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MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 EDWARD B. DALTON, M.D. 
 
 yo^a ^B-W Ha. I ton, 
 
 His love si ti cere, his thoughts immaculate ; 
 
 His heart as far from fraud, as heaven fro>ri\earfh. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1872. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 EDWARD BARRY DALTON, sixth child 
 and fifth son of John C. Dalton, M.D,, was 
 born in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 21, 
 1834. In early youth his physical organization 
 Tiad an appearance of extreme delicacy, notwith- 
 standing that, in bodily activity, endurance, and 
 freedom from illness, he was fully equal to those 
 of more robust external frame. The o-enerous and 
 companionable disposition, which was afterward 
 so distinguishing a trait in his character, was no- 
 ticeable even in childhood, and his intellectual su- 
 periority became abundantly manifest as soon as 
 he commenced the more serious and practical studies 
 of professional life. 
 
 He entered the Academic Department of Harvard 
 University in 1851, and passed through the usual 
 course with credit, taking parts in the Spring Exhi- 
 bitions of his Junior and Senior years, and at Com- 
 mencement at the time of his graduation in 1855. 
 In the autumn of the same year he commenced the 
 study of medicine under the direction of his father, 
 and entered as a student in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons, New York ; passing his winters in 
 attendance upon the lectures at the college, and 
 continuing his studies in the intervals at Lowell, in 
 
the office of his father, who was then engaged in ac- 
 tive practice in that city. After following the regular 
 course of study for three years, he received the 
 degree of Doctor in Medicine at the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons in 1858; his graduating 
 > thesis being a treatise on "The Disorder known 
 as Bronzed Skin, or Disease of the Supra-renal 
 Capsules." The disease was at that time com- 
 paratively a new subject, having been first made 
 known to the profession by Dr. Addison in 1855 ; 
 and Dr. Dalton's thesis was marked by so much 
 merit and originality that it was recommended for 
 publication by the Faculty of the College.* 
 
 In March, 1858, he passed a successful competi- 
 tive examination for the position of Interne at 
 the Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he 
 became in due time House Physician. He re- 
 mained in this position until May, 1859, when he 
 was appointed Resident Physician at St. Luke's 
 Hospital, an institution then in the second year of 
 its existence. He continued to discharge the duties 
 of this post for nearly two years, until the com- 
 mencement of his military life. 
 
 At the opening of the rebellion in 1 861, he offered 
 himself to the Medical Examining Board of the State 
 of New York for the position of Regimental Sur- 
 geon, and was at once approved by them and 
 placed upon the list of medical officers awaiting 
 appointment. About the same time it was found 
 that a surgeon was needed to serve upon the 
 "Quaker City," a steamer of 1,500 tons burden, 
 
 * It appeared accordingly in the New York Journal of Medicine 
 for May, i860. 
 
then recently chartered by the Union Defence 
 Committee of New York, and afterward by the 
 Navy Department of the United States, to cruise 
 as a blockading gunboat off the capes of Virginia 
 and the mouth of Chesapeake bay. Dr. Dalton 
 was temporarily appointed to this post. He re- 
 ported for duty on board the "Quaker City" in 
 May, and served with the vessel as medical officer 
 for four months, at the end of which time her 
 charter expired and she was permanently attached 
 to the Navy, having been purchased by the 
 Government of the United States. Dr. Dalton 
 then returned to New York, awaiting further 
 orders. 
 
 On the first of November he was commissioned 
 by the State of New York as Surgeon to the 36th 
 Regiment of New York Volunteers, then in the 
 service of the United States at Camp Brightwood, 
 near Washington, and at once joined his regiment, 
 under orders from Headquarters of the Army of 
 the Potomac. 
 
 During the winter of 1861-62, the troops remained 
 in camp about the city of Washington, occupied for 
 the most part in completing their organization and in 
 practicing the routine military duties of a stationary 
 force. This continued until the loth of March, 1862, I 
 when the entire army, under General McClellan, 
 moved into Virginia toward Manassas Junction, 
 and finding that post abandoned by the enemy, 
 returned to the Potomac river and encamped in the I 
 neighborhoDd of Alexandria. From this point was 
 commenced the transfer of the army to Fortress 
 Monroe, for the Peninsular Campaign. At that time 
 
the organization by corps had been effected. 
 Dr. Dalton's regiment was in the Third Brigade of 
 General Couch's Division, and formed part of the 
 Fourth Army Corps, commanded by Major General 
 Keyes. 
 
 The arrival of the troops at Fortress Monroe was 
 completed during the last week in March, and on 
 the fourth of April the army began to move up 
 the Peninsula. It remained stationary, however, 
 before Yorktown, for the following month, until the 
 fortifications of that city were abandoned by the 
 enemy ; when the army resumed its movement up 
 the Peninsula, and, with its base of supplies at 
 White House, advanced to the line of the Chicka- 
 hominy. The Fourth Corps was the first to pass 
 this river, which it crossed on the 23rd of May. 
 It continued its march on the south bank, forming 
 the extreme left of the army ; and a few days 
 afterward occupied the positions of Seven Pines and 
 Fair Oaks, within five or six miles of Richmond. 
 Here were fought the battles of May 31st and June 
 1st, which, though not absolutely defeats for our 
 army, yet arrested its advance, and placed it more 
 or less distinctly on the defensive. During this 
 time Dr. Dalton was constantly with his regiment, 
 sharing in all the fatigues and hardships of the 
 campaign. 
 
 For the next three weeks the army became infested 
 with sickness. The river was swollen by frequent 
 rains, and the wide and marshy bottom-lands, on each 
 side the narrow channel, were alternately flooded 
 and exposed under a summer temperature. The 
 men were employed almost incessantly in making 
 
intrenchments and in buildinor brldg-es and trestle- 
 work, often working- for hours up to their waists in 
 water. These causes soon produced their necessary 
 effects, and the regimental and depot hospitals 
 became filled with cases of febrile disease, many of 
 which proved rapidly fatal, while the numbers of the 
 sick and disabled were daily augmented. After a 
 time Dr. Dalton's health also began to yield, under 
 the influence of excessive professional labor and the 
 unwholesome exhalations of the Chickahominy 
 swamps. He continued, however, to attend to his 
 duties until the last, when his strength completely 
 failed, and he was prostrated by the same insidious 
 form of malarial fever which had already made such 
 havoc among both officers and men. On the 23rd 
 of June, he was found by his friend, Dr. William H. 
 Carmalt, of New York, in a tent near Seven Pines, 
 emaciated and exhausted, without appetite, and 
 so far under the influence of the fever that he was 
 incapable of providing for his own wants, or even of 
 appreciating his own dangerous condition. Dr. Car- 
 malt had come to the Peninsula, with several other 
 physicians, in charge of the hospital and supply 
 steamboat " St. Mark," provided by the Sanitary 
 Commission, and had proceeded to the army in 
 order to afford any required assistance in respect 
 to medical services or supplies. He at once urged 
 Dr. Dalton to leave the camp, and as soon as the 
 requisite authority for his removal could be obtained, 
 had him transferred to the hospital ship at 
 Yorktown, which afterward proceeded to Fortress 
 Monroe. 
 
 It was undoubtedly to this accidental meeting. 
 
and to Dr. Carmalt's prompt and friendly action, 
 that Dr. Dalton owed his hfe ; as he was then so far 
 reduced that a longer exposure to the same evil 
 influences would, in all probability, have placed him 
 beyond the hope of recovery. At Fortress Monroe 
 he was met by his father, who had been notified of 
 his condition, and had come from Massachusetts to 
 find him. Under his father's care he sailed for the 
 North early in July, and at once returned to his home 
 in Massachusetts. 
 
 As happened in many similar instances of malarial 
 fever, the most threatening signs of physical pros- 
 tration soon disappeared under the influence of a 
 northern atmosphere and appropriate medical care. 
 At the end of two or three weeks Dr. Dalton was 
 evidently out of danger, but his subsequent recovery 
 took place more slowly. From time to time his 
 leave of absence was extended until he should become 
 again able to engage in active service ; and it was 
 only in the latter part of August that he had 
 regained strength sufficiently to resume his duties 
 as regimental surijeon. 
 
 During this time the disastrous period of the seven 
 days' battles on the Peninsula, and the retreat of our 
 forces to the James River, had been followed by the 
 defeat of General Pope in northern Virginia. The 
 Peninsula had just been evacuated under the orders 
 of the Government ; and the Army of the Potomac, 
 having come by transports to the neighborhood of 
 Alexandria, was hastening with all speed to meet 
 the victorious enemy in Maryland. Dr. Dalton 
 arrived in Washington and reported to the Surgeon- 
 General on the first of September; but such was 
 
the confusion, from the rapid and continuous transit 
 of different portions of the army, that it was difficult 
 to learn the position of his own command. He 
 obtained some information, however, at the conva- 
 lescent camp at Alexandria, and on the following 
 day succeeded in finding and joining his regiment, 
 which at once proceeded on its way up the river 
 and into Maryland. The regiment still belonged to 
 General Couch's Division of the Fourth Corps, 
 which formed at this time a portion of the left wing 
 of the army. It was stationed at Poolesville, in 
 the neighborhood of Conrad's Ferry, in anticipation 
 of the battle of Antietam, which took place a few 
 days afterward. 
 
