<i>There are many people to write you of the noble side, the heroic side, the exalted side of war. I must write you of what I have seen, the other side, the backwas.</i><br />Ellen Newbold La Motte<br /><br /><b>Ellen Newbold La Motte </b>(1873&ndash;1961) was an American nurse, journalist and author. She is known for her book <b>The Backwash of War</b> in which she chronicled her experience as a nurse in <b>World War I</b> in an often bitter and cynical manner. She was also a leading practitioner in the treatment of tuberculosis and an advocate for addressing opium addiction in China.