There.
We have uncovered your natural hue.
May your bed above be easy for
the day's work you are doing.
Now, off with these boots.
Hold now! There you are.
It's hard telling which is dirtiest,
the foot or the shoe.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Lesson one:
ascertain whether or not
the patient is wearing boots
before attempting to remove them.
Amputation
through the infected tissue
risks causing pyemia.
This is the army, Foster.
We have a procedure to follow,
efficiency to maintain.
Yeah, and I have an oath to uphold.
You have one of those,
too, don't you?
You may be regarded as some
fancy head doctor in Baltimore.
But here, you are nothing more
than a civilian contract surgeon
under my authority.
Step cautiously.
I must fetch some clean water.
- I promised him!
- I understand that, son.
I promised him! I promised my father!
Is everything all right?
I told my father
I wouldn't let this flag drop
as long as I could take a breath.
- Your father, is he here?
- He died in battle.
- How old are you?
- 18, ma'am, not a day under.
That's a minimum age to serve.
I am. I was born April 12, 184... 3.
Allow me to take that flag?
I'll make sure it's well cared for.
No, ma'am, I can't. I can't! I can't!
He truly can't, miss.
The damn thing is glued
to his hand from the blood.
Very well. Keep it for now.
- I'm nurse Von Olnhausen.
- Nurse Von Ol.. Hau...
Call me nurse Mary.
I'm Henry Hopkins.
I'm the chaplain here.
God be with you, nurse Mary.
Son?
When did you take up the flag?
Delivery for mansion house.
Food and kitchen items
get hauled to the basement,
you mangy dogs.
I got you something.
Oh, it's awful pretty. A bird.
Yeah. For when you want to fly away.
Back to work, lazy cow.
Move on now, boy.
You got plenty to do.
Don't I know it, Mr. Bullen?
All sorts of things for me to do.
You think you're safe
'cause you work for Summers?
You ain't safe.
I'll have them dogs on you
quicker than a runaway
in a cotton field.
Not much of a view, is it?
Come, I would like to offer you
an advantage
to observe the best at work,
Miss Anne Hastings on her ward.
Oh. I've heard of her.
She trained under
Florence Nightingale, you know.
"Lo, in that house of misery,
the lady with a lamp, I see
pass through the glimmering gloom
and flit from room to room."
That's Emerson, you know.
Longfellow, I believe.
Well, they have their lady
with a lamp in the Crimea,
and we have Anne Hastings
in Alexandria.
She is God's gift to the boys.
And I might add,
to us doctors, as well.
I got the impression
Dr. Summers disapproves
of lady volunteers.
For Miss Hastings,
he makes an exception.
We all do. Come.
Are you from the Virginia Cavalry?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm looking for a Frank Stringfellow.
He would have been fighting
alongside you, I think.
I don't...
Pardon me?
Tom?!
Tom Fairfax?
I can't breathe.
There's-- there's no air.
Here, have some water.
Alice, is that you?
No, Tom. It's Emma, Alice's sister.
Sorry. My head is... Is not so clear.
I'm looking for Frank.
Was he with you? Frank Stringfellow?
I don't remember.
George was with me.
George Henderson.
I lost him in the smoke.
It's all right, Tom.
Let me sit with you a while,
settle your nerves.
Everything will be better soon.
We can tell all the old stories
from when we were children.
This is the English method
which Miss Nightingale
and I implemented
to great success in the Crimea.
It is sometimes referred to
as "Plaster of Paris",
a misnomer I attribute
to the distasteful French habit
of taking credit
for British innovation.
Conditions must be pristine...
old bandages redressed,
soiled linens replaced,
nutritional needs attended to.
And once we have fed the body,
we must also feed
the mind of the man.
To heal the sick is an art,
not a science.
Every patient is our Sistine Chapel.
So, as the rascally French say,
voil?.
Tomorrow, I shall address
dietary needs
of the grievously wounded.
Uh, Miss Hastings?
Uh, meet our new nurse, Miss Phinney.
- Poor thing was recently widowed--
- Yes, Dr. Hale, I'm aware.
No need to be ashamed of your
inexperience, Miss Phinney.
Oh, I'm not, Miss Hastings.
While you were in Boston
keeping the good Duke's house...
- Baron.
- I was in Scutari, saving lives.
Yes, I've read
Miss Nightingale's book.
She was most impressive.
Our accomplishment in the Crimea
is something we're all proud of.
Uh, Miss Phinney,
uh, is quite promising--
Florence, as I was given leave
to call her,
was the mother of this high and
holy calling known as nursing.
I will be happy to impart
what wisdom I can to you.
I appreciate that. Truly.
So, you come from Miss Dix?
Yes, I do.
And your position?
What is your position to be?
I am... a nurse.
Here to represent Miss Dix
and, uh, coordinate...
the nursing at mansion house
with her guidelines and directives.
You have no title, then?
Heaven knows,
Miss Dix loves hierarchy.
I am to be the Head Nurse.
The Head Nurse?
But I have much to learn,
so I am glad
I will have you to rely upon.
Allow me to ask you a question
Florence put to the 38 of us
when we first arrived
at the Selimiye Barracks
and saw all those beds
filled with dying boys.
"Ladies," she asked,
"are you afraid?"
Are you asking if I'm afraid?
Of what you will face here
within these walls
before this savage struggle is over?
Not everyone was made for this.
And one thing I have learned
is how very little
can be accomplished
under the spirit of fear.
Do I seem afraid to you,
Miss Hastings?
I think it was Cicero who wrote,
"res ipsa loquitur."
The thing speaks for itself.
I'm scared.
Shh, Tom. I'm here now.
When I go home, I'll tell Alice
you're back, and she'll--
- She--
- No! Please.
You can't.
Well, she has to know
you're all right.
I won't have her see me like this.
Please promise me.
When you're ready, then.
They say I'm lucky.
The shots passed
right through me, but still--
you're alive.
That's what matters.
The dreams.
Things in my head.
Sometimes I know they ain't real.
But other times, I-I lose track.
I think he's right here,
telling me which way to go.
Who is?
George.
George Henderson.
Maybe there's something they can
give you, Tom, for your nerves.
There's no medicine for what ails me.
They don't understand
what's in my head.
I'll heal on my own.
So, you met the queen of the Crimea.
She seems quite knowledgeable.
Yes. And every lesson comes
with a kick in the teeth.
There's a trampling victim
in the library.