 While Dr. Dalton was at this post a singularly 
 vexatious incident occurred to him, which illustrated 
 in a striking manner the loose and reckless style 
 in which a portion of the War Department was at 
 that time administered. On the tenth of September 
 a copy of the newspaper, which reached the camp 
 of his regiment, contained a published General Order 
 of the War Department in which he, with several 
 other officers, was dismissed the service of the 
 United States for absence without leave. This was 
 the first and only intimation which reached him from 
 any quarter of such a charge being in existence 
 against him, nor did he receive any other notification 
 of his dismissal than the printed paragraph acci- 
 dentally seen in a daily newspaper. So wanton an 
 outrage naturally excited in his friends the liveliest 
 indignation, and Dr. Dalton himself was at a loss to 
 account for it, or to form any idea of the source from 
 which it had originated. He immediately took steps 
 
 2 
 
lO 
 
 to repel the charge. He left the camp at Poolesville, 
 on the same day, for Washington, with the approval 
 of his Division Commander, to confer on the subject 
 with the Surgeon General, and at the same time 
 addressed to the Adjutant General of the Army the 
 following official paper, which may fairly be con- 
 sidered, under the trying circumstances of the case, 
 as a model of quiet and dignified remonstrance. 
 
 Thirty-sixth Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 
 
 September lo, 1862. 
 
 L. Thomas, Adjutant General, U. S. Army. 
 
 Sir: — I read in General Order No. 125, War 
 Department, that I am dismissed the service of the 
 United States, " for being absent without leave " from 
 my command, while the army to which it belonged 
 was "fighting the enemy in the field." 
 
 Confident that the charge thus brought a^fainst 
 my character is utterly groundless, and being sus- 
 tained in that opinion by my commanding officers, 
 both regimental and general, I respectfully beg to 
 submit to your consideration the following statement : 
 
 On the 23d of June last, while the Thirty-sixth 
 Regiment, N. Y. S. V., was encamped at Seven 
 Pines, Va., I became ill, and was sent to a floating 
 U. S. hospital by the Brigade Surgeon, with the 
 written approval of the Medical Director of the corps, 
 and the regimental and brigade commanders. 
 
 I subsequently applied for leave of absence, and 
 received the same on the 7th of July, for a period of 
 twenty days, through the proper medical and military 
 authorities at Fortress Monroe, near which the 
 
1 1 
 
 hospital ship then lay. I then went to my home in 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 On the 23d day of July I forwarded to the War 
 Department from Boston, Mass., an application for 
 an extension of my leave for a period of thirty days, 
 accompanying the same with the proper medical 
 certificate prescribed by the U. S. Army regulations, 
 and signed by the Surgeon General of Massachu- 
 setts, Acting Assistant Surgeon U. S. Army. 
 
 On the 2 1 St day of August I presented myself 
 at New York to William J. Sloan, Surgeon U. S. 
 Army and Medical Director. From him I received 
 a certificate in due form to the necessity of a re- 
 extension of my leave for a period of fifteen days. 
 This I immediately forwarded to the War Department. 
 Surgeon Sloan also informed me that the fact of my 
 not having received any reply to my previous 
 application was not peculiar, and that the proper 
 medical certificate was sufficient authority upon which 
 to remain absent. A few days subsequent to this I 
 received from the War Department a printed copy 
 of an order relative to volunteer officers absent on 
 leave for more than sixty days in consequence of 
 wounds or of disease contracted in the line of their 
 duty, stating that such would be reported to the 
 Adjutant General for discharge. 
 
 On the first of September, four days previous 
 to the expiration of my leave, I reported in person to 
 the Surgeon General U. S. Army, at Washington, 
 and on the second to Colonel J. S. Belknap, com- 
 manding at Convalescent Camp, Alexandria, Va., 
 and subsequently, on the same day, to Colonel 
 William H. Browne, Thirty-sixth Regiment, 
 N, Y. S. V, 
 
12 
 
 I have in my possession the official papers 
 attesting the truth of the above. 
 
 In view of the facts, I respectfully solicit an early 
 consideration of my case at your hands, and, if I am 
 entitled to it, public reparation for the disgrace which 
 has been thrown upon my name. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Edward B. Dalton. 
 
 It might be anticipated that the War Department 
 
 would naturally be anxious, in such a case, to make 
 
 the most abundant reparation to a faithful and injured 
 
 officer for the undeserved annoyance and irritation 
 
 to which he had been subjected. This, however, did 
 
 not appear to enter into the calculations of the 
 
 Administration. The only public amends made in 
 
 regard to the affair was a formal revocation of the 
 
 dismissal, published in General Orders, sixteen days 
 
 later, of which Dr. Dalton received the followinof 
 
 copy : 
 
 War Department, 
 
 Adjutant General's Office, 
 
 Washington, September 26, 1862. 
 
 General Orders, No. 143. 
 So much of "General Orders No. 125," as dis- 
 misses Surgeon Edward B. Dalton, Thirty-sixth New 
 York Volunteers, is, by direction of the President, 
 revoked. 
 
 By order of the Secretary of War, 
 
 (Signed) L. Thomas, 
 Official. Adjtitant General. 
 
 E. D. Townsend, 
 
 Assistant AdjtUant General. 
 
13 
 
 Of the eleven officers dismissed in General Orders 
 No. 125, all but four were reinstated in the same 
 manner as above, the charges against them being, 
 no doubt, equally groundless. 
 
 Notwithstanding this vexatious occurrence. Dr. 
 Dalton resumed his duties with his usual alacrity 
 and devotion, and seldom referred to it subsequently 
 in terms of complaint. 
 
 A day or two after the battle of Antietam, the 
 enemy retired across the Potomac to the entrance of 
 the Shenandoah Valley. The Union forces, after 
 a delay of several weeks, in the latter part of 
 October also crossed the river a short distance below 
 Harper's Ferry. The two armies then commenced 
 a parallel movement toward the south, with the Blue 
 Ridge between them, until, on the 9th of November, 
 the General Headquarters of our army were at 
 Warrenton, near the sources of the Rappahannock 
 river. At this point the command was transferred 
 from General McClellan to General Burnside ; and 
 within ten days afterward the army had commenced 
 and executed its rapid march, in a southeasterly 
 direction, toward Falmouth and Fredericksburg, in 
 order to carry out the new plan of campaign against 
 Richmond, from Fredericksburg and Acquia Creek 
 as a base of operations. 
 
 Then came the extraordinary and unfortunate mis- 
 understanding by which the pontoon train, required 
 for the prompt passage of the river at Falmouth, was 
 not forwarded from Washington, and the consequent 
 failure to secure possession of Fredericksburg and 
 the southern bank. The troops accordingly remained 
 in position about Falmouth until the battle of Frede- 
 
14 
 
 ricksburg, December 13th. At that time the Army 
 of the Potomac had been organized into three Grand 
 Divisions. The Thirty-sixth Regiment N, Y. V. 
 was now in the Second Brigade of the Third 
 Division of the Sixth Corps, commanded by General 
 W. H. Smith, and was inchided in the Left Grand 
 Division of the Army, under Major General Franklin. 
 
 This portion of the army crossed the river just 
 below the city of Fredericksburg, on the two days 
 preceding the battle, December nth and 12th, 
 holding the bridge-heads at this point until the 
 commencement of the action, when they were 
 expected to produce a decisive impression upon 
 the enemy's right. After the failure of the general 
 assault, the army retained its position on the Frede- 
 ricksburg side until the night of December 15th, 
 when it was withdrawn, and returned to the camps 
 about Falmouth. About the middle of the following 
 January it went into winter quarters, and on the 
 26th of the same month General Burnside was 
 superseded in command by General Hooker. 
 
 During this time Dr. Dalton's superiority as a 
 medical officer had become quite apparent to those 
 associated with him, and he was soon called to 
 positions of greater responsibility. On the second 
 of January, 1863, he was detailed by Major General 
 Smith as Medical Inspector for the Sixth Corps, and 
 immediately entered upon the duties of his new 
 position. Soon afterward his military status was 
 permanently changed from the position of regimental 
 surgeon to that of "Surgeon, United States Volun- 
 teers." 
 
