LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 744 384 3 HoUinger pH8.5 Mill Run F3-1955 U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION. BRIEF REPORTS Of the operations of the Sayiitary Coimnissionin Tennessee, May^ 1862, BY ? d! ^ DR J. srisFEWBERRY, SEC'Y WEST. DEP'T. Fked. Law Olmsted, Esq., Secretary United States Sanitary Cominission : Dear Sir: — I have just returned from Pittsburgh Landing, where I have spent the last two weeks in doing, so far as in my power, the work of the Commission. And now, before my retura, which must be immediate, I will give you briefly a history of some of the results recently accomplished by the various agents and representatives of our organization in Tennessee. At the time of the battle of Pittsburgh I was in Nashville, engaged in the establishment of a depot of supplies. There are eleven hospitals there, containing about thirty-five hundred sick. Most of the hospital buildings are situated without the city limits, and are large, handsome, airy structures —formerly medical and academical schools, asylums, seminaries, &c.— some of the numerous public edifices for which Nashville has been celebrated. They are generally well located and unusually well adapted to hospital pur- poses. In these respects they are much superior to the buildings occupied by the sick in Louisville, but in regard to equipments and attendance the comparison is by no means so favorable to them. We found in all a great deficiency in hospital furniture and stores ; and since that market aff'ords almost nothing suitable for hospital diet, and the volunteer care and contri- butions from resident ladies, so important and beautiful an element in the Louisville hospitals, is here almost entirely wantmg, the condition of the sick ofiered abundant inducements for our efforts in their behalf. l^^ >\AA ^2 ARMY HOSPITALS. The Sanitary Commission, as you are aware, has been fortunate in being represented in Gen. Buell's army by inspectors of unusual energy and merit — Drs. Read and Prentice — and in having to do with one of the best of men, in Dr. Murray, the Medical Director. As a consequence, we have here enjoyed the rare privilege of doing all the good in our power, without opposition or impediment. The Commission has, therefore, in this district, become a living force, and working in harmonious and efficient cooperation with the constituted authorities, has accomplished so much in the prevention and relief of suflFering, as to secure the sincere respect— to use no stronger expression, of all who are cognizant of its efforts. Such being our status, tlie duty of providing for the wants of those in hospital became at once easy and pleasant. From Dr. E. Swift, the Medical Purveyor in Nashville, we received all possible assistance, and through his intervention obtained a fine room, which is now the depot for the stores entrusted to the Commission by the loyal women of Ohio, Kentucliy and Indiana. In this depot we were able to place at once three hundred boxes of hospital stores, which, under the care of Dr. Read and Mr. Fr acker, are being dispensed to the inmates of the hospitals at Nashville, Murfreesboro and Columbia. At these several points there are now from six to seven thousand sick, most of whom were in great need of the very things we were able to supply. I am sure it would gladden the hearts of all who are interested in our work if they could see, as I have seen, the surgeons coming hourly to our depot, bringing long lists of much needed articles, and taking away wagon load after wagon load of sheets, shirts, drawers, towels, pillows, comforts, wine, jellies, eggs, but- ter, cheese, potatoes, fruit, dried beef, canned meats, &c., &c., all to be imme- diately and carefully employed to cheer and cure our suffering volunteers. This depot is now one of the institutions of Nashville, and is accomplishing a great amount of good. Just as it was put into working order we received news of the battle at Pittsburgh, and Dr. Prentice and myself hastened to the scene of action. THE PITTSBURGH BATTLE-FIELD. On our way up the Tennessee we met three transports descending, loaded with wounded, destined for the hospitals at Paducah and Mound City. Arriving at Savannah Saturday night we found nearly two thousand sick and wounded crowded into churches, dwelling-houses, and structures of all kinds, filling to repletion every receptacle at all fitted to hold them. The suffering and destitution here were extreme. The number of surgeons and nurses was entirely inadequate, and the resources of the Medical Department in the way of bedding, clothing, dressings and diet so exceedingly meagre, that it is scarcely too much to say that all things necessary to the proper care of this great mass of suffering humanity were wholly wanting. Depending upon the large stock of stores forwarded to Pittsburgh before !