The Sanitary Commission of the United States Army: a succinct
narrative of its works and purpose.
I was admittedly quite fascinated with this title. It was
published in 1864 in New York for the benefit of the United States Sanitary
Commission.
In reading the introduction it stated “The commission knew
that the average annual death-rate in armies in our former wars had been
exceedingly high, and that an army of volunteer forces is most liable to fatal
diseases. In our vast armies of
volunteers, the problems of sanitary science were to be wrought out as a
national and patriotic work….Can the average sickness-rate be kept at a minimum
point? Can the average death-rate from disease be reduced to a fraction of that
which was registered in the Mexican war?
This result the commission believed possible.”
This is a fascinating book about the Commission and what
they achieved, they are harrowing descriptions such as from page 33 “At the
time of which I am now writing (Monday afternoon), wounded men were arriving by
every train….They were packed as closely as they could be stowed in the common
freight-cars, without beds, without straw, at most with a wisp of hay under
their heads. Many of the lighter cases
came on the roof of the cars. They
arrived dead and living together, in the same close box, many with awful wounds
festering and swarming with maggots.” The
smell apparently reduced the men that cared for them to vomit.
But it also states on page 229
“The Brigadier-General commanding gratefully recalls to the
recollection of the troops of this command, and the debt incurred by them
during the recent movements, to the Sanitary Commission and its Agent Mr A. B.
Day. Much suffering has been alleviated
and many inconveniencies removed by the energy and promptness with which the
supplies of the Commission have been paced at the control of our medical
officers…”
This book is well worth a read and can be found at shelfmark
F1/DA-I.4/3.