 At the commencement of the war each volunteer 
 
15 
 
 regiment had been provided, so far as possible, with 
 a surgeon and assistant surgeon definitely attached 
 to the command like other regimental officers, and 
 receiving their commissions in a similar manner from 
 the authorities of the State to which the regiment 
 belonged. At the same time a different grade of 
 medical officers was instituted, with the title of 
 " Brigade Surgeon," to assist in providing for the 
 general administration of the medical affairs of 
 troops in the field, as well as that of general and post 
 hospitals. The brigade surgeons, thus created, were 
 commissioned directly by the President of the United 
 States, and could thus be assigned to general duties 
 in such manner as the exio-encies of the service 
 might require. 
 
 After a time it became desirable to increase the 
 number of medical officers of this class. The title 
 of brigade surgeon was dropped, and that of 
 "Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Volunteers" 
 adopted in its stead. The old brigade surgeons 
 became at once Surgeons, U. S. V. ; and a medical 
 board was convened for the examination of others 
 who might desire appointment to the new grade. 
 The law required that each successful candidate 
 should first be commissioned as assistant surgeon ; 
 after which he might be promoted to the grade of 
 surgeon in due time. It was intimated to some 
 of the volunteer regimental surgeons, whose services 
 had been found to be most valuable, that if they 
 were willing to enter the new corps with the secondary 
 rank of assistants, as required by law, an early 
 opportunity of promotion to the full grade of surgeon 
 would be afforded them. Dr. Dalton was among 
 
i6 
 
 the first who received this intimation. He accordingly 
 resigned his commission as Surgeon of the Thirty- 
 sixth Regiment, appeared before the Examining 
 Medical Board at Washington on the 24th of 
 February, and was appointed Assistant Surgeon 
 March i ith, and Surgeon, U.S.V., March 26th, 1863. 
 He was still retained on duty as Medical Inspector 
 of the Sixth Corps, which was now under the 
 command of Major General Sedgwick. 
 
 In the early part of this year he married 
 Miss Sarah Horton Colburn, daughter of Warren 
 Colburn, the mathematician. The marriage took 
 place at Cambridge, Mass., February 7th ; Dr. Dalton 
 having arrived from Virginia the day previous. 
 After an absence of twenty days he again returned 
 to his post with the army of the Potomac. 
 
 The following summer and winter were spent by 
 Dr. Dalton for the most part in administrative and 
 hospital service at Fortress Monroe and the 
 neighboring posts. In the latter part of March he 
 was ordered from the Army of the Potomac to 
 Fortress Monroe, then the Headquarters of the 
 Military Department of Virginia, under the command 
 of General Dix. The comparative quiet of the 
 service at this point was broken for a short time 
 only during the summer by General Dix's demon- 
 stration against Richmond. In the month of June 
 the enemy left his position at Fredericksburg for the 
 invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania ; and the 
 Army of the Potomac moved in a corresponding 
 direction, to confront the rebel forces on the field 
 of Gettysburg. At the same time our troops in the 
 Department of Virginia commenced a movement up 
 
17 
 
 the Peninsula, from Fortress Monroe and Yorktown. 
 The expedition occupied White House, June 25th, 
 and on the first of July advanced toward the 
 Chickahominy river, for the purpose of threatening 
 Richmond and thus embarrassing the movements of 
 General Lee in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The 
 battle of Gettysburg was fought on the third of 
 July, and ten days afterward General Lee retired 
 into Virginia. Our forces, however, continued to 
 occupy the upper part of the Peninsula for several 
 weeks. During this period Dr. Dalton was Acting 
 Medical Director of the Army of Virginia, on the 
 staff of General Dix. He provided for the medical 
 supplies of the expedition, and accompanied the 
 troops to White House, the extreme base of 
 operations, where he remained for a short time, until 
 the withdrawal of our forces from that point. 
 
 For the next five or six weeks he was temporarily 
 in charge of the Chesapeake General Hospital near 
 Fortress Monroe. On the 14th of September he 
 was relieved from this post and assigned as Chief 
 Medical Officer to the Balfour General Hospital at 
 Portsmouth, Virginia, a hospital which contained on 
 the average rather more than two hundred sick and 
 wounded. Here he remained durino- the followinpf 
 season, with ample opportunities for learning the 
 details of providing and administering a stationary 
 hospital, which he afterward developed with such 
 remarkable success on a much larger scale. He 
 enjoyed here also the comforts of a home and the 
 society of his wife, who spent the greater part of the 
 fall and winter in company with him at Fortress 
 Monroe and Portsmouth. Early, however, in the 
 3 
 
next year, he found that the chmate of the locaHty, 
 and the confinement and monotony of hospital hfe, 
 were having a depressing effect upon his health and 
 usefulness. Both his mental and bodily temperament 
 required a more active employment ; and he addressed 
 to the Surgeon General's Office a request for 
 assignment to duty in the field, as follows : 
 
 Balfour General Hospital, 
 
 Portsmouth, Virginia, February 12th, 1864. 
 
 Col. Joseph K. Barnes, U. S. x'\., 
 
 Acting S2irgeoii General, U. S. Army. 
 
 Colonel : I have the honor to request that, if not 
 inconsistent with your views, I may be relieved from 
 duty as surgeon in charge of this hospital, and ordered 
 to report at Headquarters of the Army of the 
 Potomac. The confinement incident to hospital 
 duty, especially in a climate where I have suffered 
 severely from malarial disease, is seriously injuring 
 my health, while active duty in the field has not 
 done so. 
 
 Previous to my transfer to this Department, I served 
 eighteen months in the Army of the Potomac, and I 
 strongly desire to rejoin it. 
 
 I am. Sir, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Edward B. Dalton, 
 
 Surgeon, U. S. V. 
 
 This request was readily granted; and in accordance 
 with orders to that effect. Dr. Dalton left Portsmouth 
 on the first of March, and a day or two afterward 
 reported at Headquarters of the Army of the 
 
19 
 
 Potomac, where he was at once assigned to duty as 
 Medical Inspector. He was not at this time attached 
 to any single corps, but acted as " Inspector for the 
 Medical Department of the Army of the Potomac." 
 He reported directly to the office of the Medical 
 Director, Surgeon McParlin, from whom he received 
 orders for the inspection of various portions of the 
 army, and for "such services connected with the 
 Medical Department, as might from time to time be 
 required of him." 
 
 The army at this time, under the command of 
 General Meade, lay upon the north bank of the 
 Rapidan, where it had remained during the previous 
 winter, with the enemy equally intrenched on the 
 south bank of the same river. In the month of March, 
 General Grant was appointed Lieutenant General, 
 and assigned to the supreme military command of 
 the armies of the United States. On the 17th 
 he assumed command, making his headquarters in 
 the field with the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 The great struggle of the summer of 1864 was 
 now about to commence, by which the Army of the 
 Potomac, again in close contact with its old adversary, 
 was to force its way through Northern Virginia to a 
 new position before Petersburg and Richmond. The 
 month of April was spent in completing the necessary 
 recruitment and preparation of the troops. On the 
 Fourth of May the movement began. The army 
 left its intrenchments on the Rapidan, penetrating 
 the country immediately south of that river known 
 as the "Wilderness," and moving by the left flank 
 toward Spottsylvania Court House. Then came the 
 series of obstinate and sanguinary encounters, begin- 
 
20 
 
 ning with the battles of the Wilderness, May 5th 
 and 6th, and continued almost without interruption 
 by those of Spottsylvania Court House, the North 
 Anna, Hanovertown, Cold Harbor, and the Inter- 
 vening points, until the appearance of the advanced 
 corps of the army before Petersburg, and the attacks 
 on the defences of that city, June 15th, i6th, 17th 
 and 1 8th. During this period there were no less 
 than ten actions deserving the name of battles ; and 
 out of forty-five days, twenty-seven had been days 
 of more or less considerable fighting by various 
 portions of the army. Never before, since the com- 
 mencement of the war, had the positions on both 
 sides been assailed with more determination or held 
 with more tenacity ; and the number of casualties, 
 both in dead and wounded, was correspondingly 
 large. At the same time, the army was almost 
 constantly moving in such a manner as to require 
 repeated changes in its base of supplies, and of 
 course also in the direction in which its sick and 
 wounded were to be transported. This latter duty 
 was intrusted to the care of Dr. Dalton. 
 
 During the battles of the Wilderness he was with 
 the army, occupied with the duties incident to his 
 position on the general medical staff. Immediately 
 afterward he was charged with the removal and care 
 of all the wounded, by the following order : 
 
 Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 
 
 Medical Director's Office, 
 
 May 7th, 1864. 
 
 Surgeon E. B. Dalton, U. S. V., 
 
 Inspct. Medical Department, Anny of the Potomac. 
 Sir — The instructions given you this morning are 
 
21 
 
 SO far modified that you will accompany the train of 
 ambulances and wagons on its march with this army, 
 and take oreneral charge thereof as senior medical 
 officer, and see that the wounded are well cared for 
 and supplied in every particular so far as may be 
 possible. You will keep me informed of their con- 
 dition at all times. The necessities of the service 
 fully require the best endeavors of the Medical 
 Department to execute a most important and difficult 
 
 duty. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Thos. a. McParlin, 
 
 Surgeon U. S. A., Medical Director. 
 
