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| Union hand-stretchers at work at Marye's heights in May, 1864 Over fifty thousand hand-stretchers of various patterns were issued by the Union Government during the war. It was by means of them that the removal of the helpless wounded from the battlefield was effected. The best pattern of hand-stretcher weighed twenty-four pounds, was quickly collapsible when not required, and possessed legs which made its temporary use as a cot readily possible. This photograph shows the wounded on Marye's Heights after the battle at Spotsylvania, May 12, 1864. The wounded man on the stretcher is gazing rather grimly at the camera. His hand is bound up, and his foot showing at the end of the stretcher is bare. The poor fellow in the foreground seems pretty far gone. His face is as pale as the blanket which covers him. The whole group of strong men struck down typifies the awful effects of war. |
