E-Book Overview
The care of the sick, wounded, and dying during the American Civil War was a complex endeavor that brought ordinary men and women into contact with the terror of the battlefield. Hospital Transports is a compilation of letters and other papers written by physicians and nurses serving aboard the Union hospital steamboat Daniel Webster in the summer of 1862. The text details sleeping arrangements, cooking and feeding schedules, medical practices, and the incorporation of liberated slaves from the Lee plantation into the daily work of the ship. Clearly described are the emotional, visceral reactions of the corps of medical personnel who, as their ship makes its way along the Potomac picking up casualties, question the philosophies at the root of war, and the metaphysical questions concerning the definitions of life and death.
E-Book Content
HOSPITAL TRANSPORTS
A Memoir of the Embarkation of the Sick and Wounded from the Peninsula of Virginia in the Summer of 1862 Edited and with an Introduction by
LAURA L. BEHLING
Hospital Transports
8
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Hospital Transports
8 A Memoir of the Embarkation of the Sick and Wounded from the Peninsula of Virginia in the Summer of 1862
Edited and with an Introduction by
Laura L. Behling
State University of New York Press
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2005 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address the State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 Production by Marilyn P. Semerad Marketing by Susan M. Petrie Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hospital transports : a memoir of the embarkation of the sick and wounded from the peninsula of Virginia in the summer of 1862 / edited by Laura L. Behling. p. cm. Originally published: Boston : Ticknor and Fields, 1863. Letters and papers compiled by Frederick Law Olmsted at the request of the United States Sanitary Commission. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6369-9 (alk. paper) 1. United States Sanitary Commission. 2. United States— History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Hospitals. 3. Hospital ships— United States—History—19th century. 4. Hospital ships—Virginia— History—19th century. 5. Transports—United States—History— 19th century. 6. Transports—Virginia—History—19th century. 7. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Medical care. 8. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Personal narratives. 9. Medical personnel—United States—Correspondence. 10. Peninsular Campaign, 1862. I. Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822– 1903. II. Behling, Laura L., 1967– E631.Z5H67 2005 973.7'76—dc22
2004048167 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
8
Acknowledgments
vii
Part One Editor’s Introduction
3
Part Two Hospital Transports: A Memoir Introduction
45
Chapter I
51
Chapter II
59
Chapter III
69
Chapter IV
87
Chapter V
103
Chapter VI
123
Appendices Appendix A
131
Appendix B
135
Appendix C
143
Appendix D
151
Index
159 v
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Acknowledgments
8
T
he tensions that ultimately would lead to the American C