 On the following day, the city of Fredericksburg 
 having been fixed upon as a base, Dr. Dalton was 
 directed to establish at this point the first hospital 
 depot. Here he collected and placed under shelter, 
 by the ninth of May, over 7,000 wounded, converting 
 the city into an organization of corps hospitals, and 
 providing for all the immediate necessities of the 
 medical service. This, however, was but the beginning 
 of the work required. The wounded from the 
 Wilderness continued to be brought in, and were 
 followed at once by those from the battles of 
 Spottsylvania Court House, May loth, 12th and 
 1 8th. Every available means was called into 
 requisition for the transportation, reception and care 
 of so large a number of disabled and suffering men ; 
 and all the medical officers present, together with a 
 large delegation of surgeons from civil life, who had 
 volunteered their assistance for the emergency, were 
 
5^ 
 
 abundantly occupied in performing the necessary- 
 labors. At least an equal amount of diligence was 
 needed for the transhipment of many of the wounded, 
 and their immediate transfer to Washingfton. For 
 Fredericksburg, owing to the shifting position of 
 the armies, could not be a permanent depot ; and 
 the wounded must not be allowed to accumulate in 
 such a manner as to interfere with their safety, when 
 the time for evacuation should arrive. 
 
 On the twenty-first the army commenced its 
 movement from the neighborhood of vSpottsylvania 
 toward the North Anna; and the hospital trains, 
 instead of beino- sent to Fredericksburg-, were directed 
 t^ P ort Roy al, twenty miles farther down the 
 Rappahannock river. This point was used for a 
 few days as the second depot and base of supplies. 
 Soon afterward Dr. Dalton received instructions for 
 further movements, in the following order from the 
 Medical Director of the Army : 
 
 Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 
 Camp at Mango Hick, near Junction of North and South Anna, Va. ; 
 
 Medical Director's Office, 
 
 May 27, 1S64, 4.15 P.M. 
 
 Sir — This army, by its advance, has ceased to be 
 within reach or convenient use of Port Royal as a 
 depot for wounded to be sent to Washington, or 
 as a point from which to draw medical and hospital 
 supplies. I desire that the transport vessels and 
 medical purveying and supply vessels, be immediately 
 ordered to proceed to White House, on the 
 Pamunkey river, and that the field hospital encamp- 
 ment equipage, and officers serving at Port Royal, 
 be transferreci immediately to that point. 
 
The last trains of wounded left this army for 
 Port Royal May 27th ; and no more wounded will be 
 sent to, or waited for, at Port Royal after their arrival. 
 I am. Sir, with much respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Thos. a. McPaklin, 
 Surgeon IT. S. A., Medical Director. 
 
 Surgeon E. B. Dalton, U. S. Vols., 
 Chief Medical Officer, 
 Fredericksburo-. 
 
 &' 
 
 Both Port Royal and the city of Fredericksburg 
 were accordingly abandoned at the same time that 
 the army crossed the Pamunkey river, May 28th ; 
 the wounded being all sent to Washington, and the 
 medical supplies moved to White House, where the 
 third depot was established, and the wounded again 
 received from the army. A similar process of 
 temporary hospital organization, treatment, and 
 transhipment of wounded, continued here for two 
 weeks, followed by another evacuation, and the 
 transportation of stores and hospital material, round 
 the Peninsula to City Point, the new base of operations 
 reached by the army, on the south bank of the 
 James river. All these movements were conducted 
 under Dr. Dalton's immediate direction, and were 
 accomplished so successfully, that none of the 
 wounded were left behind at either point, nor any 
 of the hospital property abandoned ; and the new 
 hospital depot was established at City Point, almost 
 simultaneously with its occupation by the Army of 
 the Potomac. 
 

 24 
 
 It having now become evident that the main 
 operations for a considerable time would take place 
 before Petersburg, with City Point as a base, it was 
 determined to retain the Hospital accommodations at 
 that point, and to develop them on a plan commen- 
 surate with the requirements of the entire army. 
 This was accordingly done, under the personal 
 direction of Dr. Dalton, who remained in charge as 
 Chief Medical Officer; the organization itself receiv- 
 ing the name of the " Depot Field Hospital of the 
 Army of the Potomac." It was made capable of 
 accommodating 10,000 patients, and nearly that 
 number were often under treatment at the same 
 time. By the month of October all its principal 
 features were fully developed. The details of the 
 entire operation of this department, from its com- 
 mencement after the battles of the Wilderness, 
 are best given in the following report made by 
 Dr. Dalton in December, 1864, at the desire of the 
 Medical Director -. 
 
 Depot Field Hospital, Army of the Potomac, 
 City Point, Va., December, 1864, 
 
 Brevet Lieut. Col. Thos. A. McParlin, U. S. A., 
 Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac : 
 
 Sir — I have the honor to submit the following 
 report upon the origin and development of the Depot 
 Field Hospital of the Army of the Potomac, from 
 May to October of the present year : 
 
 On the 7th of May, 1864, it was ordered from the 
 Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, that all 
 the wounded from the battle-fields of the Wilderness 
 should be taken across the Rapidan, via Ely's Ford, 
 
25 
 
 to Rappahannock Station on the Orange and 
 Alexandria Railroad, and thence sent by rail to 
 Washington ; and I was ordered to take general 
 charge of their transportation. 
 
 Owing to the constant and heavy demand for 
 ambulances at the immediate front, a large number 
 of army wagons were furnished by the Quarter- 
 master's Department, to assist in the execution of 
 this order. The amount of transportation, however, 
 was still quite insufficient, and a large number of 
 wounded were left at the various field depots, under 
 the care of a few medical officers and attendants, 
 provided with such shelter, supplies, and rations, 
 as the emergency allowed. The train was at once 
 gotten in readiness, loaded with wounded, and 
 furnished with the requisite amount of rations 
 and medical supplies. A few medical officers were 
 detailed from each corps for the care of the wounded 
 during the trip. 
 
 The train was fairly under way when the enemy's 
 cavalry was reported in the vicinity of Ely's Ford. 
 An order was received to proceed no farther in that 
 direction, but to turn back and follow in the rear of 
 the army. This order was at once carried into 
 effect, and the train followed the line of march 
 during the night. 
 
 The following day, May 8th, I received an order 
 to conduct the train to Fredericksburg, Va., and 
 there place the wounded in temporary hospital 
 accommodations, until they could be removed to 
 Washington. A suitable escort was provided, and 
 the train proceeded as ordered, entering Fredericks- 
 burg about one o'clock on the morning of the ninth. 
 4 
 
26 
 
 The churches, pubHc buildings, warehouses, mills, 
 and the more commodious of the private dwellings 
 were at once taken possession of for hospital pur- 
 poses, and a large number of wounded officers and 
 men were billeted upon such families as remained 
 in town. Over 7,000 wounded, the whole number 
 brought on the train, were thus placed under shelter. 
 The number of medical officers and attendants was, 
 of necessity, disproportionately small. Some forty 
 medical officers were present. These worked most 
 faithfully and steadily day and night. The immediate 
 necessities of the wounded were attended to with 
 very little delay, and the less pressing demands met 
 with all possible dispatch. 
 
 The absolute impossibility of preparing accurate 
 records under these circumstances, makes it impossible 
 now to furnish more than a report of the general 
 conduct of affairs. Every effort was made to 
 systematize as rapidly as possible. The organization 
 adopted was by corps, corresponding to the organi- 
 zation of the army. Certain buildings, with the 
 adjacent district of the town, were assigned to each 
 corps hospital, and the men belonging to the same 
 collected, so far as practicable, within the limits of 
 this district. From the medical officers present of 
 each corps, one was selected as surgeon in charge, 
 and the remainder were assigned to duty as assistants. 
 This same organization, with some modification in 
 the details, has continued up to the present time. 
 
 The day after the occupation of the city, and for 
 several days subsequently, trains of ambulances, 
 containing supplies, were sent with flag-of-truce under 
 charge of a medical officer to the Wilderness, for 
 
27 
 
 the purpose of completing' the removal of the 
 wounded. All, save a few taken by the enemy, were 
 thus brought into town. 
 
 Owing to the fact that this occupation of 
 Fredericksburg, as a hospital, was entirely unex- 
 pected, a day or two intervened between the arrival 
 of the wounded and the establishment of communi- 
 cation with Washington ; during which time the 
 supply of medical and hospital stores, surgical 
 appliances, et cetera, was quite limited. Ships, laden 
 with everything necessary, reached Belle Plain on 
 the loth of May, and wagon trains at once brought 
 an abundance to the city. 
 
 At the same time, a number of surgeons from 
 civil life arrived and reported for duty, in accordance 
 with orders from the Surgeon General's office. Many 
 of these rendered most valuable assistance. 
 
