PERSONAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN H. BRINTON 
 
 Major and Surgeon U. S. V. 
 1861-1865 
 
 Frontispiece Portrait 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 1914 
 
E 
 
 ?5 
 
 Copyright, 1914 by 
 The Neale Publishing Company 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY S. WEIR MITCHELL . 9 
 INTRODUCTION BY J. H. BRINTON . 11 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR .... 15 
 The awakening of Philadelphia Warriors all The ar 
 rival of the host Family councils Brigade Surgeon First 
 Impressions of Washington Lincoln and the ill-omened 
 flag Equipment for man and beast Final preparations. 
 
 II. LEAVING HOME 31 
 
 "Good-bye" St. Louis in 1861 Fremont and politics Uni 
 forms and authority To Cairo First meeting with Grant 
 Characteristics Medical Director Simons. 
 
 Ill MOUND CITY HOSPITAL 40 
 
 A hospital to create Mississippi Turtles Dirt and diffi 
 culties Plague o men Plague o women Lynch law at 
 close quarters Vicissitudes of a surgeon s life In touch 
 with the North Watchwords of the night. 
 
 IV. CAIRO, 1861 55 
 
 Within the lines on the Mississippi Rebel sketches Ap 
 pointment of Medical Director of South Eastern Missouri 
 How to read the regulations Helplessness of recruits The 
 problem of "Contract Doctors" Grant again Malaria. 
 
 V. THE BATTLE OF BELMONT 71 
 
 The best cure for malaria A battle in the air The first 
 shot in earnest Bucephalus Medical director in the field 
 "Grim War" and its victims With General Grant under 
 fire The sound of a bullet Tragedies of the wounded 
 Winning the "family spurs" Lost in the enemy s country. 
 
 VI. INCIDENTS OF THE FIGHT 87 
 
 Incidents of the battle of Belmont The coward Rigor 
 mortis Ghostly news The making of a surgeon Strange 
 adventures of a box of instruments Reports of a medical 
 director. 
 
 974474 
 
6 Table of Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 VII. CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO.-CAIRO, ILL. . . 75-85 
 Cape Girardeau, Mo. "Jef" Thompson s note to Grant 
 The Fourth Estate Contraband letters Christmas and 
 New Year s in the field McClernand s expedition Support 
 from General Grant A river skirmish. 
 
 VIII. ST. LOUIS 107 
 
 Board duty again St. Louis Social and military life 
 "Secesh" sentiments Grateful patients Back to Grant- 
 To Cairo. 
 
 IX. FORT HENRY FORT DONELSON . . . .113 
 Devastation of war On Grant s staff before Donelson 
 Grant s unerring prophecy Hospital organization Field 
 surgery A question of precedence A sortie by the enemy 
 Staff equipment The beau ideal of an army leader Song 
 of the shell. 
 
 X. INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE OF FORT DONELSON 124 
 Medical problems Removal of the wounded Overcrowd 
 ing Methodist valor Forty-five shots Warrior surgeons 
 French Frank to the rear "Fort Donelson will surrender 
 to-morrow" A historic interruption "No terms to damned 
 rebels" Grant under suspicion My report to McPherson 
 Grant and the relics The future president and a war 
 doctor dream of diplomacy The lamentable catastrophe of 
 Gen. Rawlins horse Arrival of Nelson s troops Incidents 
 on field and water A "Secesh" pony A question of per 
 sonal courage Troubles for Grant The sword from his 
 Belmont Colonels A remarkable occurrence "Doctor, 
 wherever I go, I want you to come." 
 
 XL UP THE TENNESSEE 151 
 
 In search of food My friend the spy Board duty Medi 
 cal director of the Army of the Tennessee My rebel pris 
 oner Death of General Smith A notable American officer 
 Sheridan and the mint juleps. 
 
 XII. AFTER SHILOH WITH HALLECK . . .162 
 Bunking with "Captain" Sheridan Broken bones "Punch" 
 in the field Headquarters advance to Corinth Ordered to 
 Washington Grant s offer to take me on his military staff 
 A Philadelphia welcome. 
 
 XIII. SURGICAL HISTORY OF THE REBELLION . 169 
 Board duties Beginning of the surgical history of the 
 Rebellion Examining boards Appearance of Washington 
 Hammond Fortress Monroe Jamestown and inspection 
 duty McClellan and Grant. 
 
Table of Contents 7 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XIV. THE SURGEON-GENERAL S OFFICE . . .179 
 Inception of the army medical museum The Corcoran 
 Building Obtaining specimens Selection and transporta 
 tion Visits to the field The contest for a limb Sidelights 
 on the alcohol problem A cure for whiskey tapping The 
 varied uses of cherry brandy Vicissitudes of the museum. 
 
 XV. FORTUNES OF WAR 195 
 
 On duty at Alexandria Medical Director of transporta 
 tion Difficulties and demoralization Plague o nurses 
 again Halleck the dictator. 
 
 XVI. SOUTH MOUNTAIN ANTIETAM .... 202 
 Reorganization of the Army of the Potomac South Moun 
 tain and Antietam Special orders Battlefield hospitals 
 Rigor mortis English visitors. 
 
 XVII. THE FIRST FREDERICKSBURG .... 213 
 Fredericksburg Burnside in command Court-house surgery 
 Steeple spying The aftermath of a cannonade Dismal 
 scenes "Bag of Bones" The Surgeon-General in the field. 
 
 XVIII. VARIED LABORS . . . . . . . .223 
 
 Special duties at Annapolis Wounded prisoners from the 
 Southern prison pens Hospital gangrene and bromide treat 
 ment Louisville and Nashville Sheridan again With the 
 Army of the Potomac once more The President to Chan- 
 cellorsville Secret orders Figuring the losses. 
 
 XIX. GETTYSBURG 236 
 
 After Chancellorsville Offensive and defensive generals 
 Grant and Jomini Gettysburg after the fight The slough 
 of despond The trophy scandal Civilian grave diggers 
 Burying dead horses German greed Field burials A 
 martinet. 
 
 
 XX. OF THINGS MEDICAL AND MILITARY AT 
 
 WASHINGTON 247 
 
 Washington in the summer of 63 The Army Medical 
 Board Strange candidates Kansas autobiographies "A 
 passing board of a repeating board" The hospital register 
 Visits North Washington life. 
 
 XXL NO ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL METROPOLI 
 TAN CLUB 257 
 
 The Army medical school A quietus from the Secretary of 
 War The Metropolitan Club and some of its members 
 New Year s, 1864 Washington society. 
 
8 Table of Contents 
 
 CHAPTEB PAGE 
 
 XXII. THE PRESIDENT AND SOME LESSER DIGNI 
 TARIES 265 
 
 Lincoln in the hospital "But how about the soldiers ?"- 
 General Grant Campaigning To Fredericksburg Sani 
 tary commissioners A surgeon s joke With Grant again 
 under fire Medical purveyor of the army. 
 
 XXIII. JAMES RIVER AND CITY POINT . . .275 
 White House James River Grant s cabin at City Point 
 General Early before Washington Field scenes Surgical 
 history again Collecting illustrations Hammond s trial 
 His successor. 
 
 XXIV. SHERIDAN S CAMPAIGN AND FIELD WORK 290 
 In charge at Winchester Wanton destruction The women 
 still once more Winchester The war of the kettle Sheri 
 dan Hospital difficulties and successes Ordered to Wash 
 ington. 
 
 XXV. RELIEVED FROM DUTY IN SURGEON-GENER 
 AL S OFFICE 307 
 
 Relieved from the Surgeon-General s office The decapita 
 tion of St. Denis Louisville, Kentucky Medical director to 
 General Rosecrans, St. Louis. 
 
 XXVI. LOUISVILLE ST. LOUIS ROSECRANS S MIS 
 SOURI MARCH 3iS 
 
 President of the Army Medical Board Political prisoners 
 A lover s war strategy and a doctor s intervention. 
 
 XXVII. ST. LOUIS 322 
 
 St. Louis society General Rosecrans Departmental diplo 
 maciesNashville, Tennessee Medical director of hospitals 
 Prisoners Mrs. Polk Hospital mismanagement Negro 
 hospitals Refugees. 
 
 XXVIII. LIFE AT NASHVILLE LECTURES HOME . 342 
 Life at Nashville A ghoul-like duty Military medical 
 lectures Resignation Final preparations Home. 
 
 APPENDIX 353 
 
 INDEX 359 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 The College of Physicians of Philadelphia; the oldest 
 medical society in America, had, during the War of the 
 Rebellion and up to 1866, an average of 186 fellows. 
 Of these, fifty held commissions in the regular or volun 
 teer service, and seven in the navy. 
 
 Among those early commissioned, in 1861, was John 
 Hill Brinton, the author of the present memoirs. His 
 story does not relate how much of growing surgical 
 practice and successful teaching he gave up to serve a 
 great cause. Neither he nor others as faithful and as 
 distinguished, expected or received the honors which 
 fell to officers of the line. No statue celebrates, no 
 commemorative tablet records their services. These men, 
 who were not less busy in the camps than in battle, suf 
 fered by wounds, disease, and prisons as, and in like 
 proportion with, other officers, although technically re 
 garded as non-combatants. 
 
 In the front rank of this remarkable list of surgeons, 
 whose only records are their permanent contributions 
 to the art of the surgery of war, was the man who tells 
 here his story of the war, as seen from the position of 
 one who was the close friend of General Grant through 
 out that great soldier s life. The trials, risks, and tri 
 umphs of a remarkable army career as a surgeon are here 
 related in a simple, direct way, and cast interesting side 
 lights on many of the generals, and even on the campaigns 
 the writer saw. 
 
 Soldiers from private to commander-in-chief have 
 
 9 
 
10 Introductory Note 
 
 related their personal stones of the great war, but the 
 physicians who served have nowhere as adequately told 
 their side of unrewarded peril and service as is done in 
 the notable record of which I am privileged to say these 
 introductory words. 
 
 John K. Brintoh was born in Philadelphia, May 21, 
 1832. ,Ke was graduated from the University of Penn 
 sylvania in 1856 (from which institution he received 
 the degree of LL.D. in 1901), and in medicine from the 
 Jefferson College in 1852. Commissioned Brigade Sur 
 geon, U. S. Volunteers, in August, 1861, he became under 
 General Grant at Cairo his trusted medical director. He 
 died on March 8, 1907. 
 
 He may be left to relate the story of his army life, 
 of his connection with the Surgical and Medical His 
 tory of the War, and of his creation of the Army 
 Medical Museum. 
 
 His later life as the competent successor in the chair 
 of surgery of Professor S. D. Gross, and his career in 
 surgical practice, will be elsewhere told, but I cannot 
 close this brief statement without a word of what he was 
 in other relations, a man with whose friendship I was 
 honored for two-thirds of my life. His straightforward 
 ways, his perfect rectitude in every social relation, a cer 
 tain kindliness and simpleness, won for him the esteem 
 and affection of the many whom he honored with his 
 friendship, while his unswerving fidelity to every duty, 
 large or small, was an example of what my profession 
 may make of a man who brought to it all that is best in 
 the way of the character of a well-bred gentleman. 
 
 S. WEIR MITCHELL. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 My dear Children: 
 
 My book is finished; the illustrations have been col 
 lected ; I have everything ready to go to the bookbinders, 
 and now I ask myself why I have written all this. The 
 question is hard to answer, at all events, truthfully and 
 completely. It may be that I want you to know some 
 thing about the War. No, that is not it; it is not the 
 War, for that no doubt you can find in the books and 
 histories which are being written, and which will be 
 written. It is rather, I think, that I want you to know 
 something about myself, and what and whom I saw, and 
 what I was doing during those four years, which formed 
 so prominent a part of the lives of the men of that day. 
 For you must know that then, the War, to all of us, 
 was everything, it was all in all. The past was for 
 gotten; the future we scarcely dared to think of; it was 
 all then the grim present, in which everyone tried to do 
 his best, and in which almost every gentleman felt it 
 his duty to take his share. Like the rest, I went out, 
 and strangely enough happened to see more of the great 
 men of the War than often falls to the lot of a medical 
 man. In fact my "details of duty" were always with 
 the generals, the great generals of the day, and in high 
 places, and I was thus placed in daily intercourse with 
 men who were earning for themselves illustrious names. 
 One of these, whom I counted my friend, afterwards 
 became one of our nation s greatest men, in fact he was 
 growing great when I knew him, making for himself, 
 
 ii 
 
12 Introduction 
 
 and for his country, history, accomplishing great deeds, 
 and bringing about great results by the simple plan of 
 doing each day s duty as well as he knew how, leaving to 
 the Future the summing up of his work and trusting to 
 the judgment of his countrymen. .You will guess that 
 I am speaking of General Grant. 
 
 Then too, with Sheridan and Rosecrans, I was on 
 terms of friendship and lived in intimacy; and so with 
 McPherson, whom I loved, and all four of whom I 
 attended professionally. President Lincoln I knew 
 slightly, and visited at the White House, and Secretary 
 of War Stanton, and Generals Halleck, Thomas and 
 Meade I knew well, and many others whose names you 
 may meet in these pages. General George B. McClellan, 
 as you know, was my first cousin, named, perhaps, after 
 my father, as well as after his own. 
 
 To the next generation the "War of the Great Re 
 bellion" will be almost as far away as that of the Revo 
 lution, or the French War of 57, or the Civil War of 
 England, or the Punic Wars. Yet the War of 1861- 
 1865, the "Scorpion War," the "War between the 
 States," the "Civil War," "The Rebellion," when fought 
 to a close, accomplished the preservation of our country, 
 in which you, my descendants, will, I hope, be privi 
 leged long to live and do your duty. 
 
 Now let me say one more word of myself, and con 
 fess one more reason for the writing of these pages. 
 You remember that the great Mr. Pickwick (never 
 forget him) on a memorable occasion said, "He (Mr. 
 Pickwick) would not deny that he was influenced by 
 human passions and human feelings, possibly, by human 
 weaknesses." Now, My Dears, like that great man I, 
 too, plead guilty to human passions and feelings and 
 weaknesses. I confess to you that I wish to be kindly 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 thought of by those of my blood who may follow me, 
 even though I shall never know them, and that I want 
 you to feel that I love you all dearly, born and unborn. 
 
 Occasionally I have (and I like to have) queer fancies, 
 and one of these is that some day these lines and this 
 book may fall into some fair hands, and that she read 
 ing may say to herself, "He was a nice kindly old 
 fellow, this ancestor of mine, I wish I could know him." 
 She will not know me, but I shall see her and know her, 
 if there be, as I believe there must be, both knowledge 
 and vision in a disembodied spirit from another sphere. 
 Even now I fancy I can see her in the future, a dark 
 haired girl, lounging on a sofa, half dreaming over 
 my pages. I imagine I can almost trace her features, 
 and touch her dress, and know its .colors. My Dear, 
 try and believe that as you may be, when you read this, 
 I see you now, in the bright month of June, 1891, Sun 
 day the 1 4th. 
 
 J. H. BRINTON. 
 
 June 14, 1891. 
 
Personal Memoirs of John H. 
 Brinton 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR 
 
 The war began, with the flash of the first gun fired on 
 Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, S. C., on Friday, the 
 1 2th day of April, 1861. From that moment the spirit 
 of the North changed, discussion ceased, political argu 
 ments were at an end, and almost absolute unanimity 
 prevailed, the only question was how best to establish 
 the supremacy of the Government, and how to vindicate 
 its authority ; in short, the problem was how to preserve 
 the unity and majesty of the Nation, and how soonest 
 to trample out the doctrines of disintegration and 
 
 "secession." 
 
 I well remember walking down Chestnut Street, in 
 front of the Continental Hotel, with my cousin Brinton 
 Coxe, just after the attack on Fort Sumter was authen 
 tically announced on the bulletin boards. The effect on 
 the people was instantaneous and indescribable. For the 
 time, or rather at the instant, "mere party lines," as 
 Mr. Coxe expressed it, "ceased to exist, for the North 
 had become a Nation, determined to fight for its exist 
 ence, and resolved to accomplish its salvation." 
 
 The North now prepared for war; for the first time 
 
16 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 it realized that the sword was the only umpire, and that 
 on it, must the life of a nation depend. Then came 
 the first call for troops, the proclamation of President 
 Lincoln, and the disastrous battle of Bull Run, on the 
 2 ist of July, 1 86 1. Business of every kind, at all events 
 the businesses of Peace, were disturbed. The spirit 
 of war, or the spirit of patriotism, call it which you will, 
 seemed to seize upon all. Men became fierce-minded, 
 and the most respectable and quiet-spirited persons were 
 thus affected. Drill companies were formed, and the 
 mildest individuals, earnestly, industriously and consci 
 entiously practiced the manual. At one time a strange 
 rumor was circulated that the Southern people were 
 about to march on Pennsylvania, with the intention of 
 sacking Philadelphia. Our citizens rushed to arms, and 
 every man, young and old, purchased a pistol, a re 
 volver if he could, if not, a pistol of some description 
 to defend his altar and his hearth-stone. Everybody 
 bought, and I can hardly keep from laughing, as I recall 
 the solemnity with which the subject was discussed by 
 solemn men in my profession, and how advice was eag 
 erly sought and given, as to where to procure fire-arms. 
 Pistols went up in price, one could hardly obtain them; 
 for a day or two the supply was exhausted. I remem 
 ber purchasing one, a discreditable looking affair with 
 a white handle. As I walked away from the shop, I 
 met Dr. John Forsyth Meigs, who had just purchased 
 one for himself. He was preeminently a man of peace, 
 a doctor for children and infants, but the spirit of war 
 had seized him too. My pistol, I afterwards exchanged 
 for the navy pattern of Colt s revolver, which I carried 
 through the war, and which I never discharged, except 
 at a mark. Once I aimed it at a man who was about 
 to shoot me, but I will tell you of this later. That pistol 
 
The Outbreak of the War 17 
 
 saved my life, I think, so I do not regret the eleven dol 
 lars I paid for it. 
 
 In response to the call for "three months men," mili 
 tary companies were hastily formed and mustered in. 
 Young men everywhere hastened to offer themselves to 
 the Government, and it soon came about, that every 
 young fellow you met was on his way to active service. 
 They went in every capacity, as company officer, staff 
 officer, quarter master, pay master, commissary of sub 
 sistence, and in fact, in whatever position or grade they 
 could obtain appointments. 
 
 I remember very distinctly in these early days of the 
 war, meeting on one occasion at the corner of Tenth and 
 Spruce Streets, a young Friend, a very pearl of neatness, 
 and a man well known in social life. He was carefully 
 picking his way across the muddy street, mentally ab 
 sorbed in preserving the cleanliness of his boots. Look 
 ing up, he saw me, and called out, "Dr. Brinton, will 
 you kindly stop one moment. I want to ask you a ques 
 tion. Perhaps you can give me some information. Can 
 you tell me what a commissary of subsistence is? I 
 have just been appointed one, and I have not an idea 
 as to the duty of that officer. Can you tell me anything 
 about it?" This gentleman, then so ignorant, after 
 wards greatly distinguished himself in that branch of 
 the service. 
 
 Like the rest of the men of my age, I soon began to 
 feel restless at home*. I felt that I was not doing my full 
 duty; that home was now no place for me. Yet as an 
 only son, upon whom rested the business cares of the 
 family, I dreaded to speak to my dear Mother on the 
 subject. She may have guessed my feelings; at all 
 events she spoke first ; and one evening she surprised me 
 by saying to me, "My dear son, do you not think that 
 
18 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 you ought to be out with the army, doing what share 
 you can for the country?" When I expressed my great 
 desire to go, she added "that she was glad of it, as she 
 had almost felt grieved that I had not gone before." So 
 the way was made easy for me to enter the service. 
 
 I naturally determined to go in my professional ca 
 pacity, and I therefore decided to enter the Corps 
 of "brigade surgeons," a grade of medical officers cre 
 ated by an act of Congress, approved July 22nd, 1861. 
 By a later act of Congress, approved July 2nd, 1862, 
 brigade surgeons were thereafter to be known as "sur 
 geons of volunteers," and were attached to the General 
 Medical Staff, under the direction of the Surgeon Gen 
 eral. 
 
 In order to be eligible to the position of brigade 
 surgeon, it was necessary to pass an examination before 
 a board of medical officers of the regular army, and, 
 on their favorable report, to receive the appointment with 
 the approval of the Senate. On the i8th of June, 1861, 
 I made application to the Surgeon General for per 
 mission to present myself for examination for the grade 
 of brigade surgeon about to be created, for although 
 the act creating that grade had not yet been passed, it 
 was well known that it would be passed, and all prepa 
 rations were made to fill promptly the future positions. 
 In a few days, I received a reply from the Surgeon 
 General, dated June 2Oth, 1861, directing me to apply 
 to the Secretary of War for the necessary permit. This 
 I did, and having received the requisite authorization, I 
 went to Washington, for my examination, on or about 
 July 3rd, 1861. I was not kept long in waiting, the 
 examination which was chiefly a written one was not 
 very rigid, and at its conclusion I was informed that 
 
The Outbreak of the War 19 
 
 the result was satisfactory, and that I might return home 
 and await my commission. 
 
 During this, my first visit to Washington, I stopped at 
 Willard s Hotel, on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the 
 treasury building. The city was crowded, the hotels 
 filled to overflowing. People of all sorts were rush 
 ing busily about, and the weather was very warm. Ac 
 tive preparations for the coming war were being made 
 on all sides. At the same time there appeared to be a 
 lack of confidence. Matters were apparently in a cha 
 otic state: the sympathy for the North was not strong 
 or widespread, on the contrary the sympathy of many 
 of those who lived in Washington was directed towards 
 the South. It seemed to be generally expected, if indeed 
 not wished for, that the southern states would win, and 
 succeed in their attempt to withdraw from the union, 
 and thus overthrow the national government. Exag 
 gerated accounts of the organization, discipline, and 
 forward state of preparation of the southern states came 
 from every quarter, and the names of their political and 
 military leaders were on many lips. Against this chilling 
 state of despondency, and unbelief in the stability of our 
 Government, the administration was stoutly struggling, 
 as but few Washingtonians trusted the President, or 
 expected that any good would come through such a 
 "Nazarene." His jestures, manners, mode of speech, 
 and deportment, were ridiculed, and few, if any, could 
 believe that a great man stood in their midst. Disaffec 
 tion stalked everywhere, and a sense of isolation had ap 
 parently crept over those who administered, and those 
 who believed, in the national government. The inci 
 dents of the hour, too, were disheartening. Of one of 
 these I was a witness. 
 
 It had been announced that on the afternoon of the 
 
20 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 4th of July, the President, surrounded by his cabinet, 
 would publicly hoist the flag of the United States on a 
 high flagpole, planted in the grounds in the rear of the 
 White House. The hour arrived, and a large crowd 
 had gathered to witness the ceremony. The day had 
 been warm, and in the afternoon a heavy shower of 
 rain had set in. The President and his suite stood 
 under a tent, or marquee, which surrounded the base of 
 the flagpole. By the side of the pole, an opening had 
 been made in the canvas roof, intended to be sufficiently 
 large to allow the great flag of the stars and stripes 
 to be hoisted through it. As soon as the usual speeches 
 were concluded, President Lincoln, grasping the hal 
 yards, pulled them vigorously. Up went the flag. It was 
 a tight fit, but by sheer strength, the President hoisted it 
 through the opening, and it slowly rose above the tent 
 roof. According to every poetic and patriotic inspira 
 tion, it should have unfurled and fluttered in the breeze. 
 This it did not do. The heavy rain caused it to dangle, 
 and hang limp, and, what was worse, a projecting nail 
 caught in the "union," and as the flag went wearily up, 
 a strip of blue bunting, charged with eleven white stars, 
 was ripped out, and fell helplessly downwards to the 
 roof. But the President could see nothing of this, and 
 feeling the resistance, tugged away all the more man 
 fully, until the torn strip was freed and was dragged 
 upwards, hanging from the body of the flag. The eleven 
 stars, the emblems of the eleven seceding states, thus 
 torn from their "Union Firmament" seemed, in very 
 truth, a sorry omen to those who stood anxiously watch 
 ing. For my own part, I turned away shuddering, al 
 most overcome by a superstitious horror and fear. I 
 saw all this take place, but I am not aware that any 
 
The Outbreak of the War 21 
 
 newspaper notice or publicity was given to the occur 
 rence. 
 
 On that same evening, I returned home, and in a 
 few days learned from a private source that I had 
 passed my examination satisfactorily, and in proper time 
 would be commissioned. Mr. Thomas A. Scott was act 
 ing Secretary of War, and Mr. Leslie, who was a friend, 
 and an assistant, of Mr. Scott, was a relative or con 
 nection of my friend, Dr. William Thomson, from 
 whom I learned the little secret of my commission before 
 it was fairly due. It is the history of all courts, royal 
 and republican, that very many feet tread up and down 
 the back stairs. 
 
 The month of July dragged slowly on, and every 
 where, throughout the North and the South, troops were 
 being mustered in. On April I4th, President Lincoln 
 issued his call for 75,000 volunteers; early in May more 
 than 200,000 had been called for; and immediately after 
 the battle of Bull Run in Virginia, Congress ordered a 
 call for 500,000 more. At the same time, Congress made 
 an appropriation of $500,000,000 to meet the expense of 
 the Army and Navy. 
 
 And now, let me tell you something about the Battle 
 of Bull Run, which was fought on July 2ist, 1861. For 
 some weeks the Confederate Generals had been busily 
 collecting their forces, and had massed them at Bull 
 Run (I use the common name), thus directly threaten 
 ing Washington. The troops of the United States had 
 meanwhile been hurried on from the North, and were 
 stationed at and near Washington, prepared to attack 
 the Southern army. Early on the morning of the 2ist 
 of July (Sunday) the Federal forces moved forward, 
 and encountered the Confederates near what was known 
 as the Stone Bridge, at Manassas, or Bull Run. A sharp 
 
22 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 fight took place which ended in a panic-stricken, dis 
 graceful retreat of the United States Army back to 
 Washington, with a loss of four or five hundred killed, 
 and twelve or fifteen hundred wounded.* As usually 
 happened in a rout of this kind, the defeated parties 
 spread the most exaggerated account of the number and 
 bravery of their foes, and the entire country was soon 
 ringing with the terrible stories of the fierce Virginia 
 Cavalry, "The Black Horse Cavalry," as they were 
 styled, and the prowess of the Southern forces. 
 
 General Winfield Scott was at this time in command 
 of the army of the United States with the rank cf 
 Lieutenant General. His original entry into service was 
 in 1808, as captain of light artillery. He was a Vir 
 ginian, and appointed from his native state, and was at 
 this time, therefore, very old, but was looked upon, both 
 in and out of the army, as a good soldier, and enjoyed 
 a high reputation due to his conduct of the Mexican 
 war. He doubtless was in his time a good soldier, 
 though very fond of military ostentation, for which he 
 was sometimes nicknamed "old fuss and feathers." His 
 plans for the advance of the Union army would seem 
 to have been well laid, but his troops were new levies, 
 and his orders were imperfectly carried out. On ac 
 count of his advanced age, General Scott remained in 
 Washington, and did not participate in the active move 
 ments of the army. 
 
 I am afraid that some of the troops of the North 
 behaved in this battle in a rather shabby manner, and 
 it may be that if the Southern generals had pushed 
 
 *Federal losses were 460 killed and 1,124 wounded; the Confed 
 erate losses were 387 killed and 1,582 wounded. Total number of 
 troops engaged, Federal 30,000 and 43 guns ; Confederate 18,500 and 
 55 guns. 
 
The Outbreak of the War 23 
 
 boldly on to Washington, they might have taken the 
 capital.* Fortunately, they did not do so, but halted 
 where they were, fearing to advance. So the army was 
 safe in Washington, and immediate steps were taken 
 to protect the capital from an attack. Earthworks and 
 forts were hastily erected, cannon were planted, and 
 fresh troops were called for, and hurried down from 
 the northern states. I nearly went to Washington at 
 this time, for on the night following the battle of Bull 
 Run, an order was sent to Philadelphia to hasten for 
 ward any soldiers who might be available for immediate 
 service. A regiment, the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
 was being recruited at this time by Colonel John W. 
 Geary f (who, after the war, was elected Governor of 
 Pennsylvania), of which Hector Tyndale was Major. 
 A surgeon was wanted for the regiment and Major 
 Tyndale applied to Prof. Joseph Pancoast for the name of 
 some medical man who would volunteer in that capacity. 
 My name was suggested, and accordingly Major Tyn 
 dale rang me up in the middle of the night to know 
 whether I would accept the position. I told him that I 
 expected an appointment from Washington, but that in 
 the emergency I would go with his regiment. He told 
 me to be ready to start the next day and I promised to 
 do so. On the morrow, it was found that the regi 
 ment was not sufficiently armed to be of service, and 
 
 * However, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the Confederate, states 
 "Our army was more disorganized by victory than that of the 
 United States by defeat." E. T. S. 
 
 This and subsequent footnotes bearing the same initials are 
 from the pen of Edward T. Stuart, Esq., of Philadelphia, a high 
 authority on the Civil War, who also very kindly rendered valuable 
 assistance in the editing of the original manuscript. Ed. 
 
 tCommonly called "the Marshal Ney of the Army of the 
 Potomac." E. T. S. 
 
24 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 orders were issued from Washington to delay starting 
 for a day or two until proper and sufficient arms could 
 be furnished. In the meantime, I received, as I have 
 already stated, an indirect communication from the war 
 department, informing me of my appointment as brigade 
 surgeon. Under the circumstances, I determined to 
 await my commission at home, and transferred my ap 
 pointment as surgeon of Colonel Geary s regiment to 
 Dr. Ernest Goodman, who went out with this com 
 mand and remained with it, doing good service, until 
 much later in the war when he entered the staff corps 
 of surgeons of volunteers. My commission as brigade 
 surgeon, issued on August 8, 1861, to bear date from 
 August 3rd, reached me in the latter days of that month. 
 
 The news of the Battle of Bull Run created a deep 
 sensation throughout the north. For the first time, it was 
 realized that we were entering upon war in dead ear 
 nest, and that our southern foes intended to fight to 
 the best of their ability. It became only too plain that 
 the work we had undertaken was a most serious one, 
 and that the resources of the loyal portion of the country 
 would be severely taxed. No one could doubt that the 
 war would be a long one; how long, no one could tell.* 
 A few enthusiasts believed that the government would 
 crush, "stamp out," as it was phrased, the rebellion, in 
 a little while, but the more thoughtful realized the ter 
 rible earnestness of the South, and recognized the mili 
 tary ability of their leaders and generals. 
 
 And here I must tell you, that when the wave of 
 secession rolled over the South, carrying with it all 
 
 *Gen. Winfield Scott declared that conquest of the South might be 
 achieved "in two or three years, by a young and able general, a 
 Wolfe, a Desaix, a Hoche, with 300,000 disciplined men kept up to 
 that number." E. T. S. 
 
The Outbreak of the War 25 
 
 doubting souls, few, very few, remained loyal citizens, 
 and these dared not speak, but could only cling in silence 
 to their opinions. Before the war, the South was largely 
 represented in our army, the profession of arms was 
 attractive to those from that section, and their young 
 men sought more eagerly than those of the North, a 
 West Point education and a commission in the reg 
 ular service. So when the lines were strictly drawn, 
 and secession was fairly entered upon, the officers of 
 the old army generally went with their respective states. 
 It happened, therefore, that in organizing the army of 
 the confederate states, it was well supplied with trained 
 officers, who had received a military education. Many 
 of the officers of the old army of the United States 
 left it with regret. They remained in it until their 
 states had formally seceded, when they resigned their 
 commissions, and followed their state flags. Having 
 once entered upon their new positions, they fought 
 bravely and well, and sustained the cause of secession 
 until it fell from absolute exhaustion. 
 
 The immediate effect of the battle of Bull Run was 
 to elate the spirit of the South and to create a correspond 
 ing condition of depression in the North. In Phila 
 delphia, many took a most gloomy view of the situa 
 tion; thus, I remember a thoughtful, cool-headed man 
 (the late Prof. Joseph Pancoast) at that time saying 
 to me, "Doctor, no one can tell how all this will end; 
 it will surely last ten years or more ; and possibly neither 
 you nor I may live to see the end of it." 
 
 Yet there were some who could see farther into the 
 bank of the war-cloud. I can hear now the words of 
 my Mother, and see the earnest expression of her face, 
 as she came to my room door, early on the morning 
 after the defeat at Bull Run, and told me the result, 
 
26 Personal Memoirs of John II . Brinton 
 
 that our troops had been put to flight, and that the rebels 
 were triumphant. "It is far better," she said, "that it 
 should be so, my son, for the war will go on now until 
 the end shall be reached, and the curse of slavery wiped 
 away. If our troops had won, it could not have been 
 so, but now the war must go on. It will cost more 
 lives, but the end will be more sure." She was indeed 
 right in her judgment. 
 
 Now that I was sure of my appointment, I busied 
 myself in making ready for my future service, con 
 cerning which my ideas were very vague. Where it 
 would be, or what it would be, I could not tell, but I 
 pictured to myself all sorts of hardships, and so waited 
 anxiously to know how my military life would begin. 
 Before very long, the list of brigade surgeons was pub 
 lished, and I was well satisfied in my grade, being 
 fourth on the list, the first four names standing thus : 
 
 George H. Lyman, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Frank H. Hamilton, of New York. 
 
 Henry S. Hewitt, of Connecticut, appointed from New 
 York. 
 
 J. H. Brinton, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton had been a professor in New York, 
 and was a brother-in-law of the chairman of the Senate 
 Committee on Military Affairs; Dr. Hamilton was dis 
 tinguished as a professor of surgery, and the author of a 
 treatise on "Fractures and Dislocations," and Dr. Hewitt 
 had been an ex-assistant surgeon U. S. A., who had 
 entered the corps of brigade surgeons so I had no 
 reason to be dissatisfied. 
 
 I may add that on the nth of June, 1862, Dr. Lyman 
 was made a medical inspector with the rank of Colonel, 
 and on the gth of February, 1863, Dr. Hamilton was 
 
 promoted to the same rank. For the rest of the war, 
 
The Outbreak of the War 27 
 
 Dr. Hewitt was the Senior "surgeon of volunteers/* 
 and I was second. After a short western experience of 
 a most friendly nature, we two concluded that it was not 
 well for us to be placed in the same command. By keep 
 ing apart, both of us thus secured the full value of our 
 leading positions in the corps of surgeons of volunteers. 
 
 Although my appointment as given in the army reg 
 ister dates from August 3rd, 1861, my commission did 
 not reach me until the end of August. The interval I 
 occupied in making my final preparations. I had to 
 bring my teachings to a close, and to care for the preser 
 vation of my anatomical possessions. The former was 
 easily done as the southern students had ceased to come 
 north, and those who had been here had returned to 
 their homes. As for the northern students, for the 
 most part, they were hurrying off to the war in different 
 capacities. Then, too, I had to arrange to leave the 
 affairs of our family estate in such a condition that they 
 could be administered by my mother in my absence, and 
 moreover, to procure my outfit, consisting of my uni 
 form, blankets, and all the accoutrements for "man and 
 horse." 
 
 Above all, I must think of my future steed, and 
 diligently I sought him. Particularly do I recall a very 
 black, broken kneed animal offered to me by a quite 
 respectable gentleman. The horse had considerable 
 action, with a very arched neck. In the innocence of 
 my heart, I think I would have bought him, had not 
 my good friend, honest John Ellis, whose stable was 
 in the rear of our house, kindly whispered to me "Let 
 him alone"; I did so, and in doing so probably saved 
 myself a broken neck. 
 
 And then I tried, too, a quite fierce animal, also 
 black, with very large feet. They said he was up to 
 
28 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 my weight. I think he was, for as I recall him, I feel 
 sure that he would have proved a most serviceable beast 
 in a brewer s dray. Good horses were just then greatly 
 sought in Philadelphia, so fortunately I waited. My 
 uniform I purchased at Hughes and Miiller; tailors in 
 Chestnut Street. It was very satisfactory, and the 
 reinforcement of the breeches for riding was stupendous. 
 When I afterwards came to wear these reinforced 
 breeches, I felt as if a quilt had been placed between 
 myself and the saddle. 
 
 My blankets, I recollect, were deep blue, well dyed, 
 and of extraordinary size. I bought them at a whole 
 sale store in Market Street below 9th. I heard of the 
 place from Arthur McClellan, who was fitting up at this 
 time, for his brother s * staff. These blankets proved to 
 be excellent, and I used them until after the battle of 
 Shiloh, when I was ordered east. Then I parted with 
 them, expecting easily to find their counterparts. But 
 alas! when I reached Washington, I found that the 
 reign of shoddy had begun, and in vain might I search 
 the loyal cities for a pair of honest blankets. 
 
 My saddle and horse equipments, I bought of Lacey & 
 Phillips, the leading harness makers of the city. The 
 saddle, of capacious size, was of the "McClellan" pat 
 tern, in which the rider sat much as a two-pronged 
 fork would straddle a round stick. He could not readily 
 fall off, and yet it could not be said that he had any 
 thing of a seat. This saddle, I afterwards exchanged 
 for a "Jennifer" saddle, modeled after one designed by 
 Captain Nolan of the I3th Hussars of the British Army, 
 who was conspicuous in the Crimean War and who 
 was the "some one who blundered" in the charge of the 
 light brigade at Balaklava. 
 
 * Major-General George Brinton McClellan. 
 
The Outbreak of the War 29 
 
 During all this time of waiting, I was impatiently 
 anxious as to where I would be ordered. I hoped to 
 be assigned to the Army of the Potomac, to the com 
 mand of which my cousin, George B. McClellan, was 
 appointed July 27th, 1861, and I learned afterwards that 
 General McCall, a personal friend, whom I had known 
 at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and also General 
 Franklin, had both been good enough to express a wish 
 that I might be assigned to duty with them. I had yet 
 to learn the lesson that, to a soldier, especially in times 
 of active service, it should not matter what his detail 
 of duty may be. A riper experience and the counsel 
 of men old in the service, before long taught me that 
 the surest, and most often the greatest success, is ob 
 tained by prompt and cheerful obedience to orders; and 
 that in military life, it is utterly useless to attempt to 
 arrange matters to suit one s comfort or personal con 
 venience. Chance, or rather let me say providence, so 
 orders events, and so baffles human plans, that, as an 
 old officer once told me, "It often happened that orders 
 sought for, ended in regrets." 
 
 You can understand, that dreaming nothing of all this, 
 I was quite annoyed to receive this my first order: 
 
 [SPECIAL ORDERS No. 238] 
 
 War Department, Adjutant General s Office, 
 
 Washington, September 4, 1861. 
 
 3. The following Brigade Surgeons are assigned to 
 duty as noted below, and will report accordingly : 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, to Maj. Gen l. J. C. Fremont, 
 U. S. A., Commanding Dept. of the West. 
 By Order 
 
 (Signed) L. THOMAS, 
 
 Adjutant General. 
 Surg. Brinton. 
 
30 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 General Fremont s Headquarters were at this time 
 at St. Louis, and with a heavy heart I set out to report 
 to him. St. Louis seemed to me then to be very far 
 away, and the accounts which had then reached us from 
 the west of events past, and threatening to happen, were 
 of a most unromantic and blood-curdling character. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 LEAVING HOME 
 
 I remember, as it were only yesterday, my final pack 
 ing up, my leaving home, and the good-bye to all at 
 the old house, 1423 Spruce Street. Even now, as I 
 think of it, it seems as if I were going over it again. 
 I see my dear Mother and my sisters, and I hear the 
 "God bless you, my son," and the quiet leave taking, 
 as I turned away to the carriage in waiting to take me 
 to the depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was 
 then at nth and Market Streets, where the Bingham 
 House now stands. My luggage was a sole leather trunk, 
 with a big canvas cover, under which were nicely 
 strapped my blankets, and on the outside, my buffalo 
 robe and gum blanket. I was in fatigue uniform, a 
 blue sack coat with brass buttons, and major s straps, 
 blue trousers with gold cord down the side, a "regular 
 army" falling cap, with a gold wreath, and a glazed 
 cover, very different indeed from the smart French kepi, 
 which afterwards came into vogue, but which I never 
 fancied, and never wore. 
 
 I took to the regular army from the start ; I had seen 
 considerable of the medical staff of the old army, as 
 Dr. J. M. DaCosta and I had for years been preparing 
 young doctors for the army, and young assistant sur 
 geons for their passing examination after five years of 
 service. With my general acquaintance with the medical 
 
 31 
 
32 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 staff, therefore, I had absorbed some of their traditions, 
 and a good many of their prejudices. 
 
 But I am not yet quite out of Philadelphia. Dr. 
 DaCosta and my cousin Brinton Coxe, accompanied me 
 to the railroad station and saw me off, by the night 
 train, which left at n o clock. Sleeping berths of a 
 very inferior pattern had just been introduced, and I 
 considered myself very fortunate to procure an upper 
 single berth. But I confess, that grown man as I was, 
 and twenty-nine years of age, I felt very lonely upon 
 departing, although anxious to join the army. 
 
 I left Philadelphia, as nearly as I can remember, on 
 the night of Monday, the ninth of September, 1861. 
 After a considerable delay, I reached St. Louis very 
 tired early on the morning of the I2th, and went to 
 the Planters House, at that time the fashionable hotel 
 of the city. The hotel swarmed with officers, con 
 tractors, and others busied with military affairs. I 
 found St. Louis in a strange state; it was, I believe, 
 under martial law, and preparations for war were being 
 carried forward on all sides. The streets swarmed with 
 soldiers, mostly Germans, and the hotels were crowded 
 with money-making people, not a few of whom were 
 Jews. A large number of the inhabitants, they said 
 some fifty or sixty thousand, had already left the city, 
 and I did not wonder, for there was everywhere a feel 
 ing of insecurity. 
 
 After breakfast on the I2th of September, I put on 
 my uniform frock coat, and started to report to General 
 Fremont at his headquarters. But I could not get near 
 him, as he was busily engaged in making a political 
 speech from the steps or balcony of the building. The 
 impression I received from the first, of this somewhat 
 noted person, was not a very favorable one. He was a 
 
Leaving Home 33 
 
 man of middle age, in major general s uniform. He 
 was surrounded by a queer crowd of foreigners, Ger 
 mans, Hungarians and mixed nationalities, much over- 
 uniformed, and rejoicing in gold belts and breast sashes 
 unknown to our service. There was much jabbering 
 and gesticulation, and the scene was most un-American. 
 I was told that General Fremont had gathered around 
 himself a host of adventurers, who seemed to look upon 
 him as an autocrat, and to be forgetful of the existence 
 of a national government. At the time I was in St. 
 Louis, he was busy creating strange offices, and filling 
 them with strange appointees. The selection of Fre 
 mont as the commandant of the western district was, 
 I suppose, based upon political grounds. He was be 
 lieved to control the German settlement in Missouri, an 
 element which had remained loyal to the Union, and in 
 fact had preserved the state of Missouri for the Union; 
 so looking back, after this long interval, perhaps the 
 selection was not so bad after all, although certainly 
 Fremont was little of a real soldier. 
 
 After listening to the General s speech, and the ap 
 plause which followed it, I pushed my way through the 
 middle of the crowd of civilians and soldiers, and reached 
 the office of the adjutant general, Major Chauncy Mc- 
 Keever, to whom I reported, and who treated me with 
 the greatest courtesy and kindness. I am sure that he 
 must have realized how young a soldier I was how 
 green in fact and I know that he gave me some good 
 advice, for which I was very grateful at the time, and 
 which I did not forget. Among other things he in 
 formed me that the sooner I took myself away from St. 
 Louis, and its mongrel soldiers, the better it would be 
 for me, and added that I would receive my orders that 
 afternoon, which I did, when I found that I was di- 
 
34 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 reeled to proceed, without delay, to Cairo, Illinois, there 
 to report to the Medical Director, Surgeon Simons, 
 U. S. A. 
 
 That afternoon, having dined at the Planters House, 
 I took a walk through the streets of St. Louis, and I 
 remember quite well passing in front of a German 
 regiment drawn up in line. As I stopped on the side 
 walk to look at them, I was thunderstruck to have the 
 whole regiment present arms to me. At first, I could 
 not take it in. But there was no mistake, they were 
 presenting arms to me; so I gravely raised my regular 
 army cap, made the best salute I could in turn, and 
 sauntered off, just as if I had been accustomed to that 
 sort of thing all my life. However I can assure you 
 that I had never, in my whole experience, felt quite so 
 foolish before. The thing seemed to me to be little less 
 than a swindle on my part. I was conscious of perpe 
 trating some sort of deception. I suppose that it must 
 have been due to the extremely military appearance of 
 my uniform, and most of all, perhaps, to my cap, which 
 had already begun to assume a truly military swagger. 
 
 My orders directed me to Cairo, Illinois, to report 
 there to the medical director. I cannot at this time 
 recall very much of the journey down, except that I 
 went by rail, and arrived at Cairo very late in the night 
 of the 1 4th of September. The train stopped on the 
 levee, immediately in front of the St. Charles Hotel, the 
 only hotel of any size in Cairo. I was shown to my 
 room that is to say, I found myself entitled to one- 
 third of a very dirty, dark, horrid sort of a chamber, 
 containing two little beds, not double beds, and yet not 
 single beds. It seemed that I was entitled to one-half 
 of either of these beds, that is to say, if I were able 
 to move the occupant of whichever I might select, away 
 
Leaving Home 35 
 
 from the middle of the bed. A wretched, flickering, 
 dirty gas light was burning, and I had an excellent 
 chance to study the two sleepers, and to select which 
 one, if either, was to be preferred. As far as I could 
 determine, it was an even thing, for both were very 
 dirty. Each of them had wrapped himself up in all 
 the clothes of the bed, and each snored and grunted 
 harmoniously with the other, as my movements startled 
 him. I was not accustomed to that kind of thing, and 
 even now as I recall that night, I laugh to myself to 
 think how very wretched I was. A homesick feeling 
 came over me, which I have not forgotten to this day. 
 The more I looked at the lovely sleepers, the less I liked 
 them, and so I made up my mind to disturb neither of 
 them, but to wrap myself up in my blanket shawl, and 
 to sleep on the very dirty floor. This I did, and dozed 
 off, feeling that never was there so dirty a floor, nor 
 so miserable a soldier as myself. I tell you all this, 
 because as you will find before long, I learned quite 
 bravely how to rough it, but just at that time I was, 
 to use the western language of the day "a featherbed 
 fellow/ In the morning, I was early enough off the 
 floor, and having breakfasted, I started to report to 
 Dr. Simons. I found him eventually in the third story 
 of Safford s Bank, the headquarters of the general com 
 manding the district of Cairo, as it was designated at 
 that time. Dr. Simons, who was a full surgeon in the 
 regular army, was from South Carolina and dated his 
 commission from July, 1839. He had been through the 
 Mexican war and regarded himself as a typical soldier. 
 He was full of old war remembrances and had much to 
 tell of General Scott, and all the old army worthies. 
 His wife, as he himself told me, was a Baltimore lady, 
 the daughter, I think, of a gentleman whose leanings 
 
36 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 were to the United States government. Dr. Simons, 
 from this cause, or possibly from native loyalty, had 
 adhered to the old army and had not seceded with his 
 state. Yet I could see that he felt lonely; he was parted 
 from all of his old associates, and he could not bring 
 himself to any intimate companionship with the new 
 men, with whom the new war brought him in contact. 
 He had no medical confidant, no one to whom he could 
 talk, and I saw at once that we probably would become 
 good friends. 
 
 In fact, Dr. Simons, who was a great talker, wanted 
 some one to listen to him, and assist him in his pro 
 fessional work. I do not think he was very fond of 
 this latter; he seemed to me to be more an army man 
 than an army surgeon. However, he was kind to me 
 and immediately assigned me to some work in connec 
 tion with the medical director s office. I had to pre 
 scribe for a great many sick, and I know that I did 
 direct a vast quantity of Dover s powders. 
 
 Dr. Simons advised me to leave the St. Charles Hotel 
 at once, and to take boarding at the house in which 
 he was staying, over SafTord s Bank, stating that the 
 headquarters were located there. By this he meant that 
 the general and the staff boarded in the house, and I 
 then found out that the lower story, the back offices 
 in fact, or a part of them, were occupied by Brigadier 
 General U. S. Grant, U. S. V., as headquarters. I was 
 at once introduced to the general, who, I believed, had 
 only a few days previous received his brigadier general s 
 commission. 
 
 Of the many who have written of him, made speeches 
 about him, applauded him, and flattered him, few, very 
 few are left who saw him, and watched him, and studied 
 him, as I did. From the very first, he attracted me, 
 
Leaving Home 37 
 
 and I felt very soon, and indeed at the time of the battle 
 of Belmont, Mo., wrote home, that the man had come 
 who would finish this war, should he have the chance. 
 
 I first saw General Grant at the dinner table, when I 
 was introduced to him by Dr. Simons, receiving from 
 him a friendly nod. On the same evening I went into 
 the bank. Behind the counter, the general and his as 
 sistant adjutant general, Jno. A. Rawlins, or Captain 
 Rawlins, as he was then, were seated at a little round 
 table. I fancy that I wanted to write a letter home, 
 for I remember that the general very kindly asked me 
 to sit down, and continued his work with Rawlins. I 
 had then a good opportunity to observe him, and I did 
 so very closely. He was then a very different looking 
 man from the General Grant, or the President of after 
 days. As I first saw him, he was a very short, small, 
 rather spare man with full beard and moustache. His 
 beard was a little long, very much longer than he after 
 wards wore it, unkempt and irregular, and of a sandy, 
 tawny shade. His hair matched his beard, and at a 
 first glance he seemed to be a very ordinary sort of 
 a man, indeed one below the average in most respects. 
 But as I sat and watched him then, and many an hour 
 afterwards, I found that his face grew upon me. His 
 eyes were gentle with a kind expression, and thoughtful. 
 He did not as a rule, speak a great deal. At that time 
 he seemed to be turning matters over in his mind, and 
 to be very much occupied indeed with the work of the 
 hour. He did nothing carelessly, but worked slowly, 
 every now and then stopping and taking his pipe out of 
 his mouth. 
 
 But this reminds me, that I have not yet spoken of 
 his pipe. The man in after days became so thoroughly 
 identified with the cigar, that people could scarcely be- 
 
38 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 lieve that he was once an assiduous smoker of the pipe. 
 Well, the pipe which he first used was a meerschaum with 
 a curved stem eight or ten inches long, which allowed 
 the pipe to hang down. He smoked steadily and slowly 
 and evidently greatly enjoyed his tobacco. 
 
 The day after my arrival at Cairo was Sunday, when 
 I expected I should have comparative leisure, but I 
 found myself busier than ever, Dr. Simons assuring me 
 most earnestly, that "in wartime there were no Sun 
 days or holidays." Two days later I was ordered to 
 St. Louis, with a cargo of sick soldiers, under the fol 
 lowing order, in General Grant s own handwriting. 
 
 [SPECIAL ORDER] 
 
 Headquarters Dist. S. E. Missouri, 
 
 Cairo, Sept. 16, 1861. 
 
 "In consequence of the lack of capacity of the hos 
 pitals at this Post, to hold the sick unfit to remain in 
 camp, Brigadier Surgeon Brinton will proceed by boat 
 this evening to St. Louis, in charge of such sick as may 
 be put under his charge by the Medical Director of the 
 post. On his arrival at St. Louis, Dr. Brinton will re 
 port to the Medical Director of the Department of the 
 West, Dr. DeCamp. Upon being relieved of his sick, 
 he will return to this Post without delay. A list of the 
 sick, so disposed of, together with the company and 
 regiment to which they belong, will be furnished to this 
 office, in order that the General commanding may cause 
 to be made out, and furnish to the proper Medical 
 Officer in St. Louis, a descriptive role of them." 
 
 By order of BRIG. GENL. GRANT, 
 
 Commanding. 
 
 JOHN A. RAWLINS, 
 
 Capt. and A. A. Genl. 
 
Leaving Home 39 
 
 I greatly enjoyed this trip up the Mississippi. I had 
 never before been on a western river steamer, and then, 
 too, I was in authority, official authority, for the first 
 time in my life. It was all so new to me. The poor 
 sick wretches under my command were ready to do what 
 I ordered. The associations, for the time being, with 
 the officers of the boat, the captain of the steamer con 
 sulting with me as to when and where we would stop 
 and the pilot inviting me into his den, far up by the 
 "texas" (that is the third deck of the boat), all of this 
 was so new, and so different from all to which I had 
 been accustomed, that I felt myself quite rapidly de 
 veloping into a sort of superior creature. 
 
 Having turned my sick over to the proper author 
 ities in St. Louis, I returned to Cairo and reported to 
 Dr. Simons. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MOUND CITY HOSPITAL 
 
 I did not stay in Cairo long. The number of sick in 
 the district was rapidly increasing and it had become 
 necessary that the hospital accommodations should be 
 come largely augmented. The town of Mound City, 
 four years old and of speculative origin and growth, 
 stood on the right bank of the Ohio river, about eight 
 miles above Cairo. It was then a very little town, just 
 on the river bank, a long row of three or four-story 
 brick houses, or rather warehouses, built to accommo 
 date the anticipated business of the future city. As a 
 speculation they had up to this time been a failure, and 
 the buildings stood finished as to their walls, but un 
 finished as to their interiors. They were just in that 
 state, from which they could readily be converted into a 
 general hospital, three hundred feet long in front, by 
 one hundred feet deep, capable of accommodating from 
 eight hundred to one thousand patients comfortably. 
 This building, the medical director had selected for the 
 great general hospital of the district, and I was sent 
 by him with full instructions to accomplish the work, 
 and to take charge of the hospital when completed. 
 
 Accordingly to Mound City I went at once, and put 
 up at the hotel of the place, situated not far from the 
 river bank. There was rather a stir in business at that 
 time in the new little city, as four of the Mississippi 
 ironclads, the "turtles," as they were afterwards chris- 
 
 40 
 
Mound City Hospital 41 
 
 tened, were being built here by Captain Eads, for the 
 United States government. These were to be covered 
 by iron slabs ten and a half inches thick, arranged like 
 the roof of a house, and at such angle as would best 
 turn or deflect any shot or shell striking them. 
 
 They proved to be a success, and afterward played 
 a prominent part in the operations undertaken to open 
 the Mississippi River. Many of the chief workmen or 
 master mechanics employed on their vessels boarded at 
 the hotel to which I went. 
 
 One of my first cares was to provide quarters for 
 myself; and here I was so fortunate as to find the first 
 floor of a little house or shop, which suited me exactly, 
 two communicating rooms, capable of holding whatever 
 I might choose to put in them. So with a little cot bed 
 with bedding and mosquito netting from the hospital 
 stores, with my big blue blanket for a carpet, a stove 
 and a looking glass, a pitcher and a wash basin, I estab 
 lished myself at once in a most luxurious manner. My 
 landlord was a little German apothecary from Hesse, 
 who lived next door with his wife. They had not been 
 very long in the country, and were very nice people. 
 My breakfast and tea were furnished me by my hostess, 
 and her omelets were unexceptionable, and the coffee well 
 made. The whole establishment was quite cozy and eco 
 nomical. I paid four dollars a month for my room rent, 
 and my provisioning was on an equally modest scale. 
 
 It would be hard to understand the difficulties I had 
 to overcome before I could get my hospital into a con 
 dition to receive even one or two hundred sick. How 
 ever, I stuck to my work, and eventually, before I was 
 relieved from the charge of the hospital, I had succeeded 
 in bringing it to a satisfactory state. A year or so 
 later, after I had learned something about hospitals 
 
42 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 (I mean military ones), I am sure I could have accom 
 plished in a few hours the work that cost me so many 
 weary days of labor and nights of thought at Mound 
 City. 
 
 One of my chief troubles at this place was the diffi 
 culty, and, I may almost say, the impossibility, of pro 
 curing the necessary men to do the work incident to 
 the formation of a large hospital. In a city, or where 
 the command was large, this difficulty would not have 
 existed, and men could have been obtained. But the 
 garrison at Mound City at this time was but a single 
 regiment, and to this regiment many duties were as 
 signed. The presence of the iron gunboats, in process 
 of building, was a tempting bait to the enemy, who prac 
 tically held the opposite bank of the river, and our 
 men were constantly on the alert against surprise. At 
 first we were very defenceless, but later, guns and a 
 battery were sent up for our protection. Every day or 
 two an alarm would be raised and we would be told 
 that the enemy were in force on the opposite shore, and 
 our scouting parties would be sent out to reconnoitre. 
 During my stay, however, the excursions never resulted 
 in any practical end. The "enemy" would usually turn 
 out to be scouts of our own from camps below Cairo. 
 
 Had I rightly appreciated my position at this time, 
 I should have known that I was really well off. I had 
 every authority I could wish for, I was comfortably 
 situated, and nobody to interfere with me, and, as far 
 as I knew, enjoyed the confidence of the Medical direc 
 tor. But the fact was, I was lonely, dreadfully lonely; 
 the men by whom I was surrounded were not to my 
 liking; I did not understand their rough, western, good- 
 hearted ways and I longed at that time to be among 
 those whom I called "gentlemen." I am afraid I did 
 
Mound City Hospital 43 
 
 not try to make myself popular and I am sure that I 
 received more consideration than I deserved. I am sure, 
 too, that I fretted a great deal more than was at all 
 necessary, about my hospital, though it was hardly to 
 be wondered at, considering I had only half-sick men, 
 or the prisoners from the guard house, to do my work. 
 Scrubbing, sweeping, putting up beds, and making beds, 
 and that sort of thing, was, to use the western formula, 
 "women s work," and these gawky western men insisted 
 upon it that they did not come into the army to do 
 anything else but fight. It was astonishing to me how 
 slowly these fellows did work, even with a guard behind 
 them. In fact, they seemed only to work when my eye 
 was upon them. Just as soon as my back was turned 
 all exertion ceased. 
 
 But if the men were bad, the women were worse. 
 Just at this period the craze spread among our good 
 people that the women of the country could make them 
 selves very useful by acting as nurses for the sick and 
 wounded. So out they came, these patriotic women of 
 the North. The Secretary of War, the generals com 
 manding departments, divisions or military posts, were 
 besieged by them. By strained construction of certain 
 paragraphs in the army regulations, and of acts of Con 
 gress, positions, paid positions, were devised for them. 
 They besieged all officers and persons high in authority, 
 and these, on the general military principle of sending a 
 disagreeable person as far away as possible, sent the fair 
 petitioners to as far away positions as they could. And 
 the women went, and on the arrival of certain trains 
 would stalk into the office of district commanders, and 
 establish themselves solemnly against the walls, en 
 trenched behind their bags and parcels. They defied all 
 military law. There they were, and there they would 
 
44 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 stay, until some accommodation might be found for 
 them. In self-defence the adjutant general would send 
 them to the medical director, and he, gallantly or not, 
 as might be his nature, would forward them to the 
 surgeon in charge of hospitals. To him at last these 
 wretched females would come. "They did not wish 
 much/ not they, "simply a room, a bed, a looking glass, 
 someone to get their meals and do little things for them," 
 and they would nurse the "sick boys of our gallant Union 
 Army." "Simply a room." Can you fancy half a dozen 
 or a dozen old hags, for that is what they were (our 
 modern efficient trained nurses were unknown), sur 
 rounding a bewildered hospital surgeon, each one clam 
 orous for her little wants? And rooms so scarce and 
 looking glasses so few! And then, when you had done 
 your best, and had often sacrificed the accommodations 
 for the sick to their benefit, how little gratitude did one 
 receive! Usually nothing but complaints, fault-finding 
 as to yourself, and backbiting as to companions of their 
 own sex. In short this female nurse business was a great 
 trial to all the men concerned, and to me at Mound City 
 soon became intolerable. 
 
 I determined, therefore, to try to get rid of them 
 from the Mound City hospital. In answer to my re 
 quest to the Catholic authorities of, I think, North 
 and South Bend, Indiana, a number of sisters were sent 
 down to act as nurses in the hospital. These sent were 
 from a teaching and not from a nursing order, but in 
 a short time they adapted themselves admirably to their 
 new duties. I have forgotten the exact title of the order 
 to which they belonged, I think they were sisters of 
 Notre Dame. I remember their black and white dresses, 
 and I remember also, that when I asked the Mother, 
 who accompanied them, what accommodation they re- 
 
Mound City Hospital 45 
 
 quired, the answer was, "One room, Doctor," and there 
 were in all, I think, fourteen or fifteen of them. So I 
 procured good nurses for my sick and the whole tribe of 
 sanitary "Mrs. Brundages" passed away. The sick pa 
 tients gained by the change, but for a few days I was 
 the most abused man in that department, for the news 
 papers gave me no mercy. 
 
 A great deal has been written about the bountiful 
 supplies sent by the North to the army. Undoubtedly, 
 this was true in the later part of the war, and in the 
 early part of the war, as far as the army of the Po 
 tomac and the eastern armies generally were concerned. 
 But we in the west fared badly at first (notice that I use 
 the pronoun "we" in the plural for I was fast becoming 
 a military man in my military sympathies) ; not perhaps 
 while I was at Mound City, but later when I had the 
 honor of being a member of the military family of one 
 who was to become the great "Captain" of this war. 
 We, in the west, then, I say, were badly armed, and not 
 well supplied with the medical equipment, necessary for 
 the active preparations we were just entering upon. But 
 I will say more of this hereafter. 
 
 I have spoken of the objection of the western man 
 or soldier to doing certain kinds of work. Nevertheless, 
 he possesses a certain degree of independence, and of 
 marked individuality. An outcome of this is "lynch 
 law," essential, perhaps, to the development of the west 
 ern land, but from the influence of which it is hard 
 for the western man entirely to free himself, even when 
 the necessity for it has passed away. Should any nec 
 essity for it arise, he turns to it again naturally. In 
 illustration I may state that the Eighteenth Illinois Regi 
 ment (infantry) was stationed here. It had the reputa 
 tion of being a somewhat wild regiment. One evening 
 
46 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 a private in that regiment, in cold blood, shot a private 
 of his own company, for some petty grudge. The regi 
 ment was on the point of moving, and was waiting for 
 marching orders in a few hours. The man could not 
 be tried by martial law, as Illinois was a loyal state. He 
 could not be tried by a civil process, as the witnesses 
 would move with their regiment. There was but one 
 solution, and that was for his comrades to take the law 
 into their own hands, in fact for the matter to be set 
 tled according to the stern and summary procedure of 
 "lynch law." 
 
 This was accordingly done, a jury of twelve was 
 chosen from his own company, a judge was selected, 
 and a court established. There was a counsel for the 
 defence and a counsel for the prosecution. In the in 
 terests of justice, witnesses were heard. I think I was 
 asked if the victim died from the effects of a gun shot 
 wound. I know, that at the time, I could hardly be 
 lieve that this was all in real earnest. The prisoner was 
 found guilty by the jury and was sentenced to be hanged 
 on the following morning. As I was informed, a com 
 mission from the regiment waited on the Colonel, and re 
 quested him to go to Cairo early in the morning, to make 
 purchases. He obligingly complied and left the camp 
 betimes. As I was eating my breakfast on the morning 
 following the so-called trial, the regiment in good order, 
 and headed by the Lieutenant-Colonel, marched past to 
 a strip of woods just beyond the borough limits. The 
 prisoner was placed in a cart, a rope around his neck ; 
 the officiating executioner, who sat in the fork of the 
 tree just above the doomed man s head, made all fast; 
 the cart made off, the man was hanged and justice done. 
 Someone suggested to the military officials in charge the 
 advantages of a grave for the dead man. "A damned 
 
Mound City Hospital 47 
 
 good idea," remarked the functionary, "Dig one under 
 him as he hangs and drop him into it." This was done, 
 the grave was dug, the body lowered and dropped into 
 it. The hole was filled up, the executioner jumped down 
 from his perch, the regiment formed in marching order, 
 and then moved off to their daily duties. All parties 
 felt that they had performed a virtuous act; and per 
 haps, as things go, they had. 
 
 After a while the Colonel came and pretended much 
 surprise. 
 
 The matter was reported to General Halleck at St. 
 Louis in a mild way, and there was some correspondence. 
 It was rumored that it would go hard with the regi 
 ment, or at all events with the officers. But events 
 were pressing, the regiment moved off, and no more 
 was heard of the matter. After all, it was war-time, 
 justice had been done, and the men themselves, the 
 parties concerned, had acted. This was my only ex 
 perience during the war with "lynch law," a rough code, 
 it is true, but in this case it produced a most salutary 
 effect. The regiment which had been a wild one, was 
 sobered, and I doubt if anyone who witnessed that 
 hanging ever forgot it. 
 
