Gleanings from Southland by Kate Cumming

Gleanings from Southland by Kate Cumming

Kate Cumming

1835-1909

Kate Cumming was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1835, but she emigrated with her family to Mobile, Alabama, in the 1840s. In Mobile, Cumming's path was forever altered by the tumult of the Civil War. Following the Battle of Shiloh, she journeyed to Corinth, Mississippi, to aid Confederate soldiers, and in August 1862, she volunteered as a nurse with the Army of the Tennessee under the medical directorship of Dr. Samuel Stout. Recognized for her dedication and skill, Cumming was appointed a "matron" in the Confederate Medical Department, overseeing hospitals for the duration of the conflict. After the war, she relocated to Birmingham, where she pursued her passion for education by offering music lessons and teaching. Cumming's diary was first published in 1895 and details the experiences of women in medical service during the Civil War. She passed away in 1909.

Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, http://alabamaauthors.org

1895

Gleanings from Southland. Birmingham, AL; Roberts & Son, 1895 (The same material has been printed under three different titles; A Journal of Hospital Life in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, The Journal of Kate Cumming, and Kate; the Journal of a Confederate Nurse).

AL Book Collection

Cumming, Kate, “Gleanings from Southland by Kate Cumming,” Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, accessed November 8, 2026, https://alabamaauthors.org/items/show/24642.