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REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 COLONEL T. P. ROBB, 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 
 ||0jnmi6Si0ncr, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SANITARY CONDITION OF ILLINOIS TROOPS, 
 
 FIELD AND GENERAL HOSPITALS, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ARMIES AND EEPARTMENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OHIO, TENNESSEE, CUMBERLAND, 
 
 AND DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD : 
 
 STEAM PRESS OF BAKER & PHILLIPS. 
 
 1 8 6 5 . 
 
3 '>' 2 , 7 ^ 
 
Vi9ji II 
 
 DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS ILLINOIS MILITARY AND SANITARY AGENCY,) 
 Memphis, Tennessee, December 20th, 1864. J 
 
 His Excellency, Richard Yates, Governor^ Springfield^ Illinois. 
 
 Sir : — On the first of November ult., I was instructed by your Ex- 
 cellency to make personal inspection of the United States general 
 hospitals, and- camps of Illinois regiments located' in the several de- 
 partments constituting the military division of West Mississippi, 
 and make report thereon to you, without unnecessary delay. I 
 was expected to inquire into the sanitary condition of the several 
 hospitals and camps, learn their wants, and make the same known 
 to you, as well as any other facts coming under my observation, 
 ^ likely to be of interest to those having at heart the well being and 
 ^ efficiency of the Illinpis soldier. 
 j I have performed the duty assigned me, as thoroughly as the 
 limited time at my disposal would admit, and respectfully beg 
 leave to present this, my report : 
 
 y In my tour of inspection, I have visited Paducah, Memphis, 
 Helena, Little Rock, Yicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge and New 
 Orleans. My trip, though laborious, has been a pleasant one, and 
 " the military officers with whom I have come in contact have afford- 
 3 ed me every facility in their power to the successful accomplish- 
 ^ ment of my mission. 
 
 HOSPITALS. 
 
 The hospitals in these departments are so numerous fliat I am con- 
 strained to make mention of them in general terms for the most 
 part. A detailed and full description of them all, though perhaps 
 , it might be made sufficiently interesting, would nevertheless make 
 this report of inordinate length. 
 
 139377 
 
4: 
 
 PADUCAH AND COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY. 
 
 At Paducah are located two (2) United States general hospitals, 
 VIZ : the post liospital, and 8th United States heavy artillery, col- 
 ored, hospital. The present number of sick in these hospitals is 
 three hundred and sixty three (363), with accommodations for 
 about one thousand (1000). ^ Since my visit the number of sick 
 has doubtless been largely increased, from the fact of the rendez- 
 vousing there of a large body of troops, now departed for the front. 
 There is also at this post a freedman’s hospital, under government 
 charge. At Columbus, there is one post hospital. The number 
 of sick at present is ninety-nine (99), which includes the sick of the 
 4:th United States heavy artillery, colored. 
 
 The sanitary condition of the post hospitals, both at Paducah 
 and Columbus, is very good. The like condition of the colored 
 hospitals is very bad. I am assured, however, by the excellent 
 Medical Director of the district, that it is owing to causes hitherto 
 out of his control, and that the matter would soon be remedied. 
 
 Columbus is a point of small importance. It is a government 
 post, however, and requires the constant presence of a garrison, 
 which ordinarily is composed of colored troops. 
 
 Paducah is a point of more importance. It is garrisoned, as in- 
 deed I may here say, are all the places subsequently mentioned in 
 this report, and mainly by colored soldiers, at least so far as the 
 permanent garrisons of the forts and defences are concerned. Pa. 
 ducah is a point where oftentimes are concentrated quite large 
 bodies of soldiers, either going to or returning from the front, or for 
 the purpose of repelling hostile demonstrations, which often occur 
 in that district. 
 
 MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. 
 
 At Memphis are located nine (9) general hospitals, viz : the Over- 
 ton, Adams, Washington, Gay oso. Officers, Naval, Webster, Small 
 Pox, and Colored. A number of other large hospitals here have 
 been broken up within the past year. The above-named hospitals 
 have beds for two thousand nine hundred and fifty (2950) patients, 
 and room for double that number, should occasion require. The 
 whole number of sick now under treatment is one thousand six 
 hundred and sixty-four (1664). The number of employees, for the 
 most part convalescent soldiers, is three hundred and twenty-five 
 
5 
 
 (325). The above number of sick does not include those in regi- 
 mental hospitals, the exact number of which I am not able to give. 
 The number now in hospital is very much smaller than the aver- 
 age. There have been times, even during the past season, when 
 the present number was more than doubled. 
 
 Memphis is favorably located for hospital purposes. Suitable 
 buildings are plenty. The site of the city is elevated and healthy. 
 Its hospital accommodations are so favorable, that many sick and 
 wounded are brought here from distant points ; as instance, many 
 of the wounded of the Red river campaign were sent here. Some 
 of the largest and linest blocks, such as would be an ornament to 
 even more pretentious cities, have been taken for hospitals by the 
 United States authorities,- and have been found peculiarly adapted, 
 with little change, to the purposes to which they are devoted. The 
 Adams, Washington, Gayoso, Officers and Webster, were such 
 blocks, as well as a number of others for the present discontinued. 
 The Overton was constructed for a large first class hotel, though at 
 date of federal occupation, was not yet occupied as such. It of 
 course makes an excellent and elegant hospital. The Naval Hos- 
 pital, situated on Front street, commanding a fine view of the river 
 and shipping, was formerly the Commercial Hotel. It is a large 
 and fine structure, and well suited in location and interior appoint- 
 ments, to its present use. The Small Pox Hospital is worthy of 
 special mention. In it, the ordinary ideas connected with a pest 
 house are not realized. It is a commodious brick building, in the 
 suburbs of the city, in the midst of spacious grounds, and surround- 
 ed with shrubbery, and was erected and used for a city hospital, 
 previous to the war. There have been occasions when the number 
 of patients reached as high a number as seven hundred and fifty 
 (750). The ratio of mortality among its inmates has always been 
 exceedingly small, which is attributable partly to the accommoda- 
 tions, so much superior to those generally granted to those afflicted 
 with this terrible disorder, as well as to the treatment they receive 
 at the hands of the skillful surgeon in charge. Dr. Huntingdon^ 
 United States Volunteers, and his assistants. The sanitary condi- 
 tion of the hospitals, as also of the troops more or less permanently 
 stationed here, is good. Regiments w^eekly arrive here from other 
 points, or from active service, to whom the relief aftbrded by the 
 Sanitary Commission is of incalculable good. In addition to the 
 
6 
 
 Sanitary Agency, with which I am connected^ there is a branch 
 and depot of the United States Commission located here. 
 
 Memphis, in a military point of view, is centrally located. It is 
 of easy and safe access by way of the river. It is the distributing 
 point for all of the departments in this direction, except the De- 
 partment of the Gulf. It is the western terminus of the Memphis 
 and Charleston Kailroad. As a military point, its chief import- 
 ance is that of a distributing point for stores and supplies, as before 
 stated, and that it is favorably located for the rendezvous and trans- 
 fer of troops. For the year past, this has been the case to a re- 
 markable extent, and should the war continue, will doubtless still 
 remain the case in even greater degree. Besides large concentra- 
 tions, smaller expeditions are being continually fitted here, as well 
 as at other points on the river, for raids into the interior. Even 
 when accompanied with the best success, the soldiers, from the 
 very nature of the service, return from the expeditions jaded and 
 worn out, oftentimes from the haste with which they have been 
 moved, with the loss of some, if not all their personal baggage and 
 clothing. With the best of luck attending, it is a sorry looking set 
 of men that comes in from “riding a raid.” Again, they are not 
 always successful. They then come straggling back in most pitia- 
 ble plight, often, as witness the case of the Sturgis disaster, having 
 wandered for days, and scores of miles, without sleep or food, hiding 
 in swamps and forests, stripped of almost everything, hatless and 
 shoeless, and almost naked. This is a sad picture, and yet one I 
 have seen with my own eyes, and what may again occur. At such 
 a time the good done by the Sanitary Commission cannot be other- 
 wise than great. In the case mentioned, though unprepared to do 
 all I could wish for the boys, especially in the way of clothing, 
 enough good was done to pay our good friends at the north for 
 much of their labor and self-denial. The supplies of sanitary stores 
 at Memphis have been at times full and equal to the demand ; at 
 other times the supply has been quite limited. Twice during the 
 year have my rooms been liberally filled, and that has been when, 
 with the concurrence of the military commanders here, I have 
 caused special agents to be sent north, to represent in person our 
 wants to the friends of the soldier. On being made acquainted 
 with our wants, I am happy to say that our friends have invariably 
 responded in generous contributions. On the whole, perhaps no 
 place on the river requires so large a supply of sanitary supplies as 
 Memphis. 
 
r 
 
 LITTLE R0C3K AND HELENA, ARKANSAS. 
 
 There are in the Department of Arkansas, at Helena and Little 
 Kock, five (5) General Hospitals, with beds for two thousand (2000) 
 patients. Besides these general ones, most of the regiments are 
 supplied with regimental hospitals. At the present time the sani- 
 tary condition of both the troops and hospitals are good. The 
 United States and Western Commissions have agencies in this de- 
 partment. It is an important field, and I have no doubt but that 
 these commissions have occupied the ground as fully as they were 
 able to do. I personally know that the Western Commission has 
 made large shipments of supplies for distribution at Helena and 
 Little Rock. There are many Illinois regiments in the department, 
 but no Illinois agent there. I have been several times written to 
 at Memphis by Illinois regiments in Arkansas, to forward them 
 supplies, if possible. I have responded to their calls as well as the 
 limited means at my disposal have enabled me, but as I have rarely 
 had a snfiiciency, and much less a surplus, I have not been enabled 
 to forward as liberally as I could have wished. 
 
 I am informed by the Medical Director of the department, that 
 their most pressing want at the present time is vegetables ; that 
 they are very much needed, and to as large an amount as can rea- 
 sonably be furnished. 
 
 VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 At this point there are located three (3) General Hospitals for 
 white troops, and one (1) for colored troops. The number at 
 present in these is four hundred and sixty-two, (462) with good 
 hospital accommodations for two thousand (2000). There are also 
 regimental hospitals in most of the regiments. The general health 
 of the troops is good. Two (2) of the hospitals at Yicksburg de- 
 serve more than a passing notice. Hospital ISTo. 2 is located in the 
 heart of the city, and in the elegant private grounds of some former 
 wealthy and aristocratic resident of the city, now doubtless engaged 
 in pursuing the delusive ignis faiuus of Southern independence. 
 The grounds comprise a whole block, some four or five hundred 
 feet square, laid out with great taste, and adorned with large shade 
 trees and choicest shrubbery. In the rear is the dwelling house, 
 now used for offices, cook room, etc. A graveled carriage-way 
 
8 
 
 runs from tlie front entrance of the grounds to the house. On 
 either side is now a row of tents, which during the past summer 
 have been sufficient for the use of the sick and wounded. Surgeon 
 Stratton, of the 11th Illinois Cavalry, in charge, and also the effi- 
 cient Medical Director of the district, informed me that he desierns 
 to replace the tents by permanent buildings. If this be done, it 
 will certainly make a hospital as attractive in appearance as any 
 that it has ever been my good fortune to see, and the property 
 turned to better uses than when it was the luxurious home of its 
 disloyal owners. McPherson Hospital occupies the building erected 
 by the city for a city hospital, and used as such previous to the re- 
 bellion. It occupies a commanding site, and overlooks much of 
 the ground made historical by the memorable siege of Yicks- 
 burg.” It is a commodious structure, but has been much improved 
 since its occupation by us, especially in its interior arrangements. 
 
