, who explained its objects and extended a hearty welcome in a brief but eloquent address.
, M. D., of New Orleans,
Comrades, survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, we meet for the
first reunion since the close of the war between the
Northern and Southern States in this Camp, which bears the name of
N. B. Forrest, one of the greatest cavalry leaders of the
American war of 1861-1865.
In the midst of this peaceful and beautiful city, we are surrounded by the mementoes and emblems of war.
Dr. J. B. Cowan,
Chief Surgeon, and
Dr. John B. Morton,
Chief of Artillery of
General N. B. Forrest's cavalry, and
Dr. A. E. Flewellen,
Medical Director of the Army of Tennessee under
General Braxton Bragg, and many other distinguished representatives of the Confederate Army and Navy, are with us; and we are glad to welcome once more the noble forms and brave countenances of the
Confederate veterans.
As the speaker stood this day upon the summit of
Lookout Mountain, at an elevation of two thousand six hundred and seventy-eight feet, the mountains and valleys of
Tennessee and
Georgia presented a panorama of wonderful beauty and unsurpassed historical interest.
At the foot of the mountain, which stands silent and alone, like the
Egyptian Sphinx, winds the beautiful
Tennessee, embracing the growing and active city of
Chattanooga, like a crown of jewels, spreading around and over Cameron's Hill, once crowned with stern battlements and frowning cannon.
Here at our feet lies Moccasin Bend, as beautiful as a garden with its fields of waiving grain.
Up
[
124]
this steep mountain side charged the
Northern hosts, and here was fought ‘The Battle Above the Clouds.’
The eye ranges over Waldron's Ridge and
Missionary Ridge, rendered historic by bloody and desperate battles.
Twenty-seven years ago the soldiers of
General Bragg, ranged along the crest of
Lookout Mountain and
Missionary Ridge, held the
Northern army closely invested within the military and fortified camp of Chattanooga, and sustaining upon their bayonets the fortunes of the Southern Confederacy in the
West, they resisted the southward flow of the red tide of war, and for a time protected the mountains, hills and valleys of
Georgia from the devastating march of Northern hostile armies.
Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia.
To the south winds the river of Death along whose densely wooded bank, on the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, lay thirty thousand dead, dying and wounded Confederate and Federal soldiers.
The
battle of Chickamauga,
Georgia, is justly regarded as one of the most bloody conflicts of the war.
General Bragg's effective force on the first day of the battle, September 19, 1863, exclusive of cavalry, was a little over thirty-five thousand men, which was in the afternoon reinforced by five brigades of
Longstreet's corps numbering about five thousand effective infantry, without artillery.
The Confederate loss was in proportion to the prolonged and obstinate struggle, and two-fifths of these gallant troops were killed and wounded.
Dr. A. E. Flewellen, the
Medical Director of the Army of Tennessee, who is with us at this reunion, active and energetic in body and mind, at the age of seventy years, gave the following estimate of the
Confederate losses in this bloody
battle of Chickamauga:
Battle of Chickamauga—Confederate losses.
| Corps: | Killed. | Wounded. | Total. |
| Polk. | 440 | 2,891 | 3,331 |
| Hill. | 311 | 2,354 | 2,665 |
| Buckner. | 436 | 2,844 | 3,280 |
| Walker. | 367 | 2,045 | 2,412 |
| Longstreet. | 260 | 1,656 | 1,916 |
| Forrest. | 10 | 40 | 50 |
| —— | —— | —— |
| Grand total | 1,824 | 11,830 | 13,654 |
[
125]
The full and revised returns of all the Confederate forces engaged in this bloody battle show that the estimate of the
Medical Director of the casulties was below and not above the actual loss.
The aggregate casulties of the 19th and 20th of September, 1863, were officially reported by
General Braxton Bragg, as two thousand and twelve killed, twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine wounded, and two thousand and eighty-four missing; total, seventeen thousand and ninety five.
From the original reports in the possession of
General Braxton Bragg, we consolidated the following:
On the 19th of September,
Lieutenant-General Polk's corps numbered thirteen thousand three hundred and thirteen effective officers and men, artillery and infantry; on the 20th, eleven thousand and seventy-five.
During the two days battle,
Polk's corps lost, killed four hundred and forty-two, wounded three thousand one hundred and forty-one, missing five hundred and thirty-one; total four thousand one hundred and fourteen.
On the 19th of September,
Lieutenant-General Longstreet's corps numbered two thousand one hundred and eighty-nine; on the 20th, seven thousand six hundred and thirty-five; loss, killed four hundred and seventy-one, wounded two thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, missing three hundred and eleven; total three thousand six hundred and sixty-nine.
