the academy arrived for enrollment July 4, 1841. The Academy is now known as Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and is the oldest Roman Catholic college for women in the United States. As early as 1846, a charter was granted by the State empowering the institution to confer academic honors and collegiate degrees. The sisters soon found themselves in charge of or staffing several local schools, including St. Joseph's Parochial Catholic School, St. Benedict's German Catholic School, and St. Patrick's Day School, all in nearby Terre Haute. As their reputation grew, the Sisters of Providence would eventually staff schools across Indiana. They would also extend their ministry into Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, other states, and the District of Columbia. They have also staffed schools internationally in China, Taiwan, and at Colegio San José in Arequipa, Peru. Civil War In May 1861 the Sisters of Providence were asked to take over the administration of City Hospital in Indianapolis, when measles broke out in the nearby state encampment. The United States Government turned it into a military hospital for the duration of the war. In June 1864, seventy-five Hoosiers from Sherman's army were transferred from hospitals in Louisville and Jeffersonville. The hospital also cared for wounded Confederate soldiers. Under the direction of Mary Cecilia Bailly, the sisters took charge of washing, cooking, and cleaning; several Sisters served as nurses. In a "Report of the Surgeons of the Military Hospital" to the Inspector General, Doctors John M Kitchen and P.H. Jameson wrote, "In conclusion we feel that ... whatever success may have attended the management of the Hospital is due in a great degree to the noble and self-sacrificing efforts of those meek and worthy women – the sisters of Providence." A Confederate prison was also located in Indianapolis, which held at one time 7,000 prisoners. According to Colonel Oran Perry of the 69th Regiment of Indiana, "It is probable that all the Sisters in the Service in the city here were, at times, on duty in this prison. ... The Sisters were seen everywhere, on the boats, in the barracks, in the streets, always giving the most tender care to the soldiers." After the Battle of Fort Donaldson, the Bishop of Vincennes offered the use of the seminary for the sick and wounded and the assistance of the sisters to care for them. Soldiers of the 19th Illinois Regiment were cared for