 During my short stay at Mound City hospital, I first 
 learned what it really was to be in authority. The re 
 sponsibility which to me, was always commensurate with 
 the authority, weighed heavily upon me. I did my best 
 to get for the patients in the hospitals all the comforts 
 I could, not only from the government supplies but also 
 with the aid societies, which at that time were springing 
 up everywhere in the west and the east. For you must 
 remember that this was a "people s war," and that those 
 who remained at home worked hard to supply with 
 comforts those who were in the fields. The men gave 
 
48 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 money, the women fitted up boxes containing every im 
 aginable and unimaginable convenience and comfort for 
 "our boys," which they were only too glad to send on 
 request. A good many of these "soldiers boxes" reached 
 me, and most useful they proved. It was a great thing 
 to have these extra stores which one could dispense at 
 discretion, and for which no special return or account 
 had to be given. I do not know how it was in the 
 east at the early period of the war but in the west, 
 few delicacies or extra stores of hospital clothing or 
 linen could be procured from the department of the 
 medical purveyor. 
 
 The supplies at this time sent to the western troops 
 by the government were scanty, and it was not until 
 after Dr. William A. Hammond became surgeon gen 
 eral, that much improvement took place in this respect. 
 But I will speak of this hereafter, and shall now content 
 myself by referring to the boxes which reached me from 
 Philadelphia and from Newport, R. I. The former, fur 
 nished on my own request, contained all sorts of under 
 clothes for patients in hospital; wrappers and slippers 
 and shirts and drawers for the convalescents. Then too 
 there was clothing for the dead, and I ought to state that 
 I had at first no chaplain to perform religious services, 
 or to bury the dead and more than once I was obliged 
 to perform these gloomy services myself. 
 
 I referred just now to a box from Newport, R. I. 
 This was sent by Mr. J. C. Van Renselaer. I remember 
 that box particularly. It contained some "good" wine, 
 and some "very good." This I was authorized by the 
 donor to apply for my own personal benefit, and I can 
 distinctly recall that "Old Constitution Madeira," figur 
 ing prominently on my New Year s dinner at Cairo on 
 January ist, 1862. I may say that at this time I took 
 
Mound City Hospital 49 
 
 very good care of myself and I am afraid that I was in 
 some respects a " featherbed soldier." I know that I 
 swallowed my quinine regularly to prevent the occur 
 rence of chills; and that I was very careful of my pre 
 cious self in every way. I do not know after all that 
 I should be blamed, for that region was a most malarious 
 one, although let me say that while I have often been 
 near a malarious country, or place, or town, I have never 
 yet been anywhere, where the inhabitants would openly 
 and honestly admit that unhealthiness prevailed just 
 there. Thus at Cairo, below the level of the waters of 
 the two rivers, and at the time of which I am speaking 
 unhealthy to the last degree, I never could find any 
 Cairo-ite who would frankly acknowledge the fact. If 
 questioned, the answer would always be, "Unhealthy, no 
 indeed: how can this place be unhealthy with a strong 
 breeze blowing all the time from the Ohio to the Mis 
 sissippi River. Now Mound City, seven miles above, is 
 unhealthy, everyone knows that." Yet at Mound City, I 
 would be told "There is no malaria here. If you want 
 to find that, you must go to Cairo, where everyone has 
 the chills. Here we are entirely protected by our belt 
 of woods." Probably each one of these speakers car 
 ried quinine in bulk in his pocket, and took it daily, al 
 most without regard to definite doses. And so I have 
 gone through the world chilled to my back bone, and yet 
 never have been able to find any locality, city or town, 
 where any loyal inhabitant would admit the presence of 
 the dreaded influence. 
 
 While at Mound City I felt an intolerable desire for 
 home. I was homesick to the last degree. I had no 
 society, no associates of my own rank, and although the 
 contract assistant surgeons who reported to me, tried to 
 help me, still I had not been long enough from home 
 
50 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 to have learned how to accustom myself to new com 
 panions, and how to be satisfied in the novel and chang 
 ing circumstances in which I found myself. So chafed 
 was I at all my discomforts at this time that I wrote to 
 my cousin, Dr. John McClellan of Philadelphia, and 
 afterwards to either Arthur or George, I forget which, 
 begging that I might be ordered to the Army of the 
 Potomac. Fortunately for myself, my request was un 
 heeded by my cousin, General McClellan, who was at 
 this time in command of the Army of the Potomac, and 
 my letter remained unanswered, and I remained where 
 I was. Had I only known it, I was very well off, and 
 I should have felt very happy and comfortable. Mound 
 City, barring its malaria, was really not a bad place to 
 be in. It had even almost historic associations, for it 
 had grown up close by the abandoned sites of the old 
 villages or towns of Trinity and Unity, which date back 
 to the earliest settlements of the French. These little 
 villages were situated on a sort of stream, or canal, 
 which connected, once upon a time, the Ohio and Mis 
 sissippi rivers. This stream was once known as the 
 "Cash" River, a contraction for "Cache," and was nine 
 or ten miles long; the name indicated, I suppose, that 
 at sometime or other provisions or supplies had been 
 buried or hidden near its banks. The channels of the 
 stream had been obstructed and the towns had disap 
 peared, although vestiges of the stone foundations of 
 the houses were still traceable, and one could see evi 
 dences of the clearings in the woods. Tradition, if the 
 term be here admissible, referred the foundation of these 
 deserted villages almost to the time of Father Hennepin 
 and the Sieur de la Salle, who passed down from Canada 
 to the mouth of the Mississippi. 
 
 Another curious feature of this place was the mound 
 
Mound City Hospital 51 
 
 from which the city took its name, "Mound City." This 
 mound or tumulus was a circular pyramidal mound, 
 about thirty feet in height, situated not very far from 
 the right bank of the Ohio river. It was undoubtedly of 
 Indian construction, but when built, or exactly by whom, 
 no one knew. I never heard that it had been pierced, 
 or that any search had ever been made as to its con 
 tents. I suppose that it had once been intended as an 
 Indian burial place. At the time I knew it its sides were 
 green, and the top was surmounted by two or three 
 trees, under which I liked to sit and smoke my pipe 
 thinking of home. 
 
 One of the first things I learned at this station was 
 how to answer a sentry s challenge, and how to give the 
 countersign. The guard line ran between my hospital 
 and my quarters, and it used to make me a little nervous 
 at first to be stopped after work by the hoarse "Who 
 goes there" of the sentry, and his imperious "Halt," and 
 then my very prompt answer, "A friend with the coun 
 tersign," and then again the "Advance, friend, and give 
 the countersign." All this is simple enough on paper, 
 but when the challenge was emphasized with the sharp 
 click of the musket lock, there was a reality about it, 
 which was unpleasantly startling. I can well remember 
 how cautiously the "Friend" (that is I myself) used to 
 advance, dodging that bayonet and that confounded muz 
 zle, which seemed to glitter so brightly, no matter how 
 dark the night, and which seemed to be pointing in 
 every direction at the same moment, and how carefully, 
 how distinctly I would whisper "Banks," and then hear 
 the sentry s answer, "Correct, pass on." Such was the 
 formula every time I went to my hospital at night: 
 Banks, Halt, Anderson, Grant, Concord, Wool, and the 
 like were the favorite words. The countersign was sent 
 
52 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 to me every night just before dark, written on a paper 
 done up in a mysterious, three cornered cocked hat of a 
 note; and I have more than once in my after military 
 life forgotten the word, and had difficulty in recalling it. 
 
 Here, too, I learned to salute ; and that, let me tell you, 
 is no little accomplishment. 
 
 My days were thus busily occupied, and in the evening 
 I used to look over my accounts and write my letters, 
 and amuse myself in killing mosquitoes, or in touching 
 their bites with a solution of ammonia. Very powerful 
 and bloodthirsty were these pests, grey-backed, huge 
 and insatiate. Then, too, in the evenings I spent a 
 good deal of time in studying up my "Army Regula 
 tions," which is one of the best things an officer can 
 do, especially if he happens to have many executive or 
 administrative duties to discharge. At the same time I 
 also paid some attention to riding. It is true that I had 
 not yet a horse of my own, but I was lucky enough to 
 procure for my ambulance a good pair of horses from 
 the quartermaster, which went equally as well in the 
 saddle and in harness. 
 
 By the I3th or izjth of October, I had some 250 or 
 300 men in hospital, and at this time I was instructed 
 to lose no time in raising the hospital capacity to 800 
 or 1,000 beds. Besides the small regimental tent hos 
 pitals, the only other accommodation for the sick was 
 the district hospital at Cairo, under the charge of Acting 
 Assistant Surgeon Burke, a resident of the town, and the 
 capacity of which was only eighty or a hundred. 
 
 At this time, Cairo had become a center for the con 
 centration of troops for future contemplated operations; 
 the forces in Cairo and its dependencies at Fort Holt on 
 the Kentucky side of the Mississippi River, and Byrds 
 Point on the Missouri side being about twenty regiments 
 
Mound City Hospital 53 
 
 of infantry and one or two of cavalry, used for patrolling 
 and scouting duty. All of the troops were much ex 
 posed. The camps were close to the river, the malarial 
 influences were subtle and overwhelming, the hygienical 
 conditions were bad, the men had not learned to take 
 care of themselves, nor had their surgeons as yet had 
 sufficient military experience to be able to cope with the 
 difficulties of their new positions. The supply depart 
 ments were inefficient, the medical stores in the hands 
 of the medical purveyor at Cairo were meager and not 
 altogether suited to the necessitous condition of the com 
 mand. The quartermaster s supplies were also scanty, 
 and even when plentiful in his hands, were grudgingly 
 and unwillingly issued to the medical department. All 
 complaints of the latter were met by the assurance that 
 supplies could not be obtained from St. Louis, and it 
 may be that a want of general military organization did 
 at this time exist at this city, then the military head 
 quarters of the department. At a later period, their de 
 ficiencies were remedied, probably owing to the exami 
 nations and reports made by careful inspectors from the 
 regular service, but in the earlier period of which I am 
 now speaking, disorganization, rather than organization, 
 prevailed. 
 
 I suppose that all this medley of affairs was unavoid 
 able, and was in great part due to the newness of the 
 war, and to its gigantic proportions. It took time to 
 learn how to carry on so great a struggle and to fully 
 appreciate the idea that it was all in dead earnest. 
 There was great friction at first in the movements of 
 the vast military machine; its elements and component 
 parts were freshly made, and often badly put together, 
 and the men who managed it were inexperienced. The 
 troops were raw, filled with home ideas, and I know 
 
54 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 that we, the officers of medical corps, had much to 
 learn. For those who passed from civil professional life, 
 into what I may describe as purely professional mili 
 tary life, such as the treatment and charge of sick and 
 wounded soldiers, it was not so very hard. Some paper 
 work undoubtedly there was, but it was not excessively 
 onerous. Far different, however, was it with those of 
 ficers of the corps of brigade surgeons, who, standing 
 high on the roll of their corps, found themselves, fresh 
 from civil life, suddenly forced into positions demanding 
 a high degree of executive and administrative ability. 
 Not a few were early called upon to assume the respon 
 sible duties of medical directors of corps, armies and 
 departments. In the old service, I mean the regular 
 service, and in the natural order of events and by the 
 force and operation of the law of seniority, the men 
 who discharged these functions were men of advancing 
 age, and who had had lifetime experience in the routine 
 and paper duties of the department. In the exigencies 
 of our national strife, from the magnitude and pressure 
 of its demands, officers fresh from civil life were called 
 upon at a moment s notice, and without previous train 
 ing, to discharge these high duties; how to do so prop 
 erly they had yet to learn, and that in the face of press 
 ing events. In this position I soon found myself, and 
 it happened more from the kindness and good will of 
 my great commander, rather than from any merit of 
 my own, that I was enabled to carry myself without 
 discredit. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 CAIRO, 1 86 1 
 
 Towards the end of October, 1861, Dr. Simons, Med 
 ical Director of Southeastern Missouri (that is Cairo 
 and its dependencies), relieved me from duty at Mound 
 City General Hospital and placed me on duty in the 
 medical director s office. This, as I discovered in a 
 few days, was merely preparatory to my temporary 
 appointment as Medical Director of the District, during 
 the proposed absence of Surgeon Simons, who had ap 
 plied for leave to visit his home in Baltimore. On ar 
 riving at Cairo, I took up my quarters in the fourth or 
 fifth story of Safford s Bank Building, at that time occu 
 pied as the headquarters of General Grant. The office 
 of the medical director, was, if I remember rightly, in 
 the third story front room. I fancy my presence was 
 rather agreeable than otherwise to Dr. Simons for, as I 
 have said before, he seemed to be dreadfully lonely and 
 much in want of someone to talk with. He was a 
 typical southerner, an old army officer of the Mexican 
 War type. It seemed to me, however, that something 
 must have happened in his previous life which had 
 soured him, but he was very kind to me, and I liked 
 him. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 23rd of October, I made a very 
 pleasant trip on board a flag of truce steamer down 
 the Mississippi, to Columbus, far in the enemy s coun- 
 
 55 
 
56 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 try. The description of this trip I quote in part from 
 my letter to my Mother, dated October 24th. 
 
 "About noon on the 23rd of October, I started in a 
 tiny steam tug under the command of Colonel N. Baford, 
 who had been educated at West Point, but had been 
 long in civil life. He was a fussy old gentleman, an 
 old granny, but kind and amiable; he had with him two 
 or three aides, and Dr. Simons and I went as inquisi 
 tive passengers in the expectation of bringing up some 
 wounded men. We had on board a reporter for the 
 New York Herald, a very busy man, who after a while 
 got very drunk. The boat was the smallest steam boat 
 I had ever seen, hardly large enough, in fact, to carry 
 the party. We steamed down the river with a white 
 sheet tied to our flagstaff, away down the river for 
 twenty-six miles, until we came in sight of the high 
 bluffs, on the left-hand side just above, and overtopping, 
 the town of Columbus, Kentucky, the first town within 
 the river limits of Secessia. 
 
 The noble bluffs were covered with tents and swarmed 
 with men, and the big guns pointed their ugly noses up 
 the river in a terribly menacing manner. We were all 
 expectation, and I, for one, could not help wondering 
 what would happen next. However, our saucy little 
 boat floated quietly down, gradually approaching the 
 hostile works, the ragamuffins on the bank running along 
 the river edge, when, Bang! a blank cartridge was fired 
 from a 64-pounder. We whistled three times and then 
 steamed on (which we ought not to have done), until 
 we came right under their works. "Bang!" again 
 went the heavy gun, and we came to, and just in time; 
 for as we were afterwards told, a shotted gun was 
 trained on us to check this abuse of a flag of truce. A 
 shot from such a gun at a 5oo-yard range would have 
 
Cairo, 1861 57 
 
 been indeed no joke, especially, aimed as this one was, 
 by Captain Blake, a graduate of West Point. "Had you 
 not finally laid to when you did," this person told me 
 himself the next day, "I should have sunk you." 
 
 And so, tardily shutting off steam, we slowly drifted 
 down until we reached a steamer, anchored by the slop 
 ing banks of the changing western river. Here our 
 chief, Col. Baford, when challenged, asked for General 
 Polk. "I am General Pillow" was the answer, "come on 
 board," and so we did, and then ascending to the saloon 
 of the steamer, we were all presented to the Warrior 
 Priest, Bishop, and Major General, Polk. This gentle 
 man had been educated at West Point, but subsequently 
 took orders, and had become bishop, I think, of Louisi 
 ana. At the outbreak of the war, he laid aside his 
 lawn, and again assumed the shoulder straps. He had 
 formerly, in 1827, been commissioned in the U. S. Army, 
 as second lieutenant of artillery. He was killed in 1864 
 during General Sherman s Atlanta march. 
 
 General Polk, who was in full major-general s uni 
 form, received us kindly, and shook hands with us all. 
 He was a rather tall, thin fellow, toothless, and bland 
 to a degree. He talked a good deal, and his manner 
 seemed to me to be somewhat flippant. He was not alto 
 gether priest or soldier, and the admixture of the manners 
 of both was not happy. However, we were all received 
 very cordially, and were invited into the cabin, where 
 we took a drink of brandy and water all around, to 
 the toast of "Washington and his principles," a senti 
 ment in which we could all join, no matter what was 
 the color of the uniform. 
 
 General Pillow was a very quiet, gentlemanly person, 
 who said little. Our New York reporter was very busy; 
 he kept close to the Secession generals, and picked up his 
 
58 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 items like a veritable newspaper bee. After a while, 
 champagne was brought, and as there seemed to be 
 some difficulty as to the ice, we offered some from the 
 stores of our little tug, but they would not receive it. 
 Laughingly, Dr. Simons and I promised to send it to 
 them some day, when they sent us a flag of truce, a 
 promise which we liberally kept a few days later. While 
 the seniors were talking (of what I never had the faint 
 est idea), the two staffs fraternized, and we had a very 
 merry time, and here it was that the Herald man was 
 overcome by the enemy, and became quite hilarious. 
 
 The Confederate surgeons were very polite to me. 
 They took me on shore, and I passed with them through 
 the streets to the hospitals. The latter were poorly 
 appointed, but the inmates were apparently in good con 
 dition. The other members of our party were not al 
 lowed to land, that permission being accorded only to 
 the medical officers. The people in the streets seemed 
 squalid and unhealthy; they were ragged in appearance, 
 and offensive in their manner and words. As we passed 
 by they called us all manner of names, "Lincolnites," 
 "Damned Yankees," "Abolitionists," and other such 
 pet-names. Had we not been in the company of our 
 Secession friends, we would indeed have fared badly. 
 
 The uniforms of the Confederate officers were gen 
 erally of a shabby dirty gray, with a good deal of tinsel 
 and cheap gold lace ornamentation, entirely too much. 
 Their arms were poor. Several of the officers were 
 West Pointers, and these talked freely on passing events. 
 Of their ultimate success they seemed to be certain. 
 They laughed at the idea of defeat or subjugation. 
 From one of their officers, a Captain Blake, of Folk s 
 staff, I learned a good many war items, of confederate 
 coloring, interesting to me then, but now long forgotten. 
 
Cairo, 1861 59 
 
 Another of their officers was a Captain Polk, of the 
 same staff. He had been educated at West Point, and 
 was a nice talkative, rather boastful young gentleman. 
 We had a good deal of chat among ourselves, during 
 which he said if he was hurt, he would rather be treated 
 by Northern than by Southern surgeons, and he laugh 
 ingly added, "Should I ever be wounded, and let you 
 know, will you bring me into your lines, and take care 
 of me?" This I afterwards did. He was wounded at 
 the Battle of Shiloh, and lay outside of our lines, in a 
 little Confederate house where he was attended by his 
 wife and friends. He wrote to me, as I was on General 
 Grant s staff at the time, and reminded me of my prom 
 ise. I went out under a flag of truce and brought the 
 wounded man (as also two or three pats of fresh butter 
 which had been set aside by Mrs. Polk), to our hos 
 pital transport, as I shall relate hereafter. 
 
 After two or three hours pleasant chat, we prepared 
 to start for Cairo, taking with us a few of our wounded 
 men. Where they had been hurt I do not know, 1 sup 
 pose in the various skirmishes which were constantly 
 occurring between the pickets and the observation parties 
 of the two armies. 
 
 I saw at this time quite an affecting sight, the parting 
 of one of our wounded men from a wounded Confed 
 erate soldier. They had been wounded in the same en 
 counter ten days or two weeks before, had lain side by 
 side in the same hospital, and had mutually cared for 
 each other. They seemed loath to part, and their leave- 
 taking was strange to see. 
 
 All of the Secession wounded, who were able, came 
 down to the wharf to see our wounded placed on the 
 boat, and the good-byes were cordial and prolonged. 
 We then steamed away to Cairo, not in our little tug, 
 
60 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 but in a boat of theirs, which carried us to our own 
 lines, when their steamer returned to Columbus. And 
 this was "Civil War," and this my first observation of it. 
 The Confederate officers, whom I met, spoke freely of 
 their commanders. General Joe Johnston, they ranked 
 first; then a General Smith,* and Beauregard. General 
 George B. McClellan on our side, they had a high opin 
 ion of; but they considered that he was not supported by 
 good generals, and they felt confident of beating him 
 badly. 
 
 On my return to Cairo I remained on duty in the 
 office of the Medical Director for two or three days, 
 and on October 28th, the following order was issued. 
 
 "Headquarters Dist. S. E. Mo., 
 
 Cairo, Oct. 28, 1861. 
 [SPECIAL ORDER] 
 
 Surgeon James Simons, U. S. A. Medical Director, 
 having received leave of absence, Surgeon John H. Brin 
 ton is appointed to act in his place. He will be obeyed 
 and respected accordingly. 
 
 BY ORDER OF BRIG. GEN L. GRANT. 
 
 (Signed) John A. Rawlins, A. A. G. 
 To DR. JOHN H. BRINTON, 
 
 Brigade Surgeon, U. S. A." 
 
 And so, at Cairo, after two months actual service, I 
 found myself the Medical Director of a geographical 
 military district of considerable extent, and occupied by 
 many thousand troops. To superintend medically the 
 welfare of so large a command, was no easy work, espe- 
 
 * Probably Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith who took command, for 
 a day or so, of the Confederate Army before Richmond after the 
 wounding of Maj. Gen. Jos. E. Johnston and before Robert E. Lee 
 arrived to assume command. E. T. S. 
 
Cairo, 1861 61 
 
 daily when it is borne in mind that most of these men 
 were fresh levies, all from civil life and many from 
 agricultural districts. In fact, as far as their health was 
 concerned, they might almost have been looked upon as 
 children. ("The men from the country had often not 
 passed through the ordinary diseases of child life, and 
 no sooner were they brought together in camps, than 
 measles and other children s diseases showed themselves, 
 and spread rapidly. The malarial influences of the riv 
 ers too, produced a most depressing effect upon men 
 brought from higher regions, and more healthy sur 
 roundings. /Violent remittent, intermittent and low 
 typhoid fevers invaded the camps, and many died. The 
 general hygiene was bad, the company and regimental 
 officers did not know how to care for their men, and 
 the men themselves seemed to be perfectly helpless. 
 This inability to take care of themselves seemed to me to 
 be one of the strangest peculiarities of the volunteers 
 at the beginning of the war.- / And here it must be re 
 membered that this time, the summer and early autumn 
 of 1 86 1, was the patriotic era of the national volun 
 teers. "Conscription" with which we were afterwards 
 so familiar, had not yet been thought of, and bounties, 
 tempting fat bounties, were unknown. Men volun 
 teered willingly for the war and in a patriotic spirit; 
 young men of good families were in the ranks, men of 
 education and attainments. In many instances, farmers 
 eagerly became soldiers, and left their families, their 
 farms, and their business without hesitation. These 
 men, numbers of them, had been accustomed to think 
 and act for themselves, and to take care of others; and 
 yet just as soon as they entered the ranks and became 
 soldiers, it seemed as if all individualism was lost; they 
 ceased to think for themselves, and became incapable of 
 
62 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 self -protection. They had to be thought for, and cared 
 for as children, they were no longer the self-relying 
 men they had been in civil life. And there was diffi 
 culty, too, in regard to their caretakers, for the men 
 who suddenly found themselves officers and who were 
 the natural guardians, as it were, of the rank and file, 
 were utterly inexperienced, and in every way unaccus 
 tomed to take charge of others. The commissary of 
 subsistence, whose duty it was to feed the troops, was, 
 if he were a volunteer, ignorant of the details of his 
 office. So also was the quartermaster, and yet on the 
 efficiency of these officers much of the comfort of the 
 private soldier depended. 
 
 The medical officers, the regimental surgeon, and the 
 assistant surgeon were in a somewhat different relation, 
 for they brought to their new positions the professional 
 attainments of civil life, and they had only to apply 
 their every-day knowledge to the military surroundings. 
 Some fresh details, it is true, they had to acquire, but 
 with a little experience, and by careful study of the 
 army regulations, supplemented by a reasonable share 
 of common sense, they became fitted for their duties. 
 
 The brigade surgeon had more to learn, for his higher 
 grade placed him in a broader field. He most frequently 
 found himself in charge of general hospitals in the 
 larger cities, or of great divisions and corps hospitals 
 with armies in the field. In many instances, however, 
 he advanced at once to the grade of "medical director" 
 it may be of a division or corps, or even of an army 
 itself. In these instances he was on the staff of the 
 general, who depended upon him in no slight degree for 
 information as to the health of the command, and as to 
 its general availability for active operations. His sug 
 gestions were usually listened to kindly and respectfully, 
 
Cairo, 1861 63 
 
 and orders touching the hygiene of troops and camps 
 were often issued at his instance. From my own ob 
 servation, I would say that the greater the general and 
 the more liberal his views, the more was he disposed 
 to listen to the words of his medical director. From 
 all this you will understand how difficult of discharge 
 were the duties of a medical director of a district or 
 department or army, and how delicate, too, at times 
 they were. It was his province to see to the health, 
 as it were, of every man in the command; to so pro 
 vide that a bed should be ready for every sick or wounded 
 soldier whenever and wherever it might be called for ; to 
 see that medicines and medical supplies should be on 
 hand at every depot, or with every column; and to an 
 ticipate all future demands by bringing fresh supplies 
 from the central stores. Then too the medical director 
 had to think of the medical officers over whom he was 
 placed. He was a sort of bishop to his military flock; 
 his duty was to help on the diffident, overworked, or 
 lagging; to encourage by advice or instructions those 
 who might be perplexed or weary; to restrain and hold 
 in check the overzealous. 
 
 It was oftentimes no easy thing to answer the pointed 
 questions of perplexed regimental surgeons, who in the 
 early days of the war in their ignorance of the "army 
 regulations" regarded all rules as fetters and denounced 
 all system as "red tape." These officers, yet civilians at 
 heart, felt deeply for the sick and injured of their indi 
 vidual commands; they naturally wished to procure in 
 stantly for them those things of which they stood in 
 need and they disliked the formality of requisitions, 
 which they deemed unnecessary. They were impatient 
 of delay, and yet they did not know how to make haste ; 
 they hurried to the office of the medical director for in- 
 
64 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 formation, and he alas! (I speak for myself) often 
 knew little if any more than his questioners. To antici 
 pate a little the story of my own doings in my new office, 
 I can only say, that "Men learn by teaching," and I 
 learned the regulations, and how to do things by study 
 ing these same regulations and by trying to teach others. 
 
 And then, too, a little later than this, I was taught a 
 good lesson by Captain, now General, Hawkins, U. S. A., 
 then in the subsistence department. "Doctor," he said 
 to me one day, when I consulted him on some puzzling 
 paragraph of the regulations, "Do this; when your 
 servants come to you in ignorance and want to know 
 what to do, tell them kindly if you do know. If you do 
 not know, open the book of regulations for them, at the 
 proper chapter, tell them to read it carefully for fifteen 
 minutes in your office, and then they will understand it. 
 Should they not do so, you will then explain it to them. 
 And then run down to my office or General Grant s, 
 state your trouble, and I am sure you will be helped out. 
 You will not have to do so often." This advice I fol 
 lowed literally, and never did I in my ignorance apply 
 in vain either to my good friend Hawkins, or to the 
 great general, who seemed to me to be amused by my 
 troubles, and at the same time to take pleasure in helping 
 me out of them. I shall have much to say of him as I 
 write, and I will not now anticipate, as I prefer to 
 take up events in order, so that you can judge for your 
 selves how my opinions were formed, and my judgment 
 crystallized. 
 
 On the departure of Dr. Simons for the east, I found 
 myself with a load on my shoulders; yet although the 
 responsibility was great, at times almost crushingly so, 
 I did not dislike it, but tried as well as I was able to be 
 efficient, and somehow or other got along. 
 
Cairo, 1861 65 
 
 For a few days, I was busy enough, inspecting the 
 regimental camps, examining their hospitals and assist 
 ing the regimental surgeons in obtaining their requisi 
 tions, by which I mean their supplies medical and other 
 wise. Everyone supposed that we would pass the winter 
 in more or less quietude, in the neighborhood of Cairo; 
 and of active operations we had little anticipation or 
 knowledge. I see from my letters that late in October 
 the staff whispered some rumor of a move in thirty or 
 forty days, but whither we did not know. Flags of truce 
 were occasionally passing to and fro on various pre 
 tences. Southern union men would be coming north, 
 or men from the north with southern friends would be 
 passing southwards, or women of all sorts of political 
 proclivities would be sent over the lines, sometimes I 
 daresay freighted with letters full of treason, or with 
 percussion caps, or morphia and quinine, which were al 
 ready becoming scarce in "Dixie s Land." These flags 
 of truce were often much abused, and I fancy at times 
 did a good deal of harm. It was hard to vouch for the 
 loyalty of those who availed themselves of them. I have 
 a memorandum of a pretended union man, who sprang 
 from a truce boat into the stream and swam for the 
 southern shore, which he failed to reach, being drowned 
 in the attempt. 
 
 One of the earliest difficulties, and one of the most 
 pressing with which I had to contend, was a scarcity of 
 medical men, especially of young medical men, who 
 possessed the slightest pretensions to decent medical at 
 tainments. The regimental officers were good enough 
 of their kind, but more than these were wanted to sup 
 ply the depot hospitals, which were being established at 
 various points. The men who supplied most of these 
 subordinate medical positions were known as "contract 
 
66 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 physicians" or "doctors," to use the common phrase; 
 in the true military parlance of the Surgeon General s 
 office "acting assistant surgeons." These gentlemen held 
 no commissions, but signed a contract with the medical 
 director for the time and place being, which contract 
 would be approved by the Surgeon General in Washing 
 ton. The pay was usually from eighty to one hundred 
 dollars per month, and was charged to the medical appro 
 priation, expended under the orders of the Surgeon 
 General. 
 
 The regular paymaster of the United States Army 
 had nothing to do with the contract physicians. The 
 grade of medical men who at this time, early in the war, 
 held these positions, was often low. Many ignorant 
 physicians, or those who had been long out of practice, 
 if indeed they ever had any, obtained contracts. Not 
 infrequently it happened that charlatans and impostors 
 succeeded in forcing themselves into these appointments, 
 and the soldier, as would naturally be supposed, suffered 
 in consequence. This condition of affairs obtained prob 
 ably to a greater extent in the western armies than 
 elsewhere. One of my first efforts was to reform this 
 abuse, as far as I could, by obtaining a better class of 
 young doctors from the east, and from some of the 
 larger cities, but the scarcity of good surgeons to do 
 the every-day work in the more remote hospitals of this 
 region was undoubtedly a great evil, which existed for 
 some time after the war began in this portion of our 
 country. 
 
 I have already referred to General Grant s friendly 
 treatment. I find in a letter to Dr. DaCosta, dated 
 Nov. 2Oth, 1 86 1, this allusion: 
 
 "General Grant (an old regular) is very kind to me 
 and helps me out of many a tight place, so also does 
 
Cairo, 1861 67 
 
 Captain Hawkins (regular). We are quite intimate. 
 Grant is a plain, straightforward, peremptory and 
 prompt man. If I ask for anything it is done at once, 
 the great secret in all military matters." 
 
 By the early part of the month of November, my 
 new duties had become very pleasant to me, and I had 
 become more than reconciled to my position. I felt 
 that I was making headway, and I could see daylight 
 ahead. My chief trouble at this time was the malarial 
 influence of the country. Cairo enjoys, and I think most 
 deservedly, the reputation of being thoroughly unhealthy, 
 and this bad reputation had, up to this time of which 
 I am speaking, always acted as hindrance to its develop 
 ment. One would suppose that the location of the town, 
 on the tongue of land at the very confluence of the 
 Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, would have been in itself 
 sufficient to insure its rapid progress. But the place had 
 lagged in its growth, despite the attempts of speculators 
 to force it. It was here, I think, that many years ago, 
 a sort of colony had been established, in which the Rev. 
 Dr. Ely, a man of wealth, and the father-in-law of the 
 late Dr. Samuel McClellan, the uncle of General Mc- 
 Clellan, was largely interested. Money, a great deal of 
 money, was spent here, but the immediate outcome was 
 a disappointment to all concerned. The place could 
 only grow by commerce, and this took time. Topograph 
 ically considered, as a stopping place of exchange, or 
 inland port for the steamers of the two great rivers and 
 their tributaries, Cairo was exceptionally favored. On 
 the other hand, as a pestilential hole fraught with all 
 malarial poisonous influences, the town unquestionably is 
 preeminent. The levee, a high stone bank on the Ohio 
 River side was a good one, and at the time I went to 
 Cairo, a good many steamers were coming and going. 
 
68 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 On the top of the levee was the railroad track, which ran 
 down to the St. Charles Hotel, near the end of the tongue 
 of land. The levee, of course, was made of land, and 
 nearly all of the houses and warehouses on it were of 
 wood. SafTord s Bank, then used as the headquarters 
 building, was, I think, almost the only stone or brick 
 structure. The levee and its bordering buildings, were 
 infested with rats, many of them of a very large size, 
 and at night they swarmed out of their holes. I have 
 often known them to be crushed by the wheels of the 
 railroad cars. 
 
 Cairo at this time was not altogether a pleasant place, 
 but yet I learned to like it, and I soon came to care very 
 little about the rats, although I never could quite bring 
 myself to think kindly of the swarms of merchants, ped 
 dlers, produce dealers, and the like, who infested the 
 levee, and its neighborhood. Yet I must make an excep 
 tion, there was one fellow, hook-nosed and black-bearded, 
 who sold everything and anything, and especially apples 
 of such size, color and tartness, as I have never met since. 
 These apples were my delight, for the craving for acid 
 fruit was upon me. The truth was I was beginning to 
 feel the influence of the climate and was becoming 
 malarious and jaundiced. This was a wretched condition 
 to fall into ; I did my best to fight it off, but to no use. I 
 stuck to my office and did my routine work, but was 
 scarcely able to go downstairs to my meals, or to see any 
 thing of General Grant s staff, of which I was a tem 
 porary member, although I had an idea that something 
 was in the wind, but what, I knew not. 
 
 At last, horribly nauseated, I was compelled to take to 
 my bed. One of the ladies in the house, a Mrs. Turner, 
 an Englishwoman, and the wife of a sort of an English 
 
Cairo, 1861 69 
 
 doctor under contract, kindly saw to having some food 
 sent to me, but which I could not eat. I felt wretched, 
 and finally on the morning of November 6th, after hav 
 ing been in bed nearly two days, my nausea was so 
 excessive that I put a large mustard plaster on the pit 
 of my stomach, hoping for some relief. The plaster 
 had just begun to burn comfortably and pleasantly, and 
 I was trying to force down a few mouth fuls of soup, 
 when Mrs. Turner knocked at the door, and then came 
 hurriedly in to tell me that the General, with a good 
 force, was on the eve of starting to attack the enemy, 
 somewhere or other. "And you won t be able to go," 
 she added. The importance and suddenness of her in 
 formation started me, and begging her to go out of the 
 room, away went my mustard plaster, and I was out of 
 bed in a minute, poultice on the floor, hunting for my 
 clothes, with my head swimming, and myself in a gen 
 erally disordered condition. I managed to get into my 
 uniform, and hurried downstairs to the General s office. 
 He welcomed me warmly, saying that thinking I was 
 too sick to go, he had ordered that I should not be dis 
 turbed, and at once directed that I should be provided 
 with the best horse available. 
 
 The charger with which I was supplied deserves a 
 fuller mention. He was loaned to me by the quarter 
 master, and was a roan stallion, possessed of few virtues, 
 and many vices, like Byron s corsair. Chief among the 
 latter were his proneness to kick, and the delight he 
 experienced in bending his neck around and biting the 
 rein. He gave me much trouble early in the day, but 
 later proved himself a faithful creature. Having pro 
 cured him, I made the best arrangements I could for 
 the medical department, and then provided for myself; 
 
70 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 that is to say, I had my india-rubbers and blankets 
 strapped to my saddle, and confided my instruments to 
 the care of my clerk, who was to act as my orderly. 
 Equipped and prepared for whatever event of war might 
 happen, I waited our departure. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BELMONT 
 
 In the meantime, the troops were being embarked, 
 chiefly infantry, of which there were five regiments, 
 two companies of cavalry, and two guns, in all, a little 
 over three thousand men. It took a good deal of time 
 to get all the troops safely on board and the expedition 
 did not start until afternoon. Under the convoy of a 
 couple of gunboats, the "Tyler," and the "Lexington," 
 commanded by Captains Walker and Stemble, U. S. N., 
 it steamed down the Mississippi and anchored on the 
 Kentucky shore about six miles above Columbus. I am 
 sorry to say, however, that of what took place during 
 this afternon and evening and night, I knew very little. 
 I was quite ill, in fact, scarcely able to stand, and with 
 the General s permission, I lay down in a berth until 
 my services were necessary. Here I slept pretty well 
 until it was morning, when all were aroused, as the 
 expedition steamed across the river, and prepared to 
 disembark the troops on the Missouri shore, just about 
 three miles above Belmont. I should say here that I 
 accompanied General Grant in the "headquarters boat," 
 and that as Medical Director of the District, I was the 
 ranking surgeon of the command, and the Medical Di 
 rector in the field. 
 
 Shortly after sunrise the disembarkation of the troops 
 was completed, and the men were drawn up in lines at 
 right angles to the river, extending in front of a corn- 
 
 7 1 
 
72 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 field and out into the woods. Pickets were immediately 
 thrown out and the whole force prepared to advance. 
 It was while the disembarkation was being effected, that 
 for the first time I saw a shot fired in earnest. It hap 
 pened thus: The bluffs above Columbus are very high 
 on the Kentucky side, I cannot really say how high, but 
 the batteries appeared to be high up in the air, and the 
 guns were very large, some of them I afterwards learned 
 being rifled columbiads of ten or eleven inches bore. 
 They were distant from our transports about three miles, 
 perhaps a little less. As I stood on the front of our 
 boat, a transport, I saw a puff of smoke afar off, and 
 in a few seconds a huge projectile flew past us, and far 
 above our heads. It was not exactly in line, and was 
 rather high, and so passed harmlessly by, falling far to 
 our right. But the man who fired this shot soon im 
 proved his aim, for when the next puff showed itself, it 
 seemed to give birth to a black line, at first well up above 
 the Mississippi, but gradually sinking as it came nearer. 
 It seemed to me to be making a bee-line for my eye, but 
 fortunately changed its mind, and passing above our 
 heads, and apparently between our smoke pipes, buried 
 itself in the dirt of the Missouri bank of the river. I 
 was immediately seized with a covetous desire to possess 
 that shot, and thereupon offered two darkies on the boat 
 half a dollar apiece if they would dig it out for me. 
 They at once set to work, and as I went up the bank, 
 I left them digging away industriously. The next day 
 they presented me the shot, which was a round conical 
 shell about eighteen inches long, which had been filled 
 with lead, and fired as a solid shot. I paid the money 
 and secured the prize, but found, when I had it, that 
 it was an elephant on my hands. When I left Cairo 
 
The Battle of Belmont 73 
 
 I left it, and what became of it I never knew. I daresay 
 it is a household ornament somewhere at this moment. 
 
 The shots of the enemy were replied to by our gun 
 boats, and I could see the shells from their big sixty- 
 four-pounders bursting over the buttresses on the bluffs. 
 On reaching the level, a sort of clearing in front of a 
 cornfield, with wood roads, one leading towards Bel 
 mont, and one off to the right, I found our army, for 
 I must so dignify the expeditionary force, forming in 
 line of battle, ready to move onwards. It was a grand 
 and new sight to me to see how real war was to be 
 carried on. I am afraid that at first I thought more 
 of that than of my own particular department, so I 
 could not help riding up and down the line to take it 
 all in. The early autumnal morning was delightful; 
 the air fresh and invigorating, without being cold; and 
 while I was still nauseated, it seemed to do me good. As 
 I have already told you, 1 had been provided by the 
 quartermaster with a vicious roan horse. I had not at 
 first very much confidence in him, he had such an ugly 
 look. Nor do I think that he had any great trust in 
 me, since he showed a marked unwillingness to suffer 
 me to mount him. Then too I was heavily encumbered 
 with a surgeon s paraphernalia, but finally with the 
 assistance of several soldiers, to wit, one to hold the beast 
 by the head, one to keep him from turning around side 
 ways to bite, and one or two to boost me up, I succeeded 
 in reaching the saddle, and when at last ensconced, felt 
 confident of my position and certain that nothing short 
 of an earthquake would unseat me. 
 
 So I trotted fearlessly along the line of soldiers, when 
 suddenly my horse gave an extraordinary sort of jump, 
 forward one time, backward one time, then a sensation 
 of vibratory unrest, and then da capo, one, two, three; 
 
74 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brlnton 
 
 and the more I said "Whoa, boy, be quiet/ and tried 
 to stroke the horse s neck, the more he essayed this con 
 founded buck jump. Then, too, the more I tried to look 
 unconcerned, the more the men laughed. I felt quite 
 sure I should not be thrown, I was too deeply entrenched 
 in my saddle for that; but why couldn t, or why 
 shouldn t that wretched horse stand still! Soon the 
 mystery was solved. A kindly looking soldier stepped 
 up to my side, and raising the scabbard of my sword, 
 showed me that the end of it had dropped off, and the 
 sharp point of the blade was pricking the rear hind 
 leg of the animal at every step, which was more than 
 horse flesh could stand. So I saw at once that I could 
 not wear the sword that day, and took it off, and left it 
 for the time, at a little one-story house on the edge of 
 the woods, which I had occupied as a field hospital, 
 and had placed in charge of my friend, Dr. Amos 
 Witter, of an Iowa regiment, the same who had spent 
 a night with me at Mound City. 
 
 The good doctor kindly took charge of my sword, but 
 this was the last I saw of it, for later in the day, as our 
 forces were returning to their boats, the enemy followed 
 rapidly, and occupied this building before our wounded 
 were fairly out of it. As I afterwards learned, my 
 sword passed into the possession of a southern surgeon, 
 and I hope he had a new end put on the scabbard. 
 
 One of my first cares was to make the best arrange 
 ments I could to take care of the wounded (should there 
 be any), when brought to the rear. The little hospital 
 I have referred to was organized, and I then rode on in 
 search of headquarters, which I knew would be well to 
 the front. The command had plunged into the woods, 
 advancing rapidly, and my only guide was the firing, 
 which was becoming every moment more and more 
 
The Battle of Belmont 75 
 
 heavy, showing that the fight had begun in earnest. I 
 was alone, but anxious to rejoin my General, so I spurred 
 on my horse, sometimes keeping to a wood path, and at 
 other times striking through a primitive forest, as the 
 firing led me. The first wounded man I saw was an 
 Irishman, who had been grazed in the abdomen by a 
 bullet. He was lying on the ground, alone, and yelling 
 with pain. The injury was insignificant, but his mental 
 perturbation was great. When I told him the truth, he 
 became calm, and gathering himself up, marched off for 
 the transports. The next day I saw a fearful case; a 
 shell had exploded behind, but close to, the back of a 
 soldier. He was dying when I saw him and evidently 
 in a dreadful condition, so I dismounted to render him 
 what help I could. I have never seen a worse wound, 
 before or since. The whole of the skin and muscles of 
 the back from the nape of the neck to the thighs and on 
 both sides of the spine had been torn away, as if the 
 tissues had been scooped out by a clean-cutting curved 
 instrument. The surfaces were raw and bleeding, and 
 the sight was a horrible one, and one which I have never 
 forgotten. In a moment or two he expired, and I re 
 mounted and rode on. 
 
 In looking over my letters, I find one to Dr. DaCosta, 
 dated November zoth, 1861, from which I think it 
 worth while to quote a few sentences: 
 
 "At 6.30 on Thursday morning, we disembarked four 
 miles above Columbus on the Missouri shore. Our 
 force consisted of 2,800 men in four steamboats and 
 two gunboats, with one hundred men each, and six 
 sixty- four-pounders, in all 3,000 men with a number of 
 brass guns, and about 250 cavalry." 
 
 "I was mounted on a fast horse I had got from the 
 Quartermaster, a kicking beast. We immediately threw 
 
76 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 out scouting parties, and as we commenced to do so, the 
 first shot was fired from the bluff batteries at Columbus. 
 This was replied to by our gunboat 64 $, and I could 
 see the shell bursting right over the enemy s pieces. 
 Their shots passed over our gunboats, which now ran 
 down below our point of disembarkation and threw their 
 shell quite lively. I now pressed forward with the staff, 
 a half mile. Here we found, in order of battle, ten 
 pieces of artillery in the rear, two in the advance, and 
 the infantry thrown out on the wings. As Chief Medi 
 cal Officer, I then directed the surgeons to take position 
 on the margin of a wood, and at that moment, with 
 heavy volleys of musketry, our whole line advanced, 
 driving in skirmishes of the enemy. As I considered 
 our rear unprotected, I ordered our hospital up nearer 
 the main body, stationing them in a little log hut, our 
 main hospital. I then seized all the water, placed it 
 under guard, stationed my surgeons, ordered the as 
 sistant surgeons to their regiments, and advanced myself 
 to the front. I shortly met men being carried to the 
 rear; the first man had his hand shot off, the second his 
 arm blown away, and his whole back torn by a shell. As 
 I advanced slowly to the front, with my orderly carry 
 ing my instruments, I arrested temporarily the hemor 
 rhage of the wounded I met, and ordered the ambulance 
 wagons to hurry to the hospitals, and then to return to 
 the front; all I am now speaking of took only ten min 
 utes or thereabouts, and shortly the heavy dull roar of 
 artillery burst through the woods, and the fire of mus 
 ketry was continuous and rolling, as much so on both 
 sides as at a review. We now reached a cornfield, and 
 came in range of the batteries, and here a good many 
 were killed, but our boys cheered and dashed on, driving 
 the enemy before them, storming their guns and taking 
 
The Battle of Belmont 77 
 
 them. Most of the mounted officers lost their horses 
 from the rifle fire. Passing the cornfield I again pushed 
 into the woods for a mile or more, dressing the wounded 
 as I went, and kept moving slowly on. After a long 
 time, we having by this time gone forward some two 
 and a half or three miles, we came to an open plateau, 
 immediately behind Belmont, and exactly opposite Co 
 lumbus. Here I had a fine view of the artillery practice. 
 The gunners changed the position of their guns several 
 times, and finally opened on the camp of the enemy at 
 two or three hundred yards. 
 
 "The enemy retreated under the bank of the river, 
 and sought refuge under the fire of their guns from 
 Columbus. We then burned all their tents, while a brisk 
 fire of shell was kept up on us from the opposite bluff. 
 Fortunately their range was too high, the shell passing 
 through the tops of the trees, and making a terrific 
 racket. Here I attended a number of wounded officers. 
 In a little while our men formed into an irregular col 
 umn, and as they were doing so, I saw the pipes of 
 two steamers going up the river. I thought to myself, 
 These cannot be our gunboats, and so rode up to Gen 
 eral Grant and pointed them out to him. He would not 
 at first credit these as the enemy s transports until I 
 drew his attention to their course, as shown by the direc 
 tion of the motion of their pipes; he then expressed 
 surprise, but immediately ordered our men into line. 
 Very shortly after this, a force of the enemy appeared 
 on our right, in the direction of the river, and somewhat 
 later a considerable body, in regular order, advanced 
 from the woods, into the opening on our left. Whether 
 these troops were the runaways whom we had driven 
 under the bank of the river, or the fresh reinforcements, 
 or both, I never knew. 
 
78 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 "Our men quickly went into line of battle, but still 
 in considerable confusion; some were tired out, and some 
 did not care much about further fighting. Here the 
 volunteer spirit showed itself; they had done their day s 
 work, and wanted to go home." 
 
 "I now mounted some wounded men on wagons, put 
 an officer or two on an artillery caisson, and threw out 
 a judicious suggestion, as I thought, to some officers, 
 relative to hurrying their men into line, and then stopped 
 to look on. The two lines stood bravely up, exchanged 
 a few volleys, and our men pushed on towards our 
 original landing place, Generals Grant and McClernand 
 leading. We had a number of wounded whom we did 
 not bring off. I should have told you that we had 
 already taken some 160 prisoners, four guns, and about 
 thirty horses. We brought off the horses and two guns, 
 spiked two others, and left one caisson behind. Our 
 whole command now pushed vigorously on, and I 
 started with it, but was stopped by Major Butler." 
 
 From what I have written, you will have learned that 
 I followed our army as fast as I could, merely stopping 
 to give the necessary directions on my way. On my 
 arrival at the open Belmont plateau, the fighting was 
 still going on, the enemy were retreating, and in a very 
 short time their tents were in flames. I busied myself 
 in gathering up our wounded, and in sending them to 
 the rear hospital, directing the slightly injured to walk, 
 and putting those who were more seriously injured into 
 such wagons as we possessed. It was at this time that 
 I joined General Grant, when the fire was pretty hot, 
 and the big guns on the bluffs on the opposite side of 
 the river were beginning to open. He was good enough 
 to tell me that a doctor had no business there, and to get 
 away. However, I had business there in caring for our 
 
The Battle of Belmont 79 
 
 wounded, and I did what I could. Then when our 
 exodus or retreat was ordered, I watched our people 
 rallying in line, and I thought that even if they had 
 scattered a little to pillage the enemy s camp, they were 
 still a brave set of men. Some of them, however, were 
 as I thought, foolish, notably one officer, evidently a 
 German, who had two pieces of artillery in charge, 
 which he held upon low ground, while the enemy were 
 hurrying up in good force. I was standing on a little 
 hill and saw the possible catastrophe, "Come up here," I 
 called to him, "bring your guns up here." He did so in 
 a twinkling, when I ordered him to open on the ap 
 proaching gray mass. This he did right manfully, and 
 after a couple of rounds, the gray column passed to 
 the right and out of sight. My major s shoulder straps 
 seemed to inspire him with confidence, and he did what 
 I told him, even to trotting off with his guns, when the 
 rest of our men moved backward. 
 
 About this time, I learned for the first time the sound 
 of a bullet. A good many big trees were on the ground, 
 buttonwood trees they were, which had either fallen or 
 had been cut down, when the camp was formed. Their 
 leaves, dried and withered, were yet on the boughs, and 
 I could hear all around me the whiz of the bullets, and 
 the dry pat as they cut through the dead leaves. At first 
 I could not think what the noise was, but soon one fel 
 low came unpleasantly near my ear, and as I saw and 
 heard the dry leaves rip and fly, and saw the holes which 
 were left, I then knew what it all meant. Then, too, 
 men were hit near me and I began to feel uncomfortable ; 
 I felt as if I would like to ride away, but I knew it 
 would never do to show fear, even if I was afraid, so I 
 walked my horse over to where General Grant was, 
 which drew upon me the kind of rebuke I have told you 
 
80 Personal Me?noirs of John II. Brinton 
 
 of. In my heart, I do not think I deserved it, for I am 
 afraid I was afraid. 
 
 Yet all the same I had my wits about me for I noted 
 a good many curious events passing around me. I par 
 ticularly remember a Confederate soldier, who had been 
 shot in the left arm, for he was supporting his elbow 
 with his right hand. He was a tall fellow, in butternut 
 brown trousers, and without a coat or hat. He was 
 evidently suffering great pain, and the pain had produced 
 a peculiar excited delirium. He noticed nothing which 
 was transpiring around him, nor did he even seem to 
 see our soldiers, but he kept steadily running up and 
 down, forwards and backwards, by the side of a huge 
 fallen tree, always turning exactly at the same point and 
 retracing his steps to and fro, jumping over some bush 
 at each tour. I watched him for some minutes with 
 curiosity and was about to ride up to him, when my 
 attention was diverted by the stream of our passing men, 
 and I saw the necessity of following them, if I wished 
 to avoid being taken prisoner, so I turned my horse s 
 head and moved off with our men. 
 
 The enemy were in front of us as we were then 
 marching, facing towards our boats, and the firing was 
 rather brisk, but we were pushing them, and they were 
 giving way, allowing our men to force their passage. 
 As I rode with them, a Southern officer dressed in a 
 gray uniform, and lying on the ground in a fence angle 
 of a clearing, called to me, asking me to dismount and 
 help him, "if you are a gentleman." Urgent as the 
 position of affairs was, I could not resist his appeal. I 
 dismounted, knelt down by him, examined him, and 
 found that he had been shot through the liver, and was 
 rapidly sinking. He told me that his name was Butler, 
 "Major Butler of Louisiana," that he had formerly 
 
The Battle of Belmont 81 
 
 been Secretary of Legation at Berlin, and that he was 
 a grandson of Mrs. Lewis Washington, or Washington 
 Lewis, of Clarke County, Virginia. He said, too, that 
 his mother had been a school friend of Mrs. George 
 McClellan. He asked me how long he could live. I 
 answered "but a very short time." He then said to me: 
 "Please send a message to my father, by the first flag 
 of truce, tell him how you found me, and tell him, 
 too, that I died as behooved me, at the head of my 
 men." I did all I could for him, stimulating him from 
 my flask. He was very grateful and said, "Oh, Doctor, 
 I wish I had met you before this." He begged me to 
 remain with him, and when I told him that our troops 
 were on their way to their boats, he offered to protect 
 me while he lived, if I would only stay. I assured him 
 that his own people would find him, and that I must 
 go. So I mounted and reluctantly left him on the 
 ground. I afterwards learned that he was carried alive 
 to Belmont, but died shortly after reaching the town. 
 I was also informed from home that his mother had 
 been one of the bridesmaids of my Aunt McClellan. 
 In the course of a few weeks, I also received a letter 
 from Ex-Governor Vroom of New Jersey, formerly our 
 United States Minister to Prussia, at Berlin, stating that 
 Major Butler had been his Secretary of Legation, and 
 that he had been a very clever fellow. 
 
 On leaving poor Butler, I rode after our retreating 
 army, but no sooner had I reached the verge of the 
 woods than I found myself confronted with quite a 
 number of our gray-clad enemies. I came upon them 
 suddenly, and they instantly covered me with their rifles. 
 Fortunately for myself, I wore a civilian s overcoat of 
 black cloth, and my uniform was, therefore, not very 
 conspicuous. I immediately raised my hand in a depre- 
 
82 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 catory, and at the same time in an authoritative sort of 
 a way, and they lowered their guns. In a moment, and 
 almost instinctively, I wheeled my horse to the left, 
 struck him hard with my spurs, and dashed through a 
 dogwood thicket, and was out of their sight in half the 
 time I have taken to write the last line. My horse 
 carried me splendidly, and seemed to understand the 
 exigencies of the situation. The men tried hard to fol 
 low me, but I was well mounted, and they were on foot, 
 and the bushes thick, and so I escaped. 
 
 I have spoken of my spurs; let me say here that those 
 I wore in this action were the silver ones marked 
 "George Brinton, September nth, 1779," and which 
 descended direct to me from my great-grandfather, hav 
 ing been made from silver dollars. I wore them this 
 day, so that I could say they had been used in battle, and 
 I feel sure that they will be honorably worn hereafter by 
 my descendants. 
 
 Leaving my enemies behind me, I rode at random, not 
 knowing my true course, and after a long circuit, I 
 again struck one corner of the battle field, over which 
 I rode alone. It was desolate enough now; there were 
 no active combatants upon it, only the dead and 
 wounded. I left it as soon as I could, and again sought 
 for our men, or our gunboats, but somehow or other I 
 rode in exactly the opposite or wrong direction, and 
 emerged from the wood upon the river bank, along which 
 ran a road between an open field and the river. Here, 
 on the fence, I found two old darkies, one of whom was 
 blind and the other lame. At first they seemed afraid 
 of me, but when they saw I was a Union officer in 
 their own lingo, "one of Massa Linkum s sojers," their 
 confidence returned. I told them how I came there and 
 that I wanted to reach the gunboats above. I could 
 
The Battle of Belmont 83 
 
 scarcely believe my ears when they told me that I was 
 far below Columbus, and I even doubted my eyes when, 
 looking up the river, I could see the whereabouts of the 
 town. I took some five-dollar gold pieces out of my 
 pocket, and offered one to each of them, if they would 
 pilot me to the boats. This they were afraid to do, but 
 they tried to do the next best thing, namely, to show 
 me how to find my own way. The blind man seemed 
 to be the intellectual partner, and he told his lame col 
 league to draw with his stick in the dust of the road a 
 chart of the course I should follow. This he did, and 
 then, thanking him heartily, I left. I must add here that 
 they absolutely refused to accept the money from me, 
 their reiterated reason for not doing so being "that I 
 was Linkum s sojer." 
 
 So again I struck into the woods, determined, if I 
 could not reach our boats, to make the best of my way 
 to Bird s Point opposite Cairo, twenty-five miles higher 
 up. As I had neither guide nor compass, I must have 
 steered in an uncertain course. I remember wondering 
 at the time how Robinson Crusoe felt when he discovered 
 his own footmarks. After a while I fell in with an 
 other wanderer, and we two went quietly together 
 for a little way, when we differed as to our course and 
 parted, he going his way and I mine. And here let 
 me add as sequel this curious coincidence. More than a 
 year and a half afterwards, when I was stationed at 
 Washington, I was travelling in the train from Baltimore 
 to Washington. In front of me sat a most dilapidated 
 and gaunt man, without decent clothing. He mentioned 
 to his neighbor that he was just from Andersonville 
 (the dreaded Confederate prison camp in Georgia) 
 where he had been taken after his capture. "And when 
 were you captured?" he was asked. "On the seventh of 
 
84 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 November, 1861," he replied. Hearing that, I leaned 
 forward and asked him if he had been captured at 
 Belmont, Missouri. He took a long look at me, and then 
 said, "Major, your way was right, after all mine was 
 wrong, for it led me to Andersonville, which I have 
 just left." He was on his way to Washington to report 
 his case. I was always sorry that I did not learn his 
 name and follow him up. The second meeting was odd 
 indeed, odder still that he was able to recognize me. 
 
 To return to my ride, after parting company with the 
 unbeliever, as before described, I wandered aimlessly 
 around, trying to keep a general direction parallel to 
 the Mississippi River. Suddenly, in the midst of a dense 
 forest of primeval trees, I was startled by the loud re 
 port of a heavy gun, directly in front of me, and by 
 the whiz and bursting of a shell in the tops of the trees 
 above my head. It instantly flashed on my mind that 
 there must be a force of the enemy just ahead of me, 
 and that our gunboats were firing into them, with pos 
 sibly too great elevation of their guns. I checked my 
 horse at once, and stopped to think what I had best do. 
 If I advanced, I should inevitably fall into the hands 
 of the enemy, if they were where I supposed them to 
 be. If I rode backwards, I would run the risk of being 
 killed by our own shells, which were falling behind me. 
 I felt very uncomfortable, not so much at the idea of 
 being hurt, as at the idea of being away from all assist 
 ance in case of injury. My horse, too, became demor 
 alized; he stopped and shook all over and there seemed 
 to be none of the spirit of the morning in him. Then, 
 to add to it all, a great shell struck the top of the tree 
 under which we were standing, and cut all of the upper 
 part of it squarely off, and down it fell, point foremost; 
 I remember it all most distinctly how that stem of the 
 
The Battle of Belmont 85 
 
 tree looked as it struck the ground perpendicularly. Just 
 then the direction of the fire seemed to shift, and the 
 missiles seemed to strike more in front and to my left. 
 So I rode away, and after a while struck the bed of an 
 unfinished railroad. Along this I rode for some time, 
 and then, hearing voices, I reined in my horse, and 
 waited to see who might be coming. Soon I saw 
 through the trees (here of small size) a body of horse, 
 in our uniform. I joined them, and found that I had 
 fallen in with Dollin s cavalry, an independent company 
 of cavalry attached to our command. They seemed to 
 be in rather a bewildered condition, and their leader, 
 noticing the major s gold leaf on my shoulder straps, 
 consulted with me, and indeed asked me to tell him what 
 to do. I do not pretend to be much of a soldier, but I 
 have a dread of being surprised or taken at a disadvan 
 tage, and I observed that just at that moment we were 
 in a most dangerous position, and that if attacked in any 
 force, we might all be destroyed or captured. We were 
 riding, all huddled together, with an impassable slough 
 of mud and water close on our right. I suggested that 
 we should move more to the left, throw our scouts out 
 on the left side and in advance, and march rapidly and 
 quietly. This was done, and after advancing in this 
 order for some distance, we were able to cross the 
 swamp, and bearing to the right, we came on a sort of 
 road, and soon reached a poor log house. The occu 
 pants pretended to know nothing as to the position of 
 the river, or the whereabouts of our boats and troops. 
 We were about to take a guide by force, under the per 
 suasion of a cocked pistol, when one of the women 
 recognized me. She was the mistress of the little cabin 
 or farm house I had occupied as a hospital early in the 
 morning. In doing so, I had given particular orders 
 
86 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 that her property should be respected, and these had 
 been obeyed. Bitter rebel as she was, she was grateful 
 for what I had done for her, and seeing me, she volun 
 teered to send her young son along to show me the way 
 to a road, whence I could reach the point of the morn 
 ing s disembarkation. The boy, after having been 
 warned as to the probable results of treachery, trotted 
 along quietly enough by my side until we reached the 
 turn of the road near the river, where I left my cavalry 
 friends, and riding on, soon saw one of our gunboats 
 looking for stragglers. I hailed the boat, and was told 
 to ride on further, where I could find a transport moored 
 to the shore. This I did and reached the boat about 
 half a mile higher up the river, and after some little 
 trouble, succeeded in leading my horse down the steep 
 bank and crossing the gangplank, thus placing both him 
 and myself in safety. By the time I embarked, it was 
 dark, and I was quite worn out. I had been in the 
 saddle almost since daybreak, without food, and what 
 was worse, without water, save one or two horrid mouth- 
 fuls I was forced to take from the half stagnant water 
 of the slough or swamp, or back water, whatever it 
 might have been called. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE FIGHT 
 
 During this day s long ride, several little matters fell 
 under my observation, which may perhaps be of interest. 
 
 In the first place, I might have been shot by a cow 
 ardly hound of our command. As I was riding forward 
 in the morning toward Belmont, I came across a fellow, 
 unhurt and fully armed, who had evidently skulked away 
 from his company, and was on his way to the rear, or 
 to some place of safety. I came on him suddenly, saw 
 what he was after, and demanded his name, company, 
 regiment. Taken unawares and off his guard, he an 
 swered me, and I have no doubt, truly. I added, "you 
 are a coward and are skulking, and I will report you," 
 and then I rode on. In a second or two I had an instinc 
 tive feeling that the fellow might shoot me. Looking 
 back over my shoulder, I saw him deliberately aiming at 
 me, at a distance of scarcely ten yards. I turned my 
 horse to one side and drew my pistol. My movements 
 disconcerted the man, and he slipped away behind a 
 fallen tree. I was too busy to think of him, and rode 
 on, but I always felt that my escape was a narrow one. 
 
 I was much struck this day with the behavior of 
 animals when terrified. Thus, my horse, when he and 
 I were exposed to the terrific shell fire of the gunboats, 
 was thoroughly, may I say, "unhorsed." He was no 
 longer the kicking, fractious beast of the morning. He 
 was entirely subdued, and trembled and shook, and 
 
 87 
 
88 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 seemed scarcely able to stand. Then, too, he appeared 
 to recognize me as his master, and when I dismounted 
 to see the wounded he showed no disposition to wan 
 der or leave me, but stood with his nose close to me. It 
 was scarcely necessary to hold his bridle, he was so 
 quiet and companionable. 
 
 Again, when I rode over the field alone, several mules 
 followed me closely, they could not get too close to 
 me. One fellow in particular, without a bridle, a big 
 white creature, with extraordinary ears, stuck to my 
 side, as if we had been friends all our lives. I suppose 
 he was what was then called a "secesh mule" captured or 
 set free at the destruction of the enemy s camp. I 
 mounted more than one wounded man on him, and he 
 did not fall behind. It was upon him that a poor lad, 
 not more than sixteen or seventeen, who had been shot 
 through the lung, died. I reported his case in my paper 
 on "The Instantaneous Rigor of Sudden or Violent 
 Death," in the American Journal of the Medical Sci 
 ences. In this lad s case, the rigor was so quick and 
 marked that I had much difficulty in removing his body 
 from the animal, so tightly were the legs clasped around 
 the sides of the mule. This string of mules accompanied 
 me until I reached the river bank. 
 
