PAGE 109 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY AND NAVY,
COMPRISING THE Official Report of Surgeon Joseph Jones, M. D., LL. D., Surgeon-General of
the United Confederate Veterans; a Report of the Proceedings of the Reunion of the
Survivors of the Medical Corps of the Confederate States Army and Navy, July 2, 1892, at
N. B. Forrest Camp, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Address of Surgeon-General Jones, with
Statistics of the Armies of Mississippi and Tennessee, 1861-'65, and Results of Great
Battles, and Official Correspondence of Dr. Jones as to the Forces and Losses of the
Southern States, 1861-'65, with Reference to the Number and Condition of the Surviving
Confederate Soldiers who were Disabled by the Wounds and Diseases Received in Defence of
the Rights and Liberties of the Southern States.
[The historical value and interest of the following papers in manifest. Professor Joseph
Jones, M. D., LL. D., a born devotee to useful research and faithful demonstration is a
representatives of intrinsic worth, and beneficent life in several generations. he entered
the Confederate States Army, modestly, as a private in the ranks, but in a short time his
ability constrained his commission as a surgeon, and he was detailed by the able and
astute Surgeon-General, Doctor S. P. Moore (whose useful services as a citizen of
Richmond, is held in grateful memory), to investigate camp disease, and the native
remedial resources of the South, to supply a vital want which the Federal authorities had
created by declaring medicine contraband of war. His own voluminous publications, the
experience of the Confederate Medical Staff and published provision and results, attest
the priceless value of his acumen and service. He was the first Secretary of the Southern
Historical Society, organized in New Orleans, May 1, 1869, and it is held an honor by the
present secretary, to be, in a line, his successor.]
PAGE 110 Southern Historical Society Papers.
I. Official Report of Joseph Jones, M. C., of New Orleans, Louisiana, Surgeon-General
United Confederate Veterans, Concerning the Medical Department of the Confederate Army and
Navy.
156 WASHINGTON AVE., NEW ORLEANS, LA.,
June 30, 1890.
To his Excellency JOHN B. GORDON, General
Commanding United Confederate Veterans, Atlanta, Ga.:
GENERAL - I have the honor to submit the following:
The Medical Department of the Confederate States was a branch of the War Department, and
was under the immediate supervision of the Secretary was charged with the administrative
details of the Medical States was charged with the administrative details of the Medical
Department - the government of hospitals, the regulation of the duties of surgeons and
assistant-surgeons, and the appointment of acting medical officers when needed for local
or detached service. He issued orders and instructions relating to the professional duties
of medical officers, and all communications from them which required his action were made
directly to him. The great struggle for the independence of the Southern States ended
twenty-five years ago, and all soldiers in the Confederate army, from the Commanding
General to the private in the ranks, were, by the power of the conquering sword, reduced
to one common level, that of paroled prisoners of war.
The objects of the Association of Confederate Veterans of 1890 are chiefly historical and
benevolent. We conceive, therefore, that the labors of the Surgeon-General relate to two
important objects.
First. The collection and preservation of the records of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate Army and Navy.
Second. The determination by actual investigation and inquiry, the numbers and condition
of the surviving Confederate soldiers who have been aisabled by wounds and diseases,
received in their heroic defense of the rights and liberties of the Southern States.
To accomplish the first object, the following circular, No. 1, has been issued:
1. The Collection and Preservation of the Records of Medical Officers of the Confederate
Army and Navy.
PAGE 111 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
CIRCULAR NO. 1.
OFFICE OF SURGEON GENERAL UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS,
NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 9, 1890.
To the Survivors of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate States Army and Navy:
COMRADES - The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on this day, twenty-five years
ago, practically ended the struggle for independence of the Southern States, and during
this quarter of a century death has thinned our ranks, and our corps can now oppose but a
broken line in the great struggle against human suffering, disease and death. S. P. Moore,
Surgeon-General of the Confederate Army, is dead; Charles Bell Gibson, Surgeon-General of
Virginia; Surgeons L. Guild, A. J. Ford, J. A. A. Berrian, Robert J. Breckenridge, E. N.
Covey, E. S. Gaillard, Paul F. Eve, O. F. Manson, Louis D. Foard, S. E. Habersham, James
Bolton, Robert Gibbes, and a host of medical officers of the Confederate States Army are
dead. The Association of the United Confederate Veterans was formed in New Orleans June
10, 1889, the objects of which are historical, social and benevolent. Our illustrious
commander, General John B. Gordon, of Georgia, has ordered the United Confederate Veterans
to assemble in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 3, 1890. It is earnestly hoped that every
surviving member of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy will meet upon this
important occasion, and promote by his presence and his counsels the sacred interests of
the United Confederate Veterans. It is of the greatest importance to the future historian,
and also to the honor and welfare of the medical profession of the South, that careful
records should be furnished to the Surgeon-General of the United Confederate Veterans,
embracing the following data:
First. Name, nativity, date of commission in the Confederate States Army and Navy, nature
and length of service of every member of the Medical Corps of the Confederate States Army
and Navy.
Second. Obituary notice and records of all deceased members of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate Army and Navy.
Third. The titles and copies of all field and hospital reports of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate Army and Navy.
PAGE 112 Southern Historical Society Papers.
Fourth. Titles and copies of all published and unpublished reports relating to military
surgery, and to diseases of armies, camps, hospitals and prisons.
The object proposed to be accomplished by the Surgeon-General of the United Confederate
Veterans, is the collection, classification, preservation and the final publication of all
the documents and facts bearing upon the history and labors of the Medical Corps of the
Confederates States Army and Navy during the civil war, 1861-'65. Everything which relates
to critical period of our national history, which shall illustrate the patriotic,
self-sacrificing and scientific labors of the Medical Corps of the Confederate States Army
and Navy, and which shall vindicate the truth of history, shall be industriously
collected, filed and finally published. It is believed that invaluable documents are
scattered over the whole land, in the hands of survivors of the civil war of 1861-'65,
which will form material for the correct delineation of the medical history of the corps
which played so important a part in the great historic drama. Death is daily thinning our
ranks, while time is laying its heavy hands upon the heads of those whose hair is already
whitening with the advance of years and the burden of cares. No delay, fellow comrades,
should be suffered in the collection and preservation of these precious documents.
To this task of collecting all documents, cases, statistics and facts relating to the
medical history of the Confederate Army and Navy, the Surgeon-General of the United
Confederate Veterans invites the immediate attention and co-operation of his honored
comrades and compatriots throughout the South.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
[Signed] JOSEPH JONES, M. D.
FORMATION OF THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY AND NAVY.
The entire army of the Confederate States was made up of volunteers from every walk of
life, and the surgical staff of the army was composed of general practitioners from all
parts of the Southern country whose previous professional life, during the period of
unbroken peace which preceded the civil war, 1861-'65, gave them but little surgery, and
very seldom presented a gunshot wound. The study of the hygiene of vast armies hastily
collected to repel invasion,
PAGE 113 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
poorly equipped and scantily fed, as well as the frightful experience of the wounded upon
the battle-field, and the horrible sufferings of the sick and wounded in the hospital,
unfolded a vast field for the exercise of the highest skill and loftiest patriotism of the
medical men of the South. This body of men, devoted solely to the preservation of the
health of the troops in the field, and the preservation of their precious lives, and the
surgical care of their mangled bodies and limbs, and the treatment of their diseases in
field and general hospital, responded to every call of their bleeding country, and formed
upon land and upon sea one indivisible corps, which penetrated all arms of the service,
and labored for every soldier, however exalted or however low his rank. When the storm of
war suddenly broke upon the Confederacy, and the thunders of cannon were heard around her
borders, and her soil trembled with the march of armed battalions; when her ports were
blockaded, and medicines and surgical instruments and works were excluded as contraband of
war, the medical practitioners of the South gave their lives and fortunes to their
country, without any prospect of military or political fame or preferment. They searched
the fields and forests for remedies; they improvised their surgical implements from the
common instruments of every day life; they marched with the armies, and watched by day and
by night in the trenches. The Southern surgeons rescued the wounded on the battle-field,
binding up the wounds, and preserving the shattered limbs of their countrymen; the
Southern surgeons through four long years opposed their skill and untiring energies to the
ravages of war and pestilence. At all times and under all circumstances, in rain and
sunshine, in the cold winter and the burning heat of summer, and the roar of battle, the
hissing of bullets and the shriek and crash of shells, the brave hearts, cool heads and
strong arms of Southern surgeons were employed but for one purpose - the preservation of
the health and lives and the limbs of their countrymen. The Southern surgeons were the
first to succor the wounded and the sick, and their ears recorded the last words of love
and affection for country and kindred, and their hands closed the eyes of the dying
Confederate soldiers. When the sword decided the cause against the South, and the men who
had for four years borne the Confederacy upon their bayonets surrendered prisoners of war,
the members of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy returned to their
desolate homes and resumed the practice of their profession spoke words of cheer to their
distressed
PAGE 114 Southern Historical Society Papers.
countrymen, administered to the sufferings of the sick and wounded Confederate soldiers,
and extended their noble and disinterested charities to the widows and orphans of their
bereaved and distressed country.
Whilst political soldiers rose to power and wealth upon the shoulders of the sick and
disabled soldiers of the Confederate army, by sounding upon all occasions "their war
records," the modest veterans of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy
were content to serve their sick, wounded and distressed comrades, asking and receiving no
other reward than that "peace which passeth all understanding," which flows from
the love of humanity, springing from a generous and undefiled heart. It is but just and
right that a Roll of Honor should be formed of this band of medical heroes and veterans.
MAGNITUDE OF THE LABORS OF THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY AND NAVY.
Some conception of the magnitude of the labors performed in field and hospital service, by
the officers of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army, may be formed by the
consideration of the following general results:
KILLED, WOUNDED AND PRISONERS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Year.
Killed.
Wounded.
Prisoners.
1861
1,315
4,054
2,772
1862
18,582
68,659
48,300
1863
11,876
51,313
71,211
1864
1865
22,200
70,000
{80,000
Total, 1861-5
53,973
194,026
202,283
During the period of nineteen months, January, 1862, July, 1863, inclusive, over one
million cases of wounds and disease were entered upon the Confederate field reports, and
over four hundred thousand cases of wounds upon the hospital reports. The number of cases
of wounds and disease treated in the Confederate field and general hospitals were,
however, greater during the following twenty-two months, ending April, 1865. It is safe to
affirm, therefore, that more than three million cases of wounds and disease were cared for
by
PAGE 115 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
the officers of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army during the civil war of 1861-65.
The figures, of course, do not indicate that the Confederacy had in the field an army
approaching three millions and a half. On the contrary, the Confederate forces engaged
during the war of 1861-1865 did not exceed six hundred thousand. Each Confederate soldier
was, on an average, disabled for greater or lesser period, by wounds and sickness, about
six times during the war.
LOSSES OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, 1861-1865.
Confederate forces actively engaged during the war of
1861-1865................................................ 600,000
Grand total deaths from battle, wounds and disease....... 200,000
Losses of Confederate army in prisoners during the war on
account of the policy of non-exchange adopted and
enforced by the United States............................ 200,000
Losses of the Confederate army from discharges for disa-
bility from wounds and disease and desertion during the
years 1861-1865.......................................... 100,000
If this calculation be correct, one-third of all the men actually engaged on the
Confederate side were either killed outright on the field or died of disease and wounds;
another third of the entire number were captured and held for indefinite periods prisoners
of war; and of the remaining two hundred thousand, at least one-half were lost to the
service by discharges and desertion.
At the close of the war the available active force in the field, and those fit for duty,
numbered scarcely one hundred thousand men.
The great army of Northern Virginia, surrendered by General Robert E. Lee on the 9th of
April, 1865, could not muster ten thousand men fit for active warfare. Of this body of six
hundred thousand men, fifty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-three were killed
outright, and one hundred and ninety-four thousand and twenty-six wounded on the
battle-field. One third of the entire Confederate army was confided to the Confederate
surgeons for the treatment of battle wounds; and, in addition to such gigantic services,
the greater portion, if not the entire body of the six hundred thousand men, were under
the care of the medical department for the treatment of disease.
