The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-09
ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
(Continued from First Page.)

N~NAANAANN NASAtA II iAoh etoN'( cite and send her to Siboney, where she | received the wounded. Within the fol- | lowing day or so the transports carry | ing the reserve and first division hos pitals was found and unloaded of their hospital contents, the latter hospital | finally obtaining limited transportation | to the front, After u couple of days duty on board the Olivette I was di- rected to put the Iroquois in condition | to receive patients and to take the full capacity of the ship on board. While doing this l was able to set ashore considerable hospital tentage and sup plies found aboard of her, and, having control of her boats, l was able to visit other transports in the harbor and land medical supplies from them. While subsequently outfitting the Cherokee and Breakwater, this work was contin- ued as well as opportunity and limited facilities permitted getting supplies from perhaps third of the transports composing the fleet. Outside of this it | is believed that no other regimental medical property was ever unloaded up l to the time of my departure With | wounded on July 10.
 | Appealing on several occasions for the use of a lighter or small steamer to collect and land medical supplies, was informed by the quartermasters de- partment that they could render no as- | sistance in that way and the medical department was compelled to rely en- tirely upon it's own energies and inn provise it's own transportation. I feel | justified in saying that at the time of my departure large quantities of medi- cal supplies urgently needed on shore still remained on transports, number | of which were under orders to return to the United States. Had the medical | department carried along double the amount of supplies 1t is difficult to see how they would have been landed
 The outfitting of transports for the reception of sick and wounded is duty demanding thought and experience, and should never be entrusted to any one but regular medical officer It includes the proper policing of the por- tion of the ship to be used by the wounded, the utilization of the ships | blankets, door mats and carpets to render the hunks more comfortable, the recurring of extra supplies, such as canned soups and lime juice and oat- meal, the establishment of a mess and laundry and the assignment of conval- escents to specific light duties which materially relieve the overworked hos pital corps. Usually it is necessary to overcome passive resistance and oppo- sition on the part of the crews and Tendency on the part of captains to | disregard or modify orders.
 l T.. fence this action of the crew amounted almost to mutiny and was only to be dealt with by threats, a show of force and in one instance by the use of irons. | While executive officer at the general hospital, Fort Monroe, I learned off, ctally that the captain of the steam ship Seneca positively refused to obey the orders emanating from your office given him by the contract surgeon in charge, to proceed to New York, he remaining nearly an additional day at Hampton Roads with sick and wound- ed, and asserting that he would obey no l orders given by the medical depart l ment. A similar experience of my own at Daiquiri which had to be settled by | force, emphasizes the fact that no one | should be placed in charge of such a ship who is not accustomed to com- mand men and enforce obedience
 | With regard to the Red Cross society, it would seem as if the lofty purposes of this organization were on the San tiago expedition subverted to individual interests. While at Tampa the Red Cross ship State of Texas was formally l placed under the control of the chief Etfth hxyT Top ba | representative of the society Colonel Pope accepted this offer and directed that the State of Texas accompany the expedition of General Shafter to it's destination. Although this order was fully understood by pr. Egan, the State of Texas did not accompany the expedi- Etion, nor did it arrive at Siboney until the forces had been landed, a battle fought and our hospital established and in working order The first offers of aid made by this society dealt largely in genera1ties and manifested reluc- tance to subordinate the organization to the medical department Too much praise cannot be given to the individual efforts of Dr. Lesser and the Red Cross nurses. Their work was untiring and unselfish, and the assistance rendered by them was of great value
 In conclusion, it is desired to empha- size the fact that the lamentable con- ditions prevailing in the army about Santiago were due to the military ne- cessity which threw troops on shore and away from the possibility of sup ply without medicines instruments
 dressings or hospital stores of any kind
 Very respectfully,
 Your obedient servant,
 Edward l.. Munson,, | Captain and Assistant Surgeon Con-