Ottr C atlrolic Heritage in Texas
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island port took place. Without hesitation, the Ursulines refused the offer of General J. Bankhead McGruder, C.S.A., to remove them in ambulances to a place of safety. "The noble women of the convent expressed a prefer- ence to remain and nurse the wounded, offering their whole building for a hospital." They fearlessly and tenderly cared for them without distinc- tion of friend or foe. "They had even picked up a few negroes that had got shot," a Confederate veteran recollected years later. Long before the battle they had sent all the girls home but they themselves remained to help anybody in need. 2 For many years, until the ranks of both the Blue and the Grey thinned out to but a few survivors, both Confederate and Union veterans came annually from far and near to place a wreath of gratitude upon the grave of Mother Pierre Harrington, "the soldiers' friend and ministering angel" cm that bloody day of the Battle of Galveston. The old convent and academy served as the first war hospital in Texas and the Ursulines as the first nurses to minister to the sick and wounded in the State. The emergency over, and with a new congregation founded shortly after the war, whose chief concern was the care of the sick and ailing, the Ursulines turned to their teaching duties again in 1866. Disaster, how- ever, has always found them ready to help. During the unparalleled storm of September 8, 1900, they again rendered signal service. Like a thunder- bolt out of the blue a frightful hurricane and tidal wave suddenly swept across the waters of the Gulf and over the island on that day with a fury that laid everything low. Thousands of men, women and children died, millions of dollars worth of property were destroyed, only shambles were left of the flourishing port city. Among the very few buildings that with- stood the rush of the angry waters and the howling wind to offer refuge to the hopeless was the convent and academy of the Ursulines, perched on one of the high spots on the island. Nearly a thousand homeless, storm- driven unfortunates found asylum within its walls. White and Negro, rich and poor were given shelter alike. Throughout the night the crushing wind and waters drove the victims upon the broken walls of the old school. "Like Angels of Mercy," said the newspaper account printed later, "they went through the ... sufferers whispering words of cheer, offering what scant clothing could be found." The great service rendered is a matter of record. The people of Galveston have been ever grateful.' 2 Ursuline Academy, Galveston, So,111e11ir of the Diamond /t,bilee, pp. 6-7. 3 Cited in Sister Mary Cl!macus Shelly, C.C.V.I., Catholic Hospitalization ;,, Te.r:as (MS. Thesis 1936. Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas), s.
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