E 631 
 .K37 
 Copy 1 
 
 KENTUCKY BRANCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U. S. Sanitary Commission. 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 LOUISVIL LE: 
 
 HULL & BROTHEK, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
 
 1866. 
 
/ 
 
KENWCKY BRAxNCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U. S. Sanitary Commission 
 
 R E P R T. 
 
 L (M' I S V 1 L L K: 
 
 lirLL A- ilROTlIKK, I'KINTEItS ANli lUNDKUS. 
 
 1 S . 
 
J{37 
 
 K E N T U C K Y B R A N C TI 
 
 OF 
 
 U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION. 
 
 T. S. BELL. M I)., PivKsiDENT. 
 
 Uev. .]0HN H. HKVWOOI). \'ic« Pue>*. 
 
 L. A. CIVILL, ISecretakv 
 
 ARTHrF^ PKTEK, E.s(^, Tkeasikhu, 
 
 ELDER D. P. HENDEHSOX, 
 
 .1. P>. FLINT, U. I). 
 
 K. C. HEWETT, M. 1). 
 
 \V. B. HELKXAl', Esij. 
 
 U. J. MENIFEE, Ehq. 
 
 (}E()KGE D. PRENTICE, Ksij 
 
 JOSEPH HOLT, E^cj. 
 
 )M EXCHAHQi 
 JAN 5 - 1915 
 
R E P R T. 
 
 Jlr. Pt'i'>iidenf and Jlcinlu'rfi of fltf Conimissloii : 
 
 At your re(|uest I have made a brief Report of the history 
 of the Kentucky Branch of the U. S. Sanitary Connnission, 
 which is now respectfully submitted to you. 
 
 It was on the 12th of April, 1861, that Fort Sumter was 
 attacked by the rebel forces under Gen. Beauregard, and on 
 the 14th it Avas evacuated. On the following day President 
 Lincoln issued his memorable Proclamation, in which he called 
 for seventy five thousand men to suppress the combinations 
 formed for rending the Union asunder and " to cause the laws 
 to be duly executed." The great loyal heart of the Nation 
 responded instantly and fervently to the appeal. Not only <Iid 
 the seventy-five thousand patriots, taking theii- lives in their 
 hands, go forth for the defense of Country and (Jrovernmont, but 
 men, women, children, eager to do their part in the sacred work 
 freely offered, money, time, labor, persomil service, any thing, 
 ((Very thing, to strengthen the arms and add to the efficiency 
 of the brave men who wci-e willing to die that the Nation might 
 live. Never was there a grander uprising of a free people, 
 never a nobler, more spontaneoirs, unreserved contributioii of 
 its resources by a great and iht^lligent community. 
 
 With the oi'ganizing power, characteristic of the American 
 mind, associations were at once formed for the purpose of 
 combining and methodizing individual exertions, and thus 
 ijivins; to them a wise direction as well as increased effectiveness. 
 
Soldiers' Aid Societies sprang up at once in cities and vil- 
 lages, as by the suddenness of impulse yet Avith the order of 
 forethought and, in an incredibly short time the results of 
 their intelligent, organized industry began to appear in the 
 generous supplies of useful, timely articles promptly borne 
 bv their agents and messengers to sick and suffering soldiers. 
 
 It is an interesting fact and strikingly illustrative of the en- 
 ergy as well as of the humanity of the educated women of 
 our country that one of these associations, the Soldiers' Aid 
 Society of Cleveland, a society as remarkable for its thorough 
 system, its business-like character and efficiency, as for its 
 thoughtful kindness and its exhaustless generosity, was organ- 
 ized and in working order in less than a Aveek after the sur- 
 render of Fort Sumter. 
 
 To another of these noble Societies, " The Woman's Cen- 
 tral Association of Relief" in New York, may the origin of the 
 U. S. Sanitary Commission be in part at least attributed. It 
 was the delegation sent to Washington by this and two other 
 Societies, " The Advisory Committee of the Board of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons of the Hospitals of New York " and " The 
 N. Y'. Medical Association for furnishing Hospital Supplies 
 in aid of the Army," — consisting of Henry W. Bellows, D.D., 
 W. H. Van Buren, M. D., Elisha Harris, M. D. and Jacob 
 Harsen, M. D., which asked " that a mixed commission of 
 civilians, militarj' officers and medical men might be appointed 
 by the Government, charged with the duty of methodizing 
 and reducing to practical service the already active but undi- 
 rected benevolence of the people towards the army.'' 
 
 It was on the 18th of May, 1861, that their communication 
 was addressed to the Secretary of War. The then acting 
 Surgeon General R. C. Wood, M. D., earnestly urged " the 
 establishment of the desired Commission as a needed adjunct 
 to the new, extensive and oveji-j3©wing duties of the Medical 
 Bureau," and on the 9th of June, the Secretary, with the ap- 
 proval of the President, decided on the formation of the Com- 
 mission. A plan of organization was at once drawn up for 
 what was called at first, "The Commission of Inquiry and 
 
Advice in respect of the sanitary interests of the United 
 States Forces," afterwards " The United States Sanitary Com- 
 mission," which was approved by the Secretary of War, June 
 l-3th. The Commission at once began the work which, keep- 
 ing pace with the war and expanding to meet ever recurring 
 emergencies, became continental in its reacli, enlisting the ac- 
 tive sympathy and receiving the hearty cooperation of millions 
 rif patriotic Americans at home and abroad, from the miners 
 of California and dwellers in Europe and Asia and the isles of 
 the Pacific, and rendering inestimable service to the cause of 
 country and humanity. 
 