 It is, and has been since its establishment, under the charge of Sur- 
 geon Powell, of the 72d Illinois Infantry volunteers. Surgeon 
 Powell has evidently, with a just and commendable pride in his 
 profession and office, devoted all the powers of his cultivated mind 
 to the making it “ the Model Hospital,” and to my mind he has 
 fully succeeded. It surpasses anything of the kind that I have 
 witnessed in all my experience. It seems to be perfect in all its 
 parts and arrangements. The kitchen, bakery, store room and 
 dining hall seem faultless, and would positively be viewed with en- 
 vious eyes by our best and most fastidious housekeepers of the 
 north, proverbial as that region is for its women of housekeeping 
 ^ propensities. The wards are neatly arranged with an eye single to 
 the comfort of the inmates, and all the rooms are kept in a state of 
 continual cleanliness, that would elicit the admiration of the most--' 
 zealous devotee of the broom and scrubbing-brush. There is a 
 place for everything and everything in its place. The most perfect 
 order prevails. For the convalescents, (and in such a well ordered 
 house they are numerous,) there is a reading-room, with its large 
 and well selected library, bath-rooms, wash-room and barber-shop. 
 There is a billiard-room, with a good, though confiscated rebel, bil- 
 liard table. Though not a judge of such articles, I presume it was 
 one of Phelan’s best.” In the yard are swings and other gym- 
 nastic apparatus, and a fine bowling-alley just being completed. 
 These improvements have been made, for the most part, without 
 cost to the government, by the aid of convalescent inmates, and 
 
9 
 
 show what can be accomplished by an energetic and intelligent 
 surgeon, whose heart is in his work, hlo one, after spending an 
 hour in the hospital, will doubt that all these things contribute 
 much to the recovery of the patients. It is to be hoped that mc>re 
 of our surgeons, in charge of iiospitals, will in like manner attempt 
 the improvement of the surroundings and interior arrangements. 
 In my opinion the trouble would be amply repaid in the increased 
 comfort, contentedness and speedy convalescence of the inmates. 
 
 Besides the troops that are constantly passing through Vicks- 
 burg, and being transferred to other points, or being concentrated 
 there for expeditions into the interior, quite a large force is per- 
 manently stationed at the post. The United States and Western 
 Commissions have depots of supplies established here. They have 
 supplied the hospitals and regiments freely and liberally with most 
 of the kinds of articles needed. Medical Director Stratton informs 
 me that there is much need of vegetables, and that in his opinion 
 a liberal supply would do more good than any other article of diet. 
 He also states tiiat there is mucii need of woolen shirts and draw- 
 ers for use in general hospitals. 
 
 NATCHEZ, XllSSISSlPri. 
 
 At this point there is one (1) general hospital. Humber of sick 
 at present, seventy-two, (72.) There are also over three hundred 
 (300) sick in regimental hospitals. A depot of supplies is estab- 
 lished here by the United States Sanitary Commission. As a 
 military point, Hatchez is not at present of as much importance as 
 either Vicksburg or Memphis. Nevertheless, during the year 
 large numbers of troops pass through or are quartered in the city. 
 As the theater of actual conflict nears the Gulf, its military impor- 
 tance may be increased. The Post Surgeon assured me that sup- 
 plies of fruit and vegetables would be thankfully received, and 
 faithfully devoted to relieving the wants of the soldiers. 
 
 BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA. 
 
 The one (1) hospital at Baton Rouge is a very flne one. It was 
 formerly the Louisiana State Deaf and Dumb Asylunn It is a 
 large, w^ell-appointed structure, upon an elevation in the suburbs 
 of the city, overlooking the river, and surrounded with elegant 
 grounds, fllled with choice shrubbery, of the kinds peculiar to the 
 
10 
 
 atitiide. Art and nature seem to have vied in its adornment, 
 though it is none too good for our brave and deserving sick and 
 wounded. 
 
 It has five hundred (500) beds. The number of sick is three 
 hundred and seventy-three, (373.) Surgeon lioberts, of Illinois, 
 late of the Marine Brigade, has been quite recently placed in 
 charge. An intimate acquaintance enables me to state that from 
 him the inmates will receive kind and skillful treatment. He 
 informs me that they are in want of vegetables, and that woolen 
 shirts and drawers for the sick would be particularly acceptable 
 this winter. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Hew Orleans has seven (7) general hospitals : the St. Louis, 
 Marine, University, United States Barracks, Corps de Afrique, 
 and Contraband, and a new one just being fitted up. These hospi- 
 tals have beds for five thousand five hundred and eighteen (5,618) 
 patients. 
 
 The number of white troops now in general hospitd is nine 
 hundred and sixty, (960.) Besides these are the sick of the Corps 
 de Afrique, and in contraband and regimental hospitals, the num- 
 ber of which I am unable to state. In general appointments, the 
 hospitals at Hew Orleans will compare favorably with any others 
 that have come within my observation. Space will not permit me 
 to dwell upon them in detail, but I will mention one, as instancing 
 the class and character of buildings that have been taken in Hew 
 Orleans, and placed at the disposal of the Medical Department for 
 hospital purposes. The St. Louis Hospital was formerly the St. 
 Louis Hotel, which, in size and magnificence, rivaled the world- 
 renowned St. Charles, or the most palatial hotels in any of our 
 northern cities. It is but a just retribution that these most luxu- 
 rious retreats of the aristocracy of the south, who were the first to 
 plunge into the mad vortex of secession, should be taken and made 
 into homes for our soldiers sulfering from disease and wounds. 
 The sanitary condition of these hospitals is unsurpassed. Sanitary 
 stores are furnished by the United States Sanitary Commission. I 
 was informed that the supply during the summer had not been as 
 large as might have been used to advantage. At the time of my 
 visit, however, the Commission w; s in receipt of a cargo of sup- 
 plies, a large portion of which were vegetables, wide i were par- 
 
11 
 
 ticiilarly acceptable. In these extreme southern departments, the 
 want of vegetables as an article of diet bj the soldiers is severely 
 felt. Their abundance at the north, and the ease and cheapness 
 with which they can be transported down the Mississippi, in what- 
 soever quantities, without danger of their being spoiled in transit, 
 should form additional reasons why the wants of the soldiers in 
 that regard should not be neglected. The Medical Director informs 
 me that by order of the commander of the department, a fund is 
 raised by taxation of cotton, sugar, etc., for Iiospital purposes. 
 This is not made available, however, to any but the general hospi- 
 tals. 'New Orleans, since the Federal occupation, has been extremely 
 healthy. I was told by good authority that the ratio of mortality 
 among citizens is much less than in former years, and less than in 
 most northern cities. One great reason for this is that the city is 
 kept thoroughly clean. In this respect the municipal authorities 
 of many other cities might take needed les,sons. 
 
 The number of troops in the department is large, though not so 
 great as formerly. The exact number I am not permitted to state. 
 It is a matter of conjecture, whether the number is soon likely to 
 be increased or diminished. My own opinion is, that as the rebels 
 are driven further south the number will be increased. It is to be 
 supposed that, attendant upon victories elsewhere achieved, the 
 time is not distant when armies will be sent to occupy Texas, and 
 southern Mississippi and Alabama. When this is done. New 
 Orleans will be the place of rendezvous of large bodies of troops. 
 A large city, it is easy there to provide barracks, temporary or 
 otherwise. It is in direct and easy communication with the east 
 and the west. It is a large depot for stores and munitions of war. 
 We have every reason to expect, then, that the demand for sani- 
 tary supplies for this region will be largely increased. Another 
 fact in this connection, of interest to us of Illinois, is that hitherto 
 the regiments chiefly sent here have been eastern ones. This was 
 occasioned by the fact that when New Orleans was first occupied, 
 the Mississippi river was blockaded, and water communication 
 with the east open by way of the ocean. With the free navigation 
 of the river, and as changes are made, it is but natural that in the 
 future, western troops should be sent here in greater numbers 
 than heretofore. This should be taken into consideration in our 
 future sanitary operations. I would respectfully recommend the 
 establishment of a depot of sanitary supplies at New Orleans, as 
 
 I 
 
12 
 
 soon as practicable. Its importance for that purpose can but be 
 seen at a glance. 
 
 OTHER MILITARY POSTS. 
 
 Besides the general hospitals at the points I have mentioned, 
 there are numerous smaller posts where hospitals are established, 
 more or less temporary in their character. These places I have 
 been unable to visit. The most of them are outposts, and send in 
 their sick and wounded, when possible, to the larger hospitals at 
 the main points in the several departments. At Fort Smith, Ar- 
 kansas, have been stationed some Illinois regiments. It is difficult 
 of access, especially in the summer months, o^ving to low water 
 in the Arkansas river. To some of these reo-iments I have sent 
 
 O 
 
 small shipments of supplies, when solicited so to do. I may men- 
 tion, here, that I am in frequent receipt of communications from 
 distant Illinois regiments, whom I had formerly been in the habit 
 of supplying when in this department. They would be glad to 
 have me send them supplies, if possible. They feel more at home 
 in applying to an Illinois agent. Owing to their distance, and the 
 uncertain nature of the communications, it is seldom possible or 
 advisable to attempt to send supplies in such cases. 
 
 REGIMENTAL HOSPITALS. 
 
 Begimental hospitals are not in as extensive use, in the army, as 
 formerly. General hospitals are so numerous and well appointed 
 that the need of the former is very much diminished. In no de- 
 partment of the army, I am happy to say, has experience wrought 
 so great changes for the better as in the hospital department. Still, 
 necessity compels most of the regiments to improvise hospitals of 
 their own, for the treatment of certain classes of cases. They are 
 often situated, also, so that a general hospital is not within reach. 
 This is the case when stationed at distant or temporary posts, or 
 when on the march. Also, when in winter quarters, or stationed 
 at a post for any length of time, they erect hospitals for their own 
 sick. So that, upon the whole, regimental hospitals, if not as ex- 
 tensive, are nearly as numerous as formerly. The worst cases are 
 sent off, and the others retained, for treatment by the regimental 
 surgeon. This is well enough, and gives satisfaction to the boys. 
 Ordinarily, they dislike being sent away from their regiments, and 
 
13 
 
 prefer being treated by their own surgeon, than to pass under the 
 care of strangers. These improvised hospitals are often models of 
 taste and neatness. The improvements made by the regiments in 
 cooking, diet, etc., make them more endurable than formerly. In 
 them, and also when on the march, it is often amusing to notice the 
 ingenious expedients resorted to by the surgeon to enhance the 
 comfort o1 the men. Surgeons are not all alike, in this respect, but 
 I am happy to record a great improvement in the provision made 
 for the comfort of the sick and wounded under their charge. There 
 are surgeons whom the experience of a life-time will learn no new 
 lessons; but I am certain they are rare in Illinois regiments. I 
 am not prepared to give the average number of sick in the regi- 
 ments out of general liospital, but am confident that the number 
 equals those in general hospital, and perhaps exceeds it, if w'e take 
 into tlie account those slightly ailing and not fit for duty, though not 
 strictly fit subjects for hospital treatment. Regiments can seldom 
 supply themselves wdth a hospital fund, and therefore it is with 
 them, and to their sick, that the Sanitary Commission is enabled to 
 accomplish the most good. 
 
