Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton founded the Roman Catholic community of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's here in 1809, and in 1850 it merged with the Daughters of Charity. During the Civil War, the sisters played a prominent role as nurses and human service workers, continuing Mother Seton's ministry of charity by bringing solace and healing to wounded soldiers of both armies, sometimes at their own peril. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Father Francis Burlando and a group of twelve sisters, carrying baskets of supplies, bandages, and other necessities, were among the first from outside Gettysburg to provide aid. One sister recalled the horrific scene of dead soldiers from both armies lying along the road and beside their horses. The sisters stayed in McClellan's Hotel, now the Gettysburg Hotel, while nursing the wounded. More than 600 sister nurses from twelve separate religious communities served during the Civil War, and among the four communities with American hospital experience, about 270 Daughters of Charity provided nursing care and spiritual assistance to wounded soldiers of both armies at more than sixty sites in fifteen states.
