Editing Louisa May Alcott (section)

=== Civil War service ===
As an adult, Louisa Alcott was an abolitionist, [[Temperance movement|temperance]] advocate, and feminist.{{sfn|Norwich|1990|p=11}} When the [[American Civil War]] broke out in 1861, Alcott wanted to enlist in the [[Union Army]] but could not because she was a woman. Instead, she sewed uniforms and waited until she reached the minimum age for army nurses at thirty years old.<ref>{{harvnb|Matteson|2016|pp=32–33}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=165}}</ref> Soon after turning thirty in 1862, Alcott applied to the [[United States Sanitary Commission|U. S. Sanitary Commission]], run by [[Dorothea Dix]], and on December 11 was assigned to work in the [[Union Hotel (Washington, D.C.)|Union Hotel Hospital]] in [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown, Washington, D. C.]]<ref>{{harvnb|MacDonald|1983|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|p=170}}; {{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=60}}</ref> When she left, Bronson felt as if he was "sending [his] only son to the war".{{Sfn|Matteson|2007|p=271}} When she arrived, she discovered that conditions in the hospital were poor, with over-crowded and filthy quarters, bad food, unstable beds, and insufficient ventilation.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=60}}; {{harvnb|MacDonald|1983|p=5}}; {{Harvnb|Meigs|1968|p=112}}; {{Harvnb|Elbert|1987|p=153}}</ref> Diseases such as scarlet fever, [[Chickenpox|chicken pox]], [[measles]], and [[typhus]] were rampant among the patients.{{Sfn|Elbert|1987|p=156}} Alcott's duties included cleaning wounds, feeding the men, assisting with [[amputation]]s, dressing wounds, and later assigning patients to their [[Hospital ward|wards]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Reisen|2009|pages=170–173}}; {{Harvnb|Elbert|1987|p=154}}</ref> She also entertained patients by reading aloud and putting on skits.{{sfn|Delamar|1990|p=61}} She served as a nurse for six weeks in 1862–1863.<ref>{{harvnb|Richardson|1911|p=529}}; {{harvnb|Stern|2000|p=32}}</ref> She intended to serve three months,{{Sfn|Meigs|1968|p=129}} but contracted [[typhoid fever]] and became critically ill partway through her service.{{Sfn|Meigs|1968|p=127}} In late January Bronson traveled to the hospital and took Louisa to Concord to recover.<ref>{{harvnb|Delamar|1990|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Matteson|2016|p=34}}; {{harvnb|Reisen|2009|pp=176–180}}; {{Harvnb|Meigs|1968|pages=129–131}}</ref>