Books and Documents > The Medical Department of the United States Army from 1775 to 1873
PART III
FROM THE REORGANIZATION OF THE CORPS IN 1821, TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST MEXICO
The history of the Medical Corps during the period now to be considered is not an eventful one; yet probably at no time were the duties devolving upon it so arduous and irksome, or performed under such discouraging circumstances. The long series of years in which the government was engaged in the contests with the Seminole and Creek Indians gave constant occupation to many medical officers at unhealthy stations in the cypress swamps and everglades of Florida, but their reports pertain rather to the medical statistics of the army, (which have already been published) than embrace any points of interest in connection with its history. The organization of the Corps being satisfactorily arranged, there was but little legislation in its behalf during the next twenty years. The pages which follow, will consequently be chiefly devoted to a consideration of the congressional legislation for the Department, with such extracts from orders, reports, and returns received and issued during the period, as may seem of historical interest, or be useful for future reference.
The act of Congress for the reduction of the army, was passed on the second of March, 1821. By its provisions "The Military Peace Establishment of the United States," was fixed at four regiments of artillery, seven of infantry, the corps of engineers and of topographical engineers, with such general and staff officers as were necessary. Regimental surgeons and mates were dispensed with, and the offices of the assistant surgeon general, apothecary general, and assistant apothecary abolished. Section x defined the future Medical Staff as follows:
"And be it further enacted, That the medical department shall consist of one surgeon general, eight surgeons with the compensation of regimental surgeons, and forty-five assistant surgeons, with the compensation of post surgeons."
In arranging the medical officers in compliance with the terms of this bill, Assistant Surgeons General Watkins and Bronaugh, Apothecary General Le Barron, and the two assistant apothecaries were discharged. The regimental surgeons were transferred to the General Staff as surgeons, and the post surgeons and regimental surgeon`s mates were arranged as assistant surgeons to the
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number allowed by law. Four post surgeons, viz: Benjamin Waterhouse, John H. Sackett, William P. Marshall and William Sterne, and two regimental surgeon`s mates, viz: Robert McMillan and Henry Stevenson, were discharged; the two latter were, however, subsequently reappointed assistant surgeons.
The following table of estimates for the Medical Department for the year 1822 will show the economy of management which existed at that period:
|
For Instruments, |
$2,130 |
00 |
|
Medicines, |
6,500 |
00 |
|
Hospital Stores, |
8,620 |
00 |
|
Bedding, |
3,888 |
00 |
|
Dressings, |
1,500 |
00 |
|
Furniture for Dispensaries, |
1,000 |
00 |
|
Stationery, |
500 |
00 |
|
Medical Books, |
300 |
00 |
|
Vaccine Matter, |
300 |
00 |
|
Store Rent, |
1,000 |
00 |
|
Printing and Ruling Books, |
500 |
00 |
|
Repairing Instruments, |
250 |
00 |
|
Boxes, Casks, etc., |
1,200 |
00 |
|
Porters, Cartage, etc., |
400 |
00 |
|
Citizen Physicians, |
2,500 |
00 |
|
Medicines, etc., supplied by them, |
800 |
00 |
|
Extra supplies for loss, miscarriage, etc., |
3,000 |
00 |
|
Expense of sick soldiers for lodging, etc., |
600 |
00 |
|
|
$34,988 |
00 |
|
Probable balance after paying all bills of 1821, |
12,000 |
00 |
|
Appropriation required for 1822, |
22,988 |
00 |
To this should be added the following estimate of the expenses of the SurgeonGeneral`s Office:
|
For Clerk hire, |
$1,150 |
00 |
|
Wood (15 Cords at 6 dollars per cord), |
90 |
00 |
|
Stationery, |
150 |
00 |
|
Printing blanks, etc., |
100 |
00 |
|
Contingencies, |
50 |
00 |
|
|
$1,540 |
00 |
This was an average of about two dollars and fifty cents per man, for each soldier in service, being less than it had ever been since the organization of the army, notwithstanding that the extra expenses of the new establishment were $4,450 per annum. During the next few years the appropriations averaged from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars, being expended for essentially the same items as are noted in the above table.
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At this time the whole country was divided into two military departments; the western, comprising all west of a line drawn from the southernmost point of East Florida to the northwest extremity of Lake Superior, taking in the whole of Tennessee and Kentucky, and the eastern all east of that line. The troops were healthy in the eastern division, except at Forts Severn and Moultrie, but in the western, which embraced the Gulf posts, yellow and malarial fevers, and diarrhoa were very prevalent, so much so in fact as to attract the attention of the General-in-Chief, who on the tenth of May, 1823,issued the following order:
"ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
May 10, 1823.
ORDERS, No. 32.
The Major General has also noticed with great solicitude, the number of sick which have been and continue to be reported in some of the regiments.
To preserve the health of the troops is an object of the highest importance, and experience proves that it can only be attained at some of the Southern posts by the greatest care and attention. To ensure it however, more effectually, the commanding officers of Departments are directed, as they may deem expedient, to cause the temporary removal of any of the garrisons and their encampment, during the hot and sickly months, at such positions in the vicinity of their respective posts, as may be less exposed to the prevailing diseases of that season.
BY ORDER OF MAJOR GENERAL BROWN."
The question of the choice of quarters having again been brought to the notice of the Department, General Orders, No. 36, of this same year directed, that "in the selection of quarters, Surgeons shall have choice next after Majors, Assistant Surgeons who have served ten years, with Captains, those who have served five years, with First Lieutenants, and those who have served less than five years, with Second Lieutenants."
In 1825 a new edition of the Medical Regulations was issued. It was, however, essentially the same as that of 1818, the alterations being chiefly in phraseology so as to conform to the new designation of the medical officers. The duties assigned to the Assistant Surgeons General in the regulations of 1818, were given to Medical Directors of Departments, and those of the Apothecary General and his assistants, to the officers who might be detailed in the Purveying Department. The only important addition was a paragraph to the effect that in future no person should receive an appointment as assistant surgeon until after examination by a board of three medical officers, to be detailed by the Surgeon General, but it does not seem that this was put into practical operation until after the issue of General Orders, No. 58, of July 7, 1832, which defined the requisites for appointment; at least there are no records
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of the appointment of any boards previous to that time. From the time of the reorganization of the army in 1821, all persons desiring appointment as medical officers made application to the Secretary of War, through the Surgeon General, enclosing certificates of their being licensed to practice by some respectable medical association or college. Where there were a large number of applicants, preference was usually given to those who came from states from which none had been previously chosen. Thus in February, 1826, a certain Doctor Benedict having applied for the position of assistant surgeon was notified that there were upwards of one hundred applications on file, of which one fourth were from New York, and that as the applicant was from that state, there would be no prospect of a favorable consideration of his claim. About the same time a gentleman from Connecticut was informed that as he was the only applicant from that state, his desires would be favorably entertained on the occurrence of a vacancy. The only other important addition to the regulations was a clause that surgeons and assistant surgeons might be appointed Judge Advocates of General Courts-Martial, but were not eligible for detail as members of either general, garrison or regimental courts.
Up to the close of 1825 there had been no definite rule relative to the assignment of medical officers to duty, and as many of the southern and western posts were very undesirable as compared with those at the north, there were continual applications for changes of station which embarrassed the Surgeon General, and rendered some fixed regulation on the subject advisable. There was so much dissatisfaction in the Corps about this matter, that on the fourteenth of November the Surgeon General addressed the following letter to the Secretary of War:
SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
November 14, 1825.
Sir:
In consequence of the frequent applications from the surgeons for change of station, the difficulty of deciding upon their several cases, and the discontent of many of those whose requests cannot be complied with, or who are removed from their posts, I have to propose that some permanent regulation be established on the subject. The following is believed to be the least objectionable, both in reference to the surgeons and the public service, viz: That the senior surgeons and assistant surgeons shall respectively have choice of stations, on written application through the Surgeon General, specifying the posts preferred; but no surgeon can claim the right of removal from any post or section of country, unless he shall have served there for two successive years, nor any one be liable to removal from his post on such application, unless he shall have been stationed there for the same period.
As several changes will probably take place on the first establishment of this regulation, which the limited number of medical officers may render inconvenient, it is recommended that no case be decided on until six months after its promulgation, in order that. applications may be received from the remote posts.
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It should also be understood, that surgeons are to be confined in their selections to such stations or regiments as have been, or may hereafter be designated. These at present are West Point, New York, Fortress Monroe, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th regiments of infantry.
This regulation will not of course prevent the officers of the Medical Staff from being ordered to any station where their service may be specially required, the public interest being in all cases paramount to the convenience of individuals.
Respectfully, etc.,
JOSEPH LOVELL,
Surgeon General."
In accordance with this suggestion the following order was issued by the War Department:
"ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
Washington, December 14, 1825.
ORDERS, No. 84.
I. Senior surgeons and assistant surgeons shall respectively have choice of stations on written application through the Surgeon General, specifying the regiment or post preferred; but no surgeon or assistant can claim the right of removal from any post or station of country, unless he shall have served therefor two successive years; nor shall any one be liable to removal from his post on such application, unless he shall have been stationed there for the same period.
II. This regulation shall not be construed as to prevent the competent authority from ordering officers of the Medical Staff to any station where their services may be specially required.
BY ORDER OF MAJOR GENERAL BROWN."
Immediately after the promulgation of this order the Surgeon General issued the following circular to the Medical Staff:
"SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
December 16, 1825.
SIR:
I am directed by the Secretary of War to transmit a copy of the regulation of the 14th inst., and to state that it will not be acted on until six months after promulgation, in order that applications may be received from those stationed at the remote posts.
Each surgeon and assistant surgeon will specify several regiments or posts in the order in which he may prefer them, as the same station may be applied for by more than one. The necessary changes will be made as soon after the expiration of the period above mentioned as the number of the Medical Staff and the exigencies of the service will permit, the senior applicant always having the preference under similar circumstances. I am also directed to state that the surgeons will be confined in their selections to West Point, Fortress Monroe, and the regiments of infantry; but it will of course depend upon the distribution of the troops for the time being, to which regiments they shall be attached, there not being a sufficient number to supply the whole.
The assistant surgeons will be assigned as follows: To Forts Sullivan, Preble, Constitution, Independence, Trumbull, Wolcott, Wood, Columbus, Lafayette, Delaware,
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McHenry, Washington, Monroe, Johnson, Moultrie, St. Philip, Armstrong, Crawford, Snelling, Howard and Niagara, the Arsenals at Pittsburgh, Richmond and Augusta, Savannah, St Augustine, New Orleans, Petites Coquilles, Mackinac, Detroit and Sackett`s Harbour each one. To Fort Brady, the first and sixth infantry each two; the fourth and seventh infantry each three; subject however to such alterations as may be made necessary by changes in the position of the troops.
The persons newly appointed or promoted will be ordered to the post or station which shall have become vacant, unless it may have been previously applied for, or the public interest renders a differen arrangement advisable. And every surgeon and assistant surgeon will be liable at all times to receive orders for any post which he may have designated unless he shall have withdrawn his application.
Respectfully, etc.,
JOSEPH LOVELL,
Surgeon General."
Two trials by court-martial which took place about this time excited general interest among the members of the Medical Staff, involving as they did questions of the gravest consequence as to the responsibilities of surgeons in the performance of official duties, and the jurisdiction of courts-martial composed of non-professional individuals over questions purely surgical in their character. The facts of one case were as follows:
On the second of July, 1825, Lieutenant E. B. G----, second infantry, reported himself to Doctor Beaumont, post surgeon at Fort Niagara., with the request that he would examine his arm, as it was so sore he could not wear his uniform coat. He had been bled on the twenty-first of June and returned to duty, but neglecting to perform it complaints were made to the commanding officer, which resulted in his again reporting sick on the date above mentioned. Doctor Beaumont could find nothing the matter with his arm, and told him so, but as he insisted on being taken on sick report, this was done. Nevertheless, two days after he was well enough to go with a large party on an excursion from the post, but on the sixth of July again reported sick. The surgeon, suspecting that he was malingering, gave him a mixture composed of twenty grains of calomel and six of tartar-emetic; but finding him out in a rain storm the same afternoon, struck him from sick report and reported him to the commanding officer. He was then placed in arrest and tried on the charge of malingering and neglect of duty. Doctor Beaumont testified to all the facts as above narrated, as did also others who were cognizant of them, and the court found him guilty and sentenced him to be dismissed the service. The President disapproved the action of the court, and in his review of the proceedings animadverted in very severe terms on the conduct and testimony of Doctor Beaumont. On the eighth of May, 1826, the latter applied for a Court of Inquiry, but this being refused, in the following fall he published a pamphlet to
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the army, in which he stated all the circumstances of the case, and vindicated himself from the strictures contained in General Orders, No. 9, February 18, 1826, promulgating the proceedings of the Court-Martial on Lieutenant G---. In this appeal, after detailing the facts of his connection with G---- and recapitulating the evidence given before the court, he thus defends the propriety of his giving the emetico-cathartic, a circumstance which had formed the basis of the President`s strictures in his review of the proceedings:
"Resolved never to be made the tacit medium of deception, nor the convenient organ of official falsehood, I determined neither to let the case pass unnoticed, or waive my duty of making a correct report to the commanding officer. Viewing this case as novel and unprecedented, ---- artfully calculated to evade proof, and requiring more than ordinary means and management for detection, I consulted my duty to government and my professional character only and at once resolved upon the course to be pursued, fully aware of the delicacy and difficulties of deciding judiciously upon the first case of feigned sickness in an officer, that had ever occurred within the sphere of my official duty. I assumed the responsibility-considered the case-adopted my plan of treatment, which was to soothe his agitation-threw him off his guard by affecting to believe his declaration; prescribing at the same time an emetico-cathartic of well-known, infallible and decided effects, when taken. The first in two minutes completely removed his agitation, which was the single and only apparent deviation from perfect and tranquil health; the medicine I left with him to take at discretion, should his non-descript sensations continue, which bye the bye, never after happened to be observable, until the time of his trial; the medicine I am confident was not taken, never having been in the least visible upon close observation for two days. * * * * Whether the plan adopted, either in a moral or professional point of view be justifiable or not, I leave for medical men, and candid judges to decide; it was salutary, and had the intended effect of returning Lieut. G to his duty without prejudice to his health or constitution; neither is it of very great moment with me, whether a successful experiment be of less or more than doubtful propriety, that speedily restores a soldier from the sick report tothe effective service of the government, be he private, non-com. or commissioned officer; neither do I think it of very great consequence, whether it be done secundemartem, secundem naturam, or terrorem, provided it be well done. It may not be amiss here to remark, that so far from having administered a medicin eof violent operation to a man whom I then believed (and have ever since) to bein full health, I neither required Lt. G--- to take, -believed he did take, or had any intention of taking the medicine left with him; but on the contrary believe he studied to deceive by pretending to have taken it, and then representing its effects; it was impossible to prove he did not feel those strange indescribable sensations; but I know he could not disguise the effects of the medicine if taken-with this view I prescribed the calomel and emetic tartar; neither was he receiving my professional advice, inasmuch as I had offered him none, either medical, or political,-therefore it must have been close observation and my Morning Report of the 8th of July, that tested his disposition and the insincerity of his complaints.
And no consideration can ever warp my mind from its fixed principles of acting honestly and independently in the discharge of its relative duties. Should I again, a hundred times be placed in a similar situation, I would do as in this case I have done;
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fearless of censure, reproach, or temporary discredit-regarding far more the sanctity of an oath, than either the applause, or disapprobation of the highest earthly tribunal-considering Integrity, Faithfulness and Fidelity to my God, my Conscience and my Country paramount to every other consideration."