Lieutenant General D. H. Hill's corps numbered, September 19th, seven thousand one hundred and thirty-seven; on the 20th, eight thousand eight hundred and twelve; loss, killed three hundred and eighty, wounded two thousand four hundred and fifty-six, missing one hundred and sixty eight; total three thousand and four.
Major-General S. B. Buckner's corps numbered, September 19th, nine thousand and eighty; on the 20th, six thousand nine hundred and sixty-one; loss, killed three hundred and seventy-eight, wounded two thousand five hundred and sixty-six, missing three hundred and forty-one; total three thousand two hundred and eighty-five.
Major-General W. H. F. Walker's corps, September 19th, seven thousand five hundred and thirty-seven; 20th, five thousand nine hundred and seventy-four; loss, killed three hundred and forty-one, wounded one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine, missing seven hundred and thirty-three; total three thousand and twenty-three.
On the 19th of September the number of Confederate officers and men engaged were:
[
126]
| Infantry officers. | 3,343 |
| Infantry enlisted men. | 34,096 |
| Total infantry. | 37,439 |
| Artillery—Officers. | 76 |
| Enlisted men. | 1,791 |
| —— |
| Total. | 1,867 |
| Total infantry and artillery. | 39,306 |
On the 20th of September the number of Confederate officers and men engaged were:
| Infantry-Officers | 3,648 |
| Enlisted men | 35,124 |
| —— |
| Total infantry | 38,772 |
| Artillery-Officers | 68 |
| Enlisted men | 1,617 |
| —— |
| Total artillery | 1,685 |
| Total infantry and artillery | 40,457 |
Total officers and men killed, wounded and missing, artillery and infantry, September 19 and 20, 1863: killed, two thousand and twelve; wounded, twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine; missing, two thousand and eighty-four; total, seventeen thousand and ninety-five.
| Killed. | Wounded. | Missing. | Total. |
| Polk's corps | 442 | 3,141 | 531 | 4,114 |
| Hill's corps | 380 | 2,456 | 168 | 3,004 |
| Wallker's corps | 341 | 1,949 | 733 | 3,023 |
| —— | —— | —— | —— |
| 1,163 | 7,546 | 1,432 | 10,141 |
[
127]
Grand total right and left wing: killed, two thousand and twelve; wounded, twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine; missing, two thousand and eighty-four: total, seventeen thousand and ninety-five.
Nearly one-half of the army consisted of reinforcements, just before the battle without a wagon or an artillery horse, and nearly if not quite one-third of the artillery horses were lost on the field; the
medical officers had means greatly inadequate, especially in transportation, for the great number of wounded suddenly thrown upon their hands, in a wild and sparsely settled country; many of the wounded were exhausted by two days battle, with limited supply of water, and almost destitute of provisions.
The fruits of this glorious victory, purchased by an immense expenditure of the precious blood of the
Southern soldiers, were lost to the Southern Confederacy through the indecision and indiscretion of the
Confederate commander.
Casualties of the Army of Tennessee, November, 1863.
The casualties of the Army of Tennessee during the subsequent disasters of
Missionary Ridge,
Lookout Mountain and
Knoxville, Tennessee, are comparatively small in comparison to the magnitude of the operations.
The losses of the Confederate forces were:
Knoxville, November 18 to 29—Killed, two hundred and sixty; wounded, eight hundred and eighty; total, one thousand one hundred and forty.
Lookout Mountain, November 23 and 24—Killed, forty-three: wounded, one hundred and thirty-five; total, one hundred and seventy-eight.
Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863—Killed, three hundred and eighty-three; wounded, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two; total, two thousand two hundred and sixty-five.
Tunnel Hill, November 27—Killed, thirty; wounded, one hundred and twenty-nine; total, one hundred and fifty-nine.
Aggregate of these engagements—Killed, seven hundred and sixteen: wounded, three hundred and two; total, three thousand seven hundred and forty-two.
We have, then, as a grand aggregate of the
Confederate losses in battle in the operations around
Chattanooga, Tennessee:
[
128]
| Killed. | Wounded. | Missing. |
| Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, September 19 and 20 | 2,012 | 12,999 | 2,087 |
| Knoxville, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Nov. 18, 29 | 716 | 3,026 |
| —— | —— | —— |
| Total | 2,728 | 6,025 |
| Aggregate loss | | | 20,840 |
This estimate does not include the losses in prisoners sustained by
General Bragg's army at
Knoxville, at
Lookout Mountain and
Missionary Ridge, which would swell the total loss to over thirtythou-sand men.
