Dr. Who?

     If there’s a little known hero of the Civil War, it has to be Dr. Jonathan Letterman.  I was reminded of that recently when the founder of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Dr. Gordon Dammann, gave a lecture on Dr. Letterman and his Letterman Plan.  Maybe you’ve never heard Dr. Letterman’s name before, but your life has probably been affected by his work.  The Letterman Plan, which is a system for treating and evacuating casualties from battlefields, is the basis for many aspects of our modern military medicine, emergency medicine, and even disaster relief.

Here is Dr. Dammann, talking about Dr. Letterman and his plan.  I think this is one of his favorite topics!

     At the start of the Civil War, there was no set procedure for removing wounded soldiers from the battlefields.  In some cases, the wounded were left on the battlefield for over a week, which meant that many of the men, who might have been saved, died from their wounds or from exposure.  While the army did have ambulances which could transport the wounded soldiers, the ambulances were under the control of the Quartermaster Department which procured and distributed most of the supplies for the army.  As you might imagine, the ambulances were not always the top priority in this system!  In fact, there were instances in which ambulances were appropriated to carry other supplies, or even personal items. 

     In 1862, just a few months prior to the Battle of Antietam, Major Jonathan Letterman was named the Medical Director of the Union Army of the Potomac.  His first step toward revamping the medical system was to establish a separate Ambulance Corps. He gave control of the army ambulances to the officers of the ambulance corps, he distributed ambulances to each regiment, he had enlisted men trained to serve as ambulance drivers and stretcher bearers, and he had the use of ambulance wagons for any non-medical uses forbidden.  

This Wheeling ambulance is one of the types of ambulance wagons used during the Civil War.  Illustration from “The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-65) Part III, Volume II.”

  

 

     Letterman also reorganized the system of medical treatment and field evacuation.  He applied a triage system in which the wounded were treated based on the severity of their wounds instead of the order they arrived.  He also established aid stations on the battlefields, where medical officers could stabilize the wounded soldiers and arrange for their transportation to a field hospital.  The field hospitals were located near the battlefields.  It was here that the soldiers received additional treatment, including emergency surgery if needed.  If more long-term treatment was required, the wounded were transported to the larger, more permanent hospitals which were usually located in the cities.

     The Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history, was the first real test of Major Letterman’s new system.  It was a success.  Even when faced with over 23,000 casualties, his plan ensured that all of the wounded were removed from the battlefield within 48 hours, which undoubtedly saved many lives.  He continued to make changes and improvements, and in 1864 his plan was made official by an Act of Congress.

Though the equipment has changed, the Letterman Plan is still in use today.

     I’ll leave you with a quote from the NMCWM’s own website: Major General Paul Hawley, Chief Surgeon of the European Theater in the Second World War, said of Letterman, “I often wondered whether, had I been confronted with the primitive system which Letterman fell heir to at the beginning of the Civil War, I could have developed as good an organization as he did. I doubt it. There was not a day during World War II that I did not thank God for Jonathan Letterman.”

An 1862 photo of Major Letterman (first seated figure) and his staff in Warrenton, Virginia.  Library of Congress image.

Acquiring an Ambulance

 

     One of the interesting aspects of writing a blog is in seeing the statistics for it. I can see how many people view it, what countries they are from, which posts are the most popular, and what search requests are used to find my blog. One search which appears fairly often is, “Do museums buy artifacts?” The answer varies by museum, but for the NMCWM the answer is, not often! Today I’m going to talk about an exception to that though.

     You may recall that last year I wrote about a reproduction ambulance wagon which was on loan to the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, and was on display in the barn. Since the Pry Barn was used as a field hospital during the Battle of Antietam, it has probably “seen” many ambulance wagons pass by its doors. So, it’s quite fitting to have an ambulance on display in the barn.  In case you missed it, the link to that post is here.  