The second case is of interest, being the trial of a medical officer on charges of malpractice in the performance of his ordinary professional duties, and so far as the public records show, the only one occurring in the history of the Corps. On the fifth of March, 1827, Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B--- was arraigned before a General Court-Martial, convened at Fort Howard, Wisconsin, on the following charges and specifications:
"CHARGE I. Malpractice, and incompetency to the practical duties of his profession.
Specification 1st.-In this; that on or about the 9th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan Territory, Assistant Surgeon T-- S. B---, U. S. Army, did improperly and injudiciously apply to the left leg and thigh of private John Mackay, "H" company, 2nd U.S. Infantry, the splints and dressings commonly used by surgeons for fractures of the thigh and leg, to wit: First, the common bandage, pads, straps, and two rigid splints below the knee; Secondly, three long splints four inches wide and four lines thick, extending from the hip and projecting beyond the heel, closely confined by strings, with counter-extending straps drawn painfully tight round the ankle of said leg, and firmly fastened to the projecting ends of these long splints, the upper end of which pressed so forcibly against the flesh and bones of the pubis and hip joint as to occasion great distress for two days or more, when there was no occasion for any splints, there being no other injury done to the said limb, than that of a simple contusion of the muscles and skin of the leg; thereby clearly showing his want of correct practical knowledge, and incompetency to the duties of his profession.
Specification 2nd.-In this; that on or about the 9th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan Territory, the said Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B---, having had sufficient time and ample opportunity for examination and reflection upon the nature and extent of an injury done to the left leg of private John Mackay, "H" company, 2nd U. S. Infantry, aforesaid, by the kick of an ox, or otherwise, on or about the 8th day of February, 1827, did contrary to every rule of operative surgery, and the principles of modern practice, then and there wrongfully apply to the left leg and thigh of private John Mackay, aforesaid, and did uselessly and unnecessarily keep the said leg and thigh rigidly and painfully confined in the splints and bandages commonly used by surgeons for a fractured thigh and leg, for two days or more, merely for a simple contusion of the skin and muscles of the leg, thereby occasioning unnecessary pain and distress to said private John Mackay, and disclosing gross ignorance of the practice of surgery, and manifest incompetency to the duties of his profession.
Specification 3rd.-In this; that on or about the 9th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan Territory, said Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B---, did erroneously apply to, and rigidly and painfully confine the left ankle and foot of private John Mackay, aforesaid, in straps and bandages so tightly drawn around the said ankle, for two days or more (under the pretence of extending the muscles of said leg, as is usual with surgeons in oblique fractures of the bones) as to cause much pain and an obstinate stiffness and lameness of the said ankle joint, for
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two or three months of more, when there was not the least occasion for such practice, there being no other injury done to said limb than that of a simpleaaaaa contusion of the flesh upon the shin, thereby occasioning unnecessary pain and distress to the said John Mackay, aforesaid, from mere incompetence in the said aAssistant Surgeon T--- S. B---, aforesaid, to form a correct judgement. of the said injury, or to apply the proper means of relief.
Specification 4th.-In this; that, he, the said Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B---, U. S. A., on or about the 8th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan. Territory, did injudiciously apply to the neck and face of Private John Mackay, "H" company, 2nd U. S. Infantry, apiece of rigid pasteboard, six or eight inches long and three or four inches wide, the upper edge embracing the under jaw from ear to ear, and the other edge pressing upon the breast, and did there rigidly and worse than uselessly, confine it two days or more, to the pain and inconvenience of said Mackay, when there was no sufficient reason for so dressing him.
CHARGE II. Neglect of duty.
Specification 1st.-In this; that on or about the 8th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan Territory, Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B---, U. S. A., did neglect properly to examine an injury done by the kick of an ox, or otherwise, to the limbs of private John Mackay, "H" company, 2nd U. S. Infantry, on or about the 8th day of February, 1827,and did also neglect, to ascertain the real nature and extent of said injury, or to apply the proper means and dressings for the relief of the said John Mackay, aforesaid, thereby failing to administer the necessary surgical aid, and neglecting the duty required of him as a surgeon.
Specification 2nd.-In this; that on or about the 9th day of February, 1827, at, or near Fort Howard, Green Bay, Michigan Territory, Assistant Surgeon T--- S. B--- aforesaid, after having had sufficient time, and ample opportunity to ascertain the nature and extent of an injury done to private John Mackay, "H" company, 2nd U. S. Infantry, by the kick of an ox, or otherwise, on the 8th day of .February, 1827,did neglect properly to examine the said injury, and did fail to apply the means of relief required of him as assistant surgeon, in consequence of which neglect and failure the said John Mackay suffered much unnecessary pain and distress for two days or more, between the 8th and 11th days of February, 1827."
There were other charges and specifications, but they related to matters foreign to the above case, and have no interest at the present time. Doctor B--- plead not guilty, but the court found him guilty of the first three specifications to the first charge, with the exception of those portions which charged him with incompetency, and not guilty of the fourth specification. Of the first charge he was found guilty of "malpractice," but not guilty of "incompetency to the duties of his profession." He was found guilty of both the second charge and its specifications, and sentenced" to be dismissed the service of the United States;" and the court," in consequence of his inexperience do recommend him to the mercy of the President."
In consequence of the department commander having increased and reorganized the court, by an order subsequent to the date when it convened and after testimony had been taken, President Adams disapproved the proceedings,
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without any comment on the merits of the case, and Doctor B--- was returned to duty. The trial, however, excited considerable discussion at the time, from the fact that a court composed entirely of line officers, and upon which the Medical Corps was not (and under existing regulations could not be) represented, was called on to decide a purely surgical question.
During the last years of this decade and the first of the succeeding one, a reform in the pay and emoluments allowed to medical officers became the subject of inquiry in Congress, and of general interest throughout the army. It was generally thought that their case was one of peculiar hardship. A large proportion of them were stationed at southern and frontier posts where the expenses of living were very great, many of them had large families to support, they were deprived by the regulations of the privilege of increasing their incomes by means of private practice, and their compensation remained at the same standard at which it had been fixed by the acts of the twelfth of April, 1808, and the thirtieth of March, 1814, while the nature of their duties had been greatly changed by subsequent enactments, and the cost of all the necessaries of life had increased. A bill to increase the pay of captains and subalterns of the line was passed March 2, 1827, but although the subject was twice favorably reported by the Military Committee of the Senate, no action was taken in reference to the Medical Corps. The result was that resignations were becoming so frequent as seriously to impair the efficiency of the service, for it was found impossible to retain men of high professional standing and experience on the miserable pittance of forty-five dollars a month for surgeons and forty for assistant surgeons, and without any hope of a future increase by means of promotion. As early as the twenty-eighth of December, 1826, Doctor Lovell submitted a report on the subject to the Secretary of War, of which the following is a copy:
SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
December 28, 1826.
SIR:
In reply to the inquiry whether it be expedient to graduate the pay of the surgeons and assistant surgeons of the army in proportion to the length of time they may have been in service, I beg leave to remark that forty-five or nine-tenths of the whole number are of the latter class, and of course can receive only the lowest grade of pay at any period and under any circumstances. The eight surgeons receive but five dollars per month and one ration per day more than the assistant surgeons, which therefore constitutes the only difference between the oldest surgeon and the youngest assistant, while the senior assistant who has been upwards of twenty years in service, and is among the oldest officers in the army, receives the same pay that he did on his first appointment in 1806, although an additional ration has within a few years been allowed to every other subaltern officer. It is believed this principle is adopted in relation to the Medical Department in every other service except our own; and it is
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manifestly applicable to it in a special manner, because in no other profession is personal experience of such vital importance.
When a senior officer of the General Staff or of the line is removed, his place is immediately supplied by one who is nearly if not quite his equal, and the case is the same in the several promotions that take place down to the cadet who fills the last vacancy, and whose duties are adapted to his years; but the medical graduate who succeeds the experienced surgeon must at once assume all his duties and responsibilities, and have the sole care of the health and lives of the corps or garrison to which he may be attached, and the charge is often a serious one to those stationed beyond the reach of all other advice.
Upwards of three-fourths of the present assistant surgeons have been appointed within the last eight years, besides many others who have from time to time resigned during that period; and as the prospect of a moderate increase of pay would no doubt retain in the army much of the experience purchased at its expense, it would not only be fair and just towards those by whom this experience is possessed, but it is believed a full equivalent would be received by the public. For the actual expense of recruiting, transporting to most of the military posts, and preparing one or two new men to supply the places of those who may have been lost from unskillful treatment is fully equal to the additional pay of the experienced surgeon, who has been compelled to retire to private practice in consequence of being unable to meet his growing expenses. The reasonableness of this increase will further appear if the surgeon be compared with other officers, whose pay is about the same. The captain for example receives fifty-eight dollars per month, and the assistant surgeon fifty-two; they have each one servant, and the same allowance of fuel, quarters, etc., and the latter if he actually keep horses in service is also allowed eight dollars per month in lieu of forage, which is generally not more than sufficient to meet the additional expense; so that in point of fact the captain receives six dollars per month more than the assistant surgeon, and but five dollars per month less than the full surgeon towards defraying his necessary and personal expenses. It is moreover perfectly well known that even a subaltern officer can, and actually does in almost every case, live more conveniently and comfortably than the surgeon, in consequence of the various little offices performed by his men when off duty, all of which are a direct charge upon the latter. But the important difference between the captain and the surgeon is, that the pay of the latter is invariably the same, while the former is constantly advancing to promotion in rank and emoluments. The commission of the oldest captain (who however is Adjutant General with the pay of a colonel) is of .July, 1812, and that of the oldest assistant surgeon is of March, 1806, a difference of six years.
But four assistant surgeons have been promoted in ten years, with the additional pay of only eleven dollars per month, without the possibility of a further increase, while in the same period thirteen captains have been promoted to be majors, and nineteen lieutenant colonels and colonels in their respective grades. Nor has regular promotion been considered sufficient for the officers of the General Staff, and of the line, and therefore they receive brevet commissions for every ten years of service, and are often entitled to all the advantages of these commissions previous to their promotion. They are moreover entitled to double rations when on separate command, and are frequently on staff and other duties by which their compensation is materially increased, while the surgeon can in no case receive any additional allowance either on account of his situation, the extent or importance of his duties, or his length of service.
The surgeons are not only confined to their original pay whatever may be the
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necessary increase of their expenses as they advance in life, but they are more constantly on duty than any other officer in service. For the number being barely sufficient to supply the several posts, they are seldom permitted to leave their stations, as no one else can perform their duties; and they are thus sometimes compelled in urgent cases to hire a substitute at their own expense, while at most of the interior posts even this is impracticable, and hence some have been on daily duty for ten years; whereas an officer of the line can at once be relieved by the next in command or his place be supplied by one of the same grade. This is a consideration of no inconsiderable importance not only comparatively in relation to others, but positively in relation to the surgeon himself; for cases have occurred where all the officers of a post have been repeatedly changed on account of their ill health, while the surgeon has been compelled to remain at the sacrifice not only of his health, but in more than one instance of his life; and a standing order has even been issued that he shall in no case be so far from the garrison that he could not be called on in case of accident.
The present compensation, especially of the assistant surgeons, is obviously incompetent to the comfortable support of those who are somewhat advanced in life; although quite sufficient on their first appointment. They are allowed but one servant, and one room with the necessary fuel, and hence they are often under the necessity of applying a considerable portion of their pay to these objects, leaving but four or five hundred dollars for all the other expenses of their families, out of which they are compelled to meet considerable additional expenses incident to their commissions, which are of course never incurred by a retired and economical private individual.
To these considerations it may be proper to add that the surgeon is required to be a regular medical graduate in order to become a candidate for appointment and that all the expenses of a liberal education generally including a collegiate and a medical course are paid by himself; while the cadet is prepared for service at the public expense, and therefore while the latter is in some measure refunding an advance the former ought to receive a reasonable consideration on account of his own investment.
Should it be deemed advisable to graduate the pay of surgeons on this principle, the following ratio of increase is respectfully submitted for consideration, viz: that in lieu of the monthly pay and rations as at present allowed, the assistant surgeons should receive forty dollars per month and two rations per day, and the surgeons fifty-five dollars per month and five rations per day on their first appointment; with an increase of five dollars per month and one ration per day for every three years they shall have served in their respective grades, provided that in no case shall the increase to the assistant surgeon exceed ten dollars per month and two rations per day, or that of the surgeon five dollars per month and one ration per day; and it will at once be perceived that nearly nine-tenths of the whole number will necessarily be confined within the first limits for life, as but eight can expect promotion in twenty years, or arrive at the highest rate under twenty-six years, which with the number that from the ordinary incidents of the service will always be at the lowest rate and receive the same compensation as at present will make about an average increase of ten dollars per month and one ration per day, which would amount to the same as has been proposed for captains when in command of their companies.
Very respectfully, etc.,
JOSEPH LOVELL,
Surgeon General, U.S.A."
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In the following session of Congress a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives graduating the pay of medical officers on the plan above proposed, but no action was taken on it. In consequence of the numerous petitions on the subject, not only from the Medical Staff but also from line officers, the Senate on the eleventh of December, 1828, passed a resolution of inquiry, which being referred to Surgeon General Lovell, that officer addressed an elaborate review of the case to the Hon. Thomas H. Benton, chairman of the Senate Military Committee. Still, although bills were introduced into both houses providing for an increase of pay, they failed to meet favorable consideration for several years. In his annual report for 1831, Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, says:
"We have sixty-four military stations and recruiting stations requiring surgeons, and we have in service but fifty-three surgeons and assistants. There is no economy in the present management, nor is it advantageous to the public interest. An increase of the Corps as recommended by the Surgeon General is evidently required. The considerations urged by him for an addition to the pay of surgeons and assistants are certainly forcible. There is no portion of the army whose compensation is so inadequate, nor is there any which presents less prospects of reward. There are but two grades of rank in our medical service, and the emolument of the highest is but little superior to that of a captain."
And again in the following year he says:
"There is probably no class of officers under the government whose compensation is more inadequate to their service than that of the Medical Staff of the Army. There are but two grades, surgeon and assistant surgeon, in the Corps, and the pay of the former is forty-five dollars a month, and the pay of the latter forty dollars a month. The prospects of gradual and continued promotion held out to the other officers of the army, is a powerful incentive to good conduct, and when realized becomes its just reward. Of this the medical officers are deprived, for the slight difference in rank and pay at present existing is scarcely worthy of consideration; the nature of their profession requiring time, experience and pecuniary means for its acquisition; the responsible and arduous services demanded of them; the relation, not always a pleasant one, in which they stand to the line of the army; and I may add injustice to this meritorious class of officers their general capacity, respectability and good conduct, entitle them to a higher rate of compensation, and I indulge the hope that their claims may be favorably considered."