 On the 14th of June, many persons from various parts of 
 the country were chosen associate members, among whom 
 were several citizens of Louisville. 
 
 Thus commenced our connection with the U. S. Commis- 
 sion. For some months Ave worked on. without formal oro-an- 
 ization as a Branch, doing what we could for the comfort of 
 the sick and wounded soldiers, and especially cooperating with 
 Dr. Murray, the Medical Director of this Department, in es- 
 tablishing and furnishing hospitals. 
 
 We recall with great pleasure the name of tbis accomplished 
 gentleman, with whom and with his worthy successor Dr. 
 Perin and the other able gentlemen who successively presided 
 over the Department, our relations were very cordial. 
 
 In the early part of October, 1861, Dr. Newberry, the Sec- 
 retary of the Western Department of the U. S. Commission, 
 visited our city, and the Kentucky Branch was then rejrularlv 
 organized. 
 
 On the 21st of September, 18(31, the 49th Ohio, a gallant, 
 noble regiment, passed through our city, bringing quite a 
 number of sick soldiers whom, so prompt and instantaneous 
 had been their response to the call to join Gen. Rousseau's 
 brave men in meeting and repelling Buckner's forces, they 
 had not been able to provide for and leave in comfort behind. 
 
 No regular or permanent hospital arrangements liad then 
 been made. The sick of Rousseau's brigade had been taken 
 from Camp Joe Holt to the Marine Hospital, which Avas very 
 
6 
 
 limited in its accommodations, and no new hospitals had been 
 organized, though two were in process of organization. As 
 several of these sick men of the 49th had contagious disease — 
 the measles — they could not be taken to the City Hospital nor 
 to the Infirmary. We made arrangements therefore with a 
 lady, who kept a large boarding-house near the Nashville Rail 
 Road Depot, and the sick were removed to her house, Avhich 
 was thus temporarily converted into a Hospital, and occupied 
 as such for one month, from September 21st to October 22d. 
 Sixty patients were admitted and cared for, some of whom 
 were very ill but, thanks to a kind Providence, the hand of 
 death was laid upon none. 
 
 In improvising this Hospital, which was gratefully accepted 
 by Dr. Murray, the members of the Commission endeavored 
 to do what was in their power to meet the wants of the earnest 
 men, whose sickness was owing to sacrifices and exposures 
 cheerfully met and borne for our country's sake, and to carry 
 out the purpose, which from the outset it proposed and kept 
 constantly in view, to cooperate with the Medical Department 
 in its sanitary and remedial efforts. 
 
 The sick accumulated very rapidly in our city during the 
 autumn of 1861, from the large army stationed between Lou- 
 isville and Green River. The trains brought them up every eve- 
 ning, sometimes in large numbers, and not unfrequently with- 
 out previous notice having been sent to the Medical Director, 
 who, notwithstanding that he was constantly engaged in pro- 
 viding and keeping in readiness regular and permanent hos- 
 pitals, was thus often obliged to extemporize hospital accom- 
 modations to meet these pressing emergencies. At times his 
 messenger would come to us at midnight to obtain sheets, 
 blankets, bed-sacks, for perhaps fifty or a hundred men brought 
 to him in feebleness and suffering and not a few in the last 
 stages of disease, in the agonies or the unconsciousness of ap- 
 proaching death. It was a privilege to be able from our 
 stores to meet the urgent demand and to join in the sacred 
 work of ministering to our brave soldiers in their hours of ex- 
 treme need. 
 
From friends far and near came those stores, generously 
 given by patriotic and humane hearts, free-Avill offerings for 
 the country's altar. Our own citizens and especially the ladies 
 of the Aid Societies in the several Wards were ceaseless in exer- 
 tion and unremitting in contribution, and citizens of nearly all 
 the loyal States of the Union were united with them in the 
 kindly work. It is interesting to recur to our records and see 
 from how many and how widely separate places these contri- 
 butions came. 
 
 In Kextucky. — From the loyal men and women of Louis- 
 ville and Jefferson county; from the Soldiers' Aid Society at 
 Shelbyvillc, whose liberal donations appeared with a frequency 
 and constancy that indicated an energy and perseverance 
 worthy of the benevolence of the donors ; from citizens of 
 Lexington, Frankfort, Paris, Georgetown, Midway, Glasgow, 
 Flemingsburgh, Elizabethtown, Cloverport,0\ven8boro, Greens- 
 burgh, Harristown, Southville, New Castle, Eminence, New 
 Haven, Paynes' Station, La Grange, Pewee Valley, Saltillo, 
 Goshen, Lawrenceburg, Bethlehem, Bagdad, Pleasureville. 
 Franklinton, Mt. Vernon, Butler, Catawba, Cold Springs. 
 ^Voodland, Millersburg, Henderson, Lebanon. 
 