 One other incident relative to the behavior, not of 
 animals, but of men, remains in my mind. While the 
 lower deck of one of our transports was filled with men, 
 a flock of duck or geese settled in the river, not very 
 far from the boat. At the same time a small output of 
 the enemy appeared on the bank, and a desultory fire 
 was opened on our men in the boat. This was returned 
 from one side of the boat, while the men on the opposite 
 side practiced at long range on the birds. This, I think, 
 
Incidents of the Fight 89 
 
 occurred at or before the disembarkation in the morn 
 ing. 
 
 The shelling of the woods, which occurred as I ap 
 proached the river, took place, as I learned afterwards, 
 through a force of the enemy in the cornfield and woods 
 incautiously exposing themselves to the fire of our gun 
 boats. The latter was very effective and caused great 
 loss to the enemy. Some of these shells flying high 
 passed over my head, and caused me to infer the pres 
 ence of an enemy in front of me. 
 
 After reaching the transport, and getting my horse 
 safely on board, I went up to the Captain s office, in 
 the "Texas," to see the Captain. He was just uncork 
 ing a bottle of "champagne. I have tasted many a glass 
 of wine since, but never one which tasted better than 
 did the fictitious champagne of that evening. 
 
 In the cabin of the steamer, I found about sixty or 
 seventy wounded men, and one or two surgeons. I 
 joined them and had plenty to do as we steamed up the 
 river. On our arrival at Cairo, the wounded were im 
 mediately sent to the post hospital, under the care of 
 Dr. Burke, and to the regimental hospitals, which had 
 been organized in the town. 
 
 We reached Cairo about nine or ten o clock in the 
 evening, and I immediately hurried to the telegraph 
 office to telegraph my safety to my mother. The oper 
 ator expressed much surprise at seeing me, and said, 
 "Doctor, you have just come in time, I was just about 
 to send this paragraph east," and he read me this slip: 
 "Surgeon Brinton, the Medical Director, was killed; he 
 was seen to drop from his horse under the enemy s 
 fire." This looked very odd to me, and while I felt 
 sure it could not be true, yet to prevent mistakes, I did 
 telegraph my safety, and this I learned afterwards was 
 
90 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 one of the early intimations in Philadelphia that a battle 
 had been fought. The night following the battle was 
 for me a busy one, but there was plenty of help, and 
 the wounded were soon comfortably housed in the hos 
 pitals I have referred to. 
 
 On summing up my experience in my first battle, I 
 see from my letters home that at that time I felt I had 
 gotten well through the day s incidents. I had done my 
 professional duty as well as a new man could, and then, 
 having kept close to headquarters, I had acquired some 
 little credit as a valiant doctor, which, by the way, I do 
 not think was particularly deserved, for after all, in a 
 battle with long-range weapons, the rear is almost as 
 dangerous as the front. I certainly was very fortunate 
 in escaping capture, wandering as I did at random, and 
 with no sense of the points of the compass, or of the 
 direction of our forces. I know that I determined to 
 procure for myself at once a compass, and that I wrote 
 home asking that a good serviceable instrument be sent 
 me. 
 
 For the few days following the battle, I was kept 
 very busy, not only by the administrative duties of the 
 medical director s office, but also by the professional 
 work I did. The surgeons under me were willing, but 
 as surgeons, they were inexperienced, and I had to do 
 many operations, and also teach them how to do them. 
 
 Here let me relate a little anecdote of one of my 
 surgeons, a member of one of the Illinois regiments. 
 He was a very earnest man, but at that time rather 
 deficient in professional, or at all events, surgical train 
 ing. In his hospital lay a patient whose leg, seriously in 
 jured, demanded amputation. The surgeon came to my 
 office one afternoon, confessing that he had never done, 
 and had never seen an amputation, and moreover had 
 
Incidents of the Fight 91 
 
 no idea how one should be done, and begged me, at the 
 appointed time, to perform the operation for him. I 
 explained to him that this would never do; his position 
 in the regiment demanded that he himself should remove 
 the limb. And then I explained to him how the ampu 
 tation should be done, and made him go through the 
 motions, promising him that I would help him through 
 when the time came. On the following morning I did 
 so, and he operated very well, and to the satisfaction 
 of the lookers on. Somehow or other this amputation 
 established his reputation. He at once took rank as an 
 experienced surgeon; nor, better still, did his newborn 
 confidence desert him, for at the battle before Fort Don- 
 elson, some months afterwards, I was informed by one 
 of the hospital stewards that a great surgeon was busy 
 operating in one of the field hospitals in the rear of 
 our lines. I at once rode over to see who this person 
 was, and found the operator busy in the second story of 
 a little country house, to which many wounded men 
 were being carried. 
 
 I found bloodstained footmarks on the crooked stairs, 
 and in the second-story room stood my friend of Cairo 
 memory ; amputated arms and legs seemed almost to lit 
 ter the floor; beneath the operating table was a pool 
 of blood, the operator was smeared with it and the 
 surroundings were ghastly beyond all limits of surgical 
 propriety. "Ah, Doctor," said the new-fledged surgeon, 
 "I am getting on, just look at these," pointing to his 
 trophies on the floor with a right royal gesture. And 
 after all he seemed to have done good work, and from 
 that time he was a recognized surgical authority among 
 his confreres. 
 
 At this point I must record the sad loss of my cher 
 ished surgical instruments. On entering the service, I 
 
92 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 had not drawn from the Medical Purveyor any of the 
 surgical instruments issued by the Government. They 
 were, in fact, good enough, and a fair selection, but I 
 preferred to use my own, and I, therefore, carried with 
 me a select assortment. Many of these I had brought 
 with me from Paris; others which had formerly be 
 longed to the late Professor Mutter, my old preceptor, 
 had been given to me after his death, by Dr. S. Weir 
 Mitchell, who had either inherited them, or received 
 them as a gift from Dr. Mutter s widow. All of my 
 stock of surgical tools had been wrapped together, and 
 in the hurry of leaving, not having time to select, I took 
 with me the package containing all, onto the field at 
 Belmont. I unstrapped the package from my saddle, 
 and gave it to my orderly, a lad of eighteen or twenty, 
 to carry for me. But alas ! under the artillery fire from 
 the bluffs, he became greatly demoralized, and in utter 
 fright ran away, and I remember distinctly seeing him 
 "scudding" off holding the heavy package on his head 
 with his two hands. It was a ludicrous sight, to watch 
 him disappear from the open into the woods, and with 
 him my precious instruments, none of which I ever saw 
 again. Both were captured and the instruments fell 
 into the possession of a Mississippi surgeon, who, as I 
 learned, shortly went to his home, taking my instruments 
 with him. I made a touching complaint to General 
 Grant, who on a flag of truce later attempted to get my 
 possessions back, but obtained nothing but the above 
 history of their whereabouts. However, the General 
 was good enough to offer to barter in my behalf, thus : 
 It seems we had captured a cream-colored pony, which 
 had been given by a lady to a Confederate officer. He 
 was a beauty, with long silver tail and mane, and his 
 former possessor was as anxious to recover him as I 
 
Incidents of the Fight 93 
 
 was to obtain my instruments. An exchange was pro 
 posed, but it never was consummated. My instruments 
 are, I suppose, still in the South, and the pony, too 
 conspicuously dangerous to be ridden in action, was sold 
 for a trifle and sent to Chicago. As to this charger, I 
 remember that we were told, that his former "secesh" 
 owner and his friends had threatened that they would 
 shoot, if they could, any Northerner who might ride 
 him. He was said to be of Arabian stock. 
 
 I append here the reports which I made of the Battle 
 of Belmont, to General Grant: 
 
 "Medical Director s Office, 
 
 Cairo, Missouri, Nov. 20, 1861. 
 
 General : 
 
 I have the honor to submit the following list of 
 soldiers, wounded in the recent fight at Belmont, Mo. 
 The total number of injured as reported to this office 
 amounts to 274. Of these as will be seen by reference 
 to the subjoined statement, 10 have already died. 
 
 It should, however, be stated that from one Regiment, 
 viz., the 7th Iowa, no report has as yet been received. 
 The number of casualties to this corps have been more 
 in number than in any other regiment, and when the re 
 port of the Surgeon, Dr. Witter, shall have been received, 
 the list, as already submitted, will probably be augmented 
 by some 30 or 35 names. The reason for the delay in 
 regard to the report of the 7th Iowa arises from the 
 fact that immediately after the 7th inst. the regiment was 
 ordered to Benton Barracks, one portion of the wounded 
 being left behind at this place, and in Mound City, whilst 
 another portion were taken northward with the Regi 
 ment. 
 
 Many of the wounded at present in our Department 
 and General Hospital present cases of unfavorable na 
 ture, owing to the fact that they fell into the hands of 
 
94 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the enemy, and were left exposed on the field of battle 
 for at least eighteen or twenty-four hours. Had the 
 Medical Department of your command been provided 
 with the proper ambulance train, this disastrous and 
 mortifying result might have been readily avoided. The 
 only means of transportation for the wounded which I 
 had were two or three army wagons, which I obtained 
 from the Quartermaster s Department, and these being 
 destitute of springs, and the country over which they 
 passed being woody and rough, the wounded suffered 
 much unnecessary pain. 
 
 I would state that Surgeon Gordon of the 3Oth 111. 
 and Asst. Wm. Whitnell of the 3ist 111. fell into the 
 hands of the enemy and are still prisoners. It affords 
 me pleasure to testify to the efficiency of Brigade Sur 
 geon Stearns and the corps of surgeons generally, and 
 I would especially instance the conduct of the Asst. 
 Surgeon Kendall, of the Cavalry, who freely exposed 
 himself under fire in his efforts to rescue and aid our 
 wounded. 
 
 Very respy. yr. Obt. Servt. 
 
 J. H. BRINTON, 
 Brigade Surgeon and Act. Medical Director. 
 
 Brigadier General Grant, 
 
 Commanding." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. CAIRO, ILL. 
 
 On the 1 4th of November, 1861, I received the fol 
 lowing order in the handwriting of General Grant: 
 
 "Head. Qts. S. E. Mo. 
 
 Cairo, Nov. 14, 1861. 
 SPECIAL ORDER 
 
 NO. 
 
 Surgeon J. Brinton, Medical Director, will proceed as 
 soon as possible to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to inspect the 
 hospitals, and to make such changes and orders as he 
 may deem necessary for the benefit of the sick. 
 
 (Signed) U. S. GRANT, 
 
 To Brig. Gen. Com. 
 
 Surgeon J. Brinton, 
 Medical Director, 
 Cairo, 111." 
 
 Accordingly, on the I5th of November, I came up 
 to the town of Cape Girardeau, sixty miles above Cairo, 
 on the right bank of the Mississippi River, and in Mis 
 souri. My business was to inspect the hospital, for 
 there was a regiment or so stationed there. Of this, 
 I remember little, but the town itself made a strong im 
 pression on my mind. It was not an American town, 
 but a French one, a remainder from the French occupa 
 tion of this region, and consisted almost wholly of one 
 long narrow street leading upwards from the river, with 
 
 95 
 
96 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 high flag 1 stones for crossings, and deep ruts for wagons, 
 almost as in the days of Pompeii. The houses were low, 
 mean looking, and with projecting roofs or eaves. 
 French was the language of the town; and the air of 
 quietness and repose, which prevailed, almost banished 
 the idea of civil contest. I stayed at an inn, which 
 strongly reminded me of a little aubfoge at a miniature 
 town some twenty miles distant from Marseilles, where 
 I was once landed, and where the whole population 
 came out to assist the customs officers in the inspection 
 of my very modest valise. 
 
 On the 1 7th of November, I found myself at Cairo, 
 and on the i8th or iQth, started with General Grant and 
 his staff, and a good force of men, on an expedition after 
 General "Jeff" Thompson, who was raiding somewhere 
 or other on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. 
 Our expedition was well planned, two commands hav 
 ing been directed to converge to meet our own at a 
 given point, where and when it was supposed that "Jeff" 
 would be cut off and caught. But he was too wary a 
 swamp fox to be thus trapped. At the appointed spot, 
 we found only a few released Union prisoners with a 
 note from Thompson, addressed to General Grant, stat 
 ing that as he had released more Union prisoners than 
 his opponent, the latter, meaning General Grant, was 
 "still so many men in his debt." I remember that Gen 
 eral Grant was greatly amused at this incident, and 
 showed the note to his staff, with full appreciation of 
 the joke. So we returned to Cairo without our prisoner, 
 and "Jeff" went off through the swamps. 
 
 At this time, at Cairo, we were much annoyed by 
 newspaper correspondents, who were ever on the look 
 out for news, and who did not hesitate to thrust them 
 selves forward on any pretext. A flag of truce was for 
 
Cape Girardeau, Mo. Cairo, III. 97 
 
 them a great opportunity, and as "flags" not infrequently 
 passed between Cairo and the enemy, every effort was 
 made by these gentry to accompany them. On one oc 
 casion, three of them smuggled themselves on a truce 
 boat. They got entrance by carrying on their heads 
 cots, as the boat was about to bring up wounded. 
 Once on board, they stowed themselves away, but were 
 soon detected by the Colonel in command. He imme 
 diately locked them up in the wheelhouse and gave them 
 no food for twelve hours, and one of them by accident, 
 or possibly by intention, was sent to the guardhouse on 
 the return of the "flag" to Cairo. Here he stayed for 
 a week and only obtained his liberty by writing to 
 General Grant. The victims in this matter kept very 
 quiet, but the joke was too good to be kept, and the 
 effect upon obtrusive correspondents was useful and last 
 ing. 
 
 During these months I suffered a good deal from 
 boils, in fact, physically, I was wretched and could 
 scarcely move. At one time, I had eleven of these 
 wretched sores in full blast. I was then living in a 
 suite of rooms in a little shanty near the St. Charles 
 Hotel, but below the levee. The building was a sort 
 of annex to a restaurant, and I had the floor to myself. 
 The restaurant was kept I think, by a German, who 
 furnished a fare much above the western diet. My 
 Thanksgiving dinner was a great success, turkey, dressed 
 celery and mince pie. The latter I think was made of 
 dried apples, and the meaty part had a peculiar flavor, 
 suggestive of levee rats and Chinese ideas. 
 
 By the end of November, a good many troops had 
 been collected at Cairo, and of course, with them, came 
 a number of surgeons; almost all were western men, 
 from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri chiefly. 
 
98 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Many of these were rough, but I think that at first I 
 underrated them. Their hearts were good, and they were 
 professionally zealous. In order to bring them together 
 and for our mutual improvement, we organized the 
 "Army Medical and Surgical Society of Cairo," which 
 met once a week at the Medical Purveyor s business 
 quarters. A good deal of interest was shown by the 
 members, and our discussions were prolonged, and I now 
 think that they must have been useful. The society 
 flourished and continued its existence long after I left 
 Cairo. 
 
 The town of Cairo was essentially a frontier town 
 on the very borders of "Secessia." The proximity of 
 the enemy, and the sending of occasional flags of truce, 
 thus afforded good opportunities for the transmission of 
 private letters to friends within the lines of the rebellion. 
 In this way loyal families could communicate with their 
 relatives in the south. All such letters passed through 
 the military headquarters, and baskets full of such let 
 ters would accumulate, awaiting transmission. When 
 the privilege of sending a letter was granted, it was 
 understood that it would not be abused, and that the 
 communication should not contain any military infor 
 mation or treasonable news. Letters were sent open, 
 and were liable to inspection at headquarters. This duty 
 General Grant occasionally imposed* on the different 
 members of the staff, and very tiresome and disagreeable 
 it was to read other people s letters. 
 
 A prominent Southern physician was at that time liv 
 ing in Philadelphia. He was anxious to write to his 
 family, and a mutual personal friend wrote me, begging 
 that I would have his letter passed through without the 
 usual examination of contents ; assuring me on the 
 writer s word of honor that nothing improper would be 
 
Cape Girardeau^ Mo, Cairo, III. 99 
 
 conveyed. On my mentioning the request to General 
 Grant, he at once assented, but added that for form s 
 sake, he would ask me to open the letter and assume 
 all responsibility in the matter, and he would consider 
 the enclosure as examined, and order it passed on. I 
 did so, and at once saw that the sheet was full of trea 
 sonable military information as to the Northern forces, 
 their disposition, strength and commanders. Without 
 a word, I cast the dishonorable note into the fire on the 
 hearth. The General smiled, and simply said, "I ex 
 pected as much; I am not surprised." 
 
 I mention this to show how little honor prevailed at 
 this time in places where one had a right to expect good 
 faith. 
 
 On the 2Qth of November, Dr. John K. Kane ar 
 rived from Philadelphia. I had previously written, 
 telling him that if he wished to see something of military 
 surgery, I would make a contract with him. This I 
 did immediately on his arrival, and assigned him to 
 duty as a "resident surgeon" at the depot hospital, which 
 was then under the charge of an Irishman named Dr. 
 Burke, an eccentric, jealous, assuming man. He soon, 
 I think, took to Dr. Kane, and they got along very 
 nicely, although Kane s daily ablutions in an india-rubber 
 bath tub were at first regarded as a very undignified pro 
 ceeding; but as he was the brother of the distinguished 
 arctic explorer, his new comrades concluded to look 
 upon his daily wash as a purely individual peculiarity, 
 which in a stranger should be leniently considered. 
 
 All of which reminds me of another vanity, this time 
 my own. I was the happy possessor of a gray dressing 
 gown, lined and trimmed with scarlet flannel, and which 
 I had made for me in Vienna in 1852. When I was 
 stationed at Cairo I had it expressed to me, and during 
 
100 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the time I was living at Safford s Bank, our head 
 quarters, General Grant saw the gorgeous garment and 
 determined to have one like it. So it was borrowed by 
 Mrs. Grant, taken to Chicago and served as a model for 
 a similar gown for the General. 
 
 In the early part of December Dr. Simons returned 
 to Cairo, and resumed his duties as Medical Director of 
 the District. I was not, however, sent away, but was kept 
 on duty in the office and in fact I was treated by him 
 with the greatest consideration and kindness. I was 
 very glad indeed, to be left quietly in the office, for my 
 boils were growing worse, and some days I could scarcely 
 move. During the days preceding Christmas, I received 
 some boxes from home, full of nice comfortable things, 
 and the letter which came to me at that time, you may 
 be sure, made me feel homesick. On Christmas night, I 
 left for St. Louis as my teeth were troubling me, and 
 greatly in need of the services of a dentist. I was for 
 tunate in finding a good one, and in a day or two the 
 necessary repairs were made. 
 
 On the 3<Dth of December I returned to Cairo, reach 
 ing there in the night, and strange to say, feeling also as 
 if the dirty old town was sort of home to me. New 
 Year s Eve I spent at General Grant s at a sort of small 
 party, after which I wrote home my New Year s letters. 
 I remember it all so well, and chiefly I remember the 
 famous batch of home letters which had accumulated 
 at Cairo during my absence, and the wondrous pleasures 
 I had in going through them, one by one. 
 
 On New Year s evening, January i, 1862, which fell 
 on a Wednesday, I gave a little New Year s dinner of 
 my own. I was not at that time, physically speaking, in 
 very good shape, for in my New Year s letter to my 
 mother, I tell her that there are certain positions which 
 
Cape Girardeau, Mo. Cairo, III. 101 
 
 I cannot well occupy in consequence of my aforemen 
 tioned boils, and that these positions; \tfefre ^ sittirjg, 
 standing, lying down, walking, riding and running." 
 So you see at once how disconsolate I must have been. 
 Nevertheless I determined to have my New Year s din 
 ner in the little frame shanty in which I then had my 
 quarters, the conspicuous feature of which was an iron 
 stove, in which I burned large quantities of wood. My 
 guests of the day were Medical Director James Simons, 
 Dr. Aigner, a very clever German, who represented the 
 Sanitary Commission, and Dr. John Kane, who was 
 then one of the resident assistant surgeons at Burke s 
 post hospital. Our dinner, a very good one, and rich in 
 game, was washed down by some excellent wine, chiefly 
 that sent by Mr. John C. Van Renselaer of Newport, 
 R. I., for the Christmas dinner which I did not eat in 
 Cairo. I remember especially some burgundy, and some 
 famous old "Constitution madeira," which its donor 
 said had made the voyage round the world in that old 
 warship; at all events it was sound wine, and served its 
 purpose, and elicited profound wine stories from two at 
 least of the diners around my modest table. So it all 
 went off merrily, and I remember that good dinner more 
 clearly than many a far better one since. 
 
 In the early part of January, 1862, rumors began to 
 creep around the staff of an expedition somewhere, but 
 the information was most vague. Soon, however, these 
 took shape and on the Qth, I received an order from 
 General Grant to accompany him on an expedition. 
 
 My guess as to the object of this expedition was cor 
 rectly stated in my letter to my Mother, dated on the 
 steamer "Esmeralda," at an encampment on the Ken 
 tucky shore, six miles from Cairo, as follows : 
 
 "I imagine the object of the expedition is merely to 
 
102 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 prevent the enemy at Columbus (Ky.) from ordering 
 trbc-ps away froiiTCplnmbus to Bowling Green (Ky.). 
 I think Buell is about to make an attack, and that we 
 are put forward on the principle of Brag to support 
 him/ And in the same letter I add : "I just missed be 
 ing Chief Surgeon to this expedition. Dr. Simons was 
 sick, but he is well enough to come to-morrow, so I go 
 with McClernand instead of Grant. Grant wanted me 
 and paid me the compliment of ordering me peremp 
 torily to come with him, but General McClernand 
 claimed me, so I had of course to go. A little piece of 
 vanity all this, but you need not tell." 
 
 So as will be seen, I went with Gen. McClernand, who 
 was in direct command of the expedition, about 5,000 or 
 6,000 men. Gen. Grant accompanied, having his own 
 body guard. Dr. John K. Kane volunteered, and asked 
 permission of General Grant to go with him. The 
 General was delighted, "I accept you, my boy," he said, 
 and made him surgeon of his body guard. In this posi 
 tion Kane behaved admirably, and I may say here that 
 he stuck very close to the General in a very hard, and 
 at that time, much talked of reconnoisance which the 
 General made around Columbus. The ride was from 
 40 to 50 miles, the day dreadful with snow and sleet, 
 and cold. The General returned to his camp late at 
 night with only Rawlins, Kane and an orderly or so. 
 The rest of his escort was left on the way and struggled 
 in as best they could afterwards. It was, I fancy, the 
 recollection of this ride and its attendant weather, which 
 lingered in his memory so long, and which prompted his 
 description of "splashing through the mud, snow and 
 rain," as given at page 286 of the first volume of his 
 personal memoirs. The General never forgot either the 
 ride or Kane. Only two or three years before his death, 
 
Cape Girardeau,, Mo. Cairo, III. 103 
 
 he recalled the circumstance to me, and asked, "How is 
 little Kane?" 
 
 I ought to say something right here of General Mc- 
 Clernand, for I was now serving on his staff. He was 
 a fine, or rather let me say a good, specimen of an active, 
 bustling western politician, and one possessed of a cer 
 tain amount of influence. Doubtless he was a clever 
 lawyer and shrewd politician, but he aspired to be some 
 thing else, a general. I do not think that he ever 
 exactly comprehended what a real general was, or should 
 be; nor do I believe he ever eliminated the idea of poli 
 tician in his estimate of the soldier. The latter was by 
 his standard not only a fighting, but also, a talkative 
 personage. Placed by circumstances near Grant, he was 
 even at this early day jealous of him; at least, it seemed 
 so to me then. He was, however, kind to me, and bore 
 me no grudge, as many a man would have done, under 
 the following circumstances. 
 
 Shortly before this I had been stationed in charge of 
 the general hospitals of the District of Cairo; General 
 Grant was away from Cairo (at St. Louis I think), and 
 General McClernand commanded in his absence. One 
 of the latter s orders was to this effect : "That all able- 
 bodied men in the hospitals in the District should be 
 returned to their command, irrespective of the hospital 
 duties they were performing, or the sources of their de 
 tail." The execution of this order, the superintendence 
 of serving it and carrying it out, he entrusted to a chap 
 lain. By the regulations of the army, a chaplain s 
 functions were limited to his own department, and he 
 was incapable of executing command. The order was 
 clearly illegal, but apart from this, its execution would 
 have instantly paralyzed the whole hospital department 
 of the entire district of Cairo, at a time too, when its 
 
104 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 efficiency was most called for. I accordingly instructed 
 my surgeon to disobey it, and by my own endorsement 
 disputed its validity. General Grant on his return sent 
 for me, showed me my rebellious order, and added, 
 "Doctor, this is a very serious business." My answer 
 to him was, "General, when you entrusted to me, as 
 your Medical Director the care of the invalid of your 
 command, you said to me, Doctor, take care of my sick 
 and wounded to the best of your ability, don t bother 
 over regulations. Now, General," I added, "I have done 
 this to the best of my ability. If I have done right, you 
 will support me; if I have done wrong, you know what 
 to do with me." The general looked at me a moment, 
 took the paper, and put on it the endorsement which lives 
 in my memory: "The object of having a Medical Direc 
 tor is that he shall be supreme in his own Department. 
 The decision of Surgeon Brinton is sustained." I have 
 always regarded this action of General Grant, the posi 
 tion of an old soldier, toward me, who was trying, 
 perhaps ignorantly, to do my duty under novel and 
 difficult surroundings, as very noble. I think that my 
 veneration for his character, and my strong personal 
 affection for him, dated from that interview. I doubt 
 if another officer of his rank in the army would have so 
 supported a medical officer under like circumstances. 
 
 At the time General McClernand was slightly annoyed, 
 but he behaved well to me, especially on this expedition. 
 He requested that I should go on his staff, and General 
 Grant verbally instructed me to do so, and I was taken 
 very good care of. I remember very well that in the 
 afternoon, the boat, the Esmeralda, tied up at the shore, 
 and General McClernand and his staff landed. I was in 
 bad plight with my boils, and was very grateful to my 
 commander, when he came to me, and said: "Doctor, 
 
Cape Girardeau, Mo. Cairo, III. 105 
 
 you are so ill at ease, stay on board till morning, and 
 land at your leisure." I thanked him, and went to my 
 stateroom. He landed, but came back to the gangplank, 
 and called the captain of the boat to him, when to my 
 intense surprise, I heard him say, "Captain, take good 
 care of my doctor, for he is a gentleman," I think he 
 added, "A real gentleman." I was very much touched 
 by his consideration, for it was unexpected. I never for 
 got it, and in one way or another, I did him good turns 
 afterward, which he never knew of. 
 
 In the morning, I landed and mounted. I must tell 
 you about this mounting, if I can supply such a term to 
 the arrangement of my saddlery. I had one stirrup, the 
 left one, very long, so that I could stand in it as it were 
 with my right thigh supported at an angle over the 
 saddle. The right stirrup was very short, so that I 
 could, when resting my foot in it, be uplifted over the 
 saddle. This latter was well padded with a blue blanket, 
 and so I rode in the saddle, but not of it, or touching 
 it. I could not have looked like a warrior on a career 
 of invasion; I know I did not feel like one. However, 
 I had not at this time far to ride, only a mile or so up 
 a wood road to our "Camp Jefferson/ McClernand s 
 headquarters were at a farmhouse, with a big chimney 
 place and bright fire blazing in the kitchen. On the 
 nth of January, three Confederate gunboats came up 
 the Mississippi; our gunboats saw them, and started 
 down to give battle. A good deal of heavy firing en 
 sued, but a fog suddenly sprang up, the firing ceased 
 abruptly, and we all felt some anxiety as to the result. 
 It was determined to send one of our transport steamers 
 down the river to learn the result. I begged permission 
 to go on her, and we started. Our crew consisted of 
 the engineer, fireman, a hand or two, an engineer officer 
 
106 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 to observe, and myself. We steamed steadily along, 
 watching the Kentucky shore, for fear of field batteries ; 
 at one time, we made out hostile tents, so we turned the 
 boat around, and dropped slowly downward stern fore 
 most, so as to be ready for a quick start homewards, in 
 case of danger. As we neared the suspicious canvas, the 
 tent walls vanished, and we found only some linen of 
 an old woman s wash, hung out to dry on the bushes. 
 Soon the fog cleared away, and we saw our own and 
 the enemy s boats a little below us, and some distance 
 apart. Firing began at once, and in a moment a shell 
 from one of our ship s guns burst directly at one of 
 the enemy s ports ; the rebel boat immediately turned and 
 steamed away with her consorts. We, that is, the en 
 gineer and myself, ran to our little fleet and boarded the 
 flag ship. We were very kindly received (by, I think, 
 Commodore Porter) and had a good luncheon. The 
 ship or gunboat was one of the Mississippi ironclad 
 fleet, designed by Captain Eads, and known as "Tur 
 tles," broad-bottomed boats, suitable for shallow waters, 
 with sloping sides, or rather tops, plated with two inch 
 iron, on which projectiles would glance. I was greatly 
 interested by all that I saw here, for everything was 
 in fighting trim, ship and men, and the smell of the 
 powder was over all. 
 
 Having been furnished with the account of the naval 
 skirmish, the engineer and I returned to our transport 
 and went back to headquarters with our budget of news. 
 I ought to add that the boats of the enemy had been in 
 dustriously planting torpedoes in the river channel until 
 stopped at their innocent work by our fleet, which pulled 
 up these dangerous machines. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ST. LOUIS 
 
 On the I3th of January, 1862, I received an order 
 from General Grant, informing me that I had been de 
 tailed as a member of the board of their medical officers 
 to convene at St. Louis, January i6th, for the examina 
 tion of officers, and directing me to proceed at once to 
 that city. The object of this board, of which I was 
 president by seniority, was the examination of regimental 
 surgeons and assistant surgeons and contract physicians, 
 who had appeared to be deficient in medical qualifica 
 tions ; and in other words, to find out the medical "black 
 sheep" of the Department of Missouri, and very black 
 some of them were. 
 
 Accordingly, I left the expedition, and I must confess, 
 with regret, as I had by this time come to like the men 
 with whom I was serving, especially General Grant, and 
 had formed a conviction, I can scarcely say how arrived 
 at, that he was the man destined to close the war. I was 
 still physically most uncomfortable from my many boils, 
 and horseback exercise was really torture. In one sense, 
 therefore, I was relieved at being sent to St. Louis, 
 though looking forward with pleasure to a speedy re 
 turn as soon as I should be in better health. Passing 
 through Cairo on the I4th, I arrived at St. Louis on the 
 same night, or rather early in the morning of the I5th, 
 and took up my headquarters at the Planters House, 
 
 107 
 
108 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the best hotel in the city, and crowded with officers and 
 persons on military business. 
 
 In a letter to Dr. DaCosta of about this date, I wrote 
 as follows about George McClellan, my cousin: "If he, 
 (General McClellan) does not move, he will topple over. 
 If Grant takes Columbus, or Bowling Green, George may 
 find a rival. The people here are losing confidence in 
 him. What does he mean ? Is the fighting after all to be 
 done here in the west?" 
 
 In this letter, too, I speak of a friend, whose acquaint 
 ance I here made, Captain I. P. Hawkins, Commissary 
 of Subsistence, U. S. A. He was a very honest and good 
 hearted fellow, and a good friend to me who gave me a 
 great deal of sound advice, which I tried to follow, and 
 which I am sure was to my advantage in the service. 
 One of his favorite teachings was, "Always be satisfied 
 with your present detail of duty; do not pull wires, or 
 try for something else, or seek to supplant any other 
 officer; be content with what you have; do your duty 
 as well as you can, and it will most probably turn out 
 well. Services which are sought for, especially unfairly 
 sought for almost always bring trouble and regret after 
 them." All this was very good advice for me. 
 
 My time in St. Louis passed pleasantly. The duty 
 was not hard, and the other members of the board were 
 very congenial. I had a good deal of time to myself; 
 office, or rather, board hours, were only in the morning, 
 so I made friends and paid visits. Among the military 
 men I knew at the time in St. Louis were Col. Woods, 
 Col. Totten, Col. Thorn, of the Topographical Engineers, 
 Generals Sturgis, Schofield, Sweeny, and Van Renselaer, 
 and many others. The presence of the headquarters 
 kept the city gay. The General in command of this 
 Department, or rather I think of the entire west, was 
 
St. Louis 109 
 
 General Halleck. I afterwards became a member of his 
 staff. 
 
 The southern or secession feeling in St. Louis was 
 strong and bitter. As I have already written, I had a 
 good many friends, and soon found myself in St. Louis 
 society, largely through the kindness of Mr. James E. 
 Yeatman,* who was then the President of the Western 
 Sanitary Commission, a very powerful organization. 
 Mr. Yeatman was perhaps the most prominent Union 
 citizen in St. Louis, and I believe was connected in some 
 way with John Bell of Tennessee, a former defeated 
 candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the U. S. Some 
 of my friends in the army had spoken to Mr. Yeatman 
 about me, and when I arrived in St. Louis as President 
 of the Board of Examination, Mr. Yeatman called 
 on me. He asked me if I was married, and when I said 
 I was not, he asked me if I would like to see something 
 of St. Louis society. I replied affirmatively, and very 
 shortly (I mean an hour or so) I received a card to a 
 Philharmonic Society, with an invitation to call at Mr. 
 Yeatman s house, and accompany some of the young 
 ladies of his family to the Concert Hall. This, I gladly 
 did. I spent a pleasant evening, and the next day invita 
 tion after invitation reached me, and I was thus soon 
 launched among a pleasant set of social acquaintances. 
 I must also say here that although many of the men I 
 met with in this society were, or pretended to be, loyal, 
 the women were undoubtedly southern sympathizers. I 
 found it best in public entertainment to wear my uniform 
 as a sort of protection and thus show my colors. 
 
 In a letter of January 26th, 1862, when writing home, 
 
 *This gentleman was the original of the character of Mr. Brins- 
 made in Mr. Churchill s novel, "The Crisis." E. T. S. 
 
110 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 I find I have thus spoken of the "secesh settlement of 
 St. Louis": 
 
 "But General Halleck is fixing all that now. It is 
 becoming a dangerous game to be too sassy. The 
 Missouri refugees are being quartered in the houses of 
 prominent secessionists. I will tell you when I want 
 them carpets took up, said one of these half savage 
 union refugee women to one of the secession ladies of 
 St. Louis, her unwilling hostess, and who was on the 
 point of removing her parlor furniture with a view to 
 rendering the house as little comfortable as possible. 
 The carpets were not took up, as it was understood 
 that General Halleck might possibly order them down 
 again, and he was a prompt man, using little ceremony." 
 
 This was a time when everybody was having new ex 
 periences and learning new things. Even I was gaining 
 my experiences, as appears by a plaintive appeal home: 
 "Can you tell me any secret by which short buttons can 
 be permanently retained on their respective sites? I 
 haven t a button to my name." 
 
 About this time General Grant came up to St. Louis 
 to consult with Halleck. I saw something of Grant then. 
 He treated me kindly, and as an old friend. One evening 
 I was seated at rather a low theatre, smoking and listen 
 ing to the music and the wretched jabber on the stage, 
 when I felt a hand placed on each shoulder, and looking 
 up, I faced the General, puffing away at his cigar. "Oh 
 Doctor, Doctor," he said, "if you only knew how it 
 grieves me to find you in such a low place, and in such 
 company," and he sat down, chuckling greatly. Before 
 he returned to Cairo, which he did on the 27th of Jan 
 uary, he told me that he intended to have me back at 
 Cairo with him before long. 
 
St. Louis 111 
 
 In St. Louis, I made the most of my time, doing my 
 board work and going much into society, and then too, I 
 repaired my wardrobe and bought new linen. I had a 
 present, by the way, just at this time of a fine green silk 
 scarf. It was given me by a little French Jewess, a 
 Parisienne, whose husband was, if I remember rightly, 
 post baker at Cairo, and whom I attended when sick. 
 I charged him nothing, but she used to make me a nice 
 French omelette at every visit, and give me a glass of 
 delicious French light wine. I am afraid that the baker s 
 bread was short of weight; he made a great deal too 
 much money, and got into evil repute. I did what I 
 could for them in one way or another, and so she gave 
 me this green medical sash. I wanted it then, for the 
 one I had was poor and mean and sashes were expensive. 
 M. and Mme. Lazare prospered during the war, and long 
 after the peace she became a very fine lady at Narra- 
 gansett and her daughter was a piquante belle, and they 
 forgot to remember the flour and the bakery. 
 
 As I did not always wear uniform, I had for St. Louis 
 use, civilian s suits. I can never forget on one occasion 
 going to a large ready-made clothing establishment in 
 that city to buy a pair of citizen s trousers, urgently 
 needed. They had none to fit me. "None?" said I, 
 "None?" and I turned to go despondently through the 
 street door. "Stop a minute, stop, my dear sir," said 
 the master salesman. "I have a thought," and he went 
 to the open hatchway, leading to the upper stories, and 
 putting his hand to his mouth trumpet fashion, he 
 shouted "Isaac, I-sa-aa-c, send down at once a pair of 
 the short-fats ! 
 
 On the fifth of February, I wrote to my Mother that 
 I would probably start for Cairo soon; on the 6th. I 
 add "That I am leaving in a great hurry this afternoon 
 
112 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 for Cairo at my own request." On the 7th I sent her a 
 line to say that I had just arrived at Cairo and that Fort 
 Henry on the Tennessee River had been captured, and 
 that I would join General Grant at once. I remember 
 distinctly the arrival of the gunboat, which one I have 
 forgotten, confirming the news of the capture of Fort 
 Henry. She arrived at Cairo on the 7th, flying the rebel 
 or I suppose I ought now to say, the Confederate flag, 
 upside down, I think, and below the flag of the United 
 States. Her arrival created a great excitement at Cairo, 
 which spread rapidly over the whole country as fast as 
 the telegraph could convey the news. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 FORT HENRY FORT DONELSON 
 
 I immediately started for Fort Henry to report to 
 General Grant, in obedience to orders. I found him with 
 his staff on board one of the steamers. I believe it was 
 the "Tigress." I was now the medical director of the 
 forces in the field, Dr. Simons, the medical director of 
 the district, being sick at Cairo. I had at this time plenty 
 to do and was busy all the time visiting the regimental 
 hospitals (tent hospitals, of course,) of the forces which 
 were hurrying up from every direction, and which were 
 encamped around the captured fort on the higher and 
 partially dry ground. 
 
 And here I ought to say something about Fort Henry, 
 the first fort of any note which had been captured from 
 the enemy. It was an earthen-work of some size, thrown 
 up on the right bank of the Tennessee River, intended 
 (in conjunction with another work, Fort Heiman on the 
 left bank) to command the Tennessee River entirely and 
 to prevent the passage of our gunboats along this river, 
 and thus into Alabama, threatening Mississippi. Both of 
 these forts when erected were some thirty-five or forty 
 feet above the bed of the river and completely commanded 
 it. Heavy rains, however, occurred and the river was 
 greatly swollen; it had risen and was still rising rapidly, 
 and the fort was now upon a level almost with the river ; 
 in fact the water had surrounded it, and so high was the 
 stream that our gunboats fought at a great advantage, 
 
 "3 
 
114 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 and were indeed almost able to throw a plunging fire 
 into the work. Provided, as it was, with heavy guns 
 (seized at our navy yard at the beginning of the war) 
 the fort nevertheless offered but a feeble resistance to the 
 effective fire of our gunboats. The enemy s guns were 
 soon dismounted, the fort became untenable, and during 
 the night of the 6th was abandoned by its garrison. 
 When I visited it, shortly after reporting to the General, 
 it was a dreadful sight. Great heavy columbiads* were 
 overthrown, some with their muzzles pointing in the air, 
 their carriages were broken and stained with blood. 
 Here and there too, were masses of human flesh and 
 hair adhering to the broken timbers. The interior of 
 the fort was a mass of mud, the back water from the 
 stream having flowed in from the rear. 
 
 It had been intended that the capture of Fort Henry, 
 Tennessee, should be attempted by a co-operative effort 
 of the naval and military forces of the Government, 
 and for that purpose a considerable force, several thou 
 sand in fact, had been landed on the right -bank of the 
 river, with instructions to march up and occupy positions 
 behind Fort Henry and between it and Fort Donelson, 
 investing Fort Henry by land, while the fleet should 
 operate from the river. The march of the troops had, 
 however, been retarded by the inundation of the wooded 
 banks of the river, and they did not reach their destina 
 tion until after the fort had surrendered to the naval 
 forces. 
 
 General Grant and his staff, of which I was a mem 
 ber, remained at Fort Henry until about the I2th of 
 
 *A columbiad was an enormously heavy iron muzzle loading can 
 non, throwing round shells of eight, ten or eleven inches in diameter. 
 They were constructed for naval use and for sea coast defence and 
 were smooth bored and not rifled. E. T. S. 
 
Fort Henry Fort Donelson 115 
 
 February. Our quarters were on the steamer "Tigress." 
 About the I2th the General and his staff started for Fort 
 Donelson, some eight or nine miles distant from Fort 
 Henry. Fort Donelson, afterwards so well known, was 
 a strong earth- work on the slope of a hill, near the little 
 town of Dover. It commanded the Cumberland River 
 and the approach to Nashville. It was a strong fort, 
 with heavy guns mounted high up on the hill, and a bat 
 tery of very heavy guns low down almost on the level of 
 the river, at all events, on its level, in the then swollen 
 condition of the stream. Two roads led from Fort 
 Henry to Fort Donelson; the army moved along both, 
 the cavalry watching the space between, so as not to 
 allow any of the enemy to escape us. The Staff moved 
 by the left-hand or low road. I rode near the General 
 on my black horse, a strong powerful beast, which I had 
 bought at Cairo. He was possessed of a fast walk, and 
 moreover he would push in front of the other horses 
 on the Staff. I could hardly keep him back ; he particu 
 larly and persistently would pass the General who rode 
 his old favorite stallion "Jack." Finally, he very good- 
 naturedly said to me, "Doctor, I believe I command this 
 army, and I think I ll go first." 
 
 When we reached Fort Donelson, our troops were 
 extended and kept well in line, so as to be ready for any 
 outburst of the enemy. Wandering off from the Staff 
 to give some professional directions, I somehow or other 
 got in front of this line, and it seemed to afford the 
 men great pleasure to close up so as to keep me from 
 getting through. I, and a solitary scared dog, were in 
 front. After a while, when the men had had their joke 
 at my expense, I passed through. 
 
 We met with no opposition on this march and finally 
 arrived near Fort Donelson. Our line of investment 
 
116 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 was soon formed. We marched in battle order, ready 
 for action. The actual luggage of the staff was repre 
 sented by a few collars, a comb and brush and such toilet 
 articles, contained in a small satchel belonging to me. 
 General Grant had only a tooth brush in his waistcoat 
 pocket, and I supplied him with a clean white collar. 
 Of whiskey or liquor, of which so much has been said, 
 there was not one drop in the possession of any member 
 of the staff, except that in my pocket, an eight-ounce 
 flask, which I was especially requested by the General 
 to keep only for medical purposes, and I was further in 
 structed by him not to furnish a drink under any pretext 
 to any member of the Staff, except when necessary in 
 my professional judgment. But of this, I shall speak 
 again. 
 
 We occupied the headquarters house on the afternoon 
 of the I2th of February and here we remained until after 
 the capture of Fort Donelson, and of the little town of 
 Dover, which was included within the enemy s lines of 
 defence. The kitchen had in it a double feather-bed and 
 this was occupied by the General, some small rooms in 
 the other parts of the house were crowded by other 
 members of the staff. I think for one night the General 
 slept somewhere else than the kitchen, but came down 
 because of the bed and the warmer temperature. The 
 big open fireplace was attractive. On the I3th, I was 
 busy fixing my hospitals and doing the best I could. The 
 whole of this day was employed in establishing the posi 
 tions of our forces, and in strengthening their lines. We 
 threw up no breastworks, but depended upon the natural 
 strength of the ground, and its "lay" for our protection, 
 should the enemy attempt any sortie. But the idea of a 
 sortie never entered General Grant s head, or if it did, 
 it found no lodgment there. His ideas were fixed, that 
 
Fort Henry Fort Donelson 117 
 
 the enemy would stay inside their works and not readily 
 venture out. 
 
 One of my hospitals, that nearest to the Southern lines, 
 was in a ravine, within sight of the hostile troops. It 
 happened that some heavy skirmishing took place on the 
 1 3th, chiefly along General McClernand s front, our right. 
 Indeed it was more than skirmishing; for a time in fact 
 a very lively fight. During this, a good many wounded 
 found their way to this particular hospital, and not only 
 wounded, but many, a great many faint-hearted ones, 
 who disgracefully sought the hospital precinct as a shel 
 ter. This congregation hourly increased, and I began 
 after a time to feel anxious, lest the enemy, noticing so 
 many stragglers, might sweep down, and make capture 
 of both hurt and unhurt. The hospital had only its sacred 
 character to defend it, and this was being debased by 
 the gathering crowd. Then too, most of our hospital 
 stores, I mean the reserve supplies, were here, and I did 
 not wish them to fall into the enemy s hands. So I 
 accordingly went to General Grant and explained to him 
 the exposed position of the hospital. His answer was, 
 "Yes, Doctor, I see, but they will not come and capture 
 you." And back I went to the hospital. Yet things went 
 from bad to worse, the stragglers increased in numbers. 
 The hospital supplies became more and more important, 
 in view of a probable approaching battle, and my anxiety 
 was greater every minute. The loss of this depot and 
 its supplies would have been almost paralyzing to the 
 Medical Department. Again I saw the General. Again 
 I told him my fears, and again heard his answer, as 
 before : "They will not come." 
 
 As the peril increased still more, I sought him a third 
 time, and after saying all I could, I asked him "Am I 
 exaggerating the risk, or the consequences of the loss of 
 
118 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the medical stores of your army, removed as we now 
 are from fresh sources of supply?" The General heard 
 me as he always did, most patiently, and replied, "No 
 Doctor, you are right, I know the exposure as well as 
 you, and fully realize what a disaster would be the loss 
 of our medical supplies; but yet Doctor, it will not hap 
 pen; the enemy might capture you all if they chose; they 
 could do it with a small force of cavalry, but, Doctor, 
 they won t do it, so you need not worry, they are not 
 thinking of anything, except holding their position, so 
 make yourself easy. The enemy are thinking more of 
 staying in than getting out, I know him." And this 
 was all my satisfaction, and it all turned out just as he 
 General said, but nevertheless, I felt that my fears had 
 been well founded. 
 
 I do not intend here to give any military account of 
 the attack on Fort Donelson. I am only telling about 
 myself, but this is the schedule of the several days op 
 erations. With about 15,000 men on February I2th, 
 1862, Wednesday, we left Fort Henry and arrived before 
 Fort Donelson. February I3th, 1862 (Thursday), was 
 occupied in extending siege, positions, etc., and skirmish 
 ing and fighting on right in front of General McCler- 
 nand. February I4th (Friday), there was little fighting, 
 with an attack by a gunboat fleet under Commander 
 Foote,* which failed. February I5th (Saturday), the 
 enemy made a fierce sortie and are repulsed, and retire 
 into the fort. General Grant visits the fleet. February 
 
 *Andrew Hull Foote, the venerable Admiral and Christian gen 
 tleman worn out with hard service, died during the war while on 
 his way to rejoin his fleet. Notwithstanding he had grog abolished 
 in the Navy he was very much beloved by the sailors who often 
 sung of him : "He increased our pay ten cents a day, And stopped 
 our rum forever." E. T. S. 
 
Fort Henry Fort Donelson 119 
 
 i6th (Sunday), surrender of Fort Donelson to the Union 
 forces under General Grant.* 
 
 My exact professional position at this battle was a 
 peculiar one. The Medical Director of the District of 
 Cairo, General Grant s command, was Surgeon James 
 Simons, U. S. A. He, however, did not accompany this 
 expedition, but sent me as his representative with General 
 Grant. 
 
 Surgeon Henry S. Hewitt, U. S. Vols. (Brigade Sur 
 geon) next in rank above me on the army list was the 
 surgeon and medical director of the command of General 
 Chas. F. Smith, who was under the order of General 
 Grant, and who commanded the division originally sta 
 tioned at, and around, Paducah, Ky. 
 
 Dr. Hewitt was, therefore, during the Fort Donelson 
 campaign the acting Medical Director in the field of 
 General Grant s forces, although himself attached to the 
 staff of General Smith, outranked by General Grant. 
 Dr. Hewitt and I arranged matters between ourselves. 
 He would remain with General Smith to whom he was 
 strongly attached, while I was to look after the hospitals, 
 to see to their organization, the transportation of the 
 wounded, and to the general surgery of the field, and this 
 I did thoroughly, to the best of my ability. A great 
 many operations I performed myself, and many others 
 I assisted and directed in performing. 
 
 On the 1 5th, in the early morning, General Grant went 
 
 *For my official report of the "Account of the campaign of the 
 Army of the Tennessee from February to June, 1862, including the 
 capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the battles of Shiloh and 
 Corinth, by Surgeon John H. Brinton, U. S. V., Medical Director of 
 the Army of the Tennessee." See Medical and Surgical History of 
 the Rebellion, Part I, Medical Vol. and appendix, Part I, Page 24, 
 Paper 28. 
 
120 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 down to the fleet on the Cumberland River to consult 
 with Commodore Foote, who had been wounded on the 
 previous day, and who had failed with his gunboats to 
 pass or force the strong batteries commanding the ascent 
 of the river. Several of his vessels had been badly hit, 
 and it was necessary for him to return to Cairo, or rather 
 to Mound City to refit. It was during this absence of 
 the General from camp, about which so much was un 
 kindly said, and has since been written, that the enemy 
 made its famous sortie, attacking our right under General 
 McClernand, and driving it back in confusion. Infor 
 mation of this was carried to General Grant, who hurried 
 rapidly forward, to assume personal command and to 
 resume the fight. What he did and how he did it, and 
 how nobly he retrieved the day, and turned defeat into 
 victory, and how the fort fell, are all now matters of 
 history. On his arrival, he found our right in confusion, 
 and driven back, although at a halt. The left of our 
 line under General C. F. Smith was in excellent condition, 
 and as yet unengaged. The center, in part, had gone to 
 the help of our right, and its presence had been sufficient 
 to check the onslaught of the enemy, and cause them to 
 draw back within their lines. They had thus f ailed- to cut 
 their way out, but they still held their fort, strongly 
 defended by earthworks, batteries, and with most for 
 midable abattis. It was through an obstruction of this 
 kind that our men had to pass to enter the fort. General 
 C. F. Smith, who commanded our left, was ordered by 
 Grant to lead his command through the abattis, and to 
 pierce, if possible, the enemy s lines. This he did at 
 once, and about 3 o clock in the afternoon led his men 
 forward. The move was one of difficulty, the abattis 
 was dense and the enemy fought at great advantage. At 
 one time, at the outset, our troops wavered in pushing 
 
Fort Henry Fort Donelson 121 
 
 through the obstructions. General Smith rallied them 
 with curses. In a letter to Dr. DaCosta from Fort 
 Donelson, dated March 2nd, 1862, I remark: "You 
 ought to have heard old C. F. Smith cursing as he led 
 on his storming regiments. Damn you gentlemen, I see 
 skulkers, I ll have none here. Come on, you volunteers, 
 come on, he shouted. This is your chance. You vol 
 unteered to be killed for love of country, and now you 
 can be. You are only damned volunteers. I m only a 
 soldier, and don t want to be killed, but you came to be 
 killed and now you can be. And so the old cock led 
 them with a mixture of oaths and entreaties over the 
 breastwork. The loss was heavy, but he never flinched, 
 but sat straight on his horse, his long white moustache, 
 his stature and his commanding presence, making him a 
 conspicuous mark. He was every inch a soldier, and a 
 true disciplinarian. Without Grant and Smith there 
 would have been no such result, so no more sneers about 
 the regulars. They are the men; without them volun 
 teers are but a rabble. I believe that with the splendid 
 material for the ranks, all we want are good officers to 
 have the most magnificent army in the world." 
 
 Seeing his front line shrinking and wavering, the Gen 
 eral turned to my friend Surgeon H. S. Hewitt, U. S. V., 
 who was by his side, saying, "Hewitt, my God, my 
 friend, if you love me, go back, and bring up another 
 
 regiment of these d volunteers. You will find them 
 
 behind the bushes." And this Hewitt did, leading the 
 men forward, himself mounted, and the yellow staff 
 trappings on his black horse, making him a most con 
 spicuous object, as he headed the regiment until the 
 abattis was reached. With the regiment he passed 
 through by the side of his General, until a lodgment was 
 effected inside the hostile lines. This gallant assault 
 
122 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 of General Smith, and his success, ensured the surrender 
 of Fort Donelson on the following morning. 
 
 I ought to say something here of these two men, so 
 typical of their kind. General C. F. Smith was the very 
 beau-ideal of a soldier, I mean the real soldier; at the 
 time of which I am writing, he had been thirty-seven 
 years in the service, having been appointed a brevet 
 second lieutenant in the Second Artillery in 1825 (eigh 
 teen years before General Grant entered the service). 
 General Smith had, I think, been commandant of the 
 Military Academy of West Point when General Grant 
 was a cadet, or if not, he was on duty there at that time. 
 He was tall, six feet three, I should think, slender, well 
 proportioned, upright, with a remarkably fine face, and 
 a long twisted white moustache. He was a strict dis 
 ciplinarian, fearless, determined, grim. Altogether, he 
 was a typical military man in his appearance, air and 
 manner. He had served in the Mexican War with dis 
 tinction, and was respected in the old army. He had 
 some of the faults of his kind, but a braver, bolder, more 
 determined soldier, never lived. Dr. Hewitt was a 
 surgeon in my own corps, one of the Brigade Surgeons, 
 afterwards known as Surgeons of Volunteers, U. S. A. 
 He had originally been an assistant surgeon in the reg 
 ular army before the war, but resigned, and on the out 
 break of the rebellion, entered as a Brigade Surgeon, 
 standing third on the list. His name was next above my 
 own. He was a very brave man, impulsive, easily irri 
 tated, but kind and generous. He had a somewhat 
 poetic temperament, and I have copied here his "Song 
 of the Shell" ; written under fire, I think, he told me, on 
 the field of Shiloh, where he greatly distinguished him 
 self for his professional efficiency and personal gallantry. 
 
Fort Henry Fort Donelson 123 
 
 SONG OF THE SHELL. 
 
 There s a music aloft in the air, 
 As if devils were singing a song, 
 There s a shriek, like a shriek of Despair, 
 There s a crash which the echoes prolong. 
 
 There s a voice like the voice of the gale, 
 When it strikes a tall ship on the sea. 
 There s a rift like the rent of her sail, 
 As she helplessly drifts to the Sea. 
 
 There s a rush, like the rushing of fiends, 
 Compelled by some horrible spell, 
 There s a flame, like the flaming of brands, 
 Plucked in rage from the fires of Hell. 
 
 There s a wreath, like the foam on the wave, 
 There s a silence unbroke by a breath, 
 There s a thud, like the clod in a grave, 
 There is writhing, and moaning, and Death. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE OF FORT DONELSON 
 
 Before speaking of the capture of Fort Donelson, I 
 must call attention to some events of the investment of 
 the place. The weather was terrible during almost the 
 entire time, alternating between sleet and snow, especially 
 at night. It was very cold, and the sufferings and dep 
 rivations of the men were excessive. As our lines ex 
 tended close around the works, it was necessary to 
 conceal the exact position of the soldiers as much as 
 possible. Fires, therefore, on the front lines were not 
 permitted, and I wondered at the time how our poor 
 fellows could endure the long cold nights without fires 
 and with insufficient coverings. This latter statement 
 may seem strange, but the fact is that in the march across 
 the country, many of the men had found their blankets 
 and overcoats cumbersome, and had left them by the 
 roadside, or placed them in wagons, which had failed to 
 make a redistribution. As it was, very many of the 
 troops laid on the ground at nigHt, tentless, fireless, and 
 with scanty covering. In spite of all this exposure, no 
 cases of tetanus occurred among the wounded at Fort 
 Donelson. 
 
 Another matter which caused the Medical Depart 
 ment much anxiety was the removal of the wounded to 
 the rear. 
 
 This was a sort of double matter, a removal by two 
 stages, as it were. The first one was to transport the 
 
 124 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 125 
 
 wounded man from the place where he fell to the ad 
 vanced point where the ambulance could reach him. The 
 second stage was his conveyance to the hospitals in the 
 rear. The latter part of the trip was comparatively easy. 
 All the regimental ambulances and extra wagons had 
 formed themselves into a sort of ambulance train, which 
 ran steadily and systematically to and from the hospital 
 centers. The train was under the charge of a commis 
 sioned officer, who proved himself efficient and in 
 telligent. The first part of the trip, however, was a 
 matter of much more difficulty, for it was no easy under 
 taking to carry the wounded, those helplessly wounded, 
 from under the guns of the enemy. Yet this was accom 
 plished, and shortly after dark on each day s fight, all 
 of the injured were brought in and sent to the rear 
 hospital. 
 
 To accomplish this required much cool courage, and 
 one of the most remarkable cases of heroism I witnessed 
 on the last day s battle. A Methodist clergyman (a 
 chaplain, attached to one of the regiments, I believe), 
 devoted himself to the removal of the wounded. He 
 was a man of about thirty years of age, tall, strong and 
 well built, of quiet, yet resolute manner. He had his 
 horse and spent his time riding to the extreme front, ab 
 solutely under the enemy s fire. Here he dismounted and 
 selecting the worst of our wounded men, he would lift 
 him into his saddle, hold him there with one hand, while 
 with the other he would lead his horse back through 
 the lines to the rear hospital. Sometimes, he would 
 bring off two wounded men at one trip. I watched him 
 do this, and I must confess, felt a high appreciation of 
 his courage, moral and physical, and the sincerity of his 
 religion. I was glad to know on the next day that he 
 had escaped unhurt. I cannot but think that his chivalric 
 
126 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 bravery was appreciated even by the enemy, who seemed 
 to have spared him while on his self-imposed, self- 
 sacrificing task. 
 
 The behavior of the medical officers at this battle 
 was admirable. General Grant thus speaks in his "Per 
 sonal Memoirs," Volume I, page 300, "Up to this time," 
 (the 1 3th) "the surgeons with the army had no difficulty 
 in finding room in the houses near the line for all the 
 sick and wounded; but now hospitals were over 
 crowded. Owing, however, to the energy and skill of 
 the surgeons, the suffering was not so great as it might 
 have been. The hospital arrangements at Fort Donelson 
 were as complete as it was possible to make them, con 
 sidering the inclemency of the weather, and the lack 
 of tents, in a sparsely settled country, where the homes 
 were generally of but one or two rooms." 
 
 During the continuance of the Fort Donelson cam 
 paign, I had ample opportunities of witnessing the 
 military operations, and of seeing what was going on. I 
 had not only to supervise the surgery of the rear hos 
 pitals, and in a general way to see that the wounded 
 were being attended to, but I had also to superintend 
 their transportation. Moreover, I had a certain responsi 
 bility with regard to General Grant and his Staff. I was 
 thus kept moving from one point to another, and very 
 many strange, sad, and sometimes amusing things passed 
 under my eyes. 
 
 I have spoken of the odd character of many of the 
 western doctors, who were now regimental surgeons. 
 One of these, a Doctor, or let me say, Surgeon Henry 
 Winter Davis (I think of the i8th Illinois Infantry), 
 was a most impulsive, efficient, outspoken man. On the 
 last day ? f^ht. I found him with a gun in his hand, 
 firing away with great spirit. I rode up to him, and said, 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 127 
 
 "Doctor, this is hardly the work for you to be doing, 
 you ought to confine yourself to strictly professional 
 work." He was kneeling on the ground at the time. He 
 stopped his shooting, looked up at me with a queer ex 
 pression, and said, "I m all right, Doctor, I have done 
 all the surgery of this Regiment, and have fired forty-five 
 shots, by G-d." Then he added, "I am glad to see you 
 here. I am glad you re not a feather-bed doctor," and he 
 went on with his belligerent pastime. 
 
 This same surgeon, I think, had a curious case. A 
 soldier was brought to him, with a dreadfully crushed 
 leg, apparently greatly swollen and distorted. He 
 promptly amputated just above the knee, when out rolled 
 a 12-pound shot or shell, from the tissues behind the 
 knee joint, and the upper part of the leg where it had 
 been concealed. I learned of this case verbally, and on 
 inquiry, found that this actually occurred, though I was 
 not able to procure the projectile, for the Army Medical 
 Museum at Washington. 
 
 I remember well one funny incident which happened 
 at this time. General Grant had a body servant named 
 Frank, French Frank we called him from his nationality. 
 He was a great talker, and boastful, and often expressed 
 a wish to see real fighting, and as he expressed it, cannon- 
 shooting. It happened on the I5th, that he wandered 
 away from headquarters and several of us, riding on a 
 wood road near the front, met him. "Why, where are 
 you going, Frank," we said, "do you want to be shot? * 
 Just at that time, there happened to be a lull in the 
 enemy s battery in front. "I have curiosity," said Frank, 
 "much curiosity, and I must go see the enemy s fight." 
 He was told "Go on, that road will surely bring you to 
 them." Our party rode on, but Frank took us at our 
 word, and in reality did march on in the half open space 
 
128 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 towards the enemy. Suddenly, we heard a terrible noise 
 of musketry and artillery behind us. When next we 
 saw Frank, he greeted us thus : "I have now no more 
 curiosity; it is satisfied, it is all gone; the enemy did 
 allow me to come near them, then all at once, they did 
 begin to shoot at me, but I escaped them, and behold 
 me!" 
 
 I have already referred to our headquarter s accommo 
 dations at Mrs. Crip s. In this little house, I was a wit 
 ness to one or two strange incidents, which as far as I 
 know have not as yet found their way into print. 
 
 The enemy made their last sortie on the I5th, which 
 was unsuccessful. As I happened to be in our kitchen 
 bedroom in the after part of the day, I heard General 
 Grant give orders to Captain Hiller, an aide-de-camp, to 
 get ready to go down the Cumberland River at once 
 by boat to Smithland, a little station at or near the junc 
 tion of the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers, and the nearest 
 point of telegraph. When he should reach there, he was 
 directed by General Grant to send a dispatch to General 
 Halleck, the Commandant of the Department, informing 
 him that "Fort Donelson would surrender on the follow 
 ing morning." I am not quite certain whether General 
 Grant sent a \vritten telegraphic message, or whether he 
 simply verbally directed Hillyer to do so on his arrival at 
 Smithland, but of the tenor of the message, and I think 
 even the very words used, I am positive. When I was 
 alone with the General, I said to him, "General, was it 
 not a little dangerous to send so positive a message 
 as to what the enemy will do tomorrow? Suppose he 
 don t do it?" "Doctor," said the General to me, "he will 
 do it. I rode over the field this afternoon and examined 
 some of the dead bodies of his men; their knapsacks, as 
 well as their haversacks, were full of food; they were 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 129 
 
 fighting to get away, and now that they have failed, they 
 will surrender. I knew their Generals (Buckner and 
 Pillow) in Mexico, and they will do as I have said." I 
 felt at that moment that I was talking to an extraordinary 
 man. 
 
 The night was inclement. Our troops slept on their 
 arms, General C. F. Smith s division being absolutely 
 within the lines of defense around Fort Donelson. All 
 apparently passed quietly enough, no sorties were made 
 by the enemy and no attack by us. General Grant slept 
 at his headquarters in a feather bed in the kitchen, and 
 I remember that I was curled up on the floor near the 
 fire with my head resting in the seat of my saddle. 
 Early, very early, an orderly entered, ushering in Gen 
 eral C. F. Smith, who seemed very cold, indeed half 
 frozen. He walked at once to the open fire on the 
 hearth, for a moment warmed his feet, then turned his 
 back to the fire, facing General Grant who had slipped 
 out of bed, and who was quickly drawing on his outer 
 clothes. "There s something for you to read, General 
 Grant," said Smith, handing him a letter, and while he 
 was doing so, Smith asked us for something to drink. 
 My flask, the only liquor on the Staff, was handed to 
 him, and he helped himself in a soldier-like manner. I 
 can almost see him now, erect, manly, every inch a 
 soldier, standing in front of the fire, twisting his long 
 white moustache and wiping his lips. "What answer 
 shall I send to this, General Smith," asked Grant. "No 
 terms to the damned rebels," replied Smith. Those 
 were his actual words. General Grant gave a short 
 laugh, and drawing a piece of paper, letter size, and of 
 rather poor quality, began to write. In a short time, 
 certainly, not many minutes, he finished and read aloud 
 as if to General Smith, but really so that we under- 
 
130 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 strappers could all hear, his famous "Unconditional sur 
 render" letter, ending with, "I propose to move imme 
 diately upon your works." General Smith gave a short 
 emphatic "Hm!" and remarking, "It s the same thing 
 in smoother words," stalked out of the room to deliver 
 the letter, which was shortly followed by the return an 
 swer of surrender. I recollect distinctly every feature 
 of this visit of General Smith, his magnificent appear 
 ance, soldier-like bearing, and his abrupt mode of 
 speech. The exposure of these nights must have told 
 on him severely; he felt the cold and thrust out his feet 
 and said, "See how the soles of my boots burned; I slept 
 last night with my head in the saddle, and with my feet 
 too near the fire; I ve scorched my boots." 
 