 ILLINOIS TROOPS. 
 
 I cannot give the number of troops in the Military Division of 
 West Mississippi. Such statement is prohibited. I may say, how- 
 ever, that Illinois furnishes a larger proportion of the troops, in all 
 of its departments, unless it be the Department of the Gulf, than 
 any other State. The morale of the troops is fair. Upon the 
 whole, I do not think it equals that of the armies in the Military 
 Division of the Mississippi. This is doubtless owing to the differ- 
 ent nature of the service performed. The latter, consolidated in 
 one great army, under Gen. Sherman, have been engaged in the 
 campaign which, in August last, resulted in the capture of Atlanta. 
 The service here has been of a more desultory character — from the 
 numerous raids, to the more pretentious expeditions, such as the Stur- 
 gis and Red river expeditions, and the one from Little Rock — all of 
 which resulted more or less disastrously. Ill success is not well cal- 
 culated to improve the de corps of an army. Mere raids, also, 
 
 however successful they may be, have a demoralizing tendency. 
 In all of the military operations, however, made in these depart- 
 ments the past season, whatever has been the result, I have yet to 
 be informed of the instance in which Illinois soldiers have failed 
 
14 
 
 to do their whole duty. In no case, that I am aware of, have they 
 dishonored their flag. It is a matter of notoriety, that in the fa- 
 mous Ked river expedition, the division of Gen. A. J. Smith, 
 composed largely of Illinois regiments, saved the army from even 
 greater disaster. Like instances might be multiplied, gratifying to 
 State pride, and creditable to the conduct of our boys ; but I for- 
 bear. 
 
 The general health of our regiments is good. At the present 
 time quite a body of troops is being concentrated at Memphis. I 
 notice many Illinois regiments among them. They seem to be in 
 good spirits and condition. Some of the boys are poorly supplied 
 with the necessary clothing to protect them from the extreme cold 
 weather with which of late we have been favored. A supply of 
 blankets, woolen shirts and drawers, socks and mittens, could now 
 be made to relieve much actual suffering. But these articles I sel- 
 dom receive. It would be well were our State Commission provi- 
 ded with funds to procure articles of this character, and which, for 
 the most part, can only be procured with money, and thus be able 
 to keep their agents supplied with such like articles, to be given the 
 necessitous. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON. 
 
 It is proper that I should make mention of the fleet of gunboats 
 on the Mississippi and its tributaries. Penetrated and intersected 
 as these departments are b}^ navigable rivers, by the presence of 
 these boats a much smaller body of men suffices to secure the 
 occupancy of the country than would otherwise be the case. They 
 have proved themselves a most effective arm of the service. 
 
 The number of gunboats composing the squadron is eighty-four r 
 (84), of which nineteen (19) are iron clad. The number of men 
 required to man them is eight thousand five hundred and twenty- 
 five (8525) — a small army in itself. Many of these men were en- 
 listed in Illinois. The cruising ground of the fleet is from Donald- 
 son, Louisiana, to St. Louis, on the Mississippi, and such parts of 
 the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee, as occasion may demand. 
 There is one (1) marine hospital in the department, the one at 
 Memphis, already mentioned in this report. Each boat has its sur- 
 geon and hospital, or sick bay. 
 
 I am not able to give the average number of sick in the fleet? 
 
15 
 
 bnt think, however, that, from the nature of the service, it is 
 greater than among an ^qual number of men in the army. I have 
 furnished them sanitary supplies as freely as it was in my power to 
 do. Some of the most gratifying acknowledgments of the benefi- 
 cial effects accomplished by the Sanitary Commission liave been 
 received by me from the officers and men of the Mississippi Squad- 
 ron. The hospitals on the boats, like regimental hospitals, are sel- 
 dom able to accumulate a fund ; and as a large part of their sick 
 are there treated, sanitary supplies are peculiarly acceptable to 
 them. 
 
 The Gulf Squadron rendezvous at New Orleans. Its number 
 and strength, or their sanitary wants, I am unable to give you. 
 With the exception of the number of vessels, I think both equal 
 that of the Mississippi fleet. 
 
 FREEDMEN. 
 
 By the kindness of Col. Eaton, Superintendent of Freedmen, 
 Department of the Tennessee and State of Arkansas, I am able 
 to present some items relative to the freedmen under his care. 
 The whole number of freedmen in the department and Arkansas, 
 is seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000). The number under 
 his supervision is two hundred thousand (200,000). The number 
 of sick in general hospitals is twenty-five hundred (2500). It is a 
 matter of almost daily occurrence to receive applications for sanita- 
 ry supplies for freedmen. Except in extreme cases, I have not 
 deemed it advisable to divert any of the supplies received by me 
 from the purposes to which they were originally designed by the 
 donors. Cases of great and extreme suffering I have occasionally 
 supplied — and have also, upon several occasions, made application 
 to the proper sources at the north, and have obtained and disbursed 
 special donations of supplies, made for them in answer to my ap- 
 ' peals. 
 
 SANITARY MATTERS IN GENERAL. 
 
 In my report from the Department of the Cumberland and Ohio, 
 I stated that the supply of sanitary stores had been ample, and 
 that the want of transportation south of Nashville was the great 
 hindrance in the way of effectually supplying the wants of the 
 troops. Since my visit, the position of the armies have been 
 
16 
 
 changed, and events have occurred making the wants greater than 
 then anticipated. Active operations, by two Federal armies, have 
 been ioaugurated, and this, too, in the winter season, when the 
 men will need more than ordinary care and attention. In making 
 calculations as to what amount of sanitary stores will be needed to 
 meet the demand in these- departments, the army under General 
 Sherman, now nearing the sea coast, may be included, as it is 
 composed largely of western and Illinois troops ; and wherever 
 the fortunes of war may place them, it is due them that they should 
 not be forgotten and neglected. 
 
 Winter campaigns, and especially those involving long marches, 
 are very severe and trying upon the troops. They will suffer much, 
 aside from the wounded in battles already fought, and others 
 doubtless to be fought, before spring, near Hashville and elsewhere. 
 The number of sick will be more than ordinarily large. Our 
 friends will need not only not to relax their exertions in that quar- 
 ter, but, if possible, to increase their ordinary contributions. Any 
 surplus on hand, originally designed for points south of Chatta- 
 nooga, will be quickly exhausted in the increased demand caused 
 by the active resumption of hostilities in the department. I esti- 
 mate the average number of sick and wounded in the Departments 
 of the Cumberland and Ohio at fully twenty thousand, (20,000.) 
 Illinois is called upon to do even more in their behalf than was 
 anticipated at the date of my last report. 
 
 The State Sanitary Board, having the matter under consideration 
 of sending a shipment of vegetables and other supplies to the army 
 of General Sherman, after it shall have reached the coast, I will 
 state, in this connection, that when at ISTew Orleans, the Quarter- 
 master of the Gulf Department assured me that he would gladly 
 afford the Sanitary Board every facility for their transportation, 
 and would place at their disposal, for the trip, an entire steamship, 
 if required. 
 
 As to the sanitary work in the department bordering upon the 
 Mississippi, I am able to speak advisedly, having been connected 
 with it since the battle of Shiloh. The number and capacity of the 
 hospitals is given above. The average number of sick and wounded 
 is nearly or quite fifteen thousand, (15,000.) The future demand 
 for sanitary supplies will not, I apprehend, he materially dimin- 
 ished to the close of the war. Yarious reasons might be given in 
 support of this conclusion, although it may not be, as formerly, the 
 
17 
 
 theatre of operations of large armies. Experience demonstrates 
 that railroads, for lines of communication, are unsatisfactory, and 
 will be discarded as far as possible, liivers, when accessible to 
 gun boats, are more to be desired for this purpose. We may expect, 
 therefore, that points on the Mississippi — though active hostilities, 
 on a large scale, be not resumed here — will continue to be used, as 
 far as practicable, for the bases of supplies, and for the con- 
 centration and transfer of troops. If, consequent upon victories 
 which may be achieved at the east, the rebel armies should retire 
 towards or into the Gulf States, we may expect that such will be 
 the case to a more than ordinary extent. Since the fall of Yicks- 
 burg, I think the eJfforts of our friends iai Illinois have not only 
 sensibly relaxed, but have not kept pace with the actual wants of 
 the soldiers here. This has not been because they have lost inte- 
 rest in the work, but because they had supposed so large a supply 
 as formerly not needed. When special appeals have been made to 
 them, they have liberally responded. This has been especially true 
 of certain portions of the State, which I might mention. A point 
 to be taken into consideration,, in urging contributions for these 
 departments, is, that transportation is easy and abundant, and sup- 
 plies sent forward can be easily and economically administered. 
 They are not subject to the delays always attendant upon transpor- 
 tation by an over-crowded military railroad. In the case of vege- 
 tables, and other articles of perishable nature, this is particularly 
 important. 
 
 As this is the last report which I shall have the honor to make 
 your Excellency, a brief resume of my doings will not be out of 
 place. I have acted as Military and Sanitary Agent for Illinois, 
 either by appointment of yourself or by the State Sanitary Board, 
 since May 13, 1862. My lirst labors were of a more desultory 
 character than latterly. F olio wing the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 
 during the siege of Corinth, and the subsequent operations by 
 General Grant in the Department of the Tennessee, I accompanied 
 several cargoes of stores collected in Illinois, and distributed them, 
 mainly in bulk, to the sick and wounded, and regiments in the 
 field. My labors being then considered of a temporary character, 
 and disbursements being hastily made, owing to the urgency of the 
 occasion, it was impossible to keep an exact account of the quantity 
 and value of the supplies then given out. I am able to approxi- 
 mate, howeve^, sufficiently near for all practical purposes. Being 
 
18 
 
 urged to continue in the field, I felt it m j duty so to do, though at 
 a personal sacrifice. In all my labors, I can frankly say, that I 
 have done nothing that, if possible, I would now undo. The sup- 
 plies distributed by me have been, for the most part, the contribu- 
 tions of the loyal hearts of Illinois ; and it might also be said, with 
 entire justice, the patriotic offerings of the noble women of our 
 State. My duties have brought me much in contact with them, 
 and I take this occasion to say, that in whatever was designed to 
 contribute to the well-being and comfort of the soldiers, they have 
 always manifested a degree of sympathy and interest not equaled 
 by any other class of citizens. Their sacrifices and heroism will 
 form no small part of the as yet unwritten history of this war. 
 