He hasn't been seen yet.
Fast as I can.
Are you all right?
Yes. Yes, I'm fine.
Doctor, would you help me?
The hoop-skirt assassin.
I hear there's a posse out for you.
I'll find someone else.
Perhaps that is better.
Or perhaps not.
There's a patient here
I was speaking with.
- A family member?
- No.
Then you don't belong here.
This is my family's hotel.
You are the one who doesn't belong.
Well, what a gracious host.
The boy is hurt,
and he's been given to believe
there is no remedy.
Perhaps his being a confederate
has had some bearing?
- Who told him that?
- On his case report.
It says he was examined
by a Dr. Hale.
Shortness of breath,
palpitations, sweating.
Chest pain.
And the mental distraction?
Interesting.
There is an army doctor
in Philadelphia,
Jacob Mendes da Costa.
Been studying a malady
common among soldiers.
Cardiac palpitations
precipitated by battle trauma.
This boy's symptoms match up.
Da Costa refers to it
as soldier's heart.
What can be done for him?
Isn't there a treatment
less invasive?
- Morphine works best.
- I mean the needle.
Isn't there a pill?
Not with the same efficacy.
I'm feeling better. Really, I am.
- Dr. Foster?
- Yes, yes, trampling victim, presently.
He is a Pennsylvania cavalryman.
Miss Phinney, do you take issue
with the way I'm doing my job?
Now, answer carefully
because the next question
will be, "do I care?"
The doctor is helping Tom now.
- Miss, this is not your business.
- It is, indeed.
You are not even meant to be here.
- Pardon me?
- Please excuse us, miss.
What is all this?
This cavalryman,
is he someone to you?
- No, not at all.
- Then why the urgency?
The boy got drunk,
fell off his horse,
and was kicked in the rump
on his way down.
Is he late to receive his medal?
He can wait. I'll be with him soon.
Wood's syringe
is an excellent device.
Developed by Alexander wood,
a Scotsman,
and a French orthopedic surgeon
called Pravaz.
I was in Europe a few years back
and saw Pravaz demonstrate
on a spaniel.
A dog?
Made a full recovery,
barking happily ever after.
Count to 10, Tom.
1, 2...
- Experimenting with injecting morphine.
- 3...
I started looking into it
when I was abroad.
- 4.
- It's faster than swallowing a pill...
and it is perfectly safe.
6, 7...
Tom?
Very good.
Fastest yet.
I must make a note of that.
Foster. A moment, please.
No need to thank me, hoop skirt.
That reb was not your patient.
I think of them all as our patients.
- I did not authorize it.
- It was not a surgical procedure.
Your authorization was not required.
You wasted a useful opiate
on a confederate malingerer.
He was in pain.
Pain is good.
- Pain is cathartic.
- Not that kind of pain.
He was suffering from extreme
heart irregularity, anxiety.
You cannot use
that hypodermic contraption
as a delivery mechanism
for an unnecessary medication
to a mythological condition
suffered by an enemy to the Union.
Well, it does sound bad
when you put it like that.
The man with the dislocated
eye socket is ready for surgery.
This will not be tolerated.
I found these in the lobby, miss.
You might want to mind them.
Yes, thank you.
I'm obliged.
Uh, we met outside?
- I'm Samuel Diggs.
- You're an orderly?
They don't let us be orderlies.
Dr. Summers brought me on
as a laborer.
Were you owned by a doctor?
Never been owned, miss.
I grew up in a physician's household,
Dr. Berenson of Philadelphia.
I watched him save many a patient.
If you need anything,
you let me know.
I'll be sure to, Mr. Diggs.
I've been to see
your drunk cavalryman.
All he needs is something
for his wounded pride.
Contrabands, you know,
they can be very tricky.
He's not a contraband.
They steal. They lie.
They feel because they are free,
they must answer to no one.
Pardon me, but aren't we
fighting to free men of color?
Isn't that what this war is about?
No, it's about
preserving the Republic.
Even Lincoln says so.
That boy needs the chaplain.
Is there no hope?
There's buckshot
all through his body,
too much for us
to even begin extracting.
When medicine fails,
give faith a try.
FIRST LADY'S BROTHER, CONFEDERATE
OFFICER SAMUEL R. TODD,
- REPORTED DEAD AT SHILOH.
- Strange days.
Even the first lady's brother
was on our side.
This was her half-brother.
Her brother is a confederate surgeon.
Not another doctor.
At least he died fighting.
Jimmy, you're not able to soldier.
My foot is no deterrent.
The doctor said I could stop
using the cane soon.
I need you here.
I won't have this family
further depleted.
We are depleted
when our friends and neighbors
think we are cowards.
- They don't think that.
- Please.
You heard the girls.
Are you two off somewhere?
We have business to attend to.
Jimmy.
Nothing to worry about, dear.
Hmm.
Uh, sir?
Uh, some water, i-if you please?
In a minute, Grayback.
Here.
I'll hold the cup for you.
Yours is the first kind face I seen.
To them, all we is is the enemy.
Greater the pity for them.
How's your friend?
Better. Thanks.
Are you tending to these men?
Well, someone must.
Marchioness?
A moment.
That man's wound ought to
have been redressed hours ago,
shouldn't it?
Yes, I suppose so, but it's--
there are men in there
who are thirsty,
who are dirty,
whose beds need to be remade.
I demand you get to these men,
all of them, in a timely manner.
And put these somewhere else.
It must not be easy, having
to decide who to help when.
That man whose thirst
you were quenching?
I heard that a Union boy
surrendered to his platoon,
gave up his weapon.
Once he was unarmed,
your man shot him dead,
right where he stood,
pleading for his life.
To you, he's a victim.
To me, a cold-blooded killer.
Whatever he was out there,
in here, he was merely thirsty.
Are there no sinning Yankees
in these beds?
Atrocities are only ever
committed by the enemy?
I have work to do.
May I ask you
how you came to nursing?
My husband got sick.
Is he in the army?
I...
I'm so sorry.
With the war, I saw
an opportunity to be of use.
I thought I knew how it would be,
working alongside compatriots,
tending the boys.
Joining behind a cause.
This is... a bit different.
I admire your aspirations
to be of use.
I'm starting to feel the same pull.
If that is so, I...
No, it's not my business.
Oh, please!
Advise me.
You're young.
Clearly intelligent
with strong opinions.
That's good. Mostly.