To show how deeply the unfortunate condition of the Medical Staff had excited the attention and sympathy of the army at large, the following petition is selected from a large number that were presented to Congress during the years in which this question was agitated. It was made by the officers of the third and seventh regiments of infantry:
"To the Honorable the Senate, etc.,
The undersigned officers of the Army of the United States, deeply impressed with a sense of the value and importance of the services of the Medical Staff, and impelled by the friendly interest which the peculiar nature of their duties so naturally awa-
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kens in our minds, respectfully beg leave to make to your honorable body such representation in their behalf as we believe to be inconsonance with the attributes of justice, and therefore best calculated to ensure on the part of your honorable body, the most favorable consideration touching their present condition. It is one of the cardinal principles flowing from our form of government and resulting from the genius of our institutions, that the rate of compensation shall always be in a direct ratio to the value of the services rendered; and taking this principle for our guide, we believe it may be safely averred that the Medical Staff of the army labor under peculiar disadvantages, and that independent of certain oppressive disabilities incidentally connected with the tenure of their appointment as medical officers, a spirit of justice calls for further legislative provision with reference to their pay and emoluments. It is not our design to touch upon details, or to anticipate that liberal spirit which has ever influenced your honorable body, by proposing any specific increase of compensation.
All the information necessary on the subject of the relative emoluments of the several branches of the army, is presumed to be in the possession of your honorable body, but we should not do justice to the subject did we fail to present for your consideration some facts of primary importance which we would fain hope may not fail to sustain our petition, and induce your aquiescence.
We regard it as a leading defect of the present system of the organization of the Medical Staff, that the same services are rendered by all of its members, that they severally incur the same responsibilities, but receive unequal amounts of pay, etc.; that there is an absence of that great stimulus to human exertion, the prospect of bettering their condition by a graduated increase of emoluments having reference to length of service, a defect which is found in no other branch of the service, and which is believed to be seriously detrimental to its best interest.
It is to be presumed from the vital importance to the efficiency of the army which results from the employment of well educated members of the medical profession, that in the legislative provision made for their support, there would be found sufficient inducement to retain them permanently in service. Yet from the inadequacy of their compensation with reference to their real necessities, the disproportionate rate of compensation between themselves and officers of assimilated rank, but more especially to the lucrative practice of the profession in civil life, it follows that resignations are for the most part confined to that class which is best calculated to give efficiency to the service, and respectability to the medical profession. Among the regulations which have been deemed necessary for the government of the Medical Staff, there are a number which are singularly oppressive and from the operation of which all other branches of the service are exempt. From their limited number they are subjected to do duty even when under arrest; they cannot receive the indulgence of a furlough unless they provide a substitute to discharge their duties except by the special sanction of the Secretary of War, and are moreover debarred the advantages of private practice, subject to the same restrictions. We therefore pray that their compensation may be placed on such a footing, as your honorable body on consideration of the subject, may deem correspondent to their services."
Notwithstanding these and other urgent appeals it was not until the thirtieth of June, 1834, that Congress finally passed a bill "Increasing and regulating the pay of the Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons of the Army. "This bill was as follows:
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"SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of this act, no person shall receive the appointment of assistant surgeon of the army of the United States, unless he shall have been examined and approved by an Army Medical Board, to consist of not less than three surgeons or assistant surgeons who shall be designated for that purpose by the Secretary of War; and no person shall receive the appointment of surgeon in the army of the United States, unless he shall have served at least five years as an assistant surgeon, and unless also he shall have been examined by an army board constituted as aforesaid.
SECTION II. And be it further enacted, That the surgeons in the army of the United States shall be entitled to receive the pay and emoluments of a Major; and the assistant surgeons who shall have served five years, shall be entitled to receive the pay and emoluments of a Captain; and those who shall have served less than five years, the pay and emoluments of a First Lieutenant; and that said assistant surgeons shall be entitled to receive the same allowance for forage as they are at present entitled to.
SECTION III. And be it further enacted, That every surgeon and assistant surgeon who shall have served faithfully ten years in these grades respectively, shall be entitled to receive an increase of rations per day, equal to the number of rations to which he may be entitled under this act."
In order to complete the record relative to this question of the pay and emoluments of the Medical Staff we have been obliged to anticipate to some extent the regular course of events. It will therefore be necessary to look back for several years, to consider other matters of interest in connection with the history of the Department. The general orders issued during the period were neither very numerous nor very important, yet they are worthy of record, as they show the gradual manner in which the deficiencies and abuses of the old organization were rectified and the department grew into the shape which obtained up to the commencement of the rebellion. On the second of December, 1828, the following order was issued relative to the duties of soldiers detailed in hospitals:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
December 2, 1828.
No non-commissioned officer or private soldier who may be selected to act as steward, wardmaster, cook or nurse of a hospital in conformity with the provisions of paragraph 1232 of the General Regulations, shall be required by any officer not of the Medical Staff to perform any duty except that of attending weekly inspections, the regular musters for payment, and in cases of the most urgent necessity.
P. B. PORTER,
Secretary of War."
So much confusion and recrimination had arisen from the practice of allowing medical officers to choose their own stations, that the Surgeon General recommended a repeal of the order permitting it, and in consequence on the sixteenth of March, 1830, the following order was promulgated by the War Department:
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"The regulation of December 14, 1825, allowing senior surgeons and assistant surgeons choice of stations is hereby rescinded. They will hereafter be assigned to the several regiments and posts by the Secretary of War on application through the Surgeon General.
No surgeon or assistant surgeon shall receive a furlough or leave of absence for a period exceeding thirty days, and no extension of such furlough or leave of absence shall be granted until he shall have returned to the post where he was stationed at the time of receiving said furlough. In all cases where a furlough for a longer period is required, application must be made to the Secretary of War accompanied with the written approval of the commanding officer of the regiment or post. The expenses incident to the employment of private physicians make it necessary to withhold furloughs unless under circumstances of high necessity. Such surgeons and assistant surgeons as are now on furlough will repair to their respective posts by the time of the expiration of the furlough; and all will be expected to be at their posts by the fifteenth of April, unless sufficient cause to justify their absence shall be shown to the Department.
JOHN H. EATON,
Secretary of War."
Other orders, pertaining to the duties of medical officers, which were issued about this time, were as follows:
ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
Washington, April 2, 1830.
ORDERS, NO. 13.
To avoid the inconvenience resulting from the suspension of the functions of the officers of the Medical Staff, it is recommended to officers in command that whenever charges shall be preferred against a surgeon or assistant surgeon, that they transmit the charges to the officer having authority to order a General Court-Martial for his trial, and a copy thereof to the party accused; but not to put the surgeon or assistant surgeon in arrest until the court ordered for his trial shall have assembled.
BY ORDER OF ALEXANDER MACOMB,
Major General Commanding the Army.
R. JONES,
Adjutant General."
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
May 14, 1830.
The Surgeon General and Assistant Surgeon resident at Washington will give medical attendance to such officers living at the city of Washington on duty, and their families as shall become sick; and no citizen physician`s account will hereafter be allowed unless it shall appear that the Surgeon General or the Assistant Surgeon was applied to, and that the aid of neither could be procured.
J. H. EATON,
Secretary of War."
The question of the reduction of the expenses of the army was made the subject of discussion in Congress during the years 1829 and 1830, and on the twenty-sixth of April in the latter year the House of Representatives passed the following resolution:
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"Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to report to this House at the commencement of the next session, whether any reduction in the number of officers in the Army of the United States, can be made without injury to the public service and if any what reduction; together with a plan for the most efficient organization of the army in conformity with the reduction proposed."
To obtain the data necessary for making the above report,the Secretary of War addressed a circular to all the General and other principalofficers, requesting their opinion as to what changes would inure to theadvantage of the service. In their replies Generals Scott, Clinch and othersrecommended no change whatever; General Gaines and Colonel Cummings, thirdinfantry, advised a return to the old system of regimental medical officers andpost surgeons; General Atkinson considered the Medical Department as essential,and that under the wide distribution of the troops any reduction of the numberof medical officers would be seriously detrimental to the best interests of theservice. Colonel Crane, fourth artillery, said; "The Medical Department itis believed would be improved by abolishing the grade of assistant surgeon, (asthere is no rank or distinction among medical men except what merit may give,)and fixing their pay and emoluments according to their length of service;allowing them a higher scale of consideration when they come in contact withofficers of the line than they have heretofore received."
The opinion of the Surgeon General was positive not onlyagainst any reduction of the number of medical officers, but also in favor oftheir decided increase. For five years in his quarterly reports to the Secretaryof War he had not failed to call attention to the want of medical officersat many of the posts, and the lack of economy andefficiency in the employment of citizen physicians under contract. He hadrepeatedly shown the injustice done to those in service, from the fact of thenumber of posts being greater than that of the medical officers; some of thelatter having been continuously on duty for many years, without any opportunityto obtain a leave of absence without employing a physician at their own expense,which they could not afford to do. Upon being called upon, therefore, by theSecretary of War for his opinion on these questions during the discussion of theabove resolution in the House of Representatives, he wrote the following reply,reiterating the sentiments expressed in his previous reports:
"SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
9 January, 1830.
HON. J. H. EATON,
SECRETARY OF WAR.
SIR: In reply to your letter of the seventh inst., enclosing the copy of aresolution of the Committee on Retrenchment, I beg leave to state that anyreduction of the number or compensation of the surgeons and assistant surgeonsof the army is deemed inexpedient, as the necessity of an increase of theirnumber, and the equity of an
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increase of their compensation, has been fully stated inreports heretofore made to the Department; and it is understood that a bill forthese purposes has been recently reported to the House of Representatives.
With regard to the responsibilities, economy and efficiencyof the administrative branch of this Department, I beg leave respectfully torefer to the 73rd article of the army regulations defining the duties of itsseveral officers, and to remark that the average expense during the three yearsprevious to its present organization was about seven dollars per man, and forthe two subsequent years about three dollars per man, making a difference ofabout $45,000 per annum. Since the reduction of the army in 1821, the ratio ofexpense has continued about the same, and in proportion to the existingestablishment is less now than it was under that of 1802. This has been effectedby the regulations adopted in relation to purchasing and furnishing supplies,auditing accounts, securing responsibility for all public property under thecharge of the several officers of the Department, and requiring reportsthat shall show the manner in which their official duties are performed, and itis therefore believedthat if any further improvements are required in these respects, they may bemade by such alterations in the regulations referred to, as experience maysuggest, or the exigencies of the service may require, since from the nature ofthe case all the expenses of the Department are contingent, and its economy andefficiency must mainly depend upon the manner in which its administrative dutiesare performed.
With respect to the expenses of this branch of theDepartment, I have to state that the compensation at present allowed to itsprincipal officer is somewhat less than that allowed to the other officersperforming similar duties, with the exception of the Paymaster General; and thatthe only clerk employed receives a salary of the fifth rate; there being but twolower under existing laws. The contingent expenses for fuel, stationery,printing, etc., for the four last years have averaged $226 per annum, and theestimates are believed to be as low as the duties of the office will permit.
Previous to the reduction of the army in 1821 the officers ofthe Apothecaries` Department, were required by law "to give bonds to theUnited States, with good and sufficient security for the faithful performance oftheir duties in such sums as shall be required by the Surgeon General of theArmy, under the direction of the War Department," (Act May 8, 1820), and Iwould respectfully suggest the propriety of requiring similar bonds from thesurgeon or assistant surgeons who have been, or may be assigned to performthese duties, as they must necessarily have a large amount of property undertheir charge, and would make considerable disbursements on account of theDepartment.
Very respectfully, etc.,
JOSEPH LOVELL,
Surgeon General."
Six months later, he wrote again to the Secretary as follows:
"SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
1 August, 1830.
HON. J. H. EATON,
SECRETARY OF WAR.
SIR: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives receivedon the fourth of May last, requiring a report `whether any reduction in thenumber of officers in the army of the United States can be made without injuryto the public service; and if any what reduction; together with a plan for themost efficient organization of the army, in conformity with the reductionproposed,` and in relation to
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the Medical Department I have to state, that not withstanding a very considerable increase in the number of military postsand stations, the number of medical officers is less than it has been at anyperiod within the last twenty years.
Under the establishment of 1808 before the late war, there were sixty-ninesurgeons and mates; under that of 1815 after the war, there were at firstseventy-seven and subsequently sixty-nine, while under that of 1821, with atrifling if with any reduction of posts it was reduced to fifty-three. Evenunder the establishment of 1802 with half the force and probably less than halfthe number of stations there were thirty-three surgeons and mates; and atleast double that number is required at present.
This number even if a furlough or leave of absence be granted on no occasionand the whole be constantly fit for duty, is insufficient to meet the demandsof the service, as has been stated and fully explained in former reports to the Department on this subject. From ten to twelve private physicians havegenerally been required at the regular stations, and others are necessarilyemployed during the year for limited periods. By a report to the Department on theeighteenth of April last it appears that $22,633 were expended on thisaccount in the years 1828 and 1829, of which $18,370 were paid to thoseemployed at the several stations and for attending detachment`s on the march;and the remainder for attendance on officers and their families stationed atplaces where there was no surgeon of the army. The amount expended on thisaccount during the two first quarters of the present year was $6,025. Unlesstherefore, there be a material change in the distribution of the army, and theposts be reduced below what they have been for the last ten years, no reductioncan be made in the number of surgeons without a proportionate increase of theexpenses of the Department,, and without disadvantage to the public service.
With regard to the administrative branch of theDepartment,it is believed to have answered the purpose for which it was established bysecuring the professional responsibility of its several officers, a strictaccountability for public property, and a material reduction of itsexpenses. By the regulations of 1818 which were compiled with especial referenceto the well known deficiencies of the Department in all these respects, bothduring the late war and under the organization of 1815, every officer isrequired to make full reports to the chief of the Department on all mattersrelating to his professional duties, with `remarks relative to the natureand symptoms of the the diseases reported, the treatment adopted, the medicinesand stores most in demand, &c., &c., together with observations on themedical topography of the post, station or hospital, the climate, prevalentdiseases, their probable causes, etc.` Reports of this character from everysurgeon having charge of an hospital, made at various periods and from everysection of the country, will enable the latter on his part to make the `returns and reports necessary toexplain all the concerns of the Department under his charge, with such remarksrelative to improvements in practice and police, and to the clothing andsubsistence of the army, as may seem to be required for the preservation ofhealth, the comfort and recovery of the sick, and the good of the publicservice;` and if he possesses the requisite professional information andexperience in army and hospital practice, these circumstances cannot fail tofurnish him with the means of appreciating the qualifications, services andmerit of those by whom they are made.
The information thus obtained in reference to the diseasesof the several posts and the practice of the surgeons, as well as of the stateof their supplies and the quantities ordinarily expended with a given number ofmen in the several sections of country,
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through the returns and requisitions required by the regulations, will notonly enable him to keep every post regularly and amply supplied, but to examineall returns with reference to these facts and circumstances, and to see thatevery article is satisfactorily accounted for, and that the expenditures are inproportion to the diseases and cases reported. From these data again, accurateand specific estimates can be made of the probable expenses of the Departmentfor each year, and for any given number of men; while a supervision of thepurchases and disbursements enable him to limit the expenses of the severalitems of appropriation that may have been made in conformity with theseestimates; so that while on the one hand he is held responsible that thehospitals are regularly furnished with suitable medical attendance, and amplysupplied with whatever may be necessary for the comfort and recovery of thesick, on the other he has every inducement to effect this at the least possibleexpense. The result of these arrangements has been to render the expenses of theDepartment materially less than they have been at any former period. In 1806 and1807, under the establishment of 1802, they were four dollars per man, in 1810and 1811, under that of 1808 and before the late war, they were five dollars perman, in 1817 and 1818, under that of 1815 and for the two years previously tothe present organization, they were seven dollars and a half per man, while in1819 and 1820 they were but three dollars per man. The average of 1817 and 1818was $95,416, and that of 1819 and 1820, but $39,104. In 1818, $87,745 were expended, and in 1819 under preciselysimilar circumstances, but $40,914, or less than one-half. Since the reductionof the army in 1821 the ratio has continued the same, with the exception of thatfor private physicians as has been above explained.