 Upon my duties assuming a more permanent character, and feel- 
 ing the necessity of giving form and system to my labors, in 
 August, 1862, I established a Sanitary Depot at Jackson, Tenn. 
 An account was kept of all articles received, and receipts taken for 
 aU given out. Great care has been taken in making disbursements. 
 Correspondence has been opened with various Soldiers’ Aid Socie- 
 ties through the State ; and latterly a large portion of the supplies 
 have been obtained by creating a personal interest in this agency. 
 Upon the evacuation of Jackson, (which took place in July, 1863,) 
 the agency was removed to Memphis, Tenn. In addition to the 
 disbursement of supplies, the agency has also been a military one. 
 In their personal matters the boys continually need the counsel of 
 some one more experienced than themselves. Their papers get 
 lost, and need to be replaced. When away from their regiments, 
 their “descriptive rolls” must be sent for; they require advice as 
 to drawing their pay, bounty, etc.; they get into trouble, and need 
 assistance in various ways. One can see, at a glance, that the 
 labors of an agent, in this respect alone, must accomplish much 
 good, and are almost indispensable. 
 
 During the thirty (30) months last past, this agency has dis- 
 bursed sanitary supplies to the amount of three hundred and sev- 
 enty-five thousand dollars ($375,000). This has been done at an 
 expense, so far as this agency is concerned, of about one (1) per 
 cent. 
 
 My acquaintance with officers of the army has been general and 
 agreeable. They have afforded me unusual facilities. Kooms have 
 been placed at my disposal, free of charge. Convalescent soldiers 
 have been detailed to my assistance. In various ways they have 
 
19 
 
 afforded me aid, which, in most cases, otherwise obtained, would 
 have been at much expense. 
 
 There are several classes of cases in which the generous inten- 
 tions of your Excellency and the State Sanitary Board toward the 
 soldiers could not be carried into execution, from the fact that un- 
 like other States, no fund of any consequence has been placed at 
 your disposal with which to meet them. Sudden emergencies 
 arise, by reason of unexpected movements or battles, which cannot 
 be met in the ordinary way. Again, certain kinds of articles re- 
 quisite to the comfort of the soldier, are not contributed, and can 
 only be procured by purchase in the market for cash. Still again, 
 agents in the field should always have at their disposal, (as indeed 
 the agents of most other States do have), money to relieve particu- 
 lar and individual cases of suffering. For instance, the sick fur- 
 loughed soldier, without means, as is most often the case, is fur- 
 nished government transportation home. This is deck passage on 
 the steamboat. In many cases, it is as much as a soldier’s life is 
 worth to attempt it. While I write, a number of Illinois soldiers, 
 furloughed, without money, not having been paid for nearly a year, 
 apply to me for the loan of a small sum each, to enable them to 
 reach home. Illinois makes no provision for such cases. Almost 
 all other States are prepared in such instances, which might be 
 multiplied indefinitely, to render assistance. If nothing further, 
 the soldier would be glad to receive the necessary amount as a loan, 
 to be reimbursed out of his pay. 
 
 For all such purposes^ the Sanitary Board, by no fault of their 
 own, have been enabled to furnish me the pitiful sum of less than 
 three hundred dollars ($300). This is not creditable to our State. 
 The Legislatures of other States have almost universally made gen- 
 erous provision for the sanitary and other wants of their soldiers. 
 It is proper that Illinois should not be behind hand in this regard. 
 I would suggest that your Excellency recommend the appropria- 
 tion by the Legislature of the sum of two hundred thousand dol- 
 lars ($200,000), to be used in such manner, and under such re- 
 strictions as they may see fit, in relief of the sanitary and other 
 wants of Illinois soldiers in the military Division of West Missis- 
 sippi. In my opinion, the sum is quite small enough to be appro- 
 priated by the great and prosperous State of Illinois for these pur- 
 poses. 
 
20 
 
 OTHER COSfMISSIONS. 
 
 My intercourse with the United States’ Christian, and Western 
 Sanitary Commissions, has been of the most cordial and co-opera- 
 tive character. Their operations in these departments are exten- 
 sive, and their affairs economically administered. Their managers 
 and agents, so far as my observation goes, are business men, a 
 great desideratum, as experience has satisfied me that none others, 
 however good their intentions may be, can safely be made the al- 
 moners of our bounty to the soldiers. The Christian Commission 
 has many agents and delegates in the several departments, and in 
 its appropriate sphere, has doubtless accomplished much good, the 
 amount of .which can never be full}?- known in this world. I am 
 much indebted to the North Western Commission of Chicago for 
 many favors shown. They deserve our thanks. In August, 1863, 
 James E. Yeatman, President of the Western Sanitary Commis- 
 sion, at St. Louis, made this agency a depot for disbursing the sup- 
 plies of that Commission. Since then, he has shipped me in lib- 
 eral quantities, and of kinds of articles not usually contributed by 
 our friends in Illinois. He has answered my requisitions prompt- 
 ly and with generous hand. Ilis kind co-operation with this agen- 
 cy deserves our hearty thanks. 
 
 AN ILLINOIS HOSPITAL OR ASYLUM. 
 
 In previous communication-& to your Excellency, I have urged 
 the establishment by the Federal Government of a general hospital 
 in Illinois, to which our permanently diseased and disabled sol- 
 diers might be taken for treatment. I can add nothing new to 
 what I have already urged upon this question. My views relative 
 to its necessity are in nowise diminished. Such a hospital should 
 partake of the character of a State asylum, where the hopelessly 
 diseased and maimed might find a home. No more deserving ob- 
 ject of our sympathies, I will not say charity, could be suggested. 
 We make suitable provision for the helpless in our midst, as the 
 blind, the deaf and dumb, etc. Not to do so, would mark us as 
 behind the Christian civilization of the age. Why not then make 
 the same provision for our disabled soldiers. In so doing we 
 should only repay in part the lasting debt of gratitude we owe them, 
 and we could certainly do nothing more gratifying to them, than 
 to assure them of a home in their own State, and among their own 
 
21 
 
 friends, where their declining years might be spent in rest and 
 comfort. I respectfully suggest that you recommend the Legisla- 
 ture to memorialize Congress upon the subject. 
 
 GENEUAL EEMARKS. 
 
 The Mississippi river, and the country bordering upon it, must 
 ever be of peculiar interest to Illinoisans. At the outset of the 
 war, Illinois had pledged her honor that the great river which wash- 
 ed her western boundaries, should bear her commerce, without trib- 
 ute, to the gulf. Right gallantly did she redeem her pledge. The 
 blood of her sons has tinged its turbid current, and the bodies of 
 thousands repose upon its banks. Illinois will see to it, that after 
 such sacritice, she has free and uninterrupted intercourse through- 
 out its entire length, forever. By the victories, largely attributable 
 to the valor of her troops, won at Belmont, Donelson, Shiloh and 
 Yicksburg, she has acquired in it an indefeasible right of property. 
 Here was the valor of her volunteers first proven. Here were the 
 first successes to the Federal arms in the war gained, infusing hope 
 and courage into the entire north, and giving needed confidence in 
 a favorable result. For all her sacrifice of blood and life, Illinois 
 will reap a portion of her reward in the gift to the coming millions 
 who are destined to inhabit the State, of this outlet to the ocean, of 
 incalculable and ever increasing value. 
 
 In no portion of the insurrectionary States are the effects of the 
 war so manifest as in the country bordering upon the great river. 
 Not because the actual ravages of war have been greater here than 
 elsewhere, but that the contrast is greater in that what is now a com- 
 parative solitude, was formerly one of the most busy avenues of 
 trade and commerce in the world, its waters covered with shipping, 
 its banks lined with flourishing villages and cities, the entrepots of 
 the valuable products of vast sections of country, now seldom else 
 than mere fortified posts, enjoying commercially only the local traf- 
 fic made necessary by the scanty wants of the impoverished people 
 within the lines of actual occupation, and that of the garrisons, and 
 Federal troops. The shores of the river were once lined with flour- 
 ishing plantations and princely residences. These are now desert- 
 ed and desolate. Upon the return of peace, it will certainly be- 
 come an interesting question, who are to possess these fertile acres. 
 
22 
 
 and under a voluntary and compensated system of labor, develop 
 their agricultural wealth. 
 
 New Orleans presents but a sorry contrast to her former flour- 
 ishing condition. The crowded levee, once the pride and boast of 
 the business men of the south, is comparatively deserted. The 
 miles of foreign and domestic shipping are no longer seen. Its 
 spacious warehouses are empty. The old, familiar faces have dis- 
 appeared. The places of the cotton and sugar lords of the south 
 are being replaced by the enterprising business men of the north, 
 who await the return of peace to restore the city, under new and 
 better auspices, to its former state of commercial prosperity. 
 
 Before closing this report, I wish to return my sincere thanks 
 to Adjutant General Fuller, and the members of the State Sanitary 
 Board, and its energetic and accomplished Secretary, Col. J ohn R. 
 "Woods. My official intercourse with them has been of the most 
 harmonious and pleasant character. They have invariably treated 
 me with the greatest kindness and courtesy, and the remembrance 
 will be pleasant to the latest hour of my life. 
 
 I beg leave also to return your Excellency my grateful acknowl- 
 edgments for the unvaried confidence you have been pleased to re- 
 pose in me, and to assure you that if in the performance of my du- 
 ties I have done aught amiss, my regret would be largely increased 
 by the thought that you would be called upon to bear a portion of 
 the censure. 
 
 In putting into execution your generous and unselfish intentions 
 towards the brave volunteers of Illinois, your path has been a dif- 
 ficult one. The soldiers understand this, and I speak what I do 
 know, when I say that they daily and hourly bless the name of 
 Richard Yates for all that he has done in their behalf. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. P. ROBB, 
 
 Col. and Agent. 
 
 [The foregoin" report, through inadvertence of the printer, takes precedence of the 
 one commencing on the opposite page. It should have followed it.] 
 
DEPARTMENT 0F THE CUMBERLAND. 
 
 His Excellency, Kichahd Yates, 
 
 Govei'nor of Utinois^ Springfeld: 
 
 Sm : On the 25th September last, I received your message, or- 
 
 dering me to proceed at once to Nashville, and there await yonr 
 v/ritten instructions. Leaving Memphis on the 26th September, I 
 arrived at Nashville on the 30th of the same month. Finding, 
 upon my arrival at that point, that direct communication, by rail- 
 road, with points south of Nashville, was temporarily interrupted, 
 the effect of a raid by the rebel General Forrest, that it would be 
 some days before that communication was fully restored, and 
 knowing that instructions, when received, would contemplate a 
 visit by me to military posts south of Nashville, I deemed it not 
 expedient to aw’ait the repairs of the railroad, and returned, with- 
 out delay, to Memphis, and my ordinary duties there. 
 
 On the 8th October, ult., I again received, by telegraph, your 
 order to report at Springfield ; and, upon my arrival there, in due 
 time, found awaiting me written instructions, which, in brief, were 
 as follows : “To visit the Department of the Cumberland, and the 
 
 armies of the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio, and make 
 thorough inspection of the sanitary condition of all Illinois troops 
 in those armies' both in the field and General Hosf^ls ; also dis- 
 close necessary steps to be taken to provide them with all needful 
 supplies of sanitary stores, requisite to their comfort and efiiciency, 
 during the fall and winter campaign.” I have performed the 
 duties assigned me, so far as it was practicable for me to do so, and 
 beg leave to make the following report : 
 
 SANITARY MATTERS IN GENERAL. 
 