 Immediately upon the establishment of commu- 
 nication with Washington, measures were taken to 
 transfer to that city all such men as were disabled 
 for more than thirty days. All the available 
 transportation was used for the more severe cases, 
 while many wounded only in the upper extremity 
 were sent in squads on foot to Belle Plain, under 
 charge of a medical officer, and there placed on 
 board transports. 
 
 Meantime the battles of Spottsylvania sent in daily 
 accessions to the number in the city. In some instances 
 the ambulance and wagon trains conveying these 
 were unloaded at once ; while in others they were 
 halted for a sufficient length of time to allow for the 
 immediate wants of those on board, and were then 
 sent on at once to Belle Plain. 
 
28 
 
 On the 20th three hundred hospital tents arrived. 
 These were distributed to the different corps hospitals, 
 and were at once pitched outside the town. So many 
 of the wounded as could be accommodated were 
 transferred from the buildings without delay. 
 
 On the 2 2d the repairs of the Falmouth and 
 Acquia Creek railway were completed, and this 
 additional means constantly made use of for the 
 removal of the wounded to Acquia Landing, to which 
 point the depots, previously at Belle Plain, had been 
 transferred. 
 
 Simultaneously with the opening of the railroad, 
 light draught steamers reached the city by the 
 Rappahannock river. These were hastily furnished 
 with supplies, straw, etc., and used for the transporta- 
 tion of wounded to Tappahannock, and other points 
 lower down the river, where hospital transports were 
 ready to receive and convey them to Washington. 
 
 The army had now moved so far that Frede- 
 ricksburg was no longer eligible as a hospital depot, 
 and every effort was made to evacuate the town as 
 promptly as possible. By the morning of Saturday, 
 the 28th of May, the wounded were all removed, and 
 all public property placed on board steamers and 
 barges in tow. These dropped down the river under 
 convoy of a gunboat, while the ambulances and army 
 wagons moved overland, under escort of the troops 
 which had been garrisoning the city during the 
 occupation. By night both reached Port Royal, 
 which had already been occupied as a depot, but 
 was about to be abandoned in consequence of the 
 onward march of the army toward the Peninsula. 
 Some thousand wounded had been brought here 
 
29 
 
 from the front by Surgeon A. J. Phelps, U. S. V., and 
 by him sent thence to Washington. No more were 
 expected ; and White House, on the Pamunkey 
 river, had been designated as the next base. The 
 necessary arrangements for transportation to said 
 point were made without delay, and the medical 
 officers, with their hospital attendants and property, 
 sailed on the afternoon of the following day. Surgeon 
 W. L. F'axon, Thirty-second Mass. Vols., in charge 
 of the Fifth Corps Hospital, remained in charge at 
 Port Royal until the departure of the last boat, to 
 see that nothing appertaining to the department 
 should be neglected. After thoroughly performing 
 this duty, he accompanied the troops and train across 
 land to the new base. 
 
 We reached White House on the 30th, and 
 immediately commenced unloading and pitching the 
 tents, and preparing for the reception of wounded, 
 whose arrival from the battle fields of Hanovertown 
 and Cold Harbor was now looked for every hour. 
 The hospitals were arranged along the river bank, in 
 double echelon, extending from the former site of 
 the White House some three fourths of a mile down 
 the river, with a breadth of half a mile. Shelter, 
 supplies, and facilities for cooking were in readiness 
 when the first train reached the landing on the 
 afternoon of the ist of June. 
 
 Captain Pitkin, A. 6. M., Depot Quartermaster, 
 spared no effort in affording every facility for the 
 prompt accommodation and comfortable transporta- 
 tion of these men. It being understood that this 
 base was but temporary, every available steamer 
 bound thence to Washington was immediately 
 
30 
 
 provided with straw, rations, medical supplies and 
 cooking apparatus, and loaded with wounded. These 
 were sent under charge of medical officers detailed 
 to this duty, by virtue of the pressing emergency and 
 the absolute impossibility of communicating with 
 headquarters for orders. Thus thousands found 
 immediate accommodation upon the boats without 
 even the delay of registering their names ; sufficient 
 examination being given on the spot to prevent the 
 escape of malingerers or deserters. 
 
 From the ist of June to the 13th there were daily 
 and sometimes hourly arrivals of trains from the 
 front, the number thus received being sufficient to 
 keep the hospitals full in spite of every effort to 
 relieve them. 
 
 On the thirteenth, however, the arrivals ceased. 
 Information was received that the army was moving 
 by the left flank to the James River, and twenty-four 
 hours sufficed to send away a large proportion of the 
 remaining wounded, strike the tents, and repack and 
 ship a good portion of the property. At this juncture, 
 Captain J. E. Jones, A.O.M., and Captain B. F. Talbot, 
 C. S., reported for duty with the Hospital Department. 
 The latter at once provided abundant subsistence 
 stores, issued a sufficient quantity for those who must 
 still remain a day or two, and shipped the remainder, 
 to be taken with the first medical boat for the new 
 base. Assistant Surgeon A. K. St. Clair, First 
 Michigan Cavalry, was detailed to remain in charge 
 at the landing, whence he successfully removed the 
 remaining wounded and the stores. 
 
 On the morning of the fourteenth a large proportion 
 of the medical officers, the Commissary and the 
 
31 
 
 Quartermaster, together with the Purveying Depart- 
 ment and most of the hospital property, started down 
 the Pamunkey, eii route for Jamestown Island in 
 the James River, which had been designated in your 
 letter of June 12th, as the probable rendezvous until 
 further orders, A temporary delay was occasioned 
 at Yorktown by the great reluctance of the captains 
 of the purveying steamers " Planter," " Farmer," 
 and " Hugh Jenkins," to proceed. Their objections 
 were however overruled, and we reached Jamestown 
 Island on the afternoon of the fifteenth. Here, orders 
 were received through you, to proceed to City Point 
 and there establish the hospital depot. 
 
 On the sixteenth, on reaching the pontoon bridge 
 near Fort Powhatan, we were delayed by the crossing 
 of cavalry and the cattle. Surgeon Phelps, however, 
 succeeded in getting above the bridge by means of a 
 small boat, and thence by tug to City Point, where 
 he located a site for the hospital. 
 
 We finally reached our destination at City Point 
 on the eighteenth, just as a train of ambulances 
 arrived, loaded with wounded from the assault upon 
 Petersburg. These were at once attended to, and 
 transportation to Washington provided for them, 
 hospital transports being loaned for the purpose by 
 Surgeon McCormick, U. S. A., Medical Director of 
 the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. 
 
 The hospital property was at once unloaded and 
 conveyed to the site selected, and there put in 
 readiness as rapidly as possible for the reception of 
 wounded, who still continued to come in in large 
 numbers. The site, which is the one still occupied, 
 is located to the south of the James River, one mile 
 
32 
 
 from City Point toward Petersburg. It is situated 
 upon a broad plain, extending from the Petersburg 
 pike to the high bluffs overlooking the basin of the 
 Appomattox, just at the junction of the latter river 
 with the James. 
 
 The plan of the encampment, which still remains 
 essentially unaltered, was mainly devised by Doctor 
 Phelps. Some irregularities occurred in its execution, 
 in consequence of the embarrassment of laying out 
 the camp and erecting tents, at the same time that 
 the presence of wounded called constantly for 
 professional labor. By means of pontoons, two 
 temporary wharves were soon constructed at a 
 convenient point, a short distance up the Appomattox. 
 These were for the exclusive use of the hospital, 
 and were used respectively for the landing and 
 issuing of supplies, and for transferring wounded to 
 the hospital transports. 
 
 The services of the transports were immediately, 
 and, for a time constantly, In demand. Two of these, 
 the " Connecticut" and the " State of Maine," were 
 of sufficiently light draught to be able to come 
 alongside the wharf The " De Molay " could reach 
 the mouth of the Appomattox, and was there loaded 
 by means of lighters. The " Atlantic," " Baltic," 
 and " Western Metropolis," came no farther than 
 Fort Monroe, or Newport News, and were there 
 loaded by transfer from the "Connecticut" and 
 " State of Maine." All rendered efficient service, 
 especially the " Connecticut," which has been, 
 throughout the campaign, remarkable for the prompt- 
 ness and energy displayed in her management. 
 
 The purveying department met all necessary 
 
^2> 
 
 demands with promptness and liberality. Nothing 
 really essential to the care of the wounded was 
 wanting. Bedsacks and blankets were supplied 
 without stint, although, for a time, bedsteads were 
 dispensed with, except in the severest cases ; a 
 large proportion of the patients being placed upon 
 sacks, amply filled with straw, and arranged upon 
 the ground beneath the tents. None were without 
 shelter. Drugs and dressings in abundance, hospital 
 stores, ice, and even delicacies, were constantly issued. 
 Cooking stoves, caldrons, and portable ovens, were 
 on hand in sufficient quantity for any emergency. 
 Requisitions received prompt and full attention at all 
 times. But a short time elapsed before the arrival 
 of an abundant supply of bedsteads, when sheets 
 and pillow-cases were at once made use of in all cases 
 where they could essentially add to the comfort of 
 the patient. 
 