Well may it be said that to the surgeons of the medical corps is due the credit of
maintaining this host of troops in the field. Such
PAGE 116 Southern Historical Society Papers.
records demonstrate, beyond dispute, the grand triumphs and glory of medicine, proving
that the physician is the preserver and defender of armies during war.
These records show that the medical profession, however indispensable in the economy of
government during peace, become the basis of such during war. These statistics show the
importance of medicine and its glorious triumphs, and elevate it logically to its true
position in the estimation of not only the physician, but in that also of the warrior and
statesman. The energy and patriotic bravery of the Confederate soldier are placed in a
clear light when we regard the vast armies of the Federals to which they were opposed.
The whole number of troops mustered into the service of the Northern army, during the war
of 1861-1865, was two million seven hundred and eighty-nine thousand eight hundred and
ninety-three, or about three times as large as the entire fighting population of the
Confederate States. At the time of the surrender of the Confederate armies, and the close
of active hostilities, the Federal force numbered one million five hundred and sixteen of
all arms, officers and men, and equalled in number the entire fighting population of the
Southern Confederacy.
Opposed to this immense army of one million of men, supplied with the best equipments and
arms, and with the most abundant rations of food, the Confederate government could oppose
less than one hundred thousand war-worn and battle-scarred veterans, almost all of whom
had, at some time, been wounded, and who had followed the desperate fortunes of the
Confederacy for four years with scant supplies of rations, and almost without pay; and yet
the spirit of the Confederate soldier remained proud and unbroken to the last charge, as
was conclusively shown by the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee; the operations
around Richmond and Petersburg; the last charge of the Army of Northern Virginia; the
defense of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee river in Georgia, where two hundred and fifty
Confederate soldiers, in an open earthwork, resisted the assaults of more than five
thousand Federal troops, and never surrendered, but were cut down at their guns; at West
Point, Georgia, where there was a similar disparity between the garrison and the
assaulting corps, where the first and second in command were killed, and the Confederates
cut down within the fort; the defense of Mobile in Alabama, and the battle of Bentonville
in North Carolina.
PAGE 117 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
NUMBER OF OFFICERS AND ROSTER OF THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY AND
NAVY.
The destruction by fire of the Medical and Surgical Record of the Confederate States,
deposited in the Surgeon-General's office in Richmond, Virginia, in April, 1865, has
rendered the preparation of a complete Roster of the Medical Corps very difficult, if not
impossible.
A general estimate of the aggregate number of medical officers employed in the Medical
Department of the Southern Confederacy may be determined by the number of commissioned
officers in the Confederate army down to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Each regiment in
the Confederate army was entitled to one colonel, one surgeon, and one or two assistant
surgeons, and a medical officer was generally attached to each battalion of infantry,
cavalry or artillery. Generals, lieutenant-generals, major-generals and
brigadier-generals, frequently, if not always, had attached to their staff medical
directors, inspectors or surgeons of corps, divisions and brigades.
We gather the following figures from the elaborate and invaluable "Roster of General
Officers, etc., in Confederate Service," prepared from official sources by Colonel
Charles C. Jones, Jr., of Augusta, Georgia.*
CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY.
Generals.................................................. 6
Provisional Army:
Generals.................................................. 2
Confederate States Army - Regular and Provisional:
Lieutenant-Generals....................................... 21
Major-Generals............................................ 99
Brigadier-Generals........................................ 480
Colonels.................................................. 1,319
------
Total..................................................... 1,927
---------------
*Roster of General Officers, Heads of Departments, Senators, Representatives, Military
organizations, &c., &c., in Confederate Service during the war between the States.
By Charles C. Jones, Jr., late Lieutenant-Colonel of Artillery, Richmond, Va. Southern
Historical Society, 1876.
---------------
PAGE 118 Southern Historical Society Papers.
If it be estimated that for each of these officers, one surgeon and two assistant-surgeons
were appointed, and served in field and hospital, then the Confederate Medical Corps was
composed of about the following:
This estimate places the number of surgeons and assistant-surgeons at too high a figure,
as may be shown by the following considerations:
a. Many regiments and battalions had not more than two medical officers.
b. The casualties of war were much more numerous, and promotion was much more rapid,
amongst the line officers than in the Medical Staff.
A more accurate estimate of the actual number of medical officers actively engaged in the
Confederate army during the war 1861-'65, may be based upon the number of regiments,
battalions and legions of infantry, cavalry and artillery, furnished by the individual
States, during the civil war:
Total number of regiments - infantry................. 536
" " cavalry.................. 124
" " artillery................ 13
-----
Total.......... 673
These regiments were furnished by the individual States, as follows:
Total battalions and legions.......................... 161
Total regiments....................................... 673
Total regiments, battalion and legions comprising the
Confederate army during the war 1861-1865............. 834
If one surgeon and two assistant-surgeons be allowed to each separate command actively
engaged in the field during the civil war, 1861-1865, the numbers would be as follows:
The medical officers of the Confederate navy numbered:
Surgeons............................................. 22
Assistant-surgeons................................... 10
Passed assistant-surgeons............................ 41
------
Total medical officers C. S. N....................... 73
PAGE 120 Southern Historical Society Papers.
If to the above be added the surgeons of the general hospitals, recruiting and conscript
camps, the entire number of medical officers in the Confederate army during the war
1861-1865 did not amount to three thousand.
The Surgeon-General of the United Confederate Veterans has endeavored to construct an
accurate roster from his labors in the field and hospital during the war, and from the
official roll of the Confederate armies in the field, and thus far he has been able to
record the names and rank of near two thousand Confederate surgeons and
assistant-surgeons.
The official list of the paroled officers and men of the Army of Northern Virginia,
surrendered by General Robert E. Lee, April 9th, 1865, furnish three hundred and ten
surgeons and assistant-surgeons.
The co-operation in this most important work is solicited from every surviving member of
the Medical Corps of the Southern Confederacy.
When perfected, this Roster will be published as a roll of honor and deposited in the
archives of the United Confederate Veterans.
The Determination of the Number and Condition of the Surviving Confederate Soldiers who
were Disabled by the Wounds and Diseases Received in the Defence of the Rights and
Liberties of the Southern States.
To accomplish this important and benevolent work, the following inquiries have been
addressed to the Governors of the Southern States, namely: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia:
CIRCULAR NO. 2.
OFFICE SURGEON-GENERAL, UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS,
156 WASHINGTON AVENUE, 4TH DISTRICT,
NEW ORLEANS, LA., April 9th, 1890.
To his Excellency Governor ---, State of ---:
The attention of your Excellency is respectfully directed to the fact that in the year
1889 the Association of the United Confederate
PAGE 121 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
Veterans was formed in New Orleans for historical, social and benevolent purposes. Our
illustrious Commanding-General, His Excellency General John B. Gordon, has ordered the
assembling of the Confederate Veterans in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 3d of July, 1890. The
welfare of the United Confederate Veterans will materially promoted if your Excellency
will furnish the surgeon-General with the following data:
1. The number of troops furnished to the Confederate States by the State of ---.
2. Number of wounded during the civil war 1861-1865.
3. Number of killed during the civil war 1861-1865.
4. Number of deaths by wounds and disease.
5. Number of Confederate survivors now living in the State of ---.
6. The amount of moneys appropriated by the State of --- for the relief and support of the
survivors of the Confederate Army from the close of the civil war in 1865 to the present
date, 1890.
7. Name, location and capacity of all establishments, hospitals or homes, devoted to the
care of maimed, sick and indigent survivors of the Confederate States Army.
8. A detailed statement of the moneys expended by the State of --- for the support of the
maimed, disabled and indigent survivors of the Confederate Army.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans.
It was earnestly desired that prompt and full reports on the part of the Chief Executives
of the Southern States would have enabled the Surgeon-General to place in the hands of the
Commanding General of the United Confederate Veterans, at the first reunion, on the 4th of
July, 1890, full statistics of the number of disabled Confederate veterans cared for by
the individual States. But replies have been received from only six of the thirteen States
of the late Confederacy, and in three of these States it appears that no official
assistance has been rendered by the State authorities to the Confederate veterans of
1861-1865.
The Southern States are morally bound to succor and support the men who were disabled by
the wounds and diseases received in their service and the widows and orphans of those who
fell in battle.
PAGE 122 Southern Historical Society Papers.
The Confederate soldiers who engaged in the struggle for constitutional liberty and the
right of self-government were neither rebels nor traitors; they were true and brave men,
who devoted their fortunes and their lives to the mothers who bore them, and their
precious blood watered the hills, valleys and plains of their native States, and their
bodies sleep in unknown graves, where they shall rest until the last great trumpet shall
summon all alike, the conquered and the conqueror.
The survivors have no government with its hundreds of millions for pensions; in the
loneliness and suffering of advancing years and increasing infirmities, they can look
alone to the States which they served so faithfully in battle, in victory and in defeat.
The noble soldiers who composed the illustrious armies of Northern Virginia and Tennessee
made a gallant fight against overwhelming odds for what they believed to be sacred rights
and constitutional liberty. The contest was decided by the sword against them.
These matchless soldiers accepted the issue in good faith; they returned to their homes;
they resumed the avocations of peace, and engaged in building up the broken fortunes of
family and country. These brave soldiers have discharged the obligations of good and
peaceful citizens as well as they had performed the duties of thorough soldiers on the
battle-field. It has been well said that no country ever produced braver or more
intelligent and chivalric soldiers or more industrious, law-abiding and honorable
citizens, than were the soldiers who surrendered with the Confederate flag. The earth has
never been watered by nobler or richer blood than that shed by those who fell beneath its
folds.
I have the honor, General, to remain
Your obedient servant,
JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans.
PAGE 123 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
II. Brief Report of the First Reunion of the Survivors of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate Army and Navy, July 1, 1890, in N. B. Forrest Camp, Chattanooga, Tennessee -
Address of Surgeon-General Joseph Jones, M. C., United Confederate Veterans, Containing
War Statistics of the Confederate Armies of Mississippi and Tennessee; also Casulties of
Battles of Belmont, Donelson, Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga; Engagements
from Dalton to Atlanta; Battles Around Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville.
The meeting of the Confederate surgeons, assembled by invitation in N. B. Forrest Camp,
was called to order by Surgeon G. W. Drake of Chattanooga, Medical Director of the reunion
of the United Confederate Veterans, who explained its objects and extended a hearty
welcome in a brief but eloquent address.
Surgeon Drake introduced Joseph Jones, M. D., of New Orleans, Surgeon-General of the
United Confederate Veterans, who spoke as follows:
"Comrades, survivors of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, we meet
for the first reunion since the close of the war between the Northern and Southern States
in this Camp, which bears the name of N. B. Forrest, one of the greatest cavalry leaders
of the American war of 1861-1865. In the midst of this peaceful and beautiful city, we are
surrounded by the mementoes and emblems of war. Dr. J. B. Cowan, Chief Surgeon, and Dr.
John B. Morton, Chief of Artillery of General N. B. Forrest's cavalry, and Dr. A. E.
Flewellen, Medical Director of the Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg, and many
other distinguished representatives of the Confederate Army and Navy, are with us; and we
are glad to welcome once more the noble forms and brave countenances of the Confederate
veterans.
As the speaker stood this day upon the summit of Lookout Mountain, at an elevation of two
thousand six hundred and seventy-eight feet, the mountains and valleys of Tennessee and
Georgia presented a panorama of wonderful beauty and unsurpassed historical interest. At
the foot of the mountain, which stands silent and alone, like the Egyptian Sphinx, winds
the beautiful Tennessee, embracing the growing and active city of Chattanooga, like a
crown of jewels, spreading around and over Cameron's Hill, once crowned with stern
battlements and frowning cannon. Here at our feet lies Moccasin Bend, as beautiful as a
garden with its fields of waiving grain. Up
PAGE 124 Southern Historical Society Papers.
this steep mountain side charged the Northern hosts, and here was fought "The Battle
Above the Clouds." The eye ranges over Waldron's Ridge and Missionary Ridge, rendered
historic by bloody and desperate battles. Twenty-seven years ago the soldiers of General
Bragg, ranged along the crest of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, held the Northern
army closely invested within the military and fortified camp of Chattanooga, and
sustaining upon their bayonets the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy in the West, they
resisted the southward flow of the red tide of war, and for a time protected the
mountains, hills and valleys of Georgia from the devastating march of Northern hostile
armies.