 At Nashville, Tennessee, is established the only State Agency, 
 sustained by Illinois in the Department of the Cumberland. I 
 
24 
 
 found our State Agent at that point, Edward I. Eno, Esq., actively 
 engaged in the duties pertaining to his office. His held of labor is 
 a large and extended one. So large in fact, especially in view of 
 the vast military operations that for the last season have been car- 
 ried on in that department, that it would seem impossible for one 
 person to accomplish what should be done, to the proper super- 
 vision and relief of the Illinois troops in the department. Mr. 
 Eno is active and energetic, and seems to have accomplished all 
 that was possible to be done, with the means at his disposal, in 
 relieving the necessities of our soldiers in hospital, and so far as 
 was in his power, in the held. 
 
 In his sanitary labors, by the direction of the State Sanitary 
 Board at Springheld, he has co-operated with the United States 
 Sanitary Commission, at Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, and 
 Atlanta. I was informed by Mr. Eno that the board, instead of 
 establishing an exclusively Illinois Sanitary Disbursing Depot in 
 this department, concluded to send whatever supplies could be fur- 
 nished by the board, to Dr. Newberry, Secretary of the United 
 States Sanitary Commission, at Louisville, and have, from time to 
 time, sent to him both money and supplies in liberal quantities, to 
 be used and applied by him as he might deem advisable. 
 
 I make this statement that the friends of Illinois soldiers may 
 be satisfied and assured that their gifts have reached, through pro- 
 per and well recognized channels, the intended recipients, and to 
 c-orrect any contrary impressions, created by the fact that owing to 
 this arrangement they receive no direct or specific report of the 
 disbursement of the particular supplies donated by them, and only 
 appear as going to swell the aggregate amounts shown to have 
 been disbursed by the United States Commission. The statements 
 hereafter given in this report of the disbursements of that commis- . 
 sion in this department, will go far to show (if, indeed, they are not 
 deemed conclusive, as I think they must be,) that these supplies 
 have been well and faithfully applied to the sacred purpose for 
 which they were designed. 
 
 In addition to the receipts hj the United States Commission from 
 our Illinois Sanitary Board, I am informed by Mr. Eno, that a num- ^ 
 her of Illinois Ladies’ Aid Societies have occasionally shipped to 
 him hospital supplies, which, on their receipt, he has turned over 
 to the above commission, except in some few instances, when deem- 
 ed best, he has delivered them directly to hospitals. 
 
While upon this subject, I would also report that the Northwest- 
 ern Sanitary Commission at Chicago, (a branch of the United 
 States Sanitary Commission,) has likewise sent to the United States 
 Commission, at Louisville, money and sanitary stores in large quan- 
 tities, a fair, and, indeed, large proportion of which was collected 
 and contributed at Chicago, and other localities tnroughout the 
 State. All these have been, as I believe, well and faithfully appro- 
 priated and disbursed through the regular channels of the commis- 
 sion, and I am happy to say that the facts and figures submitted to 
 me by the obliging ofiicers of the commission, show to my mind 
 conclusively, that the contributions from our State, applied to the 
 relief of the wants of the sick and wounded of this department, 
 have been very large, and that, though the Sanitary Board have 
 been compelled by circumstances to adopt a plan in their disburse- 
 ment not ordinary, and, unhappily, perhaps not fully iinderstood by 
 the contributors, or by the soldiers, the recipients of the contri- 
 butions, that nevertheless Illinois has not been remiss in her efforts 
 to supply the wants of her soldiers, or in the least forgetful of her 
 brave sons in the Departments of the Cumberland and Ohio. 
 
 It would doubtless be more satisfactory to the soldiers and to all 
 concerned, if they could be made acquainted with all the facts in 
 the case, and were informed that in receiving benefactions from the 
 United States Commission they were receiving them through the 
 regular channels adopted by the Illinois Sanitary Board to disburse 
 the contributions of the friends of the Illinois soldier. There 
 would then be no occasion for the mistaken feeling somewhat preva- 
 lent among our troops, that in this distant field, Illinois and their 
 friends at home had forgotten them. 
 
 In this tour of inspection, I have met many Illinois surgeons, 
 ofiicers and soldiers in the field, who were not advised of the above 
 plan as to the distribution of the supplies contributed by their friends, 
 or of the instructions given our agent at Nashville, by your excel- 
 lency, and have no reason to doubt but that the same want of know- 
 ledge of the true state of facts in the premises prevails extensively 
 throughout the Illinois regiments in this department, and has been 
 the source of much feeling that they were being neglected and 
 forgotten by their own State. Were they fully informed of the 
 nature of the course adopted, and the necessity existing for the 
 adoption of that course, all this feeling would of course vanish. 
 
26 
 
 My attention was called to one more fact, which, at the time, was 
 the prolific cause of much ill-feeling and dissatisfaction. About 
 the time of the advance of the army from Kingston, Georgia, an 
 agreement was entered into between Dr. Deed, of the United 
 States Sanitary Commission, and Mr. Collins, agent of the West- 
 ern Sanitary Commission, to the effect that the Western Commis- 
 sion should supply the loth, 16th and 17th Army Corps, and the- 
 United States Commission all the other corps of the army. This 
 course, undoubtedly well intended, and, if fully understood, per- 
 haps the best that could be pursued for all concerned, was the 
 cause of much complaint. To a business mind, it will at once 
 appear that it would cause much confusion, as well as ill-feeling, 
 unless every surgeon and soldier was made acquainted with the 
 agreement, and the necessity leading to it. For instance, a surgeon 
 belonging to the 16th Arm^^ Corps makes a requisition upon the 
 United States Sanitary Commission for supplies for his sick and 
 wounded. It is not filled, and he is informed that the 16th Corps 
 must apply to the Western Commission for its sanitary supplies. 
 Not that the United States Commission have not the supplies 
 desired, or are disposed to withhold them from the needy soldier ; 
 but he is refused in accordance with the terms of the agreement 
 entered into as above stated, and of which he is ignorant. The 
 consequence of all this would be, that unless the surgeon was made 
 fully acquainted with the matter, he would doubtless think that he 
 had good cause to be offended, and more especially if he were the 
 surgeon of an Illinois regiment, and knew that sanitary supplies 
 from Illinois were for the most part directed into the channels of 
 the United States Commission. 
 
 Another reason, perhaps, why the feeling prevails among our 
 soldiers that they were being to some extent neglected, is to be 
 found in the fact, that many of the Illinois regiments now in this 
 Department were formerly in the Department of the Tennessee, 
 where they were in the habit of being regularly visited and 
 inspected by some agent of the State, the personal wants of the 
 soldiers carefully looked after, and their sanitary wants, to a great 
 degree, directly relieved by Illinois agents. By all these means, 
 the soldiers were brought into direct contact and communication 
 with their own friends, and were thus constantly reminded that 
 those friends were carefully attending to their best interests, and 
 that their health and well-being were being made the constant and 
 
27 
 
 unremitting care of your Excellency and the State authorities. In 
 this department, the reverse of all this has necessarily been the 
 case. If remediless, as it undoubtedly is, under the order of Gen. 
 Sherman, permitting but two Sanitary Commissions to operate in 
 the department, and, under that order, having designated the 
 United States and the Western, it is, neverthelesss, in my opinion, 
 a matter to be regretted. The soldier, of all others, needs sympa- 
 thy, and to be made to feel that he is cared for by friends at home, 
 and, to the full, appreciates that care and remembrance. So far as 
 I have been able, I have explained to them the course pursued by 
 the State Sanitary Board, and the necessity existing for pursuing 
 that course, as well as the nature of the instructions given to Mr. 
 Eno by your Excellency. In all cases, they expressed themselves 
 satisfied with the explanation, and universally acknowdedged that 
 they had received liberal donations of sanitary supplies from both 
 the United States and Western Commissions, and had no cause of 
 complaint in that regard. 
 
 In view of all these facts, I would respectfully recommend that, 
 if the present plan of co-operation with the United States Commis- 
 sion be continued, some measures be taken by which the Illinois 
 soldiers in this Department may be made fully acquainted with it, 
 and thus made to feel more at home in asking relief of this Com- 
 mission, and that their interests and wants are still our constant 
 care. 
 
 U pon the settled basis that there are to be but two Sanitary Com- 
 missions in the Department of the Cumberland — viz : the Western 
 and the United States, and the Illinois Sanitary Board co-operating 
 with the latter — Mr. Eno, our agent at Nashville, suggests a plan 
 for the future distribution of sanitary supplies, to take the place of 
 the present organized system; which system has certainly afforded 
 much ground for complaint among those not well informed in 
 regard to its practical operations. I most heartily concur in the 
 wisdom of the plan suggested, wliich, in brief, is as follows : 
 
 1st. The establishment of a single dejpot in Nashville, to which 
 both Commissions should send their supplies; each commission to 
 keep an agent there, who should receipt to their respective Com- 
 missions for the goods received, keep them informed of the wants 
 of the department, and report all disbursements to both Commis- 
 sions, and thus make Nashville the base of sanitary supplies for 
 the department. 
 
28 
 
 2nd. The Western Sanitary Commission to have a fair repre- 
 sentation of disbursing agents at the front, and all agents to report 
 in duplicate to the two Commissions. 
 
 3rd. To keep up the identity of both Commissions, all receipts 
 should be made to read, “Received from the United States and 
 Western Sanitary Commissions.” 
 
 I am informed that Mr. Collins, agent of the W^estern Sanitary 
 Commission in this department, approves of the general features 
 of the above plan. Mr. Eno also informed me that he had com- 
 municated it to the United States Commission at Louisville, but as 
 yet had received no reply. 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS OF THE WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION. 
 
 Ry the kindness of Mr. II. B. Bluod, agent of this Commission 
 at hTashville, I am able to state the amount of sanitary supplies 
 sent forward l\y this Commission from Rashville to the front, from 
 May 17th to September 25th of the present year. The aggregate, 
 as certified to me by Mr. Blood, is forty -one (11) car loads contain- 
 ing four hundred and ten (110) tons of supplies. 
 
 I w^ould be glad to give a detailed statement of the different 
 articles composing the above ; but, not having been furnishtd it, I 
 am unable to give any. I am assured, however, that the supplies 
 thus sent forward and disbursed, have been of a very choice and 
 valuable character, and suited to the wants of the sick and 
 wounded ; and I have no doubt that a detailed statement would, 
 by the magnitude of the items thus disclosed, astonish many who 
 sometimes wonder where all the hospital supplies raised throughout 
 the country are used. 
 
 DISBURSEMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 
 
 It being understood that the Illinois State Sanitary Board co-op- 
 erates with this Commission in this department, and that the ISTorth- 
 western Commission at Chicago, which receives a large share of 
 its supplies from the people of our own State, is also a branch of 
 this Commission, I have thought proper to notice its operations 
 more in detail, though not at the length I might desire, lest this 
 report be made too voluminous. 
 