 The capacity of the hospital was rapidly increased, 
 until it became capable of accommodating ten 
 thousand patients. At first these were mainly 
 wounded ; but, as the season advanced, and the 
 prolonged duty in the trenches told upon the men, 
 the proportion of sick became greater. Each 
 successive engagement would fill the beds with 
 wounded, but these, especially the severely hurt, 
 were sent north as rapidly as possible ; while the sick, 
 as a general rule, were removed only when the 
 character of the case rendered a change of climate 
 essential to recovery. 
 
 The entire encampment now covers an area of 
 some two hundred acres, and is composed of twelve 
 hundred hospital tents. The latter were at first 
 5 
 
34 
 
 pitched in groups composed of two tents and an 
 intervening fly, placed end to end. These groups 
 are arranged in rows, side by side, divided by lateral 
 interspaces of fifteen feet in width between the 
 individual groups. The ends of the groups abut 
 upon streets sixty feet wide, running parallel with the 
 river and meeting at right angles a main avenue one 
 hundred and eighty feet in width, which extends from 
 the verge of the bluff, directly through the centre of 
 the camp, to the Petersburg pike. Since the approach 
 of cool weather, an entire tent has been substituted 
 for the intervening fly, in each group. 
 
 Shortly after the establishment of the hospital at 
 this point, works were constructed by the Quarter- 
 master for supplying the encampment with water. 
 Two steam engines, of four horse-power each, were 
 placed at the foot of the bluff, at the edge of the 
 river, whence they force water into a tank capable 
 of containing six thousand gallons, which is raised 
 thirty feet above the level of the bluff and supported 
 upon a strong wooden trestle work. From this 
 tank a conducting pipe of two inches in diameter 
 descends to the ground, and is then conducted, at a 
 depth of eighteen inches below the surface, along 
 the main avenue. At right angles to this main pipe, 
 smaller ones diverge at intervals, and enter the various 
 divisions of the hospital, where, at the extremity of 
 each pipe, is a hydrant. These works, which were 
 completed on the sixth of July, have proved entirely 
 satisfactory. An abundance of river water was thus 
 supplied for laundry, bathing, and other coarser 
 purposes. Wells were dug in various parts of the 
 hospital, and these, with numerous springs in the 
 
35 
 
 vicinity, afforded a plentiful supply for drinking and 
 cooking. 
 
 For several weeks subsequent to the arrival at 
 City Point, no rain fell ; and the accumulation of dust 
 became a source of the greatest discomfort. Bodies 
 of troops and wagon trains were constantly passing 
 along the main road ; and the dust thus disturbed 
 was borne in dense clouds over and through the camp, 
 filling the tents and penetrating even the bedclothes. 
 This matter was represented at the Surgeon General's 
 Office-, and sprinkling carts applied for. Eight of 
 these were promptly sent down from Washington, 
 and were immediately and constantly made use of 
 They afforded great relief, not only in subduing the 
 dust, but also in moderating the intense heat of the 
 atmosphere. As an additional means, high, broad 
 bowers were built continuously along the ends of the 
 tents, on each side of the streets. 
 
 For purposes of drainage, each group of tents 
 was surrounded by a trench, eight inches in depth. 
 From these trenches, the water is conducted into 
 ditches, which run parallel to, and on each side of, 
 the streets, and terminate, by means of still larger 
 ones, in various irregular ravines with which the 
 ground is broken, and which descend rapidly to the 
 river. This system has proved entirely effectual. 
 
 It is impossible, by merely quoting the register, to 
 convey an accurate idea of the number of sick and 
 wounded who have received attention in this hospital. 
 At Fredericksburg, at White House, and still later 
 at City Point, hundreds passed through under 
 circumstances which rendered it impracticable to 
 register their names, or even to accurately estimate 
 
36 
 
 their number. These instances occurred during, or 
 immediately subsequent to, an engagement ; when 
 the accumulation of wounded, and the constant calls 
 for professional labor, sometimes made it necessary 
 to transfer at once from the ambulances to the 
 hospital transports. In fact, as I have already stated, 
 so unremitting were the professional duties of the 
 medical officers during the first fortnight at Fred- 
 ericksburg that it was impossible even to prepare 
 morning reports ; and it was not until the sixteenth 
 of May that even a numerical report was attempted. 
 From that date to the present, daily reports have 
 been forwarded; and they show that from the i6th / 
 of May, 1864, to October 31st, 1864, there have 
 been received into this Hospital, and retained here 
 under treatment, for at least forty-eight hours, 68,540 
 sick and wounded, officers and men. Of these, 
 48,613 have been transferred to the various U. S. 
 general hospitals at the north, and 10,706 have been 
 returned direct from this hospital to duty with their 
 commands. One thousand four hundred and ninety- 
 six have died. 
 
 A vast number of the wounded had, when received 
 here, already suffered amputation, or other capital 
 operations, at the immediate front ; while in a 
 great many other cases similar interference was still 
 necessary. The experience here has given the most 
 convincing evidence in favor of primary operations 
 in gunshot wounds. 
 
 The majority of the sick, received during the 
 summer, have suffered from dysentery, diarrhoea and 
 malarial fevers. A small proportion of cases of 
 typhoid fever have occurred, and a very few, com- 
 
Z1 
 
 paratively, of pneumonia and milder diseases of the 
 chest. The manifestations of malarial influences 
 have, as a general rule, been of a mild character, 
 and evidently owing- in great measure to the 
 prolonged exposure and hard service to which the 
 men have been subjected in the trenches. In fact, 
 very many of these do not properly come under the 
 head of either of the recognized classes of malarious 
 fever, but were rather cases of a depressed condition, 
 not inaptly expressed by the term " malarial malaise." 
 A large proportion of these recovered rapidly and 
 entirely under the influences of rest, cleanliness, 
 and good nourishment, together with the moderate 
 administration of quinine and iron. A number of cases 
 have arisen within the limits of this encampment, but 
 not in sufficient number, or of sufficient severity, to 
 impair the efficiency of the hospital, or to throw any 
 doubt upon the propriety of its establishment and 
 continuance. On the contrary, the numbers who 
 have recovered and been returned to duty within a 
 few weeks after their admission, and without removal 
 to a distance from the seat of war, have proved 
 this site a most eligible one. 
 
 I am, Sir, very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 E. B. Dalton, Surgeon U. S. Vols., 
 
 Chief Medical Officer. 
 
 It was the successful establishment and adminis- 
 tration of this hospital, on a scale much surpassing 
 any other which had been attempted in the field, that 
 won for Dr. Dalton the unmingled commendation and 
 confidence of his superior officers. He had the 
 
38 
 
 peculiar talent of doing his work in an easy, and at the 
 same time a thoroughly efficient manner. His control 
 over officers and men was absolute ; yet exercised in 
 such a way as to be eminently agreeable, and to bind 
 his subordinates in a sentiment of friendship and 
 regard. He inspired all under his charge with a 
 genuine desire to perform their duties in the most 
 creditable manner ; and the general feeling in the 
 hospital camp was that of a spontaneous desire to 
 work for the common interests of the service, rather 
 than a compulsory subjection to the will of the chief 
 officer. It was only in rare instances that severity 
 was needed to enforce discipline or efficiency, though 
 at such times the offender immediately felt the full 
 pressure of a rigid authority. The result was seen 
 in the harmonious and successful working of the 
 entire organization. 
 
 Dr. Dalton continued in charge of this hospital 
 throughout the summer and winter of 1864-5 ! until 
 the moment arrived when the last great blow was to 
 be struck against the defences of Petersburg. On 
 the 25th of March, 1865, he was relieved from duty 
 at the Depot Field Hospital, and assigned as Medical 
 Director of the Ninth Corps. This corps was under 
 the command of Major General Parke, and held the 
 rio-ht of the Union lines, on the east and south-east 
 of the enemy's works. The main assault took place 
 on the morning of April 2d ; and on the 3d, the 
 enemy having evacuated their works and abandoned 
 the city and their capital, thus rendered untenable, 
 the corps marched into Petersburg and took 
 possession of the place. The same afternoon it 
 continued its march, following the more advanced 
 
39 
 
 corps ; and at the time of General Lee's surrender, 
 on the 9th of April, it occupied the line of the 
 Lynchburg railroad. 
 