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA, GEORGIA.
To the south winds the river of Death along whose densely wooded bank, on the 19th and
20th of September, 1863, lay thirty thousand dead, dying and wounded Confederate and
Federal soldiers.
The battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, is justly regarded as one of the most bloody conflicts
of the war.
General Bragg's effective force on the first day of the battle, September 19, 1863,
exclusive of cavalry, was a little over thirty-five thousand men, which was in the
afternoon reinforced by five brigades of Longstreet's corps numbering about five thousand
effective infantry, without artillery. The Confederate loss was in proportion to the
prolonged and obstinate struggle, and two fights of these gallant troops were killed and
wounded.
Dr. A. E. Flewellen, the Medical Director of the Army of Tennessee, who is with us at this
reunion, active and energetic in body and mind, at the age of seventy years, gave the
following estimate of the Confederate losses in this bloody battle of Chickamauga:
PAGE 125 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
The full and revised returns of all the Confederate forces engaged in this bloody battle
show that the estimate of the Medical Director of the casualties was below and not above
the actual loss.
The aggregate casulties of the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, were officially reported
by General Braxton Bragg, as two thousand and twelve killed, twelve thousand nine hundred
and ninety-nine wounded, and two thousand and eighty-four missing; total, seventeen
thousand and ninety five.
From the original reports in the possession of General Braxton Bragg, we consolidated the
following:
On the 19th of September, Lieutenant-General Polk's corps numbered thirteen thousand three
hundred and thirteen effective officers and men, artillery and infantry; on the 20th,
eleven thousand and seventy-five. During the two days' battle, Polk's corps lost, killed
four hundred and forty-two, wounded three thousand one hundred and forty-one, missing five
hundred and thirty-one; total four thousand one hundred and fourteen.
On the 19th of September, Lieutenant-General Longstreet's corps numbered two thousand one
hundred and eighty-nine; on the 20th, seven thousand six hundred and thirty-five; loss,
killed four hundred and seventy-one, wounded two thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven,
missing three hundred and eleven; total three thousand six hundred and sixty-nine.
Lieutenant General D. H. Hill's corps numbered, September 19th, seven thousand one hundred
and thirty-seven; on the 20th, eight thousand eight hundred and twelve; loss, killed three
hundred and eighty, wounded two thousand four hundred and fifty-six, missing one hundred
and sixty-eight; total three thousand and four.
Major-General S. B. Buckner's corps numbered, September 19th, nine thousand and eighty; on
the 20th, six thousand nine hundred and sixty-one; loss, killed three hundred and
seventy-eight, wounded two thousand five hundred and sixty-six, missing three hundred and
forty-one; total three thousand two hundred and eighty-five.
Major-General W. H. F. Walker's corps, September 19th, seven thousand five hundred and
thirty-seven; 20th, five thousand nine hundred and seventy-four; loss, killed three
hundred and forty-one, wounded one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine, missing seven
hundred and thirty-three; total three thousand and twenty-three.
On the 19th of September the number of Confederate officers and men engaged were:
Artillery - Officers......................... 76
Enlisted men..................... 1,791
---------
Total........................................ 1,867
Total infantry and artillery................. 39,306
On the 20th of September the number of Confederate officers and men engaged were:
Infantry - Officers.......................... 3,648
Enlisted men...................... 35,124
---------
Total infantry............................... 38,772
Artillery - Officers......................... 68
Enlisted men..................... 1,617
---------
Total artillery.............................. 1,685
Total infantry and artillery................. 40,457
Total officers and men killed, wounded and missing, artillery and infantry, September 19
and 20, 1863: killed, two thousand and twelve; wounded, twelve thousand nine hundred and
ninety-nine; missing, two thousand and eighty-four; total, seventeen thousand and
ninety-five.
RIGHT WING, COMMANDED BY LIEU'T GENERAL LEONIDAS POLK.
PAGE 127 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
Grand total right and left wing; killed, two thousand and twelve; wounded, twelve thousand
nine hundred and ninety-nine; missing, two thousand and eighty-four; total, seventeen
thousand and ninety-five.
Nearly one-half of the army consisted of reinforcements, just before the battle without a
wagon or an artillery horse, and nearly if not quite one-third of the artillery horses
were lost on the field; the medical officers had means greatly inadequate, especially in
transportation, for the great number of wounded suddenly thrown upon their hands, in a
wild and sparsely settled country; many of the wounded were exhausted by two days' battle,
with limited supply of water, and almost destitute of provisions.
The fruits of this glorious victory, purchased by an immense expenditure of the precious
blood of the Southern soldiers, were lost to the Southern Confederacy through the
indecision and indiscretion of the Confederate commander.
CASUALTIES OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE, NOVEMBER, 1863.
The casualties of the Army of Tennessee during the subsequent disasters of Missionary
Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Knoxville, Tennessee, are comparatively small in comparison to
the magnitude of the operations.
The losses of the Confederate forces were:
Knoxville, November 18 to 29 - Killed, two hundred and sixty; wounded, eight hundred and
eighty; total, one thousand one hundred and forty.
Lookout Mountain, November 23 and 24 - Killed, forty-three: wounded, one hundred and
thirty-five; total, one hundred and seventy-eight.
Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863 - Killed, three hundred and eighty-three; wounded, one
thousand eight hundred and eighty-two; total, two thousand two hundred and sixty-five.
Tunnel Hill, November 27 - Killed, thirty; wounded, one hundred and twenty-nine; total,
one hundred and fifty-nine.
Aggregate of these engagements - Killed, seven hundred and sixteen; wounded, three hundred
and two; total, three thousand seven hundred and forty-two.
We have, then, as a grand aggregate of the Confederate losses in battle in the operations
around Chattanooga, Tennessee:
PAGE 128 Southern Historical Society Papers.
Killed. Wounded. Missing.
Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia,
September 19 and 20................ 2,012 12,999 2,087
Knoxville, Lookout Mountain,
Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Nov.
This estimate does not include the losses in prisoners sustained by General Bragg's army
at Knoxville, at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, which would swell the total loss
to over thirty-thousand men.
The desperate and bloody nature of the Confederate operations around Chattanooga, in the
months of September and November, 1863, will be seen by a brief view of the preceding
great battles fought by the armies of Mississippi and Tennessee, and of the subsequent
campaigns under General Joseph E. Johnston and General J. B. Hood, in 1864 and 1865.
At the battle of Belmont, Missouri, on the 7th November, 1861, the Confederate forces,
under the command of General Leonidas Polk, defeated the Federal forces under General U.
S. Grant, with a loss to the former of killed, one hundred and five; wounded, four hundred
and nineteen; missing, one hundred and seventeen; total, six hundred and forty-one.
The Confederate operations of 1861 and 1862, as conducted by General Albert Sidney
Johnston, at the battle of Shiloh, were characterized by the most appalling disasters.
Fort Henry, Tennessee, fell February 6, 1862, with an insignificant loss of five killed,
eleven wounded, sixty-three prisoners.
Fort Donelson, Tennessee, after three days' fighting, February 14, 15 and 16, 1862,
surrendered, with a loss of killed, two hundred and thirty-one; wounded, one thousand and
seven; prisoners, thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine; total Confederate loss,
fifteen thousand and sixty-seven. With the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, the
Cumberland and Tennessee were opened to the passage of the iron-clad gunboats of the
Northern army; Kentucky passed under the Federal yoke; Nashville, the proud political and
PAGE 129 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
literary emporium of Tennessee, was lost, and this noble State became the common
battle-ground of hostile and contending armies.
Both sides levied recruits and supplies from the unfortunate citizens of Tennessee;
Columbus, Kentucky, was abandoned, and the fall of Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and Memphis
followed.
The unbroken tide of Federal victory in the West was rudely arrested by the armies
gathered by General Albert Sidney Johnston and General G. T. Beauregard near the southern
shore of the Tennessee, at Corinth, Mississippi.
The brave Confederate commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston sealed his devotion to the
Southern Confederacy with his life, on the 6th of April, 1862, whilst leading to victory
the gallant soldiers of the Armies of Mississippi and Tennessee.
At the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862, the effective total of the Confederate
forces, comprising the Army of Mississippi, before the battle, numbered, forty thousand
three hundred and fifty-five, and after the bloody repulse of the 7th, the effective total
was only twenty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty-six. General Beauregard, in his
official report, places his loss at Shiloh at one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight
killed outright, eight thousand nine hundred and twelve wounded, nine hundred and
fifty-nine missing, making an aggregate of casualties of ten thousand six hundred and
ninety-nine.
The losses at Shiloh were distributed among the different corps of the Confederate army as
follows:
The suffering of the Confederate wounded were great, indeed, as they lay upon the cold
ground of Shiloh during the night of the 6th, exposed to the pitiless rain and the
murderous fire of the gunboats. In the subsequent siege of Corinth, less than fifty
thousand Confederate troops successfully resisted the advance of one hundred and
twenty-five thousand Federal troops abundantly supplied with food and water, and armed and
equipped with most approved weapons of modern warfare.
PAGE 130 Southern Historical Society Papers.
The losses of the Confederate forces from disease during the siege of Corinth equalled, if
they did not exceed, the casualties of the battle of Shiloh.
General Beauregard, by his masterly evacuation of Corinth, eluded his powerful antagonist.
The Armies of Mississippi and Tennessee, under the leadership of General Bragg,
inaugurated the campaign of 1862 for the recovery of Tennessee and Kentucky.
At the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, the Army of Mississippi, under the
command of General Leonidas Polk, lost, killed, five hundred and ten; wounded, two
thousand six hundred and thirty-five; missing, two hundred and fifty-one; total, three
thousand three hundred and ninety-six.
In the Kentucky campaign of 1862, the Confederate troops under the command of Generals
Braxton Bragg and E. Kirby Smith manifested their powers of endurance on long and
fatiguing marches, and their excellent discipline in retreating in good order in the face
of overwhelming hostile forces.
At the battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862, and January 1, 1863, the Confederate
army lost nearly one-third of its number in killed and wounded.
General Bragg, in his official report of this battle, estimates the number of his fighting
men in the field on the morning of the 31st of December at less than thirty-five thousand,
of which about thirty thousand were infantry and artillery. During the two days' fighting
General Bragg's army lost one thousand six hundred killed and eight thousand wounded;
total, nine thousand six hundred killed and wounded.
From the 6th of April, 1862, to the close of the year 1863, the Army of Mississippi and
Tennessee lost in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga six thousand and
forty-six killed on the field, and thirty-two thousand and thirty-five wounded; total
killed and wounded, thirty-eight thousand and eighty-one.
We do not include in this estimate the loss sustained at Perryville, in Bragg's Kentucky
campaign, or in numberless skirmishes and cavalry engagements. More than fifty thousand
wounded men were cared for by the medical officers of the Army of Tennessee during a
period of less than twenty-one months.
The deaths from disease exceeded those from gun-shot wounds, and the sick from the camp
diseases of armies greatly exceeded the wounded, in the proportion of about five to one;
and during the
PAGE 131 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
period specified, embracing the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, the sick and wounded of
the Armies of Tennessee and Mississippi numbered more than two hundred thousand.
Surely from this mass of suffering humanity, valuable records and practical precepts in
the practice of medicine and military surgery must have been evolved. It was and is the
solemn duty of every member of the Medical Corps of the Army of Tennessee to place the
results of his experience in a tangible form, accessible to his comrades; and no officer,
however important his position during the Confederate struggle, has the right to withhold
for his personal benefit the Hospital and Medical Records of the Army of Tennessee. These
views are applicable to the medical and surgical statistics of the several armies of the
late Confederacy east and west of the Mississippi.
The Armies of Tennessee and Mississippi, under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston,
sustained a loss of killed, one thousand two hundred and twenty-one, wounded, eight
thousand two hundred and twenty-nine; total, nine thousand four hundred and fifty - in the
series of engagements around and from Dalton, Georgia, to the Etowah river, May 7th to May
30th, 1864; series of engagements around New Hope Church, near Marietta, June 1, July 4,
1864.