 Judge E. Root, agent in charge at lllashville, furnishes me the 
 following aggregate statement : “ The United States Sanitary Com- 
 
29 
 
 mission lias shipped sanitary stores to the front from Nashville, 
 Tennessee, at the rate of ONE HUNDRED TONS (100,) per 
 week, from May 1st to August 15th, 1864. Since the 15th August, 
 and up to the present time, they have not shipped more than one- 
 half the above quantity, say FIFTY TONS (50,) per week, owing 
 to raids on the railroad, and consequent want of transportation. 
 They have now, November 3d, 1864, on hand, in store at Nash- 
 ville, over SIX HUNDRED TONS (600,) of sanitary supplies to 
 go forward.” 
 
 I have also been furnished by Mr. M. C. Reed, the very efficient 
 agent of the Commission at Chattanooga, a detailed statement of 
 the disbursements of the Commission at that point, for the six 
 months ending October 1st, 1864. A few of the more important 
 
 items only I proceed to give : 
 
 Pillows, No., 5,^85 
 
 Pillow cases. No., 6,802 
 
 Shirts, No., 24,836 
 
 Drawers, pairs, 12,24^ 
 
 Towels and Handkerchiefs, No., 13,004 
 
 Socks, pairs, 2,980 
 
 Codfish, lbs., 13,602 
 
 Wines, etc., bottles, 22,759 
 
 Bandages, lbs., 40,544 
 
 Condensed beef, ibs., 27,722 
 
 Condensed milk, lbs., 65,104 
 
 Crackers, lbs., 83,275 
 
 Dried fruit, lbs., 85,901 
 
 Farina and corn starch, lbs., 13,917 
 
 Butter, lbs., 4,945 
 
 Potatoes, bushels, 13,313 
 
 These items, as showing a part of the disbursements at a single 
 point, will sufficiently demonstrate the magnitude of the work, and 
 the large amounts of supplies which can be well bestowed upon the 
 sick and wounded and needy of a large army in the field. 
 
 I would particularly call your attention to a Hospital Garden, at 
 Chattanooga, under tlie direction and management of Mr. Reed. 
 Its practical results have been really wonderful. It consists of 
 about one hundred and fifty acres. The manual labor has been 
 performed by convalescents from the hospital, glad to thus exercise 
 
30 
 
 in the open air, as it also tlie more rapidly, if judiciously exercised^ 
 restored them to full health and vigor. The horses necessary to 
 work the garden, were taken from condemned government stock, 
 and rapidly regained their flesh and strength. The necessary tools • 
 and seeds were furnished by the Commission, and the garden has 
 thus been worked at very little cost to any one. The products 
 have been enormous. If sold at Chattanooga, at the market value, 
 they would have realized more than fifty thousand dollars. The 
 pickles, made from the onions and fall tomatoes, if sold at market 
 rates, would alone have paid all expenses. The Commission, and 
 its energetic agent, Mr. Keed, certainly deserve great credit for the 
 successful management of the Hospital Garden at Chattanooga. 
 
 I would respectfully suggest that wherever permanent hospital: 
 are located, and it is practicable, agents interest themselves in the 
 establishment and working of such gardens, both on account of the 
 great beneflt accruing to the inmates of the hospital from an abun- 
 dant supply at all times of fresh vegetables, and the actual good 
 resulting to the convalescing soldiers, from being afforded light 
 employment and exercise. I am confident that no equal amount 
 of good can be accomplished by our agents and commissions in 
 any other way, with the same expenditure. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION. 
 
 I take pleasure in speaking of this Commission, which, through 
 its agencies at Atlanta and other points, I found actively engaged 
 in its all-important labors. In addition to its originally designed 
 work, it also receives and disburses, at Atlanta, large amounts of 
 sanitary stores. The labors of this Commission are highly and 
 deservedly spoken of by the soldiers, both in field and hospital. 
 Its field is a large one, and, to a certain extent, one not shared by 
 any other commission, and its objects such as to commend it to the 
 favorable consideration of all, and more especially to the religious 
 part of our community. I would gladly speak of it more at length, 
 but my space will not admit. 
 
 In this connection I would also mention the general success 
 attending the establishment of the Hospital Diet Kitchens, in the 
 Department of the Cumberland. Mrs. Anna Whittemeyer, an 
 active agent of this Commission, is deserving of great credit for so 
 thoroughly investigating the old systems formerly in vogue, and in 
 
31 
 
 getting this modern and, as I believe, useful improvement so gen- 
 erally introduced. I am confident that when surgeons of general 
 hospitals have been made acquainted with the practical advantages 
 of the diet kitchen, it will be established in all of our large United 
 States hospitals. 
 
 HOSPITALS AND HOSPITAL TRAINS. 
 
 There are some forty hospitals, of all kinds, in the Department 
 of the Cumberland. Their number will therefore render it impos- 
 sible for me to speak of them, except in general terms. The 
 armies under Major General Sherman have a reputation now world 
 wide for efiiciency. Their deeds in the field attest it. In no 
 branch of the army is the cause of that efficiency shown in a 
 greater degree than in its medical department. This is as it should 
 be, for nothing goes so far to make the man a good soldier, as the 
 knowledge that, if sick or wounded, he will be well taken care of. 
 I have visited most of the hospitals, and in most instances have 
 found them such, in location, arrangement and general appoint- 
 ments, as were to be expected from their connection with an army 
 so well officered and disciplined as is this one. The Medical Direc- 
 tors whom I have met were gentlemen, seemingly well skilled in 
 their profession, and certainly thoroughly acquainted with the rou- 
 tine appertaining to their offices. In every instance I have been 
 cordially received, and every facility afibrded me in the discharge 
 of the duties of my mission. The surgeons in charge, with one or 
 two exceptions, seemed selected to fill their posts, both tor their 
 skill and those kindly qualities of heart, which, for the* sick soldier, 
 sometimes work more speedy cures than the most skillfully pre- 
 pared medicines. I am glad to give this testimony in behalf of 
 the medical department here, and to assure the friends of the Illi- 
 nois soldier, that if sick or wounded in this army, his wants are 
 nearly certain to be well attended to. One hospital alone, on ac- 
 count of its location, I would particularize — the Lookout Mountain 
 Hospital. Its location, in most respects, m most desirable. It is 
 seated on an undulating piece of ground, near the summit, several 
 hundred acres in extent. The elevation is over two thousand feet 
 above the level of the sea. The surroundings are of the most 
 romantic character. Standing here, a landscape stretches away 
 before the gaze, unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. The Ten- 
 nessee, like a thread of silver, winds its way across the valley, and 
 
32 
 
 through the surrounding hills, which would seemingly bar its pas- 
 sage. Chattanooga valley, in only seeming silence, lies at your 
 leet, dotted with its strange medley of tents and dwelling houses, 
 breastworks and store houses, forts and churches. On your left is 
 Mission Kidge, and before you, stretches away, as far as the eye 
 can see toward Atlanta, the country so recently torn from the grasp 
 of trahors by the soldiers of the Union. The atmosphere is bracing, 
 the water is pure, and in every respect, w^hen reached, it is a most 
 fitting home for the sick soldiers. ' The main, if not only, objection 
 to it lies in its inaccessibility. The government, however, are 
 making very extensive additions to the buildings already erected 
 there, and if not used as a hospital proper, it can and should be 
 always used as a sort of Invalides^ a home for her sons perma- 
 nently diseased and disabled in her service. 
 
 Dr. Johns, of Decatur, Illinois, one of my associate commission- 
 ers, visited the hospitals at Knoxville, Tennessee, and reported as 
 follows : 
 
 “Under the direction of Dr. Josiah Curtis, assistant medical di- 
 rector, Department of the Ohio, the Asylum Hospital has been 
 redeemed from a miserably dirty barracks, to one of the most or- 
 derly, cleanly, well watered, heated and ventilated hospitals I have 
 visited. The plan of heating hospital tents by flues underneath 
 the centre of the row of sixteen (16) tents, terminating in a tall 
 chimney to insure draft, produces a uniform heat, at much less ex- 
 pense than any other plan of heating tents. The entire repairs 
 liave been done by convalescents, and almost without cost to the 
 government. The Holstein Hospital is unfinished, but has accom- 
 modations for 600 sick, the tents all heated by underground flues. 
 The policing of this camp, the ventilating of the sinks, in fact the 
 entire sanitary arrangements, show the thoughtfulness and skill of L 
 the medical officer in charge. Since these reforms were instituted, 
 the ratio of mortality, with an equally bad class of patients, and du- 
 ring the summer months, shows a decrease of forty per cent, over 
 the previous six months.” 
 
 In this connection, the hospital trains in this department well 
 deserve a passing notice. Military railroads are not celebrated for 
 their superior traveling accommodations. Passengers o fall ranks, 
 as a general thing, are obliged to content themselves with a rough 
 seat, or no seat at all, in a common box car. Hot so with the sick 
 and w’ounded. Large, fine passenger cars, are neatly fitted up with 
 
33 
 
 spring beds, and all the more necessary paraphernalia of a hospital. 
 These trains make regular trips between Louisville and Atlanta. 
 Each train has its regular set of train oflicers, and, in addition, its 
 steward, cooks, ward-masters, nurses, and surgeon in charge. In 
 a department where the facilities of transportation are extremely 
 limited, of necessity, these trains and their good management are 
 most excellent indices of the general care and attention paid to the 
 sick and wounded. 
 
 THE TEOOPS IN THE FIELD, 
 
 In regard to the police and sanitary condition of our regiments 
 in the field, little can be said, aside from what I have often written. 
 More than three years spent m the field by our surgeons, have not 
 passed without profit to themselves, and to their patients. The old 
 adage has beefi more firmly than ever impressed upon their minds, 
 that “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure,” and 
 they have learned by experience that well policed camp grounds 
 are of even greater consequence than drugs and medicines, however 
 skillfully administered. In the organization of field hospitals, also, 
 great and needed improvements have been made. Our surgeons 
 have given these matters their attention, and the great benefits ac- 
 cruing therefrom to the soldier, are at once made visible to the 
 inspector, 
 
 Our veteran so.diers are not far behind the surgeons in improve- 
 ment. They have learned to “keep house,” and to give more at- 
 tention than formerly to their quarters, however temporary, and to 
 cleanliness, and diet. A surgeon informed me that the “boys” in 
 his regiment had become such' adepts in housekeeping, that while 
 on a march the other day, a stray porker happened to cross the 
 line, when he saw four of the boys pick Mr. Porker up with 
 their bayonets, stick it, bleed it, skin it, cut it up, divide it, and 
 stow it away in their haversacks, and not make a single mis-step. 
 To the wonderment of their mess, they had fried pork for dinner. 
 The surgeon who related it to me is a very reliable gentleman. 
 
 WANTS TO BE SUPPLIED. 
 
 It was expected that this report “would fully indicate the present 
 condition ot Illinois troops, and also disclose necessary steps to be 
 taken, to provide them with all needful supplies of sanitary stores 
 
34 - 
 
 and aid requisite to their comfort and efficiency during the fall and 
 winter campaign.” 
 
