Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XV.--Transportation Of The Wounded.
Water Transportation.
The military operations in the western departments in the spring of 1862 embraced a large extent of territory and necessitated the moving of large bodies of men from point to point. As a result, the fresh unacclimated levies fell victims to malignant fevers, diarrhœa, dysentery, etc. The resources of the Medical Department under these circumstances were entirely inadequate to the pressing necessities. It became evident that to disembarrass the medical officers and to have them in readiness for the exigencies of battles, which all knew were impending, the sick must be removed to points remote from the scene of operations. For this purpose the large rivers of the Western States, especially the Mississippi, offered the best facilities. But there were no transports at the disposition of the medical officers. In order to send a single sick soldier it was necessary to apply to the quartermaster of the army, who naturally gave the preference to his immediate duties, and even when, after much circumlocution, a boat was secured and partly filled with patients, it was frequently delayed until the demands of other departments were complied with. The necessities of the sick and wounded were of a secondary consideration, and the surgeon who exerted himself in the interest of common humanity was regarded as asking favors for himself. The fact that the efforts of the Medical Department were thus paralyzed was brought to the notice of the General Commanding by Surgeon J. Simons, U. S. A., Medical Director, who recommended that a suitable number of boats be taken and fitted up comfortably with beds, cooking apparatus, surgeons, and nurses, etc. The appeal was favorably received, and several steamers were chartered and placed under the charge of medical officers. We will quote from the excellent report of Surgeon A. H. Hoff, U. S. V., master of hospital transportation on the Mississippi, made in September, 1863: "The City of Memphis, a very large and fine steamer, was chartered, and Assistant Surgeon W. D. Turner, 1st Illinois Light Artillery, placed in charge. The steamer City of Louisiana was also chartered and fitted up under the control of Assistant Surgeon C. Wagner, U. S. A., and, with the City of Memphis, was at once employed in the carrying of sick and wounded. About the 1st of April, 1862, after the experiment had been made and proved successful, Surgeon Simons requested that boats be purchased and fitted up as floating hospitals. On his report and the co-operation of Mr. Yeatman, the President of the Western Sanitary Commission, the steamer D. A. January was purchased and placed in my charge. This boat, on account of her light draught and airy cabin, was well suited for the purpose. There was no time to make more than temporary arrangements, and she was not reconstructed until September, 1862, when she was fitted up with every convenience as a hospital. These boats proving inadequate to supply the amount of transportation required, two of the largest steamers on the river were chartered (the Empress and Imperial) and temporarily fitted up, and Surgeons T. F. Azpell and J. H. Grove, U. S. V., were placed in charge of them. The transportation still being insufficient, the steamers Stephen Decatur and J. S. Pringle were added to the list, and these, together with the several boats sent by different states, made quite a formidable fleet; yet they all had plenty of employment, as sick and wounded had to be transferred to the number of thousands. These boats, as they ceased to be needed, were discharged, leaving the D. A. January alone. As the hospital accommodations at Pittsburg Landing were very imperfect, Medical Director Charles McDougall, Surgeon, U. S. A., requested the construction of a floating hospital, which could be towed from point to point, to be used as a receiving hospital, from which the transports could transports. In this he was finally successful, and the hulk of the steamer Nashville was purchased and fitted up so that she would be able to receive in an emergency one thousand men, and Surgeon Strawbridge, U. S. V., was placed in charge. She was towed to Milliken's Bend, La., and was of great service, .as the submerged condition of the country made it impossible to care for the sick on shore. Up to this time, although the Assistant Surgeon General, on taking charge of the Western Department and visiting the scene of active operations, repeatedly urged the purchase of more steamers for hospital purposes, for some reason, unknown to him as well as to others, he was unsuccessful; but the unsuccessful attack on Vicksburg, in December, the battle of Arkansas Post, and the advance of the whole army in the direction of Vicksburg made it necessary to again resort to chartering transports. The City of Memphis and City of Alton were again temporarily fitted up, and with the D. A. January transferred the sick and wounded from Milliken's Bend, Young's Point, and Sherman's Landing, to Memphis and St. Louis. In the meantime, however, several boats had been taken--the steamers Von Phul and J. C. Swon, in fact at least one-fourth of the returning transports--without a single comfort for the sick and wounded on board, were made use of to transfer them to the general hospitals North. Under such circumstances the suffering was terrible and the mortality frightful. I am not disposed