But your demeanor, your wardrobe,
the way you comport yourself.
To be a nurse, these are things
you'd have to... reconsider.
Would I?
What I'm trying to say
as gently as possible is,
there comes a time
in every woman's growth
when she must put away
childish things.
You can do it by choice,
or you can wait for life
to foist it upon you.
Thank you.
For your... gentleness.
Oh, perhaps in a year or two,
you may be ready.
But by then, I expect this war
shall be long over.
Miss Emma! Miss Emma!
Belinda, what are you doing here?
Deliveryman saw you run off.
Your mama is looking for ya.
You need to come with me right now.
If we get caught in here,
I don't want to think
of the trouble we'll have.
I hate what
you've done with the place.
Belinda, hush.
This used to be known
as one of the finest hotels
on the eastern seaboard.
And it will be
again one day, I am sure.
Why are they here with those yanks?
None of our business!
Miss Emma, please.
Yeah, enforce the rules.
We fought together, my dad and me,
side by side, until the rebs
got him at Kernstown.
And he approved of your enlisting?
He knew I couldn't stay back at home
and still call myself a man.
You're not a man. You're a boy.
I'm 18, Reverend.
Between you and me, I'm 17.
All right, I'm 15 if I'm a day,
but I'll be 16 in October.
I thought as much.
You say a letter home to your family,
and nurse Mary
will write it down for you.
Certainly, I will.
I must perform a service.
The man's family has come
all the way from Connecticut.
Father?
God is with you, boy.
As hard as you fought on the field,
fight even harder now.
Who will the letter be to?
To my mother, Eleanor,
and my sisters,
Lucy, Nina...
Charlotte, and Maggie.
Girls all around me.
That's why I'm such a charmer, miss.
Indeed.
I strive to be
a gracious host, gentlemen,
but I have yet to receive
a nickel of rent for your--
how do I put it?--
Occupancy in my hotel.
The rent is payable upon
your pledging the loyalty oath.
Ah, that's a pesky thing, isn't it?
There are no exceptions, sir.
We enforce the rules in all fairness.
Fairness, indeed.
You wield this oath like a club.
You say you want to be humane
in your occupation here,
but what are my neighbors
and I to think
when the Union administration behaves
in such a cold-hearted way?
We'll discuss that at another time.
Now, for the business at hand.
My son has been broadening
the scope of our furniture company.
We have started building coffins.
The market, as you might imagine,
is distressingly strong.
Well, we are doing our best
to counteract that here.
Yes, but your army is doing
its best to keep it going.
I've discussed with Mr. Bullen
the possibility
of providing coffins for you
at a rate.
We need to dispose
of the corpses, sirs.
It'd help to have coffins.
Your business, by all rights,
should be shut down, Mr. Green.
- Sir--
- And you ask for us to aid you?
I ask that we aid each other.
You already have most everything
I've spent my life building.
Allow me the dignity to resolve
myself to your allegiance
without utterly ruining me
in the meantime.
We must leave now!
It's a two-way street, sir, ain't it?
We got bodies. They got boxes.
My aim is to be out of this bed
and home soon,
but the good lord sees it
a different way.
I prefer to be buried at home,
near to you.
If that is too much of a chore,
it matters little.
Wheresoever my bodily remains
come to rest,
my soul shall be keeping company
with dad on high,
watching over you all,
ever expectant of our joyful,
final reUnion as a family
in eternity.
How does that seem?
Maybe I should end with a joke?
Emma?
What's happened to your dress?
Uh, well, uh,
miss Emma went to market
with Miss Allerton,
like I said, when thwack!
The butcher slaughtered a pig,
and blood just splattered--
Belinda, that's enough.
Tend the kitchen.
Mother, I went to look for Frank.
At the hotel?
That death house
is no place for a child.
I'm not a child anymore!
You are forbidden to go there!
Go where?
She's been to the hospital,
looking for Frank Stringfellow.
Did you find him?
No, sir, I didn't.
Well, then, that's done.
You will, in the future,
speak to your mother
with greater respect,
and you will not return to the hotel.
I'm sorry, mother. Forgive me.
Of course.
Emma, did you hear any news of Tom?
Tom Fairfax.
I wasn't looking for Tom.
I'll try again next time.
Next time?
You live over in the bottoms?
You walking there tonight?
Mr. Bullen got me working on.
I got eyes for you, Aurelia.
That necklace told me as much.
My arm!
- Ohh.
- Soldier!
What is it?
I feel my blood.
- It's running dry.
- Where are the doctors?
No one left but Dr. Foster.
He's got a patient in surgery.
I'll send for someone else.
Hemorrhage, brachial artery.
- I'll go myself-- fast.
- You need to stay.
Make it stop, please!
- This man can't wait.
- Forgive me, lord.
Give me some thread.
- Samuel, we can't--
- Thread.
I-I need more light.
When they removed the bullet,
the blood vessel got ruptured.
They cauterized over it.
It's infected now.
He'll bleed to death.
Oh, no, they're killing me.
Mother, please.
No, I can't let you do this.
We need someone who knows how.
I know how, Miss Mary. I know how!
This boy gets saved by a nigger,
or he dies alone.
My arm!
He needs chloroform.
You need to dampen the cloth
and place it over his mouth.
Yes, I've seen it done.
Help hold the wound open.
Blood makes me uneasy.
You'll need to overcome that.
There is the rupture.
Now pinch the artery for me.
I'll tie a loop around it.
Leave an end dangling out.
That way, a doctor can pull it
a little every day
until the thread rots off
and the rupture is closed.
If they don't know how,
you got to tell them.
It's called a ligature.
How will we know if it worked?
It'll work. I've done it before.
Miss Phinney.
What happened here?
He was in grave pain.
The wound was hemorrhaging, so--
who tied this ligature?
I did.
Miss Dix trained me how.
Miss Dix?
And who trained her?
Every day, we'll need to--
pull on the end until the thread
rots and the rupture closes.
I've got a patient on the table.
Dr. Berenson taught me things
when I was little.
Ever since, I just kept on learning.
Are you all right, Dr. Foster?
Well.
I'm well.
By way of advice, nowhere does it say
we get to favor
the patients we approve of.
In here, this is only one type
of soldier-- the wounded.
No room yet?
No. I'm--
Well, the matron
will surely be by soon.
If I may, by way of advice?
Your views on race are unenlightened.
I grew up on a Maryland plantation.
