Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-11-08
THEY ALL AGREE
Continued from page ~

Hoff. The next reason is that the man
in charge in the hospital, the division
surgeon, very seldom visited the hospital
or paid any attention to it. His name
was Jenny. The next reason is that
there We're not enough doctors at any
time to take care of the patients without
overworking the doctors and making
them too i'll to get out of bed. The two
first weeks | was there, not a man was
on duty who was physically fit for duty.
THE next reason is that the nurses
were never competent in any sense of
the word, but they did the best they
could, when you consider their ignorance.
Some of them could not even read. They
We're forced to do this work under pro-
test and of course did only what they
were obliged to. One day / visited the
typhoid ward and found all the men spit
ting on the ground l said to the men
in charge that l would have them all
arrested Il they did not provide some pa
per or something on the ground for the
men to spit on. But the next day things
were just as bad as ever.
"Hom had no respect for individuals.
1t made no difference what an individual
WdHleu, ne was OlltN one out Ol tnOu-
sands. Once when l was physically ex-
hausted and not able to do the work he
said: 1 don't care a damn for YOU SIT,
you are only one man, but you are in
valuable in the hospital and / cannot
spare you But / told him / was not
able to continue the work and must be
relieved for two weeks.
Jenny left everything with the men
in the hospital. l know that the requisl-
tons made for goods and supplies were
approved by the doctors, but they were
not brought to the grounds because of
the fault of somebody else. | think that
was the fault of the doctors in charge
of the hospitals, the corps doctors, the
division doctor and the doctor in tmme-
Hate charge of the hospital. They made
requisition, but it is necessary to do more
than that; a man had to get on a horse,
take a six-shooter and demand those
necessary supplies from. the quarter
master.
In reply to further questions, Dr.
Ward said: The necessities were no;
available from the army supplies and
had it not been for the Red Cross soma
of the soldiers would have starved
Requisition after requisition was for
warded and yet no relief came. The
nurses as a rule We're Incompetent
though some We're more faithful thar
others. This was not remedied because
we had to obey army regulations as 1C
detailing men for nursing duty
When asked as to his opinion of the
responsibility for the conditions a
| Camp Thomas, DIR. Ward said: ''Fol
| the condition of the camp, first the mar
| who insisted that the camp was perfec
| and that the hospital was well run
That man was Gen. Boynton."
! DIR. Connor-"Had Gen. Boynton any
| thing to do with the quartermaster'
or commissary's department.
| DR.. Ward-'I say he was response
BILE for keeping the army there whe,
that army ought not to have been KEEP
| there. The want of supplies was du
to the fact that the quartermaster
and commissary departments We're no
bounded enough for supplies-not fol
lowed up enough
When questioned again as to the con
| dition of the water he said that whel
he saw the kind of water the men wer
using he spoke to Gen. Boynton abou
it. and asked him why he brought tina
water from where he did. Gen. Boyn
ton replied that the water in question
was never intended for the use of tn
men for drinking, but that it wa
meant simply for watering the stoc
and such purposes.
DR.. VIM. Culberton, one of the Is
Inninois Cavalry, said the sinks a
Chickamauga had to be dug with axe
and shovels, the supply of which wa
tremendously insufficient. When re
QUESTION was sent in for quicklim
with which to disinfect the camp h
continued, there was no supply of tina
material and the medical department
was handicapped by the lack of man
necessary articles for the perfect SAM
tation of a camp
Col. Henry I. Turner of the LIST Hi
nois Volunteers. said the condition
We're fairly good at Chickamauga dur
5 ing the three weeks his regiment wa
! there. His command was prompt
supplied with rations at Chickamaug
and the quality was good He t.ou