Historical Program – April 2011 – Captain Sally Tompkins
Sally Louisa Tompkins
“The Angel of the Confederacy”
“Captain Sally”
“Our Florence Nightingale is Sally
Tompkins.” –Mary Chesnut
Born 9 November 1833
in Poplar Grove, VA
Died 26 July 1916
in Richmond, VA
-Although born in Poplar Grove,
VA, Sally called Richmond home
for most of her life.
- The death of her father, Col.
Christopher Tompkins
(Revolutionary War Veteran),
led the family to Richmond.
- The First Battle of Manassas on
21 July 1861 was a tactical victory
for the South, but it left many
soldiers in need of medical care.
-The wounded overwhelmed Richmond, many coming
in on the Virginia Central Railroad. Citizens were urged
to open their homes to these needy soldiers.
Sally Tompkins
took the initiative
to convince
wealthy Richmond
Judge John
Robertson to allow
her to use his home
as a hospital.
Judge Robertson
had recently left
the Richmond
home to seek safer
lodging in the
Shenandoah
Valley. Sally was
28 years old at the
time and used her
own family’s
money to sponsor
the hospital.
The Robertson Hospital
After the initial deluge passed, the Confederates
instituted regulations that such hospitals had to be
under military command; however, Sally’s hospital
had been so successful in returning the wounded to
battle that President Davis commissioned Sally as a
captain in the Confederate Cavalry, allowing the
hospital to continue with its own successful methods.
“She worked early and late,
going from duty to duty, her
medicine chest strapped to her
side and her Bible in her hands.
She passed from bed to bed with
necessary nourishment or
medicines, bestowing spiritual
comfort as needed, ever ready to
ease pain or to relieve a
distressed soul.”
-Bryant,
D.A. “Captain Sally Tompkins.”
UDC Magazine. March 2011: 10-11.
Although the hospital’s success was attributed to many things, its
cleanliness was most likely what set it apart from other hospitals
of the time, and many of Sally’s practices are still widely used.
-The Robertson Hospital
discharged its last soldier
on 13 June 1865.
-During its four-year
existence, Robertson
Hospital treated 1,333
wounded with only
seventy-three deaths, the
lowest mortality rate of
any military hospital
during the War Between
the States.
-Sally depleted her family
fortune by the end of the
War and refused any
payment for her services.
Sally …
-was the only woman
officially commissioned as an
officer of the CSA.
-was bombarded with letters
of gratitude after the War.
-would receive a standing
ovation when she entered the
convention hall of the UDC.
- lived in the Richmond Home
for Confederate Women her
last nine years as an honored
guest.
- was buried with full military
honors at Christ Church in
Matthews County, VA.
< Stained glass
window honoring
Captain Sally
Tompkins at St.
James Episcopal
Church in
Richmond,
Virginia