I was rolling cigars with the slaves
when I was barely walking.
We had 64 of them at one point.
A Union surgeon from
a slave-holding family.
You are full of surprises, doctor.
My point being, I know more
of these things than you do.
I know right from wrong.
And I can tell
when I'm talking to someone
who also knows the difference.
You want to challenge me on slavery?
It's not our concern.
- Isn't it?
- No.
We keep men alive,
so what I am asking, demanding,
is that you see
every soldier as equal,
no matter what side he fights on.
This is a Union facility
for Union soldiers!
It is a hospital for sick people!
Blood is not gray or blue, madam.
It's all one color.
Put away childish things.
How many lives will you save
before this is over?
Miss Phinney?
Bursting at the seams, we are.
Dr. Summers felt it best
that you sleep here.
Uh, on the floor.
Uh, uh, beware of the arsenic.
You might want to sweep your area.
- Arsenic?
- We put it out for the rats.
Uh, you'll want to look out
for them, as well.
Here.
Yes! Whoo! Whoo!
We whooped them in Williamsburg!
The rebs are beating it to Richmond!
Is it so?
We'll be done with this thing
in a week, for sure!
On to Richmond!
I knew it!
Whoo! Victory, brothers! Victory!
I told him that I would be
right back for him.
But I took too long.
He never finished it.
"Though my last breath...
May come soon...
When it does,
know that I shall be thinking
only of you
and my eternal...
Hope."
IN THE NEXT EPISODE....
Sign it or we will
remove you from your house.
They will take everything we have.
There's work
to do here-- work that matters.
Dr. Foster
Where were we
when this whole mess started?
Leave her be!
Or by God, I'll kill you myself!
This is what happens to the traitors!
The situation is intolerable.
We will not traffic with extremists!
We must win this war at any cost!
Let go of the rope!
======================
Your dress
is abominable, Miss Farnham.
Most abominable,
and your hair.
I do not wish my nurses
to dress in that manner.
These boys must be looking
to their recuperation,
not the hem of your skirts.
You come highly recommended,
but I had no idea
you wore such a dress.
Miss Phinney.
You are in mourning.
My husband died a year ago.
Well, the frock suits you.
In a time of pain and chaos,
we are instruments
of mercy and order.
That and only that
is what we offer the boys.
Miss Gibson!
Quite clear, Miss Dix.
I see here you looked
after the good baron
during his illness
and two young family members
in Boston.
At a difficult
time in my life,
nursing gave me renewed purpose.
Now with the war and the
terrible plague of slavery --
Slavery, dear girl, is a matter
more of prayer than protest.
Men fight
and women pray.
It is not for us
to opine on politics.
Pardon me, Miss Dix, but...
Slavery is not a political question.
It is a moral argument.
And we are obliged, each of us, to--
To what, dear child?
I only mean to say,
emancipation is upon us.
The slaves will be free.
Those not fighting to bring
that about only slow it down,
and the more misery will come of it.
Wonderful, Miss Phinney.
Wonderful.
Another noisy abolitionist.
I have just the place for you.
The mansion house hospital
in Alexandria.
Lovely town, just across the river.
The army moved in a few months ago.
So it is a Union town, then.
More or less.
With a growing population
of contraband slaves.
Move!
Well, I'm sure I can be of use there,
among like-minded people.
Who is the nurse in charge?
I'll report to her as--
You shall be the first.
The first?
The first Dix nurse, yes.
You are my emissary,
no matter what anyone tells you.
Do I take it that I will...
Will I not be welcome there?
Army doctors do not like women
or nurses or me.
But you are dignified
and well-spoken,
firm but inoffensive,
sufficiently plain
so as not to distract.
You'll do splendidly.
And if you are not welcome,
then I am not welcome,
and I do not like to be unwelcome.
Now, come!
Let's make arrangements
for your travel.
Mansion house hospital, ma'am.
Peg legs! Glass eyeballs!
A ribbon for your honey!
Bullet went right through.
Please.
Glass eyeballs!
What's your name, Reb?
Fairfax.
T-Tom Fairfax,
17th Virginia Infantry.
Come on, now. Here we go.
All right, easy now.
This is a Union hospital, yes?
And this man is a confederate?
Orders are, we take in
whoever ends up here.
======================
Nurse? Nurse!
Nurse, over here!
My-my leg!
Nurse, excuse me. I need your help.
I-I can't feel my toes.
Nurse. Nurse, come-- come over here.
Look on him with eyes of mercy,
give him patience
under his affliction,
and, in thy good time,
restore him to health.
And enable him to lead
the residue of his life...
...to thy fear and to thy glory.
Let me go!
I took a vow to keep it flying,
and I damn well will!
Please. Please help me.
You're from Miss Dix?
You need to see Dr. Summers.
Are you the matron? I'm Miss Phinney.
I know who you are.
Well...
This must have been quite a hotel.
Certainly,
for the Secesh upper crust.
Family that owned it, the Greens,
they love it so much,
they refuse to leave.
Blasted rebels
live right down the street.
Please, be careful.
That is true Indian ivory,
brought back by my husband's
grandfather, the admiral.
Listen, you must store it
very, very safely.
How shall we reclaim it?
Please be careful with that, please!
McClellan's got them turning tail.
We'll have Richmond before long.
No doubt about it.
We got more boys headed
down there all the time.
Morning, papa.
Mama.
They broke the Indian chest!
One of the elephant heads
fell off in the yard.
I found a tusk in the hallway.
I'm sorry, Mother.
Don't ask for an apple.
Yankees took the last of them.
All right. Then I'll get an egg.
Soldiers ate them all up yesterday.
Foul intruders.
My father would have taken
a paddle to every last one.
Fortunately, your father's not here.
That chest was an heirloom,
James, from your family.
Exactly. You don't see me fretting.
All we can do is make the best
of the situation.
That's not all.
We could go.
- Leave our home?
- Other families have.
And other families
have lost everything,
relying upon the generosity
of other people in other places.
Not us. Alexandria is our home.
- Have you tried the jam?
- Yes. Quite good.
When this is over,
three or four months from now,
our life will resume much as it was.
Until then,
we share our house with them.
Not only our house!
Our streets, our food, our milk,
and our hotel is turned
into their charnel house.
- Emma.
- I will not have you talk that way.
I'm sorry.
But the confederacy
will make it right.
- Soldiers like Frank.
- And Tom.
They're fighting for us.