 Dr. Dalton, who was with the corps throughout, 
 reached Burkesville, a station about fifty miles west 
 of Petersburg, on the 7th, and at once established 
 the corps hospitals at that point. Here he had not 
 only charge of the sick and wounded of his own 
 corps, but also received and provided for all those 
 coming from the front and en route for City Point ; 
 to whom were now added the still larger numbers of 
 disabled rebel prisoners passing in the same direction. 
 For the successful managfement of the affairs of his 
 department, both at the time of the assault on 
 Petersburg and subsequently, he received special 
 commendation in the Reports of both the Medical 
 Inspector and Medical Director of the Army. He 
 continued to be engaged in these duties until the 
 19th, when the corps moved for City Point and 
 embarked for Washinofton. On their arrival he was 
 assigned as Chief Medical Officer at the depot hospital 
 at Alexandria. 
 
 The war was now practically over, and Dr. Dalton 
 was one of the first of the volunteer officers to 
 retire from military life and resume the occupations 
 of peace. He tendered his resignation to the 
 Adjutant General on the 24th of April, 1865, for the 
 reason " that, as the necessity for volunteer medical 
 officers in the army was no longer pressing, he 
 wished to turn his attention to private business." 
 His tender of resignation was approved by the 
 Surgeon General, with the indorsement that 
 " Surgeon Dalton's entire service has been marked 
 
40 
 
 by devotion to the duties of his position, and under 
 all circumstances he has displayed professional zeal 
 and ability in an eminent degree. It is respectfully 
 recommended that, upon acceptance of his resig- 
 nation, he receive the thanks of the War Department 
 for meritorious services." 
 
 This recommendation was more than carried 
 out; and on the 15th of August, 1865, although 
 Dr. Dalton's resignation had already been accepted, 
 he was successively appointed by the President, for 
 "faithful and meritorious services," Brevet Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and Colonel of Volunteers. Thus ended his 
 connection with the army, which had begun at the 
 first outbreak of the Rebellion, and had continued, 
 through all the vicissitudes of that trying period, till 
 the final re-establishment of the national supremacy. 
 
 Dr. Dalton at once formed his plans for engaging 
 in the practice of his profession. After spending 
 the summer months in a needed interval of rest and 
 recreation, he came to New York in September, 
 1865, and established himself there ; being associated 
 in medical copartnership with one of his oldest and 
 most valued friends. Dr. George A. Peters, of that 
 city. This professional association continued for 
 several years, and was the source of the highest 
 gratification to both parties. 
 
 A short time, however, only elapsed before 
 Dr. Dalton was again called to assume duties of a 
 more executive character. In February, 1866, the 
 Legislature of New York created the " Metropolitan 
 Board of Health," for the preservation of life and 
 health, and to prevent the spread of disease within 
 the Metropolitan Sanitary District. This district 
 
41 
 
 embraced the cities of New York and Brooklyn, 
 the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, on 
 Long" Island, and the adjacent counties of Richmond 
 and Westchester. 
 
 In order to carry out effectually the intentions 
 of the Commissioners, and to provide for the prompt 
 enforcement of their regulations over so extensive 
 and populous a district, it was important that its 
 medical supervision should be intrusted to an officer 
 of tried faithfulness and ability. Dr. Dalton's pre- 
 vious services had shown him to be eminently 
 qualified for such a position. He was accordingly 
 appointed at the third meeting of the Board, 
 March 5th, 1866, its chief executive officer, under 
 the title of Sanitary Superintendent. His duties in 
 this post were to " execute, or cause to be executed, 
 the orders of said Board, and generally, according 
 to its instructions, to exercise a practical supervision 
 in respect to the inspectors, agents, and other 
 persons " acting under the authority of the Board, 
 and to make reports to the Board, weekly or 
 oftener, " stating generally his own action and that 
 of his subordinates, and the condition of the public 
 health in said district, and any causes endangering 
 life or health that have come to his knowledge during 
 said period." 
 
 For the first few weeks his time was fully occupied 
 in acquiring information as to the actual sanitary 
 condition and needs of the Metropolitan District. 
 An inspection corps was organized, consisting of 
 twenty-four sanitary inspectors and thirty-seven 
 assistants, each of whom was assigned to a specified 
 district, and required to make semi-weekly reports 
 6 
 
42 
 
 of anything- therein requiring the attention of the 
 Board of Health. 
 
 The labors and responsibility of the organization 
 were soon greatly increased by the epidemic of 
 Asiatic cholera, which appeared in New York on the 
 first of May, and continued until the middle of 
 October. During this time two public cholera 
 hospitals were established in New York and two in 
 Brooklyn, to which three hundred and eighty cases 
 of cholera were admitted. Much the larger number 
 of patients, however, were attended and cared for 
 at their homes ; and as at the height of the epidemic 
 there were in the city of New York from twenty-five 
 to thirty new cases each day, nearly all of which 
 were dependent for examination and treatment on 
 the Medical Inspectors of the Board of Health, great 
 diligence and devotion were required to meet the 
 emergency. Dr. Dalton's influence was abundantly 
 felt in the promptitude and activity manifested in the 
 entire department, and in the ready and harmonious 
 co-operation of all its officers. 
 
 The security of the public, however, during the 
 epidemic of cholera, was only one of the temporary 
 objects contemplated by the Board of Health. Its 
 purpose was to efiect a permanent improvement in 
 regard to a variety of matters detrimental to the 
 public health ; and the next two years were devoted 
 to the accomplishment of these designs. 
 
 The most important improvements effected in this 
 way were the removal of the numerous slaughter- 
 houses then existing in the densely built portions 
 of the city, with all their accompanying evils of 
 cattle-driving, transportation of offal, and the like, and 
 
43 
 
 their concentration in large abattoirs situated at a 
 distance from the centres of population ; — the 
 correction of offensive and deleterious emanations 
 from the various gas-works, which had become a 
 serious and almost constant source of danger and 
 discomfort throughout the city ; — the more effectual 
 cleansing of the streets, then performed in an 
 exceedingly negligent and imperfect manner ; — the 
 amelioration of tenement and school-houses, and 
 increased provision for the comfort and health of 
 their occupants ; — and the rectification of many 
 deficiencies in the sewerao-e and drainao^e of streets 
 and dwelling-houses, A Bureau of Disinfection 
 was also established, by means of which localities, 
 found to be immediately dangerous to the health of 
 the neighborhood, were at once placed in a condition 
 of cleanliness and safety.* 
 
 During the second year of the existence of the 
 Board, 35,000 inspections were made and reported 
 to the Sanitary Superintendent, over 4,000 drains 
 and sewers were built, cleansed, or repaired, nearly 
 10,000 dangerous places were disinfected, and more 
 than 100 offensive or deleterious manufactories 
 discontinued. Beside this, many improvements 
 were effected in a variety of ways, owing to the 
 accuracy of the information acquired in regard to 
 existing evils, and the prompt and faithful manner 
 in which the necessary remedies were applied. It 
 was a kind of occupation for which Dr. Dalton was 
 peculiarly fitted, and which brought out all his 
 
 * The most complete account of the design and operation of the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health, is given in an article, written by 
 Dr. Dalton, in the North American Review for April, 1868. 
 
44 
 
 valuable qualities as a superintending and executive 
 officer. 
 
 During the year 1868, however, his position 
 became less satisfactory. The constitution of the 
 Board of Commissioners had now changed, by the 
 retirement of some of the original members, who had 
 been foremost in establishino- its character as a 
 
 o 
 
 public benefit, and whose presence had been a 
 guarantee that its legitimate objects would be 
 carried out in a thoroughly upright and effective 
 manner, irrespective of any other considerations than 
 those of the public welfare. This was no longer the 
 case. It was evident that political and partisan 
 influences had been introduced into the Board, which 
 became of greater weight than the impartial execution 
 of public duty. Dr. Dalton found that he was 
 expected and desired to allow these political 
 considerations an influence in the manner in which 
 he should administer the office of Sanitary Superin- 
 tendent. 
 
 Such expectations could only meet, from him, 
 with an absolute and contemptuous refusal. As he 
 found, accordingly, after a time, that he was no 
 longer in sympathy with the majority of Commis- 
 sioners who controlled the policy of the Board of 
 Health, he determined to sever his connection with 
 it, and devote himself fully to medical practice. He 
 continued to discharge the duties of the office until 
 an acceptable successor could be obtained, and finally 
 resigned his position in January, 1869. 
 
 During this time he had also been engaged, to 
 some extent, in other professional work. His clear 
 judgment, and ready method of imparting his ideas, 
 
45 
 
 qualities of the highest value in a medical teacher, 
 led him into connection with his Alma Mater, the 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was 
 Clinical Assistant to the Professor of Practical 
 Medicine in this institution, and Lecturer on Diseases 
 of the Nervous System in the summer session. He 
 was Visiting Physician to the Sheltering Arms, and 
 to the Orphans' Home and Asylum, two of the 
 private charitable institutions in the city, and was also 
 Associate Physician to the New York Hospital for 
 Paralytics and Epileptics. 
 
