Evening star., 1914-07-11
By Pop

('sss-~ ~ ~ |
war is generally regarded as the In
strument that first developed something
like a systematic care of the sick and
wounded. 1t is true that the Crimean
war of 1S54-1Sss saw organized and
comparatively efficient medical depart
ments in operation with the three
armies. especially the French. n is
also true that in this respect the
Crimean war marked an advance over
the conflicts that had gone before.
Nevertheless the soldiers fell sick and
gave up their lives by the thousands.
Cholera carried off most of them even
before bullets got chance to do
The sanitary provisions were entirely
inadequate.
To Surgeon Jonathan Letterman.
United States Army. medical director OF
the Army of the Potomac in the civil
war. belongs most of the credit for in
augurating the efficient military sanitary
lied land forces. An interesting fact in
this connection. and one that is unpleaS-
ant to Americans. is that the other coun-
tries profited by his work. while his own
forgot it until the bitter lessons OF the
war with Spain brought a sting1ng re-
minder. OF course. the foreign armies
have medical departments suitable to the
peculiar needs and ideas Of each. and the
natural advance Of science has forced
great notifications. but II is a fact. ac-
cordng to many authorities, that the
broad basis of it all was laid by Letter.
man.
terman was thirty-six years old and had
been an army sur
Plan Proposed geon for twelve
by DR.. Letterman. seen active serv.
ice against the Seminole Indians in Flor.
ida. and in the wars OF the far west
against the Navajos and the Gila
Apaches. When he Joined the Army OF
the Potomac Gen. Mcclellan reported:
Supplies have been almost exhausted or
necessarily abandoned: hospital tents
abandoned or destroyed. and the medical
officers deficient in numbers or broken
down by disease.
Letterman then proceeded to put into
effect the idea he had long nursed in
his mind. namely. that the care of the
wounded in battle and their transpor-
the same skill and precision that gov
erned the movements of cavalry. in
fantry or artillery. This led him to
organize ambulance corps and set up
field hospitals in a way that had never
been done before. His assistants for
had left civil life but a year before.
but they rallied most Loyalty and ef
ficiently to his support. Freeing the
Medical Corps from the dominance of
y taF-nv has s,ft thA ~fea har
with the recognition of the right of
medical officers to perform their duties
without interference from oflcers of
the line, were other notable reforms.
The system started by MAJ Letter.
man was adopted later by the entire
Union army. He soon
Chance Is Given had an opportunity to
put il to test in the
ot <An'iee' great battle of Antie-
TAM the bloodiest of the war. The battle
line extended six miles. and there were
900 wounded. Every one was taken off
the field and attended to within twenty
four hours. This was a new record in
war. and the ambulance corps was a fix
ture. The new field hospital system DID
not do so we'll. The battle of Fredericks-
burg came along three months later.
There were 10000 Federal wounded. and
the ambulances could not go on the held
of the Union defeat until ntghtfalL BY
daylight, twelve hours later. all were In
tents. and another record had been maoe.
The disease that our forces in Mexico
must face whether il be brigade or am
number of corps. are dysentery. TYPHOID
fever malaria yellow fever and tNphus.
The last-named two. at one time the most
dreaded pestilences of armies, are nov
to be faced with as little terror as small
pox strikes us today. The causes of both
are now known They are encountered
in the open Their day as Snlpers mas
passed. Yellow fever. science knows. is
due to the bite of a mosquito Typhus
fever once the most contagious OF all
diseases. is caused by the bite of louise
The only way to fight these diseases is
to have them whipped at the start. This
is done only by elaborate precautions
from the very beginning. followed by rigid
daily Inspections II is the old ''an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure
theory reduced to its last analysis. This
method has been i'm full operation with
our troops have been massed on the
Mexican border. and it is in daily use
now at Vera Cruz. No other army 4,
the world is keener on the efficacy Of
medical and sanitary preparedness than
is our own.
Clean food. potable water bacterially
inspected milk, vaccination. anti-typhoid
inoculation. rap
ADOPTION OF Means i'd and thorough
VIA, disposal of camp
w @AS'SA w a tie every
morning, the use of lncinerators. trenches.
etc. and the instruction of ofncers and
men along sanitary lines-these are the
means by which our Army Medical Corps
is preserving the health of our boys at
Vera Cruz. along the border. in HaMan.