The Satterlee Stretcher

[kyle.dalton]

[I've made some minor edits for clarity, to correct errors, and include more direct links to sources]

Per the request of @lelliott19 I'm focusing on the Satterlee model stretcher today. It was designed by Surgeon (later a brevetted brigadier general) Richard S. Satterlee, a career military medical professional who had served for decades in the US Army and saw service in Mexico. Below is a sketch of a probable Satterlee stretcher in use from Arthur Lumley's "Bringing the wounded into Fredericksburg in the afternoon--of Saturday," December 1862, Library of Congress.

This was the standard litter at the war's outset and widely available both North and South. It was the first stretcher model to receive attention in The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, which has an excellent chapter on the various models. The illustration below is from Volume II, Part III, page 926:

In preparing the massive Medical and Surgical History, the Surgeon General's office prepared Circular No. 6 Reports on The Extent and Nature of the Materials Available for the Preparation of a Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion. While the compilers did misidentify some stretcher models, their brief treatment of the Satterlee sums up the thoughts of the Medical Department in general on the "regulation hand-litter."

In order to transport the Satterlee, it had to be deconstructed into its various parts, stacked, and then reassembled when needed. This led to the yokes being "frequently lost" as stated above. At least one matching pair of yokes survives to this day. The pair was inscribed for the 102nd Illinois Volunteers and sold by Cowan's Auctions in 2016.

Aside from the difficulty of transportation, it was also a hefty stretcher. Edward Samuel Farrow recorded the dimensions in his Military Encyclopedia, Volume 3, page 72, published in 1895, which you can read via Google Books.

The weight and size of stretchers were a constant issue for stretcher bearers in the period. This was compounded by the age of the musicians that were sometimes serving in that role. In 1864, Dr. Richard Swanton Vickery of the 2nd Michigan Infantry wrote "The less he calculates on them [military musicians] the better. With a few exceptions they are generally worthless as stretcher bearers, many of them being young lads physically incapable of such fatiguing duty." The inability of the Satterlee to fold in any way also made it difficult to transport. It was the size that the authors of the Medical and Surgical History identified as the main drawback for this model.

As confidently as the authors assert that the Halstead "superseded the Satterlee" both models continued to be used well after the war. As late as 1891, the Surgeon General complained to Congress about the continued use of the "obsolete" Satterlee in training the army's stretcher bearers.

 

[lelliott19]

This is fantastic Kyle!

Paging @elk11060 Kyle has kindly provided all the information you were wanting about the Saterlee litter!!!
James N. @ucvrelics @Zella @captaindrew
Thanks Kyle!

 

[JOHN42768]

Very interesting, thanks

 

[captaindrew]

Great info, thanks for posting it.

 

[James N.]

Did I miss something? WHAT, exactly, were the "yokes' made from; some kind of bendable yet pliant wood, I presume?

 

[kyle.dalton]

The Medical and Surgical History states "The cross-bars weighed six and one-fourth pounds; they were made of seasoned white ash, one and one-half inches thick by twenty-four inches long. A piece of wrought-iron, six feet long by one inch wide and one-fourth of an inch thick, was so curved as to form the legs and sockets on either end of the wooden cross-bar for the poles to pass through, and was fastened by two rivets, one at each end; the pin in the centre, on which the canvas was looped, was used as a third."

There is also a footnote about the semantics between "yokes" and "feet." I assume (but do not yet know) that "yoke" is the more common usage because it appears in a couple sources. But more research may change that.

 

[James N.]

The Medical and Surgical History states "The cross-bars weighed six and one-fourth pounds; they were made of seasoned white ash, one and one-half inches thick by twenty-four inches long. A piece of wrought-iron, six feet long by one inch wide and one-fourth of an inch thick, was so curved as to form the legs and sockets on either end of the wooden cross-bar for the poles to pass through, and was fastened by two rivets, one at each end; the pin in the centre, on which the canvas was looped, was used as a third."

There is also a footnote about the semantics between "yokes" and "feet." I assume (but do not yet know) that "yoke" is the more common usage because it appears in a couple sources. But more research may change that.

Since they weighed that much, I can easily see how they got "lost!" No doubt it was the same way that greatcoats, hard knapsacks, and even bayonets were similarly "lost" by troops while on the march.

 

[A. Roy]

Per the request of @lelliott19 I'm focusing on the Satterlee model stretcher today. It was designed by Surgeon (later a brevetted brigadier general) Richard S. Satterlee, a career military medical professional who had served for decades in the US Army and saw service in Mexico. Below is a sketch of a probable Satterlee stretcher in use from Arthur Lumley's "Bringing the wounded into Fredericksburg in the afternoon--of Saturday," December 1862, Library of Congress.

Fascinating -- thanks so much! Amazing how details like this can bring the war to life.

Roy B.

 

[A. Roy]

The Medical and Surgical History states "The cross-bars weighed six and one-fourth pounds; they were made of seasoned white ash, one and one-half inches thick by twenty-four inches long. A piece of wrought-iron, six feet long by one inch wide and one-fourth of an inch thick, was so curved as to form the legs and sockets on either end of the wooden cross-bar for the poles to pass through, and was fastened by two rivets, one at each end; the pin in the centre, on which the canvas was looped, was used as a third."

This explains why they were so heavy!

Roy B.