> 3 the figlit, we had little to supply the pressing wants of the wounded at Sa- vannah. We therefore hastened forward on Sunday morning to headquar- ters at Pittsburgh Landing. The scene that here met our eyes was one to which no description, though it exhausted all the resources of language, could do anything like justice. For the space of a mile or more the bank of the river was lined with steamers, closely packed together, loaded with troops, stores and munitions of war. Each of these steamers was discharging its cargo, living or inani- mate, upon the steep and muddy bank, and soldiers, forage, provisions, clothing, artillery, army wagons and ambulances — the reinforcements and supplies of the great army which covered the hills for miles around— poured on to the shore in a noisy, turbulent, chaotic flood. To one standing on the bluff overlooking the landing, the scene below seemed one of wild and hopeless confusion. Soldiers hurrymg to and fro in a busy, inter-weaving crowd; the countless throng of army wagons floundering through the mud, now inter-locking, now upsetting with their loads ; the wounded, borne on ambulances or on litters to the boats ; the dead, lying stiff and stark on the wet ground, over-run with almost con- temptuous indifference by the living; the busy squads of grave-diggers rapidly consigning the corpses to the shallow trenches — all this formed a picture new, horrible, and never-to-be-forgotten by the many who here, for the first time, were brought face to face with the dreadful realities of the war in which we are engaged. It is no part of my duty, however, to de- scribe to you the horrors of the battle-field. This has been done, graphic- ally and well, by others, and I turn at once, with legitimate pleasure, to the many bright spots in the dark picture I have sketched. THE HOSPITAL BOATS. Previous to our arrival, and in company with us, there had come to the relief of the wounded in the battle of Pittsburg, quite a fleet of hospital boats, sent by the considerate humanity of our warm-hearted and patriotic people, and embodying the spirit of our beneficent and wide-spread organi- zation. These now lay, each marked with its yellow flag, moored among the steam • ers which lined the shore. They had come freighted with stores, surgeons and nurses, and afforded commodious and comfortable quarters to thousands who, but for them, must have endured incalculable suffering, and in many cases death itself. Doubtless you will have received from Dr. Douglass a more minute account than I can give you of the earlier efforts made for the care of the Wounded, but so far as I could learn, the history of the measures taken for the relief of suffering among the victims of the battle are sotne- what as folio Ws : The preparation made by the government for the engagement which had been expected to take place a few days later, was, for some reason^ far from adequate. Though aid tendered by the Cincinnati Commission had been declined by Gen. Halleck, just at that time very large requisitions were made on the Branch Commissions of Cincinnati and Chicago by the Medical Purveyor of Gen. Grant's division. In answer to these requisitions, and spontaneously, a large quantity of hospital stores was sent up the Tennes- see from Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland, and yet nothing like a suflScient stock was in the hands of the Medical Purveyor to meet the emergency when it arrived. This may be in part accounted for by the fact that on Sunday a portion of the supplies of our army fell into the hands of the ene, my, but there is still reason to believe that the medical or military authori- ties failed to act with the promptness, forethought and energy which the circumstances required. Much had been done, however, in anticipation of this conflict, which was in the highest degree wise and commendable. The government offlcers had chartered four large steamers, which had been fitted up by the Western Sanitary Commission, and were of incalculable benefit when the fight took place. Immediately on hearing of the battle, the Chicago Branch Commission, with its accustomed promptness, despatched a special train to Cairo, taking large quantities of supplies, and a corps of surgeons and nurses, all under the care of Rev. Dr. Patton and Dr. Isham. These reached the scene of action on the Louisiana — government hospital boat— on Friday evening. The good which they accomplished by their services and much needed stores, can hardly be estimated ; indeed, the arrival of this steamer may be regarded as the sunrise of a glorious day, which soon dissipated the dark- ness, till then brooding over the battle-field. Dr. Simmons, medical director of Gen. Halleck's army, Dr. Brinton, his efficient aid, and Dr. Douglass of our Commission, arrived with the Chicago delegation on the Louisiana, and as all acted in harmony and with enthusiasm, you can imagine that their efl"orts soon gave a new phase to medical aff'au-s at Pittsburgh Landing. The Cincinnati Branch Commission was also most creditably represented at Pittsburgh. Two first-class steamers, the Tycoon and Monarch, were fitted out as hospital boats by the Commission, furnished with every com- fort and even luxury for the wounded, and manned by a large and efficient corps of g urgeons and nurses. These boats were under the care, respective- ly, of Drs. Mendenhall and Comegys. After dispensing with liberal hand of their stores to the sufierers at the Landing, they both returned, carrying loads of wounded, all thoroughly and tenderly cared for, to the hospitals on the Ohio. From Cincinnati came also, on the same merciful errand, the Lancaster and Superior, chartered by the municipal authorities, for the most part equipped by the Sanitary Commission, and the latter accompanied by ten of its members. Since that time the Cincinnati Branch Commission has furnished and forwarded several other boats for Pittsburgh and Savannah, and has thus retained the preeminence in philanthropy gained by the Allen Collier, the pioneer hospital boat despatched by the Commission to Fort Donelson. The Governor of Ohio sent from Cincinnati the splendid steamer Magno- lia, in charge of Dr. Weber, the Surgeon-General of the State, to look after the wants of the wounded of Ohio regiments. This boat was almost lux- uriously