"Hospital Sketches" by Louisa May Alcott is a compilation of four sketches published in 1863, based on her six weeks as a volunteer Civil War nurse. Through her fictional narrator Tribulation Periwinkle, Alcott chronicles her journey to Georgetown and her experiences tending wounded soldiers from the Battle of Fredericksburg. These vivid letters, written on makeshift surfaces between patient care, captured both the hardships of wartime nursing and moments of unexpected humor, launching Alcott to overnight literary success before she wrote "Little Women." (This is an automatically generated summary.)