The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-12-04
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
[OUR OWN CORRE PONDENT. ~


he became convalescent aud applied for a GER
tlficate Of discharge. During the day man
In the next bed had died, and the certificate
Of burial and the discharge were made out at
the same time but, by an error OF the secre
tary, the discharge was issued to the dead
man, and the body of VIM Bosch was to be
consigned to the dead-housn. In the morning
when the surgeon made his call, the German
came, his face radiant with smiles and held
up his certificate to the doctor. II bin going
out, now, herr DOCTOR" SAID he.
The surgeon read the paper carefully.
"Mr. Bosch, this says thst you did yestar-
dav evening, how do you expect to go out'''
at ras lot me, es war fodder what died."
he replied.
"It must have been you Mr.. Bosch, for no
mistake occur in this hospital
"But, herr doctor, es war fodder man."
"The resident physician has sent in n certi-
6cate tor the burial OF the body of William
Bosch, and we must act upon his statement"
The German became alarmed
"But you see, dear doctor, bin NIGHT dead
it war fodder man what dead is" said he,
his countenance falling at the persistence of
the Surgeon.
"My dsar sir, you de ns& understand the
rules of this institution. When certificate
comes in that a man is dead, he is to all in
tents and purposes a dead man, and so we
have to consider him.
doctor, he was not recbt; am not ted
"Here it is, though, i'll black and white !;
there can be no mistake about the matter"
"Mein Gott, herr doctor, it vas der mann
| in fodder bed vas died.
''You are wrong sir,' said the Surgeon
"you are mistaken DIR -, You will take
the body of Mr. Bosch to the dead house and
| cut 1t open, to ascertain Of what disease he
| died"
Mr.. Bosch's breast heayed with emotion
His knees shook beneath him, and his eyes
widened at the thoughts of scalpel passing
| through his body. Grasping the doctors
hand, he said tremulously:
| "Dear doctor, can you not see l bin not
| dead-Ich been NIGHT tod, herr doctorl'
Thn fall
| rolled down his cheeks. His countenance
| was the very picture of agony, and he i'm
| plored heartily, FOR the sake OF his wife and
| children, to be released. 1t was cruel to car
| ry the joke any further.
| Well, sir, for this time l will let you Off;
but, for the future, rememb Der the rules of the
| establishment cannot be violated"
| Mr. Bosch was delighted with the magnan-
! unity OF the doctor He promised to rem EN- Der
| him in his prayers, and then bid him an affec-
| tionate goodbye. After going through the
| wards, shaking hands with ali the patients, he
| turned towards the door, and with many
| "adieus" double quicked it across the COM
/ mon.
! have told thisstory merely as an in troduc-
| tion to point or tiso about tie medical corr
/ Of the army. / have seen several articles OF
| late which reflect upon them severely, and, il
we speak of them as class, very unjustly -
| Undoubtedly there are those in the service
| who are incompetent and dangerous but in
| what department of the army, or in what
| walk in civil life is there that some-nay ms
| ny-bad and useducated men cannot be foundi
have seen much suffering among the sick
l and hate seen som6 cases CT neglect Gu the
| part of the medical officers but | have also
heard them abused tor neglect of duty when
| they were not in the least to blame II proper
| provision is not made for the sick il the hos
pitfalls are not well supplied if there is not O
| sufficient number of ambuiances, or if trans
| portation by railroad is rot furnished, the
| medical men are notresponsible, and IN comes
| q general complaint Sf the in Aom mpetency at
I r a mo yrt,a
| Surgeon has to do, besides the ordinary atten-
! ton to the sick? He has to be physician, sur
geon, undertaken, grave-digger, and some
| times attend to the burial He has to pro
| vide for the sick furnish proper food; buy
| eggs, chickens, meat. medicine. straw, blan-
| kets, and every necessary establish hCsti
| tails; watch the policing of the camps, and is
| kept busy nearly all day in signing reQuisi-
| tions, vouchers, furloughs, and DISCHARGE
! These are but few of the duties that deyoIve
| upon the Surgeons in the field, but they are
| enough for my purpose. Now, why not have
| a medical commssary and Quartermaster to
| attend to these details and leave the Surgeon
| free to attend TO his patients? His mind
! should be free from accounts and red ia Pc
| routine, and only occupied by the actual care
| Of the men under his charge.