 

     Though technically it is not an artifact, the ambulance was very popular with our visitors, and it added to our interpretation of the Pry House and Barn. So, when we were offered the chance to purchase a different reproduction ambulance, we knew we had to find a way to make it happen! Normally, we have to rely on the generosity of people who donate artifacts to our museum. In this case, we will need to raise the money to purchase this ambulance, so we will be hoping for the generosity of people to donate to our “Help Us Keep This Ambulance!” fund.

The ambulance is on loan to us for now. It is a fully-functional reproduction of a Rucker ambulance. If we are able to purchase it, we will refurbish it so that it can continue to be used in our exhibit in the Pry Barn, as well as in some hands-on programs.

 

      During the Civil War, ambulance wagons were essential for quickly transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefields to the hospitals. At the beginning of the war, many of the ambulances were two-wheeled wagons. While they were lighter and faster than the four-wheeled wagons, they broke down more often, and did not offer a smooth ride for the patients being transported. Soldiers often referred to these two-wheeled wagons as “gut-busters!”

      The four-wheeled ambulances were soon favored. They were equipped with springs in the undercarriage which greatly improved the ride for the patients. They also could carry more patients, they broke down less often than the two-wheeled version, and when they did break down they were easier to repair.

In this photo, probably taken at Fredericksburg, Virginia, the 57th N.Y. Ambulance Corps is shown removing wounded soldiers from the field. Notice that there are two-wheeled and four-wheeled ambulance wagons in use. My eye was also drawn to that adjustable stretcher which is visible on the left side of the photo. I’ll have to cover that in a future post! Library of Congress image.

 

      To read a little more about our ambulance wagon and about Civil War medicine, click here.

 

      So, if we want to keep this ambulance wagon, we have some fundraising work to do now. I’m hoping that in the near future I will be able to report that we own the ambulance!

 

Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, except where otherwise noted.

A Soldiers’ Fair

     The 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam was this past Monday, September 17.  During the battle, the Pry House served as the headquarters for General George B. McClellan, and the barn was used as a field hospital.  It was only fitting for the Pry House Field Hospital Museum to take part in commemorating the anniversary of the battle.  Just for the anniversary weekend, the Pry House was the site of a Soldiers’ Fair which featured living historians, crafters, and artisans.  They helped to give a glimpse into life in the 1860s. 

A view of the battlefield from the Pry House today is much more peaceful than it was 150 years ago! The National Park Service was doing tours and reenactments over the weekend as well. The sounds of the cannons in the background definitely helped to set the mood.

 

The tents and the reenactors helped to make me feel like I’d been transported back in time.

 

 

Sometimes though, I had to overlook some of the modern conveniences in the scenery! The red flag flying from the barn door indicated that it was being used as a hospital.

 

Some anachronisms can’t be avoided…. 

 

The surgeons were positioned just outside the barn to be ready to treat the wounded.

 

Inside the barn there was a display of a field kit and the medicines which it would have contained.

 

A Civil War doctor demonstrates how to make opium pills. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the pill sizes were not always uniform, so the dose of medicine the patient received was an approximation.

 

Would you like to try to extract the bullet from this leg?

 

The officers set up camp behind the house.

 

The period crafters and artisans set up their tents in the field in front of the house. There was a wide range of activities and presentations including live music and dancers, quilting, candle dipping, making rag dolls, children’s games, food preservation, embalming, and even doing laundry.

 

The U.S. Sanitary Commission was also represented. The Sanitary Commission was a private relief agency created in 1861, just after the start of the Civil War. The Sanitary Commission was created to educate the military in matters of health and sanitation in the camps and hospitals. It also staffed field hospitals, raised money, and provided supplies for the soldiers.

 

     Many members of the museum staff participated as well.

 

 

Tom, the Superintendent of the Pry House, took advantage of the services of a wet-plate photographer.

 

Here’s the finished product – Tom looks pretty good for being over 150 years old!

 

Our Store Manager, Judy, demonstrates how to dip candles.