The desperate and bloody nature of the
Confederate operations around
Chattanooga, in the months of September and November, 1863, will be seen by a brief view of the preceding great battles fought by the armies of
Mississippi and
Tennessee, and of the subsequent campaigns under
General Joseph E. Johnston and
General J. B. Hood, in 1864 and 1865.
At the
battle of Belmont,
Missouri, on the 7th November, 1861, the Confederate forces, under the command of
General Leonidas Polk, defeated the
Federal forces under
General U. S. Grant, with a loss to the former of killed, one hundred and five; wounded, four hundred and nineteen; missing, one hundred and seventeen; total, six hundred and forty-one.
The Confederate operations of 1861 and 1862, as conducted by
General Albert Sidney Johnston, at the
battle of Shiloh, were characterized by the most appalling disasters.
Fort Henry, Tennessee, fell February 6, 1862, with an insignificant loss of five killed, eleven wounded, sixty-three prisoners.
Fort Donelson, Tennessee, after three days fighting, February 14, 15 and 16, 1862, surrendered, with a loss of killed, two hundred and thirty-one; wounded, one thousand and seven; prisoners, thirteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine; total Confederate loss, fifteen thousand and sixty-seven.
With the fall of
Forts Henry and
Donelson, the
Cumberland and
Tennessee were opened to the passage of the iron-clad gunboats of the
Northern army;
Kentucky passed under the
Federal yoke;
Nashville, the proud political and
[
129]
literary emporium of
Tennessee, was lost, and this noble State became the common battle-ground of hostile and contending armies.
Both sides levied recruits and supplies from the unfortunate citizens of
Tennessee;
Columbus, Kentucky, was abandoned, and the fall of
Island No.10,
Fort Pillow and
Memphis followed.
The unbroken tide of Federal victory in the
West was rudely arrested by the armies gathered by
General Albert Sidney Johnston and
General G. T. Beauregard near the southern shore of the
Tennessee, at
Corinth, Mississippi.
The brave Confederate commander,
General Albert Sidney Johnston sealed his devotion to the Southern Confederacy with his life, on the 6th of April, 1862, whilst leading to victory the gallant soldiers of the Armies of
Mississippi and
Tennessee.
At the
battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1862, the effective total of the Confederate forces, comprising the Army of Mississippi, before the battle, numbered, forty thousand three hundred and fifty-five, and after the bloody repulse of the 7th, the effective total was only twenty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty-six.
General Beauregard, in his official report, places his loss at
Shiloh at one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight killed outright, eight thousand nine hundred and twelve wounded, nine hundred and fifty-nine missing, making an aggregate of casualties of ten thousand six hundred and ninety-nine.
The losses at
Shiloh were distributed among the different corps of the Confederate army as follows:
| Killed. | Wounded. | Missing. |
| First Corps, Major-General Polk | 385 | 1,953 | 19 |
| Second Corps, Major-General Bragg | 553 | 2,441 | 634 |
| Third Corps, Major-General Hardee | 404 | 1,936 | 141 |
| Reserve, Major-General Breckenridge | 386 | 1,682 | 165 |
| —— | —— | —— |
| Total | 1,728 | 8,012 | 959 |
The suffering of the
Confederate wounded were great, indeed, as they lay upon the cold ground of
Shiloh during the night of the 6th, exposed to the pitiless rain and the murderous fire of the gunboats.
In the subsequent siege of
Corinth, less than fifty thousand Confederate troops successfully resisted the advance of one hundred and twenty-five thousand Federal troops abundantly supplied with food and water, and armed and equipped with most approved weapons of modern warfare.
[
130]
The losses of the Confederate forces from disease during the siege of
Corinth equalled, if they did not exceed, the casualties of the
battle of Shiloh.
General Beauregard, by his masterly evacuation of
Corinth, eluded his powerful antagonist.
The Armies of
Mississippi and
Tennessee, under the leadership of
General Bragg, inaugurated the campaign of 1862 for the recovery of
Tennessee and
Kentucky.
At the
battle of Perryville,
Kentucky, October 8, 1862, the Army of Mississippi, under the command of
General Leonidas Polk, lost, killed, five hundred and ten; wounded, two thousand six hundred and thirty-five; missing, two hundred and fifty-one; total, three thousand three hundred and ninety-six.