 I shortly went about my professional duties, and later 
 in the morning, about eleven o clock, I learned that the 
 surrender had been consummated, and that General 
 Grant and his staff were on a boat. Here I joined 
 them, and found that the stateroom adjoining the Gen 
 eral s, had been assigned to me. 
 
 About this time Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson,* soon 
 to become so famous, and to die so gallantly, visited 
 our headquarters. We were then all living in a small 
 frame house known as Mrs. Crip s. While he was there 
 I came to know him well. In the first place, I took to 
 him greatly; he was so winning and yet so manly. He 
 suffered with a cystic tumor of the neck, low down, 
 which pressed apparently backwards, and interfered with 
 tracheal respiration. For this, he consulted me. I must 
 add that he was a good friend of my old friend, Major, 
 
 *Jamcs Birdseye McPherson, killed at Atlanta while command 
 ing the Army of the Tennessee, temporarily succeeded for a few 
 days by John A. Logan, and then to the close of the war succeeded 
 by Maj. Gen Oliver Otis Howard. E. T. S. 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 131 
 
 afterwards General Hawkins. So from one cause or 
 another, in a few hours, we became very good friends, 
 and one evening he told me, "Doctor, my breathing is 
 bad, and I will sleep awhile in the cold, out on the porch ; 
 come, lie down with me, I want to ask you some ques 
 tions." I did so, and rolled up in my buffalo robe close 
 to him. Then he told me, "I have been ordered here, 
 and instructed to obtain special information. All sorts 
 of reports are prevalent at St. Louis (the headquarters 
 of General Halleck, Grant s superior officer), as to Gen 
 eral Grant s habits. It is said that he is drinking terri 
 bly, and in every way is inefficient. I am fond of him, 
 and want to do him justice." I told him as earnestly 
 as I could the truth, that the reports were unfounded, 
 that I knew they were false, and assured him that to 
 my knowledge there was no liquor on the Staff, that 
 the contents of my pocket flask was the whole supply, 
 and that I had been cautioned by General Grant as to 
 its disposal, being positively forbidden to give any to 
 any of the staff, except in medical urgency. I explained 
 to McPherson that there were men near the General who 
 disliked him and were jealous of him; yet, knowing this, 
 and their attempts at detraction, he still moved on, un 
 disturbed. I think, indeed I am quite sure, that Col. 
 McPherson believed me, and said that he would so re 
 port to General Halleck on his return, and was glad to 
 be able to do so. He did do so, as he afterwards 
 assured me when I saw him at St. Louis. 
 
 Shortly after the surrender, I went down to the head 
 quarters boat on which General Grant was. On my way, 
 I noticed that the Confederate soldiers were doing a 
 brisk business, by selling their bowie knives and small 
 arms to our men who were buying them eagerly as 
 trophies. I myself, had bought a very beautiful knife 
 
132 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 with a brass lion head, for which I had paid one dollar, 
 and handed it to my servant to bring on board. I 
 casually mentioned this traffic (but not my purchase), 
 to the General. As all captured arms were the property 
 of the Government, he issued an immediate order to the 
 guards to confiscate all such arms, wherever found. As 
 they went to the shore to carry out the order, it hap 
 pened that the first person met was my contraband 
 (negro) servant, carrying my luggage and prominently 
 displaying my recently purchased lion-headed bowie 
 knife. My servant repbrted the loss to me, and I begged 
 hard for my knife from the General, but he would not 
 accede to my request. However, a day or two after 
 wards, he picked out a handsome Confederate sword 
 from a pile of captured arms, and gave it to me, as 
 he said "to make up for my loss." The sword, a 
 Solingen blade, has C. S. A. on the blade, and the same 
 letters on the brass hilt, which I was told was cast in 
 Mobile, and is roughly finished. This sword I still have. 
 At the same time General Grant gave me a wooden 
 handled bowie knife, which had been made from a 
 Southern cornstalk chopper. 
 
 About an hour or so after the actual, but informal, 
 surrender I entered the fort, passing through the abattis 
 and I at once hunted our headquarters. General Grant s 
 table was placed behind the dingy curtains, which sepa 
 rated what I suppose had been the ladies cabin from 
 the general cabin. When I went in, the General was 
 writing his official report of the surrender. A number 
 of officers were present. I quite vividly remember that 
 at the time I was offering my congratulations to the 
 General, that I said very kindly to him, "General, you 
 are going to be the President of the United States. If 
 I ask you then for a not improper office, will you give 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 133 
 
 it to me?" He laughed, and said, "Doctor, I will; what 
 do you think you will want?" "I should like to be 
 Secretary of Legation to Paris," said I. "You shall 
 have it," he replied, "when I am President of the United 
 States." 
 
 I often thought of this afterwards. My imaginary 
 choice was based upon the fact that Dr. DaCota and 
 I had often thought what a nice position that must be 
 for a young unmarried man. We remembered a Secre 
 tary of Legation who always received his visitors in the 
 last of seven or eight salons, "en suite." It was im 
 pressive. 
 
 The capture of Fort Donelson, and what it carried 
 with it was immense, not less than 15,000 men and many 
 guns. The force under General Grant s command was 
 less than 30,000 men. A great many of the enemy 
 escaped in the night preceding the surrender, and with 
 them, Generals Floyd, Pillow and Forrest with his 
 cavalry force. At this time I had frequent oppor 
 tunities of talking quietly with the General, and I was 
 much impressed with his magnanimity. Once, probably 
 on the day of the surrender, I asked him how soon, or 
 when, the enemy would be paraded and the formalities 
 of surrender gone through with, such as the lowering 
 of the standard and the stacking of the guns, and the 
 delivery of the Confederate commander s sword. 
 "There will be nothing of the kind," said General Grant 
 to me. "The surrender is now a fact; we have the 
 fort, the men, the guns. Why should we go through 
 vain forms, and mortify and injure the spirit of brave 
 men, who, after all are our own countrymen and 
 brothers." All this seemed very strange to me whose 
 mind was filled with the pageantry of European war 
 fare, as I had lately been reading Jomini, Thiers, and 
 
134 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 other books on warfare and war history. But it showed 
 the kind of man Grant was. 
 
 Grant was a ready writer; he wrote tersely, rapidly 
 and very rarely struck out or altered; occasionally I 
 have seen him interline a word or two. If any one 
 was present whom he trusted, he would read a line or 
 two aloud. I remember once, while on the boat at 
 Donelson, he was writing some report; he had arrived 
 near the bottom of the page of the first half sheet, and 
 was about to sign. Looking up, he saw me, read what 
 he had written, and asked me what I thought of it. I 
 remarked that its termination seemed a little abrupt. 
 He read it, and said, "So it is," and then adding two 
 or three lines, he carried over to the next page, and 
 signed, saying, "It does look better now." 
 
 My chief occupation at this time was looking after 
 the wounded and having them transported to the boat, 
 fitted up for their reception and transfer, as fast as 
 possible. They were put on board, carefully attended 
 to and dressed, and then moved in the hospital boats to 
 the great hospitals at Mound City, Cairo, St. Louis, 
 Louisville and Cincinnati. Among our prisoners, I 
 found several of my old students, who were serving in 
 the medical corps of the enemy. I was glad to see them, 
 but the pleasure was somewhat inconvenient, as I had 
 to share my underclothes among them, as they were all 
 destitute of linen. One or two of the southern sur 
 geons (I do not refer to any of my old friends) served 
 us a shabby trick. It was reported at headquarters that 
 some distance, seven or eight miles, up the river, and 
 on the opposite shore, a rebel colonel was lying, griev 
 ously wounded. Two of the rebel doctors were sent 
 under parole to see to him, and bring him in. They 
 went, did not visit him, and then vanished to their homes 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 135 
 
 or elsewhere. The poor fellow, thus abandoned, again 
 sent to headquarters, complaining piteously of his con 
 dition and his neglect. I was ordered to go and look 
 after him. I did so, gave the necessary directions, and 
 succeeded with much difficulty in boarding a down-going 
 steamer, returning to Donelson. 
 
 I ought to tell you that the river at this time was very 
 high, forty feet above its ordinary mark. This flooded 
 a great extent of country and swept away large trees, 
 frame and log houses, and created a terrible current. 
 At one time, when we were occupying Fort Donelson, 
 and the adjoining town of Dover, the water was rising 
 an inch an hour. Our boats were moored to the bank, 
 and the rise and subsequent fall of the water kept the 
 captains of our boats constantly on the watch. Our 
 horses were stabled on the boiler deck, and it was strange 
 to see how soon they became accustomed to these 
 quarters, and how thoroughly they associated the idea 
 of home with a boat, in no way disturbed by the 
 peculiar and noisy machinery of a Mississippi steamer. 
 I was riding at that time a fine black horse, who swam 
 very high out of water. He was not a pleasant-tem 
 pered horse, but he had sort of a good feeling toward 
 me. He liked his boat, and on one occasion when the 
 river was falling, and the descent of the river bank to 
 the boat was somewhat difficult, having occasion to 
 go on board of our headquarters boat for a few minutes, 
 I left my black steed standing on the bank above. 
 Whilst on board, it became necessary to change the 
 mooring of the boat, and to do this, the Captain un 
 moored and began to back off from the shore, intend 
 ing to come in again to a satisfactory spot. When he 
 had gone several feet from the shore, I happened to 
 come down to the boiler deck. As I was on the stair. 
 
136 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 I was startled by a shuffling, sliding sound, a rush, and 
 in a second my horse landed quite satisfactorily on the 
 boat, having made the leap from the shore, across open 
 water. He did not intend to be left behind. 
 
 The arrangement of the great wastern steamers was 
 well suited for the accommodation of animals. They 
 were packed in tightly, and in the main got along in 
 a friendly spirit. On one occasion, I was walking on 
 the lower deck, when I met General Grant limping 
 terribly, and rubbing his leg. "Why, what is the 
 matter, General," said I. "Nothing. Oh nothing, Doc 
 tor," he replied. "I have just been to see Jack" (his 
 big favorite stallion), "and he seems a little playful this 
 morning," and off he limped, and all day continued 
 bragging of Jack s playfulness and general Christian 
 disposition. 
 
 About this time among the horses tethered, Major 
 (afterward General) Rawlins, Grant s Chief of Staff, 
 had a very fine bay, with a splendid tail, which he was 
 always admiring, saying to everyone, "Just see that 
 splendid tail. It almost touches the ground." But, 
 alas! the animal was tethered in front of a mule, and 
 one morning the tail was changed, the hair had disap 
 peared, and the bones stuck out bare and ragged, not 
 very much longer than your hand and wrist. The fact 
 was reported to Rawlins, and we went with him to 
 examine the catastrophe. The report was true. At that 
 time, Rawlins was very profane, even under ordinary 
 circumstances, but this incident was overwhelming to 
 him. At first, supposing this mutilation to have been 
 the deliberate work of some malevolent person, his in 
 dignation knew no bounds, he could scarcely find anath 
 emas sufficiently strong to do justice to the occasion. 
 When at last, it was discerned that the ornamental tail 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 137 
 
 was eaten off for the salt in it, by the rear mule, Rawlins 
 was dumb with wrath. 
 
 And now that I have written Rawlin s name, I want 
 to say something about him, for he was a most extraor 
 dinary man, and by his faithfulness toward the Gen 
 eral, his good judgment, his fearless and outspoken ex 
 pression of his convictions, and his quick sense of right 
 and wrong, greatly assisted his chief in arriving at just 
 conclusions, and in withstanding the temptations by 
 which he was surrounded. 
 
 You will scarcely believe or comprehend the dangers 
 which encircled the General at this time. Bad men were 
 ever approaching him, seeking to further their own 
 plans and interests ; some wanted promotion ; some, 
 place; and others, contracts, or the equivalent, recom 
 mendations, by which they could covertly grasp money. 
 So specious were their propositions, and so cunningly 
 were their tricks devised and concealed, that even the 
 most wary could be deceived. And just here it was that 
 Rawlins s cleverness and good sense were evinced. He 
 was a young lawyer from Galena; he had known Grant 
 in civil life; he understood him and knew the amiability 
 of his disposition and his attachment to those whom he 
 regarded as his friends, and it seemed to me even at 
 that early date, that he deliberately took it upon himself 
 to guard his chief, and to assume the part of the watch 
 dog at the gate, a duty which he discharged to the great 
 good of the General and to the advantage of the country. 
 
 Rawlins had set his mind upon one thing, that there 
 should be no. liquor used on the Staff, save for medicinal 
 purpose. I well remember that on one occasion, a dis 
 tinguished officer of the regular army was assigned to 
 duty on the Staff. In due time, he arrived ; his baggage 
 was a very small portmanteau, and a quite large keg 
 
138 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 of whiskey. The fact was reported to Rawlins, who 
 was the Adjutant-General of General Grant s Staff. His 
 direction to the orderly was this: "Start the bung of 
 the keg, then throw it into the river, and then carry 
 the valise upstairs." And it was so done, to the chagrin 
 of the officer, who thundered as loudly as one of his 
 own guns. But it was too late, the keg floating away 
 on the stream. 
 
 Grant, as the world knows, was a man of gentle dis 
 position, yet he could be stern, where the discipline of 
 his profession was involved. While we were at Donel- 
 son, it was reported to him that some wanton burning 
 and destruction of property had been permitted by one 
 of his favorite colonels, who had a command up the 
 river. This officer had paid a visit to our headquarters, 
 and had left the General only a moment or so before 
 the report came in. If was apparently truthful. Grant s 
 action was prompt. Turning to one of his aides, he 
 said, "Captain, follow Colonel - , arrest him, take his 
 sword, and order him to report to me at once." The 
 unfortunate Colonel was arrested, to his intense sur 
 prise, before he had reached the top of the river bank, 
 but I believe he made his peace, as the charge was ex 
 aggerated. 
 
 About the 24th of February, as nearly as I can fix 
 the time, General Grant, with his Staff, went up to 
 Clarksville by boat. This place had been evacuated by 
 the enemy, and then occupied by General C. F. Smith, 
 and his division, acting under General Grant s order. 
 The town had some comfortable houses, but yet it seemed 
 lonely and desolate. On the following morning I think, 
 we returned to Donelson ; on our way down, while mak 
 ing a bend in the river, we came in sight of a number of 
 transports, crowded with troops coming up. The General, 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 139 
 
 who was sitting at a table in his headquarters on the cabin 
 deck, talking to Rawlins, when informed of arriving 
 troops, brought his hand down sharply on the table, and 
 exclaimed : "Rawlins, I have it ; this is probably Nelson 
 and his command. I will order him to report to Buell 
 at Nashville." 
 
 The interview between Grant and Nelson was a short 
 one. In a few moments the latter was back on his own 
 boat, and the dense cloud of black smoke, which rolled 
 from her smoke stacks, told plainly enough that no 
 time would be lost by "Bully Nelson/ strange mixture 
 and compound of sailor and soldier that he was. 
 
 So Nelson passed up to occupy Nashville, and Grant 
 in high good humor sailed down to his old position be 
 neath Fort Donelson. On the 27th or 28th of February, 
 Grant with all his staff started up the Cumberland River 
 to Nashville. The town looked sullen enough; there 
 had been but little real Union feeling there, although 
 everyone pretended to hold Northern sentiments. 
 Nearly all whom I saw were traders, anxious to estab 
 lish themselves, and to replenish old stocks now ex 
 hausted. As we passed, we noticed Buell s troops at 
 Edgefield, on the opposite side of the river from Nash 
 ville. He had not yet been able to cross, lacking trans 
 portation, and Nelson was still in command of the 
 town. Before we left, General Buell, with a full staff, 
 came over to Grant s boat. Buell s staff seemed large 
 and formal, and far better appointed than ours. All 
 the same, I imagined that there was a great difference 
 in favor of our General, between the two commanders. 
 The interview was formal, but I thought not particularly 
 cordial. I fancy that Buell was disposed to fault-find 
 ing. Some of his words could be heard, and such was 
 the impression conveyed to me, and to others. How- 
 
140 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ever, the interview was soon over, and we turned home 
 wards, that is, Donelsonward. 
 
 While at Nashville, we all narrowly escaped a bad 
 accident. The bridge at Edgefield had been burned, 
 but the stone piers still stood. Our boat was above the 
 piers ; the river level was twenty-five or thirty feet above 
 ordinary, with a furious current. The navigation be 
 tween the piers was very difficult, and to strike the piers 
 would have been the destruction of our boat. Our 
 steamer in coming down, swerved, lost her headway, 
 and was in great danger of striking the pier sideways. 
 A catastrophe seemed inevitable, but somehow or other, 
 the pilot brought her head around a little, and we passed 
 through, with scarcely an inch to spare. I never could 
 understand how we escaped; for a moment it seemed 
 as if we had not a ghost of a chance. 
 
 I have frequently spoken of Grant s humor. Here is 
 an illustration apropos of a little question of mine. A 
 great deal had been said about the water battery at 
 Fort Donelson and I had asked the General what a 
 water battery really was. His answer had been "I will 
 tell you some day, Doctor." On this trip, as we were 
 ascending the river, an orderly came for me in great 
 haste, saying the General wanted me immediately, that 
 I was to report to him without delay. I obeyed in 
 stantly. He took me by the arm, led me to the 
 "Texas," and then pointing to the muzzle of a single 
 gun, he said with great glee, "There is a water battery, 
 study it well, and you will learn more than the engineers 
 know." 
 
 We reached Nashville on the evening of the 28th, and 
 my business at this time required me to be a good deal 
 among the troops stationed there. On one occasion just 
 after the capture, I rode through Dover, a little town, 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 141 
 
 and seeing a number of soldiers gathered in the court 
 house, I went in. I found a number of men in the 
 record room. A fire was burning in the corner, into 
 which they were busily piling the written leaves of the 
 registers of deeds and wills. This I stopped, and then 
 looking a little carefully, I found one man, sitting on a 
 pile of large rebel ammunition with a lighted pipe in 
 his mouth, and pleasantly occupied in tearing or pick 
 ing out the cartridge ends. I had him and the rest of 
 his friends out of that dangerous corner in very short 
 time, and notified the Provost Marshal of that perilous 
 unknown arsenal. Soldiers are often more silly than 
 children. At times, they seem absolutely unable to take 
 care of themselves. 
 
 At this time, I was riding a dear little "secesh" sorrel 
 pony with a dark-brown tail. She was as tame as could 
 be and would follow me anywhere. I did not tie her 
 but used to leave her at the door when I went into a 
 hospital, and she would wait. On one occasion, I went 
 into a house to see a sick soldier, leaving her as usual. 
 When I came down, I found her in the entry, patiently 
 waiting for me. To reach there, she had ascended one 
 or two porch steps, had then crossed the porch and 
 entered the open house door. She was a charming so 
 ciable little nag, and I parted from her with regret when 
 the time came. She had been loaned to me by the 
 Quartermaster. 
 
 The question of courage, personal courage, is a strange 
 one. At the storming of Fort Donelson was a young 
 regimental lieutenant, who distinguished himself by his 
 lack of personal bravery. When his regiment ad 
 vanced, he became demoralized, in fact to use the 
 western phrase "stampeded." Instead of leading his 
 men on, he dropped back, and lay down behind a fallen 
 
142 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 tree. For a while he was safe, but while endeavouring 
 to stalk still further to the rear, he was wounded from 
 behind, a stray ball injuring his knee joint. He refused 
 all operation, and died a few days later from septic 
 poisoning. He did not appear to greatly fear death, 
 but although he knew he was disgraced in the eyes of 
 his comrades, he still had an idea that he was, after 
 all, a martyr. I saw him not very long before his 
 death, and as I parted from him, his last words to me 
 were, "Doctor, the tree of liberty is watered with my 
 blood." His poor old father, quite a prominent officer 
 of a neighboring state, felt deeply the stain on his name. 
 He said to me that under the circumstances he would 
 rather his son should die than live. He was a brave 
 old Spartan; his great desire was to enlist as a private 
 soldier in the regiment in which his son had been and 
 thus try and obliterate the disgrace of his name. This 
 attempt on his part was absolutely forbidden; but I can 
 never forget the grim set of the old man s jaw. 
 
 The interior of the fort was a sorry sight, I mean 
 that portion near the bank of the river; a great amount 
 of crude pork had been piled under the bluff by the 
 Confederates before we took the place, and was in 
 sufficiently salted. Salt in the Confederacy was scarce 
 then, and under the influence of the rain and the rising 
 water, it had been decomposed and formed a horrid 
 mess; it was good for nothing and had become a nui 
 sance. The salt had indeed lost its savor. Yet, in the 
 end, it served to make much trouble, and almost caused 
 the loss of a commander to the Army of the Tennessee, 
 and possibly to the country, and thus. Busybodies had 
 spread the report that after the capture of the fort, 
 General Grant had allowed the destruction of much valu 
 able property (which, as Rawlins once told me, meant 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 143 
 
 "that pork"). Then, too, it was asserted that his living 
 was irregular, that he had disobeyed orders, and in fact, 
 that he had lost his head, and wandered up and down 
 the river, in an aimless manner, thus permitting his 
 army to become a mere mob, disorganized and un 
 manageable. The truth was that Fort Donelson once 
 taken, Grant saw with a true soldier s eye that the next 
 moves on the checkerboard of war would be the occu 
 pation of Clarkesville and Nashville, and the penetration 
 of the southern land by columns moving from Nashville. 
 But his superiors at St. Louis and Washington thought 
 otherwise; Nashville was to be taken by Buell, who was 
 heading thither at a snail s pace. Grant at this time, 
 having captured Fort Donelson, was anxious to occupy 
 Nashville, but his orders forbade him. It was only 
 when Nelson s division on transports met Grant upon 
 the river above Fort Donelson (having been ordered to 
 report to him while the siege of Fort Donelson was in 
 progress), and reached the fort, now ours, when their 
 services were not needed, that the idea struck Grant 
 that he could order Nelson to report to Buell at Nash 
 ville, Buell, not having reached there, and Nashville 
 not having been captured by Union troops. So Grant 
 captured Nashville with Buell s men, Buell himself be 
 ing an unwilling spectator from the opposite, or wrong 
 side, of the river. These facts were perfectly well 
 known upon Grant s staff, and caused not a little un 
 kind feeling on the parts of Generals Buell and Halleck. 
 Buell was an angry man. He had but a poor opinion 
 of Grant, and in one of his dispatches either to Halleck 
 or McClellan, he used the expression, "My troops are 
 being filched from me." This I have seen in official 
 form. 
 And here I wish to add a note explanatory of the 
 
144 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 circumstances under which I saw these dispatches for 
 a second time, and at my leisure. At a later period in 
 the war, I was stationed at Washington, and detailed 
 on duty in the office of the Surgeon-General to prepare 
 the Surgical History of the War. Grant was at that 
 time in the neighborhood of Washington with his head 
 quarters at the War Department. Wishing to refresh 
 my memory on the events of the period on which I am 
 now writing, I asked and obtained permission through 
 Rawlins, to look over the old record and dispatch books 
 on file in the office. This permission was readily 
 granted, and as I knew so many of the old staff well, 
 I had every opportunity for study, and was thus en 
 abled to read what I pleased. Not a little rough manu 
 script which I then compiled was afterwards printed in 
 the Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion. 
 
 I find in a letter to Dr. DaCosta, some opinions of 
 what was taking place around me. My letter is dated : 
 
 "Headquarters, Fort Donelson, March 2, 1862," and 
 reads in part as follows : 
 
 "I have not had time to write you since the battle with 
 its stupendous results. We took Nashville, not Buell, 
 for it fell in consequence of Donelson. I am afraid 
 Buell, who has now 125,000 men, is too cautious. He 
 sent down yesterday, or the day before, for Smith s 
 command of 2,500 men, to Nashville, when he had 
 40,000 or 50,000 there. He should push on, and not 
 allow the enemy time to fortify at Murfreesboro. Grant 
 would do it. By the way, our General is a good soldier 
 and prompt. He means what he says, and says what he 
 means. He is not afraid of responsibility. On the Fri 
 day before Donelson, he told me, Doctor, if I was a 
 little more assured of my men, I would storm with every 
 man at twelve tonight, but I am not sure of them in a 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 145 
 
 night melee/ The place must fall to a moral certainty. 
 On Saturday night, he was certain of it, and told us in 
 the morning that we would be in, and so wrote to Hal- 
 leek. He and I have the biggest kind of military talks, 
 and it would do you good to hear me expressing my 
 views as to the next steps. Grant told me the other day, 
 Doctor, wherever I go, I want you to come, and he 
 would not allow me to be moved from his staff when 
 Dr. Hewitt joined. He was on Smith s staff, but very 
 generously applied to be relieved, as he saw Grant wanted 
 me. He did not wish to interfere with me, so now I 
 rank everybody, unless some old regular surgeon should 
 be sent here." 
 
 On March 4th, General Grant and his staff left Fort 
 Donelson and rode over to Fort Henry, taking up our 
 quarters on a steamer. At this time an expedition was 
 fitted out to ascend the Tennessee River. It went under 
 the command of General C. F. Smith. Grant remained 
 on the boat at Fort Henry, and I stayed with him. The 
 country around the fort was thoroughly inundated, and 
 as a consequence, the health of the troops who had en 
 camped there, had suffered greatly, especially from camp 
 dysentery and fevers. 
 
 On March 6th, I rode over to Fort Donelson, to look 
 after the sick and wounded, and this done, on the fol 
 lowing afternoon started by boat to go round Fort 
 Henry again. We steamed pleasantly down the river, 
 the night was brightly moonlight, and I was sitting on 
 the upper deck by the side of the big smoke pipes or 
 stacks. Of a sudden, without warning, we were en 
 veloped, that is, I was, in dense smoke. We were steer 
 ing very close to the shore, and had run into an im 
 mense sycamore tree which grew on the bank. Our 
 huge pipes were instantly broken off and lay prostrate 
 
146 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 on the deck, volumes of thick, choking smoke rolling 
 from their stumps. Fortunately, I at that moment was 
 sitting close to the ladder, which led to the lower deck, 
 and although in utter darkness, I was able to creep down 
 and find refuge below. By moderating the fires, the 
 dense smoke was in some way eliminated, and we crept 
 slowly along, reaching Paducah the next morning. Here 
 I found thirty-eight transports loaded with men, waiting 
 to ascend the Tennessee River. In a short note to my 
 sister, mailed from here, I find that I refer to a photo 
 graph sent her of General Grant, which probably was the 
 first I had of him. I told her "I will send you an auto 
 graph of Grant s to put under the photograph. By the 
 way, his name properly is U. Grant; this, he told me 
 himself; the cadets nicknamed him U. S. Grant, 
 (Uncle Sam). It crept into the army register as U. S. 
 Grant, and so he has always written it since." 
 
 At Paducah, I found many newspaper reporters and 
 was surrounded, and pumped for battle-field anecdotes. 
 My imagination was then vivid and I gave it scope. 
 The same day "Nigger" and I went up the river and re 
 ported at headquarters. "Nigger" was my jet-black 
 horse, so named by my servant. I called him "Nig" for 
 short, and he soon learned his name. On reaching the 
 old headquarters, I passed several very pleasant days. 
 One thing I particularly remember. We had a washer 
 woman on board, who not only could wash, but could 
 also darn, so I had an opportunity of overhauling an 
 important part of my wardrobe, and was for the present 
 relieved from the unpleasant necessity of tying up my 
 stocking toes to get rid of the holes. 
 
 It was at this time, that a remarkable occurrence took 
 place which might have influenced not only the after 
 career of the General, but indeed possibly that of the 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 147 
 
 nation also. I have already referred to the dissatisfac 
 tion felt by General Halleck, and by the War Depart 
 ment authorities at Washington with the events which 
 followed the surrender of Fort Donelson, and how blame 
 was heaped upon the head of General Grant, a victorious 
 general, and so far, the only successful general of the 
 war. Matters soon culminated. On March 2nd, Gen 
 eral Grant was ordered back to Fort Henry, and on the 
 4th was ordered to place General C. F. Smith in com 
 mand of the expedition up the Tennessee River. On 
 the 6th of March, General Halleck severely reprimanded 
 Grant for neglect of duty after capture of Fort Donelson. 
 
 On the 7th, and subsequently on the nth, Grant asked 
 to be relieved from duty in the Department. After the 
 7th, the day on which, at Fort Henry, he received Hal- 
 leek s letter of the 6th, he was practically in arrest, and 
 so continued until the receipt of a letter from Halleck, 
 dated St. Louis, March I3th, 1862, refusing to relieve 
 him from duty, as he had requested, and closing thus: 
 "Instead of relieving you, I wish you, as soon as your 
 new army is in the field to assume the immediate com 
 mand and lead it on to new victories."* The communi 
 cations of Halleck to Grant, I saw when they were 
 received, and of the virtual arrest of Grant on the 7th 
 of March I was cognizant, Rawlins having told me of 
 it at the time, and General Grant having spoken of it 
 to his staff. 
 
 It would seem as if these discourtesies, and the prac 
 tical arrest of the General were the result of communi 
 cations passing between Halleck at St. Louis and Gen 
 eral McClellan at Washington, and somehow or other, 
 I also formed the opinion at the time that General 
 
 * Official records, War of the Rebellion, Series i, Vol. X, Part 11, 
 P. 32. 
 
148 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 Buell s complaints had not a little to do in leading to 
 the misunderstandings. 
 
 The treatment received by General Grant from his su 
 perior officers at this time cut him bitterly. In a letter 
 written by me to Dr. DaCosta from Fort Henry, dated 
 March nth, 1862, I alluded thus to passing events: 
 "Grant has been demanded to be relieved from this de 
 partment. Halleck did not arrest Grant, but ordered him 
 to remain here, as bad, if not worse. Out here, we are 
 destitute of good artillery men, and cavalry officers, and 
 were it not for the innate pluck of the troops and officers, 
 we should be in a bad way. I have seen the telegrams 
 and dispatches and was never more surprised in my life, 
 than when I read the one putting the General on the 
 shelf. It was infamous, and the blame rests with his 
 superior officers, and that confounded - , a Chief of 
 Staff, a Miss Nancy of the worse kind. I traveled with 
 him, and he is the only man I ever saw who watched 
 a checked piece of baggage. When this thing comes 
 out, defend Grant. He obeyed his orders to the letter, 
 and had he not been stopped, would have been at Chatta 
 nooga at this time. His fault was in being too strong 
 and active." 
 
 His headquarters at Fort Henry were on a steamer, 
 I think still the "Tigress." During this interval be 
 tween the 6th and I3th of March, 1862, when he was 
 under a cloud, I passed on one occasion, into the back 
 part of the cabin deck, that part curtained off as the 
 ladies saloon, used at the time as the private office of 
 headquarters. My own stateroom was near to Grant s, 
 and opened into the office of Generals Logan, Ogelsby, 
 Cook, Lawler, who, with others of the staff, recently 
 created brigadier?, at Grant s recommendation, were 
 there. Several of them who had been at the Battle of 
 
Incidents of the Siege of Fort Donelson 149 
 
 Belmont were known as the Belmont Colonels. They 
 had just presented a sword of honor to General Grant, 
 and it lay upon its open case upon the table. The Gen 
 eral had received it when presented, but unable to an 
 swer and overcome by his emotions, he turned and went 
 back through the cabin door on to the open deck. I was 
 at first ignorant of what had happened, but was told. 
 In a little while most of the officers, indeed, I think, 
 all, had left the headquarters office, and shortly after 
 wards I went out on the guards, and there stumbled 
 across the General. The tears were on his face, un 
 mistakably. He took me by the arm, without a word, 
 led me back to the round table on which the sword lay, 
 in its open case, pushed it as it were, toward me, say 
 ing, "Doctor, send it to my wife, I will never wear a 
 sword again." The incident made a deep impression 
 on me at the time, and has never since passed from my 
 mind. 
 
 While here, Grant actively and regularly pushed for 
 ward the regulations for the expedition up the river 
 under General Smith. Anxious to give me every chance, 
 he ordered me to report to Sherman, who had a com 
 mand with General C. F. Smith on this expedition, but 
 as I saw that Sherman did not want me, but did want 
 Surgeon Hewitt, and as there was a difficulty as to my 
 rank, I ventured to suggest that I should remain behind 
 with Grant, and so I was relieved of my order to him, 
 and returned to Grant s headquarters. When I told 
 him, he took me by both hands, saying, "My boy, I 
 knew you would not leave me; stay with me." Kind 
 as he had always been, and always was afterwards to 
 me, this was, I believe, the only time at which he was 
 familiar to me. 
 
 I might mention here the manner and deportment of 
 
150 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Grant and Smith. Smith had been commandant at 
 West Point when Grant had been in the academy as a 
 cadet. The latter in one sense still looked up to him 
 in the memory of his old office; and yet I could not help 
 feeling, and noticing, that there was an unconscious 
 deference on the part of Smith to Grant as a soldier. 
 It was apart from rank; it seemed indescribable; but 
 it was there, it was the recognition of the master. On 
 the evening before the expedition sailed, as the two 
 walked up and down the guards of the boat, the last 
 walk they ever took together, this relationship seemed 
 to me stronger than ever. 
 
 The week I spent on the boat at this time, and after 
 Smith had sailed away, and left our headquarters de 
 serted and lonely with the troops all away, seemed sad 
 enough. The General was depressed, Rawlins was out 
 of spirits, and everyone, down to the very orderlies, was 
 feeling below par. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 UP THE TENNESSEE 
 
 About the 1 3th or I4th of March, Grant was restored 
 to his command, "let loose" as it were, to start on that 
 career of destruction of the Confederacy, which ended 
 at Appomattox, Va., April 9, 1865. Once in command 
 of the new levies and reinforcements which were pour 
 ing up the Tennessee, he made arrangement to go up 
 with his staff immediately. The water in the river at this 
 time was very high, fully fifty feet above the low water, 
 or ordinary level of the river. The forts and the fences, 
 erected by the enemy at various points, were, therefore, 
 untenable in most instances. Our vessels and gunboats 
 commanded them. Then, too, the width of the river 
 had been enormously increased, and dry banks were so 
 far removed, that the enemy could find no vantage 
 ground from which to annoy our transports. The flood 
 of water swept down with irresistible force, carrying 
 away small houses, mills, sheds, lumber, trees and every 
 thing which could float. Navigation for our heavily 
 laden boats was therefore somewhat difficult. Some 
 times, at nights, our boats would be carried by the waters 
 into the roads, stick there until daylight, and then have 
 to be cut out with axes, so that they could find their 
 way back into open stream. However, by great care 
 and watchfulness, all of the transports, from eighty to 
 a hundred in number, were successfully conducted to 
 Savannah, Tennessee, and to Pittsburgh Landing, a few 
 
152 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 miles above on the opposite shore, soon to receive such 
 bloody notoriety. Nearly all of the enemy s gunboats 
 had been captured or destroyed. The one or two which 
 had escaped and gone up small creeks, were neutralized 
 by our own war vessels. 
 
 About the middle of March, our headquarters moved 
 up the Tennessee River. We were received with great 
 joy by many of the inhabitants, and it seemed very 
 strange once more to see the old flag hoisted on im 
 promptu flag poles, and to hear the loud cheers of the 
 poor, upon the banks. The people had been hardly 
 treated. The men had been dragged off, often marched 
 at the tail of the cart, to the southern armies, and their 
 homes had been ransacked for supplies. Whatever 
 might have been the case in other portions of the South, 
 it was unquestionably true that a strong and genuine 
 Union feeling existed along the banks of the river in 
 Hardin and McNairy Counties. 
 
 At Savannah, our boat rested. Here we found that 
 General C. F. Smith had established his headquarters 
 in a small house, not very far from the landing. While 
 we lay at the landing, I spent a good deal of time on 
 shore, and saw something of the inhabitants. I remem 
 ber one family which was secesh to the back-bone. It 
 consisted of five daughters and two sons, the latter 
 away in the rebel army. I soon became quite intimate 
 with the young ladies, and after a while they would 
 sing to me their Secession songs. 
 
 One was: 
 
 "Wait for the wagon, the dissolution wagon, 
 And we ll all take a ride." 
 
 Another : 
 
 "To arms, to arms in Dixie land." 
 
Up the Tennessee 153 
 
 Another, and this was the most favorite one with 
 them: 
 
 "And, one, two, three, we ll crush them!" 
 
 I remained here until the 22nd of March, 1862. A 
 great amount of sickness existed at this time among the 
 troops, malaria, dysentery, typhoid; and in fact all the 
 diseases partook more or less of the typhoid type. I was 
 fighting all the time to obtain proper food, medicines, 
 and medical supplies. Fresh meat was in great demand, 
 and although I knew well the commissary of subsist 
 ence, Major Leland, one of the famous Leland brothers, 
 hotel proprietors of New York City, it was only by 
 positive threats of preferment of charges, that I could 
 succeed in procuring the necessary fresh food for our 
 sick. So pressing was the demand for all of these 
 necessities, that General Grant determined to send me 
 to St. Louis to procure what I could by personal inter 
 view and request from General Halleck. The follow 
 ing was General Grant s order in his own handwriting: 
 
 "Headquarters, District of Tennessee, 
 
 Savanna, March 22, 1862. 
 SPECIAL ORDER 
 No. 32. 
 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton will proceed to St. Louis, Mo. 
 without delay, and procure through the Medical Director 
 and Purveyor of the Department, the necessary medical 
 stores and supplies for the growing wants of this District 
 and return. 
 
 By order, 
 
 U. S. GRANT, 
 
 Maj. Gen. Comg." 
 
154 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 In obedience to this order, not a very agreeable one, 
 I started by boat for St. Louis, down the Tennessee and 
 Ohio and up the Mississippi Rivers. I had a rather 
 strange meeting on the boat. As we were nearing St. 
 Louis, a long-haired, shabby, lank individual, looking 
 wonderfully like a Southerner came up to me, and said, 
 "How d ye do, Dr. Brinton?" I thanked him, and said, 
 "Who are you?" The answer was, "A spy." I started, 
 and asked him if there was not a certain risk in openly 
 avowing such a dangerous calling. "Not at all," he 
 said, "You won t betray me." I asked him how he 
 knew me. He said, "Do you remember many years ago 
 in company with Camac, Heyward and others, dissect 
 ing a long negro subject at the Jefferson College? I 
 was one of the others," he said. He asked me if a 
 young man named DaCosta was not a friend of mine. 
 Then he said, "I am from West Chester (or Chester) 
 County; I came out to Memphis, Tenn., to settle, and 
 practice my profession. When the war broke out I was 
 getting along nicely, and had married. I was called an 
 abolitionist and driven away. My poor wife was turned 
 out of the town without shelter. Her baby was born 
 by the roadside. Mother and child both died. Then I 
 swore vengeance on the Southern cause. I let my hair 
 grow and turned spy. I have done them a world of 
 harm, and will go on doing it. I do not care for my 
 own life, if I can only hurt the enemy." I asked him 
 where he had been last. "With Pillow s command," 
 said he. "I had the clothes of a young Virginian of 
 ficer, who was killed in the east, and I have passed my 
 self off for him, and have been some days in camp 
 down the river. But they became suspicious, and I 
 have come up to report to Halleck." When I saw 
 Halleck afterwards, I told him of this man, and I after- 
 
Up the Tennessee 155 
 
 wards learned from some headquarters source that his 
 story was a true one. 
 
 On my arrival at headquarters, I reported to the 
 Medical Director and General Halleck on March 28th. 
 The latter listened to all I had to say, and told me he 
 would do the best he could for me. On my way to 
 St. Louis, I had stopped at Cairo, and had obtained 
 from the Medical Director, Surgeon Simons, additional 
 facts as to the deficiencies, and also as to the hospital 
 resources of the District of Cairo. Returning from 
 St. Louis, I stopped at Cairo, and was there on the 3ist 
 of March, detailed on a board to examine into certain 
 alleged abuses at Mound City Hospital. 
 
 The battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh Chapel 
 occurred on April 6th and 7th, 1862. At that time, I 
 was on board duty from which I was immediately re 
 lieved, and ascended the river to Pittsburg Landing to 
 report. On my way up the river, we passed one or two 
 hospital steamers coming down. They were crowded 
 with wounded, additional accommodations having been 
 established by the pitching of the hospital tents upon 
 their upper decks. On arriving at Pittsburg Landing, 
 I found a busy scene. On Sunday, the 6th, the great 
 battle of Shiloh, or Shiloh Chapel had been fought, the 
 enemy having attacked our army in their camp, and 
 driven them well back. Late in the afternoon, General 
 Buell with the Army of Ohio had arrived. The army 
 bivouacked in the rain during the night. Early in the 
 morning, on Monday the 7th, Grant ordered a general 
 advance along the whole line. The enemy fell back, 
 at first slowly, afterwards rapidly, and retreated to his 
 works at Corinth. His dead and many of his wounded 
 were abandoned. About this time, Surgeon Simons, 
 U. S. A., came up from Cairo, and for a short time 
 
156 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 discharged the duties of Medical Director of General 
 Grant s army of the Tennessee. Before long, on April 
 24th, he was relieved and ordered to report for duty at 
 Cairo. At the same time, I received the following order : 
 
 "Headquarters Department of the Mississippi, 
 
 Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 24, 1862. 
 
 SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS 
 No. 26. 
 
 Brigade Surgeon Brinton will perform the duties of 
 Medical Director of General Grant s Army until Surgeon 
 Simon s return. 
 
 By order of Major Genl. Halleck, 
 And 
 
 C. Kemper, 
 
 Asst. Adj. Genl." 
 Surgeon Brinton. 
 
 I acted as Medical Director for a little time until the 
 coming of old Dr. McDougal, U. S. A., who had arrived 
 toward the end of April, and who acted as the Medical 
 Director of the Armies of the Tennessee. His office 
 was on the headquarters boat at the landing. I re 
 mained with Dr. McDougal until the 2nd of May, when 
 he sent me to General Halleck s headquarters in the field, 
 to represent him. My title was "Medical Director in 
 the field"; my duty to report to him and keep him in 
 formed. General Halleck came from St. Louis about 
 April nth or I2th, and assumed chief command of the 
 Armies of the Tennessee, of the Ohio (under Buell), 
 and of the Mississippi (under Pope). This large joint 
 consolidated army was sometimes spoken of as "The 
 Army of the Tennessee," or "The Armies of the Ten 
 nessee." 
 
Up the Tennessee 157 
 
 General Halleck s headquarters were not very far re 
 moved from the "Landing" on a high bluff. During 
 the time I was at the "Landing," I lived on General 
 Grant s headquarters boat. At first, as can be seen from 
 my orders, I was with Medical Director Simons, and 
 afterwards with Medical Director McDougal. By each 
 one of these I was treated with the greatest kindness. 
 During my stay with these gentlemen, I was very busy. 
 I occupied a sort of inspection position. My duties were 
 to ride from camp to camp, to visit the hospitals, to 
 inform myself of their wants. If anything was wrong, 
 I would look into and report it to my chief. I had a 
 great deal to do in the matter of transportation, and in 
 getting the sick and wounded to the hospital boats, and 
 in seeing that they were started in as good condition as 
 possible. 
 
 In all this apparent turmoil, many incidents of interest 
 occurred. In the pages on the fight of Belmont, Mo., 
 I have spoken of a Captain Polk, of the Southern service. 
 He was a nephew of Bishop General Polk, who had for 
 merly been educated at West Point, and then, having 
 entered the Episcopal Church, had later been consecrated 
 Bishop. Captain Polk, I met on a flag of truce, sent 
 from Cairo to Columbus. He and I quite fraternized, 
 and he asked me to promise that in case he should be 
 hit at any time, and would let me know, that I would 
 come to him, bring him in our lines, and take care of 
 him. And so it happened. About the I4th or I5th of 
 April, he did send me word that he had been hit in the 
 leg, was completely disabled, and was lying at a Con 
 federate hospital, some seven or eight miles away from 
 Shiloh within the southern lines. He asked me to come 
 with an ambulance, and bring him into our lines, where 
 he could be well cared for. I placed the matter before 
 
158 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 General Grant, told him of my former promise, and 
 asked his permission to go with a truce flag and bring 
 Polk in. This he declined, but finally consented that I 
 should take an ambulance, stretcher, and one or two 
 hospital attendants, and go absolutely unarmed, at my 
 own risk, as it were, but with the express stipulation that 
 if I should bring in the wounded man, he would be re 
 garded as a prisoner of war. 
 
 So on the i6th of April I went after him, riding by 
 the side of the empty ambulance, without any white 
 flag. I soon passed our picket lines, and entered into 
 the lonely neutral country beyond. It was very lonely, 
 and so quiet, that even the birds seemed to be afraid to 
 sing. After a while, I caught sight of the enemy s 
 pickets and someone advanced and inquired if we were 
 the "Doctor s party." On my affirmative, he said that 
 he had been sent to meet us, and to take us to the little 
 hospital where Polk, I think they called him Major, was. 
 I went there and found him. He was most glad to see 
 us, welcomed us to the hospital, gave us an excellent 
 dinner, with some delicious fresh butter, which had been 
 sent to him by his wife. I explained to him that I 
 would take him to our hospital boats, and do the best 
 that I could for him, but although he would come volun 
 tarily, he still would be a prisoner. "All right," he said, 
 and sticking his hand into his pocket, and pulling out a 
 roll of notes, he added, "See here are a lot of Lincoln s 
 pictures; I ll get along." So as it was time to return, 
 his friends lifted him carefully into the ambulance, put 
 in some vegetables and fresh butter, and I started off. 
 The Confederates passed us through their pickets, and 
 took leave of us, with many expressions of good will. 
 Then I took him to the hospital boat under Dr. Turner s 
 care, and here I left him, with instructions that he 
 
Up the Tennessee 159 
 
 should be kept on the boat for the present. He remained 
 for a trip or two, when finally the fact was discovered 
 by the patriotic citizens of Evansville (or some town 
 on the river), who, on hearing that a wounded rebel 
 major was being accommodated on board a hospital boat, 
 forcibly carried him to a U. S. hospital. I heard that 
 his leg was afterwards amputated, but that he had re 
 covered. I have never seen or heard of or from him 
 since. 
 
 This ride afforded me an admirable chance of seeing 
 the extreme limits of a battle field, and the track of the 
 enemy s retreat. The roads were all in a bad condition, 
 the rain had been heavy after the battle, and the artillery 
 and baggage trains had cut deep ruts. 
 
 During my stay at the "Landing," I was constantly 
 dispatched on detached duty. On the 25th of April, 
 1862, I was sent by General Grant on a tugboat to 
 Savannah, Tennessee, twenty miles below, to see Gen 
 eral C. F. Smith, who had been very sick, and who was 
 reported to be sinking. I found him unconscious and 
 moribund, and during the night he died. He was said 
 to have been perhaps the handsomest man in the army, 
 erect, six feet four in stature. He was fond of the 
 army, was universally esteemed, and left the reputation 
 of a good and faithful soldier. In the execution of 
 duty, he knew no friend, but duty over, he was a most 
 genial commander. 
 
 My old friend Dr. Henry S. Hewitt, used to tell the 
 following of him. On one occasion late at night, Hewitt 
 and he were engaged in a fierce discussion on theological 
 points, and notably, on Purgatory. The utility of such a 
 state was stoutly challenged by the General. "Why, 
 Doctor," he said, "do you mean to say that I shall ever 
 go to Purgatory?" "General," was the answer, "the 
 
160 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 time will come when you will die, will go up to Heaven s 
 gate, and claim admittance." Who comes? St. Peter 
 will demand. I, Charles F. Smith, Major General of 
 the United States Army/ Have you passed a proper 
 stage? No, I come direct, and plead my mortal life 
 and claims. General/ will be St. Peter s answer, I 
 know you well; I know your life; you have been a spot 
 less citizen, an obedient son, a kind and loving father, 
 an affectionate and tender husband ; you have been a 
 brave soldier, a true patriot, a gallant and distinguished 
 general; but General, you, of all others, should know 
 that discipline must be preserved, and that you must 
 spend a few days in Purgatory/ As this climax was 
 reached, the General in surprise and admiration drew 
 himself up against the door of the stateroom, which 
 yielded to his weight, and he stumbled backwards, land 
 ing in his berth, muttering strangely, "So discipline must 
 be preserved, and I must spend a few days in Purgatory ; 
 St. Peter thinks so." 
 
 I remember, too, another amusing incident about 
 General Smith in which Sheridan (of whom I will have 
 more to say in the next chapter), and I, and some 
 amazing mint juleps, all played a part. It happened that 
 as Sheridan and I were riding together one afternoon, 
 he checked his horse and began sniffing. "I smell mint," 
 said he, "we must find it," and he did and returned to 
 camp with a generous supply. That night, we, or rather 
 he, made mighty juleps, greatly appreciated by those who 
 participated. Someone said, "How old Smith would 
 enjoy one." Now, General C. F. Smith was asleep in 
 his tent at the time, and it was not well to disturb him, 
 but I volunteered and the julep was made. I went to 
 his tent, separated the hangings, and reached in my 
 arm, holding the tumbler at full length. Smith had been 
 
Up the Tennessee 161 
 
 reading, and was half asleep, the candle flickering on 
 the campstool at the head of his cot. The noise roused 
 him, he raised himself on his elbows, anathematized his 
 disturber, and then catching sight of the glass, crowned 
 with green, he stared and stared. Finally the great truth 
 burst upon him. "By G this is kind," he said, and 
 sliding from beneath the coverings, he crept slowly for 
 ward, grasped the glass, and muttering, "Kind indeed!" 
 hurried back to his bed. But he never found out who 
 did it. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 AFTER SHILOH WITH HALLECK 
 
 About the 2nd of May, 1862, General Halleck deter 
 mined to move out in command of the army, to the 
 front, wherever that might be found, in the direction 
 of Corinth, the intersection of the two great railroads. 
 Dr. McDougal being almost too old to go into the field, 
 and there being much for him to do at Pittsburg Land 
 ing, he determined to send me with General Halleck s 
 headquarters as a medical director in the field, with 
 instructions to keep him informed of all matters of 
 medical interest which might take place. Accordingly 
 I started to report at headquarters, and was ordered to 
 come with them. On making my few preparations, and 
 returning, I found that the headquarters had already 
 moved. The tents had nearly all been struck, the ground 
 was littered with empty boxes, cans and bottles. The 
 only officer I could see was a little man with black hair, 
 and rather scant beard and mustache, who was flitting 
 about vigorously doing something or nothing, I could 
 scarcely tell which. I entered into conversation with 
 him. He said his name was Sheridan, Captain Sheridan, 
 and that he was a sort of headquarters quartermaster, 
 to look after the staff comforts. He did not seem to 
 have a very exalted opinion of his duties, rather regard 
 ing himself as a fifth wheel. He inquired as to my name, 
 rank and duties, and I think remarked that my own 
 position and duties were as vague and shadowy as his 
 
 162 
 
After Skiloh With Halleck 163 
 
 own, as neither of us had distinctive position or abiding 
 place on the staff. "Who are you going to mess with, 
 and how will you live when you get there?" he asked 
 me. "I am sure, I don t know," I said. "Then, let s 
 live together," said he. "We ll join our mess kits. I ll 
 find the transportation, and we will do the best we can. 
 Do you think you could get a bit of ice from your med 
 ical resources?" he asked me. I said yes, that we had 
 more than we could use. "Good, get a wagon load, and 
 I ll find four animals to pull it, so we ll start house 
 keeping with an ice house." And so began my acquaint 
 ance with Sheridan, Philip H. Sheridan, who figured 
 so largely in the after conduct of the war. And here 
 I might say that either on this day or the next, he broke 
 his wrist as he was mounting, his horse jumping for 
 ward when Sheridan s left foot only was in the stirrup. 
 He was jerked off and forward and in falling fractured 
 his wrist, I think the left, an oblique fracture of the 
 radius just above the wrist joint. The top of a cigar 
 box, a little triangular block, a chip left by the axe, where 
 a tree had been cut down, and a bandage served to dress 
 it. It made an excellent cure. Sheridan was anxious 
 that no one should know what the injury was, or that 
 it had occurred while he was mounting his horse. And 
 so no one ever knew how Captain Sheridan sprained his 
 arm. 
 
 And so we arranged that Sheridan and I should mess 
 together. I rode out after the headquarters with my 
 negro servant; the rain poured in torrents, and the road 
 was in dreadful condition. Just before reaching the 
 plateau at Monterey, where the headquarters camp was 
 to be pitched, I came to a little frame building used as 
 a small hospital. Here I found General Halleck and 
 his chief of staff, The latter was evidently uncom- 
 
164 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 fortable. He was always called "Miss Nancy," and dis 
 liked any exposure. His ride in the rain, the mud and 
 the general discomfort of all surroundings had been 
 too much for him; he was completely upset, and was 
 nosing around for creature comforts, when I found 
 him under pretence of finding something for General 
 Halleck. Confidentially, he spoke to me on the subject, 
 and I said that I would see what might be the resources 
 of the medical department. The doctor in charge of 
 the hospital was an excellent quick-brained fellow. In a 
 few moments he had a fine steak broiled, with plenty 
 of gravy, potatoes and mustard. This I sent to the 
 famished Generals, who were good enough to devour 
 it in silent majesty, and afterwards expressed to me 
 their admiration, and wonder as to how such a dish was 
 improvised. 
 
 After a while we settled down in camp, and I found 
 myself ensconced in an excellent wall or officer s tent, 
 side by side with Sheridan. And strange as it seems 
 now, I was the ranking officer, and so my bunk was 
 the highest up. 
 
 General Halleck treated me very kindly while I was 
 on his staff. He seemed to regard me as sort of a 
 literary character, an opinion based upon the fact that 
 I received every week, by the headquarters mail, my 
 number of the London Punch , which the General en 
 joyed as much as I did, and read regularly. I had for 
 years been accustomed to read Punch every Sunday 
 afternoon at the office of my dear old friend, Dr. Charles 
 S. Boker. When I went off to the war, he thoughtfully 
 and most kindly remembered it, and for a long time 
 Punch followed me to the "Headquarters in the Field," 
 and indeed until I reached the east again. 
 
 General Halleck s headquarters remained at Monterey, 
 
After SMloh With.Halleck 165 
 
 an imaginary cross-road s blacksmith shop, until May 
 1 5th, when they were moved forward four or five miles 
 to a point at the Corinth road, just where it crosses the 
 Mississippi line, and close to Corinth, Mississippi, in 
 and around which the enemy were said to be strongly 
 posted. General Grant s headquarters were close to 
 those of Halleck s. Grant, nominally second in com 
 mand, had at this time no real duties, and no immediate 
 command. His position was an anomalous one, and 
 under which he greatly chafed. 
 
 I remained on General Halleck s staff until the twenty- 
 fourth or twenty-fifth of May, when I left for Washing 
 ton. During those days, my life was a very pleasant one. 
 I was in general medical superintendence of the army 
 in the field and it was my duty to keep my chief, 
 Dr. McDougal, the Medical Director of the Army, ad 
 vised of all that was going on in our department. Then, 
 too, I had to see in a general way to the care of the 
 wounded and sick. For this purpose, I directed the 
 establishment of a large field hospital at Monterey with 
 a capacity of from one to two thousand beds. 
 
 As I have said, Sheridan and I messed together, and 
 saw a good deal of each other. I frequently rode with 
 him, and he was forever proposing that we should take 
 a little ride to see the land, as he would say, "It .is 
 always a good thing to get the lay of the country." 
 Many a little thing we picked up in this way. 
 
 I was very kindly treated on this staff, and have a 
 pleasant recollection of Col. Kelton, the Adjutant Gen 
 eral, and Colonel Thorn, the Engineer. General Halleck, 
 too, interested me greatly. I had formed, I hardly know 
 how, a very high idea of his military abilities. I thought 
 he was a really great man. I suppose I had been more 
 or less influenced by his military nickname "Old Brains." 
 
166 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 He had a large head and a thoughtful expression. He 
 seemed quick intellectually, with acute perceptive facul 
 ties. In speaking, he went at once to the heart of the 
 topic under discussion, and his questions were direct, 
 to the point, and rapidly put. He wore a big conical 
 hat, and he talked like an able man. Physically, he was 
 somewhat inert; he was fond of good living, and of 
 good wine, notably of hock. After dining, he was 
 often sleepy. From my after knowledge of him, I think 
 that at first I overestimated him. I saw a good deal of 
 and attended him in one or two slight attacks of illness. 
 
 About the 3rd of May, I received an order to report 
 at Washington for special duty, but on the i6th, I was 
 released from duty on this order, by a counter order 
 bearing the private endorsement of Dr. McDougal as 
 follows: "The Medical Director tenders his congratu 
 lations to Brigade Surgeon Brinton. Will be glad to 
 hear from him." 
 
 Imminence of battle was responsible for this change 
 of detail. Military affairs, however, dragged along 
 slowly without much change. Our lines were slowly 
 advanced and daily contracted more and more around 
 Corinth, a rifle pit and embankment being thrown up at 
 evening on each day s forward move. A battle, a great 
 one, I mean, was daily expected, but which with great 
 regularity did not take place. About the 22nd or 23rd 
 of May, I heard from Washington that I was expected 
 there, and on the 23rd I received a telegram, directing 
 me "to obey the order of May 3rd, directing me to 
 proceed to Washington." 
 
 So I had my wish at last to get away from the west, 
 and to go east. I had been dazzled by the idea of get 
 ting one of the recently created medical inspectorships, 
 and of leaving the western armies. Had I only known 
 
After Shiloh With Halleck 167 
 
 it, I was best off where I was. The western life, the 
 western men, really suited me. I was among the men 
 who were day by day making the nation s history, and 
 who were destined to become the heroes of the war. In 
 part, I felt this, but yet I did not realize it sufficiently. 
 On one occasion, General Grant asked me how I would 
 like to leave the Medical Department, and become one of 
 his aides. I suppose I ought to have taken advantage 
 of this offer, but my professional love was too strong, 
 and I lost the chance of my life. Glad as I was to 
 leave, I still felt a sort of grief at parting with those 
 who in eight months intercourse had become very much 
 endeared to me, and with some of whom I had formed 
 a friendship which lasted for years. 
 
 I took with me from the army headquarters, or rather 
 from Cairo, where I had been collecting them during 
 my service in the west, to Philadelphia, a box of frag 
 ments of shot and shell and bullets, intending to illus 
 trate any course of lectures on military surgery which I 
 might give. They passed by this order : 
 
 "Headquarters, Department Mississippi, 
 
 Camp Corinth Road, May 24th, 1862. 
 
 Authority is hereby given to Brigade Surgeon Brinton, 
 U. S. V., to ship a box containing shot and shell, etc., 
 from Cairo to Philadelphia, Penna. The contents of said 
 box have been collected by authority and for professional 
 purposes. 
 
 By order of Major Genl. Halleck, 
 
 J. C. Kelton, Asst. Adjt. Genl." 
 
 Under a like order from headquarters of the Depart 
 ment of the Cumberland, Nashville, a further quantity 
 of shot, shell and projectiles, broken and mutilated 
 
168 Personal Memoirs of John H, Brinton 
 
 weapons, and preparations of gunshot wounds were sent 
 to Philadelphia, and now form part of my collection. 
 
 And so I turned my back on the old staff, rode back to 
 Pittsburg Landing, and to the steamer "Polar Star," 
 the boat on which the Medical Director had his head 
 quarters. Here I remained a few hours finishing up my 
 business affairs, chief of which was the sale of my 
 big black horse. Strange to say, I did not lose on him, 
 but absolutely realized his cost. He was a fine animal, 
 and I had become quite used to him, and he to me. 
 So I parted with poor old "Nig," and started down the 
 river on the boat. 
 
 I do not remember much of my journey east, except 
 this, that my travel led through Philadelphia. How glad 
 I was to see my Mother and sisters. Although I had 
 been away from home only nine months, yet it seemed 
 as many years. But there I was at last, thinking that 
 my service in the west was over, but in military mat 
 ters, one can never foretell the future. I looked quite 
 a soldier, and traveled with sword, saddle box, trunk and 
 valise, just as if I were a man of importance. I was 
 very warmly welcomed in Philadelphia; men from the 
 western regions were rare birds then in the east. We 
 had been doing heavy fighting, and winning battles, but 
 in the east the armies had not as yet got fairly into 
 motion. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 SURGICAL HISTORY OF THE REBELLION 
 TO WASHINGTON. THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 
 
 In a very few days, I hastened to Washington in 
 obedience to my orders from the War Department, and 
 having reported to the Surgeon General, Dr. William A. 
 Hammond, received from the Adjutant General s office 
 of the War Department, an order to serve on a board 
 for the examination of candidates for the position of 
 Brigade Surgeon. 
 
 On the 4th of June, the Surgeon General handed me 
 also the sub-order, telling me that a room would be 
 assigned me in the Surgeon General s office. 
 
 "Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington City, June 4, 1862. 
 Sir: 
 
 In accordance with special orders No. 98, Adjt Gen 
 eral s Office of May 3, 1862, directing you to report to 
 the Surgeon General for special duty, you are assigned 
 to duty in this office to prepare the Surgical History 
 of the Rebellion. 
 
 I am Sir, very respectfully, yr. obt. Servt. 
 
 (Sgd) WM. A. HAMMOND, 
 
 Surgeon General U. S. Army. 
 
 Brig. Surg. J. H. Brinton, 
 U. S. Vols. 
 
 Washington, D. G" 
 169 
 
170 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 On reaching Washington, I had gone at once to 
 Willards Hotel, then the largest and best hotel in the 
 city. It was crowded with officers and politicians, and 
 was a busy center. At my first dinner, the cards of my 
 colleagues on the examining board, Drs. Clymer and 
 Warren Webster, were brought to me. The former, a 
 Brigade Surgeon of Volunteers, was considerably older 
 than myself, a Pennsylvanian by birth, who had practiced 
 formerly in Philadelphia. He was a contemporary of 
 Goddard, Gerhard and men of that age, and had been 
 a Professor in the Franklin College, and Physician to 
 the Blockley Almshouse. He was a man of the world, 
 of considerable ability, and I subsequently came to know 
 him quite well, and to like him. 
 
 The appearance of Washington City contrasted 
 strongly with that presented in July, 1861, when I saw 
 it last. Then all was absolute confusion, chaos; now 
 a certain sort of order or system was being inaugurated; 
 the military elements were being brought into shape; 
 the departments were being extended and developed in 
 accordance with the work they had to do. The Army 
 of the Potomac, as organized by McClellan, had moved 
 down to the peninsula, and was about entering on its 
 long bloody career. Government, the departments, gen 
 erals, soldiers, and civilians, were awakening to the 
 magnitude of the task; politicians were alive to the 
 chance of the future, and army contractors dreamed 
 golden dreams. 
 
 The Medical Department of the Army, which for the 
 first few months of the war had shown almost im 
 becility, and which had been conducted on the basis of 
 the army establishment of the Mexican War, had under 
 gone a change. An active man, Dr. Wm. A. Hammond, 
 impulsive, it is true, but of far-reaching view, and san- 
 
Surgical History of the Rebellion 171 
 
 guine temperament, had been raised to the office of Sur 
 geon-General, and had infused fresh life and energy 
 throughout the whole Department. Much has been said 
 against him, heavy charges have been pressed, but from 
 an intimate knowledge of the man, and his surroundings, 
 I am convinced that much injustice has been done, and 
 much undeserved obloquy has been cast upon him. He 
 was not always wise or prudent; his ways of doing 
 things were not always judicious; but he sought to 
 make the Medical Department of our army efficient, 
 and to render it capable of caring for the sick and 
 wounded, and that, too, in no niggardly or tardy spirit. 
 