to find fault, nor do I wish to censure any one, but I feel it my duty to remark that the Medical Department did everything in their power to correct this matter, with but poor success. The Assistant Surgeon General, never tiring in his determination to push this matter, finally succeeded in getting the City of Louisiana purchased and fitted up in a most comfortable manner, with good accommodations for four hundred, with every improvement that a year's experience could suggest. During this time the Navy had fitted the Red Rover in a most elegant and substantial manner; the Marine Brigade also fitted the Woodford as a hospital with every comfort that could be made available. The U. S. Hospital Steamer D. A. January having run for a year and a half it became necessary to repair her, and upon examination new boilers were found to be necessary. As we came in possession of more of the Mississippi additional accommodations for the comfort of the sick and wounded were required. Under these circumstances the January was reconstructed, better ventilation secured, better and more convenient arrangements for cooking were made, and a fan, one hundred and sixty feet long and propelled by machinery, was placed in the main ward for the purpose of cooling the atmosphere and as a means of ventilation. It answered an admirable purpose and did away with the necessity of covering the decks with an awning, which was not only difficult but a very expensive matter. After her reconstruction her name was changed to Charles McDougall, in honor of Surgeon McDougall, U. S. A., who had interested himself when Medical Director of the Department in securing proper transportation for the sick and wounded, and by whose request she was finally fitted with all the conveniences for a hospital transport.
"It would be impossible for me, not being in possession of records, to give any idea of the number of sick and wounded transferred--nor do I believe it would be possible, from the fact that emergencies required boat after boat to be made use of where no record was kept to give the exact figures--suffice it to say that the U. S. Hospital Steamer Charles McDougall (D. A. January) carried from April 5, 1862, to September 12, 1863, twelve thousand two hundred and ninety-nine sick and wounded to the several general hospitals, she being constantly employed. A fair average may be made by taking into calculation the time the other boats were employed, most of them probably carrying more at each load. The use of steamers for hospital purposes being a new thing, changes in the arrangements were required as the necessities became apparent. Orders were made by the chiefs of the several Departments of such a character as would secure prompt attention on the part of all their subordinates and at the same time place the surgeons in charge in such a position that the least possible delay should occur. Believing it to be of interest and forming a part of the success of the subject to which this history relates, I will append these orders as they were made from time to time. The first great difficulty to be
overcome was to do away with the idea that as these boats were for the transportation of the sick and wounded they were the vehicles for carrying not only all the friends of the sick and wounded, but every man, woman, and child who became impressed with the slightest inkling that their hearts contained one particle of sympathy for the poor soldier; curiosity seekers, sanitarians, state agents, suffers, committees from various associations, one and all concluded they had a right to transportation on such a boat. This of course was out of the question, as it prevented the employés from properly cleaning the boat and took up room required for patients. More than this, it used up the subsistence which belonged to the hospital fund, which was used to buy so many things necessary for the diet of the sick. It was annoying to the surgeons, it was in the way of all discipline, and in fact disagreeable to every one. Under these circumstances Major General Halleck issued the following order:
HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
PITTSBURG LANDING, TENNESSEE, April 20, 1862.
Surgeon Simons has authority to prevent persons from travelling on hospital boats.
BY ORDER OF MAJOR GENERAL HALLECK:
(Signed) A.C. KEMPER,
Assistant Adjutant General.
No person will hereafter be permitted on floating hospitals except by permission of the Surgeon in charge.
(Signed) J. SIMONS, Surgeon of Army,
Medical Director.'
"This left the Surgeon in charge an opportunity of using his discretion in reference to who should travel on his boat, and, I think, in most instances it has been confined to medical officers who could assist instead of being in the way.
"The next important step was to be arranged with the Subsistence Department. This was surrounded with some difficulties, as there was no room on board for a commissary. The difficulty was soon remedied by making the Surgeon in charge an Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, thereby enabling him to receive subsistence from any commissary by invoice and receipt, and to purchase such articles as the sick required.
'CAIRO, ILLINOIS, April 7, 1863.
SIR: By authority from Major General Halleck, commanding the Department of the Mississippi, Surgeons in charge of hospital boats will act as A. A. C. S., so far as receiving and issuing stores for the hospital under their charge is concerned.