 

 

Kyle, the Director of Interpretation & Programming at the Pry House, gets his head read by a phrenologist. Phrenologists examined the bumps and depressions on a person’s skull because they were thought to be an indication of the person’s personality and character.

 

Our Executive Director, George, displayed the tools he uses to make period banjos. Notice there are no power tools on the table!

 

 

     We were also fortunate to be able to borrow a modern armored ambulance from Ft. Detrick.  It was placed next to our Wheeling Ambulance so that people could see how much medical transport has changed. 

 

 

This is a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected Ambulance, also known as an MRAP. Today’s wounded soldiers can be transported off the battlefield in this instead of in a horse-drawn ambulance.

 

A modern military stretcher has many improvements over the wood and canvas Civil War stretchers!

 

Setting up a modern stretcher posed some problems for these young reenactors.

 

Luckily the pros were there to show them how to do it!

 

A side-by-side view of the old and new ambulances and stretchers.

 

At the end of the day, everyone pitched in to help move the Wheeling ambulance. Did someone forget to order the horses?!

 

Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

New Artifacts at the Pry House

     I’ve been busier than usual at the Pry House Field Hospital Museum lately, partly due to the delivery of two new artifacts which have been loaned to us.  With the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam occurring this September, we’ve been working hard to update the exhibits in anticipation of the extra visitors to the battlefield.  These artifacts are a very welcome addition!


     The first one to arrive was a reproduction of a Wheeling ambulance wagon, which is being displayed in the barn.

Illustration of a Wheeling ambulance wagon fromThe Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-65) Part III, Volume II.

     These ambulance wagons were designed by General W.S. Rosencrans, and are sometimes also called Rosencrans ambulance wagons.  They were used in the early part of the Civil War, and were pulled by two horses or mules.  They could hold up to twelve seated people on the bench seats which ran along each side of the wagon.  If the cushioned, hinged edges of the seats were raised, the wagon could transport two people lying down, and two or three seated people.  The front seat concealed a storage area for medicines and other essential items.

Kyle watches as the wagon is unloaded from the trailer. If you look closely you can see two of the four elliptical springs which helped to make the ride more comfortable for the soldiers. Two of the springs were perpendicular to the sides of the wagon, one on the front axle and one on the rear axle. Two additional springs were located on the rear axle and were positioned parallel to the wagon sides.

 

Side view of the ambulance wagon. Here you can see the foot brake on the front of the wagon, the step to the back of the wagon, the canvas cover which helped shield the occupants from the sun and rain, and a stretcher stored on the side.

  

Rear view of the ambulance wagon. The wagon had two water kegs built into the back. The panel in the middle is a door which allowed easier access to the wagon.

 

     The second artifact to arrive was the desk of Dr. Jonathan Letterman. 

Major Jonathan Letterman is known as the “Father of Battlefield Medicine”. While he was the Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac he developed the ambulance corps, a system of triage for the wounded, a more organized use of surgeons and medical supplies, and a system of evacuation for getting the wounded from the battlefields. This system, called the “Letterman Plan”, is the basis for modern battlefield and emergency medicine.

 

     Since we stress the importance of Dr. Letterman’s Plan at the museum, we were all  very eager to see his desk!  Of course, I needed to document it by measuring and photographing it, so I had a good excuse to examine it immediately.  The desk comes apart into three pieces, which makes it easier to transport.  All the drawers and door lock, and the original key came with the desk.  It also has a "hidden compartment" behind the bottom section which opens from the right side of the desk.

Tom was taking pictures while I was taking pictures! I was documenting the dovetailing on the drawer, along with an ink stain. 

The small brass plaque on the desk top. The Pry house was his field headquarters during the Battle of Antietam. Is it possible this desk has been here previously?

Here is the desk on display. The chair did not come with the desk, but it does help one to envision Dr. Letterman sitting at his desk. The chains are to keep anyone else from sitting at his desk!

 

     Thanks to the generosity of the people who loaned us these items, we have some exciting displays for the visitors to the Pry House Field Hospital Museum!

  

Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, except where otherwise noted.