Oh, yes, if only we green men
were as brave as your two beaus.
Well, at least they're willing
to stand up for something.
Or die for nothing.
How do you think it looks
to have a brother and father
doing business here
while all the other men have
either gone to fight or fled?
All right, now. Leave Jimmy alone.
Let's all breathe and have some...
stewed rhubarb.
Rhubarb? For breakfast?
Beggars and choosers, dear.
Beggars and choosers.
Dr. Summers, I was sent by Miss Dix.
I'm aware, Miss Phinney,
or should I say
Baroness Von Olnhausen?
"Miss Phinney" will do, thank you.
I aim to be of service here.
Oh, yes, yes.
A fancy Teutonic widow
should come in handy.
The men are always clamoring
for spanferkel.
My husband, the baron, was German.
I myself am a born-and-bred
New Englander.
So, no spanferkel, then?
I believe you'll find
I have more to contribute
than suckling pig.
You underestimate suckling pig.
I have experience as a nurse.
I've looked after
several invalid relatives,
including my husband.
What, the dead Duke?
Well, that didn't turn out
so well, did it?
Eh, gangrene has set in.
The smell is the least of it.
- Kendrick, change this.
- Yes, sir.
Contribute, will you?
As soon as I find you
a room with a bed
and a looking glass--
of which we're in
very short supply, by the way--
and someone to fetch meals
and get little things for you?
Perhaps a pretty young houseboy
to rub your feet at night?
I require only minimal comforts.
Oh, my eye!
My eye!
You've no idea what you're
signing up for here, do you?
Go back to Boston.
I will not.
Miss Dix dispatched me
with precise instructions.
You tell dragon Dix
that I'll choose my own staff,
nurses included.
If I need her help, I'll ask for it.
Uh, you're needed
in the ballroom, sir.
Matron...
See what accommodations
can be arranged for the duchess.
The nurses' rooms
be on the top floor.
You may have to share one.
All I need is a bed somewhere.
Haven't had a... head nurse before.
It should help, don't you think?
I guess Miss Dix thinks it does.
It may be prudent for me
to proceed at a deliberate pace.
For now, I'll take some time
to acclimate,
study, learn how things work.
Come. Here's the surgical room.
Just that leg.
Pass the saw, please? In there deep.
Yes.
Ah, you must be the new nurse.
I am Dr. Hale,
Chief Operating Surgeon.
You do speak German, don't you?
----------
----------
What I can't understand
is why we're bringing
in their wounded.
How many wounded would you say?
Five or six.
Butternuts? Here?
Virginia boys.
I say, leave them out there
for the buzzards.
You look a bit faint, dear.
In Washington city, everything
was much more... civilized.
I need help in here!
Oh, Lord blind me,
what's this ruckus?
Put it down!
- Off of me, you butcher!
- Put it down.
Ah, Matron, will you explain
to this good man
that chloroform will not kill him?
- Soldier, put that gun down now!
- I ain't putting nothing down.
I appreciate your
practical approach, Matron,
but we've tried that tack already.
I said stay back, now!
Stay back!
Put it down!
Put it down, I say!
Swear you ain't gonna be tossing
my arm out the window in an hour?
I have neither intention nor
desire to amputate your arm.
- Tell me the truth, God damn it!
- The wound's infected.
The ball needs to come out.
But God as my witness,
I'll do everything in my power
to keep you and your arm attached.
I want out of this death house!
Provisions and a horse, now!
* Maid of golden hair *
* Sunshine came along with thee *
Now, I don't mean to hurt you,
miss, but I will, if needs be.
Soldier, this is a place
of peace and healing,
not a place for guns.
That's a damn lie!
It's a place of war!
Help him!
- Settle down!
- Stop your struggling.
- You termagant!
- You coward!
Somebody tend to that one, quickly.
- My arm.
- Matron, escort that lady out.
Any more of her Christian care
may just get one of us killed.
Impressive for a civilian.
Husband or son?
Who are you here to visit?
No one. I was sent by Miss Dix.
No! You're the duchess?
Yes. I mean no. Baroness.
Did you bring spanferkel?
All right, then.
Start by scrubbing
that bunch over there.
They're quite fetid.
Haven't you got a room?
No, not yet.
Leave your bags there,
against the wall.
Oh, military hospitals
and crinoline don't mix, dearie.
Do your parents know you're here?
I've come to lend comfort
to the soldiers.
Is that so? What sort of comfort?
Sympathy? And a friendly face?
Well, that's just fine, dearie,
but our Union boys are entitled
to proper nursing care.
No. Not the Yankees.
The confederates.
I understand you have some.
Why, yes, we do, and you're
just the thing they need.
There.
We have uncovered your natural hue.
May your bed above be easy for
the day's work you are doing.
Now, off with these boots.
Hold now! There you are.
It's hard telling which is dirtiest,
the foot or the shoe.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Lesson one:
ascertain whether or not
the patient is wearing boots
before attempting to remove them.
Amputation
through the infected tissue
risks causing pyemia.
This is the army, Foster.
We have a procedure to follow,
efficiency to maintain.
Yeah, and I have an oath to uphold.
You have one of those,
too, don't you?
You may be regarded as some
fancy head doctor in Baltimore.
But here, you are nothing more
than a civilian contract surgeon
under my authority.
Step cautiously.
I must fetch some clean water.
- I promised him!
- I understand that, son.
I promised him! I promised my father!
Is everything all right?
I told my father
I wouldn't let this flag drop
as long as I could take a breath.
- Your father, is he here?
- He died in battle.
- How old are you?
- 18, ma'am, not a day under.
That's a minimum age to serve.
I am. I was born April 12, 184... 3.
Allow me to take that flag?
I'll make sure it's well cared for.
No, ma'am, I can't. I can't! I can't!
He truly can't, miss.
The damn thing is glued
to his hand from the blood.
Very well. Keep it for now.
- I'm nurse Von Olnhausen.
- Nurse Von Ol.. Hau...
Call me nurse Mary.
I'm Henry Hopkins.
I'm the chaplain here.
God be with you, nurse Mary.
Son?
When did you take up the flag?
Delivery for mansion house.
Food and kitchen items
get hauled to the basement,
you mangy dogs.
I got you something.
Oh, it's awful pretty. A bird.
Yeah. For when you want to fly away.
Back to work, lazy cow.
Move on now, boy.
You got plenty to do.
Don't I know it, Mr. Bullen?
