/ 
 
 y^'^/. 
 
 io 
 
 SiK,-I beg leave to lay "before you aihvmi outline of 
 Avhat the TJ. SrSauitary Commission has done, and is doing, 
 and to submit to you the question, ^vhether the public can 
 afford to let this work be abandoned for want of means to carry 
 
 it on. 
 
 Its magnitude and iu.portance ai'e self- evident. Our soldiers 
 are in tar greater peril from sickness than from the violence ot 
 enemies. Large portions of the Army are now in special 
 an<l imminent danger of epidemic small-pox and typhus lever. 
 We are dally losing, and under the most favorable conditions 
 we shall continue to lose, three or four men by disease and 
 exposure, for every man whose life is necessarily and usefully 
 socriliced in the service of his country. Accident or negli- 
 gence may at any moment swell this inevitable waste of 
 ■fife and efficiency to the disastrous dimensions it assumed 
 in tiie Crimean war, and in the Walcheren expedition. 
 Its reduction to the lowest attainable point is the most con- 
 siderable retrenchment that can be made in the cost of war. 
 For every one of our soldiers is a costly piece of national prop- 
 erty His enlistment, equipment, and training, have cost some 
 two hundred dollars at least. He will be worth many times 
 that sum to the community as a producer when he returns to 
 
./x^-^ 
 
 civil life — and Lis death will burtlien the nation with the 
 support of those dependent on him. 
 
 I onght to apologize for asking your attention to the subject 
 from this lowest of all possible points of view, but our respect 
 for the sanctity of human life may lead us to forget its mere 
 economical value, and that the death of a soldier is just as much 
 Si pecuniary loss to the nation as the destruction of a gun boat, 
 or an army train. 
 
 The patriotism and humanity of the People are fully awak- 
 ened, and thoroughly enlisted in the work of protecting and 
 preserving our soldiers, but the community does not even 3'et 
 appreciate the extent to which its material intei'ests will be 
 promoted, and the burtliens of war lightened, by the eflScient 
 performance of this work, and by the comparatively insignifi- 
 cant outlay it requires. 
 
 If only five hundred soldiers have died of malarious disease 
 duiing the last three monfh.s, the nation has thereby lost, at an 
 exceedingly moderate estimate, half a million of dollars in 
 money value. Of these wasted lives at least two-thirds could^ 
 in all human probability, have been saved, had the resources at 
 the command of the Sanitary Commission enabled it to enforce, 
 throughout the whole army, the prophylactic measures it has 
 introduced and is endeavoring to carry out.^ 
 
 The Commission is almost daily called on by army sur- 
 
 * See on this subject the evidence collected in Document No, 31 of the Commis 
 sion as to the value of quinine as a preventive of malarious disease, and the com- 
 plete success Avith "which it has been used for protection against even the malig- 
 nant fevers of the African coast and the Isthmus of Panama. 
 
geons for medicines and stimulants, with tlie statement that 
 their stock is exhausted — that under the forms and regulations 
 of the Army Medical Bureau, it cannot be replenished in less 
 than a fortnight, and that in the meantime some ten or twenty of 
 their patients are sinking for want of these remedies, and will as- 
 suredly perish unless the Commission come to their rescue. It 
 has, in these cases alone, sayed the nation scores of valuable 
 lives, by merely supplying the few dollars worth of brandy or 
 quinine which could not otherwise have been obtained till too 
 late. 
 
 The general object of the Commission is to watch over the 
 health of the volunteer army, and especially to suggest and carry 
 out measures for the prevention of disease. This duty the Army 
 Medical Bureau cannot at present thoroughly perform. Being 
 organized with reference to the wants of an army of fifteen thou- 
 sand regulars, officered by men educated in their profession, it is 
 necessarily unequal to the care of half a million of volunteers 
 under officers as inexperienced as the rank and file. It would 
 seem, moreover, that some of its senior officials, who have grown 
 old in the routine of their duty on its former limited scale, are 
 unable to emancipate themselves at once from official habits and 
 views which are now out of place and sometimes positively mis- 
 chievous. They are naturally and pardonably slow to perceive 
 that forms and usages properly held sacred and inviolable for 
 fifty years, may now be mere obstacles in the way of substan- 
 tial duty. Their intelligence may be beyond question, but 
 the tendency of their official life and experience has hardly 
 been such as to qualify them for the immense work they 
 are suddenly called on to perform. Hence the necessity for 
 that volunteer aid which the Sanitary Commission is appointed 
 to furnish. 
 
Tacts in abundance could be produced to illustrate this ne- 
 cessity. During August and September last, for example, a 
 great battle on the Potomac was daily expected, but there was 
 not at Washington a reserve of hospital stores or unoccupied 
 beds for three hundred additional patients. It was admitted 
 that there might be at any moment five or ten thousand wounded 
 sohliers requiring instant shelter and ti'eatment, and, in case of 
 victory, as many wounded rebels besides, for whom Govern- 
 ment would be bound to provide with tenderness and humanity, 
 and that lai'ge additional supplies would, in any event, unques- 
 tionably be needed during the winter. The Commission remon- 
 strated against this seeming improvidence, and was told that 
 supplies could be ordered from New York, and workmen em- 
 ployed to make beds, after the battle; and that it had never 
 been the usage of the Medical Bureau to accumulate any large 
 reserve of hospital stores ; an answer that would have been 
 more satisfactory had it been the usage of Government to assem- 
 ble an hundred and fifty thousand soldiers on a single position 
 in face of an enemy. 
 
