Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman, born May 31, 1819, became America’s national poet with vibrant works such as 1855’s Leaves of Grass. Some of Whitman’s poems were inspired by his Civil War experience as a hospital volunteer in Washington. Although a staunch supporter of the Union cause, Whitman comforted dying soldiers of both sides, as described in one of the poet’s wartime newspaper dispatches: ‘I stayed a long time by the bedside of a new patient…. In an adjoining ward I found his brother…It was in the same battle both were hit. One was a strong Unionist, the other Secesh; both fought for their respective sides, both badly wounded, and both brought together after a separation of four years. Each died for his cause.’
Photo: Library of Congress