Respectfully your obed't servant,
B. DU BARRY,
Capt., &c., C. S., U. S. A.
To Surgeon in charge of hospital boat D. A. January.
"By a similar order the surgeon was held responsible for all the property belonging to the Quartermaster's Department in his charge, and required to receipt for it. This, of course, was an anomaly in departmental matters, but one that was required for the proper administration of the affairs of the floating hospitals; without such an arrangement the unavoidable delays would have destroyed their efficiency. The Medical Department is much indebted to Major Generals Halleck and Grant for the kindness shown and interest taken by them in this branch of the service. We are also indebted to Quartermasters, Brigadier General Allen and Colonel Myers, and to Colonel Parsons, in charge of the river transportation, for their uniform kindness and assistance in the purchase and reconstruction of the boats; also to Colonel Haines, Chief Commissary, for the liberal manner in which the boats have been supplied with subsistence, and, through his orders, the little delay occasioned in receiving supplies. In fact, all have wished us a 'God speed' in a work which has been the means of relieving so much distress and probably of saving many lives."
Steamer City of Memphis.--The first boat chartered on the western rivers for the transportation of wounded was the steamer City of Memphis, which was taken into the service as a hospital boat at Fort Henry on February 7, 1862, by order of Major General U. S. Grant, and placed under the charge of Assistant Surgeon W. D. Turner, 1st Illinois Light Artillery. She was fitted out as thoroughly as circumstances permitted. Spring mattresses were placed on the floor of the upper deck and saloon; the state-room was rearranged, and medicine and commissary stores supplied. Her length was three hundred and thirty feet and her beam seventy feet; her main deck was large and roomy, and her saloon of great length, and she was capable of carrying comfortably seven.hundred and fifty wounded men. From February 7th to 18th she was used as a receiving boat, conveying a large number of sick and wounded from Fort Henry and transferring them to other boats. No record of this work was kept; but the number thus transported is estimated at two thousand. On February 18th she left Fort Henry with four hundred and seventy-five sick and wounded for Paducah, Kentucky, where she arrived on February 19th; the patients were transferred to the general hospitals, and the boat left for Fort Donelson the same day and arrived there on February 21, 1862. The boat was discharged from the hospital service in July, 1862, by Medical Director McDougall, of the Army of the Tennessee, but re-engaged andemployed in carrying wounded from the vicinity of Vicksburg during Grant's campaign. No record of the number transported during her second engagement is found. From February 18th to July 19th, 1862, the boat made fourteen trips and conveyed seven thousand two hundred and twenty-one sick and wounded men, as follows:
TABLE CLXXVI.
Tabular Statement of Trips made by the Steamer City of Memphis
from February 18 to July 19, 1862.
NO. OF TRIP. DATE OF DEPARTURE. PLACE OF DEPARTURE. DATE OF ARRIVAL. PLACE OF ARRIVAL. NO. SICK AND WOUNDED.
1 February 18, 1862 Fort Henry, Tenn February 19, 1862 Paducah, Ky 475
2 February 22, 1862 Fort Donelson, Tenn February 23, 1862 Mound City, Ill 600
3 March 6, 1862 Fort Donelson, Tenn March 8, 1862 Mound City, Ill 400
4 March 14, 1862 Savannah, Tenn March 18, 1862 Saint Louis, Mo 410
5 April 6, 1862 Shiloh, Tenn April 6, 1862 Savannah, Tenn 860
6 . April 9, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. April 12, 1862 Mound City, Ill 1,093
7 April 15, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. April 18, 1862 Evansville, Ind 413
8 April 21, 1862 New Madrid, Mo April 23, 1862 Evansville, Ind 520
9 April 27, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn May 1, 1862 Cincinnati, Ohio 400
10 May 13, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn May 18, 1862 Keokuk, Iowa 400
11 June 2, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn June 5, 1862 Louisville, Ky 350
12 June 15, 1862 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn June 20, 1862 Keokuk, Iowa 400
13 July --, 1862 Paducah, Ky July 10, 1862 Keokuk, Iowa 550
14 July 1, 1862 Helena, Ark July 17, 1862 Memphis, Tenn 350
Total 7,221
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