The seventy-third article of the army regulations arebelieved fully to exhibit all the duties that can devolve on the MedicalDepartment either on a war or peace establishment, and it is also believed thata reference to these regulations and to the operations of the Departmentfor the last twelve years will show that the organization of 1821 is wellcalculated to insure the efficiency of the Department at the least possibleexpense, it being only necessary to increase the number of surgeons inproportion to the force to be raised, the service to be performed, and thenumber of posts to be occupied; and to allow the chief of the Department theassistant required for the performance of his duties as its `Director and immediate accounting officer.`
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
JOSEPH LOVELL,
Surgeon General."
The Secretary of War in communicating these various opinionsto the Military Committee of the House, wrote an elaborate report on the subjectof army organization. The only suggestion he made in reference to the MedicalDepartment was as follows:
"The Surgeon General of the Army might be dispensed with. He has nodisbursements to superintend or make, no bonds to receive, no accounts to reviseor responsibilities to encounter. The principal and material duty to beencountered by him is in the purchasing and distributing of medicines, a dutywhich is performed by a quartermasterof the army at New York, at which place medical supplies are obtained, and fromwhich point they are distributed to the several posts."
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It is not surprising that so uncalled for a recommendation should have beenkeenly felt by the Surgeon General, whose faithful and economical administrationof the affairs of his department for thirteen years, had been a matter ofuniversal commendation. After a personal conversation with the Secretary on thesubject, he obtained his permission to address him another communication to betransmitted to the House of Representatives. In this letter, which is too longfor insertion, he reviews in detail the history of the Departmentsince he assumed control of its affairs. He shows that the statement of theSecretary that the purchasing and distributing of medicines was performed by aquartermaster in New York, was entirely incorrect, Surgeon T. G. Mower havingbeen stationed for ten years in that city in the performance of this very duty,to which he had been detailed on the abolition of the Apothecaries` Departmentin 1821, and that the Quartermaster`s Department had been by paragraph 1010 ofthe Army Regulations expressly prohibited from making such purchases, but thatin order to meet certain contingent expenses when cash payments were necessary,that department had in a few instances made purchases of bedding and furniturefor the Medical Department.
With regard to the statement of the Secretary, that the Surgeon General"had no disbursements to superintend or make, etc.," he shows that theprincipal object in the original establishment of the office was to make thatofficer responsible for just such duties, and that the seventy-third paragraphof the Army Regulations was drafted with a special reference to this intention;that all reports and returns from medical officers were received by him, allorders in reference to their duties issued through him, all estimates forfunds made by him, all expenditures of appropriations accounted for in hisquarterly reports to the War Department. He shows further, by a recapitulationof the statistics given in previous reports, that under his administration theexpenses of the Department have been only about one-half what they were previousto the reorganization in 1818, and they could be still further reduced if theMedical Staff was sufficiently large to enable him to dispense with the servicesof contract physicians. In every particular he refutes the statements of theSecretary, and without adverting to the "propriety of the establishment orcontinuance of his office," concludes by expressing a wish that hisstatement might be forwarded to the chairman of the Military Committee of theHouse, to whom the whole matter had been referred. That body, after dueconsideration of the various reports received, decided that the circumstancesdemanded an increase rather than a reduction of the Medical Staff, and reporteda bill to that effect to the House, which, however, was not passed until thetwenty-eighth of June, 1832. The bill was as follows:
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"Be it enacted, etc., Thatthe President be, and he is hereby authorized by and with the advice and consentof the Senate, to appoint four additional surgeons and ten additional surgeon`smates in the army of the United States."
A question arose in 1829 in reference to the relative rank of some of theassistant surgeons. In the reorganization of the Corps in 1821, the position ofofficers on the Register was fixed according to the " relative rankof the parties at the time the present appointments were made."Consequently all officers were arranged as they had been under the act of April,1818, when the hospital surgeons and surgeon`s mates became post surgeons, theCorps being only increased by the addition of the regimental surgeon`s mates,who were all arranged as junior to those who had been post surgeons. Thearrangement of 1818 was made without any regard to the date of original entryinto service, but only to the rank held by them at the time of thereorganization ; consequently some officers who had served in the war of 1.812,and indeed previous to that time, were arranged below others who had beenappointed hospital surgeons subsequent to the war. Assistant Surgeons Eaton andDay claimed that injustice was done them in this arrangement, the latter havingbeen a garrison surgeon`s mate in 1807, and the former a hospital mate in 1814.It was therefore proposed to rectify the records so as to arrange the assistantsurgeons on the Register in the order of their original entry intoservice without regard to the rank they held at the time of the reorganization.This necessitated the following changes:
|
FORMER ARRANGEMENT. |
REVISED ARRANGEMENT. |
|
1. Asst. Surg. Sargent. |
1. Asst. Surg. Sargent, 1806. |
|
2. Asst. Surg. Turner. |
2. Asst. Surg. Day, 1807. |
|
3. Asst. Surg. Swift. |
3. Asst. Surg. Mann, 1812. |
|
4. Asst. Surg. Monroe. |
4. Asst. Surg. Turner, 1812. |
|
5. Asst. Surg. Smith. |
5. Asst. Surg. Swift, 1814. |
|
6. Asst. Surg. Mann. |
6. Asst. Surg. Eaton, 1814. |
|
7. Asst. Surg. Day. |
7. Asst. Surg. Archer, 1814. |
|
8. Asst. Surg. Eaton. |
8. Asst. Surg. Monroe, 1816. |
|
9. Asst. Surg. Clitherall. |
9. Asst. Surg. Smith, 1816. |
|
10. Asst. Surg. Archer. |
10. Asst. Surg. Clitherall, 1817. |
The Secretary of War favorably considered the appeal ofAssistant Surgeons Day and Eaton, and the proposed alterations were made, inaccordance with the suggestions of the Surgeon General, on the Army Register for1831.
Although the Army Regulations for 1825 contained a clause that no personshould receive the appointment of assistant surgeon until after examination by aproperly authorized board, yet this rule had never been carried out on accountof the difficulty of detailing medical officers for this purpose. GeneralOrders, No. 58, from the War Department, dated July 7, 1832, reiterated theregula-
148
tion and directed that hereafter it should be strictly enforced, and to carryout its provisions the following order was issued:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
December 13, 1832.
A Medical Board will be convened in the City of New York onthe fifteenth of January next, who will examine the qualifications of suchcandidates for appointment in the Medical Department of the Army as may beauthorized to present themselves for that purpose, and will report to theSurgeon General thereon.
The Board will consist of the following members, who will receive the sameallowances as are authorized to members of a Court-Martial.
Surgeon Thomas G. Mower, President.
Surgeon W. V. Wheaton; Assistant Surgeon J. P. Russell, members.
In case of the absence of either of the members, Assistant Surgeon EdwardMacomb will supply the vacancy.
LEWIS CASS,
Secretary of War."
The board assembled in New York on the day appointed, andheld daily sessions until the twenty-fourth of January, when they adjournedsine die. Six candidates for appointment were examined,of whom five were found qualified.
A second board was ordered to convene in New Orleans on the first of April,with the following detail: Surgeon Thomas Lawson, President; Surgeon Thomas G.Mower and Assistant Surgeon S. R Smith, members, with Surgeon J. P. C. Mac Mahonas supernumerary. This board was directed, after examining all candidates whomight present themselves in New Orleans, to proceed to Forts Pike, Jackson,Jesup and other stations in the southwest, and examine the medical officers ofthose posts; to proceed thence to St. Louis, and hold sessions for theexamination of candidates for appointment; then to visit all the northern andnorthwestern stations, proceeding to New York city as soon as this duty wasperformed; and finally to Washington for the purpose of making their report.They were also directed at each post visited to inspect and report on thecondition of the hospital, the supplies and medicines furnished, the nature andtreatment of the sick, and all other matters pertaining to the administration ofthe Department.. The board completed the duties assigned them and arrived inWashington by the twenty-fifth of October. Forty-one candidates were authorizedto appear before the board, of whom twenty presented themselves and wereexamined; of these twelve were found qualified for appointment and eightrejected. Twenty medical officers were examined for promotion of whom fifteenreceived a favorable report.
The experience gained by the sessions of these boards made it evident thatfurther regulations were advisable relative to appointments and promotions,
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and on the recommendation of the Surgeon General the following additionalrules were promulgated:
"1. In deciding on the fitness of candidates forappointment or promotion in theMedical Staff to perform the duties of the several stations to which they are tobe appointed, the Medical Board of Examination shall take into considerationtheir physical qualifications and moral habits, as well as their professionalacquirements.
2. When a candidate for appointment shall fail to receive afavorable report from a Medical Board of Examination, he shall if desired beentitled to a second examination after the expiration of two years, and on asecond failure shall be dropped front the list of applicants.
3. When an assistant surgeon shall fail to receive afavorable report from a Medical Board of Examination, his connection with theMedical Staff shall cease from that time."
The following order in reference to hospital stewards was issued during thisyear:
"DEPARTMENT OF WAR,
October 15, 1833.
At garrisons, posts and stations where a suitable hospitalsteward cannot be obtained from the command, the surgeon or assistant surgeon isauthorized to enlist a man for the purpose, who will be permanently attached tothe hospital and will be mustered with the other hospital attendants. Thehospital steward who may be so enlisted will be entitled to receive fifteencents per day extra pay when the garrison, post or station consists of from oneto five companies, and twenty cents per day when it exceeds that number.
LEWIS CASS,
Secretary of War."
In the summer of 1832 occurred the Black Hawk war, or the "Choleracampaign" as it was generally known in the army, from the dreadful ravagesof that disease among the troops ordered to the field. The Sac and Fox Indianshaving assumed a hostile attitude on the borders of Illinois and Michigan, allthe regular troops at the west were concentrated for field service at FortDearborn (now Chicago) under command of General Atkinson. It being anticipatedthat this force would not be sufficient to successfully prosecute the war,troops were also ordered from the sea-board and eastern lake stations, and MajorGeneral Winfield Scott assigned to the command of the whole force. SurgeonJosiah Everett was Medical Director. Seven companies of troops from Fort Monroeand New York Harbor, under command of Colonel Twiggs, left Buffalo for Detroiton the third of July on the steamer "Henry Clay." The next day whennear the latter city, a man was taken suddenly ill, and his case pronounced byAssistant Surgeon Robert E. Kerr to be Asiatic cholera. Up to that time thedisease had not appeared in the United States, although it had
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been very prevalent at Quebec and other places in Lower Canada. The boat wasvery much crowded, and a large portion of the men were obliged to sleep on theupper deck exposed to the night air. Just after arrival at Detroit a second caseoccurred and the first died, and General Scott ordered the command up the laketo disembark if necessary at Bois Blanc, an island near Mackinaw. SurgeonEverett, Medical Director of the Northwestern Army, accompanied them. Afterleaving Detroit cases multiplied so rapidly and there was such alarm among themen that Colonel Twiggs considered it best to disembark as soon as possible, andaccordingly the troops were landed and encamped just below FortGratiot. Just after the disembarkation a terrible rain storm came up, whichdrenched the men and materially increased the number of cases. A large barn wasimmediately taken for a hospital and the sick made as comfortable as possible,but they multiplied so fast that soon it was impossible to give them therequisite attention. Doctor Everett reported that up to the eighth of July there had been twenty-five cases and seven deaths. The next day he wastaken sick himself, and died on the fourteenth. Up to the sixteenth the numberof deaths was thirty-four, though this does not represent the total mortality,for many soldiers deserted in the panic which ensued on their first arrival atFort Gratiot, and taking the disease were found dead and dying on the roads formany miles. After the sixteenth the disease declined, there being but two deathssubsequently.
The following extract of a private letter from a veteranofficer of the army, who was on board the "HenryClay," besides giving an interesting description of the outbreak, pays ahigh tribute to the fidelity and efficiency of Assistant Surgeon Kerr:
"In 1832 the troops in New York Harbor and elsewhere were ordered to thewest to act against the Sacs and Foxes then hostile to us. Accordingly theFourth Artillery embarked on the eighteenth of June for Chicago, via the Hudsonriver, the canal and lakes. The Asiatic cholera had then just made itsappearance in Canada, but not yet in the United States, and all along the lineof the canal to Buffalo, we met evidences of panic and alarm among the citizens.We arrived without incident at Buffalo, and sailed from thence on the third ofJuly on the steamer Henry Clay, Assistant Surgeon Robert E. Kerr, a youngofficer, being our only medical officer, and of him and not of our expedition Ipropose to write. On the afternoon of the fourth of July, after we had a fourthof July dinner, being of the port of Erie, and while the young officers werejoking about the cholera, the then prominent subject of thought, the hospitalsteward came into the cabin and reported to the doctor that one of the privateswas taken suddenly very ill. We went on deck and found the man in great agony,and the doctor at once pronounced it a case of cholera. He took the case in hand and wasunremitting in his attentions, but the man died at half past three the nextmorning. This was I think the first case in the United States, and the man cameimmediately from Baltimore and had never been where the cholera was.
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Before he died another case occurred, and during the night wearrived at Detroit, where we were visited by Dr. Everett and several citizen physicians whoall pronounced the disease to be Asiatic cholera. General Scott ordered us to proceed about three miles upthe strait, and there await his further orders. The next morning having beenjoined by Dr. Everett, who was chief of General Scott`s Medical Staff, we wereordered to proceed on our voyage. The cases at this time increased very fast,the first three being from Major Payne`s company, but then it extended not onlyto the other troops but also to the crew, so that before we got to Fort Gratiotthe decks were covered with the dead and dying, and not enough men remained tonavigate the vessel, so that the voyage was broken up and we landed about amile below Fort Gratiot where we encamped. A heavy rain came on and the casesincreased rapidly and among them Dr. Everett, so that Dr. Kerr was the onlymedical officer. The sick were removed to a neighboring barn, which was soonfilled; I counted one morning in passing it, six dead bodies lying outsideawaiting burial.
The disease raged with unabated fury (including several officers among itsvictims, of which two, Dr. Everett and Lieutenant Clay died) until July 11th,when it begin to abate though there were daily deaths for some time afterwards.Amid all these scenes Dr. Kerr unassisted attended to officers and men both dayand night, and I think never had the slightest relaxation during thattime. His devotion to duty was the admiration, and his power of endurance thewonder of all. The last case was taken sick on the sixteenth, andthe last death occurred on the twenty-first. We lost I think between forty andfifty, and I lost one-third of my company."
Two days after the command above mentioned left Detroit, the cholera brokeout in a detachment of troops from Fort Niagara which was in Detroit awaitingtransportation to Chicago. Within twenty-four hours there were eleven cases andfour deaths; when the city authorities becoming alarmed requested the removal ofthe troops, and they were accordingly embarked on the steamer"Superior" en route for Chicago. The day after their departurefourteen new cases came on sick report and two died, and it was thoughtadvisable to land the troops, which was done at a point fourteen miles south ofFort Gratiot. Assistant Surgeon H. Stevenson was medical officer to thiscommand. Of a total strength of but seventy-eight, sixty-three had the diseaseup to the fourteenth of July, and there were nineteen deaths. In the garrison atFort Gratiot, under charge of Assistant Surgeon Steinecke, during the sameperiod there were twenty-one deaths. The disease was carried to Chicago bysteamboats from Detroit, from whence Assistant Surgeon DeCamp reported twohundred cases admitted to hospital in six days of a mean strength of about onethousand, and fifty-one deaths. This command marched subsequently to theMississippi river and the pestilence reappeared among them on their arrival attheir destination and proved almost as fatal as in Chicago. In fact the wholeexpedition was completely broken up by the ravages of the disease; but asGeneral Atkinson`s command had taken the field before its appearance it escaped,and was enabled to prosecute the war to a successful termination.
