Like many nurses of the time she's spent most of her year of duty at a hospital in D.C. cooking and writing letters for the wounded. All attempts to learn any actual medicine are rebuffed. When the battle lines are about to be drawn in Gettysburg, Cathay bullies her way into an off-field hospital with a handful of nurses. Still, even at the edge of battle, she's kept from the fight and the true depth of help she feels she can offer.