 As to both these points, my report will necessarily be somewhat 
 defective. Owing to the peculiar nature of the movements, (which 
 are contraband,) in the field, I have found it absolutely impossi- 
 ble to reach a large portion of our regiments. Their future move- 
 ments and location are uncertain. I am assured, however, that if 
 the good people of Illinois shall continue their past ordinary efforts 
 in the contribution of supplies, mainly of the character they have 
 sent forwrrd for the last year, all will have been done, necessary to 
 be done in the premises, so far as can be seen at present. The 
 supply now on hand at the different commissions is large, and 
 through the ordinary channels will doubtless so continue, until the 
 armies of General Sherman shall have reached and occupied new 
 fields, to which new and ampler means of transportation can be 
 furnished. Any new or extraordinary demand will at once be 
 made public by the agents of the commissions. 
 
 Sherman’s campaign, and the country in which it was made. 
 
 It may not be deemed out of place to mention briefly the promi- 
 nent features of the country, over which was made the recent cam- 
 paign of the armies under command of General Sherman, culmina- 
 ting in the capture of Atlanta, and in which campaign the sons of 
 Illinois bore no small or inglorious part, and by their fresh achieve- 
 ments added to the imperishable laurels won in previous campaigns 
 on the banks of the Tennessee and the Mississippi. The imme- 
 diate neighborhood of Chattanooga is mountainous, reminding me 
 strongly of the scenery among the Andes and the Sierra Nevadas. 
 The valleys alone seem to be susceptible of cultivation. The face 
 of the country is traversed by numerous ridges, with here and there 
 lofty peaks, rock-bound and precipitous, rising in altitude from a 
 few hundreds to thousands of feet above the level of tlie surround- 
 ing country. The railroads follow now the winding of the river 
 through the valley, then running through deep cuttings and tun- 
 nels bored through the solid rock of the mountain, and now passing 
 over some wild mountain pass, made historic perhaps by some feat 
 of arms, or desperate struggle of this great rebellion. The wagon 
 roads, if such they can be called, wind their way around and over 
 the hills, and on the edges of the precipices, and in their best estate 
 
35 
 
 would scarcely be deemed passable by one accustomed to the 
 smooth roads over our northern prairies. It is at once seen that 
 the subsistence of an army here, if they are obliged to haul their 
 supplies over any very great distance of such road in wagons, 
 would be impossible. The country from Chattanooga to Atlanta 
 partakes, in places, to some extent, of the same general character 
 as that I have briefly described, though some portions of the dif- 
 tance is merely undulating, and is covered with large and fertile 
 plantations. A region more available for defensive purposes can 
 scarcely be conceived. But the interest in the beauty and sublim- 
 ity of the scenery is trebly increased by the fact that from Stone 
 river to Atlanta there is scarcely a spot which the eye can rest upor, 
 that is not made memorable to all time, by the heroism and achieve- 
 ments of the armies of the Union, in their onward march to the 
 Gulf. The country has been literally wrested, step by etep, and 
 almost inch by inch, from the hands of traitors. As a striking in- 
 stance of the tenacity with which this campaign was made, and the 
 obstinacy with which the rebels held their positions, I am assured 
 that when Atlanta was reached, our troops had erected and relin- 
 quished in their onward march, over three hundred miles of breast- 
 works and fortiflcations. In looking at the various seemingly im- 
 pregnable positions, where the rebel army made their several stands, 
 only to be driven from them, one after the other, by the obstinate 
 valor of our soldiery, one is reminded of Leonidas, and the pass of 
 Thermopylae, and how different might have been the result here, 
 had the cause of our enemies been more just, or our armies been 
 less brave and determined. The campaign resulting in the capture 
 of Atlanta must ever be considered, when fully understood, one of 
 the most wonderful on record. 
 
 THE soldiers’ CEMETERY AT CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 At Chattanooga, a beautiful hill, profusely adorned by nature, is 
 being fenced in, and neatly and substantially fitted up for a soldiers’ 
 cemetery. To me, the place possessed more interest than many others 
 in the vicinity, of a more celebrated and pretentious character. 
 Already over six thousand of the soldiei*s of the republic, within 
 its confines, sleep the last sleep that knows no waking. It is a 
 most proper resting place for the fallen braves— right there in the 
 vicinity where some of the most glorious achievements of this war 
 
36 
 
 have taken place — at once the place of their heroic struggles, their 
 victories, and their final rest. 
 
 I would most respectfully, but earnestly, recommend to your Ex- 
 cellency, that Illinois should take some measures, either by the 
 erection of a suitable monument, or in some other more proper 
 manner, to testify her gratitude and lasting remembrance of those 
 of her sons who, far from their own State, are buried in this ceme- 
 tery. Their memory deserves at least this, and in nothing could 
 the State do itself greater honor. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE ILLINOIS SOLDIERS — POLITICAL AND OTHERWISE. 
 
 It would be an act of injustice to our soldiers in the field, to 
 close this report without speaking of the nearly unanimous feeling 
 pervading those coming within my observation, as to their political 
 sympathies and their views upon the conduct of the war. I have 
 no doubt but that this degree of unanimity extends throughout all 
 the volunteer soldiery of our State. I speak of these things the 
 more readily, as, before this shall have passed out of my hands, 
 the general election will have taken place, and I shall not be sub- 
 jected to the imputation of making statements, merely to be used 
 for the purposes of the political canvass. 
 
 Illinois soldiers, with a just pride, know that they have made a 
 record in this war, which, as a matter of right, entitles them to the 
 highest consideration of their fellow citizens, and, in the fullest de. 
 gree, to all the rights, privileges and immunities of the American 
 freeman. But as they may not vote, this feeble expression of their 
 sentiments and feelings may, at least, serve the purpose of placing 
 them right upon the political records of their State, add fresh zest 
 to the Union victory at the polls, and assure their friends, that sus- 
 tained at home, by their sympathy and material support, in the 
 crushing out of this causeless rebellion, they will know no such 
 word as fail. 
 
 Mne-tenths of our soldiers in this army, I am assured, favor 
 the election of the candidates nominated at Baltimore, and indorse 
 the platform of principles there enunciated. They wish the re- 
 election of President Lincoln, believing that his conduct of public 
 afiairs for the past four years, during this unparalleled emergency, 
 has been wise and patriotic. They feel that change, at this junc- 
 
37 
 
 ture, would be pregnant with disaster. One honest soldier, brought 
 np, doubtless, out on the prairies of our noble State, after anx‘ 
 iously inquiring for the political news, sententiously expressed his 
 opinion, by saying that ‘Ore thought it bad policy to swap a good 
 horse for a poor one, in the fall of the year, when fodder was so 
 scarce and high.” 
 
 The Union nomination for Governor of the State of Illinois, the 
 boys look upon somewhat in the light of a personal compliment to 
 themselves. With them, he volunteered at the outbreak of the 
 rebellion, and, in the army of the Tennessee, achieved a reputation 
 second to none, until compelled to retire from the field, disabled by 
 honorable wounds received in battle. The Illinois soldier, in the army 
 of the Tennessee, remembers, with feelings of pride, his old com- 
 mander, gallant Dick Oglesby ; and our soldiers all think that they 
 have good reason to suppose that for the next, as for the past four 
 years, they will have in their Governor a firm and steadfast friend 
 — in a word, a brother soldier, a comrade cognizant of their wants, 
 watchful over their interests — one who will relieve their misfor- 
 tunes, and rejoice in their victories and heroic achievements. 
 
 Our soldiers have the greatest contempt for all that class of our 
 people who desire peace, for its own sake. They, too, desire peace, 
 but ask for and will receive no peace founded on dishonor. A 
 cessation of hostilities wmuld, indeed, be grateful, for to them it 
 would be a cessation from the weary round of camp life, a relief 
 from marches and skirmishes and battle, a furlough from the hos- 
 pital, and, mayhap, from the horrors of southern prison-houses ; but 
 I have yet to find the Illinois soldier who would accept any or all 
 these at the sacrifice of his own or country’s honor. They wish 
 not to be placed in the false position of victors seeking terms of the 
 vanquished. They have carried the “ old flag ” in triumph from 
 the Ohio to the Gulf, and they ask that they be not now, in the 
 very hour of victory, compelled to lower it to a conquered enemy. 
 They also know that the war has been no failure ; that the enemy 
 is well nigh exhausted ; and from a proud, defiant confederacy, in 
 virtual possession of eleven states, they have been forced back, by the 
 valor of our arms, step by step, until now there is no state or terri- 
 tory over which our flag does not float, and in which we have not 
 gained a secure foothold. No wonder that the soldiers sometimes 
 grow impatient, and denounce, in no measured terms, those who 
 would ignore their services, and sum up all their magnificent sue- 
 
38 
 
 cesses in the field, in the single word “ failure.” If one would get 
 inspired with the fullest measure of confidence in our final triumph, 
 he should go to the front, and mingle with the army. The soldier 
 is the very embodiment of confidence. Even in the hospital you 
 will fail to discover that disease or wounds in any way quenches 
 his spirit and zeal in the cause. If there be such cases, they are 
 extremely rare. Would that the spirit and determination of some 
 of these soldiers might be infused into some of our weak-kneed, 
 trembling, doubting patriots at home, who forget so easily all the 
 lessons of history, and are continually permitting themselves to 
 question, whether, after all, the South can be conquered, and the 
 Union restored ; and are in constant fear lest Grant be repulsed, or 
 Sherman’s communications be severed. The soldier at the front has 
 no doubts or forebodings. His loyalty is earnest and confident 
 He knows that the time will come, be it near or distant, when the 
 armed strength of the rebellion shall be broken. The accidents 
 of war, and temporary reverses, they expect, satisfied that they 
 are making substantial progress, and trustful that, through all, the 
 flag of the Union will emerge purer and brighter than before, the 
 emblem of a universal freedom and a more vigorous nationality. 
 
 As a truthful exponent of those things uppermost in the minds 
 of our Illinois soldiers, this report would be imperfect were all 
 mention omitted of the universal manifestations of regard expressed 
 by them towards your excellency, and their cordial approval of the 
 course pursued by the State Executive for the past four years. 
 They understand, fully, the difficulties under which you have 
 labored, and appreciate the more highly your steadfast and unsel- 
 fish devotion to their interests. Thus much, at least, I am bound 
 to say in behalf of the “boys.” Were I to attempt to give full 
 expression to all they say and feel in this regard, I should exhaust 
 your patience, as well as my own. The volunteers of Illinois have 
 watched the public course of your excellency, for to them it was 
 fraught with momentous consequences. They are more than satis^ 
 fied. They take every occasion to thus express themselves, and I 
 believe that they express the sentiments of their hearts. Their 
 deep regret that you are soon to vacate the gubernatorial chair is 
 only relieved by the thought that in your successor they will have 
 a Governor who likewise deems it a matter of just pride to be 
 called “the soldier’s friend.” 
 
 I have the honor to be the bearer of two canes, of laurel wood, 
 cut on Lookout Mountain, by an aged Illinois soldier, an inmate 
 
39 
 
 of the hospital there located. At his request, I take pleasure in 
 presenting one to your excellency and the other to the Governor 
 elect, Gen. Oglesby, in behalf of the Illinois soldiers in that hospital. 
 