 When he was first appointed as Surgeon-General, I 
 was on the Tennessee River at Pittsburg Landing. 
 Shiloh had been fought. Thousands of wounded and 
 sick were lying on the ground, and unprotected. Of 
 bedding and covering there was great scarcity, and trans 
 portation was insufficient. The Medical Department 
 was at its wit s end, and almost frantic. On one after 
 noon, I sent (I think by Dr. McDougal s order), a piti 
 ful telegram to the new Surgeon-General, begging for 
 God s sake aid for our wounded. Early the next morn 
 ing a telegram arrived from him, stating that on that 
 afternoon ten thousand mattresses would start by Adams 
 Express to Shiloh ; and they came with wonderful quick 
 ness. In a letter to me at Pittsburg Landing, May 23, 
 1862, while I was in camp, near Corinth, on Halleck s 
 staff, Medical Director McDougal wrote me : "Ham 
 mond is sustaining me nobly, for which I am thankful; 
 I have not liked him heretofore, but I will never say a 
 word against him again." 
 
 Up to June, 1862, the Brigade Surgeons, of which I 
 was one, formed a separate corps. They were created 
 by the Act of Congress, approved July 22, 1861. This 
 
172 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 was the act calling for 500,000 volunteers. By the Act 
 of Congress, approved July 2, 1862, it was enacted "That 
 from and after the passage of this Act, Brigade Sur 
 geons shall be known and designated as Surgeons of 
 Volunteers, and shall be attached to the General Medical 
 Staff, under the direction of the Surgeon-General." 
 
 During my first few days in Washington, I was busy 
 hunting up accommodations. For a week or so, I re 
 mained at Willard s Hotel. I soon became tired of hotel 
 life, however, and was glad to find for myself two rooms 
 at 255 G Street, a convenient neighborhood. These 
 were on the second floor, parlor and bedroom, and were 
 very comfortable. My meals I continued to take at 
 the hotel. I was now officially stationed in the Surgeon- 
 General s office, and had a nice little office to myself, 
 with book shelves and pigeon holes and unlimited official 
 stationery, and the services of an orderly. I soon be 
 gan to grow into official importance (imaginary, of 
 course), and to assume all the manners and pompous 
 behavior,* which was considered the proper thing in 
 a well-fed, well-paid, bureau officer. 
 
 At this time, I was busy arranging in my mind the 
 plan of my future "Surgical History of the War." It 
 seemed to me then that my best course was to preface 
 the professional matter with a sort of semi-historical or 
 semi-military account or history of the military move 
 ments. I hoped thus to convey some idea of the cir 
 cumstances attending and influencing the medical and 
 surgical treatment of our sick and wounded, to describe 
 the condition of the soldier during each campaign, his 
 
 *In reading the manuscript of this volume, Dr. Mitchell, the life 
 long friend of the subject of these memoirs, interpolated after the 
 word "pompous," an old friend s kindly and illuminating comment 
 in the form of two penciled words, "Oh never." Ed. 
 
Surgical History of the Rebellion 173 
 
 physical surroundings, his marchings, his state of health, 
 the general character of the action in which he might 
 have been wounded, the character of the field hospitals 
 and transportation, in fact, the hygienic conditions of the 
 soldiers, as far as I could ascertain them, so that future 
 readers might learn something of the men in health as 
 well as in disease. 
 
 I did not suppose that I ever could really carry out 
 this idea, but my intention was to do my best. The re 
 ports of wounds, in the early part of the war, were 
 meager in the extreme. "Vulnus Sclopeticum or Gun 
 shot wound" was the one great comprehensive category 
 in which all gunshot injuries were embraced. No classi 
 fication was attempted, and in fact, little, if any, real 
 information of a precise character was furnished. The 
 evils of the system were soon discovered, and before long 
 attempts were made to create a better system of reports, 
 with the returns of wounded and sick, to which I shall 
 have occasion to refer frequently hereafter. 
 
 My duties on the Medical Examining Board, convened 
 at Washington, were somewhat confusing, but not yet 
 onerous. We met daily at 10 o clock in a big room, 
 just where Pennsylvania Avenue turns, for the examina 
 tion of candidates for the position of Surgeon of Volun 
 teers. I was the President of the Board, Dr. Clymer 
 was the second in rank, and Dr. Warren Webster was 
 the recorder or secretary. We had a long table covered 
 with papers, and one or two fierce-looking orderlies. Of 
 course, we were all in full uniform. Our examination 
 was chiefly written. The candidates were furnished 
 with plenty of paper, pens and ink, and then passed the 
 time as comfortably as they could until three o clock, 
 in answering our questions. A great many came be 
 fore us. Some were well prepared; some were not. 
 
174 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Quite a number failed to pass, until finally we were 
 indirectly informed by the Secretary of War, the "dread 
 ful Mr. Stanton," that he wanted more doctors, "and 
 that if we didn t pass more, our Board would be broken 
 up." So under this cogent military reasoning, our stand 
 ard was lowered, and more surgeons were obtained. I 
 think our system of examination was not altogether per 
 fect, for after-observation convinced me that many men 
 who passed high in our examination did not prove very 
 efficient military surgeons, while some who did not do so 
 very well before us, proved themselves afterwards able 
 and satisfactory officers, professionally and otherwise. 
 
 On the 3rd of July, 1862, I received an order from 
 the Surgeon-General, Dr. Win. A. Hammond, to 
 accompany him to Fortress Monroe. The Army of the 
 Potomac under General McClellan had advanced against 
 Richmond, and then, crossing the Chickahominy River, 
 had fallen back to the James River, and had encamped 
 "in safety" at what was known as Harrison s Landing 
 or Bar. It had reached this point, June 30 and July I, 
 1862, and vigorous efforts were being made to re-estab 
 lish the organization, and to repair the losses caused by 
 the Seven Days Battle, during which severe battles had 
 taken place at Fair Oaks, Games Mill, White Oak 
 Swamp, Charles City Crossroads, Ellerson s Mill, Mal- 
 vern Hill and elsewhere. In fact, the whole line of re 
 treat from the Chickahominy to the James River had 
 been a scene of struggle and bloodshed. 
 
 The Surgeon-Generals party, Dr. Hammond, Dr. 
 Meredith, Dr. Clymer, and some others, whom I have 
 forgotten, started from Washington for Baltimore. We 
 were all in an ambulance, a two-horse dearborn wagon 
 employed in the army and much used around the vari 
 ous military bureaus in Washington. I very well recol- 
 
Surgical History of the Rebellion 175 
 
 lect the fun we all had when we picked up one of our 
 party, Surgeon Meredith, U. S. V., at the door of a 
 fashionable boarding-house in Washington. The ambu 
 lance had just moved off, when his young wife ap 
 peared on the doorsteps, and waving a silk umbrella 
 over her head, excitedly shouted, "My dear, my dear, 
 you have forgotten your umbrella! Take it, take it, it 
 may rain before you get back !" Poor lady, it was long 
 before she heard the last of it. 
 
 After reaching Baltimore, a pleasant sail down the 
 Chesapeake Bay brought us to Fortress Monroe in the 
 early morning, where we landed and breakfasted at the 
 Hygiea Hotel, which seemed full of officers and officers 
 wives. Here we spent some hours, and I had an oppor 
 tunity of going inside the fort, and examining the case 
 mates. 
 
 Fortress Monroe, a stonework of great size, was, I 
 believe the largest work of defence in the country. It 
 had a great number of heavy guns in position, and was 
 supposed to be almost impregnable, if fully manned and 
 properly defended. Leaving Monroe, we took boat and 
 sailed up the James River, passing the scene of the terri 
 ble fight between the rebel ram Merrimac and the U. S. 
 fleet on the 8th of March, 1862. 
 
 As we steamed up the James, the tops of the masts 
 of the Cumberland and Congress could be seen above 
 the water. We stopped at Jamestown, and I had a 
 good opportunity to examine the old church and church 
 yard. This church, is, I believe, the oldest Episcopal 
 Church in this country. It is, or rather was, rich in 
 old tombstones with quaint inscriptions. These had 
 been in remarkably good preservation until the advent 
 of our troops, when many of them were wantonly de 
 faced. I often wondered why *he old churches and 
 
176 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 yards in England had suffered in the Cromwellian period, 
 but as I looked at the sacrilegious devastation of the old 
 Jamestown grave stones, I felt that the answer lay 
 before me. 
 
 On our way up, we passed under Fort Powhatan, a 
 fort of the enemy, high on the bluff, on the right bank 
 of the river. This fort was constantly, or rather, at 
 intervals, occupied by a light battery, who made a target 
 of our passing vessels. The steamer in front of us was 
 fired at, and the one behind us, but somehow or other 
 we escaped. I hardly like to confess how unpleasantly, 
 or let me say at once, how cowardly, I felt, as we neared 
 that fort. It seemed so threatening, so dominating, so 
 high above us, and the embrasures in the bank seemed 
 so near. I was walking with a few friends on the deck. 
 As we approached, one or two of them slipped down in 
 the cabin; one I noticed changed his promenade to what 
 might be called the "off" side of the boat. I felt terri 
 bly like going below, but I thought to myself, "Here 
 I am in full uniform, glorious in bright buttons," for I 
 was dressed as became a Surgeon-General s companion, 
 and had on a brand new coat. "And here are soldiers 
 on board, who can t go below, or get out of the way, 
 and they will think me a coward, and so I must stay." 
 So stay I did, and walked up and down the deck, and 
 tried to look careless and indifferent; but, oh, how I 
 did watch that fort to detect grey coats or the glimmer 
 of steel and bronze, and how glad I was, when we got 
 far, far away from Powhatan, out of range and past 
 the turn of the river. 
 
 Before long, we reached the landing at "Harrison s 
 Landing." We disembarked, and the Surgeon-General s 
 party went up to General McClellan s headquarters, 
 which were pitched in a wood, not very far from the 
 
Surgical History of the Rebellion 177 
 
 river. Here we found the Medical Director of the 
 Army of the Potomac. When we first arrived at Harri 
 son s, everything was in a good deal of confusion. The 
 army, which had arrived from the Chickahominy in a 
 disordered and shattered condition, was being reorgan 
 ized and the troops were resting, and were being gath 
 ered into their proper commands. 
 
 My own particular duties at this time were ornamental 
 rather than useful. Drs. Clymer, Le Conte, and I were 
 attached to the staff of the Surgeon-General, and with 
 him, we went from point to point, inspecting here and 
 there, and, in a general way supported the dignity of 
 our chief. By General McClellan, I was personally 
 kindly received, on the score of my cousinship, and my 
 present comforts were looked after by Arthur McClel 
 lan, his brother, who was an aide on his staff. At our 
 first interview, the General asked me a great many ques 
 tions in regard to General Grant, his habits, his sur 
 roundings, his marchings and battles. I spoke very 
 freely to him, and told him a great many things, which, 
 although they were strictly true, he seemed scarcely to 
 credit, especially the matters which concerned the Donel- 
 son and Shiloh fights. He repeated his questions, but 
 I knew what I was talking about, and I stuck to my 
 statements. The tent next to General McClellan s was 
 assigned to me, during the few days I stayed at his 
 headquarters. It was the one occupied by his father- 
 in-law, General Marcy, who was just then away from 
 headquarters. On my first night s stay, General McClel 
 lan s assistant adjutant, General Seth Williams, came 
 and shared the tent with me. He repeated George s 
 questions, and asked a great many more of the same 
 character. He admitted that my answers surprised him 
 greatly, and I know that I told him much about Grant 
 
178 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 that he had never heard before. I heard afterwards 
 from some one intimate with General McClellan, that 
 he hardly knew what to make of my statements. I 
 remember that on the next day, my cousin Arthur 
 McClellan said to someone in my hearing that the army 
 was now safe, and I knew that generally around head 
 quarters, a good deal of satisfaction was being expressed 
 at the changed state of affairs. 
 
 During these three or four days, great efforts were 
 being made to remove the wounded and disabled from 
 the army. Some had previously been sent north from 
 the Pamunkey River, and those who safely reached 
 Harrison s Landing were hastily sent northward by the 
 numerous and well-fitted transports and hospital ships, 
 which were arriving daily. A great contrast existed, 
 however, on the vessels intended for the transportation 
 of the sick and wounded in the west and in the east, 
 and struck me forcibly. In the west, the hospital boats 
 were absolutely under the control of the Medical De 
 partment. They were boats for the sick and for none 
 others, and were kept clean and in proper condition. 
 In the east, on the contrary, they carried the sick and 
 injured soldiers from the Army of the Potomac, but 
 on their return trips, they were laden with stores, men 
 or prisoners, and often when again used for hospital 
 transportation, were filthy and unsuited for the purpose. 
 This was, I believe, afterwards remedied, but at this 
 time, the hospital transportations were defective, al 
 though from no fault of the Medical Department. 
 Things were then in great confusion, and no one knew 
 what to expect. A longer war was felt to be certain, 
 and the first confidence of the North had been shaken. 
 The Army of the Potomac was, however, safely en 
 trenched, and with twenty-one gunboats in the river! 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 THE SURGEON-GENERAL S OFFICE 
 
 On the 6th of July, I received orders to return to 
 Washington, and arrived there on the 7th, and at once 
 resumed my regular office duties, collecting material for 
 the army surgical history, preparing new forms of re 
 ports of sick and wounded, and attending to the work 
 of the examining medical board, which was in session 
 in the latter part of July of this year. This board con 
 sisted of Surgeon Lewis A. Edward, U. S. A., Surgeon 
 J. H. Brinton, U. S. Vols., and Assistant Surgeon J. J. 
 Woodward and M. J. Asch, U. S. Army. 
 
 The weather during this summer was very warm, and 
 the Washington climate did not agree with me very 
 well. I often remembered what old Dr. McDougal had 
 told me, "When you go to Washington, look out for 
 your liver." 
 
 About July 23rd, General Halleck arrived from the 
 West, and was appointed Commander-in-Chief . He was 
 quite gracious to me, although I did not see very much 
 of him. He lived on Georgetown Heights. 
 
 On the first of August, 1862, I was directed by the 
 Surgeon-General to arrange all specimens of morbid 
 anatomy, both medical and surgical, which might have 
 accumulated. These were to constitute the Army Medi 
 cal Museum. The foundations of this museum had for 
 some time been contemplated. Thus in Circular No. 
 2, it is directed as follows: 
 
 179 
 
180 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 "Circular No. 2. 
 
 Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington, D. C, May 21, 1862. 
 
 As it is proposed to establish in Washington, an Army 
 Medical Museum, medical officers are directed diligently 
 to collect and to forward to the office of the Surgeon 
 General, all specimens of morbid anatomy, surgical and 
 medical, which may be regarded as valuable; together 
 w r ith projectiles and foreign bodies removed, and such 
 other matters as may prove of interest in the study 
 of military medicine or surgery. These objects should 
 be accompanied by short explanatory notes. Each speci 
 men in the collection will have appended the name of 
 the Medical Officer by whom it was prepared. 
 
 WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, 
 
 Surgeon General." 
 
 The order to me to arrange the Museum was as 
 follows : 
 
 "Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington, Aug. I, 1862. 
 Sir: 
 
 You are hereby directed to collect and properly arrange 
 in the "Military Medical Museum" all specimens of mor 
 bid anatomy, both medical and surgical, which may have 
 accumulated since the commencement of the Rebellion 
 in the various U. S. hospitals, or which may have been 
 retained by any of the Medical officers of the Army. 
 You will also take efficient measures for the procuring 
 hereafter of all specimens of surgical and medical in 
 terest that shall be afforded in the practice of the different 
 hospitals. Should any medical officer of the Army de 
 cline or neglect to furnish such preparations for the 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 181 
 
 Museum, you will report the name of such officer to this 
 office. 
 
 Very Respty. Yr. Obdt. Servt., 
 
 WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, 
 
 Surg. Genl. 
 Dr. Brinton, 
 
 Surgn. U. S. Vols." 
 
 In connection with this matter of the Army Medical 
 Museum, it may be well for me to state just what I 
 had to do with it. The first idea of an "Army Medical 
 Museum" originated with Surgeon-General Hammond, 
 and was by him communicated to the officers of the 
 Army in Circular No. 2, which I have given. I told 
 him, when I first saw him, that I had collected a good 
 many bone specimens in the West, some of which I 
 had lost, and some of which I brought home (now in 
 my collection of gunshot wounds of bone). The order 
 of August ist, to me, was the first step towards really 
 putting this notion of an Army Museum into shape, and 
 was a most welcome duty. My whole heart was in the 
 Museum, and I felt that if the medical officers in the 
 field, and those in charge of hospitals, could only be 
 fairly interested, its growth would be rapid, and the 
 future good of such a grand national cabinet would be 
 immense. "By it the results of the surgery of this war 
 would be preserved for all time, and the education of 
 future generations of military surgeons would be greatly 
 assisted. 
 
 To help me in my work, hospital steward Schafhert 
 and his son were assigned to duty with me. The elder 
 Schafhert was an admirable bone cleaner and working 
 anatomist. He had for a long time worked at the 
 
182 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Leidy, and was 
 an adept in preparing and mounting specimens for a 
 museum. We at once went to work. I obtained for 
 him amputated arms and legs from the Washington 
 hospitals, and afterwards from those in the neighbor 
 hood; these he cleaned, prepared and mounted, and very 
 soon the first specimens, the initial preparations of our 
 new museum were ready, and made their official ap 
 pearance on the top of my desk, and on the shelves 
 put up for the purpose in my rooms in the Surgeon- 
 General s office, at first downstairs, and afterwards in 
 the second-story room of the office on Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, looking towards Riggs Bank. This room I 
 afterwards relinquished to Medical Inspector General 
 Perley, and was moved with my museum possessions 
 into one or two of the small rooms of a second-story 
 back building, on Pennsylvania Avenue, below the War 
 Department, where quarters were assigned to Dr. Wood 
 ward and myself, then actually pushing on our medical 
 and surgical histories of the war and compiling our 
 reports of sick and wounded, a work demanding the 
 services of many clerks. 
 
 Before long Mr. Corcoran s art building, which had 
 been fitted up by him for a picture gallery, was seized 
 or occupied by the Government and turned over to the 
 Medical Department for the Museum, and a small ap 
 propriation (of $5,000 I think, and afterwards $10,000) 
 was passed by Congress for the support and extension 
 of the museum. 
 
 Corcoran s building was turned over to the Medical 
 Department, June i, 1867. The following were the 
 orders, which may convey some idea of the manner 
 of doing things in those days: 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 183 
 
 "SPECIAL ORDER NO. 116. 
 
 Headquarters, Mily. Dist. of Washington, 
 
 Washington, D. C, May 22, 1863. 
 (Extract) 
 
 ii. The School House situated on H Street North 
 between I3th and I4th Streets, owned by Mr. Corcoran 
 is hereby taken possession of by the Government of 
 the United States, and turned over to the Medical De 
 partment for the use of the Army Medical Museum. 
 
 By command of 
 
 MAJOR GENL. HITCHCOCK, 
 JNO. J. SHERBORNE, 
 
 Asst. Adjt. Gen. 
 Surg. Genl. Hammond." 
 
 "Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington City, D. C., 
 
 June i, 1863. 
 Sir:^ 
 
 The building known as Corcoran s School House near 
 Dr. Gurley s Church, together with its outbuildings 
 thereto, having been turned over to this department by 
 order of Secretary of War, you will take charge thereof, 
 and make such alterations and repairs as may be neces 
 sary to fit it for the purpose of the army Medical Mu 
 seum. You will, however, avoid all useless alterations 
 or expense. 
 
 Very respy. Yr. Obd. Servt, 
 
 JOSEPH R. SMITH, 
 
 Acting Surg. Genl. 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, 
 
 Surgeon General s Office, 
 Washington, D. C," 
 
184 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 "War Dept. Washington City, 
 
 Sept. i, 1863. 
 (Copy) 
 
 Col. J. H. Barnes, 
 
 Medl. Inspector Genl., 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 Colonel : 
 
 The Secretary of War authorizes the transfer of the 
 specimens from the room of the Surgeon General s Of 
 fice, to the Museum newly selected. 
 Very respy. Yr. Obd. Servt. 
 
 (Signed) JAS. A. HARDIE, 
 
 Asst. Adjt. Genl. 
 A true copy to 
 
 Joseph K. Barnes, 
 
 Medl. Inspector Genl." 
 
 From the above it will be seen that the museum spe 
 cimens remained at the office of the Surgeon General 
 under my immediate care (except medical specimens 
 proper, under Assistant General Woodward s care), 
 from the inception of the museum. I removed them 
 to the Corcoran building, and was responsible for them 
 and for the growth of the Museum during my stay in 
 Washington. 
 
 Schafhert and his son who prepared the specimens 
 were borne on the Surgeon General s roster of employ 
 ees as hospital stewards, while soldiers, and men from 
 the invalid corps, were detached as servants and addi 
 tional helpers and orderlies. In the meantime, with the 
 funds appropriated, I was enabled under the instructions 
 of the Surgeon-General to fit up good cases for the 
 rapidly growing collection. The doors locked with 
 bronze hands, which slid bolts at top and bottom, 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 185 
 
 modeled after the hands in the cases of my home office, 
 originally belonging to Mr. George H. Boker, and 
 bought by me from Dr. Chas. S. Boker, long after 
 the war. These cases were gradually extended, until, 
 before I left Washington in October, 1864, galleries 
 had been erected, and the room or hall completely filled. 
 The Museum, after Mr. Lincoln s assassination, was 
 moved to Ford s Theater, and not long ago, I saw my 
 old cases, altered, yet the same, still standing in the 
 Army Museum, containing so many of the specimens 
 once so familiar. 
 
 One of the first additions to the Museum, was an 
 "Assistant Curator," I being then also officially curator, 
 who should superintend the work on the specimens, 
 and the recording of their histories, which was dili 
 gently done by clerks appointed from the Surgeon-Gen 
 eral s office. Dr. Wm. Moss, who had entered the 
 corps of Surgeon of Volunteers, was the first assistant 
 curator, and on his resignation from the army, after his 
 marriage, he was succeeded by my old student, Dr. 
 Brinton Stone, who had become an Assistant Surgeon. 
 Thus the Museum was cared for. 
 
 Any account of the Museum would be incomplete 
 without some description of how the specimens were 
 obtained, and gathered up, and by what system they 
 passed from their original possessors to the Museum. 
 First of all, the man had to be shot, or injured, to be 
 taken to the hospital for examination, and in a case 
 for operation, to be operated upon. If all this were 
 taking place in a city hospital, or a permanent general 
 hospital, the bones of a part removed would usually be 
 partially cleaned, and then with a wooden tag and carved 
 number attached, would be packed away in a keg, con 
 taining alcohol, whiskey, or sometimes salt and water. 
 
186 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Then, when a sufficient number of specimens had 
 accumulated, the keg would be sent to Washington and 
 turned over to the Army Museum, where the prepara 
 tions of the specimens would be finished, so that they 
 could take their place upon the shelves. The memo 
 randa or histories of these specimens would in the mean 
 time have been forwarded to the Surgeon-General s 
 Office, and after having been fitted to objects and their 
 truthfulness assured, would be entered in the books of 
 Histories of Specimens, preserved in the Museum, and 
 under the care of the Assistant Curator. 
 
 One of the chief difficulties at this time, was that of 
 procuring truthful and full histories of the specimens. 
 When these were derived from hospitals, where the 
 patient had been under observation, it was possible to 
 obtain a history of the case, especially where the medi 
 cal officer in charge of the hospital or bed felt a true 
 professional interest in furnishing reliable data, and in 
 contributing what he could to the common stock of 
 surgical knowledge. It was one of my main objects 
 in visiting the various hospitals, and generally the mili 
 tary medical centers, to develop as far as I could this 
 interest in the Museum, to make its objects and ten 
 dencies known, and to lead all medical men, from the 
 highest to the lowest, to know and be convinced that 
 the formation, and foundation, of a great National Sur 
 gical and Medical Museum, was not for the collection 
 of curiosities, but for the accumulation of objects and 
 data of lasting scientific interest, which might in the 
 future serve to instruct generations of students, and 
 thus in time be productive of real use. 
 
 Many of our Army Surgeons entered into the scheme 
 of the Museum with great zeal and earnestness, but 
 some few there were, and these mostly the least edu- 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 187 
 
 cated, who failed to see its importance. But in the 
 course of time a belief in the importance and value of 
 the growing Museum spread throughout the army, and 
 an active and faithful co-operation was elicited from the 
 medical staff generally. The publication of the first 
 catalogue in January exerted a good effect, and the 
 opening of the Museum to the public, and especially to 
 medical visitors, was not without its influence. 
 
 In the case of field hospitals, after great battles, it 
 was at first difficult to get our system to work. The 
 number of operations was so great, the medical force 
 (I mean the intelligent skilled force), was compara 
 tively so weak, and overworked, that it seemed at first 
 almost impossible to obtain from them the preparations 
 we desired. It was hard enough to be worked day and 
 night in those great surgical emergencies, accompanying 
 fierce and protracted battles, and it really seemed un 
 just to expect the rough preparation, necessary to pre 
 serve for the Museum, the mutilated limbs. These were 
 usually buried in heaps. To overcome all these diffi 
 culties and to set an example, I visited frequently our 
 battle-fields, as soon as the information was telegraphed 
 to Washington. I then saw not only a great deal of 
 active surgery, but I had the opportunity of showing 
 practically to the operating surgeons, and to their assist 
 ant staffs, what it was that we really wanted, and how 
 their part could be accomplished with the least amount 
 of labor, and in the most satisfactory manner. Many 
 and many a putrid heap have I had dug out of trenches 
 where they had been buried, in the supposition of an 
 everlasting rest, and ghoul-like work have I done, amid 
 surrounding gatherings of wondering surgeons, and 
 scarcely less wondering doctors. But all saw that I 
 was in earnest and my example was infectious. By 
 
188 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 going thus from corps hospital to corps hospital, a real 
 interest was excited as to the Museum work, and an 
 active co-operation was eventually established. 
 
 Early in January, 1863, I published under Dr. Ham 
 mond s order, a small catalogue of the Army Museum 
 up to that time, showing a collection of 1,349 objects, 
 of which 988 were surgical, 106 medical and 133 ex 
 tracted projectiles. This catalogue was as accurate as 
 I could then make it. Its real object was to give credit 
 to all medical officers contributing to the Museum. In 
 fact, it did a great deal more; large numbers of prep 
 arations had accumulated in the Museum, the donors 
 of which were not known. Very many specimens I 
 had brought there from the battle-fields, collected by 
 myself. These I put into the first catalogue, assigning 
 them to such medical officers, as I could call to mind, 
 and especially to those whom I knew to be lukewarm 
 in Museum interests. The effect of the procedure was 
 good. 
 
 Once established, the Museum was rapidly enlarged 
 and extended. A section of models was established, of 
 ambulances and litter, of horse and mule transporta 
 tion of wounded, or transportation by railway and by 
 boat, of hospital wagons and tents for the field, of 
 tent hospitals, great and small, and of large general 
 hospitals. All these were shown as found in different 
 sections of the country, in the West and East, in the 
 front, and in the rear of active operations. 
 
 The machinery to carry on the Museum was very 
 simple. A full photographic outfit and the employment 
 of a corps of artists was also ordered about this time, 
 and did notable service in illustrating the museum spe 
 cimens. Artists were obtained by enlistment as hos 
 pital stewards, and were assigned to duty in the Surgeon- 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 189 
 
 General s office at the best pay a headquarters detail 
 could give. I had at this time a topographical artist 
 to draw the maps for the history of the war, one or 
 two water colorists, who would also paint in oil rapidly 
 if required, and the bone-preparers, the Schafherts, 
 father and son. At a later period, just before I left 
 the Surgeon-General s office, the services of one or two 
 photographers were obtained, and a studio and work 
 room was established at the Army Museum building. 
 
 At this time the drafts ordered by the President had 
 the effect of causing high local bounties to be ordered 
 by the various counties and towns, throughout the 
 "loyal" North. Thus a good artist could escape the 
 hardships of a draft, pocket a large bounty, and insure 
 a safe duty at high pay, by securing a place as "con 
 structive" hospital - steward in the Surgeon-General s 
 office. To secure such talent, I was sent by the Sur 
 geon-General to Philadelphia and New York, and by 
 hunting around, I was so fortunate as to secure the men 
 I wanted, after some little trial, and change. They 
 were nearly all Germans, and although somewhat diffi 
 cult to manage, and perhaps a little obstinate, dis 
 charged their duty faithfully. 
 
 As soon as the Museum was fairly established in its 
 home, it began to attract attention. The public came 
 to see the bones, attracted by a new sensation. Then, 
 too, it often happened that officers and soldiers who 
 had lost a limb by amputation would come to look up 
 its resting place, in some sense its last resting place. I 
 remember once seeing a florid-looking officer, a Colonel, 
 I think, with a slight limp, busily hunting up a leg 
 bone with a certain number, in the glass case. He 
 evidently found what he wanted, and suddenly turning 
 to a buxom-looking young woman at the other end of 
 
190 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the room, he called to her in great glee, "Come here, 
 
 Julia, come here, here it is, my leg, No. , and 
 
 nicely fixed up, too/ And the daughter examined the 
 specimen with much interest and apparent satisfaction. 
 It was indeed, a nice, white shiny, varnishy prepara 
 tion. I thought at the time that it would be very doubt 
 ful if the gentleman s remaining bones would ever make 
 so creditable an appearance. 
 
 On another occasion, a soldier, a private, came, ex 
 amined the Museum, and with the help of the Assistant 
 Curator, found his amputated limb. It seemed to him 
 his own property and he demanded it noisily and per 
 tinaciously. He was deaf to reason, and was only 
 silenced by the question of the Curator, "For how long 
 did you enlist, for three years of the war?" The an 
 swer was, "For the war." "The United States Gov 
 ernment is entitled to all of you, until the expiration of 
 the specified time. I dare not give a part of you up 
 before. Come, then, and you can have the rest of you, 
 but not before." He went away silently, wiser, but not 
 convinced. 
 
 So you see that even dry bones may be regarded from 
 different points of view. Remember Mr. Dickens s im 
 mortal friends "Mr. Wegg," and "Mr. Venus." 
 
 I can recall many other strange scenes which occurred 
 in the course of my search for specimens. In one case, 
 I was informed of a remarkable injury of a lower 
 extremity. The man had died with the limb on and 
 had been carefully buried by his comrades. For some 
 reason or other, that specimen was worth having, but 
 his comrades had announced their determination to pre 
 vent the doctors from having it. However, I thought 
 I would try what I could do, so I visited his mess mates, 
 explained my object, dwelt upon the glory of a patriot 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 191 
 
 having part of his body at least under the special guard 
 of his country, spoke of the desire of the Surgeon- 
 General to have that bone, with all such similar argu 
 ments I could adduce. My arguments were conclusive; 
 the comrades of the dead soldier solemnly decided that 
 I should have that bone for the good of the country, 
 and in a body they marched out and dug up the body. 
 I gravely extracted the bone and carried it off carefully ; 
 the spokesman of the party remarking gravely "that 
 John would have given it to me himself, had he been 
 able to express his opinion." 
 
 The preservation of these articles coming from so 
 many sources, demanded a large supply of alcohol. 
 Upon official application, it was ordered by the Secre 
 tary of War that all liquor confiscated by the Provost 
 Marshal in the District of Columbia should be turned 
 over to the Museum for anatomical purposes. As a 
 result of this order, an enormous amount of alcoholic 
 beverages was poured into the Museum, everything 
 from champagne to the commonest rum. Our side lot 
 was piled with kegs, bottles, demijohns and cases, to 
 say nothing of an infinite variety of tins, made so as 
 to fit unperceived on the body, and thus permit the 
 wearer to smuggle liquor into camp. Of all this sup 
 ply, Shafhert took charge. When the whiskey was 
 strong enough for preservative purposes, he kept it in 
 package; when it was not, it went into the still This, 
 under Schafhert s watchful care, ran incessantly, and 
 furnished the Museum with a large amount of very fair 
 alcohol, not only for putting up our specimens, but for 
 furnishing the various depots in the Army where fresh 
 specimens were being collected, so that they could be 
 kept from decomposition, and reach the Museum in 
 good condition. Our still was a success, occasionally 
 
192 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 it blew up, but never did any active harm. It was also 
 used for the redistillation of sulphuric ether for clean 
 ing bones, but this was a somewhat risky process. 
 
 It was not very long before this transit of whiskey 
 and alcoholic liquors was detected by the railroad men 
 and military guards stationed on the railroad over which 
 my kegs and barrels passed. I soon found that the 
 barrels leaked, and much less whiskey reached the col 
 lectors in the army than was sent from the Museum in 
 Washington. A process of tapping had been practised, 
 and a careful investigation showed that the packages 
 had been bored into, the contents sampled, and the holes 
 plugged. This had evidently been repeated over and 
 over again on a single trip, so I determined to take the 
 matter in hand. A tempting and attractive barrel was 
 selected, and filled with a fair article of whiskey. Into 
 this I placed some tartar emetic and the keg started on 
 its travels from Acquia Creek Station. Shortly after 
 wards I had occasion to pass over the road when I 
 found from the various officers that a day or two pre 
 viously a good many of the employees of the railroad 
 had suffered from some stomach disturbance, nausea and 
 vomiting. They said it was the water, of course. I 
 had not put in too much tartar and emetic, just enough 
 to act. After this, the barrels of the Army Museum 
 were religiously respected, and ceased to leak. Years 
 and years ago, but some time after this incident, I 
 was making a small purchase from a sedate and re 
 spectable dealer in my own city. On hearing my name, 
 he showed unusual interest in his new customer, in 
 quired if I had served in the old war, if I had ever 
 been stationed at Washington. Had I ever marched 
 over the Acquia Creek railroad? Had I ever had any 
 thing to do with the Army Museum? Had I ever sent 
 
The Surgeon-General s Office 193 
 
 whiskey barrels over the road? And then he asked 
 gently if any leakage had occurred? Was there ever 
 any complaint? And then he admitted that he had 
 heard that by a gimlet and pipe stem, a successful 
 tapping of those barrels had been made. He seemed 
 rather to admire the ingenuity shown. He admitted 
 that on one or two occasions the whiskey was pro 
 nounced very bad. 
 
 Among our various lots of complicated liquor, occa 
 sionally we would get some very fine samples. I re 
 member a lot of cherry brandy that I set aside for a 
 special purpose. I was often sent at short notice to 
 the Army of the Potomac with orders to reach certain 
 points or headquarters far remote from the railroad 
 terminus. It was difficult to procure a horse at these 
 times, often impossible, and I was at the mercy of the 
 quartermaster, who was not always obliging to a strange 
 medical officer. Now the 5th Regular Cavalry was 
 serving in this army. It was a most gallant and favorite 
 command, and was usually near headquarters, which, 
 most often, was my objective point. Somehow or other 
 an understanding arose between their officers and my 
 self that on my request at any time a trooper would 
 be sent down to me as a guide, with a horse for myself 
 to use during my stay, also an extra horse for luggage, 
 which was understood to be a small keg of cherry- 
 brandy. This tacit understanding soon became a fixed 
 arrangement; it did me great good, and I trust did 
 them no harm, and I am sure greatly facilitated public 
 business. 
 
 During my stay in Washington, the Museum was 
 greatly on my mind, and I did all I could to assist its 
 growth and to unite the co-operation of all the medical 
 officers I could reach. At first, it was looked upon 
 
194 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 somewhat doubtfully; many regarded it as a joke al 
 most, but as time went on, it obtained a fine hold on 
 the medical, official and congressional mind, and ap 
 propriations were annually made to it by Congress. 
 The scope of the Museum, too, was enlarged. It was 
 made to include models of nearly everything connected 
 with military medicine, thus, models of ambulances, 
 litters, hospital cars, hospital knapsacks, medicine chests, 
 operating-tables, and all the paraphernalia of field hos 
 pitals were obtained, as also full sets of bayonets, 
 swords, projectiles of all kinds, field ammunition, and 
 small arm projectiles, of which not less than eighty 
 varieties were used during the war. These, when ar 
 ranged, were not only ornamental to the hall of the 
 Museum, but were calculated to be of great use in the 
 study of gunshot and other wounds. 
 
 This Museum, which as I have stated, originated in 
 the brain of Surgeon-General Hammond, became a suc 
 cess, and led up to much which was scarcely anticipated 
 at its inception, such as a photographic gallery, and a 
 bureau of art, in which colorists were employed for 
 the reproduction of the various volumes of medicine 
 and surgery, which afterwards for so many years were 
 constantly issuing from the office of the Surgeon-Gen 
 eral. At the formation of the Museum, the work was 
 entirely in my hands, but as specimens of a medical 
 sort began to arrive, that division of the undertaking 
 fell to Assistant Surgeon J. J. Woodward, U. S. A., a 
 man of acquirements, energy and quickness. He was, 
 moreover, an excellent artist and microscopist. The re 
 mainder of the work, that which pertained to the sur 
 gery of the war was in my department. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 FORTUNES OF WAR 
 
 The greater part of August, 1862, was spent by me 
 in museum work, getting ready fixtures, etc., and on 
 the 23rd I went to Philadelphia in discharge of these 
 duties. 
 
 On the 26th of August, I received the following, 
 sending me to Alexandria: 
 
 "Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington, August 26th, 1862. 
 Sir: 
 
 The Surgeon General directs that you report without 
 delay to Surgeon J. Campbell, U. S. A. Medical Director, 
 Military District of Washington, for duty in Alexandria, 
 Va. 
 
 The duties to which you are especially assigned are 
 those of Medical Director of Transportation, to inspect 
 the means of transportation for sick and wounded sol 
 diers, and supervise the arrangements made for their 
 transportation to and from Alexandria and to and from 
 the hospitals in that place. You will act as efficiently 
 as may be in your power in conjunction with Surgeon 
 Summers, U. S. A., to carry out the orders, which he 
 has already received for the expansion of hospital ac 
 commodations in Alexandria. In performing your duties 
 as Medical Director of Transportation, you will put your 
 self in communication with Medical Inspector General 
 Parley, now with the Army of Virginia, and also with 
 
 195 
 
196 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the necessary officers of the Quartermaster s Depart 
 ment. 
 
 Very respectfully Yr. Obdt. Servt. 
 
 By order of the Surgeon General, 
 
 JOS. R. SMITH, 
 Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 
 Dr. J. H. Brinton, Surg. of Vols." 
 
 It was just at this time that the series of battles 
 were being fought between the army under General 
 Pope and the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen 
 eral Lee. The Army of the Potomac had been with 
 drawn from Harrison s Landing on the James to 
 Acquia Creek and to Alexandria, and the greater por 
 tion of it for the time, passed under the command of 
 General Pope in conjunction with his own Army of 
 Virginia, which had hastily been gathered together by 
 the order of the President, June 27th, 1862. With 
 these joint forces, General Pope had met, and had en 
 deavored to hold in check, the Southern Army moving 
 northward from Richmond under the direct command 
 of General R. E. Lee. The fighting had continued 
 during the latter days of August, during which the 
 battles at Bristow, Manassas, Groveton, Chantilly, and 
 elsewhere had occurred. These battles were often gen 
 erally designated as the "Second Manassas" or "Second 
 Bull-Run." As a whole the result was greatly against 
 the United States troops, Pope with his command being 
 gradually forced backwards to the fortifications of 
 Washington. 
 
 At the time I arrived in Alexandria, the greatest con 
 fusion prevailed, vast numbers of wounded had found 
 their way back to Alexandria, and the hospitals were 
 
Fortunes of War 197 
 
 filled to overflowing^ Transportation to and from the 
 battle-fields via Fairfax Station was deficient. I at 
 once put myself in touch with the railroad men, and as 
 many of the wounded as possible were brought in. 
 
 The battle-grounds were occupied by the enemy, and 
 access to our captured hospitals was in a general way 
 cut off. /Finally, Medical Inspector Coolidge was al 
 lowed to pass within the enemy s lines, with certain 
 supplies. Dr. Coolidge had, in ante-war times, been 
 on terms of acquaintance with General Lee, and he made 
 strenuous efforts to have such help as was possible, 
 rendered to our wounded. Unfortunately, just at this 
 time, a spirit of irritation existed among the Southern 
 leaders, brought about possibly by unwise actions and 
 orders of General Pope. The Confederate government 
 had retaliated and issued orders, declaring that he or 
 his commissioned officers were not entitled to be con 
 sidered as prisoners of war, etc. The ordinary humane 
 considerations as to the wounded were therefore un 
 fortunately disturbed, and it became hence a matter of 
 difficulty to render very efficient aid to our own 
 wounded, who had been left on the field. 
 
 Our surgeons, it is true, had remained with their 
 injured, but their medical supplies had been captured 
 and largely used. In truth, one cannot blame the Con 
 federate medical officers for laying hands on these hos 
 pital supplies, of which their own sick and wounded 
 were so much in need. At last, by persistency and by 
 personal influence, Medical Inspector Coolidge did suc 
 ceed in obtaining from the Southern commander, an 
 amelioration of the strictness of their order which for 
 a while pressed so heavily upon our wounded of the 
 "Second Bull Run." 
 
 From the reasons which I have thus given, it can 
 
198 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 be understood that few, if any, regular ambulance trains 
 were at first permitted to be run to the field. Those 
 who came were those who could see to their own trans 
 portation, and it was astonishing how many could do 
 this under the spur of capture and imprisonment by the 
 enemy. 
 
 [My work in preparation for, and the reception of, 
 our poor fellows was incessant, and we were very short- 
 handed. I see from my letters that for three nights 
 and two days I could not lie down, but was on my feet, 
 receiving and distributing the wounded as they arrived. 
 The work was incessant and required some judgment 
 and discretion in its performance. The boat trans 
 portation to Washington was miserably insufficient, 
 nearly all the steamers were busy in bringing troops 
 up the Potomac, and scarcely any were at the disposal 
 of the Medical Department. I was particularly cau 
 tioned as to the character of the cases to be sent to 
 Washington, and was instructed to see to this myself, 
 which I did to the best of my ability, and some queer 
 characters of soldiers I met.) 
 
 I remember as I stood at the gangway of a boat, 
 passing the wounded on, that a queer, drunken, jolly 
 Irish infantryman staggered up to me: 
 
 "And doesn t his honor, the Major, want a good guard 
 to keep all these spalpeens off." His arm had been taken 
 off at the shoulder joint, as I saw. "And, who are 
 you?" I said. "Sure," he answered, "a poor Irishman, 
 who had his arm cut off at Fairfax this morning, and 
 who s walked all the way in with his gun and his knap 
 sack, and who s managed to git a little drunk, as your 
 honor sees, but who can all the same stand a good 
 guard." So I put him on board for Washington. 
 
 It is almost impossible to convey an idea of the con- 
 
Fortunes of War 199 
 
 fusion and demoralization of everyone at and near 
 Washington at that time. All had failed and defeat 
 was everywhere; there seemed to be no one who could 
 be trusted, no one who could make headway against 
 our Southern enemy. From a military point of view, 
 there seemed to be little hope. And such odd things 
 were being done. One little trick of our Secretary of 
 War, Mr. Stanton, I will refer to. 
 
 Whenever we were badly beaten and when popular 
 feeling was dissatisfied,^Stanton was in the habit, at 
 his own instance, of issuing or peremptorily directing 
 the issuing of, an appeal to the North, in the first place 
 for lint and bandages, and secondly, for surgeons and 
 nurses. As a natural result, the Surgeon-General s 
 office would be flooded with boxes of linen scrappings 
 and home-made bandages, which would be piled away 
 in the stables and yards, or sent off where really not 
 wanted, inasmuch as the articles themselves were usu 
 ally not in shape or condition for issuance to hospitals, 
 already usually fully stocked. Then, too, both doctors 
 and nurses were most often of little use. Most were 
 not competent; they were untrained, did not know what 
 to do, or how to take care of soldiers, still less could 
 they take care of themselves. As for the women, sani 
 tarians or nurse corps, they were terrible, helpless, 
 irritable and unhappy; each one thinking herself of 
 much importance, and acting under the direct orders of 
 the Secretary of War, and very often indeed they had 
 seen him before starting. ) What to do with these poor 
 women was indeed a proolem. They would sit in your 
 office, if you happened to be a Medical Director, by ftie 
 hour at the time, each one with an enamelled leather 
 bag between her feet, waiting to be sent somewhere, 
 anywhere ! 
 
200 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ^ And the doctors were often not much better. Poor 
 fellows, how sorry at times I have been for them. 
 They would come down from their comfortable homes, 
 full of desire to be useful, and it would be so hard to 
 find real work for them. I remember particularly one 
 gentleman from Philadelphia, coming to report to me 
 at that dreary wharf at Alexandria, where I stood so 
 long, and was so tired. He wanted to see some surgery 
 that day and then to go back that evening to Washing 
 ton. Surgery, I had none to show him, and for trans 
 portation, I could only show him a written order, for 
 bidding me to allow a single civilian to leave Alexandria 
 on a hospital boat, so great was the demand for sick 
 transportation. However, I did break that order in 
 his case and gave him food and transportation, and he 
 has been at heart my enemy ever since. He thought 
 I had neglected and had failed to appreciate him that 
 day at Alexandria. 
 
 The town of Alexandria at that time was in a most 
 defenseless condition. At first, the smallest force of 
 the enemy could have captured it. Later, the troops of 
 General Franklin s division or corps, arrived from the 
 Army of the Potomac, and moved outwards on the 
 Fairfax road, General McClellan s headquarters were 
 for a short time in the town, and I saw something of 
 the officers of his staff. There seemed then to be a 
 very bitter feeling prevalent, antagonistic to General 
 Pope, in fact, it almost appeared as if some were rather 
 glad that he was being beaten, and there did not seem 
 to be much activity in pushing forward to his assistance, 
 nor much desire to do so. In the course of a few days, 
 the transportation of wounded arranged itself, and I 
 then was actively and pleasantly employed in assisting 
 
Fortunes of War 201 
 
 Surgeon Sumners, U. S. A., in professional work at 
 the Mansion House Hospital and elsewhere. 
 
 At this place one morning, a curious rumor passed 
 around. It was that General Halleck had declared him 
 self "Dictator," and that the army at Washington was 
 satisfied that it should be so. As for those who were 
 staying at Alexandria, or who were passing through, 
 all seemed satisfied. I merely mention this idle rumor 
 to show into what a state of doubt and want of con 
 fidence general opinion had lapsed. Halleck was often 
 spoken of as the "Tycoon," but why, I cannot tell. He 
 seemed big, he had a big head and a big hat, and was 
 credited with brains. 
 
 It was generally supposed at this time that General 
 Lee would advance northward, and try to pass through 
 Pennsylvania and New Jersey toward New York on 
 that campaign of invasion which he afterwards at 
 tempted and in which he failed. I for one believed that 
 We were in a most perilous condition, and I see from 
 my letters that I wrote to my Mother and sisters that, 
 as they were at North Conway in New Hampshire, they 
 had better stay there until matters should clear up a 
 little, telling them, too, that if things got blacker, I 
 would write what to do with our papers. 
 
 On the Qth of September, I returned to Washington 
 to resume my work at the office. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 SOUTH MOUNTAIN ANTIETAM 
 
 From the Qth to the i6th of September, 1862, I re 
 mained in Washington, busy at my office work, and 
 daily visiting the hospitals which were being established. 
 In fact, during my entire stay in Washington, I made 
 it a rule to see as much as possible of the work going 
 on in the hospitals. Later, when large hospitals were 
 established in every direction and readily accessible, I 
 made it a point to visit one hospital a day, especially 
 when the injured were being brought in from the front. 
 
 During this week, the Southern forces under General 
 Lee marched northward, fording the Potomac, and be 
 gan the "Invasion of Maryland." On September 2, 
 1862, General McClellan was placed in command of all 
 troops near Washington and intended for the defence 
 of the Capital. His reinstatement was received by the 
 troops with the greatest enthusiasm, and the reorganiza 
 tion of the previously almost disintegrated Army of the 
 Potomac took place in the most miraculous manner. 
 The army crystallized instantly, as it were, and became 
 once more an efficient force. Then ensued a rapid pur 
 suit of Lee, who had reached Frederick, the capital of 
 Maryland, which town, on General McClellan s ap 
 proach, he evacuated, and entrenched his command on 
 and along South Mountain, and during the night en 
 camped behind Antietam Creek. On the I5th of Sep 
 tember, General McClellan advanced with his whole 
 
 202 
 
South Mountain Antietam 203 
 
 army, which he drew up on the left bank of the creek, 
 close to the southern lines. The i6th was spent in 
 reconnoissance, and on the I7th was fought the famous 
 battle of Antietam, as a result of which General Lee was 
 driven across the Potomac back into Virginia. On the 
 1 8th of September, I received the following order: 
 
 "Washington City, D. C. 
 
 Sept. 18, 1862. 
 Sir: 
 
 You will proceed without delay to Frederick, Md., to 
 superintend the selection of specimens for the Pathologi 
 cal Museum, connected with this office. All medical 
 officers are hereby ordered to give you any aid in their 
 power to further this object. 
 
 Very respectfully yr. obt. Servt. 
 
 By order of the Surgeon General, 
 
 (Signed) JOS. R. SMITH, 
 
 Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 Dr. J. H. Brinton, 
 
 Surgeon of Volunteers, etc." 
 
 Most of the orders from the Surgeon-General, which 
 were given me, sending me to the army in the field, were 
 in this shape. The object was that I might be entirely 
 untrammeled, and that I might visit any headquarters 
 or hospitals, and yet be at perfect liberty to go or come 
 as I wished, procuring material for the national collec 
 tion, or literary material to be used in the preparation 
 of the Surgical History of the War. Not infrequently, 
 I received important verbal orders, the execution of 
 which was the prime object of my being sent, as where, 
 with an apparent "specimen" order, I was instructed to 
 find out the loss after a battle, the extent of which a 
 
204 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 general commanding was not always desirous should 
 reach the ears of a Secretary of War. An example 
 or two of this I will give hereafter. 
 
 Immediately on the receipt of the last order I started 
 for Frederick, Maryland. On reaching Monocacy, a 
 few miles east from Frederick, Maryland, we found that 
 the bridge over the stream had been destroyed by the 
 enemy. We were consequently delayed here for some 
 time, but finally reached Frederick. The largest of the 
 hospitals here was under the care of Dr. Weit, U. S. A., 
 afterwards so distinguished as a surgeon in New York, 
 and here I saw much surgery, and met also my old 
 friend Dr. Hewitt, whom I knew so well in the West. 
 
 I also met here the Surgeon-General, who had come 
 down from Washington, bringing with him the Deputy 
 Inspector General of the British Army, afterwards Sir 
 William Muir, holding a position corresponding to that 
 of our Surgeon-General. He had served long in the 
 East and in China, and was a thorough soldier, and a 
 very jolly old boy. He was as round as a barrel, with 
 a fine bronzed soldierly face, quick in his manner, ob 
 servant, and possessed evidently of a thorough military 
 professional knowledge. By the Surgeon-General I was 
 ordered to go forward to the headquarters, "the front." 
 This, I accordingly did, in an ambulance. Reaching 
 Middletown on the South Mountain slope, I found a 
 large number of wounded, who were being most effi 
 ciently cared for under the general supervision of my 
 old friend Dr. William Thomson, U. S. A., an Assistant 
 Surgeon. Hospitals had been improvised and the best 
 done that was possible. I made a very short stay at 
 this hospital depot, as I had learned that fighting on a 
 large scale had been going on at the front at or near 
 Antietam Creek. Pushing on, I arrived at the field of 
 
South Mountain Antietam 205 
 
 Antietam. I reached there on the morning of the 
 of September, and was busily engaged for several days 
 in visiting the various field hospitals. Of these there 
 were very many. 
 
 [ During the battle, the Surgeons of the different di 
 visions established their field hospitals in the farm 
 houses with their barns and out-buildings scattered over 
 the field of battle, which extends some six miles irregu 
 larly along Antietam Creek, at a distance, roughly, of 
 three miles from the Potomac River, in some places a 
 little more. As soon after the fighting as was possible, 
 the wounded who were scattered over the vast area em 
 braced by the battle-field and the space between it and 
 the Potomac River, over which the Confederates re 
 treated, were taken charge of. Those who were able 
 to bear transportation were sent back to Frederick, and 
 the great general hospitals in the rear. Those who 
 could not bear transportation were gathered into the 
 large general hospitals, which had been established, one 
 upon the right near Keedysville, the Antietam Hospital, 
 and another upon the left, the Locust Spring Hospital. 
 The Confederate wounded who had been left in the 
 neighborhood of Sharpsburg, and on the Antietam or 
 eastern side of the Potomac, were also brought back 
 with the surgeons left by their own people for their 
 care. It was a long time before the vicinity of the 
 Antietam battle-ground was entirely freed from the 
 wounded, but in a word it may be said that those treated 
 in hospital tents in the open air did well, better indeed 
 than had they been placed in crowded city hospitals. 
 The season of the year, the temperature, and the superb 
 hospital organization were all in their favor.* 
 
 *For a map of the battlefield of Antietam and an excellent descrip 
 tion of the surgical surroundings of the action, see Medl. and Surg. 
 
206 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 During my visit to the field of Antietam, I had ample 
 opportunity of visiting the many little gatherings of 
 wounded, which had formed at the numerous Jarm- 
 houses, over and adjoining the battlefield area. /It was 
 wonderful indeed to see how well the poor fellows were 
 getting along. In many places, outhouses, barns, and 
 stables were occupied by those most seriously injured, 
 while those less seriously wounded lay upon the ground, 
 sheltered quite satisfactorily by portions of tents, 
 stretched blankets, boughs of trees, straw thatchings, 
 loose boards or fence rails. The best of them would 
 look after the cooking, and the water supply from 
 streams or neighboring springs. They took care of each 
 other, seeing to physical wants, and by cheerfulness and 
 bravery, sustaining the spirits of those who might be 
 dependent. Surgical aid was available from adjacent 
 and more elaborately equipped hospitals, but as above 
 described, a mere temporary refuge and help was made 
 practicable, until these wounded could be moved back 
 wards to organized field hospitals.^ The weather, for 
 tunately, was clear, dry and moderate; so that in fact, 
 there was much less suffering from exposure than is 
 usually observed after great battles. 
 
 History of the Rebellion, Part I, Surg. V. Volume, Appended Docu 
 ments, page 96, Antietam Campaign. By the way, I may add that 
 this map and nearly all the other field hospital maps, etc., of great 
 battles in that book, except the extreme southern campaigns, were 
 prepared under my direction when stationed in the Surgeon-Gen 
 eral s office in Washington. They were modified and reduced by an 
 artist named Pohleos, from the topographical maps, and the position 
 of the hospitals I usually had located by any medical inspectors or 
 other medical officers, who might know the ground well. My name 
 does not appear in any of this work, but it was designed by me, and 
 much of it executed under my direct superintendence. Some was 
 done by my successor after my departure from Washington. 
 
South Mountain Antietam 207 
 
 In one of these little farm hospitals, I learned of the 
 death of my cousin, Harrison White. He had enlisted 
 as a private in Company B of the 28th Pennsylvania 
 Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and had won the respect 
 of his comrades by his good behavior. During the battle 
 of Antietam, his regiment was heavily engaged, and his 
 company wavering, Harrison sprang in front of his com 
 rades, calling them to advance and crying, "Sergeant, 
 let s show them the way." He fell, ten paces in front 
 of them, mortally wounded. He lived, I think, until 
 the next day, and was buried near the fence in the rear 
 of a garden. His grave was shown to me, and I gath 
 ered some leaves and grass, and sent them to his Mother, 
 with what information I could learn of his gallant death. 
 It seemed to me a singular circumstance that one of 
 the two first cousins should die a private in the ranks 
 of the army commanded by the other. 
 
 During my stay at Antietam, I had an excellent chance 
 of examining the battle-ground, and of studying more 
 fully many incidents which I previously noticed else 
 where. Chief of these was the battlefield rigidity, the 
 "instantaneous rigor," or rather the "rigor of instanta 
 neous death." My observations on these subjects were 
 published in Hay s American Journal of the Medical 
 Sciences, page 87, January, 1870, and were largely 
 noticed, and republished in the European medical jour 
 nals. The most conspicuous and famed portion of the 
 Antietam field was the "cornfield," and "sunken road" 
 nearby. In this cornfield, which was fought over and 
 over again, the fighting had been very fierce, and the 
 musketry very hot. (jDead bodies were everywhere, and 
 one could scarcely walk without stumbling on one. I 
 see that I have stated in print that in an area, fifty 
 or sixty yards square, I counted forty dead bodies. 
 
208 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 "Many of these," I said, "lay in extraordinary attitudes, 
 some with their arms raised rigidly in the air, some 
 with their legs drawn up and fixed. In not a few, the 
 trunk was curved forward and fixed. These attitudes, 
 in a word, were not those of the relaxation of death, 
 but were rather, of a seemingly active character, de 
 pendent apparently upon a final muscular action at the 
 last moment of life, in the spasm of which the muscles 
 set and remained rigid and inflexible. The death in the 
 majority of cases had resulted from chest wounds; in 
 fewer instances, from shots through the head and 
 abdomen. The latter were accompanied by considerable 
 hemorrhage, as was evident from the pools of dark- 
 colored blood by the side of the bodies. These exam 
 inations were made about thirty-six hours after death, 
 and also later.) 
 
 In the "sunken road" or "bloody lane," in which a 
 strong stand was made, and the ground fiercely con 
 tested, I also noticed the body of a Southern soldier, 
 of middle-age, of whom I speak in my report : "The 
 body was in a semi-erect posture. One of the feet 
 rested firmly on the ground, while the knee of the other 
 leg, slightly fixed, pressed against the bank of earth, 
 forming the side of a road. One arm extended was 
 stretched forward, the hand resting upon the low breast 
 work of fence rails, thrown up to protect the trench. 
 His musket with ramrod halfway down, had dropped 
 from his hand, and lay on the ground beside him. This 
 soldier had evidently been killed while loading, and in 
 the act of rising to his feet, probably for the purpose 
 of observation, a ball had passed directly through the 
 center of his head, and had emerged posteriorly." 
 
 In many similar instances, which I observed, the reci 
 pient of the death wound had been acting on the de- 
 
South Mountain Antietam 209 
 
 fensive and was actually kneeling at the time. I have, 
 however, seen the same thing, although more rarely, 
 in one who at the last moment of life had been in 
 motion, progressing forward. I have also seen the same 
 rigor in animals, and notably in the instance of a dead 
 battery horse, killed on the road near Burnside s Bridge 
 in the same battle. A bullet had passed directly 
 through his forehead and he had remained on his knees, 
 his head curved in air, semi-erect, rigid and unsup 
 ported. Two other horses killed at the same moment, 
 lay on their back and side, the usual attitude of dead 
 animals. The posture of the one to which I have partic 
 ularly referred was very striking, and full of grace. 
 He seemed an immense figure of black and bronze, with 
 parts of the dead harness still lying loosely upon him. 
 It was scarcely possible to believe him dead. 
 ( When I first passed over Antietam field, the scene was 
 a busy one. Men were actively engaged in collecting 
 the wounded, ambulances were hurrying to the rear, 
 many of the slightly wounded were staggering hospital- 
 wards, and burial parties were busy digging long burial 
 trenches, j The evidences of the battle were everywhere, 
 bullet marks on corn, twigs, and fences, trees shattered 
 in their trunks, and the dead scattered far and wide. 
 In a day or so, visitors and the friends of the injured 
 thronged to the field.) 
 
 During my stay in Keedysville, the central hospital 
 point, I was ordered by the Surgeon-General to ride to 
 the Potomac to see the field hospitals of the enemy. 
 This I did, and found them scattered along the Potomac 
 River, in the rear of a position which they had held. 
 At one of these hospitals, the one near to Sharpsburg, 
 I found an old student of Dr. DaCosta and myself. 
 His name was Dr. Dennis, and he had been attached 
 
210 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 to Stonewall Jackson s command. From him I learned 
 many interesting facts, and began to appreciate that 
 there are always two parties in a campaign or battle, 
 you, and your opponents, and also this fact which Gen 
 eral Grant has so well brought out in his personal 
 memoirs, that, although you may feel frightened at 
 your position, you must always bear in mind that some 
 times your opponent is as frightened as yourself; this, 
 apropos of the fact, that while the Union forces were 
 trembling in their boots at Stonewall Jackson s bold 
 ness, his troops were disturbed lest their very boldness 
 might lead to their being cornered and caught. Dr. 
 Dennis told me, "Doctor, if you had only been a little 
 sharper, you might have had us all." 
 
 When near the Potomac, I wandered along the cliffs 
 above the Maryland bank. There, I met an officer of 
 an infantry regiment, tall, thin and very wet. "How 
 do you do, Doctor?" said he. "Very well," said I, 
 "but I don t recollect you; who are you?" "Why," he 
 replied, "don t you know me? I have sold you many a 
 book. I used to be a salesman at Lindsay & Blakiston s 
 medical bookstore in Philadelphia, and if I hadn t been 
 a - - fool, I would have been there yet." He seemed 
 so upset, that I inquired into particulars, when he told 
 me that he held a Lieutenant s commission in the n8th 
 Pennsylvania Infantry, which had been raised by the 
 exertions of the merchants of the Philadelphia Corn 
 Exchange; that his regiment had been ordered over the 
 river to see if any of the rebels remained there, and 
 had found them and had been subjected to a terrific fire 
 from a Southern brigade, who suddenly appeared from 
 behind a tow path, or natural defence of the ground, 
 and were driven back to the northern side of the river 
 in the greatest confusion, and with heavy loss. "So, 
 
South Mountain Antietam 211 
 
 here I am," added the speaker, "but many of my com 
 pany Have been left on the ground behind." 
 
 General Lee made a narrow escape with his army 
 after the battle of Antietam. Had General McClellan 
 advanced, the Southern troops would in all probability 
 have in good part been captured. As I was passing 
 over the field, on this very morning, I met a young 
 United States officer, moving forward alone. I spoke 
 to him, some commonplace of the fight; "Ah," said he, 
 "if General McClellan could only realize how in every 
 hour s delay, he is losing a lifetime of glory." 
 
 I often wondered at General McClellan s unexplained 
 inactivity after Antietam, but within a month of this 
 writing I was told by General Ruggles, a patient of 
 mine, that he had seen a dispatch of Halleck to McClel 
 lan, or had been told of it by McClellan, in which Gen 
 eral Halleck positively directed McClellan not to ad 
 vance, or make any offensive demonstration, but to 
 remain quiet, and hold his own, and above all things 
 to remember that any incautious attempt to follow, or 
 to flank Lee, would uncover Washington, and risk the 
 safety of the President, the Capitol, and the Nation. 
 I have no doubt from the positiveness of General Rug 
 gles assertion, from his official position, and his in 
 timacy with General McClellan, that his statement to 
 me embodied the truth. 
 
 The Surgeon-General and his guest, Deputy Inspector- 
 General Muir of the British Army, spent some little 
 time at Keedysville, in the rear of McClellan s head 
 quarters. The village hotel was kept by a very clever 
 fellow, who had an exceedingly attractive little wife, 
 at least so the British Inspector thought, for he insisted 
 on paying special attentions to her, much as would have 
 been his manner to a British barmaid. A division of 
 
212 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 our troops marched past, at the time, and I recall the 
 inspector leaning out of the hotel window with his arm 
 around the hostess s waist, much to the husband s 
 chagrin, and to the evident astonishment of the young 
 woman, who saw that no indelicacy was meant, but 
 still felt that the custom was as yet foreign to Mary 
 land good manners. But the Briton stuck to his post 
 with soldier-like pertinacity. 
 
 It was just at this time that the regimental bands 
 had been diminished in number, and in many cases dis 
 continued. Our men marched past well, but still a little 
 languidly, for they were tired, and I recall Muir say 
 ing to me, "It may be more economical, and perhaps 
 it may be wise, to stop the music, but then a little strain 
 would make the men step up, and make their heels 
 come forward" ; and I must say, I thought so too. 
 
 Taking it all in all, the struggle at Antietam was a 
 typical battle, fought in the open ; it was typical also 
 as showing how the Americans fight, no matter where 
 from. Every foot of ground was fiercely contested, 
 and when either party gave way, it was before a crush 
 ing force of men or fire. It was a fight of which 
 neither of the contesting armies need be ashamed; but 
 each with truth, might be proud of the other. 
 
