Hospital Sketches (1863) is a compilation of four sketches based on letters Louisa May Alcott sent home during the six weeks she spent as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army in Georgetown. The first of the four was initially published on May 22, 1863 in the magazine Boston Commonwealth. The pieces received great critical and popular acclaim making Alcott an overnight success. The four sketches were compiled and published in a single volume by the abolitionist publisher James Redpath several months later.