 And, therefore, when a few wounded men were brought 
 into Washington, after a skirmish at Lewinsville, or elsewhere, 
 in Sej)tember, the Medical Department of the United States 
 Army called on the Sanitary Commission for a supply of lint 
 and bandages — the national stores being unequal even to this 
 trifling demand. 
 
 It is believed that measures have been taken to supply this 
 deficiency, in some degree at least. But that it should have 
 been permitted to exist for a single day, shows that the provi- 
 sion for our soldiers, through the regular official channels, is 
 not wholly incapable of improvement. 
 
This is confirmed by the course that has been pursnetl in 
 rc^-ard to General Hospitals, against which the Commission 
 has remonstrated, and which it has reason to hope will be 
 essentially modified. 
 
 If any one fact be established by the concurrent testimony of 
 all authorities on military hygiene, it is, that hotels, dwelling- 
 houses, academies, and other buildings, public or private, not 
 specially constructed for hospital purposes, are most unfit to 
 be used as hospitals on any large scale, and that shanties, or 
 tents, are less dangerous. The defective ventilation of ordinary 
 buildings, when crowded with sick and wounded men, is almost 
 certain, sooner or later, to poison their patients with malignant 
 fevers, erysipelas, and hospital gangrene. The experience of 
 the Peninsular campaigns, as recorded by Ilennen and Guthrie, 
 demonstrates this fact. That the buildings thus occupied in 
 Washington and elsewhere have not already become pest-houses 
 is due to the fact that all their doors and windows have been 
 kept open during the mild weather of summer and early autumn, 
 and that their defective ventilation has thus been in a measure 
 made up. But when winter weather makes this no longer prac- 
 ticable, and the walls of their confined rooms and narrov.- cor- 
 ridors become saturated with morbid emanations, a very grave 
 and lamentable waste of life in these buildings must be expected, 
 should their occupation as hospitals be persisted in. 
 
 The remonstrances of the Commission on this subject have 
 not been without eftect. A plan for hospitals, arranged in 
 groups of one-story wards, each accommodating twenty 
 patients, and embodying the latest and best results of sanitary 
 science, has been carefully prepared by the Commission, and 
 adopted by Government with but trilling modification. It is 
 understood that buildings on this plan, sufficient for 5,000 beds, 
 will be erected at once. 
 
But to pursue tliis subject no further, admitting tlie ancient 
 system of the Medical Bureau to be perfectly adapted to its 
 present work, and to be administered with the utmost possible 
 energy and ability, its duties are nevertheless so arduous, and 
 the interests at stake of such magnitude, that the volunteeer aid 
 rendered it by the Commission, under the authority of the Presi- 
 dent and the Secretary of War, can hardly be superfluous. 
 
 The operations of the Commission have been necessarily 
 expanding and enlarging. They now involve a monthly 
 expenditure of nearly five thousand dollars, — a trifle compared 
 with what the private charity of the country can afford to 
 contribute toward saving the lives of our soldiei*s. 
 
 A storehonse for its supplies, its ofiices at "Washington, and 
 the building occupied as the "Soldiers' Home" in Washington, 
 are furnished by Government, which also provides horses, am- 
 bulances, and army wagons, for its inspectors, and other agents, 
 and gives them every facility for visiting camps, hospitals, and 
 military posts. Its current expenses are thus greatly diminished. 
 But it can receive no money from Government without an 
 approj)riation by Congress ; and this, membei^s of the Commis- 
 sion have thus far been unwilling to ask. They fear that tlie 
 moral power on wliich its usefulness mainly depends, would 
 be weakened if it appeared in the attitude of a petitioner for 
 money from the public Treasury, and thereby incurred even 
 the suspicion of connexion with political machinery and in- 
 trigue. 
 
 It may be true that Government ought to supply the Cora- 
 mission with funds, instead of leaving it to seek them from 
 private liberality. But, however, this may be, it is certainly 
 essential that the work of the Commission be done. Private 
 liberality must sustain it if Government do not ; for to leave it 
 
undone would be intolerable. We cannot afford to throw away 
 the lives of our soldiers. Their health and efficiency cannot be 
 neglected for a day without imminent danger to us and inhu- 
 manity to them. Tlie nation is morally responsible that all the 
 skill that medical and sanitary science can afford be employed 
 for their protection. 
 
 It may be added, that were the Government system per- 
 fected, extended, and invigorated to the utmost possible degree, 
 much work would still remain to be done, essential to the 
 health, comfort, and well-being of the army, but beyond the 
 scope of inflexible official regulations, and necessarily left to 
 private discretion and liberality. 
 
 The Commission has now been in operation about five 
 months, having been constituted by order of the Secretary of 
 War, on the 9th June 186 1. It was regarded as a doubtful ex- 
 periment — for there was reason to fear that the army authorities 
 migiit be inclined to resent any tender of volunteer counsel 
 and assistance as officious and impertinent. This apprehension 
 has almost universally proved unfounded. The Commission and 
 its agents have received from every portion of the army — from 
 officers of every grade, and from soldiers of every State, the 
 most earnest, cordial, and grateful co-operation. The advice of 
 its Camp-Inspectors has been almost invariably heard with 
 respect and promptly carried out, and its suggestions to Govern- 
 ment, on various points directly and indirectly affecting the 
 Sanitary state of the Army, have been adopted with most ad- 
 vantageous results. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate, even approximately, the work it has 
 actually done, because its chief and primary aim is prevention 
 rather than mere. The result of a large portion of its labors is 
 
necessarily negatire. So f„- ,. ,i 
 
 "»""■•>=' tl,at ca„ be stated ,' ^7"'^ '""'''''"'' "'^-^ f"™-''^ 
 -neh is ceHa.-„-o„,. sole e,- IL T'"'' T^'"^ ^^^ ^Ims 
 ea»P disease beyond all r o I l'"'"' "' "^^'"P''"" ''■<"- 
 
