Gettysburg, Summer 1863 2nd Corp Hospital, Nurses!

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
gettysburg 2nd-corps-hospital2.jpg


Hadn't run into this before- nurses! They belong in ' Gettysburg ', I think as much as Ladies Tea would be honored. Ran into this some time ago, Gettysburg staff writing about the instant influx when the public heard of the need in Adams County. You didn't have to be a nurse, boy did they learn in a big hurry.

The still-casual layout bespeaks somewhat early days post battle. Later photos show tidier tents, rows unattended by clutter, uniformity. This has bears signs of urgency, perhaps randomly collected supplies, people of purpose and hastily erected structures. You shudder to think what lies behind drawn and wan faces our nurses turned towards the photographer who appeared in camp one day- hurrying between tasks, life and death tasks, men either slipping away or tenaciously moving towards life behind those tent flaps we barely see.

Some nurses slipped away with the men they nursed. Too much work, too great a burden, too little care towards themselves.

" No wonder that men who were rushing upon and through and upon it, should be torn to pieces in every way. I worked from ten till half past four, without five minutes cessation, in spreading, cutting and distributing bread and butter. Such thankful eyes and stifled voices, and quivering lips, from poor fellows without legs, or arms, or hands, or terribly wounded otherwise, who had seen nothing but hardtack since they were hurt! "
Eliza W. Farnham, Born in 1815, six months later she was dead from consumption.

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The Jacob Schwartz farm and vicinity, located about three miles south of Gettysburg near Rock Creek, was used as the Union Second Corps hospital(s).

Mrs. Emily Bliss Thatcher Souder of Philadelphia spent many weeks nursing wounded at the Second Corps hospital and later (circa 27 July 1863) at Camp Letterman. She wrote to relatives of soldiers who had died.

Nurse Clarissa F. Jones also cared for wounded at the Union Second Corps hospital, such as Lt. John R. Presgraves of the 8th Virginia, until his death.

Cornelia Hancock, a civilian nurse, reached the Third Division, Second Corps hospital on July 7.

Mrs. Adam Wert, who lived on the nearbly Adam Wert farm off the Baltimore Pike, was very active in assisting the wounded on the Schwartz farm. Known locally as "Aunt Katy," she was especially popular with the many Confederates who were at this hospital.
 
Mrs. Emily Bliss Thatcher Souder
Nurse Clarissa F. Jones
Cornelia Hancock
Mrs. Adam Wert

Thanks so much for bringing these names here! These women are certainly on a wall of honor, risking their lives without a thought to nurse men who risked theirs. What's awful is I think there's only a thread here on Cordelia Hancock.

Love hearing about Aunt Katie and the Confederate wounded. Before being well enough to transfer to prisoner of war camps it must have been great to step out of it for awhile, being under her care. Terribly hurt, a long way from home, in enemy hands- if she made them feel taken care of in those circumstances her entrance to Heaven was assured.
 
Great pics, Annie! I don't believe I've seen these before. Camp Letterman, I'm guessing?


There was no label other than ' 2nd Corp Hospital '- and only one photograph, I just kept snipping interesting bits from it. Seemed such a waste not to! :smile: There's always an awful lot going on in most of these ' camp ' photos- blow up a section and sure enough, interesting stuff!
 
There was no label other than ' 2nd Corp Hospital '- and only one photograph, I just kept snipping interesting bits from it. Seemed such a waste not to! :smile: There's always an awful lot going on in most of these ' camp ' photos- blow up a section and sure enough, interesting stuff!

Then the Schwartz farm makes sense, rather than Letterman.
 
Clarissa Jones was also one of the former nurses who attended the 1913 fiftieth anniversary reunion, where she was particularly feted by the Confederate veterans she treated. An article in the July 3rd Richmond Times Dispatch, says, in part:

"Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 -- Much has been said and written about the brave men of the North and south who fought, suffered and died on this famous battlefield half a century ago, much will be said of the men whose actions and deeds wrote one of history’s greatest chapters, but to-day the women, the supervising nurses of the Northern army, held a little reunion of their own, where they again took the hands of Pickett’s men, many of these women meeting the same men whose lives they had saved fifty years ago.

“Fifty years ago, late in the afternoon, as Pickett’s men were being driven back from the ridge, defended by Northern guns, an assistant surgeon, who lost his life a few minutes later, turned to the nurses and called for volunteers to go on the battlefield with him and do what little their skill would enable them to do for the dying and injured men of Pickett’s Brigade, whose bodies dotted the plain. Three nurses answered the call. One of them Clarissa Jones, now Mrs. Clarissa F. Dye, of Germantown, Pa., who was a nurse in the Second Army Corps, stationed along Rock Creek, and is the only surviving member of the three women that answered the call, sat on the porch next to the one where Jennie Wade lost her life, and again listened to the words of thanks as she shook hands with the veterans of Pickett’s Brigade.