All sorts of things for me to do.
You think you're safe
'cause you work for Summers?
You ain't safe.
I'll have them dogs on you
quicker than a runaway
in a cotton field.
Not much of a view, is it?
Come, I would like to offer you
an advantage
to observe the best at work,
Miss Anne Hastings on her ward.
Oh. I've heard of her.
She trained under
Florence Nightingale, you know.
"Lo, in that house of misery,
the lady with a lamp, I see
pass through the glimmering gloom
and flit from room to room."
That's Emerson, you know.
Longfellow, I believe.
Well, they have their lady
with a lamp in the Crimea,
and we have Anne Hastings
in Alexandria.
She is God's gift to the boys.
And I might add,
to us doctors, as well.
I got the impression
Dr. Summers disapproves
of lady volunteers.
For Miss Hastings,
he makes an exception.
We all do. Come.
Are you from the Virginia Cavalry?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm looking for a Frank Stringfellow.
He would have been fighting
alongside you, I think.
I don't...
Pardon me?
Tom?!
Tom Fairfax?
I can't breathe.
There's-- there's no air.
Here, have some water.
Alice, is that you?
No, Tom. It's Emma, Alice's sister.
Sorry. My head is... Is not so clear.
I'm looking for Frank.
Was he with you? Frank Stringfellow?
I don't remember.
George was with me.
George Henderson.
I lost him in the smoke.
It's all right, Tom.
Let me sit with you a while,
settle your nerves.
Everything will be better soon.
We can tell all the old stories
from when we were children.
This is the English method
which Miss Nightingale
and I implemented
to great success in the Crimea.
It is sometimes referred to
as "Plaster of Paris",
a misnomer I attribute
to the distasteful French habit
of taking credit
for British innovation.
Conditions must be pristine...
old bandages redressed,
soiled linens replaced,
nutritional needs attended to.
And once we have fed the body,
we must also feed
the mind of the man.
To heal the sick is an art,
not a science.
Every patient is our Sistine Chapel.
So, as the rascally French say,
voil?.
Tomorrow, I shall address
dietary needs
of the grievously wounded.
Uh, Miss Hastings?
Uh, meet our new nurse, Miss Phinney.
- Poor thing was recently widowed--
- Yes, Dr. Hale, I'm aware.
No need to be ashamed of your
inexperience, Miss Phinney.
Oh, I'm not, Miss Hastings.
While you were in Boston
keeping the good Duke's house...
- Baron.
- I was in Scutari, saving lives.
Yes, I've read
Miss Nightingale's book.
She was most impressive.
Our accomplishment in the Crimea
is something we're all proud of.
Uh, Miss Phinney,
uh, is quite promising--
Florence, as I was given leave
to call her,
was the mother of this high and
holy calling known as nursing.
I will be happy to impart
what wisdom I can to you.
I appreciate that. Truly.
So, you come from Miss Dix?
Yes, I do.
And your position?
What is your position to be?
I am... a nurse.
Here to represent Miss Dix
and, uh, coordinate...
the nursing at mansion house
with her guidelines and directives.
You have no title, then?
Heaven knows,
Miss Dix loves hierarchy.
I am to be the Head Nurse.
The Head Nurse?
But I have much to learn,
so I am glad
I will have you to rely upon.
Allow me to ask you a question
Florence put to the 38 of us
when we first arrived
at the Selimiye Barracks
and saw all those beds
filled with dying boys.
"Ladies," she asked,
"are you afraid?"
Are you asking if I'm afraid?
Of what you will face here
within these walls
before this savage struggle is over?
Not everyone was made for this.
And one thing I have learned
is how very little
can be accomplished
under the spirit of fear.
Do I seem afraid to you,
Miss Hastings?
I think it was Cicero who wrote,
"res ipsa loquitur."
The thing speaks for itself.
I'm scared.
Shh, Tom. I'm here now.
When I go home, I'll tell Alice
you're back, and she'll--
- She--
- No! Please.
You can't.
Well, she has to know
you're all right.
I won't have her see me like this.
Please promise me.
When you're ready, then.
They say I'm lucky.
The shots passed
right through me, but still--
you're alive.
That's what matters.
The dreams.
Things in my head.
Sometimes I know they ain't real.
But other times, I-I lose track.
I think he's right here,
telling me which way to go.
Who is?
George.
George Henderson.
Maybe there's something they can
give you, Tom, for your nerves.
There's no medicine for what ails me.
They don't understand
what's in my head.
I'll heal on my own.
So, you met the queen of the Crimea.
She seems quite knowledgeable.
Yes. And every lesson comes
with a kick in the teeth.
There's a trampling victim
in the library.
He hasn't been seen yet.
Fast as I can.
Are you all right?
Yes. Yes, I'm fine.
Doctor, would you help me?
The hoop-skirt assassin.
I hear there's a posse out for you.
I'll find someone else.
Perhaps that is better.
Or perhaps not.
There's a patient here
I was speaking with.
- A family member?
- No.
Then you don't belong here.
This is my family's hotel.
You are the one who doesn't belong.
Well, what a gracious host.
The boy is hurt,
and he's been given to believe
there is no remedy.
Perhaps his being a confederate
has had some bearing?
- Who told him that?
- On his case report.
It says he was examined
by a Dr. Hale.
Shortness of breath,
palpitations, sweating.
Chest pain.
And the mental distraction?
Interesting.
There is an army doctor
in Philadelphia,
Jacob Mendes da Costa.
Been studying a malady
common among soldiers.
Cardiac palpitations
precipitated by battle trauma.
This boy's symptoms match up.
Da Costa refers to it
as soldier's heart.
What can be done for him?
Isn't there a treatment
less invasive?
- Morphine works best.
- I mean the needle.
Isn't there a pill?
Not with the same efficacy.
I'm feeling better. Really, I am.
- Dr. Foster?
- Yes, yes, trampling victim, presently.
He is a Pennsylvania cavalryman.
Miss Phinney, do you take issue
with the way I'm doing my job?
Now, answer carefully
because the next question
will be, "do I care?"
The doctor is helping Tom now.
- Miss, this is not your business.
- It is, indeed.
You are not even meant to be here.
- Pardon me?
- Please excuse us, miss.
What is all this?
This cavalryman,
is he someone to you?
- No, not at all.
- Then why the urgency?
The boy got drunk,
fell off his horse,
and was kicked in the rump
on his way down.