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Much astonishment was expressed at the time that the diseaseshould have broken out on steamerson the lake many miles from any land, and it was thought by many to be aninstance of the transfer of the contagious elements through the atmosphere; butit was subsequently ascertained that both the "Henry Clay" and the "Superior" had been employed in carryingemigrants (among whom the disease prevailed) from Quebec to Montreal, and thereseems little reason to doubt that the boats were infected previous to theircharter by the United States. In the Southern Division and especially at NewOrleans the disease was very prevalent. Three hundred and eighty-four cases werereported, of which eighty-eight died.
On the third of March, 1834, the third medical board convened in Washington.It was composed of the same members as the preceding one. Twenty candidates forappointment were authorized to appear for examination, of whom eight received afavorable report. On the third of November a fourth board assembled in New Yorkcity, composed of Surgeons Thomas G. Mower and Zina Pitcher and AssistantSurgeon Thomas Henderson, with Assistant Surgeon Joseph P. Russell assupernumerary. Thirteen candidates were authorized to appear, of whom nine wereexamined and four passed a satisfactory examination. This was the first boardassembled pursuant to the act of Congress of June 30, 1834, and it may beinteresting to present an account of the manner in which examinations wereconducted at that time, as given in the following extract of a report by SurgeonMower:
"In ascertaining the professional attainments ofcandidates it became at first the duty of the Board to decide on the mode ofconducting the examinations. The most important step was to arrange the branchesin which examination should be held.
As the branches of practical medical science are now conventionally and verypositively established, there was no difficulty or doubt in arranging them.
They were divided by the Board as follows:
1. Anatomy and Physiology.
2. Surgical Anatomy, the Principles of Surgery, Operative Surgery.
3. The Theory and Practice of Medicine.
4. Obstetricy.
5. Materia Medica and Pharmacy.
6. Chemistry.
7. Medical Jurisprudence.
That the first three divisions are essential to the army medical officer nonecan doubt. It was therefore required that in all these branches the attainmentsof the candidates should be unquestionably respectable. The fourth division,Obstetricy, refers to a class of patients not recognized by army regulations aswithin the specified duties of the surgeon. Yet universal usage,the dictates of humanity, a high sense of professional pride and duty concur toplace the families of officers and soldiers in a moral relation to the armysurgeon deeply interesting to them and him; binding him
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to them as strongly as though that relation were of military obligation.Nothing can add to the interest which the good surgeon feels towards that classof persons: therefore Obstetricy becomes an important branch of practicalmedical science in the view of the Board. Of Materia Medica it suffices to say,that to be properly acquainted with surgery and practical medicine implies asuitable knowledge of the articles used in treating injuries and disease.Therefore examination was not so minute in this branch as in the preceding. Thecandidates were questioned almost exclusively on what is termed MedicalChemistry; and Medical Jurisprudence was referred to only as it practicallyinvolved the interests and fate of its subjects.
It will be hence seen, that if to some branches primary andessential importance be ascribed, from no recognized branch of practical medicalscience was due or relative consequence withheld. The relation, strictlymaintained, was that of foundation and superstructure. * * * *
The examinations were long and patiently conducted. Two sessions wereallotted to every case except one, and part of three days were given to thatcase.
Every effort was made to render the examinations unembarassing. Perspicuity and precision were constantly studied; and in no instance was the candidateoccasioned the least perplexity. It was well ascertained that the scope of everyquestion was perfectly understood by the candidate. It was a leading feature in theexamination that they were confined to subjects of practical importance. Allspeculative or abstract discussions were avoided.
It was stated to the candidates that in answering questionsand in giving their opinions, they might refer to any respectable authority; andthat the Board would highly regard inferences drawn from experience. Liberalityon these points was not at all incompatible with an exercise of the criticaljudgment of the Board. The examinations were minute, because positive andparticularly because relative merit could only be thereby duly developed.
Finally, the examinations were thus plainly, impartially,practically and deliberately conducted, that the candidate if rejected, might beconvinced of his own incompetency. That thisexpectation was not unwarrantable is fully established by several cases."
The only general order issued during this year by the WarDepartment which related to the Medical Staff, was the following alteration inparagraph 57 of the Army Regulations:
ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
March 19, 1834.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 23.
The following order has been received from the War Department:
`The assignment of surgeons andassistant surgeons to regiments and posts will be made by the Secretary of War.When the circumstances of the service will permit, those who shall have servedthree years in their respective grades shall have choice of stations agreeablyto rank, on written application through the Surgeon General`s Office stating thereasons therefor, but no one will be transferred from the post to which he mayhave been assigned for the purpose of making room for another.`
BY ORDER OF MAJOR GENERAL MACOMB:
R. JONES,
Adjutant General."
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The next army board met on the eighteenth of May, 1835, in New York city, and was composed of Surgeons Mower,Wheaton and Pitcher. There were eighteen candidates authorized to appear forexamination, of whom seven were favorably reported on.
The long pending troubles with the Seminole Indians in Florida assumed theform of open war in December of this year. On the twenty-eighth of the month theIndians, led by the celebrated Osceola, attacked two companies of troops undercommand of Major Dade, fourth infantry, while on the march across the peninsula.But two soldiers escaped out of a strength of about one hundred and ten. Amongthe victims was Assistant Surgeon John S. Gatlin, a young man of great promise,who had entered the army at the head of his class but two or three years before.Troops were immediately hurried to the scene of hostilities from all parts ofthe country. A regiment of volunteers was raised in Louisiana by Colonel P. F.Smith, of which Surgeon Thomas Lawson was offered the Lieutenant Colonelcy. Heaccepted it, and in this rather anomalous capacity, rendered as efficientservice as he had done for many years in his appropriate sphere. In May, 1836, the troops from the north destined for service in Floridaand Alabama were concentrated at Fort Mitchell, Alabama, and Doctor Lawson(whose term of service as a volunteer officer had expired) was assigned to dutyas Medical Director. A brigade of regular troops came from Louisiana and tookthe field, with Tampa as a base of supplies. Of this column General Gaines hadthe command and Assistant Surgeon H. L. Heiskell was chief medical officer,subordinate, however, to Surgeon Lawson. Assistant Surgeon Edward Worrell wasordered from New York in charge of a large quantity of medical stores, and apurveying depot established for their distribution, under charge of AssistantSurgeon George F. Turner. In August, 1836, a general hospital was organized at St. Augustine,whichwas placed in charge of Assistant Surgeon Joseph P. Russell. On account of thedifficulties attendant on communication with the eastern side of the peninsulafrom head-quarters, Surgeon H. S. Hawkins was appointed Medical Director ofthe forces operating to the east of Lake O-kee-cho-bee. In consequence of thewar the demand for medical officers was very great, and many posts in othersections of the country were deprived of regular medical attendance to meet thenecessities of the troops in the field. Surgeon General Lovell addressed severalreports to the Secretary of War, calling his attention to this deficiency inmedical officers, and urging an addition of at least five surgeons and tenassistant surgeons to the Corps. Accordingly on the fourth of July, 1836,Congress passed an act of which the following is anextract:
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"SECTION IV.And be it further enacted, That the President of theUnited States be, and he hereby is authorized and empowered to appoint threeadditional surgeons and five assistant surgeons to be attached to the MedicalStaff of the army."
To fill these vacancies a medical board, consisting of Surgeon Pitcher andAssistant Surgeons Russell and Hawkins, was ordered to convene at Baltimore.Twenty-four candidates were authorized to appear for examination, of whom sixwere passed and eight rejected. These not being sufficient to fill the Corps tothe maximum, another board met in New York city on the first of August. This wascomposed of Surgeon Mower and Assistant Surgeons Steinecke and Henderson, andexamined thirty-four candidates, of whom but seven received a favorable report.
Almost the last official act of any importance performed bySurgeon General Lovell was his report of June 4, 1836, to the Secretary of Waron the condition of the Medical Corps, and the necessity for its increase. Soonafter his wife, a most estimable lady, to whom he was devotedly attached, died,and he never recovered from the effects of the blow. Naturally of a delicateconstitution, his affliction utterly prostrated him, and he died, worn out bygrief and anxiety, on the seventeenth of October. The NationalIntelligencer of Washington contained the following obituary notice a few days after his death:
"It rarely falls to our lot to record the death ofone whose loss to the community and the profession, both military and civil, ofwhich he was a distinguished member, is so deeply and widely spread as theuntimely exit of Doctor Joseph Lovell, lateSurgeon General of the army. Cut down in the prime of life, in the full careerof great usefulness, he has left a void in society and in the military servicesof his country which but few who may follow can adequately fill. Doctor Lovellentered the army in 1812, on the declaration of war with Great Britain, as surgeon of the 9th regiment of U. S. Infantry. He servedin the memorable campaigns on the Niagara frontier in 1813 and 1814. Hispatriotic devotion to the public service, and the faithful discharge of hisofficial duties, soon distinguished him in the camp and in the field among hisbrother officers and in his profession. Promoted to the rank of HospitalSurgeon, he was eventually selected by President Monroe in 1818 to fill theimportant station of Surgeon General of the army, a post which his talents,medical skill and above all his great experience as a tried officer of theMedical Staff, eminently qualified him to fill with honor and great advantage tothe public service. In his social duties, the domestic circle, and as father andhusband-all the ties whichbind the christian and the man to the obligations ofthe world-Doctor Lovell stood conspicuous. His bereaved family, elevenmotherless and now fatherless children, who will attempt to depict their woe!Let other hands at a more appropriate season fill up the outline of thecharacter and services of the lamented Lovell, now hastily and so brieflysketched.
Every mark of respect was paid to his mortal remains last evening at fouro`clock, by his numerous friends, both officers and citizens. We also noticedthe President`s
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family, the Heads of the Departments and Bureaux, and the principal officersof the government now at Washington. The pall-bearers were Major General Macomb,Brigadier General Jones, General Towson, Colonel Wainwright, Commodore Rogers,Commodore Morris, Colonel Twiggs, Major Cross. The clergy, medical faculty, andofficers of the army, navy and marine corps present at the seat of governmentfollowed the relations of the deceased as mourners. We understand that it wasthe wish of several volunteer corps of the District to have participated inpaying the highest military honors to the deceased if time and circumstances hadpermitted."
The greatness of the loss to the army, and especially to the Corps which hemay almost be said to have brought into being, can hardly be exaggerated. He wasone of those rare and lovely characters of whom it is no affectation to say that"the world was not worthy." One who had long been intimately connectedwith him, who watched by his bed and closed his dying eyes, said to the writerof these pages, that during a long life of eighty years he esteemed it hisgreatest privilege to have known and loved such a man. Throughout his officialcareer he had gained the universal respect, admiration and affection of all withwhom he was associated. His predominent characteristics were a strong sense ofthe dignity of his position and of the profession to which he belonged, and agentleness of demeanor in all his relations both official and personal with thesubordinate officers of the Medical Staff. The first was shown in his indignantremonstrance against the misrepresentations contained in the recommendation ofthe Secretary of War to abolish the office of Surgeon General; in his earnestefforts, continued through many years, for the passage of an act to increase thepay and improve the condition of the Medical Staff; and in his quick resentmentof any imputation on the honor or integrity of any of its members. When theprofessional reputation of Assistant Surgeon Henderson was foully aspersed bythe Chaplain at West Point, Doctor Lovell wrote a letter to the Secretary of Warin his defence which could hardly be surpassed in its keenness of invective, thelogic of its argument and its warm solicitude for the honor of the Corps whichhe represented. On another occasion, when a comparatively young officerendeavored by political influence to supplant Surgeon Mower in New York city, hedenounced the attempt as an outrage on the Corps, subversive of all militarydiscipline, and a grievous injustice to all those who had earned their right tochoice stations by long and faithful service.
On the other hand, in his correspondence with the officers of his Departmentno one could be more gentle and even tender. When the necessities of the serviceobliged him to refuse an application for a leave of absence, he seemed to regretto have to communicate the unpleasant intelligence almost as much as the officerto receive it. In arranging the stations for officers, he used his
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utmost endeavors to please everybody, and especially thosewho had large families to support; but if he at any time saw an inclination totake advantage of his kindness of disposition his indignation knew no bounds.
Nor was his good service confined to the Corps of which hewas the official chief, but extended to every branch and department of the army. It was through his strenuous efforts, as evidenced in a number of ablereports, that the whiskey ration, which was making drunkards of the entire army,was finally abolished; by his representations, that Congress passed the bill bywhich obnoxious officers were weeded out through the agency of boards ofexamination; and from his deep study of the subject, that the rations and theclothing of the soldier were improved, post hospitals built on a rationalprinciple, and officers held to a rigid accountability for their treatment ofthe sick and the expenditure of supplies. In all his relations, whether aschristian philanthropist, profound scholar, skilful surgeon, experiencedofficer or true-hearted gentleman, he was one of whom the Medical Staff mayalways be proud and the memory of whose good life is written on every page ofits history.
In 1842 the officers of the Medical Corps testified theirappreciation of his virtues by the erection of a handsome monument over hisgrave in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington.
Assistant Surgeon Benjamin King, who at the time of DoctorLovell`s death was on duty in Washington, succeeded to the office of SurgeonGeneral, ad interim, the necessary presence of the senior surgeon in thefield rendering it inadvisable that any appointment should be made immediately.
It does not come within the scope of this history to give indetail the events of the Florida war. A large proportion of the Medical Staffwere kept on constant duty there for several years; duty of the most irksomecharacter, in which great privations were to be endured, continual obstacles tobe overcome and but little glory to be gained. That they maintained the alreadyhigh reputation of the Corps for fidelity and efficiency may be inferred fromthe following extracts from official reports made at various times during thewar. Colonel Fanning wrote after the battle near Fort Mellon, February 9, 1837:"Assistant Surgeon Laub dressed the wounded under the fireof the enemy. In fact I never saw the sick soldier more promptly or faithfullyattended to, than since this detachment left Volusia." Colonel ZacharyTaylor reported after the battle of O-kee-cho-bee, December 25, 1837: "Theattention and ability displayed by Surgeon Satterlee, Medical Director on thisside of the peninsula, assisted by Assistant Surgeons McLaren and Simpson of theMedical Staff of the army, and Doctors Hannah and Cooke of the MissouriVolunteers, in ministering to the wounded as well as their uniform kindness to
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them on all occasions, can never cease to be referred to byme but with the most pleasing and grateful recollections." And again on thetwentieth of July, 1839, he writes to the General-in-Chief; "Owingto the dispersed state of the troops the officers of the Medical Staff have beenunusually occupied, having to visit several forts at some distance from eachother; their duties have been performed with cheerfulness and ability."
The following is the report of Surgeon Satterlee concerning the battle of O-kee-cho-bee:
FORT BROOKE, TAMPA BAY,
5th January, 1838.