 This cheerful and happy period, during which he 
 was engaged in constant and congenial occupation, 
 was shadowed, however, by the loss of his only 
 child, an infant daughter, who died in the summer 
 of 1868, after a short illness, at the age of a little 
 less than one year. 
 
 In the summer of 1869 he received a sudden and 
 severe blow in the death of his wife, to whom he 
 was devotedly attached, and whose death took place 
 in the most unexpected manner, and under 
 circumstances of peculiar sadness.* For some 
 months previously his own health had been in a 
 precarious condition, owing, as he believed, to 
 occasional returns of his old malarial difficulty. 
 Soon after his wife's death, however, he fell seriously 
 ill with an attack of latent pleurisy, which became so 
 severe as to disable him entirely ; and his recovery 
 from this attack was marked by one or two relapses, 
 which gave his friends much additional anxiety. 
 
 During the whole of this illness he remained at his 
 
 * She died of hemorrhage, from placenta previa, at the time of con- 
 finement. 
 
46 
 
 brother's house, in Massachusetts. Although in the 
 course of the autumn his strength became partly 
 re-established, yet it was evident that the effects of 
 the pleurisy still lingered, and that they could be 
 dissipated only by a considerable period of care and 
 rest. By the advice of his physician. Dr. J. Nelson 
 Borland, he abandoned for a time the idea of resuming 
 active business, and in the following February sailed 
 for Europe, where he took up his residence at Pau, in 
 the south of France. 
 
 The mild climate of this resfion was at first 
 favorable to him ; but early in April he was again 
 prostrated by a malarial attack, which for some weeks 
 threatened to be fatal. He recovered from it, however, 
 with his usual elasticity, and, after spending the 
 summer in travelling through Switzerland with one 
 of the members of his family who had gone out to 
 meet him, he returned home in October, much 
 improved, and ready to resume the practice of his 
 profession. 
 
 He had already determined to leave New York 
 and establish himself in Boston, where two of his 
 brothers resided, and where he had many and warm 
 personal friends. His professional relations in this 
 new field at once became most aoreeable and 
 satisfactory. He was appointed Visiting Physician to 
 the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Instructor 
 in Theory and Practice in the Massachusetts Medical 
 College. These employments, so fully adapted to 
 his taste, beside the steadily increasing circle of 
 his private practice, in a location surrounded by his 
 family and friends, seemed to promise, at last, a 
 gradual abatement of his mental disappointments, 
 and a future of comparative happiness. 
 
47 
 
 But his physical condition proved to be such that 
 he could not bear the climate of the Atlantic coast. 
 The cough had never entirely left him since his first 
 attack ; and, notwithstanding every precaution, he 
 was liable to the recurrence or exaggeration of 
 symptoms which could not exist without danger. 
 During the summer of 187 1, these symptoms 
 increased to such an extent, that it became evident 
 both to himself and his friends, that he could not 
 remain where he was with the slightest prospect of 
 recovery. He took the determination to abandon, 
 temporarily, his professional business, and to try for 
 some years, the climate of California ; trusting to 
 an out-door life in that milder region to reinstate 
 himself thoroughly in a condition of efficiency and 
 health. He started, accordingly, for California in 
 the month of October, in company with his friend 
 and companion of many years, Dr. Foster Swift, 
 who was going, with his family, in the same direction. 
 
 DurinQT all this time nothinor could exceed the 
 fortitude and cheerfulness with which he bore the 
 succession of his trials, disappointments, and suffering. 
 Of all the admirable qualities that belonged to his 
 nature, none commanded the respect and sympathy 
 of his friends more than this. With his family, his 
 business, and his health destroyed, with a new 
 home and new prospects just established and again 
 abandoned under the same imperious necessity, he 
 was now turninor his face to the Pacific coast with 
 the deliberate intention, as the best result, of living 
 there for several years, with a new occupation, new^ 
 acquaintances, and new interests, to be separated 
 from his former home by the breadth of the con- 
 
48 
 
 tinent ; — and this, after all, with broken health and 
 a doubtful prospect of success. And yet there were 
 no vain regrets, no lingering hesitation, no self-pitying 
 complaints. He thought always first of his friends, 
 and last of himself He would not allow his own 
 want of cheerfulness to add to the anxiety of others, 
 and at every period during his illness his presence was 
 a source of encouragement and not of depression. 
 
 But this unyielding resistance and buoyancy of 
 disposition was destined to be its own sole reward ; 
 for the malady which had been following him for 
 three years, was now too firmly fixed to unloose its 
 hold, and the wanderer was never to return to his 
 Eastern home. F or the first few months after his 
 arrival in California he again felt the beneficial 
 influence of a new atmosphere and a mild and 
 bracing climate. His strength and spirits improved, 
 and after visiting various parts of the country, he 
 fixed himself in the neighborhood of Santa Barbara, 
 on the southern coast, where he nearly completed 
 his arrangements for the purchase and management 
 of a farm. 
 
 But early in the following spring his health again 
 failed ; and the renewed symptoms, accompanied 
 with some suffering, speedily reduced his strength 
 beyond the possibility of recovery. Still cheerful 
 and confident to the last, he bore with ready fortitude 
 every pain and discomfort inseparable from his 
 illness, and yielded up his life with the same quiet 
 and unassuming constancy that he had always shown 
 in the performance of its duties. Fortunately, he was 
 surrounded, during the last few weeks of his life, by 
 members of his own family, as well as by the friends 
 
49 
 
 who had been with him heretofore. He died on the 
 evening of Monday, May 13th, 1872. 
 
 His character was a rare combination of the gentlest 
 and strongest quahties. A refinement without the 
 trace of blemish, an instinctive sense of honor and 
 integrity which simply knew no other path to follow 
 than the right one, as unhesitating in the smallest 
 particulars as in the greatest; an unusually generous, 
 unselfish and unsuspicious nature, but with an 
 instantaneous perception of deceit or insincerity in 
 others ; remarkable gentleness and courtesy of 
 manner, with an inflexible determination in the 
 execution of his duty, whatever it might be, were the 
 main elements in his disposition. His capacity for 
 organization and command was exercised without 
 display, and made itself felt more by its results than 
 by its immediate operation. His mental superiority 
 and professional acquirements were of the same 
 unobtrusive character. He never seemed a laborious 
 student, and yet he always occupied the foremost 
 rank among his medical associates, and was equal to 
 every demand upon his professional knowledge or 
 skill. He seldom conversed upon the most serious 
 topics of human life ; but when he did so, his 
 expressions showed that none of them had been 
 omitted in his thoughts, and that his convictions were 
 equally removed from indifference and presumption. 
 I Above all, his friendship was unwavering, and his 
 / sincerity without the shadow of a change. Such 
 were the traits by which we knew him. 
 7 
 
(Drgmihatioii oi^ tljc Depot Jielt) Cjospitals, 
 
 ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
 t/i December, 1864. 
 
 CJiief Medical Officer. 
 Edward B. Dai.ton, Surgeon U. S. V. 
 
 Exectttive Officer, in Office of Chief Medical Officer. 
 James Collins, Asst. Surg. U. S. V. 
 
 Medical Inspector. 
 John M. Kollock, Surgeon Fiftieth Regiment, P. V. 
 
 Medical Director of Transportatioji. 
 Morris N. Asch, Asst. Surg. U. S. A. 
 
 Qitartennaster. 
 Captain James E. Jones, A. Q. M. 
 
 Commissary of .'Subsistence. 
 Captain Benj. F. Talbot, C. S. 
 
 Second Corps Hospital. 
 Geo. B. Parker, Surgeon, U. S. V., Surgeon in Cliarge. 
 Noah M. Gladfelter, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. V. 
 John Aikin, Acting Staff Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 John F. Myers, " " " " 
 
 G. C. Terhune, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 G. W. Jewessox, " " " " 
 
 Daniel Mann, " " " " 
 
 Sam'l J. Miller, " " " " 
 
 Fifth Corps Hospital. 
 WiM. L. Faxon, Surg. 32d Mass. Vols., Surgeon in Charge. 
 Herman Loewenthal, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. V. 
 L. D. Brainard, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 L. G. O'Connor, '• " 
 
 Sixth Corps Hospital. 
 J. Sykes Ely, Asst. Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
 T. K. Johnson, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 John Fee, " " " " 
 
 Joseph D. Steward, " " " 
 
 Joseph Taylor, " " " 
 
 Ninth Corps Hospital. 
 Wm. O. McDonald, Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
 Ferdinand Axt, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 J. K. Burkholder, " " " " 
 
 J. Lunney. " " " " 
 
 John H. Comfort, " " " " 
 
 James Miller, " " " " 
 
 Cavalry Corps Hospital. 
 Thomas R. Pooley, Asst. Surg. U. S. V., Surgeon in Charge. 
 Joseph E. Harned, Acting Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 Prosper Bender, " " " " 
 
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