Is he late to receive his medal?
He can wait. I'll be with him soon.
Wood's syringe
is an excellent device.
Developed by Alexander wood,
a Scotsman,
and a French orthopedic surgeon
called Pravaz.
I was in Europe a few years back
and saw Pravaz demonstrate
on a spaniel.
A dog?
Made a full recovery,
barking happily ever after.
Count to 10, Tom.
1, 2...
- Experimenting with injecting morphine.
- 3...
I started looking into it
when I was abroad.
- 4.
- It's faster than swallowing a pill...
and it is perfectly safe.
6, 7...
Tom?
Very good.
Fastest yet.
I must make a note of that.
Foster. A moment, please.
No need to thank me, hoop skirt.
That reb was not your patient.
I think of them all as our patients.
- I did not authorize it.
- It was not a surgical procedure.
Your authorization was not required.
You wasted a useful opiate
on a confederate malingerer.
He was in pain.
Pain is good.
- Pain is cathartic.
- Not that kind of pain.
He was suffering from extreme
heart irregularity, anxiety.
You cannot use
that hypodermic contraption
as a delivery mechanism
for an unnecessary medication
to a mythological condition
suffered by an enemy to the Union.
Well, it does sound bad
when you put it like that.
The man with the dislocated
eye socket is ready for surgery.
This will not be tolerated.
I found these in the lobby, miss.
You might want to mind them.
Yes, thank you.
I'm obliged.
Uh, we met outside?
- I'm Samuel Diggs.
- You're an orderly?
They don't let us be orderlies.
Dr. Summers brought me on
as a laborer.
Were you owned by a doctor?
Never been owned, miss.
I grew up in a physician's household,
Dr. Berenson of Philadelphia.
I watched him save many a patient.
If you need anything,
you let me know.
I'll be sure to, Mr. Diggs.
I've been to see
your drunk cavalryman.
All he needs is something
for his wounded pride.
Contrabands, you know,
they can be very tricky.
He's not a contraband.
They steal. They lie.
They feel because they are free,
they must answer to no one.
Pardon me, but aren't we
fighting to free men of color?
Isn't that what this war is about?
No, it's about
preserving the Republic.
Even Lincoln says so.
That boy needs the chaplain.
Is there no hope?
There's buckshot
all through his body,
too much for us
to even begin extracting.
When medicine fails,
give faith a try.
FIRST LADY'S BROTHER, CONFEDERATE
OFFICER SAMUEL R. TODD,
- REPORTED DEAD AT SHILOH.
- Strange days.
Even the first lady's brother
was on our side.
This was her half-brother.
Her brother is a confederate surgeon.
Not another doctor.
At least he died fighting.
Jimmy, you're not able to soldier.
My foot is no deterrent.
The doctor said I could stop
using the cane soon.
I need you here.
I won't have this family
further depleted.
We are depleted
when our friends and neighbors
think we are cowards.
- They don't think that.
- Please.
You heard the girls.
Are you two off somewhere?
We have business to attend to.
Jimmy.
Nothing to worry about, dear.
Hmm.
Uh, sir?
Uh, some water, i-if you please?
In a minute, Grayback.
Here.
I'll hold the cup for you.
Yours is the first kind face I seen.
To them, all we is is the enemy.
Greater the pity for them.
How's your friend?
Better. Thanks.
Are you tending to these men?
Well, someone must.
Marchioness?
A moment.
That man's wound ought to
have been redressed hours ago,
shouldn't it?
Yes, I suppose so, but it's--
there are men in there
who are thirsty,
who are dirty,
whose beds need to be remade.
I demand you get to these men,
all of them, in a timely manner.
And put these somewhere else.
It must not be easy, having
to decide who to help when.
That man whose thirst
you were quenching?
I heard that a Union boy
surrendered to his platoon,
gave up his weapon.
Once he was unarmed,
your man shot him dead,
right where he stood,
pleading for his life.
To you, he's a victim.
To me, a cold-blooded killer.
Whatever he was out there,
in here, he was merely thirsty.
Are there no sinning Yankees
in these beds?
Atrocities are only ever
committed by the enemy?
I have work to do.
May I ask you
how you came to nursing?
My husband got sick.
Is he in the army?
I...
I'm so sorry.
With the war, I saw
an opportunity to be of use.
I thought I knew how it would be,
working alongside compatriots,
tending the boys.
Joining behind a cause.
This is... a bit different.
I admire your aspirations
to be of use.
I'm starting to feel the same pull.
If that is so, I...
No, it's not my business.
Oh, please!
Advise me.
You're young.
Clearly intelligent
with strong opinions.
That's good. Mostly.
But your demeanor, your wardrobe,
the way you comport yourself.
To be a nurse, these are things
you'd have to... reconsider.
Would I?
What I'm trying to say
as gently as possible is,
there comes a time
in every woman's growth
when she must put away
childish things.
You can do it by choice,
or you can wait for life
to foist it upon you.
Thank you.
For your... gentleness.
Oh, perhaps in a year or two,
you may be ready.
But by then, I expect this war
shall be long over.
Miss Emma! Miss Emma!
Belinda, what are you doing here?
Deliveryman saw you run off.
Your mama is looking for ya.
You need to come with me right now.
If we get caught in here,
I don't want to think
of the trouble we'll have.
I hate what
you've done with the place.
Belinda, hush.
This used to be known
as one of the finest hotels
on the eastern seaboard.
And it will be
again one day, I am sure.
Why are they here with those yanks?
None of our business!
Miss Emma, please.
Yeah, enforce the rules.
We fought together, my dad and me,
side by side, until the rebs
got him at Kernstown.
And he approved of your enlisting?
He knew I couldn't stay back at home
and still call myself a man.
You're not a man. You're a boy.
I'm 18, Reverend.
Between you and me, I'm 17.
All right, I'm 15 if I'm a day,
but I'll be 16 in October.
I thought as much.
You say a letter home to your family,
and nurse Mary
will write it down for you.
Certainly, I will.
I must perform a service.
The man's family has come
all the way from Connecticut.
Father?
God is with you, boy.
As hard as you fought on the field,
fight even harder now.
Who will the letter be to?
To my mother, Eleanor,
and my sisters,
Lucy, Nina...
Charlotte, and Maggie.
Girls all around me.
That's why I'm such a charmer, miss.
Indeed.
I strive to be
a gracious host, gentlemen,
but I have yet to receive
a nickel of rent for your--
how do I put it?--
Occupancy in my hotel.