 THANKS. 
 
 When kindly met by officers of all rauks in the service, in the 
 Departments of the Cumberland and Ohio, and every facility 
 afforded me in furtherance of the objects of my mission, to particu- 
 larize would seem invidious. My duties, however, bringing me in 
 contact with the medical officers of these departments, and calling 
 for much labor at their hands, in all cases cheerfully bestowed, it 
 would be ungrateful in me not to make mention and acknowledg- 
 ment of their services, I take pleasure, then, in saying, that I am 
 under the greatest obligations to W. Clendenin, Assistant Medical 
 Director, Department of the Cumberland, at JMashville; E. W. 
 Jones, Surgeon, United States Yolunteers, in charge of hospitals, 
 and Medical Director of the post of Chattanooga; Surgeon O. Q. 
 Herrick, United States Yolunteers, and Superintendent of Trans- 
 portation for sick and wounded, Chattanooga ; T. P. Earnum, 
 Surgeon, United States Army, and Superintendent of Hospital 
 Trains, Nashville; Dr. K. Gilbert, Medical Director Hospitals, 
 Louisville, Kentucky; and Dr. Josiah Curtiss, Medical Director 
 Department of the Ohio — by all of wdiom I was kindly received, 
 and who did all in their power to make my mission a successful 
 one. 1 hereby tender them my hearty thanks. 
 
 I would respectfully suggest that you recommend to the Legisla- 
 ture, in your next annual message, an appropriation of at least one 
 hundred thousand dollars tor sanitary purposes. I lind that the 
 soldiers of other States, in addition to what is done by the United 
 States Sanitary Commission, receive large contributions from their 
 respective State Sanitary Commissions, through funds appropriated 
 by State Legislatures, and there is no reason why the brave sons of 
 Illinois should not have a share of the resources of the State treas- 
 ury direct, and not be left dependent alone upon the voluntary 
 benevolence of the loyal and unsellish citizens alone. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Yery respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. P. KOBE, 
 
 Col. M. and S. Agent for JllincU. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., N'ov. 4, 1864. 
 
40 
 
 OOEEESPOI4DENCE. 
 
 Hkad-Quarters Illinois Military and Sanitary Agency, 
 Memphis^ 'lenn.^ Nov. 22, 1864. 
 
 His Excellency, Richard Yates, 
 
 Governor of Illinois, Springfield, Illinois: 
 
 Dear Sir : In my late tour of inspection in the Department of 
 the Cumberland, I visited Lookout Mountain Hospital, at Chatta- 
 nooga, Tennessee. Aside from the ordinary interest excited by 
 visiting a locality now become celebrated, the occasion was one 
 long to be remembered, by reason of the following circumstance : 
 
 The Illinois soldiers, diseased and wounded, inmates of the hos- 
 pital I have mentioned, wished to testify, in a humble way, their 
 appreciation of the self-sacrificing interest manifested upon all oc- 
 casions, in behalf of the soldiers, by your Excellency. To that 
 end they commissioned me to present to you, for them, the cane 
 accompanying this letter, trusting that you would accept it, not for 
 its intrinsic value merely, for that is small, but as an earnest of their 
 gratitude ind lasting esteem. The cane is of laurel wood, com- 
 monly called, by the natives, ivory wood, by reason of its hardness, 
 and w^as cut by the eldest of their number from near the summit 
 of the mountain. Will your Excellency please accept it, as the 
 gift of honest, brave and patriotic hearts. The soldier is no diplo- 
 matist. He is all unused to flattery. He speaks right out the sen- 
 timents of his heart, whether it be in hearty condemnation of trea- 
 son, or in grateful acknowledgment of kindnesses received. Hest 
 assured, then, that this expression, whatever be its worth, has at least 
 the merit of being an honest one. 
 
 With the cane, the soldiers also wished me to return to your 
 Excellency their thanks for your earnest efforts in behalf of the 
 Illinois soldier, and to express their hope and prayer, that, after yon 
 shall have vacated your office, as soon you will be called upon to 
 do, health and prosperity may attend you, wherever, or in whatever 
 
41 
 
 position, public or private, you maybe, and that nothing may ever 
 arise to cause you to regret your labors in behalf of the volunteers 
 of Illinois in the great army of the Union. 
 
 Respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. F. ROBB, 
 
 Colonel and Agent 
 
 Executive Mansion, 
 Sprmgjield Illinois, Dec. 3, 1864. 
 
 To the sick and wounded Illmois soldiers of Lookout Mountain Hospital, Chattanooga, 
 
 Tejinessee: 
 
 Soldiers : I have received from Col. T. P. Robb, Illinois Mili- 
 tary and Sanitary Agent, the handsome laurel or ivory wood cane, 
 which you commissioned him to present to me in your behalf. It 
 is a beautiful gift, and will ever be cherished by me as one of the 
 most interesting mementoes of this great struggle, in which the 
 volunteers of Illinois have borne so conspicuous and honorable a 
 part. Growing, as it once did, upon a spot now become historical, and 
 in the immediate vicinity of which some of the greatest battles of 
 this war have been fought, where thousands of your comrades have 
 fallen, and now sleep in soldiers graves, it will serve to constantly 
 remind me how inestimable is the price we were called upon to pay 
 for the preservation of the Union. What memories come throng- 
 ing up at the mere mention of the names of those battle fields of 
 freedom — Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
 sion Ridge. They are hallowed spots, and will remain such, so 
 long as liberty has anywhere a resting place and a single follower 
 to worship at her altars. 
 
 Hot the least interest, however, attaching to the gift, is, that it is 
 from those who have suffered and bled in defense of their country 
 and its free institutions. Sick and wounded for your country, and 
 yet, with patriotic devotion, you have esteemed it rather a privilege 
 than otherwise, and in all your trials and sufferings, ever hopeful 
 and confident, you have never faltered in your earnest purpose to 
 rescue your land from the foul grasp of traitors. 
 
 I thank you for your gift, for the kind words you have spoken 
 me, and your wishes for my future health and prosperity. I know 
 — 4 
 
42 
 
 of no class of men whose words of commendation I so earnestly 
 desire to merit, and whose kind wishes are so grateful to my feel- 
 ings, as those of the Illinois soldiers. Heaven bless you. May 
 peace soon smile on the land you have so nobly defended, and 
 may you soon be enabled to return to your homes and families 
 with restored health to enjoy its blessings. 
 
 KICHAED YATES, 
 Governor, 
 
 Headquarters Illinois Military and Sanitary Agency, 
 Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 22, 1864. 
 
 Major General Oglesby, 
 
 Governor elect of Illinois: 
 
 Sir : It was my good fortune, a short time since, in the prose- 
 
 cution of my duties as State Military and Sanitary Agent, to visit 
 Lookout Mountain Hospital, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. I found 
 among the inmates many Illinois soldiers, hopeful and uncom- 
 plaining, though suffering from various forms of disease, and from 
 honorable wounds, received in battle. They were glad to see me, 
 and eagerly questioned me about home, and the latest news from 
 the north, and their native State. The election was then near at 
 hand, and they, in common with a large majority of our soldiers 
 whom I met at the front, were particularly anxious to be assured 
 that, in the great political contest, their own proud State of Illinois 
 would, by a decisive and overwhelming majority for the Union can- 
 didates, still continue to maintain that advanced position among 
 her sister states achieved for her by the heroism and bravery of 
 her volunteer soldiery. I was happy to impart to them a portion of 
 the confidence felt by myself in the result of the pending election. 
 
 They were particularly pleased to be assured that you. General, 
 would undoubtedly be elected Governor. They judged correctly, 
 that it is an office which, more than any other, has to do with their 
 individual well-being as soldiers. 
 
 A- portion of these men, so they informed me, had once fought 
 under your leadership. They all knew you, personally or by repu- 
 tation, as a soldier, tried and true, devoted to the Union, and 
 pledged to uphold in your official capacity, if elected, the honor of 
 
 
43 
 
 their native State. It was determined by these men to send you, 
 General, some small token of the respect they feel toward you, 
 both as a soldier, and a citizen about to enter upon the duties of 
 the highest office in the gift of the people of the State. In pursu- 
 ance of that resolve, I was intrusted with the grateful task of pre- 
 senting to you the cane which accompanies this communication. 
 It is of laurel wood, and was cut near the summit of Lookout 
 Mountain, by the eldest soldier of the company then present from 
 Illinois. In behalf -of these brave men, bearing as they did upon 
 their persons the testimonials of their heroism and devotion to 
 their country, I beg you to accept this gift, a small token of their 
 esteem. It is of little intrinsic worth ; but, as a proof of affection 
 held toward you by a representative from as noble-minded and 
 loyal a body of men as ever marched beneath the flag of our coun- 
 try, it has to my mind a value far beyond its seeming worth. May 
 I also ask, as the expressed wish of these sick and wounded vete- 
 rans — what, to mjself and to those who know you best, might be 
 deemed a needless request — that whenever you may look upon 
 this, their humble gift, you may have your determination strength- 
 ened to do whatever in your power lies, as Governor of the State, 
 for the beneflt, well-being and efficiency of our soldiers in the fleld, 
 and the sick and wounded in hospital. For themselves, they are 
 willing to flght on, braving disease, danger, wounds, and death 
 itself, until this cursed rebellion is utterly crushed out, treason 
 punished, and the integrity of the whole Union re-established. In 
 return, they ask the sympathy and support of those left behind. 
 In creating such sympathy, and contributing to such support, they 
 think they have good reason to know that the Governor can do 
 much, and have every confldence that to your hands their interests 
 are safely committed. 
 
 With sentiments of personal esteem, in behalf of these sick and 
 wounded soldiers, 
 
 I am, very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. P. EOBB, 
 
 Col. a/nd Agent. 
 
u 
 
 * Decatur, lUinois, Nov. 27, 1864. 
 
 To the sick and wounded soldiers of Lookout Mountain Hospital^ Tennessee: 
 
 Fellow-Soldiers : Throuejli your friend, Col. Thomas P. Eobb, 
 
 Military and Sanitary Agent for the State of Illinois, I have 
 received the handsome laurel cane you kindly present to me as an 
 expression of the feeling you retain toward a brother soldier. It 
 comes from honored ground, is presented by noble hearts, in a 
 holy cause. Every association is well calculated to give to this act 
 a solemn dignity and a beautiful simplicity. It appeals to my 
 heart with touching and unusual affection. Be assured that the 
 people of this noble State hold you and your cause alike in sacred 
 estimation, and at all times, under all circumstances, will be found 
 faithful to both. The soldier knows, better than it can be told to 
 him, how he suffers for his country. Dark as at times the trial 
 may seem to be to you, hurt, as you often are, over seeming indif- 
 ference to you, it must be written down on the white sheet of his- 
 tory, as the noblest monument to your worth, that you never 
 despair. May God grant you health and restored constitutions, to 
 enjoy, with all who shall live, that peace soon to be returned to us, 
 with a united and happy nation.. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 KICHAKD J. OGLESBY.