Finding the "Prince of Patience"

18 January 2022: "Having no better information at their disposal, Alcott biographers (the author of this article included) have gamely reiterated Alcott’s errors, and the trail leading to the real John has remained disappointingly cold. But now, at long last, the mystery is solved." -John Matteson, "Finding Private Suhre: On the Trail of Louisa May Alcott's 'Prince of Patients'"

I am not kidding: I said, "Ohhh!" out loud when I read the sentences above. And the article itself is a heck of a read, as Matteson find the real identity of "John" from Hospital Sketches, complete with mentions of Hagerstown, Sharpsburg, and even Shepherdstown. I probably won't use this piece in my entry on the book, but it was a lot of fun to read (and kind of moving, too).

Work Cited

Matteson, John. "Finding Private Suhre: On the Trail of Louisa May Alcott's 'Prince of Patients.'" The New England Quarterly, vol. 88, no. 1, March 2015, pp. 104-125. JSTOR.