 «-<>"ldbe„ostp,.es„„pt„„„3, !,„'"^ '" ""'^ ^"'"■-- It 
 
 '»= «''>0ll7 to In,.a„ a^ena" r"f "''■'' "'^"""-^'Wess. 
 
 i-as certainly eontribute°d s^m.tb ? '^ Commission 
 
 0"'. by awakening at.enti T " ^, """-^ "^H^-^ -"'t, if 
 
 i^as «u.s diminislied disease J, Tl ^ Precaniions, If it 
 
 '-dred thousand volnre , T T' '" °"^ ^-^ "^ S- 
 
 "■"' ''."e enabled it to do si ' »"''"°'" '=™''-"'"«°"^ 
 
 The most important department r-f n r, 
 «»»P inspection. On thir' Co„,„,i,3io„ is tb„t „, 
 
 spectors-all men of scientific '/, •'°'' ""'''"^^ «"«<=" I"- 
 "'■p-fesiona, position :r,l''r"'<'"-»—">-pI.-sieians 
 
 ^»P'-e,ne„ts in' can "^"i ": ,V". '^'^^" """ ^""^-""^ 
 ''--.e, camp cooki^^t 's r,! "'T °^'^"'' ^^ ^"-'e-' 
 gene,.a,Iyin e.e,ytl,in: tbat b" ' '"•■""■'^ "^ -"to, and 
 
 "'■;-'> '-' to ,,.: otiiL,''! ::;;'« ■;?"" "^ "- -"■ 
 
 «"'y professional aid, if desiredT^! "''"''"■^ ^"'''■''^'^ "ot 
 ^ood, medicines, .ace ne v , s ;, 1 , "^'" """■••^' <"»«'"'='. 
 Gove,-nmentsnpp,y,,„, or 1,;; r "'"' '"^'""^'^ ■» "■« 
 provide. ^ ' "''"='' ^''^'■"■"e-teannotj^-oniptly 
 
 These inspectoi-s act under e!abo,-afe . , ■ 
 ^"■-uons. Ti,e result of the, Kb tl '""""' ^"■'"'"' ''"- 
 
 ""<■ ..egative, cannot be detinit ely i""'; t ^'^ '^"™'"™ 
 
 --"-egi,nentsi.::— ::— r:-,:5 
 
9 
 
 epidemic, with all their officers absolutely ignorant of any 
 necessity for sanitary precautions, but most prompt and ener- 
 getic in correcting abuses, and removing sources of danger the 
 moment they were made aware of the importance of so doing. 
 Many camp-sites reeking with poisonous exhalations have been 
 purified and made wholesome within twenty-four hours after 
 a visit from one of the inspectors of the Commission. 
 
 Many of our volunteer officers, regimental surgeons included, 
 suddenly withdrawn from civil life, knew nothing of precau- 
 tions against camp disease, of the dangers to which masses of 
 men are exposed by the mere fact of accumulation, or of the 
 existence of a distinct branch of sanitary science. Their official 
 superiors have as yet done nothing to instruct tlicm. The 
 advice and assi?tance furnished by tlie Sanitary Commission, 
 through its inspectors, has therefore been opportune and valu- 
 able. 
 
 These inspectors make regular reports to the Central office 
 at Washington, in the form of answers to a minute and elabo- 
 rate list of printed questions (about ISO in number), covering 
 everything that can affect the health, efficiency, and morale 
 of each regiment inspected. Their returns are recorded and 
 tabulated as received, and the Commission will thus be enabled 
 to publish, in due time, a body of military and medical statistics 
 more complete and thorough than any now known to exist. 
 
 The professional services of so large a number of educated men, 
 who devote their whole time to the labor of inspection, are neces- 
 sarily costly. They would be much more so did not the gentle- 
 men employed on this duty devote themselves to their work 
 from a sense of patriotic duty rather than for the sake of the 
 moderate com23ensation they receive. They are paid on an 
 
10 
 
 average (exclndincr travpll.'n 
 
 twelve hundred dollars .^ea' "'""^^ ""' ''^ ^^^ ^^ about 
 
 d«cul„rc"i;JJ;:;;" ';"■"'-• T' "'^^'"="«d *o„sa„ds of 
 
 «1« for volunteer sur.ec, it ^T "" °' ^°'*ers-ma„„. 
 fo-fen science in t„: L" J^ '"-; "^ "- '^test re..,, of 
 -ggestions as to the rail Jl TT' ''"•''"'"' ■"'P°'«-' 
 '"--e, and otl.er pape "e I ' ''"''" "°'""^' -'»™'- 
 -■> '0 the vita, in,;„.!ta :; :i. '^ ^"-'■•- <>^ officers and 
 r '^"ceotsanitarj measures. 
 