The Army of Tennessee (the Army of Mississippi being merged into it), under the command of
General J. B. Hood, during the series of engagements around Atlanta and Jonesboro July 4
to September 1, 1864, loss, killed, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, wounded,
ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-three; total, twelve thousand five hundred and
forty-six.
During a period of four months the Armies of Tennessee and Mississippi fought no less than
six important battles, and sustained a loss of killed, three thousand and forty-four,
wounded eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifty-two. Total killed and wounded, twenty-one
thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.
During the month of October, 1864, the Army of Tennessee lost killed, one hundred and
eighteen; wounded, six hundred and twenty-two; total, seven hundred and forty. During the
month of November: Killed, one thousand and eighty-nine; wounded, three thousand one
hundred and thirty-one; total, four thousand two hundred and twenty. These casualties
include the bloody battle of Franklin, Tennessee, fought November 30, 1864.*
---------------
*Report of Surgeon A. J. Foard, Medical Director Army of Tennessee.
---------------
PAGE 132 Southern Historical Society Papers.
As shown by Colonel Mason's official report, made on the 10th of December, ten days after
the battle of Franklin, the effective strength of the Army of Tennessee was: Infantry,
eighteen thousand three hundred and forty-two; artillery, two thousand four hundred and
five; cavalry, two thousand three hundred and six; total, twenty-three thousand and
fifty-three. This last number, subtracted from thirty thousand six hundred, the strength
of General Hood's army at Florence, shows a total loss, from all causes, of seven thousand
five hundred and forty-seven from the 6th of November to the 10th of December, which
period embraces the engagements at Columbia, Franklin, and of Forrest's cavalry.*
At the Battle of Nashville, the Army of Tennessee lost in killed and wounded about two
thousand five hundred, making the total loss during the Tennessee campaign about ten
thousand.
According to Colonel Mason's statement, there were, including the furloughed men, about
eighteen thousand five hundred men, effectives, of the infantry and artillery at Tupelo
after General Hood's retreat from Nashville. Before the advance of the army into Tennessee
on the 6th of November, 1864, the effective strength was thirty thousand six hundred,
inclusive of the cavalry.
Thus we find at Tupelo, eighteen thousand five hundred infantry and artillery, and two
thousand three hundred and six Forrest's cavalry, to which add ten thousand lost from all
causes, and the total sum amounts to thirty thousand eight hundred and six effectives.
General Hood thus estimates his loss in the Tennessee campaign to have been in excess of
ten thousand.
Of the once proud Army of Tennessee, less than twenty thousand foot-sore, shoeless, ragged
soldiers escaped with Hood's advance into Tennessee; at the same time a large army (in
numbers at least) of sick, wounded and convalescents crowded the general hospitals in
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
The life of the Confederacy was bound up in its armies, and when these armies were
scattered in the field and their means of sustenance and transportation destroyed, all
hope of final success perished. With the Southern Confederacy, the problem was one of
endurance and resources; and no Confederate general appears to have comprehended this
truth more thoroughly than Joseph E. Johnston. In his masterly retreat from Dalton to
Atlanta, he opposed successfully
---------------
*General J. B. Hood, "Advance and Retreat," p. 298.
---------------
PAGE 133 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
less than fifty thousand Confederate troops against General Sherman's powerful, thoroughly
armed and equipped army of more than one hundred thousand brave, stalwart Western
soldiers. In his slow retreat, General Johnston was ever ready to give battle, and whilst
inflicting greater losses upon his great adversary than his own forces sustained, he,
nevertheless, during this incessant fighting maintained the morale, discipline, valor and
thorough organization and armament of his soldiers.
The chief executive of the Southern Confederacy, with all his lofty patriotism and burning
ardor for the defence of his bleeding country, placed too high an estimate upon his own
individual military genius, and failed to grasp in all its bearings the problem of the
terrible death struggle of the young nation.
General Hood combined with unbounded energy and dauntless courage and glowing patriotism a
fiery ambition for military glory which led him to overestimate his own military genius
and resources and at the same time to underestimate the vast resources and military
strategy of his antagonist.
When General Hood ceased to confront General Sherman, and opened the way for his
desolating march through the rich plantations of Georgia, the Empire State of the South,
the fate of the Confederacy was forever sealed. The beleagured Confederacy, torn and
bleeding along all her borders, was in no position to hurl her war-worn, imperfectly clad
and poorly armed and provisioned battalions upon fortified cities.
The effort to destroy forces aggregating in Georgia and Tennessee near two hundred
thousand effectives by a force of less than forty thousand men, which had cut loose from
its base of supplies, exceeded the wildest dream of untamed military enthusiasm.
Of the gallant soldiers whose blood reddened the waters of the Tennessee and enriched the
hills and valleys of Georgia, Tennessee furnished seventy regiments of infantry and twelve
regiments of cavalry.
If the soldiers furnished by Tennessee to the Federal army be added, it is only just to
say that she alone furnished more than one hundred thousand men to the American war of
1861-'65, and won afresh the title of the Volunteer State.
Noble Tennessee! The generous and prolific mother of brave soldiers and of beautiful and
intrepid women.
What changes have been wrought in a quarter of a century! The songs of birds, the sturdy
blows of the woodman's axe have supplanted
PAGE 134 Southern Historical Society Papers.
the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry; the soil which drank up the blood of
Southern soldiers bears its precious burden of golden corn and snowy white fleecy cotton;
the laughter of women and prattle of children, and the merry whistle of the plowman fill
the places of the brazen trumpet and the martial music of the fire and drum, and the
hoarse shouts of contending men, and groans of the wounded and dying; the entrenched camp
and ragged village of 1865 has given place to the thriving city of fifty thousand
inhabitants, with its workshops, factories, well filled stores, electric lights and
railways, and its universities of science and literature.
Here in this historic place the weary invalids of the Northern clime may rest in the
shadows and bathe their fevered brows in the cool breezes of these grand mountains.
In this brief record of the heroic efforts of the soldiers of the Armies of Mississippi
and Tennessee to defend the Southern States from the Northern invaders, we have time but
to make a brief allusion to the defence of the Mississippi river by the Confederate
Government, which was characterized by a long chain of disasters.
The fall of Forts Henry and Donelson opened the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers to the
iron clads of the Federals and convoyed and protected their armies as they marched into
the heart of the Confederacy. The strong fortifications erected by General Leonidas Polk,
at Columbus, Kentucky, were evacuated by the orders of the commanding Generals, Albert
Sidney Johnston and G. T. Beauregard.
Island No. 10 fell with a loss of seventeen killed and five hundred prisoners, on the 8th
of April, 1862, and the navigation of the Mississippi river was secured by the Federal
fleet up to the walls of Fort Pillow, above Memphis, Tennessee.
New Orleans, the commercial emporium of the Confederacy, fell after an inglorious defence
(April 18, April 28, 1862), characterized by indecision, incompetence and insubordination,
with the trifling loss of one hundred and eighty-five killed, one hundred and ninety-seven
wounded, four hundred prisoners; total Confederate loss, seven hundred and eighty-two.
Wise statesmanship dictated that the entire power and resources of the Southern
Confederacy should have been concentrated upon the defence of the mouth of the Mississippi
river. The future historian of this war will find in the fall of Forts Henry, Donelson,
and of New Orleans the first and greatest disasters of the Southern cause from which
unnumbered and fatal disasters flowed, and which ended in the final destruction of the
Confederacy.
PAGE 135 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
The evacuation of Fort Pillow was followed by the surrender at Memphis, Tennessee, June 6,
1862, after a loss of eighty-one killed and wounded, and one hundred missing, incurred in
the resistance offered by the Confederate flotilla, consisting of the gunboats Van Dorn,
Price, Jeff Thompson, Bragg, Lovell, Beauregard, Sumpter and Little Rebel.
The defence of Vicksburg includes: The battle of Baton Rouge, August 5, 1862, General J.
Breckenridge: killed, eighty four; wounded, three hundred and sixteen; missing,
seventy-eight; total Confederate loss, four hundred and sixty-eight. Iuka, Mississippi,
September 19 and 20, General Sterling Price: killed, two hundred and sixty-three; wounded,
six hundred and ninety-two; missing, five hundred and sixty-one; total, one thousand five
hundred and sixteen. Corinth, Mississippi, October 3 and 4, 1862, Generals Van Dorn and
Sterling Price: killed, five hundred and ninety-four; wounded, two thousand one hundred
and sixty-two; missing, two thousand one hundred and two; total, four thousand eight
hundred and six. Port Gibson, May 1, 1863, Major-General John S. Bowen: killed and
wounded, one thousand one hundred and fifty; missing, five hundred; total, one thousand
six hundred and fifty. Baker's Creek, May 16, 1863, Lieutenant-General Pemberton: killed
and wounded, two thousand; missing, one thousand eight hundred; total, three thousand
eight hundred. Big Black River, May 17, 1863, Lieutenant-General Pemberton: killed and
wounded, six hundred; missing, two thousand five hundred; total, three thousand one
hundred and ten. Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 18 to July 4, 1863: Lieutenant-General J. C.
Pemberton: killed, wounded, missing and prisoners, thirty-one thousand two hundred and
seventy-seven. Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27 to July 9, 1863; killed and wounded, seven
hundred and eighty; missing and prisoners six thousand four hundred and eight; total,
seven thousand one hundred and eighty-eight. Jackson, Mississippi, July 9 to 26, General
Joseph E. Johnston: killed, seventy-one; wounded, five hundred and four; missing,
twenty-five; total, six hundred.
During the operations in Mississippi and Louisiana on the east bank of the Mississippi
river for the defence of Vicksburg, commencing with the battle of Baton Rouge, August 5,
1862, and ending with the evacuation of Jackson, Mississippi, July 19, 1863, the
Confederate army lost in killed, wounded and prisoners, fifty-four thousand four hundred
and fifteen officer and men - an army equal in numbers to the largest ever assembled upon
any battle-field of the
PAGE 136 Southern Historical Society Papers.
war under any one Confederate commander. If we add to this the losses occurring in the
field and general hospitals, from sickness, discharges, deaths and desertions, the loss
sustained by the Confederate forces in these operations would equal an army of at least
seventy-five thousand.
The heart of the Southern patriot stands still at the recital of these humiliating
details. The Confederate commander, General J. C. Pemberton, was not merely outnumbered,
but he was outgeneraled by his Northern antagonists.
What medical and surgical records have been preserved of this mass of suffering, disease
and death? Who has written the medical history of the sufferings of the brave defenders of
Vicksburg?
Fellow soldiers and comrades of the Confederate Army and Navy, I accepted the honor
conferred upon me by one of the most illustrious captains of the struggle for Southern
independence, not because it conferred power or pecuniary emoluments, but solely that I
might in some manner further the chosen project of my life. When my native State, Georgia,
seceded from the Federal union in January, 1861, I placed my sword and my life at her
service. Entering as a private of cavalry, I served in defense of the sea coast in 1861,
and although acting as surgeon to this branch of the service, I performed all the duties
required of the soldier in the field. Entering the medical service of the Confederate army
in 1862, I served as surgeon up to the date of my surrender in May, 1865. Through the
confidence and kindness of Surgeon-General S. P. Moore, Confederate States Army, I was
enabled to inspect the great armies, camps, hospitals, beleagured cities and military
prisons of the Southern Confederacy.
The desire of my soul, and the ambition of my entire life, was to preserve, as far as
possible, the medical and surgical records of the Confederate army during this gigantic
struggle.
The defeat of our armies and the destruction of our government only served to increase my
interest and still further to engage all my energies in this great work, which, under
innumerable difficulties, I have steadily prosecuted in Augusta, Georgia, Nashville,
Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, up to this happy moment when I greet the stern but
noble faces of the survivors of the Confederate Army and Navy.
I hold this position, which has neither military fame nor financial resources, solely for
the right which it gives me to issue a last appeal for the preservation of the Medical and
Surgical Records of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
PAGE 137 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
A veteran of more than four years' active service in the cause of the Southern
Confederacy, at the end of a quarter of a century issues his last call of honor and glory
to his comrades, which will be found at length in his report to the general commanding,
which is now presented for the consideration of the survivors of the Medical Corps of the
Confederacy Army and Navy. (See preceding report.)
