Official Records of the Rebellion

After about 7,000 sick and wounded had been sent away there remained 12,975, making a total of nearly 20,000. The greater portion of the army reached Harrison’s Landing on the 2d of July. On that day I addressed a letter to the Surgeon-General, asking that 1,000 hospital tents and 200 ambulances might speedily be sent for the use of the army. I felt convinced that great destitution in tents would be found to exist and that many ambulances had been lost, and that it would be necessary to have both of these articles replaced. The tents I considered would be especially needed to shelter the wounded and sick, whom it would be desirable to keep with the army. No one thing so much disheartens troops and causes homesickness among those who [214] are well as sending sick to hospitals outside of the army to which they belong. Such was the experience of the armies in the Crimea, and such is the experience of all armies.

On the 7th of July the following communication was sent to me from Washington by the Quartermaster General:

You were this day telegraphed as follows, viz: Have ordered tents for 50,000 men sent to Harrison’s Landing. Few hospital tents on hand; more making. For the present I advise the use of some of the wall tents lately shipped to Harrison’s Landing. But why not send your sick and wounded at once to Fort Monroe, to be transferred to a healthier place? Sick and wounded are not useful at such a place as that at Harrison’s Landing.

On the 9th of July General Meigs informed me that he had ordered 200 ambulances from Philadelphia and 250 hospital tents from Washington to Fortress Monroe, saying “the remaining 750 hospital tents will be forwarded as soon as made.” Three hundred hospital tents reached Harrison’s Landing on the 18th of July. On the 1st of August I was informed that “a large number had arrived, together with a number of ambulances.” The tents, as far as they were needed, were used for the accommodation of the sick. The ambulances were distributed before we left.

Before the communication to you of July 18 was written the existence of scurvy attracted my serious consideration, and upon consultation with Colonel Clarke, the chief commissary of the army, large supplies of potatoes, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, and beets and fresh bread were ordered by him. The first arrival of anti-scorbutics was on the 7th of July; potatoes and onions arrived on the 20th, and thereafter the supplies were so abundant that potatoes, onions, and cabbage rotted at the wharf for want of some one to take them away. The fresh bread was eagerly sought for by the men, as they loathed the hard bread, which they had used for so many weeks. This loathing was no affectation, for this bread is difficult to masticate, is dry and insipid, absorbs all the secretions poured into the mouth and stomach, and leaves none for the digestion of other portions of the food. The craving for fresh bread was founded in reason, and was not a mere whim. In addition to these vegetables and fresh bread procured by the commissary department, 1,500 boxes of fresh lemons were issued by the medical purveyor to the various hospitals and to the troops. The beneficial effects of this treatment soon became perceptible on the health of the men, and when we left Harrison’s Landing scurvy had disappeared from the Army of the Potomac.

While the army remained at this place supplies of every kind appertaining to the medical department were abundant and large amounts were issued; as it was found necessary to resupply almost the entire army. Ice was freely and almost continuously supplied by the medical purveyor to the general and regimental hospitals and to the transports.

The recommendations contained in the extract taken from my communication to you of July 18, which I have quoted, were ordered to be carried into effect by the commanding general. The subject of police throughout the army, I may here state, was called to your attention in a note addressed to you on the 12th of July. Inspections were made frequently by medical officers in the different corps, by officers sent upon this duty from the medical director’s office, and by myself, to see that the instructions just alluded to were enforced. The duty was laborious, and especially so during the excessive heat in July and August. These inspections were purposely made irregularly, both as regards time and [215] commands. The beneficial effects of the orders and the inspections were very evident in the improvement of the various camps and regimental hospitals. In a few regiments the sickness increased; in some others it remained nearly stationary, and in others it decreased one- half. On the whole, the health of the army was improving. On the 30th of July I informed the Surgeon-General that the number of sick in the army was about 12,000, 2,000 of whom could take the field. The cases became less severe and were manageable, more readily yielded to treatment, and continued so until the army evacuated Harrison’s Landing.

It is impossible to convey in writing to any one not mingling with the troops a true idea of the improvement which took place in the health of the troops while we were encamped at that place. The number reported sick on the regimental returns cannot by any means be taken as the true condition of the health of the army upon its arrival there. It does not give the real amount of its effective fighting strength. The want of proper nourishment, the poisonous exhalations from the streams and swamps of the Peninsula, the labor undergone and the anxiety felt had undermined the strength and withered the spirits of a great many who were apparently well. The effective strength of the army when it reached Harrison’s Landing and for some time thereafter was less than the returns would indicate. And then, on the other hand, there are many ways in which improved health manifests itself that cannot be adequately described. There was so much in the appearance, in the life and vivacity exhibited by the men in the slightest actions, even in the tone of the voice, which conveyed to one’s mind the impression of health and spirits, of recovered tenacity of mind and body, of the presence of vigorous and manly courage, an impression which to be understood must be felt—it cannot be told. The real strength of the army when it left Harrison’s Landing was greater than the large number at that time sent on the transports for the sick would lead you to suppose.

It was agreeable to notice that the measures adopted for the improvement of the health of the troops were so ably and so cordially seconded by the medical directors of corps, that by their exertions and that of the officers under them encouraging results were brought about, and that they were so able and so willing to assist in restoring the health and re-establishing the vigor of the Army of the Potomac. Time showed that those who were not sick were well, that the spirits of the troops had risen, and that the army when it left Harrison’s Landing was in a better condition by far than when it reached that place, and that there was every evidence to “expect the health of this army to be in as good a state as that of any army in the field.”

<-BACK | UP | NEXT->