From: "Four Years Campaigning in the Army of the Potomac," D.G. Crotty, 1874, Grand Rapids, MI.  pp. 57-58

I must mention in these pages Anna Etheridge, the heroine and daughter of our regiment.  The world never produced but a very few such women, for she is along with us through storm and sunshine, in the heat of the battle caring for the wounded, and in camp looking after the poor sick soldier, and to have a smile and a cheering word for every one who comes in her way.  Every soldier is alike to her.  She is with us to administer to all our little wants, which are not few.  To praise her would not be enough, but suffice to say, that as long as one of the old Third shall live, she will always be held in the greatest esteem, and remembered with kindly feelings for her goodness and virtues.

From: "The Loyal West in the Times of the Rebellion," by John Warner Barber, 1865, Cincinnati, OH., pp. 412 - 413.

Miss Anna Etheridge was born in Detroit, Michigan, and is now twenty-three years of age.  Her father was once a man of wealth, and her early youth was passed in the lap of luxury, with no wish ungratified, and no want uncared for.  But misfortune came and swept away his property and, broken in fortune and depressed in spirit, he removed to Minnesota, where he died, leaving our heroine, at the age of twelve years, in comparative poverty and want.  On the breaking out of the rebellion, she was visiting her friends in this city.

Colonel Richardson was then engaged in raising the 2d Michigan volunteers and she and nineteen other females volunteered to accompany the regiment as nurses.  Every other has returned home or been discharged, but she has accompanied the regiment through all its fortunes, and declares her determination to remain with it during its entire term of service.  She has for her use a horse, furnished with a side-saddle, saddle-bags, etc.  At the commencement of a battle she fills her saddle-bags with lint and bandages, mounts her horse, and gallops to the front, passes under fire, and regardless of shot and shell, engages in the work of staunching and binding up the wounds of our soldiers.  In this manner she has passed through every battle in which the regiment has been engaged, commencing with the battle of Blackburn's Ford, preceding the first battle of Bull Run, including the battles of the Peninsula, and terminating with the battle of Fredericksburg.

General Berry, the present commander of the brigade to which her regiment is attached, and who highly distinguished himself for bravery and gallantry in all these fights, declares that she has been under as hot a fire of the enemy as himself.  On one occasion a soldier was torn to pieces by a shell while she was in the act of binding up his wounds previously received, and on many occasions her dress has been pierced by bullets and fragments of shell, yet she never flinched and never been wounded.  Her regiment belongs to the brigade commanded by the lamented General Kearney till his death, and in consideration of her dauntless courage and invaluable services in saving the lives of his men, General Kearney commissioned her as a regimental sergeant.  When not actively engaged on the battle-field or in the hospital, she superintends the cooking at the headquarters of the brigade.  When the brigade moves, she mounts her horse and marches with the ambulances and surgeons, administering to the wants of the sick and wounded, and at the bivouac she wraps herself in her blanket, and sleeps upon the ground with all the hardihood of a true soldier.

Anna is about five feet three inches in height, fair complexion (now somewhat browned by exposure), brown hair, vigorous constitution, and decidedly good looking.  Her dress on entering into battle, is a riding garment, so arranged as to be looped up when she dismounts.  Her demeanor is perfectly modest, quiet and retiring, and her habits and conduct are current and exemplary; yet on the battle-field she seems to be as one possessed and animated with a desire to be effective in saving the lives of the wounded soldiers.  No harsh word was ever known to be uttered by her, and she is held in the highest veneration and esteem by the soldiers, as an angel of mercy.  She is, indeed, the idol of the brigade, every man of which would submit to almost any sacrifice in her behalf.  She takes the deepest interest in the result of this contest, eagerly reading all the papers to which she can obtain scores, and keeping thoroughly posted as to the progress of the war.  She says she feels as if she stood alone in the world, as it were, and desires to do good.  She knows that she is the instrument of saving many lives, and alleviating much suffering in her present position, and feels it her duty to continue in so doing.

These facts can be substantiated by testimony of the highest character, and they deserve to go forth to the world to show that if England can boast of the achievements of a Florence Nightengale, we of America can present a still higher example of female heroism and exalted acts of humanity in the person of Anna Etheridge.