With the researches and records of the speaker taken during the war and subsequently, he
has in his possession ample material for a volume relating to the Medical and Surgical
History of the Confederate Army of not less than one thousand five hundred pages, and it
is to be hoped that the survivors will furnish such data as will enable him to give
accurate statements with reference to the labors, names and rank of the medical officers.
INSIGNIA OF THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY AND NAVY.
In conclusion, comrades, the speaker would urge the adoption of some badge or device which
should serve to distinguish the survivors of the Medical Corps of the Southern
Confederacy.
The objects of this reunion and of this association are historical, benevolent and social,
and the medal or seal which marks it realization should embody within a brief circle these
sacred and noble sentiments.
The outer circle bearing the words "Medical Corps Confederate States of America, Army
and Navy, 1861-1865", expresses the great historical fact, that within the circle of
these four years a nation was born and exhibited to the world its existence, power and
valor, in its well organized and efficient army and navy. Within the brief space of time,
1861-1865, was enacted one of the greatest and bloodiest revolutions of the ages, and a
peculiar form of civilization passed forever away.
Upon the silver field and embraced by the outer circle rests a golden cross with thirteen
stars - the Southern cross - the cross of the battle flag of the Southern Confederacy.
The reverse of the medal bears at the apex of the circle the letters U. C. V., and at the
line under, the date 1890. The laurel leaf of the outer circle surrounds the venerated and
golden head of the great Southern captain, General Robert E. Lee, who was the type of all
that was heroic, noble and benevolent in the Confederate Army and Navy. Grand in battle
and victory, General Lee was equally grand
PAGE 138 Southern Historical Society Papers.
and noble in defeat; and his farewell address to his soldiers has been the most powerful
utterance for the pacification of the warlike elements of his country and the
rehabilitation of the waste places of the South by the peaceful arts of agriculture,
manufacturers and commerce.
Whilst the Southern armies were wreathed in victory, the thunderbolts of war, which made
wide gaps through their ranks, inflicted irreparable damage. When the brave soldiers of
the South sank to rest upon the bosom of their mother earth, they rose no more; the
magnificent hosts which watered the plains, valleys and mountains with their precious
blood were the typical and noble representatives of their race.
Whilst the North increased in resources and men, as the war went on, the Southern
Confederacy was penetrated and rent along all her borders; her fertile plains were overrun
and desolated, her gallant sons fell before the iron tempest of war, and her final
overthrow and subjugation followed as the night does the day.
Comrades, survivors of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, is it not our
solemn duty to commemorate the deeds of our comrades who yielded up their lives in the
struggle for Southern independence, on the battle-field, in the hospital and in the
military prison? Shall we not adopt a simple but imperishable medal which may be handed
down to our children?"
ORGANIZATION OF A MEDICAL RELIEF CORPS DURING THE REUNION OF THE UNITED
CONFEDERATE VETERANS, AT CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, JULY 2, 3, AND 4, 1890.
An organization of a "Medical" Relief Corps was proposed by Dr. Jones, as
accidents were likely to occur amongst the large army of Confederate veterans assembled
from the surrounding States in Chattanooga, which would require the prompt aid of the
medical profession.
The following physicians were appointed and requested to go on duty and act as a Medical
Relief Corps, at the places designated, during the 3d, 4th, and 5th of July, beginning at
8 A. M. each day. They will be relieved hourly, and take their turns in the order named:
At L. J. Sharp & Co.'s: Drs. E. A. Cobleigh, J. L. Gaston, G. M. Ellis, J. F.
Sheppard, W. P. Creig, E. E. Kerr, W. B. Lee, Frederick B. Stapp, I. S. Dunham, D. E.
Nelson, C. S. Wright, R. F. Wallace.
PAGE 139 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
Snodgrass Hill: W. T. Hope, J. L. Atlee, Vaulx Gibbs, C. F. McGahan, W. B. Wells, A. M.
Boyd, J. J. McConnell, W. C. Townes, Cooper Holtzclaw, A. P. Van Deever, T. C. V. Barkley.
Court-House: L. Y. Green, J. E. Reeves, G. A. A. Baxter, H. L. McReynolds, H. B. Wilson,
F. M. Leverson, B. S. Wert, W. B. Bogart, E. B. Wise, H. Berlin, Y. J. Abernathy, J. R.
Rathwell.
Joseph Jones, Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans.
G. W. Drake, Medical Director.
P. D. Sims, Chief of Staff.
L. H. Wilson, Register.
All visiting physicians and surgeons of the Confederate States Army and Confederate States
Navy, are requested to register at L. H. Wilson's drug store, 829 Market street.
After the committee was appointed, Dr. Jones, read his report to General John B. Gordon,
Commander United Confederate Veterans.
Dr. J. E. Reeves delivered a short address, in which he complimented Dr. Jones very highly
on the manner and thoroughness of his report, and in conclusion offered a motion to
appoint a committee to draft suitable resolutions in regard to Dr. Jones' report. The
following gentlemen composed the committee: Drs. Drake, Holtzclaw, Hope, Rees and Howard.
A recess of a few minutes allowed the committee time to retire and draft resolutions. The
following are the resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, We have been honored by the presence of Dr. Joseph Jones,
Surgeon-General of the United Confederate Veterans; and WHEREAS, We have heard his able report to the illustrious General John B.
Gordon, Commanding-General of the United Confederate Veterans, whose presence will also
grace this reunion occasion; therefore, Resolved, That we, surviving members of the Medical Corps of the
Confederate Army and Navy, and the medical profession, tender to Dr. Jones our gratitude
for his very able presentation of the objects to be gained by the assembling of the
survivors of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
Resolved, That he has placed the whole medical profession of the United
States under obligations for his self-sacrificing labor in raising from oblivion the
priceless statistics relating to the medical history of the Confederate Army and Navy.
Resolved, That we bespeak the earnest co-operation of the surviving
surgeons of the Confederate Army and Navy, in his efforts to
PAGE 140 Southern Historical Society Papers.
procure the imperishable roster his unselfish labors have so auspiciously begun.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the press for
publication.
The following insignia, prepared and presented in silver and gold by Surgeon-General
Joseph Jones, will be adopted and worn by the surviving members of the Medical Corps of
United Confederate Veterans: Silver disk, one inch in diameter, containing a gold cross,
on which are thirteen stars; on face inside edge, "Medical Corps, C. S. A. and C. S.
N., 1861-'65." On reverse - "United Confederate Veterans, 1890." Name and
rank of officer on both faces.
After a short discussion, the meeting adjourned.
The following chairman of committees will look after the visiting physicians from the
States which they represent:
Alabama - B. S. West, 714 Market street.
Arkansas - G. A. Baxter, 115 east Eighth street.
Florida - F. T. Smith, 10 west Ninth street.
Kentucky - L. Y. Green, Lookout Mountain.
Louisiana - W. L. Gahagan, 10 west Ninth street.
Maryland - E. A. Cobleigh, 729 Chestnut street.
Mississippi - N. C. Steele, 722 east Seventh street.
Missouri - H. L. McReynolds, 638 Market street.
North Carolina - T. G. Magee, 518 Georgia avenue.
South Carolina - C. F. McGahan, Richardson block.
Tennessee - P. D. Sims, 713 Georgia avenue.
Texas - E. B. Wise, 713 Georgia avenue.
Virginia - G. W. Drake, 320 Walnut street.
West Virginia - J. E. Reeves, 20 McCallie avenue.
New England States - E. M. Eaton, 20 east Eight street.
Middle States - F. M. Severson, 826 Market street.
Western States - J. J. Durand, 208 Pine street.
North-western States - E. F. Kerr, 709 Market street.
Canada - G. M. Ellis, 826 Market street.
Foreign Countries - H. Berlin, 600 Market street.
W. DRAKE, M. D., Medical Director.
The Medical Faculty of Chattanooga, under the able leadership of the Medical Director, Dr.
G. W. Drake, were untiring in their kind attentions and general hospitality to the
survivors of the Medical Corps of the United Confederate Veterans.
PAGE 141 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
III. Official Correspondence, 1890-'92, of Joseph Jones, M. D., Surgeon-General U. C. V.,
with reference to the Forces and Losses of the individual Southern States during the War
1861-'65; and with reference to the Number and Condition of the surviving Confederate
Soldiers who were disabled by the wounds and diseases received in the defence of the
Rights and Liberties of the Southern States.
OFFICE OF SURGEON-GENERAL UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS,
156 WASHINGTON AVENUE,
NEW ORLEANS, LA., February, 1892.
JOHN B. GORDON, General Commanding
United Confederate Veterans:
GENERAL - I have the honor herewith to submit the results of an extended correspondence
with the Executives of the Southern States which were formerly united under the
Confederate Government.
This correspondence presents many facts of interest to the United Confederate Veterans.
Immediately after the acceptance of the honorary position of Surgeon General of the United
Confederate Veterans, the author instituted extended inquiries with the design of
determining:
1. The number of troops furnished by the Southern States during the Civil War, 1861-1865.
2. The number of killed and wounded, and the deaths caused by disease.
3. An accurate statement of the moneys appropriated by the individual States for the
relief of disabled and indigent Confederate soldiers from the close of the war in 1865 to
the time of this correspondence in 1892.
4. The names, rank and services of the medical officers of the Confederate Army and Navy.
The nature, and, to a certain extent, the results of these labors will be illustrated by
the following facts and correspondence:
STATE OF ALABAMA.
Official communications were addressed to the Governor of Alabama in 1890 and 1891 by the
Surgeon-General, United Confederate Veterans, but up to the present date, February, 1892,
no reply has been received.
PAGE 142 Southern Historical Society Papers.
STATE OF ARKANSAS.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LITTLE ROCK, June 24, 1890.
Professor JOSEPH JONES, M. D., New Orleans, La.
DEAR SIR - Yours of some time since, received, and answer held with view of securing at
least some of the information sought, but my time has been so occupied with official
duties that I have been unable to get information. Besides this there are no records,
official, in any of the State departments from which such information can be had, hence I
can not comply with your request.
We are making an effort to organize the ex-Confederates in this State, and hope to
succeed. We have raised a fund and will soon have a home at our capital, so as to be able
to support such as are not able to support themselves.
Very truly yours,
JAMES P. EAGLE.
STATE OF FLORIDA.
TALLAHASSEE, May 19, 1890.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, Surgeon-General
United Confederate Veterans:
SIR - Replying to yours of the 9th ultimo to the governor, I have the honor to report as
follows, in reply to your queries:
1. Number of troops furnished to the Confederates States army from Florida about fifteen
thousand.
2. Number of killed? I have no record showing and no means of estimating.
3. Number of wounded? I have no record showing and no means of estimating.
4. Number of deaths from wounds and disease? No record, etc.
5. Number of survivors? No means of estimating.
6. Amount appropriated for survivors to the present time? $120,934.
7. Name, etc., of hospitals and other institutions for the care of the survivors? None.
8. Detailed statement of moneys expended for the relief of the survivors, maimed and
disabled?
PAGE 143 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
During the year 1885 there was expended in pensions, $1,777.50.
During the year 1886 there was expended in pensions, $7,653.80.
During the year 1887 there was expended in pensions, $9,368.83.
During the year 1888 there was expended in pensions, $32,647.76.
For the year 1890 there has been appropriated $35,000.
In the year 1885 there was fifty-eight pensioners, receiving pensions at the rate of $5.00
per month.
In the year 1886 there were one hundred pensioners at the same rate.
In the year 1887 the rate was increased to $8.00 per month, and the restriction that the
pension must be necessary to support and maintenance was removed. Under this law the
number of pensions for the year 1887 increased to one hundred and sixty-seven, and by
December, 1888, to three hundred and eighteen, which number had increased July 1, 1889,
when the law was again changed, to three hundred and eighty-four. The present law grades
the pensions according to the disability and restricts it to those who are in need and
unable to earn a livelihood. Under this law the pension roll has been reduced to two
hundred and eighteen.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. LANG, Adjutant-General.