SIR:
I have the honor to inform you that the brigade to which I am attached asMedical Director, has had a very severe engagement with the Mickasuckie andSeminole Indians about one hundred and fifty miles from this place near a lakecalled O-kee-cho-bee; it took place on the twenty-fifth ultimo and lasted nearlytwo hours, and resulted in the total defeat of the Indians, but with great lossto our troops in killed and wounded. Under the circumstances, as we had nopermanent hospital nearer than this, and as the troops must from the nature ofthe country retire from it long before the wounded could recover, I deemed itproper to bring them immediately to this place. I arrived with them lastevening, and have now the satisfaction to say that they are in comfortablequarters. I found the ambulances very serviceable, but as some of the woundedcould not be transported in them on account of the roughness of the road,between thirty and forty of them were brought a part of the way on littersbetween two horses. This is a very comfortable means of transportation butdifficult on account of the number of men and horses required. I have requestedthe quartermaster to have twenty litters constructed here, except the poles,which I think can be obtained in the woods. We were obliged to use blankets andraw hides of the cattle which we found on our way, but the length of time takento construct them together with the want of proper tools, and at a time whenthe medical officers with me (Assistant Surgeons McLaren and Simpson) as well asmyself were fully occupied night and day with the wounded, it was found verydifficult to construct them; this is the reason why I wish them to be on handand ready for any emergency that may occur. The wounded including volunteersamounted to one hundred and eleven, about seventy of which were regulars. Thesehave been placed in hospital under the charge of Surgeon Wood and AssistantSurgeon Suter, and it is my intention to add one more assistant as soon as onecomes, which I am anxiously looking for. The volunteers are established inhospitals by themselves under the care of their respective medical officers, allof course under the inspection of the senior medical officer of the regulararmy. * * * *
I have the honor to be, etc.,
R. S. SATTERLEE,
Surgeon, U. S. Army,
Medical Director south of Withlacoochie."
Meanwhile, the question of the succession to the vacant chairof Surgeon General was agitated in Washington. Very strong efforts were broughtto bear upon the President to induce him to appoint a civilian to this position,and
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various names were mentioned in connection therewith, none of them of anyimportance and all of whom have long since been forgotten. The army almost as aunit desired the appointment of Surgeon Thomas Lawson, who was the senior surgeon in the army; had seenlong and faithful service, and was second to none in professional ability. Verymany of the officers including all those of high rank united in petitions toGeneral Jackson to appoint Doctor Lawson. The President for a time held thematter under advisement, during which Assistant Surgeon King continuedacceptably to perform all the duties of the office. At length, on the thirtiethof November, 1836, Doctor Lawson received the appointment, to the greatsatisfaction of the Medical Corps, who had been extremely apprehensive that thegreat political influence which had been brought to bear would result in theappointment of some person from civil life.
It was not, however, until late in the spring of 1837 that he arrived inWashington, and being then detailed to accompany Ex-President Andrew Jackson tohis home in Tennessee, and on the completion of this duty ordered by the WarDepartment to organize a battalion of New York and Pennsylvania Volunteers forservice in Florida, did not enter permanently on the duties of his office untilthe following year. Doctor Lawson was a native of Virginia, and first sawservice as surgeon`s mate in the navy in 1809. This position he resigned in1811, to accept that of surgeon`s mate of the sixth infantry, to which he wasappointed on the twenty-eighth of January. He was promoted surgeon of the sameregiment in May, 1813, and was highly distinguished for efficiency during thewar with Great Britain. In the reduction of the army after the war he wasretained as surgeon of the seventh infantry, and on the reorganization of theCorps in 1821 was transferred to the General Staff as the senior surgeon in thearmy. As Medical Director at New Orleans and subsequently of the Department ofthe South he had achieved a high reputation, while his long service on thefrontier and in the field gave him a practical experience of the wants of thearmy and the department; of the greatest value in his new executive duties.
The army board which met in New York in May, 1837, was composed of SurgeonsMower and Hawkins and Assistant Surgeon Steinecke. Thirty applicants wereinvited to present themselves for examination, of whom fifteen appeared and fivewere found qualified. That for 1838, consisted of Surgeons Mower and Heiskelland Assistant Surgeon Henderson, and met in Washington city. Forty-threecandidates were invited to appear, twenty-three were examined, and ten receiveda favorable report from the board. This last board was convened to fill thevacancies created by an act passed by Congress on the fifth
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of July "To increase the present military establishmentof the United States and for other purposes." This bill contained thefollowing sections concerning the Medical Department:
"SECTION XXI. Andbe it further enacted, That all letters and packages on publicbusiness, to and from the Commanding General, the Colonel of Ordnance, the SurgeonGeneral, and the Head of the Topographical Corpsshall be free from postage. * *
SECTION XXIV. And be it furtherenacted, That hereafter the officers of the Pay andMedical Departments of the army shall receive the pay and emoluments of officersof cavalry of the salve grades respectively, according to which they are nowpaid by existing laws. * *
SECTION XXXIII. And be it farther enacted,Thatthe President be, and he is hereby authorized, by and with the advice andconsent of the Senate, to appoint seven additional surgeons and that theofficers whose appointment is authorized in this section shall receive the payand allowances of officers of the same grades respectively."
This bill further provided, in consequence of urgentappeals from the Surgeon General on the subject, that hospital stewards at postsof more than four companies should have the pay and allowances of a sergeant ofordnance; at all other posts those of sergeant of infantry. It also included asection that all officers whether of the line or staff, exclusive of Generalofficers, should receive one additional ration per diem for every five yearsservice. There being some doubt as to the construction of this paragraphin relation to certain officers, a supplementary act waspassed on the seventh of July, including the Paymaster General and SurgeonGeneral in its provisions.
Ever since the examination of candidates had been made an absoluteprerequisite to appointment, the Secretary of War and the Surgeon General hadbeen annoyed by complaints from rejected candidates that they had been unfairlytreated in the decisions of the boards. Frequently political influence wasbrought to bear to induce the Department to reverse the action of the board, orto order a reexamination. In reference to one of these cases, where thecircumstances were unusually aggravated and the unsuccessful applicant verypertinacious in his demands for redress, Surgeon General Lawson addressed theSecretary of War the following characteristic letter:
"SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
12 August, 1837.
SIR:
In reply to yourquestion touching the nature of Dr. N--`s complaint, I have to say that from hiscommunication I cannot exactly discern what he means or what he wants.
All that I can lean from his incoherent language is that the Army MedicalBoard and himself are at variance in opinion as to his talents and attainments,and that he has raised a complaint against the Board for not accepting his wordand the negative testimony of his friends as evidence of his qualifications topractice physick and
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surgery in the army of the United States. Dr. N-- has brought himself tobelieve that the letter of invitation to appear before the Medical Board is aletter of appointment; that the examination is a mere matter of form not at allcalculated to affect the appointment; and that the Board has done violence tohis rights as a citizen in withholding from him a passport into the army. Underthis view of the subject he has conceived the idea of forcing his way into thearmy through the medium of political influence, and hence these threats ofvengeance, this show of violence. Dr. N-- has however no cause of complaint norground upon which to base a charge against the Medical Board; and his murmurscan be silenced and himself strangled to death without an effort on our part. Iffaint praise can damn a man, he was completely cursed by those who pretended torecommend him to the consideration of the Department, and should not have beentaken up as an accepted candidate for appointment to the Medical Staff of thearmy.
Dr. N-- has been twice examined and in both instances greatly failed, and frommy own knowledge of him I am free to say, that he can never reach the lowestniche even on the standard of merit which has been reared by the Army MedicalBoard.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
TH. LAWSON,
Surgeon General."
The resignation of Surgeon William Beaumont, who, by his scientificinvestigations, had reflected great credit on the Medical Department, wasaccepted on the thirty-first of December, 1839. He was a native of Maryland, andoriginally entered the service in 1813 as surgeon`s mate of the sixteenthinfantry. In 1814 he was transferred to the sixth infantry. He served throughoutthe war and was retained in the reduction of the army in 1815, but declined. In1819 he reentered the service as post surgeon, was retained as assistant surgeonon the reorganization of the Corps in 1821, and was promoted surgeon November26, 1827. In 1822, when stationed at Mackinac, Michigan Territory, he was calledupon to attend the case of a young Canadian about eighteen years of age, namedAlexis St. Martin, who by the accidental discharge of a musket loaded withduck-shot was severely wounded in the left side. The charge blew off theinteguments and muscles for a space of several inches in circumference,"fracturing and carrying away the anterior half of the sixth rib,fracturing the fifth, lacerating the lower portion of the left lobe of thelungs, as well as the diaphragm on the left side and perforating thestomach." In the course of treatment the integuments and muscles sloughedaway to a considerable extent, and eventually the sides of the wounded portionof the stomach adhered to the pleura costalis and the external opening, making apermanent gastric fistula, through which a free exit was afforded to thecontents of the stomach. It was at first necessary to keep a compress andbandage over the wound to prevent this, but eventually a sort of valve wasformed by a fold of the stomach which covered the aperture and
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prevented the escape of the food, while it did not interferewith an examination of the cavity. In 1825, the man having completely recoveredhis usual health, Doctor Beaumont commenced a series of experiments upon thenature of the gastric juice and the physiology of digestion, which were kept upat intervals until 1833, when he published the result in a work entitled"The Physiology of Digestion, or Experiments with the Gastric Juice."This work attracted great attention both at home and abroad; it was translatedinto German and French, and received appreciative notices from all the eminentphysiologists of the day. Doctor Beaumont`s opportunity was unparalleled, and hemade use of it with great credit to himself and benefit to the profession atlarge.
Another severe loss sustained by the Department and the armyduring this year was in the death of Surgeon Richard Clark. He was in attendanceon two posts in Middle Florida, when a malignant remittent fever broke out atFort Roger Jones, and Assistant Surgeon McCormick, post surgeon at that station,being taken sick, he went to his relief, and died of the prevailing disease onthe twenty-ninth of June. Surgeon R. C. Wood, Medical Director of the Army ofthe South said of him that "his professional attainments anduniform kindness and devotion to the sick commanded the respect and esteem ofall." The Surgeon General, in his annual report to the Secretary of War,pays this tribute to his memory:
"The service in Florida tomost of the medical officers employed there, has been indeed not only irksome,but exceedingly laborious and hazardous, many of them having from the verydispersed state of the troops, to give their attendance to two, three or moreposts or stands; frequently passing from one station to another without an escort andoccasionally under the fire of the enemy.
Among others whose lot it was to perform more than ordinaryduty was the accomplished Surgeon Richard Clark, who in the height of hisusefulness was lately cut off by disease. Doctor Clark having been called to adistant post where the whole command, officers and men, lay prostrate fromdisease, he at once gave all the energies of his mind and body to theassistance of his suffering comrades, and while thus engaged in administering byday and by night to the diseases and to the wants of the sick, he was inhalingthe noxious vapors of the place, even to his own destruction. After renderingmuch assistance and indeed all the aid practicable, he himself sank to theground and in a day or two afterwards yielded up his gallant spirit, a martyr tothe calls of humanity and his country`s good. For this very severe and perilousduty, this extraordinary devotion to their country`s cause (this extra servicebeing peculiar to themselves and not absolutely to be required of them) theseofficers are entitled to a full measure of praise, and I do not hesitate thus toexpress the high sense that I entertain of their public services and of theirpublic worth."
The medical board which convened in New York city in 1839,consisted of Surgeons Mower, Finley and Tripler. Of thirty-six candidatesinvited to appear before the board twelve declined examination, two wereexcluded on
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account of their age, eighteen were rejected, and only four recommended forappointment. As it was impossible for the medical officers stationed in Floridato proceed to New York to be examined for promotion, a board consisting ofSurgeons Beaumont, Craig and Wood, with Steinecke as supernumerary, assembledfor the purpose at Tampa, Florida, in November. They examined but one candidatefor appointment, who received a favorable report.
This year the first volume of the "Army MedicalStatistics" was prepared by Assistant Surgeon Samuel Forry, and issuedunder direction of the Surgeon General. It embraced statistics of the sicknessand mortality in the army from 1819 to 1839, the medical topography andmeteorology of the various posts, a report on the construction and condition ofthe various barracks and hospitals, and much other information of interest tothe medical officer, chiefly in reference to prevailing diseases and theirtreatment.
The question came up before the Comptroller of the Treasuryin March, 1840, of the employment and payment of hospital stewards to troopswhen serving in the field, and that official decided that under existing laws nostewards could be employed except at garrisons and permanent posts. As duringthe war in Florida hospital stewards were more needed for field service than inany other capacity, it became necessary to immediately amend the regulations soas to provide for their employment, and the following order was issued:
WAR DEPARTMENT,
March 28, 1840.
REGULATION.
The services of hospital stewards with troops on a marchbeing indispensable, authority is hereby given for the employment and payment ofsuitable persons to perform that duty with troops operating in the field. Thecompensation to stewards serving with a detachment consisting of more than fourcompanies, will be the pay, clothing and rations of a sergeant of ordnance; andwhen serving with a smaller detachment of more than one company, it will be thepay, clothing and rations of a first sergeant of infantry. In the event ofthere being no person specially enlisted as hospital steward, the surgeon will,with the approbation of the commanding officer, appoint a suitablenon-commissioned officer or private to perform that duty.
J. R. POINSETT,
Secretary of War."
In October, 1840, a new uniform was adopted for the Medical Department, asfollows:
"UNIFORM AND DRESS OF THE MEDICAL STAFF OF THE ARMY OFTHE UNITED STATES.
Coat-Dark blue cloth, double breasted; two rows of buttons, ten buttons ineach row; the rows to commence at the collar and to run in right lines to thebottom of the lapels, four inches apart at the top, and two and a half inches atthe bottom; the but tons in each row to be equidistant; standing collar andcuffs of black velvet; the
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collar to meet with hooks and eyes, and to rise no higherthan to permit the chin to turn freely over it; to be embroidered at each endwith a gold laurel branch five inches long; the outer edges to be embroideredwith a gold vine of laurel leaves.
The cuffs to be three inches deep, and to have a laurelbranch and vine similar to that on the collar. The skirts to be made after thefashion of a citizen`s coat lined with blue cloth, with a button at each hip,one at the end of each fold, and one intermediate in each fold.
Epaulettes-Gold, withsolid bright crescent. The bullion of the Surgeon General will be half an inchin diameter and three and a half inches long; that of the surgeons, half an inchin diameter and three and a half inches long; that of assistant surgeons overfive years [in service], one-fourth inch diameter and two and a half incheslong; and of assistant surgeons under five years [in service], one-eighth inchdiameter and two and a half inches long. Within the crescent a laurel wreathembroidered in gold, and the letters `M.S.` in old English characters withinthe wreath. The straps to be gold lace for all the grades except the surgeons,which will be silver lace; the letters to be silver where the lace is gold, andgold where the lace is silver. A spread eagle of solid silver metal to be wornby the Surgeon General only, is to be placed upon the epaulette strap above thewreath.
Buttons-Gilt, convex, withspread eagle and stars, and plain border.
Hat-Cocked, with black silk binding;fan on back part not more than eleven inches, nor less than nine inches; thefront or cock not more than nine inches nor less than eight; each corner sixinches; black button and black silk gimp loop, ornamented with a cockade andgilt spread eagle, tassels gold.
Plume-Black feathers.
Cravat or Stock-Black silk.
Trousers-From the first of October to the thirtieth of Aprildark blue cloth with a black stripe down the outer seam one and a half incheswide; from the first of May to the thirtieth of September, plain white linen orcotton.
Boots-Ancle or Jefferson.
Spurs-Yellow metal or gilt.