In the
Kentucky campaign of 1862, the
Confederate troops under the command of
Generals Braxton Bragg and
E. Kirby Smith manifested their powers of endurance on long and fatiguing marches, and their excellent discipline in retreating in good order in the face of overwhelming hostile forces.
At the
battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862, and January 1, 1863, the Confederate army lost nearly one-third of its number in killed and wounded.
General Bragg, in his official report of this battle, estimates the number of his fighting men in the field on the morning of the 31st of December at less than thirty-five thousand, of which about thirty thousand were infantry and artillery.
During the two days fighting
General Bragg's army lost one thousand six hundred killed and eight thousand wounded; total, nine thousand six hundred killed and wounded.
From the 6th of April, 1862, to the close of the year 1863, the Army of Mississippi and
Tennessee lost in the battles of
Shiloh,
Murfreesboro and
Chickamauga six thousand and forty-six killed on the field, and thirty-two thousand and thirty-five wounded; total killed and wounded, thirty-eight thousand and eighty-one.
We do not include in this estimate the loss sustained at
Perryville, in
Bragg's
Kentucky campaign, or in numberless skirmishes and cavalry engagements.
More than fifty thousand wounded men were cared for by the
medical officers of the Army of Tennessee during a period of less than twenty-one months.
The deaths from disease exceeded those from gun-shot wounds, and the sick from the camp diseases of armies greatly exceeded the wounded, in the proportion of about five to one; and during the
[
131]
period specified, embracing the battles of
Shiloh and
Chickamauga, the sick and wounded of the Armies of
Tennessee and
Mississippi numbered more than two hundred thousand.
Surely from this mass of suffering humanity, valuable records and practical precepts in the practice of medicine and military surgery must have been evolved.
It was and is the solemn duty of every member of the
Medical Corps of the Army of Tennessee to place the results of his experience in a tangible form, accessible to his comrades; and no officer, however important his position during the Confederate struggle, has the right to withhold for his personal benefit the
Hospital and Medical Records of the Army of Tennessee.
These views are applicable to the medical and surgical statistics of the several armies of the rate Confederacy east and west of the
Mississippi.
The Armies of
Tennessee and
Mississippi, under the command of
General Joseph E. Johnston, sustained a loss of killed, one thousand two hundred and twenty-one, wounded, eight thousand two hundred and twenty-nine; total, nine thousand four hundred and fifty—in the series of engagements around and from
Dalton, Georgia, to the
Etowah river, May 7th to May 30th, 1864; series of engagements around New Hope Church, near
Marietta, June 1, July 4, 1864.
The Army of Tennessee (the Army of Mississippi being merged into it), under the command of
General J. B. Hood, during the series of engagements around
Atlanta and
Jonesboro July 4 to September 1, 1864, loss, killed, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, wounded, ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-three; total, twelve thousand five hundred and forty-six.
During a period of four months the Armies of
Tennessee and
Mississippi fought no less than six important battles, and sustained a loss of killed, three thousand and forty-four, wounded eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifty-two. Total killed and wounded, twenty-one thousand nine hundred and ninety six.
During the month of October, 1864, the Army of Tennessee lost killed, one hundred and eighteen; wounded, six hundred and twenty-two; total, seven hundred and forty.
During the month of November: Killed, one thousand and eighty-nine; wounded, three thousand one hundred and thirty-one; total, four thousand two hundred and twenty.
These casualties include the bloody
battle of Franklin,
Tennessee, fought November 30, 1864.
1
[
132]
As shown by
Colonel Mason's official report, made on the 10th of December, ten days after the
battle of Franklin, the effective strength of the Army of Tennessee was: Infantry, eighteen thousand three hundred and forty-two; artillery, two thousand four hundred and five; cavalry, two thousand three hundred and six; total, twenty-three thousand and fifty-three.
This last number, subtracted from thirty thousand six hundred, the strength of
General Hood's army at
Florence, shows a total loss, from all causes, of seven thousand five hundred and forty-seven from the 6th of November to the 10th of December, which period embraces the engagements at
Columbia,
Franklin, and of
Forrest's cavalry.
2
At the
battle of Nashville, the Army of Tennessee lost in killed and wounded about two thousand five hundred, making the total loss during the
Tennessee campaign about ten thousand.
According to
Colonel Mason's statement, there were, including the furloughed men, about eighteen thousand five hundred men, effectives, of the infantry and artillery at
Tupelo after
General Hood's retreat from
Nashville.
Before the advance of the army into
Tennessee on the 6th of November, 1864, the effective strength was thirty thousand six hundred, inclusive of the cavalry.