TALLAHASSEE, August 29, 1891.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, Surgeon-General
United Confederate Veterans:
SIR - Replying to yours of the 17th inst., to the governor, I can only make a repetition
of my former letter of May 19, 1890, to you on the same subject, to-wit:
1. The number of troops furnished the Confederate States, from Florida, was about fifteen
thousand, comprising eleven regiments, and several independent corps of infantry, two
regiments of cavalry, and six batteries of artillery. There are no records of these
organizations extant, except an abstract of the muster-rolls of the first eight regiments
of infantry, and the two cavalry regiments, with the several independent companies,
subsequently forming the other three regiments of infantry.
PAGE 144 Southern Historical Society Papers.
2. There is absolutely nothing to show the number of killed, wounded, or died of disease.
3. There is no roster of the medical staff, but from personal recollection the writer can
give the following names:
Dr. Thomas M. Palmer, Surgeon Second Florida regiment, from May -, 1861, till August -,
1862, when Florida hospital was organized, and he made chief surgeon at Richmond,
Virginia. Present address, Monticello, Florida.
Dr. Carey Gamble, surgeon of the First regiment, from April 3, 1861, and afterwards, of
the Florida brigade, in the Army of Tennessee; now resides of Baltimore.
Dr. J. D. Godfrey, surgeon Fifth regiment, April, 1862; now resides in Jasper, Florida.
Dr. Thomas P. Gary, surgeon Seventh Florida regiment. Died at Ocala, Florida, 1891.
Dr. Richard P. Daniel, surgeon Eight regiment, May, 1862, till April 9, 1865; now resides
in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dr. --- Hooper, assistant-surgeon Eight regiment; killed at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in
line of duty, December 12, 1863.
Dr. Theophilus West, assistant-surgeon Eight regiment, from December 12, 1863, till April
9, 1865; address, Marianna, Florida.
Dr. R. W. B. Hargis, surgeon First regiment; address, Pensacola, Florida.
Dr. J. H. Randolph, surgeon department of Florida; present address, Tallahassee, Florida.
Dr. G. E. Hawes, surgeon Second regiment; present address, Palatka, Florida.
4. Acts passed by Florida Legislature, for aid of Confederate soldiers, see inclosed
copies of same.
5. There are no soldiers' homes, hospitals, or other places of refuge for old soldiers in
Florida.
6. Have not complete records, and can not furnish copies of such as there are, not being
in print.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. LANG, Adjutant-General of Florida.
(CHAPTER 3681, No. 15.)
AN ACT to provide an Annuity for Disabled soldiers and Sailors of the State of Florida.
PAGE 145 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
SECTION 1. That any person who enlisted in the military or naval service of the
Confederate States, or of this State, during the civil war between the States of the
United States, who was a citizen of this State, at the time of enlistment, or who was a
bona fide citizen of this State on January 1, 1875, who lost a limb or limbs while engaged
in said military or naval service, occasioned by reason of such military or naval service,
or who may thus have received wounds or injuries which afterward caused the loss of a limb
or limbs, or who may have been permanently injured by wounds or disease contracted while
in said service, and who may be a bona fide citizen of this State at the time of making
application for the benefits herein provided for, shall be entitled to receive, per annum,
in quarterly payments, the following allowance, or pay, to-wit: For total loss of sight,
one hundred and fifty dollars; for total loss of one eye, thirty dollars; for total loss
of hearing, thirty dollars; for loss of a foot or loss of a leg, one hundred dollars; for
loss of all of a hand or loss of (an ) arm, one hundred dollars; for loss of both hands or
both arms, one hundred and fifty dollars; for loss of both feet or both legs, one hundred
and fifty dollars; for loss of one hand or foot, and one arm or leg by same person, one
hundred and fifty dollars; for permanent injuries from wounds whereby a leg is rendered
substantially and essentially useless, for other permanent injuries from wounds or
diseases contracted during the service and while in line of duty as a soldier (or sailor)
whereby the person injured or diseased has been rendered practically incompetent to
perform ordinary manual avocations of life, ninety-six dollars. The benefits of this
section shall inure to the widow of any soldier or sailor who was receiving a pension
under the provisions of this act at the time of his death, which pension shall continue
during such widowhood.
SEC. 2. That before any person shall be entitled to any of the benefits of this act, he
shall make oath before some person authorized to administer oaths, stating in what
company, regiment and brigade he was serving when the loss was sustained or injury
received, and when it was lost or received, or when and where he contracted the disease
which caused the amputation or loss of his limb or limbs, or produced the permanent
claimed to exist.
PAGE 146 Southern Historical Society Papers.
SEC. 4. The widow of any soldier or sailor killed, or who shall have since died of wounds
received while in the line of duty during the civil war between the States, who has since
remained unmarried, shall receive a pension of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum
during such widowhood. Proof of such death and continued widowhood shall be made as in
other cases herein provided.
SEC. 5. That the benefits of this act shall accrue to the Florida State troops who may be
disabled in line of duty when called into service by the authorities of this State.
SEC. 7. This act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval by the
governor.
Approved June 8, 1889.
STATE OF GEORGIA.
We extract the following from the "Report of Madison Bell, Comptroller-General of the
State of Georgia, covering the period from August 11, 1868, to January 1, 1869, submitted
to His Excellency, Rufus B. Bullock, the Governor, January 12, 1869:"
MAIMED SOLDIERS.
By section 28, appropriation act of March, 1886, the sum of $20,000 was appropriated to
furnish artificial limbs to indigent maimed soldiers; and by section 27 of the
appropriation act of December, 1866, the further sum of $30,000 was appropriated for the
same purpose. By reference to the books kept by my predecessors, I find that the
first-named sum has been about exhausted, and that something over $12,000 of the second
appropriation has been drawn. By a resolution of the General Assembly, maimed soldiers,
under certain circumstances, were allowed to draw from the treasury the value of an
artificial limb in cases where the stump was so short that such limb could not be fitted
to it, and several applications of this kind have been presented to me since being in
charge of the Comptroller's office, and I have been somewhat perplexed in determining what
was the proper course to pursue. Although the appropriation has not been exhausted, and
this unfortunate class of our fellow-citizens has commanded my deepest sympathy, yet I
have, from a stern sense of official duty, persistently refused to approve any of these
claims.
PAGE 147 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, May 15, 1890.
MY DEAR BROTHER - I am this morning in receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, and I
regret it is not in my power to furnish accurate answers to your leading inquiries.
General Marcus J. Wright, of the War Record Office, War Department, Washington, D. C.,
will, in my judgment, be best qualified to impart the desired information. All the
captured Confederate records are accessible to him. He is much interested in all matters
appertaining to Confederate affairs, having been a brigadier-general in Confederate
service, and can, without doubt, turn at once to documents of file in the department which
will satisfy your inquiries. I believe he will deem it a pleasure to respond, as fully as
his leisure will permit, to your inquiries.
I enclose a copy of the latest act passed by the Legislature of Georgia providing for the
relief of disabled Confederate soldiers. The provision is not as ample as it should be,
but it is better than nothing, and ministers measurably to the comfort of those who are
entitled to every consideration.
By public benefaction Georgia has established no hospital or home for the shelter of her
disabled Confederate soldiers, but such an institution is now being builded near Atlanta
with funds privately contributed by patriotic citizens of the State. When that institution
is fairly under way, it is hoped that the General Assembly may be induced to receive it as
a public institution, to recognize it as a necessary charity, and to make provision for
its proper sustentation.
Your affectionate brother,
CHARLES C. JONES, Jr.
Professor Joseph Jones, M. D.,
P. O. Box 1600, New Orleans, La.
APPROPRIATING ALLOWANCES FOR MAIMED CONFEDERATE SOLDIES.
(No. 48.)
AN ACT to amend an act, approved October 24, 1887, entitled "An act to carry into
effect the last clause of article 7, section 1, paragraph 1, of the Constitution of 1877
and the amendments thereto."
PAGE 148 Southern Historical Society Papers.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia, That the act approved
October, 24, 1887, entitled "An act to carry into effect the last clause of article
7, section 1, paragraph I, of the Constitution of 1877, as amended by vote of the people
October, 1886," be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking therefrom the first
section of said act, and inserting in lieu thereof the following, to-wit: "That any
person who enlisted in the military service of the Confederate States, or of this State,
during the civil war between the States of the United States, who was a bona fide citizen
of this State on the 26th day of October 1886, who lost a limb or limbs while engaged in
said military service, occasioned by reason of such military service, or who may have thus
received wounds or injuries which afterward caused the loss of a limb or limbs," or
who may have been permanently injured while in said service, and who may be a bona fide
citizen of this State at the time of making application for the benefits herein provided
for, shall be entitled to receive, once a year, the following allowances or pay for the
purposes expressed in article 7, section 1, paragraph 1 (and the amendment thereto), of
the Constitution of 1877, to wit:
For total loss of sight, one hundred and fifty dollars.
For total loss of sight of one eye, thirty dollars.
For total loss of hearing, thirty dollars.
For loss of all of a foot or loss of leg, one hundred dollars.
For loss of all of a hand or loss of arm, one hundred and fifty dollars.
For loss of both feet or both legs, one hundred and fifty dollars.
For the loss of one hand or foot, and one arm or leg by same person, one hundred and fifty
dollars.
For permanent injuries from wounds whereby a leg is rendered substantially and essentially
useless, fifty dollars.
For the loss of one finger or one toe, five dollars.
For the loss of two fingers or tow toes, ten dollars.
For the loss of three fingers or three toes, fifteen dollars.
for the loss of four fingers or four toes, twenty dollars.
For the loss of four fingers and thumb, or five toes, twenty-five dollars.
For other permanent injury from wounds or disease, contracted during the service, and
while in line of duty as a soldier, whereby
PAGE 149 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
the person injured on disease has been rendered practically incompetent to perform the
ordinary manual avocations of life, fifty dollars.
The applicant shall also procure the sworn statements of two reputable physicians of his
own country, showing precisely how he has been wounded and the extent of the disability
resulting from the wound or injury or disease described. All of said affidavits shall be
certified to be genuine by the Ordinary of the county where made, and he shall in his
certificate state that all the witnesses who testify to applicants' proofs are persons of
respectability and good reputation, and that their statements are worthy of belief, and
also that the attesting officer or officers are duly authorized to attest said proofs and
that their signatures thereto are genuine.
SEC. IV. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said act be further
amended by adding: That the beneficiaries under the Acts of 1879 and the acts amendatory
thereof, granting allowances to ex-Confederate soldiers who lost a limb or limbs in the
service, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act, at the time the next payments are
made to other disabled beneficiaries under the Act of 1887. And the sum necessary to make
the payments provided by this act is hereby appropriated out of any money in the treasury
not otherwise appropriated.
SEC. V. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all laws and parts of* laws
in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby repealed.
Approved December 24, 1888.
ATLANTA, GA., April 14, 1890.
JOS. JONES, M. D., Surgeon-General, &c.:
DEAR SIR - As early as possible the information you ask for will be obtained and
forwarded.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
CLEMENT A. EVANS.
---------------
*In a communication from the Rev. John Jones, D. D., of Georgia, published in the
Southwestern Presbyterian, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 22, 1892, it is stated that
the total annual appropriation by the State of Georgia for the relief of and surviving
widows of Confederate veterans is $585,000, of which amount $185,000 has this year been
expended on disabled Confederates residing in Georgia.
---------------
PAGE 150 Southern Historical Society Papers.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
ATLANTA, GA., August 27, 1891.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General Confederate Veterans,
156 Washington avenue, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR - Your letter making inquiry about Confederate veterans has been received. It
will be referred to the adjutant-general of the State, Captain Kell, with the request that
he reply to it as soon as possible.
Very truly, etc.,
W. J. NORTHEN, Governor.
ADJUTANT-GENERALS' OFFICE,
ATLANTA, GA., August 27, 1891.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans,
156 Washington avenue, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR - Your communication of the 17th inst., headed official business, addressed to
His Excellency, W. J. Northen, governor of Georgia, has been placed upon my desk. I at
once called upon the governor, and informed him that while much of the information desired
in your communication might be obtained by careful research, there was no clerical help in
my office, and it was just impossible for me to furnish it. The governor desires me to
communicate to you the above information. Regretting that he can not furnish you with the
information requested.
With sincere regard, your obedient servant,
JOHN McINTOSH KELL,
Adjutant-Inspector-General.