Sword-Small sword and scabbard, according to pattern.
Swordknot-Gold lace strap with gold bullion tassel.
Waistbelt-Black patent leather, one and a half inches wide with slings and hooks.
Plate-Gilt, having the letters `U.S.` and a sprig of laurel on each side in silver.
Gloves-White.
UNDRESS.
Frock Coat-Dark bluecloth, single breasted, with stand up collar; regulation buttons; one row ofeight buttons on the breast; lining black silk or blue cloth; pockets in thefolds of the skirts, with one button at the hip and one at the end of eachpocket, making only four buttons on the back and skirts of the coat; shoulder strapsaccording to grade.
Cloak-Blue cloth, lined with blue.
Forage Cap-According to pattern."
The board of officers which recommended the foregoing uniform, had at firstgiven to medical officers an aiguilette, but no epaulettes. To this many of themedical officers very strongly objected that it made an uncalled for distinctionbetween them and the officers of the other staff departments, and they requested
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Surgeon General Lawson to appeal to the Secretary of War onthe subject. This he declined to do, but he addressed a letter to the AdjutantGeneral, which is given herewith, not only from its interest in connection withthe Corps, but also because it forcibly illustrates the character of its chief:
SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
July 5, 1839.
SIR:
Doctor King informs me that you have expressed a wish that Ishould call with him on the Secretary of War, and speak to him on the subject ofepaulettes for the Medical Staff.
As it is unusual for a subaltern officer to dictate to hischief, I have upon reflection come to the conclusion that it is better for menot to suggest anything to the Secretary in relation to a change of uniform.
I have been twenty-six and more years in the military service of my country,and very generally with troops on the frontiers and in the field.
I have been on the theatre of immediate action in every warin which the country has been engaged within my period of service, whether witha civilized or savage enemy, except that with Black Hawk, and then I volunteeredmy services for the field, but could not obtain permission to leave my station.
I have acted as quartermaster and as adjutant, and have beenfor months at a time, in command of a company of men in the regular army. I havealso commanded a battalion and a regiment of men in the volunteer service, andhave led them to the theatre of war; in the first instance under a commissionfrom the executive of the state of Louisiana, and on the last occasion by thealmost unanimous consent of the officers and men who served under my orders; andalthough my services have not been attended with such brilliant results as thoseof some other persons, my military career has certainly not been discreditableto myself, or altogether unprofitable to the government.
If under these circumstances the commanding general of the army could feelhimself justified in putting me of with an aiguilette, a piece of tinsel on oneshoulder, while he decorates every brevet second lieutenant with an epaulette oneach shoulder, and the staff lieutenant with an aiguilette besides, I must besatisfied to remain without a military dress.
As I am a soldier in feeling and somewhat in practice too, Ishould be gratified with having the privileges of a military man in the way ofdress even; but if I am never to wear an epaulette until I ask for it, myshoulders will never be decorated with that badge of distinction. All that Ihave to ask is, that I shall not be compelled to wear the prescribed uniform, ademi-military dress, alike unsuited to my taste and to my feelings, nor forcedto follow in the train of a general officer, on gala days, or in procession. Asa citizen with plain clothes on, I can command respect, and feel that I amrespected; but to be brought in contact with military men, on certain occasions,with half a uniform on, and the only chief of a military bureau in the samepredicament, I could not but be conscious of my inferiority, and must thereforebeg leave to be saved from the necessity of experiencing such a state ofmortification.
The subject of a new uniform was broached by me the otherday, at the pressing instance of a number of the members of the Medical Staff;and as these officers are constantly present on duty with the soldiery, many ofwhom are not disposed to pay
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homage to, or to yield prompt obedience to any person whodoes not wear the badge of military rank, the good of the service would seem tocall for a respectful consideration of their application for a strictly militarydress.
The rigid rules of military service having been alreadydispensed with in order to decorate the persons of platoon officers with twoepaulettes, who before were entitled to one only, either on the right or on theleft shoulder, there cannot be any great military impropriety in extending theindulgence to those staff officers, who, although they have not military rank proper,must in the regular discharge of their duties necessarily command, or havemilitary control over non-commissioned officers and privates, and also over thecommissioned officer when sick and in hospital.
Epaulettes would embellish the person, and thereby gratifythe pride of these officers (whether foolish pride or not is immaterial to thequestion) without doing a jot of injury to the discipline of the army, orinterfering at all with the rights or with the dignity of a single officer withmilitary rank. And if these indispensable officers, and I am free to say,intelligent, zealous and efficient members of the Medical Corps (the surgeonsand assistant surgeons) can be brought to set a higher value on theircommissions, or to feel better satisfied with their condition in the army, at sosmall a cost as the privilege of wearing epaulettes, the indulgence surelyshould not be withheld.
I am, very respectfully, etc.,
TH. LAWSON,
Surgeon General.
MAJOR S. COOPER,
Assistant Adjutant General."
This remonstrance had the desired effect, and as has beenshown, on the appearance of the regulations for the new uniform in the ensuingyear, the coveted decoration was prescribed for medical as well as otherofficers of the army.
The medical board for this year, 1840, consisted of Surgeons Mower, Finleyand Hawkins, and met in Philadelphia on the first of May. Nineteen candidateswere examined, of whom nine were approved. That for the ensuing year wascomposed of Surgeons Mower, Finley and McDougall and met in the same place onthe twenty-fifth of May. Twenty-six candidates were invited to appear before theboard; of which number, twenty-two presented themselves, three voluntarilywithdrew, three did not come within the prescribed regulations, fourteen werecompletely examined and six approved. In 1842 the board met as before in Philadelphia. The detail was Surgeons Mower and Steinecke andAssistant Surgeon J. M. Cuyler. Of seventeen candidates for appointment who wereinvited to present themselves before this board, ten were examined and only twofound qualified.
The practical termination of the Florida war by the transfer of the largerportion of the Seminoles to the territory west of the Mississippi, rendered itunnecessary to maintain so large a military force as had been done for severalyears, and consequently on the twenty-third of August, 1842, Congress passed anact "Respecting the organization of the army and for other purposes."The
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rank and file was reduced by diminishing the number ofnon-commissioned officers and soldiers to a company, while maintaining theformer organization; in regard to the staff, reduction was accomplished by thedischarge of officers whose services were no longer required. The fourth sectionof this act provided:
"That within one month after the passage of this act,the offices of one Inspector General, of three paymasters, twosurgeons and ten assistant surgeons ofthe army shall be abolished, and that that number of paymasters, surgeons andassistant surgeons, shall be discharged by the President; and they shall beallowed three month`s pay, in addition to the pay and emoluments to which theymay be entitled at the time of their discharge."
Immediately after the passage of this act the following order was issued bythe Secretary of War:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
August 26, 1842.
The fourth section of the act of Congress entitled`An act for the reorganization ofthe army, and for other purposes,` approved August 23, 1842, provides thatwithin one month after the passage of the act, the offices of three paymasters,two surgeons and ten assistant surgeons shall be abolished, and that number ofpaymasters, surgeons and assistant surgeons shall be discharged by thePresident. The remote distance of many of the officers, renders it necessarythat the persons to be disbanded, should be designated as soon as practicable,that they may not be embarrassed in rendering their accounts for services beyondthe time prescribed by the act.
The difficulty of discharging the duty thus enjoined by law, has beenanxiously felt. Many meritorious officers must necessarily be laid aside, notfrom any demerit of their own, but simply because the public no longer requirestheir services. As a guide in the performance of that duty, authenticinformation has been collected from official sources, and an impartial judgmentformed without reference to any other considerations than such as regarded thebest interests of the service. And in the designation of those whose lot it isto retire, it is to be distinctly understood that nothing is to be inferredderogatory to their fame or worth.
The President therefore directs that the following namedofficers be disbanded, and honorably discharged from the army of the UnitedStates from and after the twenty-third day of September next, when they willreceive the three month`s additional pay provided by the act, viz:
* * * * P. Maxwell, surgeon, there being now one vacancyin the office of surgeon.
Edward Worrell, John Emerson, L. A. Birdsall, S. R. Arnold,W. T. Leonard, B. W. Woods, C. W. Stearns, Dabney Herndon, George Buist, CharlesC. Keeney, assistant surgeons in the army.
The disbanded paymasters, surgeons and assistant surgeons mayconsider themselves as having leaves of absence as soon as they can be relieved,for which prompt measures will be taken by the proper Departments of the Staff.
* * * * * *
J.C. SPENCER,
Secretary of War."
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The question of the relative status of medical officers when serving with officersof the line came up for decision about this time, onan application made by Assistant Surgeon Edward Worrell at Fort Niagara, NewYork, for information as to his position when detailed to serve on a council ofadministration with junior officers of the line. The line claimed that medicalofficers having no actual rank could not preside over such councils, as thatinvolved the exercise of military command, to which they were forbidden by law,and on at least one occasion a junior line officer refused to take his seatunless the regulation was construed to meet this interpretation. Doctor Worrelland other medical officers demurred to this construction of the law, andappealed to the Surgeon General. Doctor Lawson being absent from Washington atthe time on special duty, Surgeon Heiskell, who was in temporary charge of theSurgeon General`s Office, advised Doctor Worrell to acquiesce in the view takenby the line officers as being productive of the harmony and friendly relationswhich should exist between the different branches of the service. Subsequentlyto the writing of this letter, the Revised Army Regulations for 1840 wereissued, and among other changes was a paragraph which expressly denied the rightof any staff officer to preside over a board of survey or council ofadministration, though they were still liable to detail as members of suchbodies. This caused indignant protests from the army medical board then insession, from a number of the older and most esteemed medical officers and evenfrom some officers of the line, and Surgeon Heiskell placed all these papersbefore the Secretary of War, accompanied by the following vigorous appeal forthe rights of the officers:
SURGEONGENERAL`S OFFICE,
November 4, 1841.
HON. J. C. SPENCER,
SECRETARY OF WAR.
SIR: In respectfully inviting your attention to the enclosed papers numberedfrom one to six inclusive, I beg leave to submit a few explanatory remarks.
Section 2 of the act of Congress `To increase and regulate the pay of thesurgeons and assistant surgeons of the army,` approved June 30, 1834, providesthat surgeons `shall be entitled to receive the pay and emoluments of a major,assistant surgeons who shall have served five years the pay and emolumentsof a captain, and those who shall have served less than five years thepay and emoluments of a first lieutenant.`
The army regulations whichwere published the succeeding year (1835), in reference to the Medical Staff(and other staff officers without military rank) adopted precisely the samescale of assimilated rank, classifying surgeons with majors, assistant surgeonsof five years [service] with captains, &c., and permitting them to `take their places on boards andcouncils according to [that] classification.` This regulation having thelegislation of Congress evidently for its basis, and alike due to justice andthe well earned character of the Medical Staff, has been set aside in the armyregulations of the present year, and another substituted, which is calculated todegrade them in their own eyes, as well as in the opinion of the whole army.
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The objectionable regulation to which I allude, is containedin the latter clause of paragraph 5, article II, which specifies that `Staffofficers of the army not having military rank, shall in no case be appointedor sit as president of a mixed board or council, or exercise any militaryauthority or command whatever over commissioned officers invested with militaryrank, and the senior officer of the board or council of the latter class shallpreside.`
By the operation of this regulation, medical officers whonumber from twenty-five to thirty-five years of faithful service, are compelledto yield precedence on boards or councils to the favoured officer `invested withmilitary rank,` who cannot reckon as many years of his whole life-who was noteven born-or if he had existence, was perhaps puling in his nurse`s arms whilethe war-worn surgeon was mingling in the strife of battle and renderingassistance to the bleeding soldier. This is no fancy sketch; it is a picture ofpainful, mortifying truth; depicting the medical officer as unworthy ofoccupying any other than an humble and subordinate position.
The laws and regulations entitle the surgeon to all the pay and allowances ofa major; in the selection of quarters he has choice with him (and of coursebefore all others of an inferior grade); he is allowed the same number oftents, rooms, servants and horses; the same badges of rank; and yet, on a boardor council, he is required and liable, to sit below the youngest brevet secondlieutenant in the army.
Having I trust shown the injustice of the regulation, I beg leave now toexhibit a few of its absurdities.
At a post where a common superior to a surgeon and a major can be detailed,and the surgeon is of older date than the latter, he is permitted to take hisplace on a board or council next to the President, andof course above themajor. If from any cause the post should the very next day be left in command ofa captain (who would not be eligible), with two lieutenants, the surgeon wouldbe placed below one of the lieutenants; and if there was but one lieutenant, andthat one the youngest in the army, the surgeon would still occupy the inferiorplace; exhibiting the incongruous phasis of passing within twenty-four hours,from a position above that of a major, to one below a second lieutenant! But theinconsistency does not end here; paragraph 170, new regulations, prescribes that`the junior member [shall] act as secretary.` Who is the junior member-thepresiding lieutenant or the surgeon of thirty-five years service? Theterm junior is not to be found in the military lexicons; but Johnson defines itas `oneyounger than another.` It will hardly be contended that the surgeon is youngerin service than the lieutenant; if not it must be the latter; and the singularanomaly is presented of the president and secretary being united in the sameperson!
But it is contended by those who are opposed to the claim ofthe Medical Staff, that the right to preside on boards and councils, implies theright to command. As there is more plausibility than truth in this assertion, abrief examination of the question is necessary. * * * *
It would be difficult for the most ingenious hair-splitter to detect anythingof a military character in the duties of boards and councils; and if they arenot military but as we contend purely administrative, canthe authority of the president of such a council be construed to imply `militarycommand?` Butwhat is the momentous authority of the president of a council which would sowound the sensibilities of some, if exercised by an officer `without military rank?` As thearmy regulations do not enlighten us on this point, we must seek for an answerin the practice of the service in such cases. It is no more nor less thanto preserve order! Incommon with the
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other members he votes when they vote, and can only adjournthe council when a majority so decides; and with the secretary, sign theproceedings for the approval or disapproval of the commanding officer.
But whether this authority is military or not,it may bequestioned, from an analogous case, whether it is not a violation of the rightsof the officers of the Medical Staff, to disqualify them by regulation from theexercise of functions which the law clearly concedes to them. The 64th articleof war (see army regulations) prescribes that `general courts-martial mayconsist of any number of commissioned officers fromfive to thirteen inclusively; but they shall not consist of less than thirteenwhere that number can be convened without manifest injury to the service.` Asthe medical officer is `commissioned,`and holds his commission by precisely the same tenure as any other officer, itwill not be denied that he is eligible to a seat on a court-martial; and ifdetailed as a member, that he cannot be deprived of the right-his commissionbeing of an older date than the others-to take his seat as the president of thecourt. If the position here assumed is correct-as I humbly conceive it is-it maythen be demanded, on what just ground are medical officers disqualified frompresiding on boards and councils?
In conclusion and in behalf of the Medical Staff of the army,I appeal to you for a careful investigation of this subject-a subject which mayappear to you to involve matter of small moment, but deeply affecting thefeelings and just pride of a class of officers, whose services, generalintelligence and professional merit, entitle them to hope for a more justappreciation of their deserts than the degrading regulation awards to them.
I have the Honor to be, etc.,
H. L. HEISKELL,
Acting Surgeon General."