“They were only boys,” Mrs. Dye said to-day as an old man wearing the gray uniform he loved, sat down on the porch at her side, “just boys, few of them had any uniform. We found them lying among the trees, most of them already beyond any aid that we could give. We bent over them, and when we found one whose last spark of life had not fled, we three in the trees did what we could to save him.”

The full article, with photos, attached below:
 

Attachments

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Clarissa Jones was also one of the former nurses who attended the 1913 fiftieth anniversary reunion, where she was particularly feted by the Confederate veterans she treated. An article in the July 3rd Richmond Times Dispatch, says, in part:

"Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 -- Much has been said and written about the brave men of the North and south who fought, suffered and died on this famous battlefield half a century ago, much will be said of the men whose actions and deeds wrote one of history’s greatest chapters, but to-day the women, the supervising nurses of the Northern army, held a little reunion of their own, where they again took the hands of Pickett’s men, many of these women meeting the same men whose lives they had saved fifty years ago.

“Fifty years ago, late in the afternoon, as Pickett’s men were being driven back from the ridge, defended by Northern guns, an assistant surgeon, who lost his life a few minutes later, turned to the nurses and called for volunteers to go on the battlefield with him and do what little their skill would enable them to do for the dying and injured men of Pickett’s Brigade, whose bodies dotted the plain. Three nurses answered the call. One of them Clarissa Jones, now Mrs. Clarissa F. Dye, of Germantown, Pa., who was a nurse in the Second Army Corps, stationed along Rock Creek, and is the only surviving member of the three women that answered the call, sat on the porch next to the one where Jennie Wade lost her life, and again listened to the words of thanks as she shook hands with the veterans of Pickett’s Brigade.

“They were only boys,” Mrs. Dye said to-day as an old man wearing the gray uniform he loved, sat down on the porch at her side, “just boys, few of them had any uniform. We found them lying among the trees, most of them already beyond any aid that we could give. We bent over them, and when we found one whose last spark of life had not fled, we three in the trees did what we could to save him.”

The full article, with photos, attached below:


This is awesome, thanks so much!! It's a puzzle finding more names to put to these women. Have a list, in point of fact, gleaned carefully from era journals, books, newspapers, serial magazines and diaries- who was there. Clarissa, sitting on a porch next to our Mary Virginia?? Goodness. One, more piece of the civilian tableau set that day. Can never, ever get enough of that. Have a feeling we have members who would just like to hear it, albeit far more well versed in research than me. @Tom Elmore , hope you do not mind me pointing to small piece of Gettysburg-ivia, a civilian nurse story, Wade's next door neighbor!

BTW, this photo, after poking around like a big buttinski, gave a guess contains John Burns. Had some feedback from some nice folks who feel it's true, so that's a kick.

Hospital took a hit during the battle, which was brand, new information- Arabella Wilson's book from the era on the 126th New York ( and an awesome read, no idea how she glued so much information together ), gets into it. They lost surgeons.
 
From the marker on Hospital Road: The division hospitals of the 2nd Corps were located July 2 at the Granite Schoolhouse but were soon removed to near Rock Creek, west of the creek and 600 yards southeast of the Bushman house. They remained until closed August 7 [or 8?]. These hospitals cared for 2200 Union and 952 Confederate wounded.
Medical Director, 2nd Corps – Surgeon A. N. Dougherty, U.S. Volunteers
1st Division – Surgeon R. C. Stiles, U.S. Volunteers
2nd Division – Surgeon J. Franklin Dyer, 19th Massachusetts
3rd Division – Isaac Scott, 7th West Virginia
Medical Officer in Charge of Corps hospitals – Surgeon Justin Dwinelle [Jr.], 106th Pennsylvania

One surgeon reported 245 Union and 192 Confederate deaths in this hospital.

Nurse Emily B. Souder reported that on 26 and 27 July, wounded from the 2nd Corps hospital were carried by stretcher to the General Hospital [Camp Letterman]. But 100 men were left behind, according to Dr. Dwinelle. He told nurse Souder that the surgeons were wanted with their regiments, which made concentration at the General Hospital necessary.

It was Surgeon (Dr.). Alexander N. Dougherty who directed Thomas L. Livermore, head of the 2nd Corps Ambulance Corps [wagon] train, to select a general field hospital [on Rock Creek]. "Dougherty was a very fat man, but frequently under fire." Hancock wrote in his Official Report that Dougherty was always at his post.

In 1895, Dr. Bushrod James said the three hospitals of Corps were located within about one-quarter mile of each other on the creek. These would have been the separate division hospitals.

Isaac W. Monfort, Indiana's Military Agent, wrote: 7 July, Surgeon of the 2nd Corps hospital gave me a list of his supplies when the army commenced its pursuit of the rebels – a few stretchers, eight pounds of chloroform, one box of bandages, 16 rolls of plaster, and three pounds of lint, for 1,600 wounded. ... 8 July, railroad put in running order, supplies began to pour in, including shirts and drawers. ... 12 July, saw 27 bodies of dead Confederates, unburied, lying within 300 yards of the headquarters of the Second Corps Hospital. [The above posted photographs may show the tents comprising the headquarters of the Second Corps hospitals, where presumably supplies would be directed.]