 It supplies to the Hosnifn7c f 
 
 p'-ces, .,.ie. G„vern:::'c:;tT'"rf ""^*^ 
 
 i"»"'n to lave saved n,a„y liveT F " ' "' "'"''='' ^''^ 
 '" I'ospital at Washington Lt , ,', '"""''''' '■°""- P'^''<'"ta 
 
 P-a«o„ after .ounds^recei e ITZTv ''' '"''''''' ^'"- 
 -'S''t. in the opinion of the I s, 7' """ ''"'''"S' ^"^ 
 
 I^^dV' an artiCe which G '/""'' '"'" "^^ "™'-- 
 ^■'-•HX of onr fe,,o JL!: ~,,''- ■■<" «"PP... The 
 "de these four "water-beds " and t ^—'-io.' to pro- 
 
 fit" deat,,.* It provides 'a,r T ' '° "™ '""-="-" 
 P--enced hospital Lssora:;!::;;^ ^"™' "' ^'^ ■"^-^' ^ 
 
 ^t is constantly receiVJno. f 
 Pl'-es of Cothin! io 'T.f °'" ""'^ '""■' °^ ">« «°""fT ->,> 
 ^- ".eCentraTd pt tt?,'-^'^- '"^^^ ^^ '^'--'^'''ed 
 «- --ssities of the t olTr '"^ "' '"' '" "'« ^^-«. - 
 
 ^ '^"^ ^act may appear. 
 
11 
 
 gagemcnt or an epidemic. After the late aft'air at Edwards' 
 Ferry, for instance, three wagon loads of bedding, liospital 
 stores, stimulants, and extra comforts and appliances for the 
 wounded were at once sent from Washington, together with 
 clothing, most urgently needed by a large number of men who 
 had been obliged to throw olf their uniforms before swimming 
 the Potomac. 
 
 A large portion of the clothing, and of the comforts of every 
 Icind, which the warm-hearted and loyal women of every 
 l^orthern city, town, village, and neighborhood are diligently 
 providing for the army, is consigned to the Commission. It 
 has thus become a groat distributing agency, through which 
 the charitable handiwork of our countrywomen is dispensed to 
 our soldiers at every point from Fortress Monroe to St. Louis. 
 Systematic and judicious distribution of these supplies is obvi- 
 ously most important. Unless there be some general agent on 
 the ground to ascertain the actual present wants of each regi- 
 ment, great waste is inevitable — and this the countiy can- 
 not afibrd, for there is already need of all, and far more than 
 all that can be furnished, even by the tens of thousands of our 
 countrywomen who are devoting themselves to this work. In 
 the absence of such inspection and supervision, one regiment 
 will got more than it needs, and the surplus will be just so much 
 generous and loyal labor thrown away, while others will be for- 
 gotten and neglected. 
 
 Six hundred boxes are reported to be now on their way to 
 the Washington store-house of the Commission, from its Boston 
 depot alone. The Ireight bills of these supplies are of course 
 heavy, and must in many cases be paid by the Commission. 
 
12 
 
 Another branch of its operations is tlie maintenance of the 
 " Soldiers' Home," so called, at Washington— an establishment 
 near the Eailroad Depot for the aid and comfort of soldiers, in 
 certain particulars, for which the long-established Government 
 system docs not provide. 
 
 The chief object of this agency is, 
 
 First, to supply to the sick men of regiments arriving at 
 Washington such medicines, food and care as it is impossihle 
 for them to receive from their own officers, in the confusion 
 of their arrival, with the regimental medicine chest inaccessible 
 in the baggage-car, and the regimental surgeon and quarter 
 master obliged to leave their men and hunt up government 
 officials in a strange city. 
 
 Second, to furnish suitable food, lodging, care and assistance 
 to men discharged from the general hospitals, or fi-om their 
 regiments, but often detained for many days in the city before 
 they can obtain their papers and pay. 
 
 Thii'd, to give assistance and information and secure trans- 
 portation to men who arrive at the station house in small num- 
 bers, and M^ant to find and join their regiments. 
 
 Some of these have been accidentally left behind. Some have 
 been detained for a few days at hospitals in Philadelphia or 
 Baltimore. The number of soldiers who thus received care at 
 the hands of the Commission, (some a sinode nio-ht's lodo-in«^ 
 some five or six days shelter, support and medical treatment,) 
 between August 9di and September 23d was about seven 
 hundred, and from September 10th to October 21st, 1,1:94. Dr. 
 Grymes, of Washington, the physician to the "Home," reports 
 October 10th, that he "has professionally treated over 400 
 
13 
 
 soldiers since the opening of the house — some of thera very 
 sick." 
 
 About fifty men on an average are now in the building every 
 night. 
 
 This Agency also renders our soldiers passing through "Wash- 
 ington various services that cannot be exactly classified, but are 
 nevertheless of no small value. This Avill be illustrated by the 
 following extracts from Reports of the S])ecial Relief Agent, 
 Mr. Frederick N. Knapp, made on the 23d September and lilst 
 October last. 
 
 '• August 25th, I went to the Paymaster's Department by re- 
 " quest of a sick man at the Station House, who had his papers, 
 " but said he was so weak he could not push up to the window 
 " and get his pay. I found about forty men waiting in the yard 
 " of the office, some apparently very feeble. Tin's was on 
 " Tuesday afternoon. One man had been waiting since Satur- 
 " day forenoon, lie was lame and weak, and the other new 
 " comers kept him back. Three others had waited since Mon- 
 " day morning; one who was there all day Saturday without 
 " getting his pay, had died on Sunday night, in a house near 
 " by. Seeing the case from the outside, which the oflicers 
 " within the building in their press of business did not observe, 
 " I stated the facts to the proper officers and they immediately 
 " made arrangements by which the men most sick were paid 
 " olf at once, and facilities secured for the future." {From 
 Mr. Kiiap^h First lieport, p. 8.) 
 