 In Ohio. — From the Cincinnati Branch of the Sanitary 
 Commission, the Soldiers' Aid Society of Columbus, from the 
 women of Richland, London, Chilicothe, McConnelsville, Char- 
 don, Hillsboro, Springfield, Akron, Hamilton, Toledo, Circle 
 ville ; from the Soldiers' Aid Society of Clark's Run, Green 
 county, and from the Soldiei's' Aid Society of Northern Obi<: 
 at Cleveland, that noble institution which sprang into being at 
 the first note of our country's bugle-call, Minerva-like, rich in 
 Avisdom and fully armed, beginning its earnest work April 
 20th, 1861, and ceasing not until the war was ended, and the 
 surviving soldiers gladly I'eturned to peaceful industry. 
 
 In Indiana. — From Akron, Attica, Bedford, Bono, Bloom- 
 ington, Burlington, Cai'tersburg, Carterville, Cattlettsburg. 
 Charlestown, Danville, Dayton, Delphi, Derby, Henryvillo, 
 Indianapolis, Lafayette, Lawrenceport, Madison, Mitchell, 
 Muncie, Peru, Pittsburg, Rising Sun, Roekville, Saltilloville. 
 
Salem, Saluda, Tippecanoe, Valparaiso, Vincennes, and from 
 the Soldiers' Aid Societies of Delphi and of Jasper county, 
 from Marshall and Wayne counties. 
 
 In Michigan, — From Adrian, Ionia, Johnstown, Leoni, 
 Niles, Owosso, Saginaw, and from the efficient and admirably 
 conducted Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit. 
 
 In Wisconsin. — From Delaware, Hartford, ^lilwaukee and 
 Winnebago. 
 
 In Illinois. — From Cairo, Chicago, Decatur, Eden, Joliet, 
 Sparta, Sterling, and from the wide-awake, energetic "Needle- 
 Pickets of Quincy." 
 
 In New York. — From Buffalo, Dunkirk, llornellsville, Mih's 
 Centre, Rochester, Syracuse, and from the Society, Avhich in 
 promptness, energy, comprehensiveness of plan and untiring 
 beneficence worthily represented the great metropolis, " The 
 Women's Central Association for Relief." 
 
 In Pennsylvania. — From Chambersburg, Chester, Eliza - 
 bethtown, Germantown, Hatborough, Huntington, Lancaster, 
 Limerick Bridge, Newville, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, whose 
 "• Soldiers' Subsistence Committee " generously ma le ship- 
 ment after shipment of articles timely and valuable, and from 
 the counties of Cumberland, Montgomery and Westmoreland. 
 
 In Connecticut. — From Hartford and New London. 
 
 In Massachusetts. — From Boston, Cambridge, Charles- 
 town, Dorchester, Lynn, Medford, New Bedford, Newton, 
 Roxbury, Salem and Worcester. At the request of James M. 
 Barnard, Esq., of Boston, whose ceasch'ss and most efficient ex- 
 ertions in behalf of our Western soldiers tan never be forgotten, 
 the " New England Sanitary Commission" early sent us a very 
 large and valuable contribution, and never was contribution 
 more useful or timely. Very soon after we had received it, 
 the Surgeon in charge of the hospital at Columbia, Ky. came 
 to us with an earnest request to aid thv; many sick soldiers 
 there. We were enabled to fill many boxes for them, and as 
 the warm-hearted physician expressed his gratitude, gratitude 
 due not to us but to the thoughtful donors far and near, we 
 were deeply impressed by the beauty of this systematic and 
 
9 
 
 cooperative beneficence, by wliich the rills of kindness, flowing 
 from generous hearts in far away Maine, blended with kind- 
 dred rills flowing from loyal hearts in Wisconsin and Kentuc- 
 ky and its sister States to form, under the divine blessing, a 
 river of life for our country's brave defenders in their hours 
 of weakness and pain. 
 
 We dispensed the stores thus kindly confided to us in ac- 
 cordance with the Saviour's direction — " Freely ye have receiv- 
 ed, freely give " — trusting always that new supplies would 
 come to meet new wants. Our hope was not disappointed. It 
 seemed as if the gracious hand of God had renewed Zarephath's 
 impressive miracle, for "the barrel of meal wasted not, neither 
 did the cruse of oil fail."' 
 
 Experience and the recuvriiiLremero-encics of the war tau'i^ht 
 US that the purposes of the humane donors could be most 
 thoroughly carried out and the greatest good done to the great- 
 est number of soldiers by making as liberal contributions as was 
 in our power to the hospitals — permanent, regimental and 
 camp, — to hospital boats and hospital trains ; by sending 
 promptly large supplies to the battle-fields f(tr the Avounded; 
 by making and keeping the Soldiers' Home comfortable and 
 attractive, and by aiding soldiers and their families in the 
 collection of back pay, pensions and bounties. 
 
 In these four directions we have principally labored, seeking 
 tneanwhile to do what we could for soldiers sick in barracks, for 
 discharge*! or ' furloughed soldiers coming to us weak, way- 
 worn, destitute, and for soldiers' relatives, wives, parents, 
 sisters, whom warm aff'cction and intense anxiety for their be- 
 loved ones prostrated by disease or wounds had brought from 
 far away homes, and who sometimes found themselves among 
 strangers in extreme need. 
 