Robert L. Stewart, in his History of the 140th Pennsylvania, wrote: hospital situated on little slope, part wooded. Here acres of ground were covered with wounded, dying or dead men. At times the stretcher bearers separated the dead and the living. Those who could care for themselves sat or lounged on the ground at the foot of a tree or beside a great rock … hospital supplies had not yet arrived. Between the rows of prostrate men there were narrow lanes to permit the attendants to pass. At intervals in the open spaces were long rows of tables around which faithful surgeons with sleeves rolled up to the shoulders had been at work since daybreak in two or three reliefs, each working so long as his strength would hold out. In all serious cases chloroform was administered and thus much suffering was prevented.

Capt. James Pettit of the 64th New York wrote: earlier on the second day [July 2] a stone schoolhouse on the Taneytown road had been pointed out to us as the probable site of our division field hospital. It was getting quite dark [about 7:55 p.m.] when we reached this point and only a fingerboard in coal marks designated the direction of a new location. The field hospital was on a gentle sloping hillside; as the wounded came in they were placed in rows along the face of the slope. I was in about the middle of the second row from the bottom. By morning the rows were many rods in length and six in number, besides several smaller groups. The surgeons located their operating fields in the field directly opposite me. In the morning the ground was strewn with arms and limbs. Early the next morning we were all removed to a more suitable location in the valley of Rock Creek, due to a thunderstorm the previous evening in which the stream rose ...
 
Clarissa Jones was also one of the former nurses who attended the 1913 fiftieth anniversary reunion, where she was particularly feted by the Confederate veterans she treated. An article in the July 3rd Richmond Times Dispatch, says, in part:

"Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 -- Much has been said and written about the brave men of the North and south who fought, suffered and died on this famous battlefield half a century ago, much will be said of the men whose actions and deeds wrote one of history’s greatest chapters, but to-day the women, the supervising nurses of the Northern army, held a little reunion of their own, where they again took the hands of Pickett’s men, many of these women meeting the same men whose lives they had saved fifty years ago.

“Fifty years ago, late in the afternoon, as Pickett’s men were being driven back from the ridge, defended by Northern guns, an assistant surgeon, who lost his life a few minutes later, turned to the nurses and called for volunteers to go on the battlefield with him and do what little their skill would enable them to do for the dying and injured men of Pickett’s Brigade, whose bodies dotted the plain. Three nurses answered the call. One of them Clarissa Jones, now Mrs. Clarissa F. Dye, of Germantown, Pa., who was a nurse in the Second Army Corps, stationed along Rock Creek, and is the only surviving member of the three women that answered the call, sat on the porch next to the one where Jennie Wade lost her life, and again listened to the words of thanks as she shook hands with the veterans of Pickett’s Brigade.

“They were only boys,” Mrs. Dye said to-day as an old man wearing the gray uniform he loved, sat down on the porch at her side, “just boys, few of them had any uniform. We found them lying among the trees, most of them already beyond any aid that we could give. We bent over them, and when we found one whose last spark of life had not fled, we three in the trees did what we could to save him.”

The full article, with photos, attached below:
How amazing!
 
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Hadn't run into this before- nurses! They belong in ' Gettysburg ', I think as much as Ladies Tea would be honored. Ran into this some time ago, Gettysburg staff writing about the instant influx when the public heard of the need in Adams County. You didn't have to be a nurse, boy did they learn in a big hurry.

The still-casual layout bespeaks somewhat early days post battle. Later photos show tidier tents, rows unattended by clutter, uniformity. This has bears signs of urgency, perhaps randomly collected supplies, people of purpose and hastily erected structures. You shudder to think what lies behind drawn and wan faces our nurses turned towards the photographer who appeared in camp one day- hurrying between tasks, life and death tasks, men either slipping away or tenaciously moving towards life behind those tent flaps we barely see.

Some nurses slipped away with the men they nursed. Too much work, too great a burden, too little care towards themselves.

" No wonder that men who were rushing upon and through and upon it, should be torn to pieces in every way. I worked from ten till half past four, without five minutes cessation, in spreading, cutting and distributing bread and butter. Such thankful eyes and stifled voices, and quivering lips, from poor fellows without legs, or arms, or hands, or terribly wounded otherwise, who had seen nothing but hardtack since they were hurt! "
Eliza W. Farnham, Born in 1815, six months later she was dead from consumption.

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I'm always amazed at these photos...especially the rare ones with women in them! thank you
 
Who do you think the older man sitting down with the top hat is?


Well, have an inkling he's John Burns? Have a thread here somewhere. It was very kind of someone- had a contact from a professional who agreed. Please do not think I'm saying I ' know ' anything- just did a lot of poking around between newspaper articles, nurse's journals, then other photos, and made a guess.

Will look for the thread. Pretty sure it's Burns although what on earth the fluffy, white stuff everyone is holding for the photo may be is beyond me.
 
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