PAGE 151 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
STATE OF KENTUCKY.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
FRANKFORT, April 14, 1891.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR - In answer to yours of the 9th inst., as to records of Confederate soldiers of
Kentucky, allow me to refer you to General Marcus J. Wright, Washington, D. C. He has in
charge the war papers of the Confederacy, and he, if anybody, can give the desired
information.
Respectfully,
ED. PORTER THOMPSON,
Private Secretary to Governor.
P. S. - I can, however, answer as to the 6th, 7th, and 8th. No provision whatever is made
by the State for her Confederate soldiers.
E. P. T.
STATE OF LOUISIANA.
BATON ROUGE, LA., March 12, 1890.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, New Orleans, La.:
MY DEAR DOCTOR - Being desirous of obtaining the information which you are seeking and
which you have requested me to obtain for you, I believe I have obtained the desired
information from my last report as secretary of State, from page 107 to page 133
inclusive. I have, this day, mailed a copy to you.
I have also obtained from the adjutant-general's office his last report, which contains
the appropriations made by the legislature for wounded and disabled soldiers, as well as
to soldiers' home. I have also this day mailed a copy to you.
I have also obtained from the register of the State land office that 103 wounded and
disabled soldiers have obtained land warrants under the provisions of Act No. 96, of 1884,
and have actually located each 160 acres of land. The widows of Confederate soldiers who
are in indigent circumstances are also entitled to the benefits of said act.
PAGE 152 Southern Historical Society Papers.
There are also, up to date, 564 Confederate soldiers who have obtained land warrants under
Act. No. 116 of 1886, entitling them to 160 acres of land. I would refer you particularly
to the provisions of the last act. You can obtain a copy from the State Library.
In relation to the names of surgeons who served in the Confederate army, I have been
informed that so far as the Army of Northern Virginia, you can have the names of the
officers at New Orleans. There has been no record kept of the Army of Tennessee, unless
Colonel A. J. Lewis can inform you.
I am, very truly, your obedient servant and friend,
OSCAR AROYO.
FROM THE VALUABLE "ROSTER OF THE LOUISIANA TROOPS MUSTERED INTO THE
PROVISIONAL ARMY CONFEDERATE STATES," PREPARED BY COLONEL OSCAR AROYO, SECRETARY OF
STATE.
The total original enlistments were:
LOUISIANA TROOPS MUSTERED INTO THE PROVISIONAL CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY.
Total original enrolment of infantry.................. 36,243
Total original enrolment of artillery................. 4,024
Total original enrolment of cavalry................... 10,056
Total original enrolment of sappers and miners........ 276
Total original enrolment of engineers................. 212
Total original enrolment of signal corps.............. 76
Total original enrolment of New Orleans State Guard... 4,933
--------
Grand total........................................... 55,820
REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF LOUISIANA.
Artificial Limbs.
Act 69, approved April 6, 1880, provides substantial artificial limbs for the citizens of
this State who lost a limb or limbs in the military service of the Confederate States, and
the adjutant-general is furnished with an official list of those entitled to the benefits
of this act, which list serves them as a guide as to the number and kind of artificial
limbs to be supplied by the State.
PAGE 153 The Medical History of the Confederate States.
Section 5 of that act provides for the payment of the pro rata proportion of the
appropriation of $12,000 for the year 1880, and of $8,000 for the year 1881; in case the
beneficiaries take oath before the clerk of the district court of their parish, stating in
their affidavits that they do not believe that the style of artificial limb contracted for
by the adjutant-general is instructed to approve and indorse on the affidavits the
contract price of the artificial limb to which the beneficiaries would be entitled under
this act, which affidavits, so indorsed and approved, shall be the voucher of the auditor
of public accounts for his warrant on the State treasurer in favor of the beneficiary.
By a latter resolution of the House of Representatives, under date of April 15, 1880, the
adjutant-general is authorized and empowered to supplement the list of disabled soldiers,
adopted and forwarded to him by the house, by the addition of the names of those at this
time citizens of the State, who may forward or carry to him an affidavit made before the
clerk of their parish that they lost a limb or limbs in the service of the Confederate
States, approved by either of their representatives or senators, or by the addition of
names of persons forwarded to him by either the Louisiana Division of Army of Northern
Virginia, or Louisiana Division of Army of Tennessee.
Under this act 69, and under the resolution of the house referred to, the following
artificial limbs are accounted for:
Appropriation for 1880...................... $12,000 00
Appropriation for 1881...................... 8,000 00
Act 72, approved July 1, 1882, directs that the unexpended balances appropriated by Act.
No. 69 of 1880, be transferred to and appropriated out of the general fund of 1882 and
1883, to be paid out according to provisions and regulations of Act 69 of 1880.
For artificial limbs in 1882................ $1,300 00
For repairs of same in 1882................. 1,000 00
For artificial limbs in 1883................ 1,300 00
For repairs of same in 1883................. 1,071 77
Under Act 72, the following artificial limbs and repairs to same have been furnished upon
proper affidavits on file in this office:
Appropriation for 1882..................... 2,300,00
Appropriation for 1883..................... 2,371,77
PAGE 154 Southern Historical Society Papers.
Act 46, approved July 5, 1884, appropriated eight thousand dollars out of the general fund
of 1884, and eight thousand dollars out of the general fund of 1885, or so much thereof as
may be necessary to supply and keep supplied with substantial artificial limbs the
citizens of this State who lost a limb or limbs in the military service of the Confederate
States.
Section 2 of this act provides that the list of those entitled to the benefits of the act,
now on file in the adjutant-general's office of this State, which may be amended by the
adjutant-general by adding the names of other soldiers upon proper proof furnished him, or
by striking off the names of those who have died, or who may hereafter die, shall be his
guide as to the number and kinds of artificial limbs to be supplied by the State.
Section 3 of the same act authorizes the adjutant-general of the State, with the
governor's approval, to contract for the manufacture of the artificial limbs required.
The remaining sections of Act 46 provide that the affidavits or certificates for relief,
under this bill, be countersigned by the proper officer of the association of the Army of
Northern Virginia or the association of the Army of Tennessee. That those who received
artificial limbs or the value of the same in warrants from the State in 1880, are entitled
to the benefits of this act in 1884, and those who were supplied in 1881 to the benefits
of this act in 1885. That all warrants issued under the same act are made receivable for
any licenses or taxes due and payable to the general fund for the year in which they are
issued.
Appropriation for 1884 ................................. $8,000 00
Appropriation for 1885 ................................. 8,000 00
Act 115, approved July 8, 1886, directs that the unexpended balances, amounting to
thirty-seven hundred and sixty-three dollars, be transferred to and re-appropriated out of
the general fund of 1886, 1887, and 1888, to be paid out according to provisions and
regulations of Act 46, as follows:
For artificial limbs and repairs of same in 1886 ....... $1,500 00
For artificial limbs and repairs of same in 1887 ....... 1,500 00
For artificial limbs and repairs of same in 1888 ....... 763 00
-----------
$3,763 00
PAGE 155 The Medical
History of the Confederate States.
Appropriation for 1886 .................................. $1,500 00
Appropriation for 1887 .................................. 1,500 00
Act 32, approved June 29, 1888, directs that the unexpended balances, amounting to eight
hundred and forty-five dollars and ninety-one cents, appropriated by Act 115, Acts of
1886, be transferred to and appropriated out of the general fund of 1888, to supply the
citizens of this State who lost a limb or limbs in the military service of the Confederate
States, with substantial artificial limbs, and those whose disabilities are such, through
wounds, surgical orperations, or injuries received in the line of duty as soldiers in the
service of the Confederate States, that an artificial limb would be of no practical use,
may have the benefit of the pro rata share of this appropriation, as hereinafter provided.
For the loss of the use of a leg, eighty dollars; for the loss of the use of an arm,
sixty-five dollars; for the loss of the sight of an eye, sixty-five dollars; for the loss
of hearing in one ear, twenty dollars; for the loss of the voice, eighty dollars; for the
paralysis of any portion of the body, causing disability, sixty-five dollars. All such
cases of disability to be established by the certificate of two medical practitioners of
good standing int he parish or district where the beneficiary resides; all applications
for relief to be approved by the proper officer of the association of the Army of Northern
Virginia, or the Army of Tennessee; that all warrants issued under Act 32 are made
receivable for any licenses or taxes due and payable to the general fund of the year in
which they are issued.
Appropriation for 1888 .................................... $845 91
Act 50, approved July 10, 1888, appropriates six thousand dollars out of the general fund
for the year 1889, and nine thousand dollars out of the general fund of 1889 to supply and
keep supplied with substantial artificial limbs the citizens of this State who lost a limb
or limbs in the military service of the Confederate States, under provisions similar to
those expressed in Act 69 of 1880 and Act 46 of 1884.
Appropriation for 1888 ................................. $6,000 00
The artificial limbs manufactured and furnished by Mr. A. McDermott, of New Orleans, under
Acts 69 and 72, for the years 1880,
PAGE 156 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
1881, 1882, and 1883, also under Acts 36 and 115, for the years 1884, 1885, 1886, and
1887, having proved satisfactory in every respect, the contract for artificial limbs
required by the State of Louisiana to supply its citizens was, for the fifth time, awarded
him, under Act 50, for the years 1888 and 1889.
The prices specified in the contract are as follows:
Artificial legs .......................................... $80 00
Repairs to an artificial leg ............................. 25 00
Artificial arms .......................................... 65 00
Repairs to an artificial arm ............................. 15 00
All estimated for cash or its equivalent in warrants.
The fluctuations in these warrants for the past nine years have been from 60 to 96 cents.
SOLDIERS' HOME.
The General Assembly has made the following appropriations for founding and maintaining
the "Louisiana Soldiers' Home," established in 1883, on Bayou St. John, near the
bridge at the end of Esplanade street, New Orleans:
Out of the revenues of 1883 .......................... $ 2,500 00
Out of the revenues of 1884 .......................... 2,500 00
For the year ending June 30, 1885 .................... 10,000 00
For the year ending June 30, 1886 .................... 10,000 00
For the year ending June 30, 1887 .................... 7,500 00
For the year ending June 30, 1888 .................... 7,500 00
For the year ending June 30, 1889 .................... 7,500 00
For the year ending June 30, 1890 .................... 7,500 00
------------
$55,000 00
To the above amount in State warrants may be added seven thousand dollars in cash,
received from the two divisions of Louisiana Confederate Veterans of the Army of Northern
Virginia and Army of Tennessee, being the amount realized from the two days' sham battles
and entertainments given at the Fair Grounds, New Orleans, in September, 1883.
The Soldiers' Home now affords comfortable quarters, clothing and subsistence to fifty-one
Confederate veterans, all disabled from injuries, wounds or loss of limbs in line of duty.
PAGE 157 The Medical History of the
Confederate States.
To fully develop and carry out the purposes intended, and to establish on a firm basis the
"Louisiana Soldiers' Home," in which all classes are interested, it is hoped
that the General Assembly will continue the appropriations on a more liberal scale, for
the extention and maintenance of this humane and deserving institution.
STATE OF MARYLAND.
Respectfully returned, and attention invited to remarks of General Johnson. No
organizations of Confederate troops were furnished by the State, which was subjugated by
the United States; but many thousands of her citizens went to the aid of the Confederate
States, and served in most of them in their commands to the close of the civil war. (?)
Question No. 4. None.
Question No. 5. By act of the legislature a piece of property known as Pikesville Arsenal
has been donated for a Confederate home, and now shelters some fifty or more veterans.
J. HOWARD, Adjutant General.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
Official inquiries were addressed to the governor of Mississippi in 1890 and 1891.
No replies have been received to the respectful inquiries of the Surgeon-General United
Confederate Veterans, and in the absence of all information from Mississippi, we present
with pleasure, for the consideration of the United Confederate Veterans, the following
valuable communication from General Allen Thomas, who served with distinguished gallantry
at the siege of Vicksburg:
RUNNYMEADE, October 21, 1891.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, Surgeon-General
United Confederate Veterans:
MY DEAR DOCTOR--Your favor of September, after some delay in finding me, was received, I
have been trying to refresh my memory with reference to your inquiries, but it has been so
much
PAGE 158 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
weakened by time and trouble that I find I am not able to give you definitely the
information you desire.
