Jonathan Letterman on the Medical Corps: Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac

Summary

Jonathan Letterman (1824–1872) was a surgeon who in 1862 was appointed Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac. He revolutionized medical care in the battlefield by introducing a holistic system of fresh supplies, evacuation practice and mobile hospitals, including medical provision for the thousands of wounded after the Battle of Gettysburg. The following excerpt is taken from Jonathan Letterman, Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac (New York: Appleton, 1866). For further details, see Bennett A. Clements, ‘Memoir of Jonathan Letterman,’ Journal of the Military Service Institution 4, No. 15 (September 1888).

I am convinced that there exists in the minds of many, perhaps the majority, of line officers, a very imperfect conception of the position of Medical officers, and the objects for which a Medical Staff was instigated. It is a popular delusion that the highest duties of Medical officers are performed in prescribing a drug or amputating a limb; and the troops frequently feel the ill effect of this obsolete idea, and are often unnecessarily broken down in health and compelled to endure suffering which would have been avoided did commanders take a comprehensive view of this important subject. It is a matter of surprise that such a prejudice should exist in this enlightened age, particularly among highly intelligent men; and it were well if commanding officers would disabuse their minds of it, and permit our armies to profit more fully by the beneficial advice of those who, for years, have made the laws of life a study, and who are therefore best able to counteract the influences which so constantly tend to undermine the health of the army and destroy its efficiency. A corps of Medical officers was not established solely for the purpose of attending the wounded and sick; the proper treatment of these sufferers is certainly a matter of very great importance, and is an imperative duty, but the labours of Medical officers cover a more extended field. The leading idea, which should be constantly in view, is to strengthen the hands of the Commanding General by keeping his army in the most vigorous health, thus rendering it in the highest degree, efficient for enduring fatigue and privation, and for fighting.