Thus we find at
Tupelo, eighteen thousand five hundred infantry and artillery, and two thousand three hundred and six
Forrest's cavalry, to which add ten thousand lost from all causes, and the total sum amounts to thirty thousand eight hundred and six effectives.
General Hood thus estimates his loss in the
Tennessee campaign to have been in excess of ten thousand.
Of the once proud Army of Tennessee, less than twenty thousand foot-sore, shoeless, ragged soldiers escaped with
Hood's advance into
Tennessee; at the same time a large army (in numbers at least) of sick, wounded and convalescents crowded the general hospitals in
Georgia,
Alabama and
Mississippi.
The life of the
Confederacy was bound up in its armies, and when these armies were scattered in the field and their means of sustenance and transportation destroyed, all hope of final success perished.
With the Southern Confederacy, the problem was one of endurance and resources; and no Confederate general appears to have comprehended this truth more thoroughly than
Joseph E. Johnston.
In his masterly retreat from
Dalton to
Atlanta, he opposed successfully
[
133]
less than fifty thousand Confederate troops against
General Sherman's powerful, thoroughly armed and equipped army of more than one hundred thousand brave, stalwart Western soldiers.
In his slow retreat,
General Johnston was ever ready to give battle, and whilst inflicting greater losses upon his great adversary than his own forces sustained, he, nevertheless, during this incessant fighting maintained the morale, discipline, valor and thorough organization and armament of his soldiers.
The chief executive of the Southern Confederacy, with all his lofty patriotism and burning ardor for the defence of his bleeding country, placed too high an estimate upon his own individual military genius, and failed to grasp in all its bearings the problem of the terrible death struggle of the young nation.
General Hood combined with unbounded energy and dauntless courage and glowing patriotism a fiery ambition for military glory which led him to overestimate his own military genius and resources and at the same time to underestimate the vast resources and military strategy of his antagonist.
When
General Hood ceased to confront
General Sherman, and opened the way for his desolating march through the rich plantations of
Georgia, the
Empire State of the
South, the fate of the
Confederacy was forever sealed.
The beleagured Confederacy, torn and bleeding along all her borders, was in no position to hurl her war-worn, imperfectly clad and poorly armed and provisioned battalions upon fortified cities.
The effort to destroy forces aggregating in
Georgia and
Tennessee near two hundred thousand effectives by a force of less than forty thousand men, which had cut loose from its base of supplies, exceeded the wildest dream of untamed military enthusiasm.
Of the gallant soldiers whose blood reddened the waters of the
Tennessee and enriched the hills and valleys of
Georgia,
Tennessee furnished seventy regiments of infantry and twelve regiments of cavalry.
If the soldiers furnished by
Tennessee to the
Federal army be added, it is only just to say that she alone furnished more than one hundred thousand men to the
American war of 1861-‘65, and won afresh the title of the
Volunteer State.
Noble
Tennessee!
The generous and prolific mother of brave soldiers and of beautiful and intrepid women.
What changes have been wrought in a quarter of a century!
The songs of birds, the sturdy blows of the woodman's axe have supplanted
[
134]
the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry; the soil which drank up the blood of Southern soldiers bears its precious burden of golden corn and snowy white fleecy cotton; the laughter of women and prattle of children, and the merry whistle of the plowman fill the places of the brazen trumpet and the martial music of the fife and drum, and the hoarse shouts of contending men, and groans of the wounded and dying; the entrenched camp and ragged village of 1865 has given place to the thriving city of fifty thousand inhabitants, with its workshops, factories, well filled stores, electric lights and railways, and its universities of science and literature.
Here in this historic place the weary invalids of the
Northern clime may rest in the shadows and bathe their fevered brows in the cool breezes of these grand mountains.
In this brief record of the heroic efforts of the soldiers of the Armies of
Mississippi and
Tennessee to defend the
Southern States from the
Northern invaders, we have time but to make a brief allusion to the defence of the
Mississippi river by the Confederate Government, which was characterized by a long chain of disasters.
The fall of
Forts Henry and
Donelson opened the
Cumberland and
Tennessee rivers to the iron clads of the
Federals and convoyed and protected their armies as they marched into the heart of the
Confederacy.
The strong fortifications erected by
General Leonidas Polk, at
Columbus, Kentucky, were evacuated by the orders of the
commanding Generals,
Albert Sidney Johnston and
G. T. Beauregard.
Island No.10 fell with a loss of seventeen killed and five hundred prisoners, on the 8th of April, 1862, and the navigation of the
Mississippi river was secured by the Federal fleet up to the walls of
Fort Pillow, above
Memphis, Tennessee.