 HosPiTAL.s AND IIosPiTAL BoATS. — When one reviews the 
 list of names on our i-ecords of hospitals or hospital stations to 
 which we were called to contribute regularly or occasionally 
 and remembers that these formed but a portion of the hospital 
 arrangements of the army of the Union, he is deeply impress- 
 ed alike with the magnitude of the war which involved so large 
 
10 
 
 iin amount of sickness, and with the promptness and ceaseless 
 industry of the organized beneficence of our country which 
 filled our warerooms and the warerooras of the other Branches 
 of the Commission, and thus enabled us in responding to the 
 constantly recurring demands, to cooperate with the Medical 
 Department in ministering to the relief of our brave men in 
 their hours of suffering and need. This list covers points as 
 widely remote from each other as Cumberland Gap on the 
 borders of Western Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee, and 
 Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, and a long array of names, more 
 or less famihar, all invested with the interest imparted by peril 
 bravely met and pain and hardship cheerfully borne for patriot- 
 ism's sacred cause. In addition to the hospitals in and around 
 Louisville, at one time twenty in number and filled to over- 
 flowing with sick and wounded men, and those in our neighbor- 
 ing cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville, we have sent from 
 our stores to the hospitals at Ashland, Bardstown, Belmont 
 Furnace, Bowling Green, Calhoun, Colesburg, Columbia, Dan- 
 ville, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Camp Gilbert, Glasgow, Green 
 River Stockade, Harrodsburg, Henderson, Hopkinsville, 
 Lebanon, Lexington, Mill Springs, Muldrough's Hill, Munford- 
 ville. Nelson Furnace, Camp Nelson, Camp Nevin, New Haven, 
 Paris, Perryville, Piketon, Shepherdsville, Somerset, Woodson- 
 ville — all in Kentucky; to the hospitals in Evansville, Ind. ; 
 to the following in Tennessee — Chattanooga, Clarksville, Cum- 
 berland Gap, Fountain Head Station, Gallatin, Memphis, Mur- 
 freesboro, Nashville, Richland Station, and to the hospitals in 
 and near Vicksburg, Mississippi. 
 
 We have aided the Atlantic, War Eagle, Empress, Decatur, 
 City of Louisiana, Lancaster No. 4, Dunleith, Commercial, 
 Nashville, Ohio Belle, McDougal, Cameha, Dacotah a|ad other 
 hospital boats and the hospital trains on the railroads from 
 Louisville to Nashville and Chattanooga. 
 
 It is with mingled emotions that we recall the scenes and 
 incidents connected with the early hospital-work in our city, 
 but no feeling is more vivid or deeper than of gratitude towards 
 the noble women of Louisville and their worthy sisters from 
 
11 
 
 rndiiinji and Ohio, who volunteered their services and were 
 unremitting in their attentions in that period of peril and 
 anxiety. Those loyal ladies were as unwearied in their ex- 
 ertions to promote the comfort of the sick soldiers as if the 
 sufferers had been their own sons or brothers ; some of them 
 spending hours daily in their kindly ministrations, while others 
 permitted not a day to pass for months without preparing 
 nourishing food for the invalids, and others still took one or 
 more of the invalids to their own homes. Dr. Newberry, in 
 one of his Reports, has paid a touching tribute to the devotion 
 of these sisters of Florence Nightingale, some " Sisters of 
 (Jharity" in name, all in spirit and deed: " I look back with 
 a kind of horror to those dark days in the history of this re- 
 bellion, when the theatre of war was at the very doors of the 
 citizens of Louisville ; when camps were in her suburbs and 
 troops thronged her streets; when the hastily improvised 
 hospitals, including all the public school edifices, were crowded 
 with sick, so imperfectly supplied with cares and comforts that 
 every loyal family felt impelled to contribute the tithe of its 
 domestic treasures and send its delicately reared ladies to 
 minister, by their own personal efforts, to the suffering and 
 destitute in the hospitals of the wards in which they lived. No 
 similar scenes had been witnessed in our previous history, unless 
 in the epidemics of yellow fever at Norfolk and Philadelphia, 
 in which the same paralyzing gloom pervaded these cities, on 
 which dark back ground were illuminated similar bright ex- 
 amples of Christian charity. ' 
 
 As time passed on and the resources at the command of the 
 Medical Department increased and suitable buildings were 
 erected, and the hospitals became thoroughly organized and 
 equipped, the necessity for the direct services of the unweary- 
 ing friends in great measure ceased, but to the end not a few 
 continued their ministrations, aiding in the grateful work of 
 restoring thousands and tens of thousands to health and 
 strength and comforting the closing hours of the dying. 
 
 Nor even yet do they consider their sacred task done. In 
 our beautiful Cave Ilill Cemetery rest more than three thou- 
 
12 
 
 sand forms of Union soldiers, whose lives were given to their 
 country, and the same pious hands, which prepared nutritious 
 food and smoothed the fevered brow, only wait the completion 
 of the sodding of the graves to plant a rose tree by each 
 precious mound. 
 
 Relief Sent to Battle Fields. — The battle of Mill Springs 
 or Webb's Cross Roads was fought on the 19th of January, 
 1802, a battle gallantly fought and a victory nobly won under 
 the auspices of that unassuming, brave, determined commander. 
 General George H. Thomas, whose calm courage was a tower 
 of strength to the army in the terrible conflict at Chickamauga, 
 and whose masterly combinations and wise generalship made 
 the battle of Nashville one of the most brilliant and decisive 
 of the war. 
 
