war would be much longer than they imagined. The First Battle of Bull Run—also known as the First Battle of Manassas—on July 21, 1861, was a southern tactical victory that opened the Civil War in the first major hand-to-hand combat. Despite the word of victory, the Confederate capital city was ill-prepared for the hundreds of wounded soldiers who subsequently poured in, many arriving via the Virginia Central Railroad. The shock brought the reality of the horrors of warfare directly home, as officials and citizens scrambled to take care of the overflow of injured and sick patients. Official hospitals were filled to capacity. Factories, churches, and even homes became temporary hospitals to accommodate the wounded. At nearly 28 years old, Sally was among the civilians who responded by opening the home of Judge John Robertson as a hospital. Judge Robertson had taken his family to the countryside for safety and left his home to Sally to use as a hospital for as long as she needed. Sally was not alone in this effort. A number of ladies from the Saint James Episcopal Church, as well as a number of slaves, ran what become known as Robertson Hospital. The women of Saint James Episcopal were collectively known as "The Ladies of Robertson Hospital." Robertson Hospital became one of the South's biggest wartime hospitals. After the initial crisis had passed, Confederate President Jefferson Davis instituted regulations requiring military hospitals be under military command. The Robertson Hospital had done such good work, and was prepared to continue, that Confederate President Jefferson Davis commissioned Tompkins as a captain so that she could continue her work. She and Lucy Otey of Lynchburg were officially commissioned as officers in the Confederate States Army. She refused any payment for her services. On her military commission, dated September 9, 1861, she wrote, "I accepted the commission as Captain in the C.S.A. when it was offered. But, I would not allow my name to be placed upon the pay roll of the army." The Robertson Hospital treated patients continuously throughout the war, discharging its last soldier on June 13, 1865. During its four-year existence, Robertson Hospital treated 1,334 wounded with only seventy-three deaths, the lowest mortality rate of any military hospital during the Civil War. Author and Civil War diarist Mary Chesnut was a frequent visitor to the hospital. She recorded "Our Florence Nightingale is Sally Tompkins." Another diarist, Judith