Annie Wittenmeyer Works for Soldiers

During the Civil War, in 1864, Iowan Annie Wittenmeyer created diet kitchens to provide food and rest for wounded soldiers.

In 1864 Annie Wittenmeyer resigned her position as State Sanitary Agent from Iowa to supervise the diet kitchens full-time. She saw to it that men too sick to return to battle were given discharges or furloughs home, so they could regain their health under better conditions. The diet kitchens were responsible for saving a number of lives. And General Grant praised Annie Wittenmeyer’s work, saying that no soldier on the firing line gave a more heroic service than she rendered.