 The nuujber of men engaged in the sharp conflict was not 
 large, but there were one hundred and ninety-four patriot 
 Avounded soldiers to be cared for, and they were in a region of 
 country not easy of access and where the comforts of life did 
 not abound. As soon as news of the battle reached Louis- 
 ville arrangements were made by Dr. Murray and our 
 Branch to send the needed articles under the care of Dr. A, 
 N. Read, the Sanitary Commission's able and devoted Inspec- 
 tor, whose promptness and efficiency proved as invaluable then 
 as in after emergencies. 
 
 The battle of Mill Springs was speedily followed by the 
 brilliant achievements which resulted in the capture of Fort 
 Donelson. On the IGth of February the fort, with ten thou- 
 sand prisoners and forty cannon, was unconditionally sur- 
 rendered to Gen. Grant. Immediately on receipt of information 
 that the battle was going on, we forwarded large supplies, 
 which Avere distributed under the direction of the agents of the 
 United States Commission. 
 
 On the 6th and 7th days of April, 1862, the memorable bat- 
 tle of Shiloh was fought. It was our privilege, in conjunction 
 with the citizens of Louisville and the Military Board of Ken- 
 tucky Avho entered with cheerful and earnest cooperation into 
 the work, to charter the fine, comm.odious steamers Telegraph 
 
13 
 
 and Fairchild and to send them to Pittsburgh Landing loaded 
 with Sanitary stores and bearing a most efficient corps of 
 volunteer nurses, noble-hearted men and consecrated, self- 
 sacrificing women, under the guidance of Dr. Chipley, the 
 skillful physician and earnest philanthropist. Self-sacrificing! 
 How justly-applicable, how exactly-descriptive the epithet the 
 heart testifies in its pensive, hnllowed and hallowing remem- 
 brance of Mrs. Susan Bell, whose brave, patriotic, martyr spirit 
 was indeed strong, but whose physical frame was all too weak 
 for the trials and exposures of that voyage of mercy. Its 
 duties she performed faithfully, lovingly, but her over-tasked 
 powers never rallied from their exhaustion. 
 
 It is with gratitude that we remember the privilege we en- 
 joyed in being able to aid in adding two well-equipped vessels 
 to that large Sanitary fleet which went as with the wings of a 
 dove up the Tennessee, and whose presence was welcomed as 
 health and life to thousands of sick and suffering men. 
 
 On the 9th of October of the same year word, was brought 
 us of the battle of Perryville, fought on the day previous. We 
 called upon the citizens for aid; a public meeting was conven- 
 ed by the Mayor and a hearty response was made. Three 
 large army- wagons were loaded and sent forward on the 10th 
 inst. On the 11th twenty-one ambulances and two furniture- 
 cars went with their precious loads of sanitary stores and on 
 the 17th three more wagons were sent on their errand of 
 mercy, and thereafter constantly, so long as there was need, 
 large quantities of valuable packages were forwarded by the 
 transportation kindly furnished by the Medical Department of 
 the Army. That Department then as always cheerfully co- 
 operated with us. Dr. Meylert, the intelligent and humane Pur- 
 veyor, placing at our service, whenever he had occasion to 
 send medical supplies, all the wagons that Ave required or he 
 could command. 
 
 It was from the generous contributions of our citizens and 
 from the liberal supplies of the Cincinnati and Chicago Branch- 
 es of the United States Commission, of the Detroit Aid Society 
 and the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, that we were 
 
14 
 
 enabled to render this timely aid to the Nation's heroic 
 defenders. 
 
 Our gratification in being able to send these contributions 
 to our soldiers in their hour of need was greatly increased by 
 the promptness Avith which many of our most earnest citizens 
 volunteered to go to assist in their distribution and in nursing 
 the wounded. Cooperating heartily with Dr. Read, whose 
 experience acquired at Mill Springs, Fort Donelson and Pitts- 
 burgh Landing was invaluable, they rendered inestimable 
 service in their kindly deeds to the living and in the respect 
 paid to our common humanity in their care for the dead. 
 Through the earnest exertions of one of their number, a ven- 
 erable man Avho afterwards was called to lay a priceless offering 
 upon our country's altar in the death of a noble, heroic son at 
 Chickamauga, four hundred bodies of rebel soldiers, abandon- 
 ed by their comrades in their rapid retreat, were decently 
 interred. 
 
 As we reqall the incidents of that exciting period, we re- 
 member with what deep interest was witnessed the prompt 
 arrival here of warm-hearted men, faithful representatives of 
 their communities and of their respective branches of the 
 United States Sanitary Commission, to do their part in the 
 humane work. Gentlemen from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois 
 were on the ground at once, nor was far-away Wisconsin long 
 behind, her accomphshed Surgeon-General, Dr. Wolcott, and 
 an able corps of physicians and nurses, having come as rapid- 
 ly as the cars could bring them, and adding a new demonstra- 
 tion to the many given during the war that under the inspira- 
 tion of humanity and patriotism men move as quickly and Avork 
 as efficiently as at the bidding of selt-interest. 
 
