The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-04
SURGEONS AT SANTIAGO.
One of Their Number Defends the
Medical Department.
DR.. Victor c. Vaughan. in the Medic

DR.. Victor C. Vaughan. in the Medical
Record.
Returning from Cuba a few days ago on
board the Segnranca, in ,harge Of sick sol
diers one of the Grst things to meet my
eyes was a reproduction in the daily papers
of an editorial from yot,r columns attack
ing the medical department of the army. On
this point wish to say only a few words
at present, and l hope to give more In de-
tail later. 1 was at Siboney from June q
until July %, and think myself quite COM
petent to speak concerning the treatment
of the sick and wounded at that place.
where the general hospital was located.
Concerning the surgical skill of the opera
tors at Siboney there can be no question.
In the hands of such men as LIE Garde,
Nancrede, Parker, Fauntleroy, Ireland and
medical officers from our fleet, the wounded
soldier had the best scientific treatment. AS
to general care of the wounded, I may say
that while this is my first experience in
taking care of those wounded in battle, /
do not believe that there ever was before
an engagement as bloody and as prolonged
as that of Santiago in which the wounded
were so we'll cared for. Every soldier car
ried in his knapsack a frst-aid package,
and all had been trained more or less thor
oughly in their application. Personally, 1
distributed about twelve hundred of them,
and quite number of these same bandageS
came back to me on wounded soldiers l can
from personal knowledge testify to the fact
that many lives were saved by their use.
So far l know, this first-aid package has
not been so extensively used in any other
war. For many wounds these dressings, ap-
piled by comrades on the fighting line, were
all that was needed until the injured man
reached the hospital.
The transportation from the front to the
hospital at Siboney was not what we
wished. There were only few ambulances,
and most of the wounded were brought to
! the hospitals in army wagons. Many men
suffered severely during this ride. The in
! tense heat, the cramped position of many in
the crowded wagon and the jolting of the
heavy vehicle over the rough road all COM
bined to give discomfort Why were there
not more ambulances? They were left at
! Tampa or were not unloaded on the Cuban
coast. The medical department was not,
| however, responsible for this To provide
transportation is the duty of the quarter
masters department, but l do not know
that any one can be censured very greatly
| for the failure to provide sufficient num-
| Der of ambulances. 1t is well known that
| the transports were crowded, and the land
| irg of animals and vehicles, both at Bal
| qIiri and at Siboney, was difficult and
| dangerous task ] was on a transport
! which approached the coast nearly as
| the captain dared. When the anchor was
! dropped from the prov the line went down
! forty fathoms, while the depth at the stern
was only seven fathoms. and not fifty yards
away were the sharp rocks of precipitous
coast. 1t can readily be imagined that with
! high waves dasl ing against the ship such a
position might quickly become perilous.
| Horses and mules had to be pushed into the
| water, and while most of them swan
| ashore, some were drowned. Even the land
ing of men was not easy We had to drop
as best we could into rowboats, which at the
/ time were being toss ed up and down by the
waves, and when the boats neared the shore
they often became unmanageable and were
filled with water. Like many others,
waded ashore.
| who stayed at home, who are ready to tell
us of the great mistakes made in this cam
paign They say that Shafter should have
on the shore and built good docks. so that
| everything on board the transports could
| have been landed. He should have built
! place to Santiago. He should have brought
| up heavy artillery. Soldiers should not
and batteries without artillery support
| These are some of the many things that we
| are told should have been done. | have
! no claim to military knowledge, and General
| Shafter did not consult me, but as a medi-
| cal man. ] wish to say that, in my opinion,
had half these things been attempted. the
! Santiago and the American army would
have been fortunate had one-half of il es-
| capped both sickness and Spanish bullets
Enervated by heat and disease, the army
| could not have made two weeks later the
| glorious charge 1t did make on San Juan
| bodybuilding on Cuba's coast and road
making in its mountain passes at this time
! of the year would, in my opinion, have
| caused more deaths than were due to the
great fight at III Caney. This is not alto
| gether a matter of medical opinion. 1t is a
| fact that the regiment left al Siboney and
! between that place and Aguadores furnished
| the first case of yellow fever and suffered
| most severely from that disease 1t is vel
! known to students of epdemiology tFat vel
! low fever is most frequent and mos. viru-
lent Immediately along the shore The fight.
| ing was practically over by the evening oil
| July 9. on the 5th i saw the first case
| of yellow fever. Before that day had pass.
| ed we had three or four more cases. the
| next day about thirty. and the next more
| than fifty. and all of these were among
| those working on the coast.
On the arrival of the wagons loaded with
! the wounded at the hospital at Siboney the
| men were placed as best we could. At the
request of DIR. LIE Garde, | superintendec
| the placing of several trains of the wound
4 ed 1t is true that there was not always
/ cot ready for the reception of each man. anC
i those least seriously wounded had to lie OF
| the ground for some hours: but we haC
/ blankets, and made them as comfortable al
/ possible No one was neglected. Every on,
| who could do so lent helping hand. A
| least one newspaper reporter gave his tim.
/ Tor DAYS TO feeding these men. I thinl
! that he furnished the food from his stores
| and prepared II himself. That 1t was goos
I can testify, because he brought me cul
Of his broth late at night on more thai