New Orleans, the commercial emporium of the
Confederacy, fell after an inglorious defence (April 18, April 28, 1862), characterized by indecision, incompetence and insubordination, with the trifling loss of one hundred and eighty-five killed, one hundred and ninety-seven wounded, four hundred prisoners; total Confederate loss, seven hundred and eighty-two.
Wise statesmanship dictated that the entire power and resources of the Southern Confederacy should have been concentrated upon the defence of the mouth of the
Mississippi river.
The future historian of this war will find in the tall of
Forts Henry,
Donelson, and of New Orleans the first and greatest disasters of the
Southern cause from which unnumbered and fatal disasters flowed, and which ended in the final destruction of the
Confederacy.
[
135]
The evacuation of
Fort Pillow was followed by the surrender at
Memphis, Tennessee, June 6, 1862, after a loss of eighty-one killed and wounded, and one hundred missing, incurred in the resistance offered by the
Confederate flotilla, consisting of the gunboats
Van Dorn,
Price,
Jeff Thompson,
Bragg,
Lovell,
Beauregard,
Sumpter and
Little Rebel.
The defence of
Vicksburg includes: The
battle of Baton Rouge, August 5, 1862,
General J. Breckenridge: killed, eighty-four; wounded, three hundred and sixteen; missing, seventy-eight; total Confederate loss, four hundred and sixty-eight.
Iuka, Mississippi, September 19 and 20,
General Sterling Price: killed, two hundred and sixty-three; wounded, six hundred and ninety-two; missing, five hundred and sixty-one; total, one thousand five hundred and sixteen.
Corinth, Mississippi, October 3 and 4, 1862,
Generals Van Dorn and
Sterling Price: killed, five hundred and ninety-four; wounded, two thousand one hundred and sixty-two; missing, two thousand one hundred and two; total, four thousand eight hundred and six.
Port Gibson, May I, 1863,
Major-General John S. Bowen: killed and wounded, one thousand one hundred and fifty; missing, five hundred; total, one thousand six hundred and fifty.
Baker's Creek, May 16, 1863,
Lieutenant-General Pemberton: killed and wounded, two thousand; missing, one thousand eight hundred; total, three thousand eight hundred.
Big Black River, May 17, 1863,
Lieutenant-General Pemberton: killed and wounded, six hundred; missing, two thousand five hundred; total, three thousand one hundred and ten.
Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 18 to July 4, 1863:
Lieutenant-General J. C. Pemberton: killed, wounded, missing and prisoners, thirty-one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven.
Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27 to July 9, 1863; killed and wounded, seven hundred and eighty: missing and prisoners, six thousand four hundred and eight; total, seven thousand one hundred and eighty-eight.
Jackson, Mississippi, July 9 to 26,
General Joseph E. Johnston: killed, seventy one; wounded, five hundred and four; missing, twenty-five; total, six hundred.
During the operations in
Mississippi and
Louisiana on the east bank of the
Mississippi river for the defence of
Vicksburg, commencing with the
battle of Baton Rouge, August 5, 1862, and ending with the evacuation of
Jackson, Mississippi, July 19, 1863, the Confederate army lost in killed, wounded and prisoners, fifty-four thousand four hundred and fifteen officers and men—an army equal in numbers to the largest ever assembled upon any battle-field of the
[
136]
war under any one Confederate commander.
If we add to this the losses occurring in the field and general hospitals, from sickness, discharges, deaths and desertions, the loss sustained by the Confederate forces in these operations would equal an army of at least seventy-five thousand.
The heart of the
Southern patriot stands still at the recital of these humiliating details.
The Confederate commander,
General J. C. Pemberton, was not merely outnumbered, but he was outgeneraled by his Northern antagonists.
What medical and surgical records have been preserved of this mass of suffering, disease and death?
Who has written the medical history of the sufferings of the brave defenders of
Vicksburg?
Fellow soldiers and comrades of the Confederate Army and Navy, I accepted the honor conferred upon me by one of the most illustrious captains of the struggle for Southern independence, not because it conferred power or pecuniary emoluments, but solely that I might in some manner further the chosen project of my life.
When my native State, Georgia, seceded from the Federal union in January, 1861, I placed my sword and my life at her service.
Entering as a private of cavalry, I served in defense of the sea coast in 1861, and although acting as surgeon to this branch of the service, I performed all the duties required of the soldier in the field.