The rent is payable upon
your pledging the loyalty oath.
Ah, that's a pesky thing, isn't it?
There are no exceptions, sir.
We enforce the rules in all fairness.
Fairness, indeed.
You wield this oath like a club.
You say you want to be humane
in your occupation here,
but what are my neighbors
and I to think
when the Union administration behaves
in such a cold-hearted way?
We'll discuss that at another time.
Now, for the business at hand.
My son has been broadening
the scope of our furniture company.
We have started building coffins.
The market, as you might imagine,
is distressingly strong.
Well, we are doing our best
to counteract that here.
Yes, but your army is doing
its best to keep it going.
I've discussed with Mr. Bullen
the possibility
of providing coffins for you
at a rate.
We need to dispose
of the corpses, sirs.
It'd help to have coffins.
Your business, by all rights,
should be shut down, Mr. Green.
- Sir--
- And you ask for us to aid you?
I ask that we aid each other.
You already have most everything
I've spent my life building.
Allow me the dignity to resolve
myself to your allegiance
without utterly ruining me
in the meantime.
We must leave now!
It's a two-way street, sir, ain't it?
We got bodies. They got boxes.
My aim is to be out of this bed
and home soon,
but the good lord sees it
a different way.
I prefer to be buried at home,
near to you.
If that is too much of a chore,
it matters little.
Wheresoever my bodily remains
come to rest,
my soul shall be keeping company
with dad on high,
watching over you all,
ever expectant of our joyful,
final reUnion as a family
in eternity.
How does that seem?
Maybe I should end with a joke?
Emma?
What's happened to your dress?
Uh, well, uh,
miss Emma went to market
with Miss Allerton,
like I said, when thwack!
The butcher slaughtered a pig,
and blood just splattered--
Belinda, that's enough.
Tend the kitchen.
Mother, I went to look for Frank.
At the hotel?
That death house
is no place for a child.
I'm not a child anymore!
You are forbidden to go there!
Go where?
She's been to the hospital,
looking for Frank Stringfellow.
Did you find him?
No, sir, I didn't.
Well, then, that's done.
You will, in the future,
speak to your mother
with greater respect,
and you will not return to the hotel.
I'm sorry, mother. Forgive me.
Of course.
Emma, did you hear any news of Tom?
Tom Fairfax.
I wasn't looking for Tom.
I'll try again next time.
Next time?
You live over in the bottoms?
You walking there tonight?
Mr. Bullen got me working on.
I got eyes for you, Aurelia.
That necklace told me as much.
My arm!
- Ohh.
- Soldier!
What is it?
I feel my blood.
- It's running dry.
- Where are the doctors?
No one left but Dr. Foster.
He's got a patient in surgery.
I'll send for someone else.
Hemorrhage, brachial artery.
- I'll go myself-- fast.
- You need to stay.
Make it stop, please!
- This man can't wait.
- Forgive me, lord.
Give me some thread.
- Samuel, we can't--
- Thread.
I-I need more light.
When they removed the bullet,
the blood vessel got ruptured.
They cauterized over it.
It's infected now.
He'll bleed to death.
Oh, no, they're killing me.
Mother, please.
No, I can't let you do this.
We need someone who knows how.
I know how, Miss Mary. I know how!
This boy gets saved by a nigger,
or he dies alone.
My arm!
He needs chloroform.
You need to dampen the cloth
and place it over his mouth.
Yes, I've seen it done.
Help hold the wound open.
Blood makes me uneasy.
You'll need to overcome that.
There is the rupture.
Now pinch the artery for me.
I'll tie a loop around it.
Leave an end dangling out.
That way, a doctor can pull it
a little every day
until the thread rots off
and the rupture is closed.
If they don't know how,
you got to tell them.
It's called a ligature.
How will we know if it worked?
It'll work. I've done it before.
Miss Phinney.
What happened here?
He was in grave pain.
The wound was hemorrhaging, so--
who tied this ligature?
I did.
Miss Dix trained me how.
Miss Dix?
And who trained her?
Every day, we'll need to--
pull on the end until the thread
rots and the rupture closes.
I've got a patient on the table.
Dr. Berenson taught me things
when I was little.
Ever since, I just kept on learning.
Are you all right, Dr. Foster?
Well.
I'm well.
By way of advice, nowhere does it say
we get to favor
the patients we approve of.
In here, this is only one type
of soldier-- the wounded.
No room yet?
No. I'm--
Well, the matron
will surely be by soon.
If I may, by way of advice?
Your views on race are unenlightened.
I grew up on a Maryland plantation.
I was rolling cigars with the slaves
when I was barely walking.
We had 64 of them at one point.
A Union surgeon from
a slave-holding family.
You are full of surprises, doctor.
My point being, I know more
of these things than you do.
I know right from wrong.
And I can tell
when I'm talking to someone
who also knows the difference.
You want to challenge me on slavery?
It's not our concern.
- Isn't it?
- No.
We keep men alive,
so what I am asking, demanding,
is that you see
every soldier as equal,
no matter what side he fights on.
This is a Union facility
for Union soldiers!
It is a hospital for sick people!
Blood is not gray or blue, madam.
It's all one color.
Put away childish things.
How many lives will you save
before this is over?
Miss Phinney?
Bursting at the seams, we are.
Dr. Summers felt it best
that you sleep here.
Uh, on the floor.
Uh, uh, beware of the arsenic.
You might want to sweep your area.
- Arsenic?
- We put it out for the rats.
Uh, you'll want to look out
for them, as well.
Here.
Yes! Whoo! Whoo!
We whooped them in Williamsburg!
The rebs are beating it to Richmond!
Is it so?
We'll be done with this thing
in a week, for sure!
On to Richmond!
I knew it!
Whoo! Victory, brothers! Victory!
I told him that I would be
right back for him.
But I took too long.
He never finished it.
"Though my last breath...
May come soon...
When it does,
know that I shall be thinking
only of you
and my eternal...
Hope."
IN THE NEXT EPISODE....
Sign it or we will
remove you from your house.
They will take everything we have.
There's work
to do here-- work that matters.
Dr. Foster
Where were we
when this whole mess started?
Leave her be!
Or by God, I'll kill you myself!
This is what happens to the traitors!
The situation is intolerable.
We will not traffic with extremists!
We must win this war at any cost!
Let go of the rope!
======================