Jonathan Letterman, M.D.
"Father of Battlefield Medicine"
"Father of Battlefield Medicine"
Born: December 11, 1824
Birthplace: Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Father: Dr. Jonathan Letherman 1775-1844
Mother: Anna Ritchie Letherman 1800-1870
Wife: Mary Digges Lee 1833–1867
(Buried: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia)
Married: October 1863
Children:
Mary Catherine Letterman
Ann Madeleine Letterman
Political Party: Democrat
Education:
1845: Graduated from Jefferson College with a pre-health education, in Washington, Pennsylvania
1849: Received his Medical Doctorate from the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Antebellum History:
1849: Letterman passed a successful examination by the Army Medical Board in New York City, and was appointed an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army on June 29.
1849: Served in Florida in the Seminole campaigns until 1853
1854: Stationed at Fort Ripley, Minnesota
1858: Permitted one year leave of absence from the Army.
1859: Stationed at Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory during the Apache campaign
1859: Completed a tour at Fort Monroe, Virginia
1860: Assigned to a California Expedition
Civil War History:
1862: Named medical director of the Department of West Virginia in May
1862: Appointed to complete duty as the medical director of the Army of the Potomac, with the rank of Major, on June 23 by William A. Hammond, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army. Reported for duty on July 1.
1862: After it took over a week to remove the wounded from the battlefield at Second Manassas, Letterman was given free range by General George McClellan to do whatever was needed to revamp the poor medical services that the men received in the field.
1862: On August 2nd, Letterman's new plan was distributed as Special Orders #147. The plan created a system of forward first aid stations at the regimental level, where triage principles could be implemented. It also established standard operating procedures to accept and effectively treat war casualties, set up mobile field hospitals at division and corps headquarters along with an ambulance corps, and an efficient system for distributing medical supplies, all under the control of medical personnel instead of the Union Army's Quartermaster Department.
1863: To deal with the record casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg, a vast medical encampment was created northeast of Gettysburg off the York Pike on the George Wolf farm, named "Camp Letterman."
1864: Letterman resigned from his position as Medical Director in January 1864
1864: Letterman's system was officially established as the procedure for intake and treatment of battlefield casualties for the entirety of the United States' armies by an Act of Congress on March 11th
1864: Inspector of Hospitals in the Department of the Susquehanna
1864: Flattering offers of a position as superintendent of a commercial company in Southern California which afforded a prospect of highly lucrative gains had been made him by Mr. Thos. A Scott then President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and Letterman was tempted to resign from the Army. His Army friends strenuously endeavored to prevent him from taking this step, but he was not to be turned from his purpose.
1864: Dr. Letterman resigned from Army service on December 22
1865: Letterman travelled to San Francisco, where the enterprise for which he had given up his commission as an officer of the Army, unfortunately, did not fulfill the hopes of its originators. Letterman returned to his practice of medicine, and wrote his memoirs.
Postbellum History:
1866: Published his memoirs, "Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac"
1867 - 1871: Elected coroner of San Francisco, California
1867: Suffered from severe depression after the death of his wife, Mary
1868: Commissioned as Surgeon General of the State of California
1870: The Regents of the University of California elected him a member of the Board of Medical Examiners of that university.
1871: He was made a member of the first class of the Military Order of Loyal Legion of the United States
1871: Retired to private life on December 4th.
Died: March 15, 1872
Age at Death: 47 years old
Place of Death: Saint Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, California
Cause of Death: Suspected complications from an intestinal ailment
Original Burial Place: Lone Mountain Cemetery, San Francisco, California
Final Burial Place: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
Burial Plot: Section 3, Site 1869
Historic Legacy: 1883: Memoir of Jonathan Letterman written by Bennett Augustine Clements
1911: On November 13, the Army hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco, California was named Letterman Army Hospital in his honor.
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