 The last day of 1862 and the first day of 1863 were made 
 memorable by the battle of Stone River. In consequence of 
 the breaks made by the rebel cavalry in the Louisville and 
 Nashville Railroad, sanitary stores could not at once be for- 
 warded by that route, but large supplies were sent by the 
 steamer Lady Franklin, employed for the time as a hospital 
 boat, and with them wont several of the earnest men and 
 
15 
 
 devoted women, to whose kindly care and faitliful nursing on 
 the steamer Telegraph, under the blessing of God, many a 
 soldier sick and exhausted from the terrible conflict at Pitts- 
 burgh Landing owed his life and the country the continued 
 services of many a brave defender. 
 
 In the month of June, 1863, the large steamer Jacob Strader 
 was chartered by Dr. Newberry to take sanitary supplies for 
 the army then engaged in its heroic work around Vicksburg, 
 work that moved on as with the majesty of destiny to its con- 
 summation, but which during its progress was very exhausting 
 to the soldiers engaged. In response to the appeal made our 
 citizens contributed seven thousand dollars, with the proceeds 
 of which and with liberal supplies from the store-houses of the 
 General Commission, the noble vessel was thoroughly furnish- 
 ed and sent on her mission. The "Jacob Strader" belonged 
 to the Louisville and Cincinnati Mail Steamship Company, to 
 whose President, Z. M. Sherlcy, Esq., the Commission is deep- 
 ly indebted not only for the generosity exhibited in carrying 
 without charge great quantities of sanitary stores, for which 
 the customary freight charges would have been not less than 
 eight or nine thousand dollars, but also for his uniform courtesy 
 to its agents and representatives and for his efficient aid in the 
 accomplishment of their plans. 
 
 Of the sanitary measures adopted for the aid of the noble 
 army around Vicksburg, one has especial interest and great 
 significance. At the time when serious apprehension was felt 
 in regard to the yellow fever and when the testimony of Dr. 
 Warriner, the able and faitliful Inspector, showed that the 
 terrible disease was already in the camps, it was determined 
 by the watchful and intelligent officers of the Western Depart- 
 ment of the United States Commission, in accordance with the 
 •idvice of the President of the Kentucky Branch, to send on 
 the "Dunleith" a large quantity of quinine with printed in- 
 structions for its use as a prophylactic. The army Surgeons 
 cooperated heartily and the success was complete. The 
 disease, which Avas increasing speedily ceased under the ad- 
 ministration of this effective preventive and antidote, and a 
 
16 
 
 most impressive illustration was given of the positive and 
 constant power, which quinine possesses in preventing the 
 development not only of yellow fever, but of cholera, dysentery 
 and all diseases, due to malaria. In view of the well-ascertain- 
 ed facts that a single night's sleep in a malarious locality may 
 infect the system and that, in some persons, the poison may 
 lie dormant for weeks and then develope itself disastrously, it 
 is alike gratifying and important to know that the invaluable 
 medicine, judiciously administered, exerts a specific poAver in 
 preventing the development of malarial poison. The Vicks- 
 burg experience certainly gave very striking confirmation 
 of the correctness of the views presented in the United 
 States Commission's early and timely tract on Quinine as a 
 Prophylactic. 
 
 The Western office of the United States Sanitary Commis- 
 sion was established at Louisville in October, 1862. In a short 
 time, under the practical wisdom and rare executive abihty of 
 Dr. Newberry, all its departments were in successful oper- 
 ation, and through the cordial good will subsisting between 
 the Military Commanders and the Commission and the admir- 
 able system adopted, very satisfactory and efficient arrange- 
 ments were made for the transportation and distribution of 
 sanitary supplies. 
 
 The attention of this Branch was thenceforward more es- 
 pecially directed to the aid of hospitals in the vicinity and to 
 the maintenance of " The Soldiers' Home," — superintended 
 successively by Messrs. James Malona and Voltaire Scott, 
 Avith Messrs. James Morton and E. F. Henderson as rehef- 
 agents, all kind, efficient men, — an instrumentality very hum- 
 ble in its beginning and unpretentious always, but which ren- 
 dered much comfort to the weary and way-worn soldier and 
 was thus, we gratefully believe, of real service to the sacred 
 cause for which he labored and suftered. 
 
 The first building used, which had fifty beds, was opened 
 February 11th, 1862. It was erected and furnished with a 
 valuable range under an order very cheerfully granted by 
 General Buell, then in command of this Military Department. 
 
17 
 
 The bed clothing and other essential things were provided from 
 our stores and the "Home" was placed in the charge of a 
 good man, Mr. James Malona, whose unfailing thoughtful- 
 ness and kindness endeared him to the soldiers and whose un- 
 remitting exertions often too great for his physical strength, 
 we apprehend, hastened his death. 
 
 Ere long the capacity of the Home was found utterly in- 
 adequate to the demands made upon its hospitality. With the 
 generous aid of the United States Commission a large building 
 was erected and opened for occupancy in January, 18(38. 
 
 Notwithstanding the greatly increased facilities for the ac- 
 commodation of its guests the Home was filled immediately, 
 and it became necessary to erect another building equally large. 
 This was completed without delay and, on the 19th of April, 
 1863, it was consecrated to its iMmane purposes in the dedica- 
 tion of a large room as a Chapel — a truly Christian Chapel it 
 proved wherein ministers of almost every name, with hearts 
 united in religious patriotism, forgot sectarian divisions and 
 remembered the common faith which blesses us all. 
 