 By the 26th of September, 1862, I had returned to 
 Washington and set myself busily at my proper work, 
 the Surgical History of the War, and the collection of 
 material for the Museum. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE FIRST FREDERICKSBURG 
 
 After the battle of Antietam, the Army of the Potomac 
 remained on the north side of the Potomac, and then 
 crossed into Virginia towards the end of October. On 
 the 7th of November, General McClellan was relieved 
 from his command which was then assumed by General 
 Burnside. On the I7th of November the army marched 
 for Fredericksburg, and by the 2Oth, a large force 
 had reached Falmouth on the north bank of the river, 
 directly opposite to Fredericksburg. By the loth of 
 December, the entire army was concentrated on the 
 north bank of the Rappahannock. During this night, 
 and the following day, boats were placed in position 
 and with the pontoon bridges thus formed under a 
 heavy fire of the enemy, the army crossed the river, 
 occupying the greater portion of the city, while that 
 part farthest from the river remained in the enemy s 
 hands. 
 
 On the 1 3th, the fierce fight of the "First Fredericks 
 burg" occurred. General Burnside with all his force, 
 having crossed the Rappahannock and occupied the 
 town, advanced against General Lee, who had marched 
 his forces along the hills on the southwest of the town. 
 In spite of the most heroic efforts, the assault failed 
 completely, the United States troops were repulsed and 
 fell back to their position, as occupied on the morning 
 of Saturday the I3th of December, 1862. 
 
 213 
 
214 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 A report of what was going on at the army front 
 reached Washington while the battle was raging, and 
 on that evening, I was despatched with the Surgeon- 
 General to army headquarters. I reached there on the 
 morning of the I4th, Sunday, and immediately crossed 
 on the pontoon bridge. The court-house, churches and 
 other large buildings were occupied temporarily as hos 
 pitals. Very many of the wounded had already, that 
 is during the night of the I3th and the morning of the 
 I4th, been sent across the bridge to their respective 
 corps and division hospitals, on the high ground lately 
 occupied by the army in the rear at Falmouth, and 
 along the Acquia Creek and railroad. Here, I ought 
 to state that Acquia Creek landing on the Potomac 
 River, about ten miles from Fredericksburg, was a base 
 of supplies for the army, and that a railroad connected 
 the two points. If I remember rightly, the road at 
 this time was under the able supervision of Mr. Frank 
 Thomson.* Communication with Washington and 
 transportation for the wounded, and for military pur 
 poses, was thus comparatively easy, and very great 
 numbers of wounded were readily, and in comparative 
 comfort, carried to the hospitals at Washington, or to 
 points farther north. Large tent hospitals had also been 
 established at Acquia Creek and at Potomac Creek, at 
 or near the railroad crossing. 
 
 (My duty at Fredericksburg, at this time, was to help 
 in every way those who were caring for the wounded, 
 and at the same time to look after the interests of the 
 Museum. Dr. Moss, who was then assistant curator 
 of the Museum, had accompanied me, and was very 
 busy gathering up specimens to be taken up to Wash 
 ington for preparation and preservation. The court 
 
 *Afterwarcls President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 
 
The First Fredericksburg 215 
 
 house hospital was in the centre of the town. The 
 operating-table was placed in the court-room and a great 
 many operations were performed?) During the after 
 noon, if I remember rightly, of Monday the I5th, all 
 operations were discontinued and the hospital appoint 
 ments were removed. Very shortly after this was done, 
 a shell exploded in the court-room, just where the 
 operating-table had stood, and everything was turned 
 topsy-turvy. Fortunately no one was in the room at 
 the time. Had this occurred the day before, or in the 
 morning, while the operations were going on, a good 
 many of us would have come to grief. 
 
 It must be remembered that all of the time during 
 which we occupied Fredericksburg, the town, in one 
 sense, was at the mercy of the enemy. It was com 
 pletely at the mercy of the heavy guns, planted above 
 and below the town; at least I heard they were heavy 
 guns and at all events they were efficient batteries.* 
 The pontoon bridge was completely under their fire. 
 
 Occasionally a shell or two w r ould be fired into the 
 town or at the steeples of the churches, or at the bridge, 
 but in the main we were allowed a quiet possession. 
 The scene was a busy one, the town was full of our 
 soldiers, many bivouacked in the streets and yards and 
 grounds, ambulances were moving to and fro, and a 
 long trail of wounded were constantly passing toward 
 the bridge. I slept my first night in the basement lec 
 ture or Sunday-school room of a church in the centre of 
 
 *The Confederate Artillery at Fredericksburg was very efficient 
 and that portion commanding the city was commanded by that great 
 artillerist General E. P. Alexander, who stated to Lee before the 
 battle opened that he could with his guns "Rake those fields as with 
 a fine tooth comb and that a chicken crossing them could not 
 live." E. T. S. 
 
216 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the town. It had a tall steeple, and this had been occu 
 pied by one or two men of our signal corps. When I 
 say occupied, I mean that a rope had been thrown over 
 the apex of the steeple, and that a man or two had 
 been drawn up and sat there, high in the air, indicating 
 by the movements of little flags what they saw within 
 the enemy s lines, or conveying orders by telegraph to 
 our commanders. Finally, their movements were ob 
 served by the enemy, and their perch became at once a 
 target. It was a nice shot, but finally the Southern 
 cannoneers got the range and one of their shot passed 
 directly through the steeple, just above the attachment 
 of the ropes, which held up the eyrie of the signal men. 
 Evidently the latter dreaded the next shot, for they 
 descended with great rapidity and skill, to the great 
 delight of the onlooking soldiers below. So they es 
 caped, but the Southerners became, and continued sus 
 picious of the steeple, and every now and then turned 
 their attention towards it. 
 
 Early, very early in the morning, I was awakened 
 from my comfortable nap in the basement (I had 
 arranged two benches with great dexterity as a bed), 
 by a crashing sound, and a general jar and concussion. 
 I went into the yard to see what had happened, and 
 found some soldiers looking up at the steeple. They 
 pointed out to me with great glee, how another shell, 
 a big one, had also gone through the steeple, not quite 
 so high up. 
 
 And here I saw a good example of a soldier s reck 
 lessness or stupidity. A squad were about getting their 
 breakfast, and the man whose duty it was to light the 
 fire had just found a nice piece of pine board, the top 
 of a box. Desiring to split this, he had set upright an 
 unexploded percussion shell, twelve inches long, with a 
 
The First Fredericksburg 217 
 
 brass screw percussion point upwards. I caught him 
 in the very act of raising his board, to bring it down 
 with all his force. I pushed him over, to his great sur 
 prise and indignation. Had I been a moment later, 
 and the shell a live one, which I believe it was, this 
 history might never have been written. A somewhat 
 similar instance occurred after Antietam. Two soldiers 
 walking in the turnpike found a shell, which had been 
 fired. One said to the other, "John, there are two kinds 
 of shell; one goes off by a fuse like a fire-cracker, and 
 the other explodes when it strikes its point; that s what 
 they call a percussion shell; I ll show you this one." 
 And then he held it carefully point downwards and 
 dropped it on the turnpike bed. It was a percussion 
 shell, did explode, and but one mangled man was 
 left to tell this anecdote. 
 
 I remember my breakfast on that morning. Dr. 
 Moss and I had found a little flour and we chartered 
 an old negro woman whom we had discovered hidden 
 away in the cellar of an old mansion house, to make us 
 some cakes. "Lor, Massa, flour a int no good widout 
 them oder things" ; but we persisted, and such a dismal 
 mess ! I have never eaten any cake since without think 
 ing of this. Later we saw a solitary rooster stalking 
 along. We were very hungry, and ideas of spring 
 chicken flitted through our brain. We consulted dear 
 old Dr. Cuyler, who happened to be with us. "He 
 (the chicken), might do," he said. So we started a 
 darkey boy after him, for he was a wary chicken, but 
 the darkey caught him and killed him, and we later 
 tried to eat him, but our failure was dismal. He might 
 have lived in the time of the Revolution. 
 
 In passing through Fredericksburg, I was much struck 
 by the real effect of the cannonade. Both before and 
 
218 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 4 
 
 during the placing of the pontoons, the town had been 
 subjected to a heavy plunging artillery fire from many 
 of our guns, placed on the elevated northern bank of 
 the river, Stafford Heights. The shot had gone 
 everywhere, and had struck many buildings, and yet, 
 save the presence of the shot holes, there did not 
 seem to have been a very great amount of damage 
 done. The buildings were still standing. There had 
 not been much injury by fire. Interiors had been 
 somewhat disturbed, but considering all the circum 
 stances of the cannon fire, there did not seem to be a 
 great deal to show for it. I saw one queer sight, of 
 a room, a small one, in which a shell had burst in a 
 feather-bed just after its occupant had risen and left 
 the room. The effect of the explosion was extraor 
 dinary, the entire surface of the room, walls and ceiling 
 alike were coated or plastered with adherent feathers; 
 one could not but wonder how and why they stuck. 
 
 It was difficult for me at that time to understand why 
 the town, when we were in it, was not more heavily 
 bombarded, and why the pontoon bridge was not de 
 stroyed. The position of the commanding batteries 
 was such, that it would have been an easy matter to 
 have rendered the passage of the bridge by us diffi 
 cult and dangerous. It may be, however, that the 
 enemy, confident in their position, wished to have as 
 many of the United States troops as possible on the 
 south side of the river, and courted an assault, in the 
 confidence of the impregnability of their position, a 
 series of slopes, leading up to steep hills, defended by 
 strong works and heavy batteries. They unquestion 
 ably had every reason to resist and repulse an assault, 
 and I suppose that they believed that in the event of 
 another unsuccessful effort on our part, and a retreat 
 
The First Fredericksburg 219 
 
 in confusion, they would be able to capture or destroy 
 our entire force. I went out toward our picket lines, 
 to see the field, and I know that from what I saw, and 
 from what I was told, I was very much impressed with 
 the enemy s strength, and with our weakness of position. 
 It did not seem to me a military possibility for an 
 attacking force to be able to make headway against a 
 brave enemy, so favorably located, and I think that at 
 that time our men felt so too. 
 
 I recall a funny incident, illustrative of the peculiar 
 humor of the American soldier. The bridge of boats 
 between Fredericksburg and Falmouth was guarded on 
 the Falmouth side by sentries to prevent unauthorized 
 passage. On the afternoon of the battle, a straggler 
 hastily crossing was halted by the sentry on the friendly 
 bank, and informed that he could not pass without per 
 mit or orders. "Not pass! Not pass!" exclaimed the 
 astonished man. "Indeed, you must let me pass, I must 
 get across, for I assure you that I am the most demoral 
 ized man in the whole of the Army of the Potomac." 
 
 The American soldier, or let me say, the American 
 citizen volunteer, is a reasoning sort of animal ; he knows 
 just as well as his commander, and sometimes better, 
 when he can advance, and when he can fall back; in 
 other words, when he can win, or when he must lose. 
 More than one battle in our war was "the men s fight." 
 
 As I saw our troops in front of Fredericksburg, there 
 was little shelter for them, except in their distance from 
 the enemy s guns, and our advance lines and pickets 
 were flat on the ground, covered by such scanty pro 
 tection as they could scrape together, yet exposed to 
 the fire of the enemy from their well-constructed rifle 
 pits, on higher ground. As a consequence of the supine 
 position, some of our men received strange ranging 
 
220 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 wounds, with remote and singular points of entrance 
 and exit. 
 
 / In consequence, too, of the openness of the battle 
 ground, and of its exposed position, it had been a diffi 
 cult matter to remove the wounded, and yet so admirably 
 had the ambulance department, and the field hospital 
 been arranged by the skill and forethought of the Medi 
 cal Director of the Army of the Potomac, Surgeon J. 
 Letterman, U. S. A., and so efficient were the medical 
 officers and the attendants, that during the night fol 
 lowing the battle, all of the wounded were taken off 
 the field of battle and carried to the near hospitals. 
 This demanded great bravery and determination on the 
 part of the ambulance corps, since every movement had 
 to be made in the dark, a glimmer of light sufficing to 
 draw the enemy s fire. By the night of the I4th (Sun 
 day), most of the serious operations and dressings had 
 been performed. During that night, it was whispered 
 that on the I5th (Monday) all of the wounded would 
 be removed, as it was the intention to withdraw the 
 army away from the town to the northern bank of 
 the river j On the afternoon of the I5th, I encountered 
 Dr. Moss, my assistant, bringing with him an immense 
 number of surgical specimens for the Museum, some 
 of these in boxes, which we sneaked over in the wagons; 
 the remainder were carried in great bags on the backs 
 of one or two very black negroes. Just as we reached 
 the northern bank, one or two shots passed over the 
 bridge, Dr. Moss, who was somewhat philosophically 
 inclined, remarking, "What a blessed escape, for what 
 a wretched ending it would have been to one s life, to 
 have been swept into the river on an ignominious re 
 treat, holding onto a bag of bones." I know that we 
 made very good time on that bridge, and I felt greatly 
 
The First Fredericksburg 221 
 
 relieved as I climbed the river bank on the crooked 
 road near the Lacy House.* On the night of the I5th 
 of December (Monday) the army was withdrawn from 
 Fredericksburg to its old position. / I might add that 
 after the wounded were brought away from the town, 
 the city was carefully searched by medical officers, to 
 see that none were left behind. 
 
 From this time, and during the next ten days, the 
 disabled were sent as rapidly as possible on the rail 
 road to Acquia Creek, and thence by boats to the general 
 hospital at Washington and elsewhere^) I do not think 
 too much praise can be accorded Medical Director Let- 
 terman and his assistants for the wonderful manner in 
 which the wounded in this battle were removed, cared 
 for, and transported northwards. 
 
 For a day or two, I remained at the headquarters of 
 the army, living at the hospital. Here I saw a great 
 deal of surgery and had many pleasant experiences. I 
 remember when I first went there, and before I had 
 arranged my means and quarters of living, meeting one 
 who at that time was regarded as a great philanthropist. 
 In my judgment he was a great humbug and hypocrite 
 and did not afterwards turn out very well. However, 
 when I met him, he welcomed me warmly after his way, 
 "So glad to see you, so glad, and how are you? * 
 "Hungry," said I, "very hungry." "How fortunate, 
 how very fortunate!" he added, "I have brought down 
 
 *This fine old residence, a long low mansion situated on the 
 Stafford Hills just across the Rappahannock, was better known as 
 "Chatham," and, if I correctly remember, was frequently visited 
 by both Washington and Lee. On account of its associations, Lee 
 instructed his artillery not to damage it. I saw one good sized 
 solid shot imbedded in the back wall near the roof when I visited 
 the old place in 1903. E. T. S. 
 
222 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton ? 
 
 two fine turkeys." Here I felt myself warming up. 
 "Two fine turkeys, for Willie Averill s dinner, but I ve 
 left them in Washington. Good-bye, take care of 
 yourself." 
 
 Somewhere around this time, Dr. Hammond, the 
 Surgeon-General visited at the headquarters camp. I 
 think I then saw him at his best. His troubles had not 
 yet come upon him. Big, burly and genial, proud of his 
 high position in the army, full of professional feeling, 
 and anxious to develop good feeling in the medical 
 corps, he looked and acted the Surgeon-General. He 
 took also a great professional interest in the cases before 
 him, and insisted upon operating himself, doing one or 
 two operations fairly well, notably an elbow excision. 
 He was, moreover, well pleased with the medical 
 arrangements, the hospital organizations, and the am 
 bulance corps. 
 
 I returned to Washington about the ipth of December, 
 and was immediately at my old work. Specimens were 
 now accumulating at the Museum. Very soon after my 
 arrival, I sent Dr. Moss down to the army for more. 
 By this time, the surgeons generally were becoming in 
 terested in the Museum project, and were taking pains 
 to get and preserve what they could for the collection. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 VARIED LABORS 
 
 I have not yet spoken of the Medical Inspectors. The 
 grade of Medical Inspector was established by the Act 
 of April 1 6, 1862. These officers were to be eight in 
 number, each with the rank, pay, and emoluments of 
 a Lieutenant-Colonel of Cavalry. There was also to 
 be a Medical Inspector-General with the rank and pay 
 of Colonel. For this office, Dr. Perly, who was some 
 congressman s relative or friend had been selected. I 
 at first thought I would have been one of the Medical 
 Inspectors, but the appointments were made by political 
 influence and not according to the standing of the man 
 upon the roll of surgeons of their respective Staff Corps. 
 About this time, Dr. Hammond told me that he would 
 nominate me for one of the positions, but I declined, 
 not being willing to enter into any political struggle, 
 and being well satisfied with what I had already acquired. 
 
 I had now begun to make a few valuable friends in 
 Washington. If I remember rightly my first start in 
 this direction was through Dr. Coolidge, who was ap 
 pointed one of the new Medical Inspectors. He was a 
 surgeon in the old army and had seen a good deal of 
 service. He was a man of culture, of good heart, and 
 of a most kind and gentle manner. I grew to know Dr. 
 Coolidge well, and in fact, late in the war, I became 
 intimate with him. After I left the army, he was sta 
 tioned in Philadelphia, and when he was sent away, he 
 
 223 
 
224 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 left with me many of his books for safe-keeping. 
 Dying, shortly afterwards, these volumes were sent to 
 my old friend, his widow, who at that time was living 
 in New England. Among the books was a complete 
 set of United States Army Registers, back to and in 
 cluding revolutionary times. But two complete sets 
 were in existence, this one of Dr. Coolidge s and one 
 belonging to the late General Folten, Engineers Corps, 
 U. S. A. In the War of 1812, when the British burned 
 the Government buildings at Washington, all the official 
 registers were burned. As far as known, these two sets 
 were the only private complete ones. After Dr. Coo 
 lidge s death, I notified the Surgeon-General s library 
 of the existence of this complete register. Dr. Coolidge s 
 wife had been a Miss Morris, one of a navy family, and 
 it was her brother, Lieutenant George M. Morris, who 
 commanded the Cumberland, in the absence of Captain 
 Radford, when she was sunk with her flag flying, at 
 Hampton Roads, by the rebel Merrimac, March 8, 1862. 
 Mrs. Coolidge was very kind to me, and presented me 
 to the family of Captain Wilkes, so well known in the 
 "Trent" affair, and thus I was introduced by one person 
 to another, until I had formed a very pleasant circle of 
 acquaintances, among the old Washington people, who 
 antedated the political people of the day, but all this 
 took time. 
 
 I had hoped to be able to spend my Christmas at 
 home this year of 1862, but affairs at Washington were 
 so urgent, that I was not able to do so. So I spent 
 my holiday season at Washington, feeling lonely 
 enough, for I had been away from home for two Christ- 
 mases; the week passed, however, and then came New 
 Year s Day. New Year s Day at Washington was the 
 day of the year, the gala day. Everyone, every official, 
 
Varied Labors 225 
 
 feels it his duty to dress up in his finest toggery, and 
 to pay his respects to the President of the United States, 
 and from him downwards to all chiefs of lesser 
 magnitude. First of all, the members of the diplomatic 
 body go in state and full dress to pay their respects, 
 then in turn comes the army and navy in full dress, 
 then the civil service, and so on, and last of all, the 
 general public. And this was the state programme. 
 Let me speak of my own department, "quorum pars 
 (minima) fui." 
 
 At ten o clock or thereabouts, we officials of the Sur 
 geon-General s office, met at the office in full, big full 
 uniform, sword, belt and sash, and if one had them, 
 cocked hat and epaulets, although, as these were war 
 times, the cocked hat and epaulets might be dispensed 
 with. However, we made quite a show and followed 
 our chief, meeting the officers from the War Depart 
 ment, and officers in garrison, and in fact, officers in 
 general, and in we filed, the General commanding the 
 army leading, and solemnly we marched past the Presi 
 dent, as he stood, long, lanky and plain-looking, in the 
 big room (I think the east room) of the White House. 
 I do not think that it crossed my mind that never man 
 had greater work to do, or did it better, or left a 
 nobler name to after ages. He bowed to each one of 
 us as we passed, and then we dispersed for a little 
 while through the rooms. The scene was a brilliant 
 one, shining uniforms were everywhere, and there was 
 a certain quaintness to an American eye in the strange 
 court dresses of the diplomatic corps, who had lingered 
 to see the military and navy reception. 
 
 On the 4th of February, I was sent down hurriedly 
 to visit the general hospital at Annapolis, Maryland, to 
 report upon the cases of hospital gangrene said to be 
 
226 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 there. I accordingly went, and found that a number 
 of such cases had occurred.* 
 
 They were all Union soldiers who had been wounded, 
 and had fallen into the enemy s hands, and had recently 
 been exchanged, and brought up by steamers from City 
 Point, Va. Many of them had been confined in the 
 wretched Libby Prison and were filthy and almost 
 starved. They had, however, begun to improve as soon 
 as they arrived north, and were placed under healthy 
 and more favorable surroundings. A great deal has 
 been said about these cases by the different civil com 
 missions, who were often disposed to find fault unjustly 
 with the medical department of the army, and to arrogate 
 to themselves credit to which they were not entitled. 
 In the latter part of the month of February, I was 
 again sent down to Annapolis on the same errand, and 
 found that proper and satisfactory arrangements had 
 
 * ORDER. 
 
 "Surg. Genl. Office, 
 
 Washington, February 4, 1862. 
 SIR: 
 
 Reliable information has been received at this office that hospital 
 gangrene is prevailing to a considerable extent at the Genl. Hospt. 
 at Annapolis, Md. You will, on this, immediately proceed to that 
 city, and inquire into the origin of the affection in question, and the 
 means which have been adopted for its treatment, and for checking 
 its progress, making in your report such suggestions as may seem 
 proper. You will confer with the Surgeon in charge on these 
 points. You are hereby authorized to call upon the Surgeon in 
 charge for such present and future reports, as in your opinion may 
 tend to elucidate the whole subject. I have the honor to be, 
 Very respfty, 
 
 W. A. Hammond, 
 
 Surgn. Genl. 
 
 To Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. V. 
 Washington, D. C." 
 
Varied Labors 227 
 
 been made for all hospital gangrene cases, which were 
 doing well. 
 
 On March 28, 1863, I received an order to investigate 
 hospital gangrene in Louisville and Nashville. I im 
 mediately started for Louisville, and on arriving there 
 on the evening of April 2nd, I went to the Gait House, 
 a hotel filled to overflowing with officers and military 
 personages. I then called upon Dr. Middleton Gold 
 smith and found him to be a man of extraordinary 
 attainments and energy. He had at that time many 
 cases of hospital gangrene under his care. The hospital 
 impressed me most favorably. It was very large and 
 seemed to be managed in an original manner, and to 
 be replete with all kinds of ingenious devices. I was 
 particularly struck with the manner of making coffee. 
 The water percolated through a series of large tanks, 
 the first one being placed near the ceiling, and the last 
 one on the floor. The entire strength of the coffee was 
 by these means extracted, and none was wasted. Dr. 
 Goldsmith was, I believe, the first who used bromine 
 in the treatment of hospital gangrene, and sloughing 
 sores. Its effect, when thoroughly applied, seemed to 
 me at the time almost marvellous. It acted locally 
 to check the spreading gangrene, and the constitutional 
 symptoms at once underwent a change for the better. 
 I saw one case of a man with hospital gangrene, extend 
 ing on the right leg from the hip to the ankle, the 
 tissues having been eaten away to great depth. The 
 man was etherized, and the bromine (pure) most thor 
 oughly applied, and rubbed into every point. His con 
 stitutional state was very low, and he seemed very 
 feeble. On the morrow when I saw him, he was 
 propped up in bed in a semi-sitting posture, and pre 
 sented a marvellous change. He was in good spirits 
 
228 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 and hopeful, his only complaint was that he had not 
 had enough to eat at breakfast. 
 
 The victims of this disease were horrible creatures 
 to look at. Starvation, disease and exposure had done 
 their worst, and contributed to the development of this 
 horrid hospital gangrene, the "pourriture de 1 hos- 
 pital" so familiar to Larrey, and so well described by 
 Hennen, in his account of the Peninsular War, and 
 which was especially observed at the siege of Badajos. 
 The cases of gangrene at Louisville resembled strongly 
 those which I had seen at Annapolis, Md., only they 
 seemed to be worse; they probably had been exposed 
 more in the prison pens of the South, and had been 
 subjected to a prolonged land transportation. 
 
 At Louisville, Dr. Goldsmith was very kind to me, 
 and took me around to see every person and everything 
 to be seen, and thus my stay in Louisville was made very 
 pleasant. After remaining a few days in this city, and 
 after having fully inspected the gangrene cases, I de 
 termined in virtue of my discretionary orders, to go to 
 Nashville, and examine the condition of affairs there. 
 The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was at that time 
 a military road. It was strongly guarded by troops at 
 intervals of a few miles, but it was at all times exposed 
 to guerrilla incursions; it was passable but not safe. 
 Nashville itself was thoroughly garrisoned. 
 
 I made my start accordingly on a fine morning, but 
 had a narrow escape on my way. I was standing on 
 the rear platform of a car, smoking, when suddenly I 
 observed the car behind, which was coupled to that on 
 which I stood, jumping from side to side in a strange 
 manner. Instinctively, I backed against the car door, 
 and staggered within ; as I did so the platform of my 
 car disappeared and with the rear car attached to it, 
 
Varied Labors 229 
 
 rolled down the bank. I pulled the bell rope, the train 
 stopped and slowly backed to the place of the accident. 
 We then found that the car at fault had jumped the 
 track at a cattle guard (a sort of gridiron of logs at 
 road crossings to keep cattle off the track) had rolled 
 down the embankment, and was lying wheels upward 
 on the slope. Most of the passengers (military) had 
 been thrown out and scattered around. One of these, 
 Surgeon James Bryant, U. S. Vols., occupied a very 
 peculiar position. He was apparently planted head 
 downwards in the dirt of the embankment, and there 
 he stayed. I will not say stood, for his heels were 
 upright in the air, a sort of inverted pillar, unconscious, 
 or at all events, greatly dazed. Fortunately when they 
 picked him up he was found not to be very seriously 
 hurt. 
 
 I ran back on the train to Louisville, with one or two 
 of the injured, and on the next train started again for 
 Nashville. Morgan, or some other guerilla leader, 
 threatened the road at this time, and made travelling 
 somewhat precarious. As we went down, we learned 
 at one station (I think it was a place called Elizabeth), 
 that a band of guerillas had just passed, pushing on to 
 a point three or four miles ahead to a place or road 
 crossing, eminently eligible for ambushing and stopping 
 a train, and that our train was their object. So it was 
 a race for this point. We put on all speed, and passed 
 the critical road crossing as the band of mounted 
 irregulars appeared on the road over the top of the 
 hills. The railroad speed was good, faster than I would 
 care to travel often. 
 
 As I approached the bridge at Nashville over the 
 Cumberland River, it presented a very military appear 
 ance, heavily stockaded, looped for musketry, and pro- 
 
230 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 vided with cannon in embrasures. Arrived in the city, 
 I went to the prominent hotel, and spent the succeeding 
 two days in visiting the hospitals and carrying out my 
 instructions. I was kindly taken care of by Surgeon 
 Thurston, U. S. Vols. Nashville at this time as a garri 
 son town presented a busy appearance, contrasting 
 strongly with the same town, as I had seen it on the 
 first day of its occupancy by General Nelson, when I 
 had gone up with General Grant after the capture of 
 Fort Donelson. Then, it seemed a deserted city, all 
 doors were closed and windows barred, shops were shut 
 and scarcely anyone was in the streets. Fear was every 
 where, and it seemed as if those in town sat in dread 
 of an expected massacre. While at Nashville, I took 
 the opportunity of going down to Murfreesboro. Here 
 a battle had been fought about January i, 1863, Gen 
 eral Rosecrans commanding the Union forces. The 
 fight is known as the battle of Stone River, and the 
 Union success (or rather the salvation of the army), 
 was in some measure owing to the good conduct of the 
 forces under General Sheridan. In passing along the 
 street of the town, I met Sheridan, whom I had not 
 seen since I left him at camp at general headquarters 
 before Corinth in 1862. He was then only a Captain 
 in the quartermaster s department, but now, when I 
 met him at Murfreesboro, he had achieved the rank of 
 Brigadier-General, with a favorable and spreading repu 
 tation. He was very kind in manner to me, and I was 
 glad to have seen him. At this time, at our meeting in 
 Murfreesboro, General Sheridan, speaking of himself, 
 said to me, "Doctor, a pretty rapid rise, isn t it ? Three 
 (or four) from a Captain, to a Brigadier-General, and 
 I mean to deserve it, too." 
 
 About the I2th of April I reached Washington, hav- 
 
Varied Labors 231 
 
 ing returned by way of Philadelphia, of course. After 
 making my report of my trip, and of hospital gangrene, 
 and its treatment in the West by bromine, I busied 
 myself with my office duties until the early part of 
 May, when I received an order to proceed to the head 
 quarters of the Army of the Potomac, and report to 
 Surgeon Letterman, for special duty connected with 
 pathological specimens, and thereafter to return to my 
 duties in Washington. 
 
 So on the 5th of May I left with my hospital stew 
 ards. Stanch was a German water-color painter. He 
 had enlisted, tempted by the bounty, or to avoid the 
 draft, and had immediately been detailed on this special 
 duty as water colorist at the Surgeon-General s office. 
 Schafhirt was the bone artist, the son of Schafhirt who 
 prepared the specimens at the Museum, and who had 
 originally been an assistant or workman in the dissect 
 ing room of the University of Pennsylvania. Stanch s 
 duty was to paint sketches of such wounds and in 
 juries as I might indicate, while Schafhirt was to assist 
 me in the collection of specimens for the Army Museum, 
 that is, to bring away the bones fractured by gunshot, 
 or cannon projectiles, mostly obtained from the am 
 putated limbs, which accumulated at the operating-tables 
 in the various hospitals, general, division, corps or field, 
 which I might visit. 
 
 At first I had experienced much difficulty in obtaining 
 the necessary permission from surgeons, but by this time 
 they had become interested, and were anxious to fur 
 nish all they could to the national collection. As the 
 preparations were finished, or rather the limbs, etc., I 
 had them roughly cleaned (most often I was obliged to 
 do this myself), and then I had them placed in barrels, 
 
232 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 with liquor, and so sent or took them with me to Wash 
 ington. 
 
 Before I left, rumors of a decided victory for the 
 Union army had been rife in Washington. On the boat 
 to Acquia Creek, I met and traveled with my old friend, 
 Dr. Thomson, then Assistant Surgeon. We noticed as 
 we approached Acquia Creek, the depot of the railroad 
 and the camp in Fredericksburg, that all the indications 
 were that our army had suffered reverses. On the same 
 train with us were the President, Mr. Lincoln ; and Gen 
 eral Halleck, the General Chief of the Army. My im 
 pression was that they were in an empty baggage car in 
 which two wooden chairs had been placed for them. 
 This visit was unexpected and they were on their way to 
 headquarters to see for themselves what had happened. 
 They were provided with a special ambulance from the 
 station, and started campward. Dr. Thomson and I also 
 went up in an ambulance of the Medical Department. 
 The distance, only a mile or so, was soon passed over, 
 but we arrived long before the great dignitaries. When 
 they did get out, Mr. Lincoln s tall silk hat was creased 
 by knocking against the top of the vehicle as if he had 
 sat upon it. Their delay was caused by having been 
 brought by a much longer wagon route, so as to furnish 
 time for some slight moral cleansing of the headquarters 
 camp at least, so we were told. 
 
 The battle of Chancellorsville had been fought and the 
 Union Army had again retreated to the Falmouth side 
 of the river. We, in other words, had suffered a defeat, 
 but the enemy had sustained an irreparable loss in the 
 death of Stonewall Jackson, who was wounded on the 
 2nd of May and died about a week afterward. I think 
 he was their ablest general and, with his fall, fell the 
 Southern cause. 
 
Varied Labors 233 
 
 Having finished my work at the hospitals and having 
 collected what specimens I could and seen what surgery 
 I was able, I returned to Washington, leaving my men 
 to do some further work. The impression on my mind 
 was that Chancellorsville was a disaster to us and that 
 Hooker was hardly able to conduct the Army of the 
 Potomac on a successful career. I ought to say here 
 that Jackson s wounds and expected death seemed to 
 cause no elation in our army. All recognized how 
 dangerous an enemy he was, how honorable and brave, 
 how swift in his movements, how hard a striker, in 
 fact, how great a military genius. Yet with all this, 
 the feeling of the Northern army was one of pity, I 
 might also say of regret, that so great a soldier was 
 passing away. 
 
 At Washington I busied myself with my office work 
 until the 2ist of May, 1863, when I received the fol 
 lowing order: 
 
 "S. G. O. Washington, D. C. 
 
 May 21, 1863. 
 Sir: 
 
 You will proceed immediately to the Army of the 
 Potomac and visit the different Corps of hospitals on 
 special duty connected with the collection of pathological 
 specimens. Having accomplished this, you will return 
 to this city, and resume your present duties. 
 
 Very respfy. yr. Obt. Servt. 
 
 By order of the Surgeon General, 
 
 Jos. R. Smith, 
 Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. V., 
 Washington, D. C." 
 
234 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 On the back of this order, I have pencilled, "Order 
 in reality to ascertain the number of casualties at 
 Chancellorsville which had been concealed," and this 
 endorsement tells the truth, which I will here explain. 
 Chancellorsville, as we all know, was not a success, and 
 was attended with a frightful, and at the date of this 
 order, an unknown loss, or at all events, a loss which 
 had not yet become known at Washington, and it was 
 said that General Hooker, in command of the Army of 
 the Potomac, had given orders, or let me say, had in 
 structed all chiefs, to wit, the Chief Quartermaster, the 
 Chief Commissary of Subsistence, and the Medical 
 Director, to withhold from Washington all reports or in 
 formation which would tend to disclose the Chancellors 
 ville loss. But the nation, and the press, and the Secre 
 tary of War, Mr. Stanton, wished to know the loss as 
 accurately as it could be computed or ascertained. The 
 Secretary of War therefore desired that an officer should 
 be sent from the Surgeon-General s office, who should 
 as far as possible obtain this information, and I was 
 detailed for this duty, under the foregoing fictitious 
 order, with full verbal instructions. 
 
 It so happened that Surgeon Letterman, the Medical 
 Director of the Army of the Potomac, had at this 
 time come up to Washington, and on this very evening 
 on which I was to start, was dining with Surgeon-Gen 
 eral Hammond in H Street. Hearing this, and thinking 
 that the information desired could be readily procured 
 from him, I called at (Doctor) General Hammond s 
 and sent up a note with my card, asking if under the 
 circumstances of the Medical Director being in Washing 
 ton then and there, I should still start for the army in 
 the field to "collect pathological specimens." Dr. Ham 
 mond scribbled on the paper for me to start at once, 
 
Varied Labors 235 
 
 and to collect all the specimens I could, "as he could 
 collect none from the Medical Director." 
 
 I understood, and immediately took boat to Acquia 
 Creek, and procuring there a sorry old sorrel horse, 
 started the following day for the army headquarters, 
 stopping at Potomac Creek, and at all the general and 
 corps hospitals, etc., where the wounded had been car 
 ried, or where information concerning them would 
 accumulate. /I thus made a very complete search, and 
 obtained data which, taken with the memoranda of the 
 transporting officers, by railroad and boat, would give 
 a closely approximate number of the bulk of wounded. 
 In battles of the same general magnitude and descrip 
 tion, the ratio of killed to wounded is always about the 
 same, say one to every four or five wounded, accord 
 ing to the nature and circumstances of the action, 
 whether fought in the open, or under cover, etc. This, 
 the military statistican easily learns, and with fixed 
 ratios can readily guess closely at the number of 
 wounded, dead, and missing, and thus at a general loss, 
 as well as at the number of men engaged, on one or 
 both sides. Indeed, I may go further, and assert, strange 
 as it may seem, that given a correct statement of any 
 one class of wounds, say of the arm, or body or leg, 
 the major facts of losses, and the forces of the 
 combatants may be figured out, providing the statistics 
 are not French, in which wounds of the back are given 
 at a suspicious minimum, with a relative high ratio of 
 anterior wounds. 
 
 As a fact, I was able to report the loss of our forces 
 at Chancellorsville at about 23,000. J 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 GETTYSBURG 
 
 After the battle of Chancellorsville, matters remained 
 stationary with the Army of the Potomac. It was "all 
 quiet along the Potomac." In the latter part of May 
 and early part of June, however, it became evident that 
 General Lee was preparing to move. At Washington, 
 rumors to this effect were abroad. One cannot tell 
 how such rumors arise or become known. They always 
 did, however, and no matter what secrecy was observed, 
 a note of premonition would sound in Washington. 
 Perhaps it would arise from among the Southern sym 
 pathizers at the capital, and perhaps then gossip would 
 take wings, and the cackle of the Southern wives of 
 Northern or loyal men or officers would assume a shape. 
 At all events, it became an open secret that an invasion 
 of the North would be attempted. 
 
 Just before the battle of Gettysburg, a number of 
 officers of the English army, stationed in Quebec, I 
 think, visited Washington on a professional military 
 trip to see the American mode of warfare. They be 
 longed to the Scots Fusiliers. I was detailed to show 
 them the workings of our Medical Department, and 
 enjoyed that duty greatly. One of them was named 
 Moncrieff. I paid them every attention I could, and 
 when they returned to Canada, I sent them a keg of 
 Virginia tobacco, a courtesy which they returned by for 
 warding me a number of British blue books. They had 
 
 236 
 
Gettysburg 237 
 
 some doubt of American valor, but meeting one of them 
 after the Battle of Gettysburg, he told me that he had 
 seen quite enough of our fighting, for he had looked on 
 from a hilltop at Pickett s charge, and had seen the 
 brigade advance and retire. In fact, I heard it said 
 that at one time in the cannonade near Meade s head 
 quarters, they were not unwilling to stand behind a 
 stone chimney, which, as it was not "their funeral," 
 was quite the proper thing to do. I found these officers 
 to be well educated, intelligent, fine fellows. 
 
 During the march of the Southern forces north, I 
 was in Washington at my office work, fitting up the 
 Museum, and serving on this board and that a general 
 utility person in the office. 
 
 The movement of the Army of Northern Virginia 
 northwards towards and into Pennsylvania created a 
 very great excitement and fear. Everything was un 
 certain, and it was not easy to divine the object of the 
 enemy, nor to foretell how far he would go. There was 
 a general feeling of doubt as to the ability of the Army 
 of the Potomac to overtake him or to stop his progress. 
 In Washington little that was certain was known; all 
 was rumor and vague rumor. One thing, however, was 
 certain, the enemy had captured Chambersburg, York, 
 Carlisle, and even threatened Harrisburg itself. The 
 Army of the Potomac was doing its best, but it was not 
 supposed at that moment to be in a very efficient con 
 dition, and the community in general had not a very 
 strong faith in the capability of its leaders. 
 
 Philadelphia was in a great state of alarm. That 
 city was supposed to be the objective point of the enemy. 
 Its wealth, resources, and accumulation of manufactures 
 and supplies marked it as a most valuable prize to the 
 Confederates. Its capture would enrich them, would 
 
238 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 furnish their army with food and supplies, would inter 
 rupt the mails, transit and transportation. Unless the 
 Army of the Potomac could reach and bar the progress 
 of the Southern force, it really did not seem as if the 
 occupation of Philadelphia could be prevented. The 
 enemy were almost at Harrisburg. Viewed from my 
 standpoint at Washington, the occupation of Phila 
 delphia seemed quite possible. To my mind, however, 
 I believed that Lee would scarcely leave the Army of 
 the Potomac behind him, and that he would more likely 
 fight near Harrisburg, and give us the chance, the only 
 chance of salvation. Under the same circumstances, 
 Grant would have struck for Philadelphia. It requires 
 a great man, a great soldier, to depart from conven 
 tional rule, and by audacity to win success. The high 
 est military ability is shown in the power to conduct 
 an offensive campaign. Defensive generals, if I may 
 use such an expression, are many in number; they are 
 the outcome of the schools. Offensive generals, on the 
 contrary, are very scarce; the world s history shows but 
 few in a century, and each one of them is a genius, 
 governed by his own laws. That cause which is upheld 
 by the greatest offensive talent will, cctcris paribus, 
 dominate, and, in the long run, win. The South had 
 two offensive generals, Stonewall Jackson and Joseph 
 E. Johnston; possibly Longstreet might be added to the 
 list. Of these the first was killed; the second from 
 official distrust or envy, was trammelled and suppressed. 
 The third was a lesser light. The North had Grant, 
 Sheridan and Sherman. The balance of offensive mili 
 tary power was in their favor. 
 
 I have not yet spoken of General Lee or General 
 McClellan. I regard them both as grand examples of 
 defensive soldiers. The defensive warfare of both was 
 
Gettysburg 239 
 
 as perfect as the circumstances would allow. When they 
 undertook offensive campaigns, or when offensive opera 
 tions were forced upon them, it was evident that some 
 idea of defense was always in their mind, latent, and 
 unrecognized, perhaps, but still there. With Grant, it 
 was different, his whole notion was offense, and his 
 idea of strategy was to push on and attack the enemy. 
 He thought little or nothing of his rear; that could or 
 must take care of itself; his endeavor was to keep his 
 opponent busy by his repeated blows in front. The 
 worst part of General Grant s command was in the 
 rear; his most solid, compact and efficient was his front. 
 
 Before the war broke out, I had done a good deal of 
 reading on military matters, the history of Napoleon s 
 wars and Marlborough s, and Cromwell s campaigns, 
 etc. Among other books, I had dabbled in Jomini s 
 volumes on the Art of War, and I remember on one 
 occasion when I was with Grant on the Tennessee River, 
 asking him what he thought of Jomini. "Doctor," he 
 said, "I have never read it carefully; the art of war is 
 simple enough; find out where your enemy is, get at 
 him as soon as you can, and strike him as hard as you 
 can, and keep moving on." When I asked him at Fort 
 Donelson what was to prevent the enemy from attack 
 ing and capturing his rear, he replied, "He is not think 
 ing of that, we ll keep the front busy." 
 
 When Philadelphia was threatened, and as soon as I 
 became convinced that its occupation was possible, if 
 not probable, I became greatly disturbed about the wel 
 fare of my Mother and sisters, and the safety of our 
 home. All of my letters to my mother at that time are 
 filled with advice what to do. I counselled her to draw 
 money out of the bank, and then as soon as Harrisburg 
 should be occupied, or our own city otherwise threat- 
 
240 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ened, to go north to the White Mountains, taking with 
 her in separate trunks our important papers, such as the 
 estate books, and a number of unrecorded deeds of old 
 lots, and our title papers generally, and our index of 
 deeds, etc. Then, whatever happened, we would be 
 comparatively safe; we would have our deeds, and the 
 land could not be burned or destroyed. 
 
 As it happened, the immediate necessity of the family 
 hurrying away did not arise; our city was not cap 
 tured, and our records lay in their accustomed dust safely 
 through the eventful summer of 1863. 
 
 Immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, I was 
 ordered by the Surgeon-General to go there on special 
 duty. There was, then, two or three days after the 
 fight, some difficulty in reaching Gettysburg from the 
 south, the Washington side. The railroad had been 
 cut in a good many places, and the enemy was retreat 
 ing across the Maryland line in the direction of the 
 Potomac. There was much delay, and the transporta 
 tion was rough. I remember going, I think, from Han 
 over Junction, in the night, in a box-car, in which were 
 one or two horses loose, untied. I slept in the straw 
 on the floor perfectly safe. It was wonderful to see 
 the instinct of the poor brutes. How careful they were 
 of their feet, and how they seemed to try not to tread 
 on anyone, or injure them with their hoofs. And here, 
 by the way, I may say that the horse has the greatest 
 dread of the prone human figure. You cannot make 
 him tread on the body of a man, or upon that of a 
 dead horse or mule. I have tried to make a horse do 
 this, by the spur at Jefferson City, Mo., in 1864, but 
 have never succeeded. He will shy off fiercely and 
 widely, and if forcibly and persistently spurred on, he 
 will leap the dreaded object. The inanimate prone body, 
 
Gettysburg 241 
 
 he appears to hold in more horror than the living, but 
 it may be said that he will not approach these, if he 
 can get around them. A cavalry major, serving in the 
 West, once told me that on one occasion, just prior 
 to entering action, he was riding with one or two 
 squadrons rapidly down a narrow lane, being about to 
 debouch in the open, when his horse tumbled or fell, 
 throwing him to the ground in the very roadbed of 
 the lane. To him, death seemed inevitable, for he 
 thought he would be crushed and trodden by the horses 
 feet. He closed his eyes in horror, when after a few 
 seconds, finding that he continued unhurt, he opened his 
 eyes and saw to his amazement that each horse on ap 
 proaching him at full speed, deliberately and dexterously 
 jumped, so as to clear him, and leave him unharmed. 
 The entire force thus passed over him, the only injury 
 he received being a slight scratch on the hand, owing 
 to an involuntary motion he made during one of the 
 horse s leaps. This peculiarity of the horse is not known 
 to everyone, and certainly was not known to the poet 
 Campbell when he wrote : 
 
 "Their hoof-beaten bosoms are trod to the plain!" 
 
 In this box-car going from Hanover Junction, I met 
 my old friend Dr. Ellerslie Wallace, in search of the 
 body of a friend, the husband of a connection of my 
 own, who had been killed in the battle. Arrived at 
 Gettysburg, I found quarters, I think, at the Medical 
 Purveyor s, and busied myself for several days in visit 
 ing the hospitals in the town, in the churches and public 
 buildings, and also the large field hospitals which had 
 been organized outside of the town. These hospitals 
 were generally in good condition, and accommodated 
 
242 Personal Memoirs of John II. Bnnton 
 
 large numbers of wounded. A good many of the 
 enemy s wounded were gathered into one hospital under 
 the care of their surgeons. As I approached this hos 
 pital, operations were being performed at the operating 
 tent under the trees, and from the peculiar manner in 
 which the amputating knife was held, I recognized one 
 of my old students. He was about to amputate a limb, 
 and was drawing the knife in the peculiar manner which 
 I had been in the habit of teaching, and which I had 
 been taught by the military surgeon, Dienstl, in the 
 dissecting and operating room in the military hospitals at 
 Vienna. I was very warmly received by the Confederate 
 surgeon, and his friends, a very good set of fellows, 
 whom I was glad to meet with. Professional brother 
 hood is, I think, the strongest bond in the world, and 
 my whole experience in our war convinced me more 
 and more of this. 
 
 In my rides during these days, I had ample oppor 
 tunities of seeing the field of battle, and of forming an 
 idea of the fierceness of the struggle. In one of my 
 rides on an old white horse, somewhere, I think in the 
 direction of Cemetery Hill, I tried to ride across a 
 slough or marsh of soft black mud. It was treacherous, 
 and my horse sank slowly and steadily until his legs were 
 buried and his body even began to sink. He could not 
 in spite of all his struggles get out, and I began to 
 have serious apprehensions as to the outcome for horse 
 and man. I sank, too, but fortunately being near the 
 shore, I scrambled to dry and firm land, and by pulling 
 on my bridle, managed to extricate the beast. He was 
 a white horse no longer, for he had floundered on his 
 side and looked as if he had received a coat of tar. 
 For myself, I was in pitiable plight; nothing was left 
 for me save to reach my quarters, and go to bed while 
 
Gettysburg 243 
 
 my clothes were being washed and cleaned and dried, 
 for I had no others. 
 
 The town of Gettysburg was rilled with hospitals and 
 stores for the wounded, surgeons and their assistants, 
 who were coming to see a real battle-ground, newspaper 
 men in abundance, and a crowd of Sanitary and Christian 
 Commissioners, who wandered about everywhere, and 
 kept remarkably good tables at the houses which they 
 regarded as their headquarters. Crowds of citizens 
 were there from neighboring country and town, and 
 many from Philadelphia. Some of these came under 
 pretext of seeing friends, but many more drawn by 
 curiosity. A great many were in search of relics or 
 "trophies," as they called them, from the battlefield; 
 shot, shell, bayonets, guns, and every sort of military 
 portable property. The gathering and taking away of 
 such objects was strictly forbidden by military proclama 
 tion, all articles being regarded as belonging for the time 
 being to the military authorities and under their care. 
 Finally, it was decided to put a stop to this "trophy" 
 business. Guards were instructed to arrest purloiners, 
 and take away the articles ; but even this did not answer, 
 stolen articles were concealed in the clothes and pack 
 ages. The Provost Marshal (whom I knew, a Captain 
 Smith, a relative of General Halleck s), then determined 
 to put an end to the practice, and therefore ordered the 
 arrest and detention of all persons found with contra 
 band articles in their possession. This order gave much 
 annoyance to visitors, who still attempted to evade it. 
 So the Provost Marshal resorted to the rather sum 
 mary process of sending delinquents, or those disobey 
 ing his orders, out to the field of battle, to assist in 
 burying dead horses, not a pleasant duty. This gave 
 rise to trouble at once, and to threats of exceeding 
 
244 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 fierceness. I saw one squad about to start on march for 
 the field, five or six miles on a hot July morning, in 
 which was a loquacious gentleman, of portly presence, 
 who had been caught with a U. S. musket, as a battle 
 trophy, in his hands; deep was his wrath and eloquent 
 his protest and fierce his threats at sending him, "a 
 gentleman and a member of the legislature of this 
 state" to do such disgusting work. He promised to 
 have all concerned in issuing the orders dismissed, but 
 he had to make the march all the same, and at least 
 go through the formality of "burying dead horses." 
 
 This energetic treatment put a stop to the practice 
 of looting arms. Whether it was worth the trouble 
 and hard feeling excited, I hardly know. It was almost 
 incredible, however, to what an extent this trophy mania 
 had spread. One farmer near the field absolutely con 
 cealed a six-pound gun, letting it down into his well. 
 
 The battle-ground occupied the farms which lay be 
 yond the town for miles. A good many of the farmers 
 were Germans, I m afraid of a low type and mean, 
 sordid disposition. Their great object in this life, 
 seemed to be to hoard money, and their behavior to 
 ward our troops and our wounded soldiers, was often 
 mean beyond belief. As an instance, I might relate this 
 case. As I was riding along the country road, I met 
 a shabby buggy driven by a mean-looking German, and 
 carrying two wounded soldiers. Noticing that the ban 
 dage on one of them was too tight, and had caused 
 much swelling, I stopped the vehicle and learned this 
 story. They had been wounded on the farm (one of 
 considerable size, 176 acres) belonging to their driver, 
 the owner of the buggy. They had been there for a 
 day or two and were anxious to reach the field hos 
 pital of their command, some distance. They could not 
 
Gettysburg 245 
 
 walk, and their host (if such a term can be used), 
 finally consented to take them to the hospital, as I 
 saw he was doing, if they would give him a silver watch, 
 and such trifles as they carried on their person, for 
 pay. I wrote a little note, stating the facts, and directed 
 them all to the Provost Marshal s guard, not far behind 
 me. I afterwards had the satisfaction of learning that 
 the horse and buggy and shabby driver, had the oppor 
 tunity of affording gratuitous transportation for a week 
 to the sick and wounded under the supervision of the 
 Marshal s Guard, and that the watch, etc., were returned 
 to their original owners. I could only hope that the 
 lesson of forced patriotism would prove lasting. 
 
 (As usual after battles, many of the killed were buried 
 in trenches or pits} One of my men on this occasion 
 took from the body of a Southern soldier, a breast plate 
 of soft steel, in two halves, intended to be worn under 
 the coat or vest. One ball had struck it and indented 
 or bent it without perforation. Another, if I remember 
 rightly, had passed through in the region of the liver, 
 causing the death of the wearer. I think the breast 
 plate bore the imprint "Ames Manufacturing Company." 
 This cuirass was placed in the Army Museum, and I 
 suppoie is there now. It was the only example of de 
 fensive armor I met with during the war. * 
 
 I have spoken of the burials en masse. Many of the 
 bodies, however, were buried singly where it was pos 
 sible. In visiting the hospitals I entered one in the 
 suburbs of the town, which I was informed was much 
 exposed at one time during the battle of the crossfire 
 of the respective sharp shooters, or outlying pickets of 
 the two armies. In the churchyard, at one corner of 
 the church building, I observed a number of new made 
 graves, arranged with the greatest precision, each one 
 
246 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 of them being provided with a head board and foot 
 board, made of shingles, the former bearing the name, 
 rank, company and regiment of the man beneath. The 
 head boards were exactly alike, the lines for the in 
 scription and the styles for the lettering being alike in 
 all cases. These men, I was told, were buried at a 
 time when the hospital was directly in the line of cross 
 fire on both sides, and the sepulture was directed by a 
 medical officer. Struck with the remarkable adherence, 
 in all these cases, to the regulations and customs of the 
 army service, I inquired of the hospital steward, my 
 informant, "Was this medical officer tall and thin, in 
 exact uniform, and did he expose himself during the 
 burial/ "Yes, sir, and he read the service for the dead, 
 the burial service over them?" "Was his name Bache?" 
 I asked, feeling instinctively that such military rigidity 
 could only be found in that family. "Yes, sir," and 
 then I knew that my old friend, Surgeon Thos. H. 
 Bache, U. S. Vols. must be the officer indicated, and 
 it was so. The Army Regulations had been scrupulously 
 
 rnplied with. 
 Dur loss at Gettysburg was heavy but as the battle 
 was fought on our land, and as we remained masters 
 of the field, we had every opportunity for the care of 
 the wounded in large hospitals, and for their proper 
 transportation. My duty at this time was twofold, 
 first to render what help I could surgically, and secondly, 
 to collect specimens and histories for the Museum, y I 
 was able to gather much for the Museum, and for the 
 most part the medical officers were anxious to further 
 me in my endeavors to carry out my Washington in 
 structions. By the i6th or I7th of July, I had returned 
 to Washington, and resumed my office duties. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 OF THINGS MEDICAL AND MILITARY AT WASHINGTON 
 
 I spent the entire summer of 1863 at Peter Place on 
 Georgetown Heights, which I have already described. 
 The place, beautiful as it was, with the remains of for 
 mer grandeur, was essentially southern in its tone. The 
 family to which it had belonged, were all in the southern 
 service, and its associations and surroundings were es 
 pecially "Secesh." My friend Scull, of the Subsistence 
 Department, and I had rooms in an outlying building, 
 which I rather think was intended for the domestics 
 in bygone times. 
 
 I will not say that we boarded at Peter Place. 
 "Boarder" is almost a vulgar word, not in consonance 
 with the stateliness of the Mansion; we simply slept 
 there in the aforesaid wing, and "took our meals" in 
 the dining-room with the big folding windows down to 
 the ground, looking out on the high portico; we ate 
 quietly and demurely, not talking much, never alluding 
 to the war or army, or battles or marches. Uniform 
 was not worn; we were simply citizens, enjoying the 
 cool air of Georgetown Heights. The compensation 
 was managed by Scull, who prided himself on his deli 
 cacy, the exact amount of our indebtedness (in clean 
 notes) being placed in a note envelope, with the com 
 pliments of Majors Scull and Brinton, and handed to 
 the waiter. An equally refined acknowledgment of its 
 
 247 
 
248 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 receipt would reach us the next day by the black Mer 
 cury. 
 
 With all its formality and absurdities, Peter Place 
 was a delightful spot on these summer evenings, and I 
 thoroughly enjoyed sitting under the trees, and smoking 
 a pipe or cigar after dinner. The rides around George 
 town, too, were very pretty. General Halleck lived 
 in a large house, not very far from where I was stay 
 ing. He used to walk in and out to the War Department 
 every day. I often met him and exchanged greetings, 
 and once or twice walked with him, but he was not very 
 companionable and was undoubtedly an overestimated 
 man. 
 
 In the latter part of August, 1863, I served again 
 as President of the Army Medical Board, for the ex 
 amination of candidates for admission into the corps 
 of Surgeons of Volunteers, the former "Brigade Sur 
 geons." This was the same board on which I had served 
 when I first came to Washington. As I have explained, 
 the discharge of its functions was a somewhat delicate 
 one, owing to the fact that medical officers were so badly 
 wanted, and that pressure would be brought upon the 
 board to relax its standard of qualifications. On one 
 occasion, not long after I came to Washington when 
 I was the presiding officer of the Board, we were ex 
 amining a curious creature from Kansas, who was an 
 applicant for the appointment of Brigade Surgeon. He 
 was a man of more than middle age, apparently self 
 educated, and evidently had been through many vicissi 
 tudes in life. At that time, each candidate was obliged 
 to file a short written autobiography, and his began 
 in this way: "My first recollections of myself are that 
 I was found as a little baby, on an emigrant trail on 
 the prairie. Since that time, I have done a little of every- 
 
Tilings Medical and Military at Washington 249 
 
 thing. My qualifications are various. I can do almost 
 anything, from scalping an Indian, up and down. I 
 hope if I know enough, that you ll pass me, gentlemen." 
 
 This person was a friend of the then well known and 
 eccentric Senator from Kansas, "Jim" Lane, who did 
 the Board the honor of a visit, and after a self intro 
 duction, said "I m Senator Lane, Jim Lane of Kansas, 
 and I m interested in this Board. I ve a friend before 
 it, and what I want to know is this, are you a passing 
 Board or a rejecting Board?" We assured him we would 
 do the best we could in his friend s case, and fortunately 
 we were able to act up to his wishes without strain of 
 conscience. His friend, whose knowledge of the English 
 language and spelling was undoubtedly limited, was 
 nevertheless singularly well up in the practical parts of 
 the profession; he had lived all his life in the West and 
 practiced there, and so he passed the Board with a recom 
 mendation to the Secretary of War that "he be assigned 
 to duty in Kansas." He really proved to be one of the 
 most practical men in the service. 
 
 In November of 1863, I served upon a Board of 
 Medical Directors to consider the defects of the ex 
 isting system of reports of sick and wounded, and to de 
 vise some means for a more efficient and accurate sys 
 tem of hospital registration; and here I might say a 
 few words on the defects of the hospital registers, and 
 on the difficulties encountered in the early part of the 
 war in obtaining accurate reports and accounts of the 
 wounded. 
 
 As I have stated, when the war broke out the only 
 return or description of gunshot wounds was that un 
 der the heading of "vulnus scloperticum" on the general 
 sick report, furnished by the medical officers on duty 
 in every command, and at every post and hospital, and 
 
250 Personal Memoirs of John II. Brinton 
 
 which were, of course, entirely vague and too indefinite 
 to convey any accurate intelligence as to the extent and 
 character of an injury. As soon as I was assigned to 
 the preparation of the Surgical History of the War, I 
 tried to help matters by subdividing the gunshot wounds 
 into various classifications ; but this did not answer much 
 better, as duplication was apt to occur from the con 
 stant removal of wounded from one hospital to another, 
 as from a small field hospital to a division or corps 
 field general hospital, and thence to a city hospital, and 
 thence perhaps to state hospitals in the neighborhood of 
 the patient s home. 
 
 Some other system of registration and report was 
 evidently necessary. At Antietam I met Deputy Inspec 
 tor General Muir, of the British Service, whose ex 
 perience with sick and wounded had been large. I told 
 him the difficulties we labored under in obtaining ac 
 curate statistics. He then suggested to me the adoption 
 of something like the British medical descriptive paper, 
 a blank which is filled up when the wounded man comes 
 under treatment, and which then goes with him, and 
 accompanies him in all his transportation, and which 
 in case of death or recovery is then forwarded to the 
 central medical bureau, which in our case would be the 
 Surgeon General s Office. This plan seemed feasible, 
 and it was determined to give it a trial. I was accord 
 ingly ordered to have printed 100,000 of these medical 
 descriptive lists, adapted to our service. These were 
 then distributed, and Medical Directors were requested 
 to endeavor to have them filled up by the medical of 
 ficers at hospitals under their control. Perfect in theory, 
 and well adapted for wars where the wounded were 
 comparatively few, and the medical force numerous, 
 this system of registration of sick and wounded failed 
 
Things Medical and Military at Washington 251 
 
 utterly with us. Our medical officers were overworked 
 by the enormous numbers of our wounded, and the ex 
 igencies of the time demanded a too continuous and rapid 
 transportation of wounded from the front to northern 
 hospitals. The notice of transportation, too, was too 
 short; at all events this system did not work. It failed, 
 and in consequence a Board was convened, under the 
 following order: 
 
 "Surg. Genl. Office, Washington City, D. C. 
 Nov. 6, 1863. 
 
 A Board of Officers to consist of Surgeons J. H. Brin- 
 ton, J. A. Sidell, U. S. V. ; Assistant Surgeons Roberts 
 Bartholow, J. J. Woodward, and Wm. Thomson, 
 U. S. A., will assemble at the Surgeon General s Office 
 on Monday, November gth, or as soon thereafter as 
 practicable to consider and report upon proposed modi 
 fications, in registers and returns for sick and wounded, 
 and the diet table prescribed for the U. S. General Hos 
 pitals. 
 
 By order Acting Surgeon General, 
 
 (Signed) "C. H. Crane," 
 
 Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. V. 
 Surgeon General s Office." 
 
 The action of this Board was the adoption of the 
 form of registers which continued in use until the end 
 of the war, on which every case was minutely entered, 
 in whatever hospital the man might be. A comparison 
 of the registers was necessary to prevent duplication, and 
 for this purpose a large clerical force was maintained 
 in the Surgeon General s Office. The blanks for these 
 reports were printed in Philadelphia by J. B. Lippincott 
 
252 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 & Co., and I had the pleasure of running on to order 
 them. Dr. John Neill, then a Surgeon, U. S. V., had the 
 after-superintendence. They proved a success. 
 
 Once or twice during the summer and autumn of 1863, 
 I had the opportunity of visiting Philadelphia. In fact, 
 Dr. Hammond, when in full power, had told me that 
 when the business of the office and army affairs were 
 not very demanding or urgent, I might slip on to Phila 
 delphia, and stay over Sunday, provided I would be in 
 my place in the office by nine o clock on Monday morn 
 ing. Of course, on these clandestine visits home, I wore 
 a civilian s dress, with nothing about me which could 
 possibly indicate my military functions. 
 
 Somewhat later than this, I had occasion to employ 
 a government detective to hunt up a deserter, who, act 
 ing as my orderly, had stolen nearly all my decent cloth 
 ing. He was a clever scoundrel, and while acting as 
 my body servant or valet, had drawn my attention to 
 many necessary repairs on my outer clothing. At the 
 same time he pointed out some defects on my linen, and 
 flannel underwear. He kindly offered to have all defects 
 remedied, and the mending, generally, thoroughly done. 
 He knew a nice German seamstress. The laundrying 
 he hardly thought was up to the grade of my linen, so 
 he had that attended to also at a very moderate rate, 
 carefully and in a proper businesslike spirit ; he even 
 brought me back six cents change. My silk (civilian s) 
 hat he had ironed, and all my shoes neatly cobbled. I 
 was quite nicely fitted out, as good as new, and then 
 when all was complete, he disappeared, and with him all 
 my clothing and toilet apparatus, and even my tooth 
 brush. He left me nothing save what I had on, not 
 even an extra handkerchief, and he went away on a 
 rainy day, and I had a bad cold. Such a desertion of 
 
Things Medical and Military at Washington 253 
 
 his colors was not to be tolerated by the United States 
 Government, and I was directed to put the case in the 
 hands of the Provost Marshal s Department, and to have 
 him arrested at any cost, as desertion from a Bureau of 
 the War Department could not be overlooked. So one 
 or two U. S. detectives were placed at my beck and 
 call, but nothing was accomplished. He was seen in 
 bad company in New York, but he evidently had some 
 recognition of the detective, and he escaped by good 
 running. The last we knew of him, he had found his 
 way safely to Canada. 
 
 To return to the detective service, I learned from 
 one of its members that all outgoing trains from Wash 
 ington were watclied, to stop unauthorized flitting of 
 officers. "Do you ever find any transgressing in that 
 respect?" I asked. "Yes, Doctor," he replied, "we often 
 do. For example, we see that nearly every Saturday 
 evening, you go to your home in Philadelphia, and re 
 turn every Monday morning by the night train, but 
 our orders are not to stop you, as it is all right." 
 
