The record-union., 1898-11-21

General George M. Sternberg has mace
his report to the Secretary or war. II
relates mainly to the work OF the meol-
cal corps during the war. The 1ol-
lowing are the more important 1eatures
of the report:
The number Of medical officers, l9z,
allowed by law to the army, is inade-
quate in time of peace. The IN
sufficiency in time Of war was met py
the assignment of over 600 contract
surgeons. The very small proportion or
medical officers having experience or a
military character impaired the eff1c-
iency of the department at the outset,
but many of the staff surgeons from
civil life showed great aptitude for the
service and speedily became of value
as administrative sanitary officers.
No provision was made for hospital
corps men for the volunteer troops, ex-
cept that which empowered the Secre-
tary of War to enlist as many privates
Of the hospital corps as the service may
require.
The number of men enlisted ana
transferred during the war was ap-
proximately 5000.
The want of a sufficient body of train
ed hospital corps men necessitated the
detail OF enlisted men from the regl-
ments for hospital duty in several OF
the camps and the employment OF
trained nurses at the general hospital.
over LOO female nurses have been
employed, first at the general hos
pitfalls, and later at the field and div1-
sion hospitals, when it became evident
that the field for service purposes for
which the latter had been organized
would have to give place to the i'm
perative need of caring for the many
sick men coming from the regimental
camps!
Immediately upon the declaration of
war, April 21st, steps were taken to
obtain medical supplies for the new
volunteer army. The manufacture was
expedited with the utmost dispatch. On
May Sd foreseeing that it would be
impossible to have ready for the issue
to the volunteer regiments as soon as
they were mustered in the necessary
articles of field equipment, telegraph
ed the Governors of the several States
for the authority to use the medical
equipment of the National Guard in the
service of the State until our army
medical supplies were ready for issue.
Most of the Governors who had field
equipment responded promptly and
satisfactorily but, unfortunately, many
of the State medical departments had
no such equipment. Meanwhile the
officers in charge of the medical sup
ply depots were directed to make ar
rangements so that supplies could be
Immediately obtained for 100000 men
for six months.
Wherever the notice was received
from the Adjutant Generals office that
commands were to be moved or camps
formed, I endeavored to anticipate the
wants Of the troops by telegraphing to
the officer in charge of the nearest sup
ply depot to forward supplies for the
stated number of men.
In my opinion the reduction of the
age limit from 21 to Is years and the
haste with which the volunteer regi-
ments were organized and mustered
into service were responsible for much
of the sickness which was reported in
the early days of camp life. All mill
tary experience shows that young men
under 21 years break down rapidly
under the strain of war service, and
every regiment had many of these
youths in its ranks. Medical examin-
ers were appointed to testify to the
physical conditions of each man be-
fore acceptance, but, notwithstanding
this so many men were afterward
found on the sick lists of the camps
UNFIT for service, from causes existing
prior to enlistment, that special ar
rangements had to be made for their
discharge
Soon after the newly raised levies
were aggregated in large camps sick
ness began to increase progressively
from causes that were so general in
their operation that scarcely a regi-
ment escaped from their harmful in
f1uence. These causes may largely be
charged to ignorance on the part of
officers Of the principles of the camp
sanitation and their duties and respon-
sihilities as regards the welfare of the
enlisted men in their commands.
The sites of certain of the camps
have been instanced in the newspapers
as the cause of the sickness which was
developed in them; but a review of the
whole situation shows that it was not
the site, but the manner of its occu-
patton which must be held responsible
for the manner and spread of disease
among the troops. April %, 1898, fore
seeing the likelihood of unsanitary con-
ditions in the camps, issued circular
No. J. impreSsing upon medical Off
GERS their responsibility in sanitary
matters and the necessity for strict
sanitary policy, particularly in the case
of sick and in the preservation of the
camp area from contamination. But
the necessity Of the military popula-
tion on the area of these contracted
camps prevented the possibility of good
sanitary conditions. Camps of this
character may be occupied for a week
or two at a time without serious re-
suits, as in the case of the National
Guardsmen out for ten days practice
during the summer, but their continued
occupation will inevitably result in the
breaking down Of the command by
diarrhea, dysentery and tphoid fever.
Practically nothing was done TO
make the men comfortable or to rem
edy the unsanitary conditions until
these We're brought to the attention of
the Secretary of War by inspectors
sent out from the War Department.
Then the camps held for so long were
abandoned, but not before the manifes-
tations of typhoid infection were rife
IN them. New sites were carefully Sc
lected, regimental camps were expand
ed. company tentage Increased and
board flooring provided. Then, for the
first time. the troops went into camps
suitable for continued occupation