Entering the medical service of the Confederate army in 1862, I served as surgeon up to the dale of my surrender in May, 1865.
Through the confidence and kindness of
Surgeon-General S. P. Moore,
Confederate States Army, I was enabled to inspect the great armies, camps, hospitals, beleagured cities and military prisons of the Southern Confederacy.
The desire of my soul, and the ambition of my entire life, was to preserve, as far as possible, the medical and surgical records of the Confederate army during this gigantic struggle.
The defeat of our armies and the destruction of our government only served to increase my interest and still further to engage all my energies in this great work, which, under innumerable difficulties, I have steadily prosecuted in
Augusta, Georgia,
Nashville, Tennessee, and
New Orleans, Louisiana, up to this happy moment when I greet the stern but noble faces of the survivors of the Confederate Army and Navy.
I hold this position, which has neither military fame nor financial resources, solely for the right which it gives me to issue a last appeal for the preservation of the Medical and Surgical Records of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
[
137]
A veteran of more than four years active service in the cause of the Southern Confederacy, at the end of a quarter of a century issues his last call of honor and glory to his comrades, which will be found at length in his report to the general commanding, which is now presented for the consideration of the survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
(See preceding report.)
With the researches and records of the speaker taken during the war and subsequently, he has in his possession ample material for a volume relating to the Medical and Surgical History of the Confederate Army of not less than one thousand five hundred pages, and it is to be hoped that the survivors will furnish such data as will enable him to give accurate statements with reference to the labors, names and rank of the
medical officers.
Insignia of the Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
In conclusion, comrades, the speaker would urge the adoption of some badge or device which should serve to distinguish the survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Southern Confederacy.
The objects of this reunion and of this association are historical, benevolent and social, and the medal or seal which marks its realization should embody within a brief circle these sacred and noble sentiments.
The outer circle bearing the words ‘
Medical Corps Confederate States of America, Army and Navy, 1861-1865,’ expresses the great historical fact, that within the circle of these four years a nation was born and exhibited to the world its existence, power and valor, in its well organized and efficient army and navy.
Within the brief space of time, 1861-1865, was enacted one of the greatest and bloodiest revolutions of the ages, and a peculiar form of civilization passed forever away.
Upon the silver field and embraced by the outer circle rests a golden cross with thirteen stars—the
Southern cross—the cross of the battle flag of the Southern Confederacy.
The reverse of the medal bears at the apex of the circle the letters U. C. V., and at the line under, the date 1890.
The laurel leaf of the outer circle surrounds the venerated and golden head of the great Southern captain,
General Robert E. Lee, who was the type of all that was heroic, noble and benevolent in the Confederate Army and Navy.
Grand in battle and victory,
General Lee was equally grand
[
138]
and noble in defeat; and his farewell address to his soldiers has been the most powerful utterance for the pacification of the warlike elements of his country and the rehabilitation of the waste places of the
South by the peaceful arts of agriculture, manufacturers and commerce.
Whilst the
Southern armies were wreathed in victory, the thunderbolts of war, which made wide gaps through their ranks, inflicted irreparable damage.
When the brave soldiers of the
South sank to rest upon the bosom of their mother earth, they rose no more; the magnificent hosts which watered the plains, valleys and mountains with their precious blood were the typical and noble representatives of their race.
Whilst the
North increased in resources and men, as the war went on, the Southern Confederacy was penetrated and rent along all her borders; her fertile plains were overrun and desolated, her gallant sons fell before the iron tempest of war, and her final overthrow and subjugation followed as the night does the day.
Comrades, survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, is it not our solemn duty to commemorate the deeds of our comrades who yielded up their lives in the struggle for Southern independence, on the battle-field, in the hospital and in the military prison?
Shall we not adopt a simple but imperishable medal which may be handed down to our children?
Organization of a Medical relief Corps during the reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, July 2, 3, and 4, 1890.
An organization of a ‘Medical’ Relief Corps was proposed by
Dr. Jones, as accidents were likely to occur amongst the large army of Confederate veterans assembled from the surrounding States in
Chattanooga, which would require the prompt aid of the medical profession.
The following physicians were appointed and requested to go on duty and act as a Medical Relief Corps, at the places designated, during the 3d, 4th and 5th of July, beginning at 8 A. M. each day. They will be relieved hourly, and take their turns in the order named:
At
L. J. Sharp & Co.'s:
Drs.