 " Within the past three weeks we have had a new cla?s, viz., 
 " men belonging to regiments moving from Washington to An- 
 " napolis for special service. A number of cases have occurred 
 " where the regiments have struck their tents and nuarched to 
 
14 
 
 ■" the railroad station, bringing all their sick with them in am- 
 " balances, expecting to take the cars at once ; but they were 
 " detained there, waiting sometimes for twenty-four hours. In 
 " all such cases we have immediately received the sick into tlie 
 " ' House,' and there they remained until the train which was 
 " to take them was ready to start. Some nights we have had 
 " as many as twenty such from one regiment, who otherwise 
 " (though just removed from a regimental hospital) would have 
 " been obliged to have slept on the floor of the Reception house, 
 " or else in the army wagons and ambulances. Many of these 
 " were men who needed all the care we could give them." 
 {Second Report^ jp. 17.) 
 
 By these and other Jike services this minor and subordinate 
 agency of the Commission has undoubtedly prevented a large 
 amount of suffering and sickness, and at a cost, up to October 
 31st, of less than twelve hundred dollars. 
 
 The expenses of the Commission up to October 31st may be 
 thus classified : 
 
 Stationery and printing $2,141 68 
 
 Travelling expenses of inspectors, &c.. .. 2,308 32 
 
 Freight on supplies for the army 693 53 
 
 Postage 133 33 
 
 Salaries of inspectors and agents 3,076 52 
 
 Telegrams 78 28 
 
 Board account 822 08 
 
 Hospital supplies, dressers and nurses.... 2,596 90 
 
 Soldiers' Home 1,190 00 
 
 Store room 790 69 
 
 Miscellaneo us 381 41 
 
 $14,115 74 
 
15 
 
 It may be proper to say, in order to prevent any possible 
 inisapprehension, that the services of members of the Commis- 
 sion are unpaid, and that they receive nothing from its funds 
 except the necessary expenses of travel incurred in the execu- 
 tion of their duty. 
 
 Its expenses cannot be diminished without seriously impair- 
 ing its efficiency and usefulness. It ought to be at once en- 
 abled largely to increase them. 
 
 There is urgent necessity for more Inspectors, as new points 
 on the rebel coast are occupied by our armies. 
 
 Inspectors are alreatly needed at Hatteras and at Port Royal. 
 It is a startling fact, that when the expedition for Fort lioyal 
 was on the eve of sailing, one of its surgeons was obliged to 
 telegraph to New York for vaccine matter, no adequate pro- 
 vision for the re-vaccination of the force having been made by 
 the Medical Bureau. 
 
 The funds now at the disposal of tlie Commission will enable 
 it to go on for but a few weeks lono-er. 
 
 Unless its Treasury is speedily replenished it must, very soon, 
 dismiss its Inspectors, and notify the numerous associations 
 tln-oughout the country, with which it is affiliated, that its 
 depots at Washington and elsewhere are closed. I am confident 
 that the liberality and patriotism of the country will not permit 
 this — especially at the present time, when the approach of 
 winter exposes the army to new forms of disease, and when 
 additional supplies are more urgently demanded than ever. 
 
 The Commission is nov/ organized as follows : 
 
 Henry W. Bellows, D. D., President, N. Y. 
 Prof A. D. Bache, L.L. D., Vice-Pres., Washington. 
 Fked. Law Olmsted, Secretary, " 
 
 George W. Cullum, U. S. A., " 
 
16 
 
 ALEXA1.DER E. SniRAS, [J S A W 1 • 
 
 Jjof. \Voi,cotG,bbs, M.D., ,, ''• 
 
 J1L7SHA HABErs, M. D 
 
 S.ua:HL G. Howe, JI.'d., Boston. 
 
 -tlOKACE BlXNFT T,- Pi -TIT, 
 
 fcTKo.>.o, Treasurer, GS Wall street, N, y. 
 I append a list of all mnf^.n ,- 
 
 Of *o co,„™,„-o„ t; ; :: '■""""' "^^ "=^ ^'--'- 
 
 0..a„i.,.,-o„ Of its Assoe,-L e r"r .T ''^ ^''^''-^ 
 
 ^l'onfa„oo.,s ami unsolicited It nJ '" ^'"'^ l'<='"> 
 
 -'y to decide wl,etl,e.. it wiii „;,V ! '"""" ^"'- "^ -'"■""- 
 ■aeans of usefulness, and ILis'n . <-o»im,ss,ou still i-urfl,e,. 
 
 ;-e i fo, as I l,ave' .^^J'^TZ T '' '''""'-' ^ 
 begin to wind „„ n, „(..,,„ ,^ ,"'"'' "«= «^<"'mns6ion must now 
 
 ^•"".-ndin;.;:;;: j;j7'i-'-..>'iedwi,,ti„,d: 
 
 »>sdiate consideration, ^■'""' ''"'=""™ ■'"•d im- 
 
 I am, verj respectiblh-, 
 
 ^"oui- obedient sei-vaut, 
 
17 
 
 NOTE 
 
 WhlUi this Icftef i.s passing tbroiigli tlie press, my attention is called to an 
 article in one of the New York daily journals of November 25th, in which the 
 following passage occurs : " We hear serious complaints that the " [Sanitary] 
 " Commission has becomi- less attentive and efficient in what was at the outset re- 
 " garded as its special field of effort — attention to the sanitary condition of the 
 " soldiei's in camp — and is bitten by the ambition of superseding, or at least re- 
 " modeling, the established Medical Bureau of tiie regular ai'my." It proceeds to 
 eulogize the present head of the Medical Bureau as possessing high professional 
 standing and great experience " in the medical care of armies," and " in the organiza- 
 " tion of measures for the sudden emergency created by the war," and insinuates, 
 witiiout positively asserting, that the Commission is responsible for certain charges 
 of inefficiency lately made against him in the World newspaper. 
 