 The number of men fed and taken care of at the Home from 
 its opening, February 11th, 1802, to its closing November 1st, 
 1865, was 268,114. 
 
 Soldiers' Claims. — It was seen, soon after the establish- 
 ment of the Home, that substantial service could be rendered 
 to the soldiers by aiding them gratuitously in the collection of 
 the money due them and gradually, as the number of guests 
 increased, this became one of the most important and respon- 
 sible duties of the Superintendent and Relief Agent. In- 
 estimable good was done in this direction by Mr. James Mor- 
 ton, who was connected with the Home for many months, and 
 Avho brought to the work not only a willing heart and a vigor- 
 ous mind, but also the systematizing power developed in long 
 experience as a banker. To save the feeble and exhausted 
 soldier, furloughed or discharged, a long walk and weary wait- 
 ing, rooms were fitted up in the Home which Major Camp 
 promptly and cheerfully consented to take as a Paymaster's 
 office. But often, through the careles&ness or inefficiency of 
 
18 
 
 regimental officers papers were so defective that it became 
 necessary to send them back for correction and in these 
 emergencies it was a kindness thoroughly appreciated by the 
 soldier to have an intelligent and thoughtful friend at hand 
 through whom the papers could be returned and the money, 
 when paid, promptly forwarded to him at his distant home. 
 
 The amount of money reported as thus collected for the 
 soldiers, is §30,268 24. 
 
 At the time of the closing of the " Home " H. H. Burkhol- 
 der, Esq., who had for many months performed with great 
 efficiency in our city the duties of Claim and Pension Agent, 
 under the direction of the United States Commission, was 
 invited by our Branch to continue as its Agent his very im- 
 portant work. He accepted the appointment and has labored 
 indefatigably, having from November 1st, 18G5 to July 1st, 
 1866, made up in due form and forwarded to the proper offices 
 in Washington 520 claims, having prepared, by way of addi- 
 tional evidence sustaining claims, 220 affidavits, having written 
 in behalf of soldiers or the heirs of deceased soldiers 1,029 
 letters and having collected on claims $23,683 44. 
 
 The following table, prepared by Mr. John Patterson, our 
 intelligent book-keeper and earnest fellow-laborer, shows the 
 number and kind of articles disbursed by our Branch of the 
 Commission, not including of course the large number of 
 unopened packages received and forwarded. During the first 
 twelve or thirteen months of the war a vast amount of sanitary 
 stores was sent to us by friends of the soldiers from various 
 parts of our country to be forwarded to Surgeons of Hospitals, 
 Regimental Surgeons, Chaplains and officers of regiments and 
 companies to distribute to the needy and suffering in their 
 charge or under their command. To afford all the aid in its 
 power and to carry out the kindly purposes of the donors we 
 took charge of the stores and forwarded them to their destin- 
 ation. In general no inventory of these packages was kept, 
 only a record of their reception, from whom they came, by 
 whom sent, to whom consigned and the places to which they 
 were forwarded. As the war progressed and the plans of the 
 
19 
 
 United States Sanitary Commission for the transportation and 
 systematic and impartial distribution of sanitary supplies came 
 to be understood and thoroughly appreciated and the unity 
 and brotherhood of the Nation's great army to be felt, con- 
 tributions for individuals or companies or regiments in great 
 measure ceased, being merged in contributions for the benefit 
 of all. 
 