To your first inquiry: "Names of the medical officers in charge of the Confederate
sick and wounded during the siege of Vicksburg, name also of Medical Director?"--
I would say that Dr. Winn, of Holmesville, Avoyelles parish, was my regimental surgeon.
Dr. Pierce was his assistant. Dr. Raoul Percy was also on duty; as was Dr. Walker in
charge of the First Louisiana Heavy Artillery (Fuller's command). As well as I recollect,
Dr. Balfour was Medical Director, and Dr. Burchel, if I mistake not, was in charge of the
hospital for the sick and wounded. Of course there were many other members of the medical
profession who participated in the siege, but I do not recollect their names.
2. Number of Confederates killed and wounded during the siege of Vicksburg?
Ans. I do not know the exact number, but I can approximate. I understood at headquarters
at the commencement of the siege, that we had seventeen thousand men of all arms of the
service; there was about eleven thousand paroled. Some time before the surrender, General
Pemberton called his general officers together to ascertain if it were possible to cut our
way out. This was found to be utterly impracticable. There were but eleven thousand men of
all arms of the service fit for duty. And these were not in a condition to sustain
continued exertions. We had no horses for either cavalry or artillery. Of course I cannot
say positively the number of men paroled, but I heard it frequently stated that it was e
evjutant-general is instructed to approve and indorse n my opinion the great majority of
these were killed or wounded.
3. Number of Confederate troops (officers and men sick and wounded) surrendered at
Vicksburg?
Ans. About eleven thousand.
4. What was the condition, physical and moral, of the Confederate troops at the time of
surrender; could the struggle have been protracted much longer?
Ans. The Confederate troops suffered greatly for want of proper provisions, for some time
before the end of the siege. A small cup of cornmeal or rice was a day's rations, and the
men, from forty-eighty days' of service in open trenches, exposed to torrid sun and all
weather, unable to move from their positions, without being exposed to a storm of shot and
shell, were necessarily much worn
PAGE 159 The Medical History of the
Confederate States.
and emaciated; so apparent was this, that when I marched my brigade by a group of Federal
officers, one of them exclaimed in my hearing. "Great God, can it be possible that
these men held us in check for so long a time." The morale of the men was excellent.
They could not have been driven; they might have been overwhelmed, but had no thought, so
far as I could observe, of retreat of surrender. It would have been impossible for them to
have continued the struggle much longer, as it was beyond the endurance of human nature.
5. Are there any authentic accounts of the siege of Vicksburg extant.
Ans. None that I know of. The late Jefferson Davis once asked me to write a history of the
siege. I contemplated doing so, but was told that Colonel McCardle, of General Pemberton's
staff, was about to publish such a work, which induced me to abandon it. Regretting that I
am unable to give you more accurate dates.
I am, with the highest esteem, most truly yours.
ALLEN THOMAS.
STATE OF MISSOURI.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, April 14, 1890.
JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans,
156 Washington Avenue New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR--I am in receipt of yours of the 9th instant, requesting me to furnish your
association data as to the number of troops furnished the Confederate States army by the
State of Missouri, etc., and have to reply that there are no records at the capital from
which to furnish the information desired.
There is an ex-Confederate association in this State, Mr. James Bannerman, Southern hotel,
St. Louis, being the president thereof, and it is possible that by communicating with him
you may be able to ascertain what you desire to know.
Regretting my inability to comply with your courteous request, I am
Yours very respectfully,
DAVID R. FRANCIS, Governor.
PAGE 160 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, August 21, 1891.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Box 1600, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR--I am in receipt of yours of the 17th, asking information concerning the Missouri
troops in the Confederate army, and also requesting detailed statement concerning the
relations between Missouri and the Confederacy, which would require weeks of labor to
prepare, if they could be furnished at all. I have referred that portion of your letter
concerning the number of troops from Missouri in the Confederate service to the
Adjutant-General's department, of which General Joseph A. Wickham is the head, and have
asked the Secretary of State, Captain A. A. Lesueur, who commanded Lesueur's battery in
the Confederate service, to make reply to your request for copies of State papers relating
to the civil war.
Respectfully,
DAVID R. FRANCIS.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, MO., August 22, 1891.
Dr. JOSEPH JONES, New Orleans:
DEAR SIR--Questions four, five and six of your letter to Governor Francis have been
referred to me for reply, and in response would say:
1. This State has passed no law to pension or for the relief of disabled and indigent
Confederate soldiers.
2. There is a home for Confederate soldiers at Higginsville, this State, which was
established and is being sustained by private contributions, and at which all worthy and
needy Missouri ex-Confederates will be received and cared for.
3. In order to comply with your request for "State papers, acts, etc., relating to
the civil war," I would be compelled to send you copies of Session Acts, proceedings
of constitutional conventions, etc., which would make a package of considerable size, and
not knowing whether you would be willing to pay necessary freight or express charges, I
thought best to write you for information on that point. If you wish me to send them,
please say whether by freight or express.
A. A. LESUEUR, Secretary of State.
PAGE 161 The Medical History of the
Confederate States.
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, August 24, 1891.
Governor DAVID R. FRANCIS, City:
DEAR SIR--I have the honor to return the enclosed letter, with the information that there
is no data on file in this office which will enable me to reply to the questions asked. I
would suggest, that perhaps the Southern Historical Society could come nearer furnishing
the information asked for than any one, unless it be General Harding.
Very respectfully,
J. A. WICKHAM, Adjutant-General.
To General Harding:
Can you reply?
D. R. F. Governor.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, August 25, 1891.
JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
156 Washington Avenue, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR--In further answer of yours of the 17th, I enclose communications from the
Department of the Adjutant-General and from General James Harding, who was a brigadier in
the Confederate service. You will observe therefrom that it is impossible to give you
definite information on the points mentioned in your letter. I would suggest that you
correspond with the Southern Historical Society in the city of St. Louis. Captain Lesueur
informs me that he has replied to the queries to which he could give satisfactory answers.
Respectfully,
DAVID R. FRANCIS.
PAGE 162 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF COMMISSIONERS,
CITY OF JEFFERSON, August 25, 1891.
Hon. DAVID R. FRANCIS, Governor of Missouri:
GOVERNOR--Herewith I have the honor to return papers referred to me by you this date.
I believe it to be impossible to give the information desired by Surgeon-General Jones,
with any degree of accuracy. There are no records in this State from which it can be
obtained, and it is very doubtful if the records of the Confederate war department will
furnish it.
As regards question No. 1, the information must be very inaccurate, as Senator Cockrell,
in his address at Kansas City a few days since, stated that Missouri furnished more men to
the Confederate service than any State, except one. I have given this question some
attention, and am confident that twenty-five thousand will include every man and boy in
the Confederate service from this State. If the Senator is right, I am out of the way only
about sixty thousand!
Very respectfully,
JAMES HARDING.
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
RALEIGH, August 22, 1891.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
P. O. Box 1600, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR--I am instructed by the governor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 17th
inst., asking for information in regard to the troops furnished by the State of North
Carolina during the Civil War, 1861 to 1865.
The information desired is not in this office, consequently cannot be furnished by the
governor. He has referred your letter to the adjutant-general of North Carolina, with
request that he furnish you such information as he has in his department.
Very truly yours,
S. F. TELFAIR, Private Secretary.
PAGE 163 The Medical History of the
Confederate States.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
The following correspondence and documents embrace the sum of our present knowledge, with
reference to the Confederate veterans and disabled soldiers of 1861-1865 in the State of
South Carolina:
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
COLUMBIA, S. C., April 11, 1890.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Box 1600, New Orleans, La.:
DEAR SIR--The governor has received yours of the 9th inst., and directs me to inform you
that he will take immediate steps to procure as much of the information you desire as can
possibly be obtained.
Very respectfully,
W. ELLIOTT GONZALES,
Private Secretary.*
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL,
COLUMBIA, S. C., June 12, 1890.
Surgeon General JONES, New Orleans, La.:
SIR--Herewith I send you some pamphlets relating to late war.
The rolls of companies from this State have never been completed, some forty not having
yet come in, as per report of 1886.
The number estimated to have been furnished by this State is about sixty thousand, of whom
it is believed, from careful estimates, some twelve thousand were killed or died. The
rolls received have mainly been made from memory, hence are far from being correct, though
some are fairly so.
---------------
*Both North and South Carolina, it is believed, have made or will make provision for their
native veterans. The editor has seen newspaper reference to contemplated action, but is
not definitely advised as to such.
---------------
PAGE 164 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
General McCrady has kindly furnished the four pamphlets. I am very sorry I cannot give you
more reliable data. It is very doubtful if legislature will ever have the rolls obtained
put in book-form.
Very respectfully,
M. L. BONHAM, Jr., A. and I. General.
Jno. Scofin, Assistant.
STATE OF TENNESSEE.
[Dictated.]
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
NASHVILLE, TENN., April 22, 1890.
Hon. JOSEPH JONES, Surgeon-General, etc.,
156 Washington ave., New Orleans:
DEAR SIR--In response to the request of your letter of recent date, I have endeavored to
collect the information sought, and will communicate it to you as soon as I am able to
obtain it.
Very respectfully,
ROBT. L. TAYLOR.
STATE OF TEXAS.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
AUSTIN, May 17, 1890.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES, Surgeon-General
United Confederate Veterans, New Orleans, La.:
SIR--Your communication of 9th ult., to His Excellency, Governor Ross, has been referred
to this office. In reply, I would state that no records, rolls, or papers of any kind,
relating to the Texas soldiery in the Confederate Army, can be found here, and, therefore,
I have no means of supplying the desired information.
As to indigent or helpless Confederates, private enterprise and humanity have established
a "Home" in this city for Confederates, but the State is constitutionally unable
to make direct appropriations
PAGE 165 The Medical History of the
Confederate State.
of money to help said home, but has given the rent from a large public building to this
purpose, running from fifteen hundred to two thousand annually in value.
Respectfully,
W. H. KING, Adjutant-General.
STATE OF VIRGINIA.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
RICHMOND, VA., August 22, 1891.
Prof. JOSEPH JONES,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans,
156 Washington avenue, New Orleans, La.:
SIR--You letter of the 17th inst. to Governor McKinney, requesting information as to the
number of troops from Virginia in the Confederate armies; character of their
organizations; numbers killed, wounded, died of disease, deserted; roster of medical
officers, etc., etc., has been referred to me for reply. I regret extremely to have to say
that it is not possible to give this information. In the great fire that attended the
evacuation of this city by the Confederate forces, April 3, 1865, the office of the
adjutant-general, with its entire contents, was destroyed. Whatever records or files it
contained capable of throwing light on the subject of your inquiries, were thus lost
forever. Of course, also, all headquarters' records and papers with our armies in the
field were turned over to United States officers, to whom they surrendered, and are now in
Washington.
There is in this State one Soldiers' Home for disabled Confederates. It is located in the
suburbs of Richmond, and affords accommodations to about one hundred and thirty inmates.
The State appropriates ten thousand dollars a year to their maintenance. Besides, some
seventy thousand dollars a year are appropriated for the relief of Confederate veterans
disabled by wound received in service. There are a number of Confederate camps in various
parts of the State, the principal one being R. E. Lee Camp, in this city, by which
maintenance is given to needy veterans.
Very respectfully,
JAS. McDONALD, Adjutant General.
PAGE 166 Southern
Historical Society Papers.
Whilst the preceding correspondence has yielded far less definite information than was
desired, with reference to the forces engaged or the losses incurred by the individual
Confederate States during the conflict of 1861-1865, at the same time it is evident that
several of the Southern States have acknowledged, in a measure at least, their obligations
to assist the disabled and destitute Confederate veterans. Foremost amongst the Southern
States and Florida, Louisiana and Georgia in their devotion to their sons who rallied to
their defence in the hour of bloody and desolating war. However insignificant the
assistance tendered the disabled Confederate soldiers, in comparison with the great
resources of the States formerly composing the Southern Confederacy, let us hope for
better, nobler and more generous assistance for the disabled and impoverished Confederate
soldiers, and the forlorn and struggling widows of those who yielded up their lives to a
just and righteous sense of duty to their native States.
With great respect, General,
I have the honor to remain
Your obedient servant,
JOSEPH JONES, M. D.,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans.