E. A. Cobleigh,
J. L. Gaston,
G. M. Ellis,
J. F. Sheppard,
W. P. Creig,
E. E. Kerr,
W. B. Lee,
Frederick B. Stapp,
I. S. Dunham,
D. E. Nelson,
C. S. Wright,
R. F. Wallace.
[
139]
Snodgrass Hill:
W. T. Hope,
J. L. Atlee,
Vaulx Gibbs,
C. F. McGahan,
W. B. Wells,
A. M. Boyd,
J. J. McConnell,
W. C. Townes,
Cooper Holtzclaw,
A. P. Van Deever,
T. C. V. Barkley.
Court-House:
L. Y. Green,
J. E. Reeves,
G. A. A. Baxter,
H. L. McReynolds.
H. B. Wilson,
F. M. Leverson,
B. S. Wert,
W. B. Bogart,
E. B. Wise,
H. Berlin,
Y. J. Abernathy,
J. R. Rathwell.
Joseph Jones,
Surgeon-General United Confederate Veterans.
G. W. Drake,
Medical Director.
P. D. Sims,
Chief of Staff.
L. H. Wilson, Register.
All visiting physicians and surgeons of the
Confederate States Army and
Confederate States Navy, are requested to register at
L. H. Wilson's drug store, 829 Market street.
After the committee was appointed,
Dr. Jones, read his report to
General John B. Gordon,
Commander United Confederate Veterans.
Dr. J. E. Reeves delivered a short address, in which he complimented
Dr. Jones very highly on the manner and thoroughness of his report, and in conclusion offered a motion to appoint a committee to draft suitable resolutions in regard to
Dr. Jones' report.
The following gentlemen composed the committee:
Drs.
Drake,
Holtzclaw, Hope,
Rees and
Howard.
A recess of a few minutes allowed the committee time to retire and draft resolutions.
The following are the resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
whereas, We have been honored by the presence of
Dr. Joseph Jones,
Surgeon-General of the
United Confederate Veterans; and
whereas, We have heard his able report to the illustrious
General John B. Gordon,
Commanding-General of the
United Confederate Veterans, whose presence will also grace this reunion occasion; therefore,
Resolved, That we, surviving members of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy, and the medical profession, tender to
Dr. Jones our gratitude for his very able presentation of the objects to be gained by the assembling of the survivors of the
Medical Corps of the Confederate Army and Navy.
Resolved, That he has placed the whole medical profession of the
United States under obligations for his self-sacrificing labor in raising from oblivion the priceless statistics relating to the medical history of the Confederate Army and Navy.
Resolved, That we bespeak the earnest co-operation of the surviving surgeons of the Confederate Army and Navy, in his efforts to
[
140]
procure the imperishable roster his unselfish labors have so auspiciously begun.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the press for publication.
The following insignia, prepared and presented in
silver and
gold by
Surgeon-General Joseph Jones, will be adopted and worn by the surviving members of the
Medical Corps of
United Confederate Veterans: Silver disk, one inch in diameter, containing a gold cross, on which are thirteen stars; on face inside edge, ‘Medical Corps, C. S. A. and C. S. N., 1861-‘65.’
On reverse—‘
United Confederate Veterans, 1890.’
Name and rank of officer on both faces.
After a short discussion, the meeting adjourned.
The following chairman of committees will look after the visiting physicians from the States which they represent:
Alabama—
B. S. West, 714 Market street.
Arkansas—
G. A. Baxter, 115 east Eighth street.
Florida—
F. T. Smith, 10 west Ninth street.
Kentucky—
L. Y. Green,
Lookout Mountain.
Louisiana—
W. L. Gahagan, 10 west Ninth street.
Maryland—
E. A. Cobleigh, 729 Chestnut street.
Mississippi—
N. C. Steele, 722 east Seventh street.
Missouri—
H. L. McReynolds, 638 Market street.
North Carolina—
T. G. Magee, 518 Georgia avenue.
South Carolina—
C. F. McGahan,
Richardson block.
Tennessee—
P. D. Silms, 713 Georgia avenue.
Texas—
E. B. Wise, 713 Georgia avenue.
Virginia—
G. W. Drake, 320 Walnut street.
West Virginia—
J. E. Reeves, 20 McCallie avenue.
New England States—
E. M. Eaton, 20 east Eight street.
Middle States—
F. M. Severson, 826 Market street.
Western States—
J. J. Durand, 208 Pine street.
North—western States—
E. F. Kerr, 709 Market street.
Canada—
G. M. Ellis, 826 Market street.
Foreign Countries—
H. Berlin, 600 Market street.
, were untiring in their kind attentions and general hospitality to the survivors of the