 Keport of Disbursements from Nov. 4, 1861 to Nov. 1, 1865, 
 
 Blankets, 2825 
 
 Comforts and Quilts, ti058 
 
 Bed Ticks, 3823 
 
 Mattresses, 13V> 
 
 nilows, 11315 
 
 Pillow Cases, 19700 
 
 Sheets, 9309 
 
 Shirts, 25058 
 
 Draweis, 17701 
 
 Dress and Bed Gowns, 1276 
 
 Coats and Pants, 453 
 
 Vests and Blouses, 350 
 Towels and Handkerchiefs, 29407 
 
 Socks, Pairs, 13402 
 
 Slippers, Pairs, 1217 
 
 Gloves and Mitts, 3405 
 
 Night Caps, 519 
 
 Havelocks, G78 
 
 Eye-Shades, 347 
 
 Arm Rests 251 
 
 Pads and Cushions, 8847 
 
 Compresses, Pounds, 0709 
 
 Bandages " 0589 
 Lint, 
 
 Neck-Ties 215 
 
 Boots and Shoes, Pair.-. 120 
 
 Pin Cushions, 1298 
 
 Housewives, 30 
 
 Hats, 20 
 
 Shawls, 7 
 
 Feather lieds, 7 
 
 Mosquito Bars, 538 
 
 Fans, 865 
 
 Cloth, (Water Proof,) Yards, 16 
 
 Oil Silk, " 13.\ 
 
 Adhesive Plaster, Rolls, 11 
 
 Window Shades, 59 
 
 Lounges, 25 
 
 Bedsteads, 'i5 
 
 Cots and Litter-*, 196 
 
 Canes, (Walking ) 60 
 
 Crutches, Pairs, 970 
 
 Combs and Hair Brushes, G08 
 
 Canteens, 48 
 
 Bowls, (Earthen,) 60 
 
 Pitchers, 32 
 
 Buckets, P25 
 
 Brooms, 140 
 
 Bed Pans, 65 
 
 Candles, Pounds, 38 
 
 Soap " 644 
 
 Sponges, " 50 
 
 Nails, " 180 
 
 Scissors, 36 
 
 Lanterns with Lamps, 68 
 
 Mops, Cotton, 72 
 
 Matches, Gross, 4 
 
 Splints, Packages, 4 
 
 Trusses, 2 
 
 Games, 66 
 
 Hospital Cards, 12 
 
 Straw, Bales, 27 
 
 Spittoons, 259 
 
 Camp Kettles, 9 
 
 Coffee Pots, (Large,) 18 
 
 Tin Cups, 1304 
 
 Tin Plates, 769 
 
 Tin Pans, 123 
 
 Wash Basons, 204 
 
 Chambers, 140 
 
 Urinals, 59 
 
 Knives and Fo k". Each, 950 
 
 Spoons, 807 
 
 Hand Saws, 6 
 
 Hatchets, 12 
 
 Bromine, Bottles. 45 
 
 Chloroform, " ' 188 
 
 Citric Acid, Pounds, 10 
 
 Preserved & Fresh Fruit, Cans, 10643 
 
 Dried Fruit, Pounds, 35198 
 
 Concentrated Meat, Cans, 5057 
 
 Concentrated Milk, '• 7582 
 
 Cheese, Pomids, 1274 
 
 Butter, " 0872 
 
 Light Groceries, Pounds, 90 
 
 Apple Bu'ter, Gallons, 514 
 
 Pickles, " 1471 
 
 Vinegar, " 136 
 
 Suaer Krout, " 302 
 
 Molasses and Syrup, Gallons. 203 
 
 Ale, " 1837 
 
 Lemons, Boxes, 28 
 
 Oranges •' 7 
 
 Apples, Bushels, 649 
 
20 
 
 Potatoes, bushels 
 
 4174 
 
 Pearl Barley, pounds 
 
 433 
 
 Onions, " 
 
 295 
 
 Farina, " 
 
 1025 
 
 Brandy, Bottles, 
 
 282 
 
 Oat Meal, " 
 
 83 
 
 Wine and Cordials, Bottles, 
 
 5138 
 
 Hominy, " 
 
 413 
 
 Whisky, 
 
 973 
 
 Grapes, " 
 
 300 
 
 Cedron Bitters, " 
 
 176 
 
 Hops and Herbs, (Dried,) Pound 
 
 3 185 
 
 Catsup, " 
 
 155 
 
 Rice, " 
 
 1301 
 
 Pepper Sauce, " 
 
 27 
 
 Tapioca, " 
 
 98 
 
 Horse Raddifch. " 
 
 60 
 
 Pepper, " 
 
 25 
 
 Cologne, " 
 
 38 
 
 Mustard, " 
 
 26 
 
 Oysters, Cans, 
 
 308 
 
 Dried Meat, " 
 
 751 
 
 Eggs, Dozens, 
 
 7940 
 
 Fresh Meat and Hams, " 
 
 2018 
 
 Sardines, Boxes, 
 
 13 
 
 Tobacco, " 
 
 1947 
 
 Herrings, " 
 
 7 
 
 Salt, 
 
 809 
 
 Bread, Pounds, 
 
 3965 
 
 Ice, Tons, 
 
 15 
 
 Crackers, (Soda,) Pounds, 
 
 6607 
 
 Flour, Barrels, 
 
 38 
 
 Corn Starch, " 
 
 1221 
 
 Envelopes, Packages, 
 
 467 
 
 Cocoa, " 
 
 504 
 
 Cap and Letter Paper, Quires, 
 
 410 
 
 Coffee, (Ground,) " 
 
 370 
 
 Sheeting, Crash, &c. Yards, 
 
 435 
 
 Cakes and Cookies, " 
 
 463 
 
 Corn Meal, Pounds, 
 
 2032 
 
 Cod Fish, " 
 
 1738 
 
 Milk Can, Large, 
 
 1 
 
 We have received in 
 
 money |50,185 42 
 
 
 And have expended 
 
 
 47,203 73 
 
 
 Balance on hand $2,981 69 
 
 In the amount of receipts are included the amounts receiv- 
 ed in commutation of rations and the sum of ten thou- 
 sand dollars placed in our hands by the United States Sanitary 
 Commission from the munificent contribution of California, 
 whose laboriously-gained treasures were transmuted by pa- 
 triotism, mightier than all the arts of alchemy, into the pure 
 gold of beneficence. We have not embraced in the statement 
 the money generously contributed by the citizens of Louisville 
 for the fitting out of the steamer Jacob Strader. This liberal 
 donation, had it been included, would have added seven thou- 
 sand dollars to the sum total. 
 
 We know that our Branch, compared with some other 
 Branches of the Sanitary Commission in regard to receipts 
 and disbursements, is as a rivulet to a river, but it had its 
 origin, we beheve, in the same fountains of patriotism and 
 humanity and, as it has flowed steadily on, it has helped to 
 swell the mighty Mississippi flood which God has blessed to 
 the heahng of the Nation. 
 
 JOHN H. HEYWOOD, 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 744 423 9 ^