 The autumn and winter of 1863, and the early months 
 of 1864, were passed by me very pleasantly in Wash 
 ington. I had my daily routine of office work, some 
 leisure in the afternoons, and in the evening, time for 
 social amusements. At all ordinary times, I was at the 
 Surgeon-General s about nine o clock in the morning. 
 There I attended to my duties proper, until about one 
 o clock. Then I usually lunched simply at Wormley s 
 restaurant, a glass of wine and a slice of cold meat was 
 all I took. My friends, Scull and Moss, usually lunched 
 at the same time and place. Then after lunch, I would 
 drop in at the Museum building, look after the running 
 of Museum matters, then take my horse, visit some one 
 of the many hospitals in and around Washington, and 
 
254 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 later in the afternoon, ride with my friends. The rides 
 around Washington were pretty, and on pleasant after 
 noons, nothing could be more pleasant than a gallop out 
 Seventh or Fourteenth Street, or in the lanes leading 
 from Georgetown Heights. When I first went to Wash 
 ington, I bought a sorrel horse but I m afraid he was 
 not of very good breeding, for his sole accomplishment 
 was a canter, easy, but not very stylish. I afterwards 
 became somewhat ashamed of him, and bought another 
 beast, one of great style. He was raised somewhere 
 in western New York, of "Royal George" ancestry, 
 whatever that may be. He was quite large and very 
 handsome. I paid four hundred dollars for him, and 
 was told he was a bargain. He had been brought to 
 Washington, intended as a present for the officer in 
 specting the purchase of horses in other words a bribe 
 horse. The gift being rejected, he was to be sold for 
 what he would bring, and I foolishly bought him, 
 tempted by his beauty. But handsome is as handsome 
 does," and this brute was an incarnate fiend. After 
 owning him a short time, I felt that I could safely and 
 honestly warrant him to possess every vice, trick and 
 bad habit which any horse could inherit from mischiev 
 ous ancestors, or develop by innate wickedness. He 
 would bite, kick, bolt, shy, rear, plunge back (in a sud 
 den and startling manner), buck-jump (artistically), 
 take the bit in his teeth and run, plunge his head down 
 obstinately, and then raise it and strike his rider s nose 
 in a wonderful fashion. He understood all about spurs, 
 and if he felt them he would bite at the leg. You couldn t 
 ride him without strong leathers, and he had a strange 
 horror of boastful riders. He would throw a jockey 
 or groom without hesitation. I once allowed a Hun 
 garian, who had served for years in the Austrian ser- 
 
Tilings Medical and Military at Washington 255 
 
 vice, and two terms of enlistment in the U. S. Cavalry, 
 to mount him. The beast eyed him on his approach, 
 and laid back his ears, but permitted the man quietly to 
 mount him. The next moment the horse was in the air, 
 and there was a strange and complicated movement of 
 his forelegs, and he then stood quiet and riderless. The 
 Hungarian had been shot from the saddle, and fortu 
 nately landed on a pile of manure in the corner of the 
 yard. And yet this beast let me ride him in compara 
 tive quiet, only backing and bolting now and then, and 
 then, too, in no very vicious spirit. I was afraid of 
 him, and he knew it, and he seemed content to let mat 
 ters rest on that basis. I kept him until I left Washing 
 ton. With difficulty, he was sold to a cabman, and 
 ran away with the carriage and injured his mate. A 
 milkman bought him, and he broke the wagon and 
 spilled the milk. Finally, he was sold for fifty dollars 
 to the street car company. I heard no further particu 
 lars of his adventures, except in a general way that he 
 lived up to his previous bad reputation. 
 
 In the summer of 1863, I had a visit from my cousin, 
 Charles Coxe. He had gone into the service a boy, 
 was now maturing into a good cavalry officer, and was 
 a very manly fellow. The more I saw of him in the 
 war, the more I thought of him. 
 
 In the early part of September I moved into Wash 
 ington from Georgetown. Changes were occurring in 
 the Surgeon-General s Office. Dr. Hammond, or as we 
 used to say General Hammond (the Surgeon-General 
 had the rank of Brigadier General), had gotten into 
 trouble with Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, and 
 had been sent off south in partibus oripedium on a 
 sort of inspecting tour, banished from Washington, and 
 I may say here, that he never returned to his official 
 
256 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 duties at the capital. He was hardly treated, for he 
 was not guilty of any wrongdoing; he simply could 
 not get along with the Secretary, and, so to speak, ran 
 his head against the wall. His case dragged on, he was 
 tried by Court Martial and cashiered. Court Martials 
 sound well, but often do injustice, especially if packed, 
 or when desirous of finding in accordance with higher 
 authority. At the time of the sitting of the Court Mar 
 tial, I was lunching every day at Wormley s restaurant 
 One morning, as one of the members of the Court came 
 in to take his luncheon, some one present said, "How 
 are you, General, this morning?" "Sir," said the Gen 
 eral, "I have been fast asleep all the morning in my chair 
 at that damned Hammond court martial. I did not hear 
 a word." And he was a prominent member of the court. 
 The finding was foregone. The disabilities of the 
 sentence were years afterwards annulled by Act of Con 
 gress, and General Hammond restored to the Army, and 
 placed on the retired list as Brig.-Surg.-Gen. retired, 
 27th Aug. 1879, without pay or allowance under act 
 of March 15, 1878. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NO ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL METROPOLITAN CLUB 
 
 Here I must say something about one of the great 
 disappointments of my life. It was connected with a 
 proposed Army Medical School, like the British School 
 at Netley. It had been an idea of Surgeon-General Ham 
 mond s in the plenitude of his power, and at the time 
 when he was most enthusiastic, and it seemed to me 
 then, and to all of the medical officers of the old army, 
 who were consulted, that the scheme was a good one, 
 to found a medical school, the professors of which should 
 be medical officers in the army, and the object of which 
 should be the instruction of graduates-in-medicine, that 
 is, doctors in the medical branches of military medicine 
 and surgery, and in the customs of the service. It was 
 intended to teach them how soldiers should be looked 
 after in health, on marches, in camp, how they should 
 be treated when sick or wounded, how cared for in 
 hospitals or in the field, and how properly transported. 
 All of this knowledge was usually obtained only by ac 
 tual service and by bungling experience. Now, if this 
 experience could only be imparted to the young medical 
 man about to begin his military life, much would be 
 gained in point of time, in efficiency of service, and in 
 care of the soldier. Our experience in the early part 
 of the war taught us, and I speak very positively of 
 myself, how hard it was for a medical man who had 
 just donned his uniform, to learn the mysteries of ob- 
 
 257 
 
258 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 taining food from the subsistence department, or of 
 stores and transportation from the quartermaster, how 
 to obtain an ambulance, or to find horses, or to procure 
 forage, how even to obtain medicines from the purveyor, 
 and how to take care of them when received, how to 
 draw a hospital tent, how to pitch it, how to keep it 
 standing and comfortable for the sick. 
 
 Then, too, it was an art very different from that 
 known to the doctor of civil life to treat a sick or 
 wounded soldier, to make the best of opportunities, to 
 cure rapidly, and to return him well and fit for duty to 
 his command at the earliest moment. These and thou 
 sands of other matters, it should be the function of 
 the military Medical School through experienced in 
 structors, to teach the young surgeon or medical cadet, 
 or even the hospital steward. 
 
 To assist in this end the Army Museum, with its un 
 rivalled collection of specimens of pathological anatomy, 
 of every sort of medical appliances, suitable for military 
 life, of models of camps, tents, hospitals and transpor 
 tation by land and water, could have been turned to 
 good account under a wise administration. 
 
 As I have said, the foundation of such a school had 
 been a favorite project of Surgeon-General Hammond, 
 and under his general instructions, I had fitted up the 
 rooms beneath the main hall of the Museum (Corco- 
 ran s Building) for teaching purposes. There was a 
 charming lecture room, with sloping seats, a couple of 
 convenient little retiring rooms or laboratories, a good 
 stage to speak from, and a well constructed lecture and 
 revolving table. The illustrations, in lavish profusion, 
 were in the main hall above, and everything was ready 
 for the first military medical course of the United States 
 Army for the session of 1863-64. It wanted but the 
 
No Army Medical School 259 
 
 authorization of the scheme by the Secretary of War, 
 and the appointment of the lecturers or professors. 
 
 These had in truth been selected. There was Coolidge 
 of the regular army, an old officer, to teach the customs 
 of the service and military medical ethics ; Surgeon Si- 
 dell, U. S. V., as a teacher of chemical surgery; and 
 Assistant Surgeon William Thomson, since famous as 
 an oculist, and Assistant Surgeon J. J. Woodward, U. 
 S. A., on military medicine; and also Roberts Bartholow 
 of world-wide reputation, and several others, whose 
 names have escaped me. Gunshot injuries had been as 
 signed to me; my pictures were painted in gorgeous 
 style, and even my introductory remarks had been jotted 
 down. 
 
 In the meantime, Surgeon-General Hammond had 
 been sent away, and Acting Surgeon Barnes reigned in 
 his stead. As Curator of the Museum, I reported to him 
 the forward state of preparation. The Secretary of 
 War was to be informed. He was told by Mr. Barnes. 
 He said he would "decide the matter and speak of it 
 to-morrow." On the morrow, about nine o clock, on 
 his drive from his home to the war office, he stopped 
 at the Museum Building, descended from his carriage, 
 ran hastily through the Museum rooms, looked angrily 
 at the dear little lecture room, stamped his foot, growled, 
 "Ugh," drove to his office, sent for Acting Surgeon Gen 
 eral Barnes and said sharply to him, "Are these lectures 
 to be given in the evenings?" To an affirmative reply, 
 he growled, "They will go to the theatre and neglect 
 their duties. It shan t be," and thus was the end of a 
 favorite plan for doing some good for the Medical 
 Corps of the Army, and for disseminating a more cor 
 rect and general knowledge of military medicine and 
 surgery. 
 
260 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Sometime in the winter of 1863-64, I became a mem 
 ber of the newly established Metropolitan Club, and in 
 a short time I was appointed one of the governors. This 
 club then was the only one in Washington, and had 
 acquired the house lately ocupied by Baron Gerault, the 
 Minister from Prussia. Many of the high officers of 
 Government, secretaries of the cabinet and men of in 
 ferior grade, auditors and the like, joined it, also many 
 of the diplomatic corps, especially the younger mem 
 bers and attaches. It was a pleasant place to dine, to 
 smoke, to play billiards, and spend an evening. There, 
 too, one met many men prominent in Washington life, 
 some from their individuality, and some from the pub 
 lic positions they held. I recall thus to my mind, Messrs. 
 Nicolay and John Hay, the private secretaries of Presi 
 dent Lincoln, Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treas 
 ury, popularly known as "Old Greenbacks," Secretary 
 McCullough, and Mr. Chas. Sumner. 
 
 McCullough I met often. He belonged to a social 
 club, to which I was often invited, and which met at 
 members houses, I think on Saturday evening. On 
 one occasion I was late, and as I entered, Mr. McCul 
 lough said to me, "Doctor, you are just in time to de 
 cide an important question, we are voting as to which 
 design for an engraving for a greenback we shall se 
 lect. We are evenly divided, now which do you choose ? 
 Give your casting vote." I did so and I think I voted 
 for "Columbus landing" or something of that sort, and 
 so the choice was made. I never saw these notes after 
 wards without a feeling of sponsorial affection. 
 
 For some time my seat at table was next to Charles 
 Sumner, who struck me as a dreadful pedant, always 
 reading proof between soup and fish, and speaking 
 
No Army Medical School 261 
 
 French, bad French, to the diplomats at table, who 
 usually spoke English perfectly. 
 
 This club was a dangerous place for an officer of the 
 army, and I came to grief from too open an expression 
 of opinion, as I shall explain when I come to speak of 
 why I left Washington. 
 
 In November, 1863, I remember an old squib or pub 
 lication called the "New Gospel of Peace," a burlesque, 
 if I remember rightly, on the peace movements, a Cop 
 perhead program that the enemies of the government 
 were starting at this time. In the "New Gospel" a good 
 deal is said of the exploits and character of one "Ulysses, 
 surnamed Unculpsalm." It attracted considerable at 
 tention at its first appearance, and I sent a copy of it 
 to General Grant. The idea of making him Lieutenant 
 General, reviving Scott s rank, was at this time much 
 talked of, and was in fact done in the early part of 
 March, 1864, General Grant, then in command of the 
 Armies, being appointed by the President and confirmed 
 by the Senate as Lieutenant General, March loth, 1864. 
 
 At this time, I had an ambulance to take me from 
 place to place. All understrappers, like myself, had every 
 convenience, ambulance and other concomitants of mili 
 tary luxury, pertaining to official life. In reality, bureau 
 officers and attaches had more attendants in waiting 
 than even the President himself, or at all events, 
 than Mr. Lincoln had. I remember very well that Mr. 
 Nicolay told me at the club that President Lincoln was 
 very badly off for personal attendance. He only had 
 one or two civil attendants or messengers in his hall. 
 He was so conscientious that he would not allow sol 
 diers to be detailed for his personal service. The men 
 he employed were overworked, and often he had diffi 
 culty in dispatching really important public business. 
 
262 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Nicolay told me that he had not even stationery enough 
 for the office work. 
 
 During the winter of 1863-64, the Army of the Po 
 tomac was quiet. At Washington, military affairs 
 seemed at a standstill, gaiety was at its height, society 
 had by this time become more settled, and, as it were, 
 had crystallized. The old "before the war" society had 
 disappeared, or shrunk into the background. Before 
 and at the outbreak of the war, "society" at the capital 
 was Southern in tone. This society then represented the 
 wealth and culture of the city. The war came, the 
 most active Southern sympathizers went South, and 
 joined formally the Confederate cause. A few of the 
 old people remained in quiet and comparative obscurity, 
 but always on the lookout for news, and probably send 
 ing much useful intelligence to friends at the South. 
 Some of these people regarded themselves as neutral, but 
 I am sure that in feeling and sympathy they clung to the 
 South, and to their former traditions. 
 
 Under the excitement of the war, strangers from the 
 loyal states flocked to Washington, and soon formed 
 for themselves a new society. These newcomers were 
 composed of the fresh republicans and their friends, 
 military officers, stationed at and around Washington, 
 and their families in part, and government officials of 
 all grades, at first a somewhat motley lot. Then, there 
 was a constant tide of contractors of all sorts, people 
 seeking to make money. 
 
 Thus constituted, the general society of Washington 
 was at first somewhat peculiar. It was smart, quick, 
 bright, but it was wanting in homogeneity, and the old- 
 fashioned indolence and polish. By degrees, as time 
 elapsed, it became less evanescent and changing, and 
 more settled and systematized. But still there remained 
 
No Army Medical School 263 
 
 in feeling, if not in fact, two circles, one, the society 
 of Washington, the centers being the White House, the 
 houses of the cabinet officers, and the diplomatic man 
 sions; the other, a circle o old-fashioned people, very 
 quiet and nice and hospitable to well-introduced stran 
 gers, but silent on the events of the day. If by any 
 chance, they expressed an opinion, it was very tender 
 in their judgment of the South, and strong in their 
 admiration of General Lee, and "President Davis." 
 
 By good luck, I was fortunate to have the entree 
 everywhere, thanks to the kindness of a sister-in-law of 
 a friend, a woman of bright disposition and handsome 
 person, clever, and well bred, who knew everyone, and 
 went everywhere, and who just at that time was glad 
 to have an escort. She left my cards everywhere, and 
 at once I was effectually introduced. Cards of invitation 
 poured in on me, and I fully availed myself of my good 
 fortune. I remember frequently visiting at the White 
 House. The young ladies prominent in society would 
 fix on an evening, and with a sacred few, call, half infor 
 mally, on Mrs. Lincoln. The ladies of the cabinet gave 
 a good many state receptions, and oftentimes quiet little 
 gatherings for the young people. At the houses of Sena 
 tors Morgan (of New York), Dixon (of Connecticut), 
 Reverdy Johnson (of Maryland), and many others, I 
 was a frequent visitor. Commodore Wilkes, who cir 
 cumnavigated the world, and afterwards came to official 
 grief in the matter of Mason and Slidell and the Trent 
 affair, had a charming old house, where I spent many a 
 pleasant evening with Mr. Coolidge, and the Morris fam 
 ily, the famous Morris who went down on the Cum 
 berland, with the United States flag still flying at the 
 mast head, at Fortress Monroe. Another house at which 
 I visited frequently was that of Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas, 
 
264 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 the famous beauty and widow of the western politician. 
 She was formerly a Miss Cutts, a beautiful and clever 
 woman, who exercised great and widespread influence 
 by virtue of her intellect, good looks and name. It was 
 a delightful house to visit, and one met there many 
 prominent personages of the day, especially men in and 
 around the government. Conversation on political top 
 ics was very free, and there was less constraint than at 
 any house in the city to which I had access. People 
 could and did say in her parlor things touching passing 
 events, which they could not speak elsewhere. Usually 
 one in Government employ had to be very careful of his 
 words, as I afterwards found out to my cost. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE PRESIDENT AND SOME LESSER DIGNITARIES 
 
 I daresay my readers will naturally ask what I saw of 
 Mr. Lincoln, our President, who will go down to pos 
 terity as one of the great personages of history. Over 
 and over again, I was presented to him on official occa 
 sions, and once I amputated at the shoulder joint, the 
 arm of a soldier at a hospital in Washington, which 
 the President was visiting at the time. He was greatly 
 interested, but evidently had little fondness for surgery. 
 At the conclusion of the operation, a younger surgeon, 
 who had been watching me, expressed with some enthusi 
 asm and in a voice audible to the President, his con 
 gratulations upon the operation, and I remember well 
 being startled by the voice of the President behind my 
 back, making the solemn inquiry, "But how about the 
 soldier?" 
 
 When times were critical, and great battles were be 
 ing fought, and news from the front scarce and unde 
 cided, it was considered safer at army headquarters in 
 Washington not to tell the President too soon how things 
 were going, at all events until results were certain. The 
 President, grand character as he was, was considered 
 just a little "leaky," and delighted to surprise his political 
 friends and cronies with news, especially glorying in 
 good news, but it was not always well to make public, 
 too early, announcements, whether for good or evil. The 
 news channel to the South was too straight and active. 
 This Secretary Stanton and others knew, and so, from 
 
 265 
 
266 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 prudential reasons, President Lincoln was often kept in 
 ignorance of what was going on. At such times, he was 
 very restless and anxious, and more than once at critical 
 periods, I have seen him nervously hurrying from the 
 White House to the office of the Secretary of .War, and 
 to army headquarters and back again, in search of in 
 formation for the time kept from him. On one or two 
 occasions, he spent the best part of the day in these fruit 
 less trips; and, strange to say, not a few of the officers 
 on duty at the different bureaus of the War Department 
 were aware of the circumstances. 
 
 As I have said, I passed the early part of the winter 
 of 64 in the society of Washington, enjoying it greatly, 
 and I may state, in anticipation, that in the latter part 
 of March, Mrs. Grant arrived in the city. Her first 
 experience of Washington society was, I think, at Mrs. 
 Blair s. I believe I was the only person she knew in the 
 room at the time, and I had the pleasure of taking her 
 through the rooms, and of presenting very many Wash 
 ington people to her. She was received with great 
 warmth, all looking to her with curiosity to see what 
 manner of woman the wife of so great a general 
 might be. 
 
 On March nth, General Grant returned to Tennessee, 
 and took leave of the armies of the west. On the 22nd 
 or 23rd of March he returned to Washington, staying 
 at Willard s Hotel. He was beset by visitors and poli 
 ticians. I called on him several times, but could not see 
 him. On the 2/th, he was again in Washington, I then 
 saw him and had a long chat with him. I found him 
 just the same man he always was, simple, unaffected, and 
 his head unturned by the adulation he received. He 
 treated me then as always, with simple kindness. 
 
 About the 25th of March, 1864, General Sheridan ar- 
 
The President and Some Lesser Dignitaries 267 
 
 rived at Washington. I had last seen him at Murfrees- 
 boro, Tennessee. Grant had just placed him in com 
 mand of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. 
 Sheridan, standing under the porch of Willard s Hotel, 
 said to me, "Doctor, I m going to take the cavalry away 
 from the bob-tail brigadier-generals. They must do with 
 out their escorts. I intend to make the cavalry an arm 
 of the service." 
 
 In the early part of May, active preparations were be 
 gun by the Army of the Potomac, and Grant moved 
 forward on the memorable Wilderness campaign, which 
 ended in the capture of Richmond, the surrender of Lee, 
 and the overthrow of the Rebellion. On the 3rd or 4th 
 of May, the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan, 
 and the terrific series of battles commenced. For forty 
 days men fell by the thousands, telegraphic communica 
 tion from Washington with the army ceased, and at 
 first it was found impossible to communicate with the 
 wounded or to transport them to Washington or to 
 northern hospitals. 
 
 On the Qth of May, 1864, I received orders to go to 
 Fredericksburg, Virginia, and to report for surgical 
 duty to the Medical Director of the Army of the Poto 
 mac. On the same day, I was directed by another order 
 to take charge of the battle supplies placed on board the 
 steamers State of Maine and Connecticut, and have them 
 delivered at Fredericksburg, Virginia, for the use of the 
 wounded at that place. In giving me these orders, the 
 Acting Surgeon-General Barnes told me verbally, "Doc 
 tor, our losses have been enormous, the wounded are by 
 thousands, we don t know where they are and so far all 
 attempts to send them supplies have failed. Take these 
 supplies on board the steamers and get them forwarded 
 at any hazard and at any loss. If you cannot deliver 
 
268 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 all, deliver one-half; if not that much, deliver what you 
 can; the wounded are suffering for them, and do the 
 best you can. The Secretary of War authorizes you 
 through me to take possession in his name of any and 
 all wagon trains to transport these supplies to Freder- 
 icksburg. Give what orders you please in his name 
 for this purpose." 
 
 Accordingly, I went down with these steamers to Belle 
 Plain on the Potomac Creek. The steamers carried an 
 immense amount of medical supplies, hundreds of thou 
 sands of dollars worth. A corps of engineers and bridge 
 builders were on board and these were directed to give 
 me every possible support and assistance in landing the 
 supplies, when I was to look out for myself, and to get 
 proper protection and transportation from the army to 
 which I was to deliver them. Arriving at Belle Plain, 
 I found a shallow, muddy shore, no wharf, no landing. 
 The engineers immediately built caissons or cribs of tim 
 bers, some of which they had brought with them and 
 some of which they cut. These were sunken in the 
 shallow water and timbers and trees stretched between 
 so as to form a sort of roadway over which the 
 supplies could be carried safely to land. The landing 
 was overlooked by higher ground, and it was necessary 
 to place guards for the protection of the precious sup 
 plies. I learned that the road from Belle Plain to Fred- 
 ericksburg, ten or twelve miles distant, was infested with 
 guerillas, and that no bridge existed at Fredericksburg. 
 I had no force by which to send forward my supplies, 
 and it was necessary for me to go forward myself to 
 obtain wagons and guards. To avoid the guerillas on 
 the road, I determined to walk along the edge of the 
 woods at a safe distance from the road, and this I did 
 in a pouring rain, which wet me so thoroughly that my 
 
The President and Some Lesser Dignitaries 269 
 
 pocket case of instruments was dissolved by the wet and 
 the instruments huddled loose in my pocket. The in 
 clement weather protected me from the guerillas, who 
 were not very active just then, and arriving within a mile 
 or two of Fredericksburg, I met a small body of cavalry, 
 who were going to Belle Plain with a few wagons in 
 search of quartermaster stores and ammunition. Acting 
 under my verbal orders, I took possession of these wag 
 ons in spite of the most vehement protests and threats, 
 and I walked back to Belle Plain, loaded up the wagon 
 train with medical stores, and sent them forward on 
 May loth under Assistant Surgeon Brinton Stone with 
 instructions to get through as many of them as possible 
 to Fredericksburg. He was a daring, persevering man, 
 and started without escort, but with the wagons. His 
 train became separated in two sections, the front one 
 of which, consisting of a very few wagons, reached 
 Fredericksburg. The latter section, and he himself, 
 were captured by Captain Mosby, a "guerilla," that is, 
 an independent ranger,* with from 50 to 200 troopers, 
 acting under his own orders, hanging on the rear of our 
 armies, capturing scouts, peddlers, wanderers, wagon- 
 trains, and all stragglers. He was a veritable "moss 
 trooper," annoying us a great deal, but never preventing 
 any serious movement. 
 
 The wagons and contents were carried off, and Stone 
 himself was obliged to accompany Mosby for a whole 
 night. Mosby took a fancy to him and in the morning 
 said, "Doctor, if you will give me your word of honor 
 not to say for twenty- four hours where you have been, 
 
 *The command of John S. Mosby, usually denominated "Mosby s 
 Guerillas," was as a matter of fact the 43rd Virginia Regiment of 
 Cavalry and duly commissioned as such by the Confederate Govern 
 ment. E. T. S. 
 
270 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 who has captured you, or anything whatever that you 
 have heard or seen, I will let you go." Stone gave the 
 promise, a man was detailed to accompany him back to 
 the road, and he was set free, having been provided with 
 a rather shabby horse in place of his own fine one. He 
 reported to me, stating in general terms what had hap 
 pened, but sedulously keeping his word and not violating 
 the parole. 
 
 The train of wagons under Assistant Surgeon Brin 
 ton Stone was followed by a train from the Sanitary 
 Commission. On the afternoon of the same day, May 
 loth, I sent forward a second supply train under Sur 
 geon Homiston, to Fredericksburg. Stone and Homis- 
 ton reported back to me at Belle Plain on the nth of 
 May. 
 
 By this time the wagons had begun to arrive from the 
 army containing many slightly wounded men, among 
 others my cousin Charles Coxe, who had been wounded 
 in the arm at Todd s Tavern. I then forwarded the 
 supply trains as fast as I could to Fredericksburg. 
 Additional supplies were being received from Wash 
 ington and soon Sanitary and Christian Commissioners 
 arrived in great numbers. I had no quarters for these 
 gentlemen, and at night I was obliged to let them sleep 
 on a canal boat filled with blankets. Lights were for 
 bidden. Stone, whom I instructed to make them com 
 fortable, reported to me early in the morning that he was 
 afraid there must be a good many dead Christians in the 
 hold of the boat, "Because," he said, "I had to close the 
 hatch to keep the stores from being damaged." Fortu 
 nately, they had plenty of air, and slept comfortably in 
 the blankets. 
 
 A favorite trick of the Sanitary Commission agents 
 was to ride forward with a wagon or two under the 
 
The President and Some Lesser Dignitaries 271 
 
 protection of a military train until the lines of safety 
 were reached; then as their own wagons were usually 
 better horsed than those of the Medical Department, 
 they would whip out from the line, pass the front, open 
 their supplies (usually of lemons and canned fruit) and 
 the next day s New York Herald or some such paper 
 would announce that "as usual the Sanitary Commission 
 was first on the ground to assist our wounded boys." 
 
 In a train sent forward under Stone s command, an 
 obnoxious Sanitarian with a four-horse light wagon of 
 lemons and crackers, asked protection and escort, to 
 which I acceded. As they started, Stone whispered to 
 me, "I don t think that Sanitarian will be first in Fred- 
 ericksburg." He afterwards told me, with a chuckle, 
 that unfortunately the linch-pin came out of the sanitary 
 wheel right in the midst of a deep creek fording, and 
 that the last he saw of the Sanitary Commissioners was 
 that they were soused in the swollen stream. He said 
 nobody was to blame; but the teamsters, I heard, were 
 very merry over the mishap. 
 
 Belle Plain was now established as the depot for the 
 army, and having arranged matters at this place, I went 
 forward with a supply train on May 13, 1864, to Fred- 
 ericksburg, which I found filled with wounded, a train 
 of six or seven hundred wagonfuls having arrived from 
 the front. Having reported by letter to the Medical 
 Director of the Army of the Potomac, I wrote by the 
 same messenger to Captain Mason of the Fifth Cavalry, 
 asking him to send me one or two orderlies, a pack 
 horse, and a horse for myself. The pack horse, I told 
 him I would load with a couple of kegs of Army Mu 
 seum whiskey (cherry brandy), which I had taken the 
 precaution to bring with me. In due time, horses and 
 men arrived, and with Kelly, the trooper, I started for 
 
272 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 General Grant s headquarters, wherever they might be. 
 The kegs were neatly slung on the backs of the pack 
 horses, and Kelly assured me that they and I were 
 anxiously awaited at headquarters. 
 
 We passed over the old battlefield, over Marye s 
 Heights, through the old Confederate defences and out 
 through the woods and wilderness region, in search of 
 headquarters. It was all very lonely, nobody could be 
 seen, and there hardly seemed to be a bird in the woods. 
 At last, and just as we were in doubt which way we 
 were to go, whom should I meet but my friend and 
 distant relative, Colonel Joe Brinton of the 8th Penn 
 sylvania Cavalry. He gave me the general bearings, 
 and I and my trooper rode on, the road becoming more 
 and more silent as we advanced. Finally, after two 
 or three hours riding, we came to a fine old deserted 
 mansion with broken greenhouses attached. There was 
 a little clearing in the woods here, and somehow or 
 other, I felt that we were off our track, wandering in 
 space as it were. The more I looked, the more and 
 more I was convinced that we were entirely wrong, so 
 we retraced our steps and finally after much devious 
 wandering, we struck the trodden road, and in the after 
 noon, reached General Grant s headquarters, where I 
 was kindly welcomed. 
 
 After a while, General Grant asked me to take a 
 seat by him some twenty yards in front of his tent, as 
 he said he wanted to talk to me. I remember that he 
 was smoking a big pipe. He spoke to me of old times. 
 Just then Rawlins reported to him that one or two 
 large regiments of heavy artillery were approaching. 
 They were the soldiers who had garrisoned the defences 
 of Washington, and had been converted and armed as 
 infantry and sent to the front. He pointed to them 
 
The President and Some Lesser Dignitaries 273 
 
 approaching on the road to the left. The General re 
 marked, "Order them in" (the 6th New York Artillery 
 and I think, a Massachusetts regiment) ; they imme 
 diately advanced under fire, and took an active part in 
 the contest, which I have omitted to state was taking 
 place to the left of the General s headquarters. They 
 advanced in a line which seemed to me to melt as it 
 went on, so fierce was the fire. As darkness fell, the 
 firing ceased and after a while Rawlins, the Chief of 
 Staff, approached General Grant and advised him that 
 the details of the day s fight were coming in over the 
 telegraph. "How does it stand," said the General; the 
 answer was, "We have lost about" so many, "the enemy 
 have lost" so many, mentioning a greater number. 
 "Ah!" said the General, "then we are still gaining on 
 them, still a little ahead." 
 
 The Staff, one or two of whom I knew, seemed some 
 what surprised to see a mere Doctor and Major talk 
 ing familiarly with the General. After a while, General 
 Meade came up into headquarters to know how things 
 were going, and General Grant explained to him very 
 quietly and simply. General Meade s manner was also 
 very quiet and military, but it seemed to me that he 
 recognized the great qualities of this simple unassuming 
 man to whom he was talking. 
 
 General Grant asked me how I reached headquarters 
 and by what road I had come, expressing surprise that 
 I had taken so long to make the trip from Fredericks- 
 burg there. When I told him of the big house, and 
 the green house and trailing vines, he said to me, "Why, 
 Doctor, you have been behind the enemy s cavalry; I 
 wonder you ever got here." 
 
 I stayed that night at headquarters. When I went 
 to bed there was a vast force between the spot where 
 
274 Personal Memoirs of John H. Ennton 
 
 I was and the enemy s lines. In the morning at day 
 break, when I woke, there was not a soldier to be seen. 
 I asked Rawlins how this was. He answered, "We have 
 moved a whole wing of the army during the night." I 
 said, "What force is there to protect these headquarters. 
 He replied, "Not one soul. A company of the enemy s 
 cavalry could capture us all, but we are going away 
 
 now." 
 
 I may state that the Medical Director of the Army of 
 the Potomac, Surgeon McParlin, had assigned me by 
 letter on the I3th of May, to duty as Medical Purveyor 
 of the Army. I explained to the General that it was not 
 the intention of the Surgeon-General to put me on 
 permanent duty; that I had my work at Washington to 
 finish. He laughed and said, "We must keep you here, 
 so that we can get plenty of castor oil." However, he 
 directed my order changed, so that on the morning of the 
 1 5th, I was able to return to Fredericksburg, finish up 
 the business of the supplies, see what surgery I could, 
 and having thus fulfilled my order of delivering the 
 battlefield supplies, betook myself to Washington in 
 accordance with my instructions from the Acting-Sur 
 geon-General. On the 22nd of May, I was back at my 
 old duties in the office. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 JAMES RIVER AND CITY POINT 
 
 On the 5th of June, 1864, I received orders from the 
 Acting-Surgeon-General to go to White House, Vir 
 ginia, and report by letter to the Medical Director of 
 the Army of the Potomac for surgical duty with the 
 wounded at that place. General Grant was at this time 
 operating with two armies. One, the Army of the 
 Potomac, with which he had crossed the Rapidan, and 
 moved southward through the wilderness, lay north 
 east of Richmond, with headquarters at Cold Harbor. 
 It was the General s evident intention to swing this 
 army around and to the south of Richmond, cross the 
 James River somewhere in the neighborhood of Harri 
 son s Landing, and join and co-operate with the army 
 of the James River, which, under Gen. B. F. Butler, 
 had been moved to the south bank, and occupied Ber 
 muda Hundred. With the co-operation of these two 
 forces, General Grant then proposed to act against 
 Petersburg and destroy the railroad lines which formed 
 the communication between Richmond and the Army 
 of Northern Virginia and the South. This isolated 
 Richmond, and General Lee s Army must eventually 
 surrender. Thus, in the end it proved, and so fell the 
 Southern cause. 
 
 I immediately left Washington by boat for White 
 House, ascending the Pamunkey River and arriving 
 there, reported according to my orders, and was soon 
 
 275 
 
276 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 hard at work at real professional duties. There were 
 here many wounded, and there was plenty for every 
 one to do. 
 
 At White House I remained several days; in the 
 meantime the Army was moving toward the James, 
 and preparations were being made shortly to abandon 
 White House as a base, and the stores, supplies and 
 wounded were generally removed, and by June 22nd, 
 White House was abandoned as a depot. On the I4th 
 of June, I left White House, sailed down the Pamunkey, 
 and up the James. On the i6th, I reached Fort Pow- 
 hatan, eight miles below Harrison s Landing, on the 
 south bank of the James. Here a pontoon bridge had 
 been laid, and columns of our army had crossed and 
 were crossing. Several pontoons had been put down 
 between this point and City Point, which was our chief 
 base. The laying of these boat bridges was under the 
 supervision of General Benham, of the Engineers. I 
 had known him in Washington, for we had for some 
 time taken our meals at the same table. At the time 
 I approached the pontoon bridge, which was opened 
 for the space of two or three boats to let steamers pass, 
 Benham was standing at the end (the mid-stream end), 
 of his bridge. At this time, I was in medical charge of 
 a steamer with a long tow of canal boats having medical 
 stores. We had to approach the cut in the bridge 
 obliquely, and somehow or other, hampered by our long 
 train of heavy boats, we lost our headway, and came 
 athwart the pontoon, tearing the boats from the anchor 
 age, and doing not a little harm in spite of our best 
 efforts to avoid injury. Benham, who was a high- 
 tempered man, looked upon this damage as an inter 
 ference with his work. He was greatly incensed (and 
 I don t wonder), and seeing me on the deck of the 
 
James River and City Point 277 
 
 steamer, in uniform, and apparently in charge, he be 
 came fiercely enraged and excited. "Shoot him, shoot 
 him, shoot the scoundrel/ 7 he shouted, pointing to me. 
 I called to him by name, but he was so angry it was 
 no use, so I prudently disappeared. Thus I left him 
 in his rage, and passed up to my destination, City 
 Point. 
 
 At this place, I remained on board one of the steamers, 
 and here I may say that I was quite surprised to find 
 several of the little stern-wheel steamers taken from 
 our Shuylkill River where they had plied between Fair- 
 mount and Manayunk. They, with so many steam ves 
 sels, had been pressed into service, and being of light 
 draught and easily managed, proved of great service. 
 They had a very home-like appearance to me, and when 
 I was temporarily in charge of them, I almost thought 
 I was in my own house. They were used for medical 
 storage and supplies. 
 
 General Grant s headquarters were now being estab 
 lished at City Point, and he lived in the little log cabin 
 which many of my readers have so often seen in Fair- 
 mount Park near the Lemon Hill Mansion, and before 
 one comes to the Girard Avenue Bridge.* I remember 
 riding to the General s headquarters, but he was away, 
 and I did not see him. About the iQth, I rode out 
 along our lines on the left towards Petersburg, and on 
 my way out, I passed within sight of a rebel sharp 
 shooter, stationed up a tree, a long way off, a mile it 
 seemed to me. He was good enough to favor me with 
 a shot, and the ball struck the ground near me. On this 
 
 *This historic cabin Grant gave to George H. Stuart, who had it 
 carefully taken apart, shipped by schooner and erected in Fairmount 
 Park. It remained the property of G. H. Stuart s estate until for 
 mally presented to the city in 1903. E. T. S. 
 
278 Personal Memoirs of Jolm H. Print on 
 
 ride, at a hospital, I saw a poor fellow, who while 
 squatting on a rail, over a little stream, washing out 
 his shirt, had been shot through both thigh bones by a 
 Whitworth bullet or bolt (hexagonal), fired by a sharp 
 shooter from a tree said to be nearly a measured mile 
 and a quarter distant. The poor fellow died and the 
 bolt is in my collection of projectiles. 
 
 There was a constant skirmishing fire kept up along 
 our front; everywhere, one could see the white puffs of 
 smoke. \Ve were constantly pushing out for new posi 
 tions, which, of course, our enemy resisted. This ride 
 conveyed to me an idea of continuous fighting on a 
 small scale. Here, too, I saw a good many negro troops, 
 the first time I had ever seen them in the field. They 
 looked well, but did not in these operations prove alto 
 gether satisfactory, but I shall say more of them when 
 I come to speak of the Battle of Nashville, in December, 
 1864. 
 
 In the latter part of the month of June, about the 
 28th, I think, a cavalry raid was undertaken by the 
 Southern forces. A large body of horse and light 
 artillery advanced into northern Maryland, occupying 
 Hagerstown, threatening Frederick, scouring the coun 
 try, collecting forage and stores, and levying contribu 
 tions of money. A general panic ensued, and the utmost 
 consternation prevailed. The object of this raid, un 
 doubtedly, was to threaten Washington (uncovered by 
 General Hunter s retirement to western Virginia), and 
 thus to force General Grant to weaken his forces in 
 front of Richmond and Petersburg, by sending troops 
 to the relief of Washington. But General Grant was 
 quite equal to the occasion ; he was by no means 
 "stampeded," to use a western term; and as we shall 
 see, while sending a few troops to the defence of the 
 
James River and City Point 279 
 
 national capital, he never for a moment relaxed his 
 death grip on Lee s army and Richmond. 
 
 After having ravaged Maryland pretty well, about 
 the 8th of July, the Southern raiding force, some thou 
 sand strong, appeared in the neighborhood of Mono- 
 cacy, some miles from Baltimore. Here General Lewis 
 Wallace (the author since of Ben Hur } and other pro 
 ductions of merit), advanced against him with General 
 Ricketts in command of one division of the 6th Corps. 
 These forces, on July pth, were defeated by the enemy, 
 who then moved against Washington, and there made 
 their appearance, I think on July nth. 
 
 I can give you but a faint idea of the panic which 
 their advent created. Washington at that time had no 
 garrison of trained or experienced troops, either regular 
 or volunteer. We all whistled to keep our courage up, 
 and whistled, too, very loud. The President, had, in 
 deed, called on several Governors of northern states for 
 troops. These were being raised, but so far had not 
 yet arrived. The garrison of the belt of forts surround 
 ing Washington had been stripped of troops to reinforce 
 the Army of the Potomac during the Wilderness cam 
 paign. These men were the heavy artillery from Massa 
 chusetts and New York chiefly, whom I had seen en 
 gaged in the fight near Anderson s house. They fought 
 as infantry. 
 
 So at the Capitol, we kept our pens driving merrily, 
 and the Secretary of War directed that all the orderlies, 
 messengers, military riffraff, the invalids, veteran re 
 serve, and indeed every man in Government employ, 
 who could put on a uniform, or carry a musket, should 
 turn out in defence of the capital of his country, and 
 a sorry lot they were. They laid down their pens, and 
 off they went to "report" for military duty. My clerks 
 
280 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 went too, from my office, but they were a mild-man 
 nered set, and I assume they would never have hurt 
 anybody, not even in self-defence. 
 
 In the offices, everybody tried to appear very busy, 
 no one would admit ideas of danger, but yet everyone 
 was at heart afraid. I learned from a very trustworthy 
 source, that even the Secretary of War, the redoubtable 
 Mr. Edwin M. Stanton, thought so gravely of the situa 
 tion, as to send his silver and valuables aboard a gun 
 boat. This information reached me through a clerk. 
 In Washington, the Brotherhood of Clerks knew every 
 thing, the most secret acts, and even thoughts, of men, 
 very high in position, men who never forgot themselves, 
 or committed an indiscretion with their equals or su 
 periors in station, but who with their confidential clerks, 
 were sometimes a little leaky. My head clerk was most 
 popular among his fellows, gentle-mannered, silent, and 
 insinuating in manners, the very man to invite con 
 fidence, as it were. He always knew the hidden coun 
 sels of the White House, and the Secretary s office. 
 He was proud of this information, especially when he 
 had obtained it by ingenuity, and he always tried to 
 post me a day in advance. He was always right. His 
 information was reliable and not sensational, and I 
 thus learned many a bit of gossip, military and political, 
 and many a bit of early news. He told me the gunboat 
 story, which he said was very private, and I daresay 
 he was very near the truth. 
 
 I doubt if many persons in the North ever knew, or 
 knowing, realized, the true state of insecurity in Wash 
 ington. I really believe that five hundred, yes, one 
 hundred, of Early s horses could have ridden into and 
 through Washington, and captured whom they chose, 
 the President or his Cabinet, or even myself. 
 
James River and City Point 281 
 
 On the afternoon on which the enemy appeared be 
 fore Washington, I took a long ride alone, from near 
 Rock Creek, in the neighborhood of Georgetown, around 
 beyond the Seventh Street Road, passing beneath quite 
 a chain of earthworks and forts. We had plenty of 
 works, and lots of rifle trenches, or their equivalents, 
 but they were manned by no real troops, only mes 
 sengers, convalescent patients from the hospitals, all 
 looking and feeling very uncomfortable, and distressed 
 at the idea of passing the night in the open air, and 
 that, too, within sight of their own boarding houses, 
 within touch almost of their very beds. In the earth- 
 forts, which were well located and strongly built, and 
 provided with heavy guns, a few scattered artillerymen 
 were stationed, mostly men from light batteries, and 
 occasionally a gun would be fired at the enemy, who 
 lay a mile or two away beyond our works. A bronze 
 stripping from one of these big shells, fired from a 
 siege gun, just above my head, fell on the ground close 
 by me. I picked it up, a crooked, ragged piece of 
 metal. 
 
 The forts, as I have said, were maintained with large 
 guns, siege guns, as they were called, and every pre 
 caution was taken to insure their accurate fire, the dis 
 tance of all points within range being accurately cal 
 culated; these distances, and the name of the locality 
 were printed on the stage of each gun. Let us take a 
 place called Smith s House, distant one and a half 
 measured miles from the fort. Some such inscription 
 as this would be attached to the gun carriage : "Smith s 
 house, i~y 2 miles: Elevation of gun 3 degrees: Charge 
 for the gun i Ib. powder; Time fuse for shell 4 seconds." 
 
 Thus an artillery man having this information, and 
 knowing his business, could so train his gun, mechanic- 
 
282 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ally as it were, as to make very certain firing. A group 
 of rebel and southern cavalry was standing in the middle 
 of a road, about a mile from a fort, and exactly in front 
 of a registered locality, Smith s house, I think it was. 
 A young light artillery man from the West, was on 
 duty in the fort ; he trained a gun by the legends printed 
 on the traverse, and the shell burst exactly in front of 
 the house, and apparently in the road, scattering the 
 group. I could not tell whether anyone was hurt, but 
 the shot seemed marvellously well directed. 
 
 For this first day, or a part of it, the town was un 
 protected, but later, the iQth Corps from Louisiana, 
 and the 6th (veteran) Corps from the Army of the 
 Potomac arrived. These immediately went into the 
 trenches, and soon made their presence manifest to the 
 enemy by the lively cracks of their rifles. On the fol 
 lowing day, early in the morning, some skirmishing 
 took place, and the enemy finally seeing that Washing 
 ton had been succored, and that any attempt to capture 
 it could not succeed, slowly withdrew, followed by the 
 6th Corps, under General Wright. On the morning 
 before they withdrew, I rode out to the scene of hos 
 tilities in company with Dr. Wm. Thomson and Dr. 
 Wm. Norris, of Philadelphia. They were at that time 
 both assistant surgeons in the regular army. Dr. Thom 
 son had charge of the Douglas Hospital in Washington, 
 and Dr. Norris was on duty under him. We rode out 
 by Seventh Street Road, I think. The enemy were at 
 that time in full force on the opposite hills, and their 
 firing was brisk. Our 6th Corps troops in the trenches 
 replied rapidly. Our presence, three mounted officers, 
 at once attracted the enemy s attention, and we became 
 the object of their sharpshooter s fire. They were scat 
 tered in the open fields, in front of the wooded ridges 
 
James River and City Point 283 
 
 occupied By their main body. Some of their sharp 
 shooters had cleverly concealed and protected them 
 selves by fence rails, piled at an angle, and they fired 
 with most provoking deliberation. One or two shots 
 struck the ground close by our horses feet. For my 
 part, I (who had seen a good deal of fighting, while 
 my two companions had not seen any) felt quite keenly 
 the danger of the situation. It is not at all pleasant to 
 be a target for an enterprising and skilful marksman, 
 who, in comparative safety, fires at his leisure. I con 
 fess I wanted to get away, especially as I had little 
 confidence in my horse, the wicked one, who seemed to 
 have a devilish comprehension of the situation, and 
 evidently wanted to bolt toward the enemy. I was de 
 lighted afterwards at the conduct of a 6th Corps Ser 
 geant, who seeing the shot and the dust from the bullets, 
 fired by one particular "reb," came towards us, and 
 saluting, said, "Gentlemen, foolish exposure is not 
 bravery, you had better ride back and get under cover." 
 How I have respected that man ! I have never forgotten 
 him, and I can see his face this minute. My comrades 
 saw the good sense of his remarks, and we returned be 
 yond the range of the one persevering Johnny Reb, 
 hidden behind his rails. So we went home and dined. 
 
 Thomson, who rode out the next morning after the 
 enemy had retired, told me that he had found the poor 
 "reb," who had singled us out for his attentions, lying 
 still, behind his rails, with a bullet hole through his 
 forehead. He had been spied out, and shot, by a 6th 
 Corps man, who could not resist the chance. Poor fel 
 low, I absolutely felt sorry for him, although he did 
 try to kill us. He seemed so cool and saucy, ensconced 
 in his hiding-place, so far in advance of his friends. 
 
 So this is what I saw of Early s raid on Washington. 
 
284 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brlnton 
 
 By the evening of the I2th of July, the enemy were all 
 away, and Washington was as safe as ever. 
 
 In a letter to my Mother from Washington, dated 
 July 14, 1864, I wrote: "So the siege is raised, and 
 Johnny Reb is off. We had quite a sharp fight. Fancy 
 dining, smoking a cigar, riding out leisurely, looking at 
 the whole performance, within a few hundred yards, 
 and when the fighting was over, going back to a cup of 
 coffee. I saw all the fighting here; it was quite brisk 
 and very exciting, bullets whizzing all around. We 
 lost about 350 men. The New York Herald has just 
 arrived; we have had none for four days. I am well 
 as usual. Our blessed forts stood us in good stead. 
 I sat on my horse just in front of one of them, and 
 heard the big shells screaming twenty feet above my 
 head. The whole affair was very curious. There was 
 not a great deal of excitement, everybody was prepared, 
 and a hard fight was expected. We had a good many 
 men. The current here is against Grant, but you know 
 I prophesied a panic against him long ago; but he will 
 not be shaken from his course, I am sure." 
 
 The months of July and August, 1864, I spent in 
 Washington, with the exception of one or two trips to 
 New York and Philadelphia, on business connected with 
 the art department of the Museum. In the latter part 
 of the summer, a photographic bureau was added to 
 the Museum, and I had to see to engaging the proper 
 artists and outfit. I succeeded after much trouble in 
 procuring an excellent artist, named Bell, and much of 
 his work figures in the volumes of the Medical and 
 Surgical History of the War. 
 
 And here, perhaps, it would be well to say a little 
 about the means to which resort was had to obtain the 
 illustrations for that great work. When I first went 
 
James River and City Point 285 
 
 on duty at the Surgeon-General s office, and had com 
 mitted to me the preparation of the Surgical History 
 of the War, I set about finding for myself an artist. 
 Our views at that time were not very extended, and the 
 means at the disposal of the Surgeon-General for that 
 purpose were rather limited. The supply of artists in 
 Washington available for my purposes was not very 
 great. The only person I could at first lay my hands 
 on was a German artist, who had been on topographical 
 duty in the War Department (his name was Pohlers), 
 excellent in his line, but not capable of drawing and 
 coloring from the human figure. The maps, however, 
 which he reduced and reproduced from the larger maps 
 of the topographical engineers were very accurate and 
 beautiful. The positions of the field hospitals and points 
 of medical interest were furnished by the medical officers 
 on duty at the different actions and localities. Most of 
 these field maps were drawn under my supervision. You 
 will see them in the appendix to the Medical Volume, 
 Part I. of the Medical and Surgical History of the 
 Rebellion. They have the name, "A. Pohlers del * at 
 the bottom. Pohlers remained on duty with me while 
 I was in Washington, employed on map work. 
 
 E. Stauch was a German water-colorist. His work 
 was very fine, and his coloring exquisite. He came to 
 me in the early part of 1863, or the end of 1862. He 
 accompanied me in several visits to the army in the 
 field, and frequently visited the hospitals with me, es 
 pecially to make pictures and sketches of the hospital 
 gangrene cases, occurring in our troops sent north and 
 exchanged from the Southern prisons. His colored pic 
 tures, which were done in oil, are faithfully delineated 
 in Surgical volumes, Parts II and III, of the Medical 
 and Surgical History of the War. With one or two 
 
286 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 exceptions, all of the colored pictures in the work are 
 from the pencil and brush of Stauch. He was a most 
 excellent artist, and when in a good humor, or well 
 satisfied, could, and would, work well, and with tolerable 
 rapidity. Like so many artists, however, he was ca 
 pricious and irritable, and when these fits were on him, 
 he could not be depended on. When I took him with 
 me to the army, I always took great care of his bed 
 and food, far more than I did of my own. I worked 
 with him thus. I first selected the patients to be pic 
 tured on the field or in the hospital. Then the point of 
 injury, say the wounds of entrance, were carefully 
 painted by Stauch in oil. Next a pencil outline sketch 
 was taken of the general locality. This work he did 
 with great rapidity, and then when he reached Washing 
 ton again, the beautiful pictures you will see in the 
 Surgical History were elaborated. 
 
 I was very desirous of obtaining a full and perfect 
 series of wounds of entrance and exit, of round bullets, 
 and conical projectiles, freshly taken. To get these, it 
 was necessary to have an artist well to the front, while 
 fighting was going on. This seemed at first almost im 
 possible, but I finally arranged it thus. When the troops 
 under General Grant, occupied the line stretching from 
 City Point to Petersburg, heavy fighting was of every 
 day occurrence. Bomb-proofs, too, had been erected, 
 well forward, to which the wounded were carried for 
 the first surgical attentions. In my office, a young medical 
 officer, and acting-assistant-surgeon, named Porter (a 
 relative of Admiral Porter), was on duty. He was a 
 singularly brave young man, cool in danger, and always 
 having his head about him. He suggested to me to 
 let him go to the front with Stauch, the artist, saying 
 that when some sharp fighting should take place, he would 
 
James River and City Point 287 
 
 "run" the artist into the bombproof, and then as the 
 wounded should come in, he (Porter) would make 
 choice of suitable cases, and the sketches and paintings 
 could be immediately made, with a certain knowledge 
 of the time which elapsed since the reception of the 
 wound. This plan was put into force Porter, the 
 artist, and an orderly went down to City Point, and 
 succeeded, with some trouble, and the loss of a horse, 
 and I think, too, at the cost of a gunshot wound to 
 the guide, or worse, in reaching the protected casemate 
 or proof to which the wounded were being carried. 
 Here forty-seven oil sketches were taken, which are 
 reproduced at pages 712 and 714 of the Part III, Sur 
 gical Volume of the Medical and Surgical History of 
 the War. Magnificent sketches they are, and truthful. 
 Unfortunately, one thing is wanting. Each pair of 
 wounds of entrance and exit, or singly, if but one, should 
 be represented in a picture, showing the precise locality 
 and the contour of the part injured. Such a series of 
 sketches in lead pencil, adapted for future elaborations, 
 was in fact made by the artist at that time. On emerg 
 ing from the bombproof and his perilous duty, the artist 
 came to Washington, and leaving there the precious 
 block of oils in the office, and stating that he had the 
 supplementary sketches in his possession, received per 
 mission to visit his home in Philadelphia on promise to 
 return in a day or two. Not returning, I was sent to 
 look him up, if possible, when I learned through the 
 death records of the Board of Health that he had died 
 of an illness of a day or two s duration, the exact 
 nature of which was not known, and was probably of 
 some nervous type, the result of exposure or of mental 
 disturbance. The key of this series of pictures was not 
 found during my stay at Washington, and I imagine 
 
288 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 that the description in small type on page 712 has been 
 supplied from notes rather than from pictorial repre 
 sentations. I may, however, be wrong in this idea. At 
 all events, the series of wounds of entrance and exit, are 
 not presented in the manner I had designed when my 
 attempt to arrange for their production was made. 
 
 In 1864, my friend, Gideon Scull, was ordered from 
 Washington by the Secretary of War. Captain Scull 
 was much attached to Mr. Pierce Butler, of Philadelphia, 
 who on account of his supposed Southern feeling or 
 sympathy, was not kindly regarded by the Secretary of 
 War, and indeed, I believe he at one time was arrested 
 by Mr. Stanton s order. The Secretary, having learned 
 of Mr. Scull s presence in Washington (for he was a 
 most capable officer, and was on duty in the office of the 
 Commissary General of Subsistence) personally ordered 
 his detail to the West at St. Louis, with, if my memory 
 is correct, a special direction that, once there, he should 
 be assigned to an army in the field, for poor Scull had 
 rheumatism, and the Secretary knew it. Scull was what 
 was then called a "white elephant," and when I said 
 good-bye, I remember very well that I told him, "I 
 soon, too, will be a white elephant, and will follow you." 
 In the end prophecy proved true. 
 
 About this time, there was a good deal of grumbling 
 in Washington about General Grant. He had not many 
 friends amongst the Army of Potomac men. They were 
 all McClellan men, and insisted that Grant was only 
 treading the same path followed by McClellan, and that 
 his bloody victories were fruitless. They did not like 
 him, and had no confidence in him. The Northern peo 
 ple, as a mass, believed in him; the Eastern, especially 
 the troops of the Army of the Potomac, did not. I, how 
 ever, could not forget his exploits in the West, and the 
 
James River and City Point 289 
 
 untiring bulldog perseverance he there exhibited. In a 
 letter to my Mother of September 8, 1864, which I 
 quote, I wrote: "You may be sure that Grant will 
 succeed ; he cannot fail ; my confidence in him is the same 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 SHERIDAN S CAMPAIGN AND FIELD WORK 
 
 About the 2oth of September, 1864, I was sent to 
 the Valley of Virginia. This was then the condition of 
 affairs : In the latter days of July and early August, 
 a cavalry raid had been made by the enemy across the 
 Potomac and Maryland into Pennsylvania. The town 
 of Chambersburg was burned, and the enemy withdrew 
 into Virginia. At this time, General Sheridan, by 
 Grant s order, was placed in command of a considerable 
 force on the upper Potomac, from Harper s Ferry west 
 ward and southward. He was opposed by the southern 
 general Early, and a good deal of manoeuvring took 
 place. On the iQth of September, 1864, occurred Sheri 
 dan s famous ride from Winchester and the attack and 
 defeat of the enemy at Cedar Creek, and on the 23rd 
 of the same month at Fisher s Hill, not far from the 
 town of Woodstock. The enemy s wounded fell into 
 Sheridan s hands, and were scattered over a large area 
 of country. He also captured a large number of prison 
 ers, many of whom were sent back to Winchester. The 
 devastation of the Shenandoah Valley and the Valley of 
 Virginia then followed, the country being rendered use 
 less to the enemy as a base of military operations or 
 for material supplies. In fact it was left in such a 
 state, that to use fhe words of Sheridan, "A carrion 
 crow in his flight across must either carry his rations 
 or starve." War s stern necessity! 
 
 290 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 291 
 The following was my order: 
 
 "Surgeon General s Office, Washington City, D. C. 
 
 Sept. 20th, 1864. 
 Sir: 
 
 I am instructed by the Surgeon General to direct you 
 to proceed without delay, to Winchester, Va., and take 
 charge of the wounded at that place temporarily, report 
 ing your arrival there by letter to the Medical Director 
 at the Headquarters of Major General Sheridan. Sur 
 geons McKay, Hayden, U. S. Vols. ; Asst. Surgeon 
 Carter, U. S. A. ; Stone, U. S. Vols., and Acting Asst. 
 Surgeon Porter will be ordered to report to you for duty. 
 
 Ten of the most competent Acting Asst. Surgeons on 
 duty in Baltimore, and five from Philadelphia, are also 
 ordered to proceed at once to Winchester, and to re 
 port to the chief Medical Officer. 
 
 Very respy. yr. obt. servt. 
 
 By order of the Surg. Genl. 
 
 (sd) C. H. CRANE, 
 
 Surg. U. S. A. 
 
 Surg. J. H. Brinton, U. S. V. 
 Present." 
 
 At the time at which I received the foregoing order, 
 the state of the road to Harper s Ferry was very un 
 certain. However, as the supply of medical officers at 
 Winchester was insufficient, and as the number of 
 wounded was unknown, although supposed to be large, 
 the Secretary of War ordered that my special train 
 should have the right of way, and that we should make 
 the best time possible. We left Washington on the 
 evening of Tuesday, the 24th of September, 1864. At 
 the depot, Surgeons Hayden, McKay and Porter, and 
 two or three hospital stewards, reported to me for duty. 
 
292 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Accordingly we started, and telegraphing from the Re 
 lay House to have all opposing trains stopped and the 
 only track to be cleared, we went forward at high speed. 
 Some of the Baltimore doctors joined us at the Relay, 
 and we reached Harper s Ferry in a short time, about 
 noon. Here, I saw the ruin of some sixty or seventy 
 locomotives. They had been purposely run off the end 
 of the bridge, and were then burned in one ghastly heap 
 of ruins. I have never before or since seen such a 
 horrible scene of wanton destruction. The entire ap 
 pearance of the town was poverty-stricken and war 
 worn, on one day in the occupancy of one, and on the 
 next, of the other, contending armies. All the better 
 class of people had fled, and only a few of the poorest 
 whites and a few of the negroes were left. The arsenal, 
 barracks, and public buildings had long since been burned, 
 and all air of prosperity had passed away. I saw the 
 commanding officers of our troops there and learning 
 that a wagon-train with escort of cavalry was about 
 to start, joined it with my doctors. 
 
 We pushed along the well-travelled road, and passed 
 Charlestown. I had a long wagon-train of medical sup 
 plies, and in a kind of way was commander of the 
 party. We left Harper s Ferry at 10 A.M., September 
 2ist, and reached Winchester at 9.30 P.M. Having a 
 strong guard, sufficient to protect us from the guerillas 
 who infested all roads, we felt no apprehensions. Our 
 feelings of safety were shared by a number of settlers 
 and camp followers, who would join our train and avail 
 themselves of our protection. One or two of these peo 
 ple were peddlers. I recollect one man particularly, a 
 Jewish peddler, with a black and red wagon. He was 
 a cunning fellow in his way, and with his heavily laden 
 one-horse wagon, would place himself in our front and 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 293 
 
 would dawdle along, at the pace suitable to his own 
 poor overloaded, overworked beast. Finally, on a hill 
 side, close to a wood, his wagon became stalled in a 
 cut in the road, and the whole train not being able to 
 pass was brought to a standstill. This would not do, so 
 I ordered the man to shove his cart on a bank on one 
 side of the road, and we hurried on, despite his prayers 
 and imprecations, at being left behind. We told him 
 to fall in at the rear which he promised to do, but 
 somehow he must have lagged behind, for the next day 
 after I reached Winchester, the Captain of the first train 
 following our wake, said to me, "Doctor, we found a 
 peddler s wagon thrown off the bank; the peddler had 
 his throat cut, and lay dead beneath it; the contents of 
 the wagon had been carried off, and all we found in 
 it was this little leather-covered portfolio," and he gave 
 it to me, one of the cheap little portfolios soldiers liked 
 to buy in those days, and which is now somewhere about 
 the house as I write. 
 
 On arriving at Winchester, I assumed charge of the 
 wounded who were coming in from the neighborhood 
 of Woodstock, where Sheridan had defeated the enemy 
 in one or two engagements, notably at Fisher s Hill. 
 (For a day or two, I did the best I could for them in 
 the hotel and church hospitals where I found them, and 
 which had been hastily extemporized. It was indeed 
 a difficult matter to care for them. On the 25th of 
 September, the wounded in Winchester numbered 4,201, 
 and commissary and medical supplies had to be brought 
 up from Harper s Ferry and Martinsburg. The rail 
 road to these places had been destroyed, and the roads 
 were infested with guerillas, and only practicable with 
 strong escorts./ So troublesome were these gentry, that 
 it was not safe to ride a mile beyond our lines without 
 
294 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 a guard, and we were practically cut off from obtaining 
 the commonest supplies from the adjacent country. 
 However, I did the best I could for the wounded I found 
 in the hospital, making use of everything I had, and 
 making requisitions, and bringing up fresh mounts by 
 wagon. 
 
 ( In a few hours, sanitarians and worse, sanitary and 
 "Christian women" began to arrive. Good women- 
 nurses were a godsend; those who would really nurse 
 and work, do what they were told, make no pets, and 
 give no trouble. On the other hand, the fussy female, 
 intent on notoriety and glorying in her good works, 
 fond of washing the faces of "our boys" and of writ 
 ing letters home, glorifying herself; she was not god- 
 sent; in fact we all regarded her as having a very 
 different origin) One of such creatures I was blest with 
 at Winchester/ She was a friend of Mrs. Stanton, the 
 wife of the Secretary of War, and took care to let every 
 one know of the fact, and boasted a good deal of her 
 influence with the Secretary and of the information 
 she gave him. Knowing his harshness, and ruthless- 
 ness, and impetuous injustice, I felt very much afraid of 
 this woman for a day or two. She used to wear an 
 india-rubber waterproof, and created discontent and 
 disorder wherever she went. The men all saw and 
 recognized her weakness. I remember that she made a 
 special pet of one wretched malingerer. She followed 
 me for hours, saying that "the poor boy would relish 
 an omelet." I told her, "that I had no eggs, but that 
 I thought she could get them at a farm-house, just 
 outside the lines; if she liked I would send her there." 
 I was much in hopes that some of Mosby s men would 
 catch her. She was too sharp, and wouldn t go, but 
 she left me, kindly muttering her intentions to "let her 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 295 
 
 friend the Secretary of War know how badly the 
 wounded boys were treated." I took an opportunity, 
 too, of sending off that malingerer, without ever giv 
 ing her an opportunity of saying bood-bye. His com 
 rades understood the matter, and regarded my little joke 
 with favor. 
 