fitted up by our efficient auxiliaries, the Aid Societies of Cleveland and Columbus, and returned to Cincinnati with two hundred and thirty of the sufferers in the fight. Since then, the Legislature has made liberal appropriations for this purpose, and several other steamers have been des- patched by the Governor on the same mission. During my stay, there came from Louisville two hospital boats—from Evansville, Indiana, one, and from Quincy, Illinois, another; all chartered by the State authorities for the care of the State troops. These, like those I have before enumerated, were but the advance-guard of the great fleet which, wafted by the breath of sympathy and patriotism, came, bringing health, courage and life to the thousands left shattered and bleeding by the storm of battle. A large number of other boats were sent by the efficient branches of our Commission which now exist throughout the Western States, and nearly all were fitted out from our stores, and were accompanied by our associate members. RELIEF OF THE SUFFERING. This splendid display of humanity may therefore be regarded as the ex- ponent of the value of our organization, and in great part the legitimate fruit of the efforts we have made and the system we have adopted for "promoting the health, comfort and efficiency of our volunteer troops." It is true, that in the luxuriant growth of the measures of relief in which the interest of the people in the success of our arms, and the fate of broth- ers, sons, husbands and lovers has expressed itself, symmetry has been often lost, and system over-shadowed; yet, while we have to regret that in many cases the eff^orts for the relief of suffering have been irregular, wasteful, fruitless and even harmful, we can congratulate ourselves that, on the whole,' incalculable good has been done, in which all should heartily rejoice. The part which Dr. Douglass, Dr. Prentice and myself were able to perform in the great work which has been done at Pittsburgh Landing, was, I think, not without its value and importance. It was to harmonize and systematize, so far as possible, the diverse, and sometimes discordant ele- ments which are in action in a common cause. Through our relations with the military and medical authorities, we were able to facilitate the accomplishment of the objects for which our friends had come, and to effect the more speedy and completerelief of the suffering. It aff"ords me sincere pleasure to say that at all times and in all cases ^^e were most courteously and kindly treated by those in authority, and a de- gree of respect and consideration accorded to us, as the representatives of our Commission, which was most gratifying to us, and complimentaiy to it. DEPOT OF SUPPLIES. In addition to the duty to whicli I have alluded, I devoted myself, during a part of my stay, to the establishment of a d^ot of supplies at this point. Through the kindly cooperation of Dr. Grinsted, the Medical Purveyor, this was easily accomplished. He assigned to our use a series of tents pitched adjoining his own, in which were placed the stores sent there on my requisition, and then turned over to us by the Branch Commissions of Chicago, Cincinnati and Columbus, These combined, composed nearly one hundred and fifty boxes of supplies, containing an assortment of the most useful articles. This depot was put in charge of Dr. Prentice, and before I left, was in active and successful operation. The surgeons of the regiments composing Gen. Halleck's army were systematically notified of its existence, and when coming with their requisitions to the Medical Purveyor, now apply to him for such things as they need and government cannot furnish. The importance of the work accomplished by the depot may be inferred from the following extract from a letter written by Mr. F. C. Sessions, of Columbus, Ohio : *****" The United States Sanitary Commission is doing a noble work. Many of our men must have died had it not been for the generous support sent by Ladies' Aid Societies. At the Purveyor's ofiice, there were no hospital stores, and not a full supply of medicines. I distributed nearly all the fifteen boxes from Columbus, on two hospital boats. Dr. Prentice, of Cleveland, Medical Inspector, appointed by the United States Sanitary Commission, has now three large tents near the Purveyor's office, and is distributing sanitary goods without regard to States. Any needy regimental hospitals can be supplied. Many Aid Societies complain that their goods are not distributed to the immediate friends from the points from which they are sent. It is impossible for him to do so, and the rule of the Commission forbids it. Some local institutions have sent goods here and carried them back, and others have been thrown upon the shore with none to care for them. Dr. Prentice is indefa- tigable in his labors to correctly distribute anything sent to him, to ex- amine personally the needs of the regimental hospitals, and to distribute only to the surgeons or on their requisitions. Goods sent to Dr. Prentice, United States Sanitary Commission, care United States Purveyor, Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee, or to the Commissions at Cleveland, Columbus or Cin- cinnati will be properly cared for. Had it not been for the sanitary sys- tem at Pittsburgh Landing, many a brave man would have been beyond sav- ing." * *********** To the depot at Pittsburgh Landing I have since sent a large amount of stores, and shall to-morrow start with over two hundred boxes more, and with nearly a steamer load of potatoes, vegetables, fruits, stimulants, ice, &c.,