 The source of this article is obvious. It is noticed here mainly for the purpose 
 of denying most positively and ex[>lieitly that the Commission has become in any 
 degree " less attentive or efficient" in camp inspection, or in any of its departments 
 of work enumerated in the preceding pages. On the contrary, its corps of camp 
 inspectors is steadily increasing in number (and hence chiefly arises the great in- 
 crease in its expenses). It employed six inspectors in August. It now enifdoys 
 f-fteen, and it contemplates engaging three more. Its supervision of their labors is 
 more and more systematic and thorough, and those labors are believed, with good 
 reason, to be daily more and more valuable and beneficent. There is steady pro- 
 gress in the amount of force employed, and the work of each inspector is more 
 efficient as he gains experience in his duties. The statement in question is there- 
 fore absolutely without foundation. 
 
 It is to be regretted that friends of the head of the Medical Bureau should 
 attempt to shield him from newspaper assaults by attacking the motives and de- 
 crying the services of men who voluntarily render to Government the unpaid 
 assistance and co-operation which that Bureau has express! y asked for, and which it 
 must need at this crisis, however great the ability and efficiency of its official 
 head; especially when such attacks may weaken this volunteer organization by 
 impairing public confidence in its ability, and thus cutting off the only source on 
 whicli it can rely for means to conduct its operations. 
 
 The Sanitary Commission, it may be added, is not responsible for the article in 
 the "World" newspaper, or for any of the publications that have appeared com- 
 menting unfavorably on the Medical Bureau and its official head. 
 
 Aiany of the members of the Commission believe the present Surgeon-General 
 not tlie fittest man that could be found for the arduous and most responsible duties 
 of his office at the present time. They are not aware of any opportunities in his 
 very long and honorable service as a Regimental Surgeon, for acquiring " ex- 
 "perience in the organization of measures for the emergency created by the war-' 
 but admitting that the experience has been acquired, they do not perceive th it it 
 has been used for the benefit of the army, or that any such " measures" iiave been 
 
JS 
 
 "organized/- oi- carried ' 
 
 *^« Medical Burea? ' '"' ^^" '^'' because theys!; ,""' '"""''''"^^' ^-^P^'^al 
 ^^'^bers of the ' O ■ '""""' ''"' "^^"^ ^™™ 
 
 -^:^:^S'P--- sis --■'-»-.., 
 
 I" "O doing, ite„ „, ,„ , , ^ ""'Msmg the efflciency 
 
 «™»e<i. For in I ""^ '" '"fl»«.ced b, ti.e " V • 
 
 ''«-fforj:j 3:'«.Mke ofli.ienc;:;/s;i:; ";'"'''' "«^ - 
 
 B-reau .ball be tb„,.„,"| ,„ ' ''.'"' '"' ™Po*n. a„,l «o„ „■ '""""' " '""""^'i, 
 ••>"<! comfort, na th.^.,"^"' """=''« <i«liibuti,<- ,„ , " ""'ni'^ativelv 
 
 "^I'.r, of. e c» "■ ''°'' """^ "'' ™„r:r°"''''''''"''' *''"■•« 
 
 George Towusend 
 
 Geo.C.Anthon ' 
 
 JoJ^a A. Stevens ^°^ 
 
 fbertRMinturn:;:::; '..::: .Z 
 
 ■Anonymous ^ 
 
 J- Carson Brei;;;.; '.' ^^^ 
 
 A. JV. Lawrence / 
 
 J«tn C. Greene. ,1^ 
 
 ^H.McCurdy.. ]'' 
 
 J-S.Merriam ^"^^ 
 
 ^iejps, Dodge "i/co.' .■.■:::;." ''' 
 