Nor did the matter rest here, for the Surgeon General issueda circular to all the officers of the Medical Corps inviting them to give theirviews on the subject, and during the next three years many able papers werereceived at the Surgeon General`s Office in reference thereto. Some of the moredistinguished members of the Corps, notably Surgeons Mower, Tripler and Heiskellthought that the only remedy would be a law giving positive rank to medicalofficers, which indeed they claimed was intended by the act of June 30, 1834;and plans of enactments were drawn up by them for the action of Congress and astrong effort made to interest individual members in the subject, but it was notfor a number of years afterwards that the object in view was finallyaccomplished.
A letter of Surgeon General Lawson on the proper distributionof the hospital fund, which was written to the Medical Purveyor in Florida inthe spring of this year, (1841,) contains some points of sufficient interest todeserve quotation, as the same question is likely to be a source of anxiety tomedical officers whenever a large fund accumulates from certain troops, who areafterwards removed from the locality without deriving any benefit from the saving. It will be seen that General Lawson took the very properground that a hospital
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fund once formed could not be reserved for any particularregiment or corps, but became the property of the Medical Department for thegeneral benefit of the army.
"SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
May 24, 1841.
DR. B. RANDALL,
SURGEON, U. S. A.
Sir: Your letter of the twenty-seventh of April reportingthat you had received $2,951.37 of hospital fund, and requesting to be informedwhether or not the money is to be appropriated to the exclusive benefit of thoseregiments with whom the fund was accumulated, has been received.
In reply to your communication I have to say that the verycircumstances of having the money accruing from the retained rations of thesick, withdrawn from the assistant commissaries of subsistence at the variousposts and with the different corps, and concentrated in the hands of one or twoacting medical purveyors, shows that it is to constitute a general fund withwhich to purchase supplies for the sick of the army without regard to companiesor corps, who cannot be otherwise provided with the necessaries of life.
The money accruing from the retained rations of the sick inhospital does not belong to the individuals whose rations are retained, or tothe company or regiment to which they belong. The fund can accrue only by thesoldiers being taken into the hospital and subsisted on the hospital stores ofthe government, and the accumulation is greatest, and is great only at thoseplaces where the commissariat fails to furnish the necessary articles of dietfor the sick.
Under the regular system of supplying provisions to thesoldiers of the army, the sick men in hospital are subsisted by the Subsistenceand the Medical Departments conjointly. Should the man in hospital be unable toeat his bread and pork, and the commissary cannot furnish in lieu thereof,fowls, mutton, eggs, milk, butter or anything else that the sick man requires,the patient must necessarily be subsisted on the barley, sago, chocolate, tea,wine, brandy, &c., &c., in the hospital; and thus the medical storeswhich were intended for a six or twelve month`s supply to the troops, arefrequently exhausted in half the time contemplated. If then the sick soldierlives entirely upon the hospital, instead of being subsisted by the Medicaland Subsistence departments conjointly, and thus causes an extraordinaryconsumption of hospital stores, and the consequent necessity of renewing thesupply again and again at the expense of the Medical Department alone, whatbetter disposition can be made of the commutation allowance for theretained rations than giving it to that appropriation from which theextraordinary supplies have been drawn.
The idea that the pork and beans of a sick soldier, withheld from him becauseit would be injurious to him to eat them, if not immediately commuted formutton, eggs, etc., and given to him, must be held, or the equivalent for it,forever afterwards for his special benefit, is so preposterous that I cannotwith any sort of patience argue upon the subject. Has not the sick man if he canswallow at all already gotten from the government his commutation allowance, orthe equivalent for his ration, in brandy, sago, tea, chocolate or wine? Can he,when he is sick and doing nothing, claim of the government full rations andhospital stores to boot? Is it not competent for the Executive of the Nation toalter or reduce the soldier`s ration at will? And if he chooses by regulation toauthorize the medical officer to abridge or withhold the ration
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altogether when necessary, is there any violence done to theman`s rights? The ration of the sick soldier can be withheld from him wheneverit is essential to his safety, or the treatment of his disease; and if the pay,as well as the rations of the officers and privates both, could be held backwhen they are on the sick report, there would not be so many people wanderingover the country with sick certificates in their pockets.
Again, many of the men whose rations contributed to make up the hospital fundturned over to you, have died or have long since been discharged the service;shall their portion of the fund be given to members of the corps tothe third and fourth generation? The fund for instance called the Third RegimentHospital Fund, was I believe in part accumulated with the seventh infantry whileI was with it at Fort Jesup eighteen and more years ago; and are the presentmembers of the third infantry, some of them then unborn,and all of them as to their term of enlistment in thethird or fourthdegree removed from the original contributors, more legitimate heirs to theestate than the government who supported the men at the time? In whatever lightwe view this question, the claim of the government to the hospital fund is soapparent that I can scarcely bring myself to believe that any man can seriouslyentertain a doubt upon the subject. The money in your hands then, is a publicfund, to be disbursed for the benefit of the government. It is intended to meetthose extraordinary drafts upon the medical appropriations through the medium ofspecial requisitions upon the Quartermaster`s Department. And it must bedisbursed in the purchase of necessaries for those sick who cannot be otherwisesupplied with the essentials of life, more particularly at those posts where thehospital fund accruing for the time being is not available.
Very respectfully, etc.,
TH. LAWSON,
Surgeon General."
The regular annual meeting of the medical examining board for1843 took place in New York city on the first of July. The detail was SurgeonsMower, Steinecke and Tripler, members, Assistant Surgeon J. J. B. Wright,recorder. A regulation was issued by the War Department, to take effect from themeeting of this board, that if no vacancy occurred in the Medical Staff for thespace of two years from the time of the examination of any approved candidate,such examination should be considered null and void, and the candidate berequired to undergo a further examination before appointment. This regulationwas deemed necessary on account of the great changes which two years mightproduce in the physical as well as the professional qualifications of acandidate for appointment. Fourteen applicants presented themselves before thisboard; of these, one was found physically disqualified to perform the duties ofa medical officer, three withdrew before their examination was completed, sixwere rejected and four passed a satisfactory examination. Of those approved,two, George Buist and Charles C. Keeney, had been previously commissioned in theCorps, but were disbanded on the reduction of the army in 1842.
The following decision of the General-in-Chief relative to the proper salutesto be paid to medical officers was issued in consequence of numerous
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complaints from those officers that they were not honored by sentinels inaccordance with their rank:
ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
Washington, August 3, 1843.
SIR: Surgeon Foot`s letter of the twenty-third ult., relativeto the proper salute to be paid by a sentinel on post to the surgeons of thearmy, referred by you to this office, has been laid before the General-in-Chiefand duly considered.
The like question heretofore submitted to the General-in-Chief has beendecided as follows:-Surgeons are by regulations classed with majors in regard tocertain matters of allowance as quarters, &c., and they are entitled toprecedency as such in mixedboards; but not having the military `rank` of `fieldofficers,` they are not entitled to the salute prescribed for majors.
I am, sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
SURGEON GENERAL T. LAWSON, R. JONES,
U. S. Army.Adjutant General."
The Surgeon General having at the same time requested anopinion relative to certain points pertaining to the purely military duties ofmedical officers, the following decision was rendered by the General-in-Chief:
"ADJUTANT GENERAL`S OFFICE,
Washington, August 4, 1843.
SIR:
Your letter of the twenty-ninth of July renewing the inquiryfound in your communication of the sixth of April, agreeably to your request hasbeen duly considered and laid before the commanding general.
I quote from your letter:
`1st. Whether the position of the medical officer on paradesfor muster and inspection, reviews or other dress parades, at posts garrisonedby one company only, is the same as with a battalion of men, and if not, whereis his position?
2nd. Whether it is required, or has been customary for the medical officer toappear in full dress, and on parade with the company, at the punishment ofprisoners; and if so, where would be his position on the occasion?`
Answer to the first question: The position of staff officers including thesurgeon and assistant in the order of battle, parades, reviews in line andcolumn, is relatively thesame, whether the command be a battalion or consist of a single company.[See infantry tactics vol. 1, plate 1, and paragraph44; see also nos. 615 and 621 army regulations.]
Answer to the second question: No matter what the occasion maybe, if the troops be under arms in uniform, it would be with the commander todecide whether the officers (including the surgeon) be excused from appearing infull dress; but in witnessing punishments I think the medicalofficer ought to be excused, because his professional services might benecessary. As respects his `position,`when with the troops under arms to attend the punishment of a prisoner, if notin his fixed position as pointed out by the regulations, he should take hisstation near the prisoner, with the view to his professional observation andservices or advice, should he deem it necessary.
I am, sir, very respectfully, etc.,
R. JONES,
Adjutant General."
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The medical examining board for 1844 met in New York city on the first ofJuly. The detail was Surgeons Mower and Steinecke and Assistant SurgeonHitchcock. Eleven candidates were authorized to present themselves forexamination. Of these, seven were examined and three approved. That for 1845examined eleven applicants, of whom nine were rejected and two favorablyreported on. The detail was the same as before, substituting Assistant SurgeonHenderson for Doctor Hitchcock.
In May, 1845, the propriety of a medical officer`s engagingin private practice was brought to the notice of the Department for decision, inconsequence of protests forwarded by private physicians at Sackett`sHarbor, New York, against the practice on the part of the post surgeon atMadison Barracks of attending to patients in that village; alleging that he,(the post surgeon) came into injurious competition with them. These protestswere replied to by the Surgeon General as follows:
SURGEON GENERAL`S OFFICE,
June 4, 1845.
GENTLEMEN:
Your communication (without date) to the Secretary of War, representing thatDoctor Foot, the surgeon stationed at Madison Barracks, and Mr. Veits thehospital steward of the post, come in `competition` with you in thepractice of the adjacent village and country, and asking for the interpositionof the Department of War in the matter, has been referred to this office.
Whether, by your expression, I putting themselves incompetition` with you, you mean to convey anything more than that they complywith the applications of those who desire their professional aid, is not clearlyunderstood. If neither a breach of professional etiquette, nor any impropermeans to obtain professional employment is charged against them, it is notperceived that this Department can with propriety interfere in the matter. Inthe absence of reasons such as have just been stated, the only other, and indeedthe principal circumstance that would seem to call for the restraint ofauthority in the present case would be, that they neglect or have neglectedtheir official duties by engaging in private practice. This you have notalleged; and as no report has been made upon the subject by their commandingofficer, it is to be presumed there is no cause of complaint on that score.Indeed the elevated character and fidelity of the officers of the Medical Staffafford satisfactory guaranties that this will seldom, if ever occur. If however,they should so far forget what is due to the government and expected ofthemselves, as to engage in private practice to the neglect of the officers andsoldiers who are dependent on them for medical aid, they can be readily checkedby their immediate military commander; and if they should persist in this dereliction ofpublic duty, they can promptly be brought to trial before a military tribunal.
When therefore, it does not interfere with their military duties, medicalofficers have a right to give their professional advice, &c., to whomsoeverthey please, and they have always been permitted to do so with a view to theirprofessional advancement. Indeed at military posts occupied by a small numberof troops, and where of course the subjects of disease are few in number, andthe complaints of these few
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present but little variety of character, it is rather desirable thanotherwise that the army physician should extend his sphere of action to thecitizens immediately around him, so as to become familiar with disease under allcircumstances, the maladies prevailing through the country and among thecitizens generally, as well as the diseases peculiar to the soldier, or tomilitary life in camp or garrison. To deprive the army surgeon of any reasonableopportunity of practical advancement in his profession, would surely beinflicting an injury upon the service generally, and especially upon those whohave to depend upon him for professional aid.
Again, while this Department in its reply to yourcommunication desires to confine itself strictly to official considerations, orsuch as affect the public service merely, it may not be out of placeincidentally to state, that to prohibit a medical officer (when his publicduties will permit) from extending relief to those of his fellow citizens whomay apply for his services-having confidence in his professional attainments-would be as ungracious tothem as it would be devoid of the commondictates of humanity; and might afford as just and perhaps a better cause forcomplaint on the part of the neighboring community than the one alleged byyourselves, which relates exclusively to private interests.
In reply to your proposition that you may be permitted tocome into competition with them (the surgeon and steward) inside `the garrison,` and`the amount of our [your] servicesto be deducted from their pay,` I beg leave to say that as there are generallya number of persons at a military garrison, who receive the professionalservices of the surgeon only by right of courtesy (which has always however beenregarded as obligatory), they are entirely at liberty if they think proper toemploy you; and as far as the discipline of the service will permit and myjurisdiction extends, I can offer no objections to their so doing; but as the pay of the surgeonand steward is fixed by law, it, is not competent for the Department to order you to be paidfor your services in the manner you propose.
Very respectfully, etc.,
H. L. HEISKELL.
Acting Surgeon General."
The threatening aspect of affairs rendering a war with Mexico not an improbable occurrence, in August,1845, a large body of troops was concentrated at Corpus Christi, Texas. This wasplaced under command of General Z. Taylor, and was entitled the "Army ofOccupation." In anticipation of this movement the Medical Purveyor at NewYork was, in June, instructed to forward a years supply for fifteen hundred mento New Orleans, to be subject to General Taylor`s orders, and an additionalquantity was forwarded to Corpus Christi in August. Assistant Surgeon McCormickwas also detailed to purchase in New Orleans such supplies for immediate use asmight be needed by the troops enroute to Texas. The troops thus constituting the "Army of Occupation," were the second dragoons, the third, fourth,fifth, seventh and eighth regiments of infantry, and portions of the first,second and fourth regiment of artillery. Surgeon Presley H. Craig was appointedMedical Director and Surgeon W. L. Wharton, Medical Purveyor to the army. Thislatter officer was subsequently relieved on account of ill health and wassucceeded by
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Assistant Surgeon James Simons. A general hospital was established, which wasplaced in charge of Surgeon N. S. Jarvis. The following medical officers were incharge of the various regimental hospitals, viz: third infantry, AssistantSurgeon J. B. Porter; fourth infantry, Assistant Surgeon Madison Mills; fifthinfantry, Surgeon R. C. Wood; seventh infantry, Assistant Surgeon H. E.Cruttenden; eighth infantry, Surgeon J. J. B. Wright; second dragoons,Assistant Surgeon L. C. McPhail; battalion artillery, Surgeon H. S. Hawkins;battalion field artillery, Assistant Surgeon John B. Wells. In addition to thesethe following medical officers were either attached to the general hospital orto the various regiments: Assistant Surgeons Moore, Byrne, Conrad, DeLeon,Steiner, Kennedy, Buist, J. W. Russell, Glen and Levely. In March, 1846, thearmy was transferred from Corpus Christi to Brazos Santiago. The sick thatwere unable to be transported were left behind in general hospital, which wasthen placed in charge of Surgeon H. S. Hawkins, with Assistant Surgeon WilliamRoberts as his assistant,, and removed to St. Joseph`s Island near Aransas Pass.Surgeon Jarvis, who had been in charge of the general hospital, was assigned tothe third infantry, and accompanied it on the march to the Rio Grande. AssistantSurgeon Porter was transferred in consequence from the third infantry to thebattalion of artillery. Assistant Surgeon J. R. Conrad relieved AssistantSurgeon McPhail in charge of the second dragoons, and the latter officer wasassigned to the seventh infantry. Assistant Surgeon Byrne remained with adetachment of troops guarding stores at St. Joseph`s Island. Such was thedistribution of medical officers in the camp opposite Matamoras, when on thesixth of May, 1846, the bombardment of our works at that point (afterwards knownas Fort Brown) precipitated the conflict which had long been felt to beinevitable, and for the third time in its history the country entered on aforeign war. The consideration of the services rendered by the Medical Staff inthe campaigns which followed will appropriately form the subject of a separatechapter.