| There are many errors III the quartermas.
| ter department that should be corrected
| before the medical officers are censured too
| Sc everely. There are faults in the commissary
department that should be corrected before
| the sick can have the care they require
| Some time ago a Surgeon had humber of
| sick men, but had no hospital to put them in
| There was none at Centreville, or at Manas-
| sas, and he concluded to send them to a town
| on The railroad, where a State hospital had
been established. In order to get them off,
certain papers had to be made out and signed
| by the Medical Director. The sick men taken
| to Manassas, in ambulances, and the papers
| sent in. After time they came back, no ac-
| tion having been taken upon hem because
| they were not made out in the proper form
| MPanVhil0 n
place to put the Invalids in, and men, rackpd
| with pain, weakened by disease, and some
| suffering with burning fever, were forced to
| lie out, without food and without scanty
| shelter. No matter what the result might be
| the papers must be made out correetiy-the
| rules of the establishment could not be VIC.
| lated.
The surgeon, who was a man celebrated in
private practice, but not familiar with the
| army regulations and forms, did his best to
| set matters right, and finally succeeded, but
not until the poor men had spent hours OF
| suffering and had undergone exposure enough
to send half of them into kingdom come
| What wonder that many of them died, and
that the remainder are still lingering in
buildings over which floats the yellow, pesti
Iential flag? What wonder there should bs
| com plants from their friends at home The
regulations must be strictly obeyed; the
rules of the establishment m ust not be violat.
cd; Mr. Bosch must be fiayed alive, if his Ger.
| tificate saysso; but let the responsi bIlity res
| where it belongs, and not upon the patient
surgeons, who try to do their duty to the
sick and to their country under most dis
conragiug and dishear tening circumstances
| This evening the LIST Virginia returned from
| the outposts where they have been for some
days cn picket duty. There was great re.
joieing to see them back once more, and, pro.
ceeded by their band, they marched proudly
into camp, and gave three hearty cheers al
| their return. Although small, it is undoubt.
edly the best regiment in the service in many
respects, and is the cynosure of all eyes on
| parades and reviews. NOtWi tbs tan ding the
| weather has been severe, they have borne
| the hardships OF ouipoSts duty without Q
murmur, and have returned in excellent
health and spirits. The recent changes and
promotions In the regiment have been all sady
published i'll the DispasGh. The new overcoatS
have been received and they now present a
fac and martial appearance. From Drs
Cullen and hlaury learn that there are now
| few cases of sickness in camp and that the
general health of the regiment is good -
| Nothing particularly new or interesting has
occurred in their camp, all having been
kept busy since their return terrifying them.
selves against the cold weather.
! This morning there was grand review OF
| Gen. LOngStreet's division, consis.in of the
| brigade of Gems. Ewell, Cooke, and Jones
/ arrived on the ground late, and did not wit.
ness the ceremony, bat succeeded in getting
sight OF Gen. Eweil at the head Of hi,
force. The sight was a splendid one, and
felt very proud of the General and his bri
gade, and could but wish the Yankees woulG
soon give them an opportunity OF testing
| their metal in the field.
Last Thursday one hundred and sixty Fed
| eral cavalry came up to within rifle distance
of our pickets, and dismounting commenced
| firing on them. The pickets stood theil
| ground and although there were but five OF
| six, the Yankees did not dare to advance upor
them. After firing for some time On both side,
the enemy withdrew. The distance was toe
| great to do any damage on either side. The
next evening party of Federal cavalry
came up on the Falls Church road, but sooI
retired.
notice that the impression prevails IL
Richmond that the enemy Is advancing, ans