 ^••. Jacob Harsen. ,,, 
 
 I'eter Cooper. "■" ^°^ 
 
 G eoi'g e G r i s wol d," j",. .'.';."*"" T 
 
 ^^f. A. Griswoid... ,nn 
 
 Members of thp r , ^^^ 
 
 T.,.J':'"'"' °' a-ote., tbrongb-B-ei-H '™ 
 
 %"dertv»„ scbaici.;;; ■ „n 
 
19 
 
 Henry Van Scliaick ?;oO 
 
 From various persons, through Charles Simpson, Collector. 148 
 
 Geo. N Lawrence 100 
 
 MeteJith Howland 50 
 
 Miss M. W. Wells, Hartford 5 
 
 DavirJ, Collamore & Co 25 
 
 Brewster & Co , 25 
 
 Samuel Wetmore 1 00 
 
 Ay mar A Co 50 
 
 J. H. Douglas 25 
 
 New England Mutual Life Ins. Co 1000 
 
 R. H. L. Townsend, by W. & J. O'lJrien 25 
 
 Robt J. Livingston 100 
 
 J. C. Delano, by Robt. B. Minturn 25 
 
 S. Griffiths Morgan, " 25 
 
 D. R. Green, " 20 
 
 Jas. Arnold, " « 25 
 
 E. C. Junes, " 20 
 
 Benj . W. Bonney , 50 
 
 Alfred Roe . . ,, 25 
 
 Geo. N. Titus 50 
 
 Jas. Lenox, by Jno. A. Stevens 5ri0 
 
 Kew Y« rk Life Insurance Co 1000 
 
 Thos. H. May bee, by Jno. T. Agnew 100 
 
 Augustus H. Ward 100 
 
 Miss Catharine M. Sedgwick 20 
 
 N. Y. Steam Sugar Refining Co 100 
 
 Henry Chauncey, Jr 50 
 
 Jolm Jay 25 
 
 Anonymous (5 
 
 Isaac Green Pearson 25 
 
 A Lady 50 
 
 John L. Rogers 50 
 
 Messrs. C. F. Hovey & Co., Boston 100 
 
 Messrs. H. P. Sturgis (fe Co. " , 100 
 
 D. G. & W. Bacon 100 
 
 Mr. Stanard 200 
 
 Isaac L. Miller 2 
 
 Eugene A. Livingston, (Tivoli) 100 
 
 Cyrus Curtis 25 
 
 Cleay ton Newbold 25 
 
 Mrs. Bell, senior 50 
 
 Messrs. C. H. M .rshall & Co 250 
 
 William Curtis Noyes 100 
 
 Mrs. Lee, (Mass.) 25 
 
 Goodhue «fe Co 100 
 
 U. A Murdock 50 
 
 Geo. N-. Townsend 25 
 
20 
 
 Henry Oothout $100 
 
 J. A. Voisiii 20 
 
 J. F. Sheafe (by Robert B. Minturn) 160 
 
 Two ladies 40 
 
 A Philadelphian 30 
 
 Thos. 0. Smith 25 
 
 H. N. Powers 1 
 
 Chas. H. Russell 50 
 
 Mrs. Hussell 50 
 
 H , by Jane S. Woolsey 50 
 
 W. L. Leained 50 
 
 Mrs. L. Baker 25 
 
 Mi^s Fish 20 
 
 Miss Julia K. Fish 20 
 
 Miss Susan Le R. Fish 10 
 
 Hamilton Fish, Jr., 1 50 
 
 Stuy vesant Fish 1 50 
 
 Miss Betsey Bedient 10 
 
 Miss Mary W. Wells 10 
 
 P. P., of Philadelphia , 8 
 
 Dr. Orville Uewey 20 
 
 A friend, by W. P. Palmer 20 
 
 Williams & Guion 100 
 
 Orient Mutual Ins. Co 250 
 
 Hendricks & Brothers 100 
 
 Miss S Hendricks 100 
 
 A friend, Providence, R. L, by Dr. E. M. Snow 100 
 
 Messenger & Wright 25 
 
 H. R. Coit, (Litchfield) 5 
 
 Ridley Watts 26 
 
 John Barstow 100 
 
 A. S. Jarvis, (by Jno. T. Agnew) 25 
 
 Mrs S. H. Fowler, Hadley, Mass 5 
 
 Anonymous, thro' Journal of Commerce 50 
 
 George Larned, Providence 2 
 
 Hon. Wager Weeden, South Kingston, R. I 25 
 
 " 0," Providence . . , 10 
 
 Mrs. T. P. Shepard, Providence 50 
 
 A lady, " 5 
 
 Frances Wayland, " 15 
 
 Cash, " 5 
 
 Mrs. C. E. Greene, " 50 
 
 Henry A. Rogers, " 50 
 
 Mrs. Goddard, " 100 
 
 T. P. J. Goddard, " 15 
 
 Joseph A. Barker, " 25 
 
 "S," " --i 
 
 M. W., " 30 
 
21 
 
 A, D. & J. Y. Smith, Trovidence $100 
 
 Amasa Manton " 50 
 
 John Carter Brown, •' 200 
 
 Robert H. Ives, " ino 
 
 MutLKil Life Insurance Co. of N. Y 3,000 
 
 G. L. Hall, (Charlton, N. Y) 25 
 
 Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., (Newark, N. J.) 1,000 
 
 Alex. Van Rensalaer 50 
 
 Messrs. De Pierris & Pettus 10 
 
 Seth Padelford, Esq., by Dr. K. M. Snow 75 
 
 A lady friend , . 20 
 
 Alex. Duncan, Esq 1 50 
 
 Newport, (by J. L. Kennedy, Esq.) 75 
 
 Newton D. Woodward 4 
 
 Mrs. Abida Stone, by Dr. E. M. Snow 60 
 
 Cash 10 
 
 J. M. Forbes, (Boston) 100 
 
 Geo. F. Noy es 25 
 
 J.A.Hewlett 25 
 
 Alfred Pell, Jr yO 
 
 The State of New York 200 
 
 David H. Nevins 50 
 
 James C. Carter 25 
 
 Chas. Toppan 25 
 
 Benj. W. Stront^ 100 
 
 Chas. P. Kirkland 200 
 
 Chas. DeHuyter 40 
 
 Women's Central Relief Association, to refund freijjjit. . . , 2OO 
 
 Mrs. Louisa S. Lord 100 
 
 Messrs. A. Walker & Co, (New Haven) lOO 
 
 Friends, by Wm. P. Palmer. 25 
 
 Dr. J. C. Peters 25 
 
 Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society, (Tho.'t. Restieaus, 
 
 treasurer) 50O 
 
 Chas, H. Westervelt, by Dr. Jenkins 5 
 
 Mrs. Samuel T. Skidmore 20 
 
 Benj. H. Hall on behalf of Executive Committee of Citizens 
 
 of Troy, being contributions received in that city 900 
 
 Joseph Lawrence 25 
 
 F. II. Cooch by Messrs. S. & W. Welsh, Philadelphia..,. 60 
 
 Jas. Lenox 250 
 
 Alex, Hamilton, Jr 50 
 
 Mrs. Geo. Lee, Boston 100 
 
 John T. Johnston 100 
 
 Miss Esther Pratt, (Hai'tford) 10 
 
 Alfred Pell, Jr. 20 
 
 Alfred Walker, (New Haven) 102 
 
 Total $16,993 00 
 
22 
 
 Received by Geo. S. Coe, Treasurer of Committee of Associate Members. 
 Contributions, New York. 
 
 A. C. Richards 100 
 
 J. W. Paige & Co 100 
 
 0. Fironson 60 
 
 Coffii), Heildington & Co 25 
 
 O. W. Bird 20 
 
 Aspinwall, Wheelwright & Iloadley, Com. ... 200 
 
 E. White 50 
 
 Lady 20 
 
 H. S. Ayres 5 
 
 J. D Lawson 30 
 
 Mrs. E. A. Tliorne 100 
 
 H. C. S 5 
 
 0. R. McDonough 5 
 
 J. P. G. Foster 100 
 
 C.Mali 25 
 
 J. Allen 250 
 
 Archibald Wilson 2 
 
 Pacific M. Ins. Co 50 
 
 W. S. Gilman 50 
 
 H. B. Liviiig.ston 50 
 
 F. A. Benjamin 100 
 
 X 5 
 
 N. Y. Life Ins. Co 4,000 
 
 No name 1 
 
 Mrs. C. L. Spencer 500 
 
 W. F. Carey 100 
 
 Ithaca Ladies' Vol. Aid Association 20 
 
 W. Burt (fe Co 20 
 
 Jas. X. McLanahan 25 
 
 A little girl who wishes to save the life of three men. ... 10 
 
 A Friend 2 
 
 G.C.Ward 100 
 
 Henry Elsworth 100 
 
 A. Iselin & Co 250 
 
 Austin Requa 100 
 
 L. P. Hawes 50 
 
 C. G. Havens 50 
 
 Z. Gold 30 
 
 Henry W. Smith 25 
 
 E. H. Weed 25 
 
 G. Warner 2 
 
 No name 2 
 
 J. D. Jones 50 
 
 W. H. H. Moore , 30 
 
 J. B, for S. B, B 25 
 
{ 
 
 9?. 
 
 B. Mnyei- «^2.5 
 
 W. E. Pearson 10 
 
 Wm. Mill ten 25 
 
 J. P. Hoyt 50 
 
 J. Jewetl ife Sou , K'O 
 
 G. P. Rogers I'W 
 
 Mai;v Ann C. Rogers • 1"0 
 
 Mi-s.'h. G. Sheldon 20 
 
 A. B. Bigelow 5 
 
 Mrs. Isaac S. Hone and Mrs. W. H. Aslmrst 20 
 
 Brown Bros 250 
 
 H. M. Taber 30 
 
 J. P. L 10 
 
 W. D. S 10 
 
 J. A Brown, Pliila., by S. B. Ruggles 50 
 
 H. P. McKean, " 50 
 
 Manhattan Co 250 
 
 Merchants' Bank 250 
 
 A. B. C 5 
 
 J. J. Crane 50 
 
 J. Sturges 100 
 
 Bank of Republic. . . . , 200 
 
 Union 250 
 
 Warrenton ^ 
 
 0. W. Bird 25 
 
 M. K. Jessup & Co 20 
 
 Sturgis, Bennett & Co 50 
 
 Mechanics' Bank - 250 
 
 R. JafFray 
 
 J. McMullen 2 
 
 Two ladies, through S. B. Ruggles '. 10 
 
 G Richards, " E. Wetmore 50 
 
 Wm. B. Astor 250 
 
 J. J. Astor, Jr 100 
 
 E. H. Miller 50 
 
 G. D. M( rgan 100 
 
 R. L. Lord 100 
 
 S. T. Skidmore 20 
 
 G. H. Bansell, Collector 305 
 
 D. D Lord, through G. H. Hansell 25 
 
 Reynolds & Christman -. 20 
 
 D. Dows & Co 50 
 
 Vyse <fe Son 50 
 
 J. Casw ell & Son 50 
 
 Olyphaiit, Son & Co 100 
 
 Oeirich&Co 100 
 
 Jas. Brown 300 
 
 G. H. Brown 25 
 
u 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 764 262 1 § 
 
 J. L. Lewis 3 
 
 Jas Cruiksliank 125 
 
 H. Hennequiii & Co 25 
 
 W. Redmond 25 
 
 Fairbanks & Co 25 
 
 W. H. T. Mali 50 
 
 A. Boardman 25 
 
 G. H. Hansell, Collector 450 
 
 Meigs & Greenleaf 100 
 
 ABC 5 
 
 Mrs. J. L. Worth, Hirougli S. B. liuggles 3 
 
 G. H. Hansell (Collector) 450 
 
 Parsons & Pettet 25 
 
 R. W. Ropes 25 
 
 $11,214