 (In taking care of all these men, being without the 
 usual medical and sanitary (I don t mean Sanitary 
 Commission) stores, I was obliged by pure necessity 
 to lay violent hands on everything I could find in the 
 town of Winchester, the property of the citizens,) and 
 here it is that I approach that all-important subject, Mrs. 
 Washington s brass kettle. You must know that the 
 great thing in feeding sick people is to possess the proper 
 means of cooking, and the chief means of something to 
 cook with, namely, pots, pans and kettles. Now, I 
 found the newly improvised hospital at Winchester town, 
 destitute of all culinary apparatus. I appealed to the 
 Mayor of the place, in fact, made a requisition on him 
 for kettles. Strange to say, it was reported to me that 
 there were no kettles. They had all suddenly and mys 
 teriously disappeared. Luckily, for me, as I was walk 
 ing through a back alley, I spied an iron pot, which 
 had been stuck on a paling fence to dry, just outside 
 the kitchen door. I instantly stepped in, and proceeded 
 to confiscate it on the spot. "What, take my only 
 kettle," said the sour-faced, poverty-stricken woman. 
 "Why don t you take the rich people s things, and let 
 the poor alone?" "Why," said I, "there are no rich 
 people, and there are no kettles in town." "None," 
 said she, "why, there are plenty. Take Mrs. Washing 
 ton s kettle, that s brass, and the best and biggest one 
 in town. I ll show you where they keep it." I saw at 
 once an opening. "Now," said I, "I ll tell you what 
 
296 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 I ll do. If you tell me where all the good kettles and 
 good cooking things are, I ll let yours alone." She 
 jumped at the chance, and soon I knew exactly who 
 owned the big preserving jars, and where they were. 
 Under my friend s vigilant direction (she was a poor 
 white), Mrs. Washington s kettle was soon playing its 
 part in soup-making for the hospital, and more of its 
 companions were quickly in like manner pressed into 
 this new duty of helping to furnish good food for 
 hated "Yankees." And strange to say, as soon as one 
 or two kettles were seized by martial process, every 
 woman in town seemed to be willing to tell of her neigh 
 bor to save herself. Of course, I had plenty of com 
 plaints, and visits from indignant dames, some complain 
 ing, some threatening, and some appealing to my 
 sympathy, some even on the ground of acquaintance in 
 their girlish days when they were in school in Philadel 
 phia at Picots, or Mrs. Gardelle s; but somehow I sur 
 vived the War of the Kettles. 
 
 After reporting by letter to Surgeon Chiselin, Gen 
 eral Sheridan s Medical Director, I received instructions 
 to forward the wounded north, both Union and Rebel, 
 and to send supplies to the front as rapidly as possible. 
 At the same time, I was to establish a large tent hospital 
 on a plateau in the immediate vicinity of the town, near 
 a fine spring and stream of running water. The hospital 
 was to be of a capacity of four to five thousand beds, 
 and to be well equipped. I therefore made, by tele 
 graph, requisition on the Surgeon-General s office for, 
 I think, 500 tents, each tent holding comfortably eight 
 sick beds. I also made requisition in the same way for 
 500 stoves, and these, I was told, would be (and indeed 
 were) promptly sent me, for in a few hours, the wagon- 
 trains containing them began to arrive, j To pitch 500 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 297 
 
 tents (hospital tents) was no slight matter. I was 
 directed to call upon the post commandant at Win 
 chester for the necessary details of men. Fortunately, 
 I had been so long on duty at Washington that I had 
 learned how to take a sufficiently large view of work 
 to be done, and to be sufficiently imperious in exacting 
 the assistance of others. I therefore, called upon the 
 Colonel acting as a Brigadier-General in command at 
 Winchester, telling him I wanted men to pitch tents. 
 He was a little uppish, as behooved his dignity, but after 
 some hesitation, he said, "Well, Doctor, I will give you 
 a few men; how many do you want?" I wish you 
 could have seen his astonishment when I answered, "At 
 least five or six hundred with their full complement of 
 officers." "Impossible," said he, "I never heard of such 
 a demand." But I told him I made the demand, and 
 should do so in writing, and instantly report his answer 
 by telegraph to Washington, as I was acting by special 
 orders from the Surgeon-General s office, direct from 
 the War Department. His change of manner was im 
 mediate. "The men will be ready in the early morn 
 ing, and the officers should have special orders"; and 
 so it was. That night, September 24, 1864, having 
 previously ridden over the ground and marked the 
 boundary of the hospital to be, I put a medical officer 
 in charge, and drew out the plan of the hospital. [The 
 tents were to be pitched free, end to end, between wooden 
 frameworks for the attachment of the tent ropes, and 
 with wide streets. This would have formed good wards, 
 capable of being easily heated by stoves, and well ven 
 tilated, and containing about twenty-five patients each) 
 I went to bed, well satisfied with my plans, leaving 
 orders to start work at the earliest hour in the morning 
 of the 25th of September. The surgeon in charge whom 
 
298 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 I had selected, was a man of high scientific attainment, 
 and I anticipated a superb hospital. In the morning, as 
 soon as I had dispatched my necessary office work, I 
 hurried out to see how my hospital was getting along. 
 On reaching the ground, I found what looked to be 
 a series of canvas tenpin alleys, long, narrow, snaky- 
 looking constructions. My precious surgeon had, on 
 his own responsibility, changed my plans, and pitched 
 six hospital tents end to end in violation of every sani 
 tary and hygienic consideration, and without ventila 
 tion, either inside or out. I was stupefied at the sight, 
 but the mischief was done; the tents were up and time 
 pressed. All that I could do was to order the third 
 and fourth of each group to be struck down, thus form 
 ing a central narrow street, and leaving the tents in 
 groups of two. I was dreadfully mortified at the ap 
 pearance, but I ordered the remaining tents to be prop 
 erly pitched, despite the resulting unsymmetrical appear 
 ance which was thus given to the whole company. It 
 was the best I could do under the circumstances. After 
 this, the equipment of the hospital was rapidly pushed 
 and the occupation by patients effected. To give an idea 
 of what I did at Winchester, I insert a copy of my 
 report to the Surgeon-General : 
 
 "Winchester, Va., Sept. 26th, 1864. 
 General : 
 
 I have already forwarded you telegrams, indicating 
 my action here. I have the honor now to report more 
 fully. On my arrival here on the ru ght of June 2ist, I 
 found matters in much confusion. CEvery exertion pos 
 sible has been made by Assistant Surgeon General 
 DuBois, U. S. A. in charge, of the hospitals, to systema 
 tize relief for the wounded, but the scanty supplies, the 
 filthy condition of the town, and the number of the 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 299 
 
 wounded, rendered the matter one of extreme difficulty. 
 By the morning of the 22nd, all of the wounded were 
 collected from the houses near the field, and were brought 
 to hospitals in or near the town, and within our picket 
 lines. On the afternoon of the 22nd, 188 hospital tents 
 arrived by wagons.) I directed these to be pitched in an 
 eligible situation, close to a fine spring near the town, and 
 placed Surgeon Hayden, U. S. V., in charge. 108 tents 
 have arrived since and are being pitched, in all 296. 
 104 tents, the balance of the 400 sent, were by General 
 Sheridan s orders pitched aySandy Hook to increase the 
 capacity of that hospital. (The supply of medicine in 
 hospital stores has been exceedingly scanty, only eight 
 wagon loads having as yet arrived, and these were rapidly 
 exhausted. A train is now on the way hither. Of 
 blankets and hospital clothing we have none. A \ I directed 
 Surgeon Shields, who has been appointed Purveyor of 
 the Army, to obtain 5000 from the Quartermaster at 
 Harper s Ferry. I also instructed him to make a requisi 
 tion on the Purveyor at Baltimore for such additional 
 supplies as he might stand in need of. Cooking appa 
 ratus, etc., I obtained on application to the Provost Mar 
 shal. Yesterday morning, the 25th instant, I sent 1200 
 wounded to Harper s Ferry, as the railroad to Washing 
 ton was not yet opened. 
 
 I last night received instructions from thei Army 
 Headquarters to send off all light cases, Union and 
 Rebel, to Martinsburg. Asst. Surgeon Ohhschloger has 
 been assigned to duty in charge of transportation at that 
 point. The severe cases I am instructed to place in the 
 tents, and as fast as the latter become empty to transfer 
 them to Martinsburg, the new army base. 
 
 I telegraphed you this morning, requesting that the 
 Quartermaster s Department may be furnished with 150 
 wood stoves, suitable for hospital tents. The weather is 
 becoming cold, the town is overcrowded, and I must get 
 the wounded into the tents as soon as possible. There 
 
300 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 probably will be 1500 men who cannot be moved for 
 some weeks. 
 
 P. S. Since writing the foregoing, a large train of 
 medical supplies, and also 3000 blankets have arrived. 
 
 Very respfty. yr. Obt. svt. 
 
 J. H. BRINTON, 
 
 Surg. U. S. Vols. Chf. Medl. Officer." 
 
 My time in Winchester was spent in very hard work, 
 but the results were satisfactory to me. I had all ready 
 in forty-eight hours, and this was the largest hospital 
 of the war. I had lodging for the four or five days in 
 a store-keeper s house. Of course, nearly everybody 
 was Southern in their opinions. They hated us, but 
 they had to put up with us, and indeed, tried their best 
 to make out of us all the money that they could. There 
 was, however, some Union feeling, but I think it was 
 confined to people of the Quaker descent, who had a 
 good deal of the business of the place in their hands. 
 One of these families I came to know. Their name was, 
 I think, Griffith, and before the war, I believe, they had 
 been millers. I took tea at the house, and visited there 
 once or twice. They were very nice people and de 
 votedly attached to the Union. One of the ladies told 
 me that they had always managed to keep the national 
 flag, and whenever the Union troops occupied Win 
 chester, they were able to hang the Stars and Stripes 
 from the porch. This irritated their rebel neighbors 
 greatly, and just as soon as the Union troops would 
 retire, and the town again become in the possession 
 of the Confederate forces, they would become subjected 
 to domiciliary visits, and the house would be most rigidly 
 searched. But their flag was never discovered, and from 
 what they said, it was either very securely hidden or 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 301 
 
 else on the person of some of the ladies, which was 
 most likely. 
 
 During this time, the subsistence anji medical sup 
 plies of the place were very short. &Ve had hardly 
 enough to eat, and there was much deprivation and 
 suffering which I hardly like to recall. We had a large 
 number of wounded rebel prisoners, some eleven or 
 twelve hundred, I think. These were penned up, or 
 confined in an open square, fronting on the main street, 
 and surrounded by a high iron railing, such as Wash 
 ington Square, and the squares generally in Philadelphia 
 used to have. These poor fellows were without cover 
 ing or shelter of any kind, and what was far worse, 
 we had scarcely any rations to give themJ In fact so 
 closely did Mosby and guerillas watch all me roads and 
 the outskirts of the town, that neither food nor prov 
 ender could be brought, save under heavy escort. We 
 had really almost nothing, and I know one or two morn 
 ings when the Commissary of Subsistence had only two 
 or three hundred rations in store, and they were nothing 
 among so many. Our poor prisoners were almost 
 starved, and I have seen them struggle almost to the 
 death for a biscuit or crust, thrown over the iron paling 
 by their sympathetic friends. It was a pitiable sight, 
 heart-breaking, but we could not help it. (Their 
 wounded in the hospital fared better; they got the same 
 food as our own; we made no distinction, and never 
 did in my whole experience of our warJ 
 
 I worked very hard at Winchester; I think I did 
 good work, furthering the operations of the Medical 
 Department, and preventing much suffering to the 
 wounded of both sides. You can therefore imagine 
 my surprise (or at least, it would have been surprise 
 had I not been so long on duty in Washington) when 
 
302 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 I received the following, forwarded to me from Har 
 per s Ferry, by Doctor Blaney: 
 
 [TELEGRAM] 
 
 " Washington, D. C, 
 
 Sept. 24-1864. 
 To Surgeon Blaney, 
 
 Medl. Director. 
 
 Detail some competent Medical Officer as Acting Di 
 rector at Harper s Ferry, and go forward at once to 
 Winchester, Virginia. Relieve Surg. J. H. Brinton, U. S. 
 Vols. of his duties there, and report your arrival by 
 telegraph to this office. 
 
 J. H. BARNES, 
 
 Surg. Genl. 
 A true copy 
 
 Jos. V. Z. Blaney, 
 Surgeon U. S. Vols. 
 Chief Medl. Director, 
 At Winchester, Va. 
 
 (and the original of the next). 
 
 Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Sept. 25th, 1864. 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, 
 
 Winchester, Va. 
 
 Upon the arrival of Surgeon Blaney, turn over your 
 instructions to him, and return to Washington. 
 
 JOSEPH K. BARNES, 
 
 Surgeon General. 
 A true Copy 
 S. G. O. 
 Oct. 4, 1864. 
 
 C. H. Crane, 
 
 Surgeon, U. S. A." 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 303 
 
 I could hardly make this out. I rather suspected that 
 somehow or other, I had come to grief. I had, as it 
 were, a presentiment, but still I hurried on with prepara 
 tions. I turned over my instructions to Surgeon Blaney, 
 U. S. V., and then had to wait a few hours for an 
 escort or guard. The Post Commandant was very kind, 
 and said he would make some excuse and send a strong 
 guard to Martinsburg, the next morning, and I could 
 travel with them. Martinsburg was distant about twenty 
 miles. In the meantime, I visited a good many cases in 
 the houses in Winchester, among others, a Colonel from 
 New York, who was mortally wounded, and near his 
 end. 
 
 It became known in Winchester, the day before I 
 started, that I was going to Washington. Several of 
 the Southern ladies were anxious that I should carry 
 up letters for them to their friends in the North. Among 
 others, a lady belonging to the family of General Faunt- 
 leroy of the Confederate Army, called upon me, and 
 begged me to take several letters to the Surgeon-General, 
 Dr. Barnes, who had married a Miss Fauntleroy. Un 
 der the circumstances, I said I would do so, and accord 
 ingly took charge of the package, promising to put it 
 in the hands of General Barnes myself. In former 
 times, I had known Dr. Barnes very well, that is, soon 
 after I came to Washington. He was then on duty as 
 Surgeon in attendance upon officers of the regular army 
 and their families in Washington. I used to meet him 
 almost every day in the corridors of Willard s Hotel, 
 and we would have long talks together. He was full 
 of news, especially as to what was going on in the 
 South, and as to the future dangers to Washington, 
 which seemed not to grieve him greatly. 
 
 Surgeon Barnes was from Pennsylvania, and had 
 
304 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 served in the Mexican War, had been quite a favorite 
 with, and indeed, I believe, the personal medical at 
 tendant of old General Scott, who, toward the close of 
 his life, held the grade of Lieutenant-General. During 
 his medical attendance of the regular officers, Dr. Barnes 
 attracted the notice of the Secretary of War, Mr. Edwin 
 M. Stanton, who took a great fancy to him. On the 
 9th of February, 1863, ne na d been appointed Medical 
 Inspector, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel; on the 
 loth of August, 1863, Medical Inspector-General, with 
 the rank of Colonel. He was afterwards created Act 
 ing-Surgeon-General, and as we have seen Surgeon- 
 General on Hammond s dismissal. So he proved him 
 self a successful man, and the Secretary of War was 
 his friend, and he was the Secretary s. But I had 
 noticed from the days of our confidential and whispered 
 chats at Willard s, when he used to talk in a very un 
 guarded way of what was going on in the South, in 
 proportion as he rose in rank and position, he became 
 more and more reserved. Indeed, I fancied that since 
 he had become Surgeon-General, he rather chafed at 
 my presence, so that I had kept out of his way, as 
 much as possible forgetting the past. Altogether I had 
 tried to be as prudent as possible, remembering that new 
 dignities change men, and that there are times when 
 it is best that "auld acquaintance" should be forgot. Now 
 all this is merely introductory to the delivery of these 
 letters. 
 
 On the following morning, the day on which I left 
 Winchester, I was furnished with an escort of thirty 
 or forty mounted men, and started with one or two 
 ambulances full of wounded, and with an ambulance 
 wagon for myself, in which I had the pleasure of taking 
 down a very pretty girl, in some way connected with 
 
Sheridan s Campaign and Field Work 305 
 
 the Griffith family of Winchester, whom I have men 
 tioned. She was engaged to be married to a Union 
 officer and wished to reach Philadelphia or New York 
 to procure her trousseau. We had a very pleasant trip 
 to Martinsburg. Our escort threw out cavalry men as 
 flankers, who rode a couple of hundred yards on either 
 side of our train, and not far from them, a number of 
 guerillas rode in parallel lines, following us to within 
 a mile of Martinsburg, but apparently not maliciously 
 inclined; at all events, they did not fire on us. From 
 Martinsburg, I telegraphed to the Surgeon-General: 
 
 "I have been relieved by Surgeon Blaney at Win 
 chester on 28th. Have arrived here with train of 
 wounded; have received no orders. Shall I return to 
 Washington? Address me at Harper s Ferry." 
 
 I then transferred my wounded (two hundred and 
 fifty) to Acting-Assistant Surgeon Ochschlager and 
 reported to Gen. Thomas Neill. My ambulance, I 
 directed to report to the post quartermaster, and then 
 to Surgeon Blaney at Winchester. We arrived at this 
 town toward evening, September 30, 1864, an d were 
 obliged to stay there over night. As I was walking in 
 the main street, a gentleman came up to me, and ab 
 ruptly said, "Do you know anything of Colonel ," 
 mentioning the name of the officer I had seen at Win 
 chester, as I have stated above. "Yes," said I, "I saw 
 him yesterday." "How is he ?" "Dying," said I. "Oh, 
 my God," gasped a female voice behind me, and turn 
 ing, I saw a beautiful young woman to whom I was 
 presented. She was the Colonel s wife from New York, 
 and was trying to reach Winchester. She asked me all 
 about him, but I had a hopeless story to tell. She 
 was anxious to get on, but no wagon-train would leave 
 until the morning. She would not come into the house, 
 
306 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 say what I would, but anxiously and hopelessly trod 
 that street, hour after hour, fearing that she might 
 miss some possible conveyance. I promised to send her 
 on with the returning escort, but she could not rest. 
 At last she hired an old negro, who, with a wretched 
 vehicle, and still more wretched horse, agreed to try 
 and get her through. I gave her a card to Mr. Mosby 
 and his men, stating who and what she was, and beg 
 ging them to let her pass. I had afterwards the satis 
 faction to know that she did reach Winchester un 
 molested, and, contrary to my expectations, in time to 
 find her husband still living and conscious. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 RELIEVED FROM DUTY IN SURGEON-GENERALS OFFICE 
 
 On reaching Washington, I at once saw Surgeon- 
 General Barnes, and gave him the package of letters 
 from his wife s family, and the private verbal messages, 
 sent by me. He seemed quite abashed when I spoke 
 to him about them, and I thought, looked rather sheep 
 ish. However, I did not say anything about my return, 
 but after my interview with him, went to my own office, 
 farther down the avenue, near the War Department. 
 Here in my desk, I found this order: 
 
 "WAR DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Surg. Genl s Office, 
 
 SPECIAL September 30, 1864. 
 
 ORDER Reed. 
 
 No. 324. Adjt. General s Office, 
 
 Washington, Sept. 29, 1864. 
 [Extract] 
 
 17. Surg. John H. Brinton, U. S. Vols. is hereby 
 relieved from duty in the Surgeon General s Office, and 
 will report in person without delay to Asst. Surgeon 
 Genl. R. C. Wood, U. S. Army, at Louisville, Ky., for 
 assignment to duty. 
 
 By order of the Secretary of War. 
 
 (Sd) E. D. TOWNSEND, 
 
 Official Asst. Adjt. General. 
 
 E. D. Townsend, 
 
 Asst. Adjt. Genl. 
 Surgeon John H. Brinton, 
 Thro. Surgeon General." 
 307 
 
308 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 This was not unexpected. I had been long enough 
 on duty in the Surgeon-General s office to read the signs 
 of the times, and I felt certain, from the manner of my 
 relief at Winchester, that something was in the wind. 
 That same day, I saw Dr. Crane, U. S. A., the Chief 
 Medical Officer of the Surgeon-General s Office, and 
 asked him about turning over property, etc. I also 
 asked him what was the true cause of my being sent 
 away, and whether there was any real cause of dissatis 
 faction with my duties in the Surgeon-General s office. 
 His answer was this, "Doctor, what is General McClel- 
 lan s middle name? George Brinton McClellan that s 
 all I can say," and then he told me that I would turn 
 over all my property and duties to Dr. Otis of the Volun 
 teer Surgeons, who would arrive from the South in a 
 day or two. 
 
 So my literary work was thus cut short, and I was 
 to leave Washington. At heart I was delighted ; I hated 
 the manual work of writing, and the sense of relief was 
 immense, though I loved the Army Museum and all 
 that belonged to it, the trips to the front and the 
 hospital visits, everything in fact but the writing. 
 
 Why I was relieved from my bookmaking in Wash 
 ington, which was the preparation of the Surgical His 
 tory of the War, I have often wondered; I never knew 
 and do not know now. It must have been from one 
 of two causes, or from both of them combined, viz., 
 first my literary and museum work may have been in 
 the opinion of the Surgeon-General unsatisfactory; 
 second, I may have been personally objectionable to 
 the Secretary of War. 
 
 As to the first causes : I think my work, literary and 
 otherwise, was satisfactory to the head of my depart- 
 
Relieved From Duty 309 
 
 ment, at least Dr. Crane assured me that there was no 
 complaint, and that they were satisfied at the office with 
 me. I have already hinted that I had imagined my 
 presence was disagreeable to Surgeon-General Barnes. 
 I had known him too well, when he first came to Wash 
 ington, but still I think I had been, I know at all events, 
 I had tried to be, discreet. In Washington, in bureau 
 life at that time, everyone had enemies. The "outs" 
 wanted to become the "ins," and everyone who was in, 
 ipso facto, became a target for the malice of his enemies. 
 I suppose in the very nature of things, that that kind 
 of target practice was not only justifiable, but even 
 praiseworthy, and by some, considered patriotic. 
 
 Apropos of this, I remember well that on one occa 
 sion, Dr. Barnes, after he became Surgeon-General, 
 called me into his private office, and standing before 
 the open fire, said, "Doctor Brinton, I will read this 
 note to you, and then burn it." And he read an 
 anonymous note addressed to him, denouncing me, say 
 ing that I was a friend of the overthrown William 
 Hammond, and a secret enemy of Dr. Barnes, and 
 warning him against me. I looked at it, thought I 
 recognized the style of expression as that of a rival, 
 and handed it back to him. He dropped it in the fire, 
 saying, "I have forgotten it," but he always afterwards 
 seemed to regard me with suspicion, and to hold him 
 self aloof. 
 
 As to the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, he did look 
 upon me, and justly, as a friend of Dr. Hammond; the 
 ex- Surgeon-General Hammond, in his view, was crimi 
 nal, for the latter had differed in his opinion from the 
 Secretary. Now, in my judgment, the Secretary looked 
 upon men from his own peculiar standpoint. He was, 
 
310 Personal Memoirs of John H. Erinton 
 
 I think, an honest man, and patriotic, but very strong 
 in his own convictions. Believing himself to be right, 
 he regarded all those who differed in opinion from him as 
 wrong thinkers, and wrong-doers, criminals, in fact, and 
 that it was his duty as Secretary of War to punish 
 them, when he conveniently could. Now, I not only 
 was a friend of Hammond s, but a relative, a blood- 
 relative of General McClellan, who, high in the esteem 
 of the Democratic party, and a possible candidate for 
 the presidency of the United States, was in the eyes 
 of Mr. Stanton little less wicked than the Arch Fiend 
 himself. 
 
 Then, too, there was someone at the Secretary s elbow, 
 ready to point out any of my personal delinquencies. 
 This came about in this wise. 
 
 When I was living at the Metropolitan Club, three or 
 four weeks before that time, at our table-d hote, there 
 sat opposite me an old gentleman, named Lewis, I 
 think, from West Chester. He had some auditing ap 
 pointment, and was quite a friend, and in fact a crony, 
 of the Secretary of War. McClellan at that time was 
 being talked of as a Presidential candidate. This man, 
 Lewis, disliked him, and could not abuse him enough. 
 Now political abuse of a candidate for public office is 
 perhaps fair enough, as things go, but on one occa 
 sion this old fellow went beyond the public limits, and 
 began to abuse my cousin George s personal character; 
 he said he knew McClellan s character, and that he was 
 a coward, as all his Mother s (my Aunt s) family were. 
 This I could not permit, so I spoke out loudly before 
 the whole table, saying I was sure that one of the family 
 believed in personal responsibility, and then I gave him 
 the lie direct, owning my relationship to McClellan, and 
 
Relieved From Duty 311 
 
 warning him at his peril, never to make slanderous re 
 marks again. He sat aghast and speechless, and I never 
 saw him again. But Mr. Nicolay, President Lincoln s 
 Secretary, who was present, said to me, that while I 
 did perfectly right, he was afraid I would hear of this 
 again, as the man was a friend of Secretary Stanton. 
 
 I never did hear of him again until, very many years 
 afterwards, when the man was near his end, someone 
 came to ask me professionally about his case. 
 
 One other possible cause, call it No. 3, might have 
 been this : I saw that the end of the war was approach 
 ing, and I knew that a great many capable and trained 
 surgeons of U. S. Volunteers would be thrown back 
 into civil life. It occurred to me that if a certain num 
 ber of them could be retained in the Regular Army, 
 transferred, in fact, great efficiency in the Medical De 
 partment might be obtained. At the same time a corre 
 sponding number of Assistant Surgeons of the Regular 
 Army might be promoted. So I arranged in my mind 
 a scheme for the accomplishment of this end, which on 
 submission seemed to be satisfactory both to the Sur 
 geons of Volunteers (Old Brigade-Surgeons) and to the 
 Assistant Surgeons of the Regular Army (U. S. A.). 
 Equal numbers of each were to be transferred and pro 
 moted to the rank of Surgeon, U. S. A. Even Surgeon- 
 General Barnes appeared to approve of the plan, though 
 I suspect that in heart he did not. In effect, it would 
 have brought in the Surgeons of my Corps (U. S. 
 Vols.), on equal and fair terms with the Assistant Sur 
 geon of the Regular Army. I doubt if this result was 
 agreeable to the Surgeon-General. In fact, after the 
 close of the war, a few of the old and experienced Sur 
 geons of Volunteers entered the army as Assistant Sur- 
 
312 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 geon, U. S. A., but at the foot of the list, so that their 
 long service and war experience went for nothing, in 
 the matter of their new grade and rank. 
 
 I moved in this matter, because, from my rank in my 
 Corps, from my service, and from having been on duty 
 in the Surgeon-General s Office, I was in some sort a 
 representative of my Corps, and because, as I knew I 
 should return to civil life, I had nothing to gain by 
 reorganization. I could, therefore, with propriety, act. 
 I was honest in my views, but I doubt if I was politic 
 or wise. 
 
 So from what I have thus egotistically written, I 
 think I have shown you that between Stanton, Barnes 
 and myself, a good case was made, why I should not 
 remain longer at Washington, and why I should again 
 start west. So I put the best face I could on it, and 
 began to make my preparations to depart. 
 
 In a few days, my successor, Surgeon Otis, U. S. 
 Vols., arrived, and I then received the following order : 
 
 "Surg. General s Office, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 October 3, 1864. 
 Sir: 
 
 Surgeon George A. Otis, U. S. Vols., will relieve you 
 from the charge of the Department of this Office, which 
 you now occupy, and also from the duties of Curator 
 of the Army Medical Museum. 
 
 You will transfer to Surgeon Otis all official books, 
 papers, records, funds, and property, of any description 
 under your charge and he will receipt to you for those 
 articles for which you are responsible. After turning 
 over your property, etc., you will proceed without delay, 
 to Louisville, Ky., and report to Assistant Surgeon Gen- 
 
Relieved From Duty 313 
 
 eral Wood, in compliance with Special Order No. 324, 
 dated War Dept. Sept. 29th, 1864. 
 
 Very respectfully yr. Obt. servt. 
 
 By order of the Surgeon General, 
 
 (Sd) C. H. GRANE, 
 
 Surgeon, U. S. A. 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, 
 U. S. Volunteers, 
 
 Surgeon General s Office." 
 
 I immediately turned over my public property to my 
 successor, settled up my accounts, and put my papers 
 in order for Dr. Otis s use. It was rather a melancholy 
 business, that departure, under all the circumstances, but 
 really I was not sorry, and longed to be far away from 
 Washington, out of reach of the wire-pulling and 
 scheming and envy of that political place. I felt all 
 the time as if my very clerks were laughing at me, and 
 were watching me. So, turning over my official prop 
 erty, and packing up my private library, and my ana 
 tomical preparations, which I had brought on from Phila 
 delphia, to illustrate my proposed, but never given, 
 course on military surgery, and which I sent back to 
 Philadelphia, I was ready to depart. 
 
 I had been a long time in Washington, and had many 
 friends. To some of these, I said good-bye, and to 
 one of them, Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas, I sent a picture. 
 I had often joked with her when officers had been sent 
 away from Washington under the displeasure of the 
 Secretary of War, exiled in fact, for the Secretary 
 looked upon a detail to Louisville or St. Louis as a 
 banishment, quite as in Russia they regard banishment 
 to Siberia. Some officers took removal from Washing 
 ton as a rather hard fate, but I had often told Mrs. 
 
314 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Douglas that I was sure to be decapitated, but that when 
 it came, like St. Denis (she, Mrs. Douglas, was a 
 Catholic), I would lose my head with good grace. So 
 I requested one of the artists of the Museum, Faber, 
 a German of facile pencil, to make a pen-and-ink sketch 
 of myself as St. Denis leaving the Museum, head in 
 hand, for the region of the setting sun, with the bloody 
 headman s sword, the unfinished work of the Surgical 
 History of the War, etc. 
 
 There is an odd sequel to this picture story, which I 
 will give in the words of Dr. Otis, my successor. A 
 month or two afterwards, Dr. Barnes heard of the St. 
 Denis caricature, and expressed a wish to see it. Dr. 
 Woodward had Faber make a copy from memory. A 
 few additions were made, as the motto by Faber, "So 
 Woodward says, but I suspect our friend of instigating," 
 Dr. Otis writes. Faber s picture was photographed by 
 Dr. Otis. The original was given to the Secretary of 
 War by Dr. Barnes. Barnes, Crane, Thomson, Billings 
 and Otis had copies, and two were sent to me at Nash 
 ville, where I then was, and the negative destroyed. 
 
 From the motto "Si tacuisses Philosoph Mansisses" 
 on the latter, you may infer that my tongue had been 
 my enemy. Perhaps it was so, but dear me, what dif 
 ference! Stanton, Lewis, Barnes, Crane, Otis and my 
 anonymous enemy, all are long since gone, and I can 
 laugh at the very recollection of St. Denis. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 LOUISVILLE, ST. LOUIS, ROSECRANS MISSOURI MARCH 
 
 So, having finished my work at Washington and 
 gladly shaking, as it were, the dust of the town from 
 my feet, I left, and after a short stay at Philadelphia, 
 reached Louisville in obedience to the War Department 
 Order, and reported to the Assistant-Surgeon-General 
 Wood for assignment to duty on the I5th of October, 
 1864. By him, and his Assistant, Surgeon J. B. Brown, 
 I was received with the greatest kindness. I was fresh 
 from Washington, from the Surgeon-General s Office, 
 and had all the news and gossip of the Department at 
 my fingers ends. 
 
 They did not know exactly what to do with me. I 
 had almost too much rank, and almost any assignment 
 would disturb existing arrangements. Finally, they 
 asked me if I would like to go to St. Louis, and report 
 to my old friend Madison Mills, the Medical Director 
 of the Department of the Missouri, commanded by Gen 
 eral Rosecrans. Of course, I assented with delight. I 
 was glad to go to St. Louis, where a rather active cam 
 paign was just beginning, and I had much respect and 
 admiration for Surgeon Mills, U. S. A., a man of 
 executive ability, broad views, and a very decided char 
 acter. His views on all subjects were clear and strongly 
 expressed. He had the reputation of being a man of 
 means, acquired by fortunate speculation in land around 
 Fort Leavenworth. My order ran thus: 
 
 315 
 
316 Personal Memoirs of Jolm H. Brinton 
 
 "Assistant Surgeon General s Office, 
 
 Louisville, Ky., Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
 Surgeon John H. Brinton, U. S. V., having reported 
 to the Asst. Surgeon General in obedience to Special 
 Order No. 324, War Dept., Adjt. General s Office, Wash 
 ington, September 29th, 1864, is assigned to duty in the 
 Department of the Missouri, and will report in person 
 without delay, to Surgeon Mad. Mills, U. S. A., Medical 
 Director, Department of the Missouri, St. Louis. 
 
 JOSEPH B. BROWN, 
 
 Act. Asst. Surgeon General, 
 
 U. S. Army." 
 
 I left Louisville on October i8th, and arrived in St. 
 Louis on the igth, went to the Lindell Hotel, and im 
 mediately afterwards reported at the Medical Director s 
 Office to Surgeon Mills. My trunk not having yet 
 arrived, I was in civilian s clothes. I excused myself 
 for this breach of military decorum, at which the old 
 gentleman, himself in citizen s dress, grunted a signifi 
 cant "Pah! Come to the office to-morrow. Look 
 around the town to-day." On the 2ist, he gave me this 
 order: I was to act as Medical Director in the field 
 on General Rosecrans staff in the campaign then going 
 on in southwest Missouri; to me a delightful detail. 
 The duty, however, was responsible. Rosecrans army 
 was thirty or forty thousand men, and was moving light 
 and rapidly. He had not informed his Medical Director 
 exactly where he was going, or where his base would 
 be. Dr. Mills was quite in the dark, but this he told 
 me : "Doctor, reach Rosecrans, find out where he wants 
 his medical supplies if you can (I can t), and then estab 
 lish medical depots for thirty thousand men in two or 
 three points; keep me advised by telegraph, all the time, 
 
Louisville 317 
 
 and I will see that you are supplied with medical stores 
 and officers wherever you want them. Be sharp, learn 
 all you can. Keep your subordinates well up in their 
 work, and let me be daily informed what is wanted, how 
 you are getting on, and I will support you in every way." 
 
 Nothing could be more satisfactory and liberal than 
 the old Doctor s instructions, and we both acted up to 
 them. 
 
 Having made the necessary arrangements, on the 24th 
 of October I left St. Louis with horse and negro ser 
 vant. I went by rail as far as Hermann, which place 
 I reached by night. I here put my horse on the steamer 
 Lillie Martin, and stayed on board all night. On the 
 morning of the 25th, the steamer started up the river, 
 and in the afternoon about four o clock, we reached 
 Jefferson City the capital of Missouri, on the Missouri 
 River. The river was low, and as we stuck on the 
 sand every now and then, I had an opportunity of ad 
 miring the ingenious mode of raising up the bow of the 
 boat by two poles, and then backing her off. At Jef 
 ferson City, I stayed a day and a half, appointing a 
 Medical Purveyor, transferring to him the stores I 
 brought with me, and arranging the hospital accom 
 modation of five hundred beds in anticipation of coming 
 wounded. For this purpose, buildings were seized, and 
 hospital tents were held in readiness for pitching. When 
 pitched, these were to be heated by underground flues. 
 Furnaces and caldrons for cooking I requisitioned from 
 St. Louis, and I also requested additional medical officers 
 to be sent on. Every request I made was promptly 
 granted, and I was assisted in every way by the effi 
 cient action of the Medical Director, Surgeon Madison 
 Mills, who was at all times ready to help me. I also 
 perfected the telegraphic arrangements to keep up the 
 
318 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 communications with the headquarters and St. Louis, 
 and to obtain fresh supplies as needed. 
 
 When I finished my business at Jefferson City, I 
 started on October 27th, by railroad, across the prairie 
 in the direction of Sedalia, as far as Warrensburg, the 
 railroad terminus, at which place I arrived at 4 P.M. 
 Here, upon inquiring from the Commandant, I learned 
 vaguely that Rosecrans was somewhere on the prairie, 
 but exactly where, no one could tell. I also heard the 
 pleasant information that the whole country was full 
 of guerillas, murdering and cutting the throats of 
 stragglers at large. Now, I had to reach headquarters, 
 so I concluded to leave my negro servant (as guerilla 
 bands objected to negroes, and usually gave those cap 
 tured short shrift) at Warrensburg, and pushed on alone, 
 trusting to luck to get through. But just as I was start 
 ing, I was told that a body of horse (Union forces) were 
 encamping on the hills beyond the town. Riding out 
 to see who they were, to my great joy I found the 
 camp to be that of General Rosecrans and his staff. 
 Almost the first person I saw was my old friend Scull, 
 whom I have mentioned so often. He could scarcely 
 believe his eyes; he thought I must be an apparition, 
 my own ghost to part in Pennsylvania Avenue and to 
 meet on a slight hill in Missouri Prairie, exactly as 
 when I had last seen him I jokingly prophesied I would 
 do! However, he was glad to meet me, offering me 
 a part of his tent, and, as he explained, thus getting 
 rid of the Provost Marshal, a Captain on the Staff, 
 whose function it was to hang guerilla murderers and 
 spies, and who could not help reverting to the subject 
 afterward, especially to his mess mate and tent com 
 panion. As Scull was a delicate-minded man, despite 
 his gloomy name, the Provost Marshal s presence dis- 
 
Louisville 319 
 
 tressed him. As he put it, "I would even prefer yours," 
 so I found quarters before even reporting to General 
 Rosecrans. 
 
 In a few minutes General Rosecrans came out of his 
 tent, and I was presented to him, and submitted my 
 orders. As Scull vouched for my being a reasonably 
 good fellow, and a "white elephant" from Washing 
 ton, the General was very nice and gave me a warm 
 welcome. Somehow or other, I said something about 
 soap, I believe in this way. A fire had been built in 
 front of our tents, as evening closed in. The wind was 
 high, and the smoke drifted in our faces, and some 
 allusion was made to the cleaning powers of soap. The 
 General addressed his conversation chiefly to me, and 
 I listened well. He had been much interested in the 
 manufacture of soap before entering the army (he was 
 a West Point graduate), and once on his favorite topic 
 he talked and talked. The men of the staff dropped 
 off to their tents and sleep, but still he talked, and 
 still I listened. But he became after that a good friend 
 of mine, although Scull stuck to it that it was the 
 influence of soap. 
 
 He proved a kind friend to me. Talkative in some 
 respects, he was close enough in others, and I had hard 
 work to find out which way he would go, or where our 
 medical supplies should be sent. The course of events, 
 however, settled themselves. In a few hours, General 
 Pleasanton, in charge of the cavalry arrived, having one 
 or two of the rebel generals prisoners, and reporting that 
 the raiding forces under the southern general, Price, 
 "Pap Price," as he was called, had been driven out 
 of Missouri, and had crossed the Osage River. The 
 campaign was thus finished, and General Rosecrans with 
 his staff determined to return to St. Louis. The fight- 
 
320 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ing had taken place at Marais des Cygnes, and Generai 
 Pleasanton s wounded, which amounted to about 360, 
 had been sent to Kansas City for treatment, so I counter 
 manded my orders as to supplies. 
 
 The generals we had captured, Marmaduke and 
 Cabell, seemed good sort of fellows, and we had long 
 talks around our camp-fires. In returning, the troops 
 crossed the prairie by rapid marches. They had marched 
 already thirty-five and forty miles a day, and here I 
 may say in passing, that General Rosecrans possessed a 
 wonderful capacity of marching men, a rare accom 
 plishment. He would at night know where every 
 brigade or regiment or separate command would be. 
 He excelled, too, in making such judicious arrangements, 
 that the artillery, baggage-trains, etc., would never be 
 in the way of the marching foot. His line of march 
 was never blocked. 
 
 As we, that is, headquarters, steamed across the 
 prairie, in train from Warrensburg, we passed the march 
 ing troops. One of our generals, A. J. Smith, was 
 greatly beloved by his men. He was an old Indian 
 frontier soldier, and had been on continuous duty there 
 for many years. At the time he came up to us at 
 Warrensburg, he had just lost a favorite horse, a "single- 
 footed racker." He said that it had been stolen and 
 he swore "he would hang the scoundrel if he caught 
 the thief." He sat on the back platform of the car, to 
 see if he could discover his horse in the marching column. 
 The men seemed to know what he was after, and as he 
 was adored by them all for his soldierly qualities, they 
 cheered him all along the line of march, as our train 
 flew by. At Jefferson City, we spent the night of March 
 22nd on board the steamer, and in the morning started 
 down the river, stopping for a little while at a place 
 
Louisville 321 
 
 called Hermann on the right bank, I think, of the Mis 
 sissippi. The little place had been settled by Germans, 
 and one of them to whose house we went, grew a grape 
 from which she made a wine, much like Assmanhauser, 
 a wine I always liked. We drank a bottle of it with 
 gusto. Hermann s was the only American Assman 
 hauser. I often thought of this wine, contrasting it 
 in my mind most favorably with other American wines. 
 
 By November 3rd, at 8.30 P.M., we were again at 
 St. Louis, and I settled down to do almost nothing for 
 a month. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 ST. LOUIS 
 
 When I asked kind old Madison Mills what my duties 
 were to be, he said, "Drop down and see me every morn 
 ing, then go see the girls, and go to parties. If I have 
 anything for you to do, I ll let you know." 
 
 On the 7th of November, I was detailed as President 
 of an Army Medical Board, which was in session in 
 St. Louis. The Board was in a sort of permanent ses 
 sion, and the duties had become almost nominal. Thus 
 my life for a month was a life of leisure, and in order 
 to carry out Dr. Mill s instructions, I sent home for 
 my dress-coat and had as good a time as I could. 
 
 I lived with my friend Scull at the Lindell Hotel, 
 dined at General Rosecrans table, paid a visit every 
 day to the office, rode on horseback, called on the ladies, 
 attended to social duties, dressed carefully for dinner, 
 and went to parties, where my dress-coat, almost a 
 solitary one at that time in St. Louis, was derisively 
 spoken of as a "steel-pen coat." 
 
 Society then in St. Louis was divided into two parties 
 or sections, Union and Secesh. One dancing club, I 
 forget which, was called the Imperial, and the other I 
 have even forgotten the name of. I belonged to both, 
 and went regularly, and was having, as they say, "a good 
 time." Society in St. Louis was queer. One old gen 
 tleman by the name of Clement, a very rich man, gave 
 a gorgeous dinner to the General and the staff. He sat 
 
 322 
 
St. Louis 323 
 
 at table with his hat on. He said he had a cold, and 
 his friends seemed to think it quite the proper thing. 
 
 With all this gaiety going on, I still did some good in 
 this month of pleasure. I saved a young girl s life, thus : 
 A young woman in southwestern Missouri, only seventeen 
 or eighteen years of age, had a lover in a rebel guerilla 
 band. At his instigation, she cut down a telegraph 
 pole, cut the wire, interpreted a most important tele 
 gram, and as a consequence of its non-transmittal, sev 
 eral thousand of our troops were marching at cross 
 purposes, and an important military operation came to 
 naught or worse. The girl was caught and admitted 
 the charge, indeed, rather gloried in it. Rosecrans was 
 furious and ordered her tried by a court martial of some 
 kind, and she was condemned to be hanged. His staff 
 and many other of the officers were dreadfully con 
 cerned, and represented to him the odium of executing 
 a woman. But he was inexorable. He was an obstinate 
 man, and reasoned, not illogically, that such a deed in 
 war, by a civilian, deserved death, be the perpetrator 
 man or woman. Nothing would move him. In de 
 spair, some of his staff and best friends consulted me, 
 as to what I could do. I saw the poor creature in the 
 military prison of St. Louis. She was almost half 
 witted. I told her what answers to give to certain of 
 my leading questions, knowing that Rosecrans was a 
 strict Catholic, and that under certain circumstances, 
 he dared not ha^gj:he-^^maii~lndeed, I told him more 
 thajn^dneTuTabout her, and finally he countermanded the -j). ^ { 
 order of execution, when she apparently had but a few 
 hours to live. She was chained, and it was to me a *2 
 horrible sight to see a woman chained. Rosecrans told 
 me plainly that under the circumstances, while he did 
 not believe what I said, he would forgive me for the 
 
324 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 motive of saying it. We were all greatly relieved at 
 the happy termination of this affair. 
 
 On December i, 1864, Dr. Madison Mills was ap 
 pointed Medical Inspector-General in place of Barnes, 
 promoted to the Surgeon-Generalcy. The Surgeon- 
 General wrote him of his appointment, addressing the 
 letter in his own handwriting, "Colonel Madison Mills." 
 I came down to the office the day the letter arrived, 
 before the Medical Director, and recognizing the Sur 
 geon-General s handwriting and surmising the contents 
 of the letter, put it conspicuously on Dr. Mills s desk. 
 The Doctor saw it, but would not touch or open it, and 
 was quite confused when we all called him "Colonel." 
 Finally, he opened and read it. After a while, he said 
 to me, "You know Washington, would you take this 
 appointment if you were I?" I replied, "If you take 
 it, and go to Washington, in a month you will be in 
 hot water. You are too independent to hold a post 
 which is so nominal and useless as the Medical Inspector 
 Generalship s now is. You will try to do something, 
 and will come in collision with the Surgeon-General and 
 others. You are not subservient enough for the place." 
 He laughed, but he did accept the office, and it turned 
 out exactly as I predicted. 
 
 In a letter of November 14, 1864, I thus wrote to 
 Dr. DaCosta: "I have seen a great deal of Rosecrans. 
 In fact he has taken a fancy to me, and we are quite 
 intimate. He is a good strategist, no tactician, no ad 
 ministrator, a religious enthusiast, a fair chemist, and 
 an excellent soap manufacturer. His skill in the last 
 capacity is his peculiar pride. He will talk hour after 
 hour on the subject; he never wearies when on his be 
 loved hobby of soap." 
 
 On the 7th of December. 1864, I wrote to my Mother, 
 
St. Louis 325 
 
 a letter, a portion of which I copy, and which explains 
 itself: "Your letter catches me on the wing. Let me 
 tell you the how and wherefore : General Rosecrans 
 has taken quite a fancy to me, and on old Dr. Mills s 
 being promoted recently to the Medical Inspector-Gen 
 eralship, the General sent a very strong telegram to 
 Washington, asking that I should be appointed the Medi 
 cal Director of the Department. The reply from the 
 Secretary of War was a telegram, ordering me to 
 Louisville at once to the Assistant Surgeon-General. I 
 shall most probably be sent to Nashville as the Director. 
 Both the Secretary and Barnes were very savage. Al 
 though I am inconvenienced, I chuckle mightily at show 
 ing them all in Washington, that if I am a singed cat 
 there, I have made friends here. I believe Rosecrans 
 is really attached to me." 
 
 General Rosecrans and Medical Director Mills un 
 questionably had meant to do me a kindness, when they 
 telegraphed that I should be made Medical Director on 
 Dr. Mills leaving St. Louis, but as I stated in my letter 
 to my Mother, I afterwards learned that the Secretary 
 of War was very much enraged at their suggestion; 
 why, it is hard to say. The telegram he sent me, re 
 ceived while at an evening party, was sent by his own 
 Assistant Adjutant-General, ordering a reply by tele 
 graph. Under ordinary circumstances, it was strictly 
 forbidden by War Department orders for an officer 
 not on command, to use telegrams for Washington an 
 swers. Moreover, I was not wanted in Louisville as 
 events showed. There was difficulty in assigning me a 
 post. I was quite in ignorance of the cause of my relief 
 until from Dr. Mills and General Rosecrans I learned 
 of what had taken place, and of the Secretary s 
 resignation. 
 
326 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 I immediately got ready to leave, and on the 8th of 
 December I arrived at Louisville, went to the Gait 
 House, and at once reported to the Assistant Surgeon- 
 General, where I was kindly received by the Assistant 
 Surgeon-General, Colonel Wood, and the chief of his 
 office, Surgeon Brown. 
 
 On the 9th I received an order to go to Nashville, 
 Tennessee, and was assigned to duty as Superintendent 
 and Director of the general hospital at that place. 
 
 The duties of this office were somewhat vague. It 
 had been found that whenever general hospitals were 
 grouped, it was expedient that some medical officer 
 should be appointed, clothed with authority to act finally 
 upon such matters as were of immediate importance to 
 the welfare of the patients, to avoid the delay of re 
 ferring matters of business to the Medical Director of 
 the Department, often absent. In this way, requisitions 
 could be acted upon at once and contracts with citizen 
 physicians and nurses made without delay. Necessarily 
 a great deal was left to the discretion and common sense 
 of the superintendent. 
 
 In my letter home of the I4th, I state that I had 
 arrived safely and found the City of Nashville almost 
 in a state of partial siege. The Southern General (Hood) 
 had moved northward, had crossed the Tennessee River, 
 and had attacked our troops at Franklin, Tennessee, on 
 the 3Oth of November. His object was to threaten, and 
 if possible, to capture, the City of Nashville, forcing 
 General Thomas to retreat and thus carry the campaign 
 back to the Ohio River. 
 
 In the attack at Franklin, he had failed with heavy 
 loss, but General Thomas had slowly withdrawn his 
 army to Nashville in order to strengthen his forces and 
 remount his cavalry. Thomas was a man of great pru- 
 
St. Louis 327 
 
 dence and slow in movement, possibly over-cautious, 
 and hence the delay which characterized his movements. 
 
 On my arrival at Nashville, I was informed by 
 Assistant Surgeon Dallas Bache, U. S. A., who was 
 acting as the Director of Hospitals, that a battle was 
 hourly expected, but that while there were a large num 
 ber of hospitals organized, there were comparatively 
 few vacant beds. 
 
 On assuming the office, I immediately directed all my 
 efforts to extend the hospital accommodation already in 
 existence. I therefore called upon Brigadier-General 
 Miller, Post Commandant, to turn over to me for hos 
 pital purposes the Court House and all of the churches 
 in the city. He immediately turned over to me all the 
 churches, but it was considered that good reasons ex 
 isted for retaining the Court House. 
 
 I encountered considerable opposition from the author 
 ities of the Catholic Church, as they objected to having 
 their church turned into a hospital, and said that it 
 would desecrate its sacred character. Father Kelly 
 visited me, and was quite in earnest in his opposition; 
 he said that churches were respected in war. I asked 
 him to consider the events which had taken place in 
 the Italian War, and reminded him that all of the 
 Catholic churches in the city of Milan and elsewhere 
 had been seized by a Catholic Prince, the Emperor 
 Napoleon III., and turned into hospitals. He laughed, 
 admitted the fact, and then explained that the basement 
 of one of the Catholic churches in Nashville was used 
 by the Sisters as a home for the community, and that 
 the sacred vestments had all been carried there. I told 
 him that under those circumstances, I would place a 
 military guard over all those portions of the building, 
 and that no one should be allowed to intrude. This 
 
328 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 was done. I afterwards learned that these facts were 
 reported to General Rosecrans, who was at first very 
 angry, and demanded the name of the medical officer 
 so offending. He was told Surgeon Brinton." "Oh, 
 then!" said he, "it is all right." 
 
 On the 1 5th and I7th of December, the battle of 
 Nashville occurred. I saw it at first from a housetop 
 and afterwards rode out to the line of battle four or 
 five miles from the city. The enemy s attack was very 
 fierce, but was repelled with great slaughter. I wit 
 nessed the fighting of the negro troops; they behaved 
 well. Finally, the enemy was forced to retreat, and 
 was vigorously pressed as far as the town of Franklin. 
 
 Our wounded were rapidly brought in in great num 
 bers, and soon occupied all of our hospital accommoda 
 tions and the hospital tents, which had been hastily 
 pitched. The wounded black troops were carried to 
 the hospital which had been especially assigned to them. 
 The wounded rebels were also in a day or two s time 
 brought to the rebel prison hospital. The churches 
 which had been seized answered well as hospitals, the 
 pews had either been boarded over or removed, and all 
 of the church hospitals were soon filled with wounded 
 with the exception of the Episcopal church, which was 
 inconvenient of arrangement. 
 
 The negro hospital was in a series of four-storied 
 warehouses, which were closely packed with wounded. 
 All of the wounded in the hospitals were promptly and 
 efficiently cared for, and as a rule, did well. 
 
 Some curious occurrences took place with regard to 
 the wounded prisoners. A young lady came to my 
 office and asked to see a wounded prisoner of high rank. 
 I told her that sisters, mothers and wives alone were 
 allowed to see prisoners; was she either of these? She 
 
St. Louis 329 
 
 said no, but she was willing to marry the gentleman 
 in question, if that was the only way she could obtain 
 permission to see him. I inquired and found that he 
 was not badly wounded. I told her to come to see me 
 on the following morning at a given hour. I sent 
 for him to be brought to my office at the same hour, and 
 so the interview was arranged, and no rule of service 
 was broken. 
 
 In another case a Southern prisoner, wounded and 
 of high rank, begged my permission to ride outside of 
 our lines to visit a lady to whom he was engaged, 
 promising me on his word of honor to return at a given 
 hour. I told him I could not do this, but that if he 
 would give me his word of honor that I should not 
 be injured by his people, I would ride with him; he 
 could then make the visit he desired, and come back 
 with me at a given hour. 
 
 At ten o clock, on the cold winter s night, we rode 
 out together. We passed our pickets, and went to her 
 father s house. My prisoner had a long interview with 
 his lady love, while I sat in the adjoining parlor talk 
 ing to the sisters, and at the hour agreed upon we 
 remounted, rattled along the pike, passed our picket 
 line and sentry line (I having the password of the 
 night). Then I accompanied my friend to his hos 
 pital, and there took leave of him. No harm came of 
 this ride, but the lady in question changed her mind, 
 and afterwards married a Union officer. On our re 
 turn, we came near being shot by our pickets of negro 
 cavalry, whose minds work slowly, and who did not 
 understand fully the use of a password. We rode 
 right upon them, they challenged us fiercely, and we 
 were obliged to dismount instantly to save ourselves 
 from being shot 
 
330 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 One or two of the Confederates, wounded and 
 prisoners in our hands, were Masons, and I received 
 several letters from the Order in the North, authorizing 
 me to furnish them money. Another Southern officer 
 was of Jewish birth. One of the most prominent and 
 wealthiest bankers in New York, Belmont, authorized 
 me to draw on him for any amount required. 
 
 My Christmas dinner, I took at Governor Bank- 
 head s. 
 
 My office as Medical Director in Nashville was very 
 stylish; I had three or four sentries and an excellent 
 corps of clerks and cavalry orderlies. Some of my 
 clerks were quite well educated. 
 
 One day I was astonished to see an old lady de 
 scend from an old-fashioned carriage, and come into 
 my front office, announcing herself as Mrs. Polk. She 
 was the widow of President Polk and wished some 
 thing done, which I attended to at once. I gave her 
 my arm to see her to her carriage, having sent out word 
 to the sentries to salute as they would a General com 
 manding, and to fully present arms. I asked her never 
 again to descend from her carriage, but always to send 
 in for me, that I could never forget that she was the 
 widow of a dead president. She seemed to be very 
 much touched by these marks of respect, and invited 
 me to her home. 
 
 It was an old-fashioned residence of brick with a 
 large yard. The tomb of her late husband, President 
 Polk, was placed in the yard in full sight of her win 
 dows. She received me with great courtesy. The com 
 pany was entirely Southern in feeling. I went, of course, 
 in uniform. One of the young ladies who had been 
 from New York, but who was exceedingly Southern in 
 her feelings, made i personal attack on me, and was 
 
St. Louis 331 
 
 very rude. I replied to her and told her that renegades 
 were always more bitter than original enemies. Mrs. 
 Polk learned, after I left, what had occurred. She 
 reprimanded the young woman severely, saying that she 
 would never have an officer of the United States in 
 sulted under her roof, and she forbade the offender 
 ever to visit her home again until a sufficient explana 
 tion had been made. Mrs. Polk was the sister-in-law of 
 the famous General-Bishop Polk. She always after 
 wards spoke well of me, and never forgot the respect 
 with which she had been treated at my office. 
 
 My quarters, when I first went to Nashville, were in 
 the part of a house which belonged to a family of strong 
 "Secesh" propensities. I shared my rooms with Cap 
 tain Jenny, an officer whom I had previously known at 
 Shiloh. He was a graduate of the School of Topo 
 graphical Engineers in Paris, was commissioned as an 
 Engineer in our army, and rendered immense service 
 by his knowledge of roads and their construction, cor 
 duroying and the like. He originated the idea of sky 
 scrapers. 
 
 Here let me relate an interesting incident which did 
 not become generally known. Jenny had charge of a 
 pontoon train. On the day of the fight at Nashville 
 or the day after, in a pouring rain, I met him hurrying 
 his train of boats away on the turnpike. I asked him, 
 "Where are you going ?" He said, "God knows, where 
 a pontoon train can do the least possible good." 
 
 When he came back a day or so afterwards, I asked 
 him in the quiet of our chamber, "How about that pon 
 toon train?" He said, "That is a very good story and 
 a very great secret. After the battle, General Thomas 
 sent for me, and told me to take my train out on the 
 Murfreesboro pike. I said, General, do you mean the 
 
332 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Murfreesboro Pike? because I knew that was away 
 from the enemy. He said, Yes, on the Murfreesboro 
 Pike. I went away, but I was uneasy in my mind, 
 for I knew that a bridge train could not be wanted 
 where there were no rivers. I turned and went back, 
 and again I asked him, General, do you mean the 
 Murfreesboro Pike? He seemed heavy, but aroused 
 himself, and half-angrily said, Yes, the Murfreesboro 
 Pike, go and execute your orders. 
 
 "I went and led out my pontoon, as directed, and the 
 next day was recalled by a messenger, when the General 
 discovered his mistake. He had meant to say the 
 Granny White Pike, but at the time of the battle, he 
 had had no rest or sleep for two or three days and 
 nights; he was sleeping heavily when aroused to give 
 my order, was dazed, confounded the Murfreesboro 
 with the Granny White Pike and gave me the useless 
 order. If the train had been sent on the pike, on which 
 it should have been sent, it could have been used at 
 Duck River and other streams, and the probability is 
 that the entire forces of the enemy would have been 
 captured. As it was, they reached Franklin, slowly re 
 treated southward and succeeded in making good their 
 escape by crossing the Tennessee River, and thus reach 
 ing Alabama safely." * 
 
 A tolerably good public order was maintained at 
 Nashville at this time, but the streets were very dark, 
 badly lighted, and murder occasionally took place. I 
 well remember how often I have walked at night through 
 the streets with a lantern in one hand and a cocked 
 pistol in the other, calling to those I was about to meet 
 to keep on the other side of the street. On one or two 
 
 * See the Personal Memoirs of General Grant, Volume 2, page 
 386. 
 
St. Louis 333 
 
 occasions, I heard a shot fired and learned afterwards 
 that men had been killed. 
 
 In one instance, a sentry told me, that it was "only 
 a damn civilian." 
 
 Toward the end of December, in order to increase 
 the capacity of our hospitals still more, a number of 
 houses belonging to people of Southern sentiment and 
 affiliations were seized; some of these proved satisfac 
 tory, but as a rule the accommodation was too crowded 
 and insufficient. 
 
 On one occasion, in the early part of my stay at 
 Nashville, I took possession of a large circus tent for 
 a hospital, but found that it was useless, since it was 
 impossible to heat it in any way, and the weather was 
 exceedingly cold. 
 
 The management of most of the hospitals was very 
 good, but in some, it was not. There was evident 
 rascality. I could not tell how or where the frauds 
 were accomplished. To test the matter, knowing that 
 the persons who furnished the hospital were men of 
 doubtful character, I determined to make a wholesale 
 arrest. Accordingly, one Saturday afternoon, I arrested 
 eight or ten of the merchants, grocers, victuallers and 
 general provision men. I had all of their books sent 
 to my office, and spent Sunday in examining the in 
 tricacies of their accounts. I found out the secret of 
 their frauds, which consisted in charging for more 
 goods than were furnished, and paying the balance in 
 money to corrupt officers, interested in the steal. These, 
 I am happy to say, were not surgeons in charge, but 
 were generally the lower officers, commissary sergeants 
 and the like. All of this system was at once thoroughly 
 broken up. 
 
 One of the medical officers in charge of Hospital No. 
 
334 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 15 had made a large fortune in various ways, probably 
 by falsity in his accounts, by corrupt speculation of every 
 kind, by the purchase of condemned horses, by fattening 
 them on government land and on government provender 
 and re-selling them, and by many objectionable prac 
 tices. His rascality was evident, in these and other 
 ways, which I cannot state. I gave him the option of 
 resigning in twelve hours, or of preferring charges 
 against him. He chose the former, and the Government 
 was well rid of a bad officer. 
 
 About this time, an event occurred which well-nigh 
 cost me my commission. A portion of the North was 
 at this time largely excited on the subject of negro 
 troops. By some they were much over-estimated. One 
 of these negrophiles was General Thomas, the Assistant 
 Adjutant-General. Not greatly esteemed at Washing 
 ton, he seized upon the negro question as a means of 
 ingratiating himself in the estimation of his superiors. 
 He was sent from Washington to the west by the 
 Secretary of War with a kind of roving commission, 
 his duty being to look after the interest of negro troops 
 wherever they might be found. His great object was 
 to praise the negro troops, and to find as much fault as 
 possible wherever he thought their interest neglected. 
 
 Among other places, he visited Nashville, and in 
 spected the negro hospitals. With one of these hos 
 pitals, No. 16, he professed himself greatly displeased. 
 This was the warehouse hospital, several stories in 
 height, each room or ward of which was provided with 
 a stove of the large kind known as the "bar-room" 
 stove. These, the negroes, in spite of directions and 
 precautions to the contrary, kept heated red-hot; the 
 men, too, were dirty, and to a certain degree, this could 
 not be prevented, as it was the character of their race. 
 
St. Louis 335 
 
 Give them what clean linen we could, what clean pillows 
 and pillow-cases we could, they would, in a very short 
 time, be in a filthy condition. Indeed, it seemed, 
 strangely enough, to be a prominent idea of the negro 
 soldiers to keep their hair thoroughly greased, and for 
 this purpose they would steal the candles and grease of 
 every description, and using it plentifully as a pomade, 
 would necessarily get their beds in a filthy state. This 
 condition of affairs General Thomas, spied, and pro 
 fessed himself to be very indignant with the condition 
 of his beloved negro troops. 
 
 He sent for me in haste; I met him in the street, and 
 he opened on me a tirade of abuse, such as no officer 
 should have addressed to another. He did not know me 
 personally, but I frequently had met him in Washington 
 and knew exactly what his status in the War Depart 
 ment was. I attempted to explain to him the cause of 
 trouble, but he would hear no explanation. He took 
 the opportunity of showing his power and rank, and 
 ended his personal abuse of me with the threat that he 
 would telegraph to the Secretary of War, and have me 
 dismissed from the army at once. Of course, I had 
 nothing to say. I simply bowed to him and turned 
 on my heel and left him. 
 
 I did not know what to do, and I knew that a com 
 plaint of any kind to the Secretary of War, concern 
 ing me, coming no matter from whom, would be in 
 stantly seized as an opportunity for dismissal. 
 
 Now it happened that there was on duty at Nash 
 ville a most excellent and gentlemanly old soldier of the 
 regular army, General Donaldson, a man of rank, good- 
 heartedness and kindness, and also a man of means. 
 As he was the Chief Quartermaster, I had frequent 
 
336 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 occasion to call on him for all imaginable supplies. I 
 had bothered him a good deal, but I knew that he be 
 lieved that I was trying to do my duty, and had a cer 
 tain sort of good feeling toward me. Moreover, his 
 step-son, who had broken his nose, was a patient of 
 mine. 
 
 I went to General Donaldson and told him of the 
 circumstances. I told him that it was impossible to 
 keep the negroes clean, told him of my relations with 
 the Secretary of War, and explained to him that any 
 report from General Thomas would be most injurious 
 to me. I went to him because I knew that General 
 Thomas was about to dine with him that afternoon. 
 "Put your heart at rest," said General Donaldson to 
 me, "I know Thomas, I understand all the circum 
 stances, and will take great care to see that you shall 
 not be injured in any way." 
 
 The dinner took place, and Thomas was drawn out 
 to make his complaint, concerning me. General Don 
 aldson told him that I was not remiss in my care of 
 the negro troops; on the contrary, that I was a very 
 energetic officer, and called upon him more than any 
 other officer had done for supplies for the comfort of 
 the negro troops. As a result, he impressed General 
 Thomas with the idea of my efficiency in that particular 
 direction, and so influenced him that the Adjutant-Gen 
 eral, in making his report, stated that my services in the 
 interest of the negro troops had been of the most valua 
 ble character, and submitted not a word of complaint. 
 
 I insert here a note which I received from General 
 Donaldson, which shows the opinion entertained of the 
 Adjutant-General and his efforts on behalf of the 
 negroes : 
 
St. Louis 337 
 
 "Nashville, 
 
 Jan. 15, 1865. 
 Dear Doctor: 
 
 I went to see Genl. Thomas this morning, and talked 
 with him about the colored hospital. I took occasion to 
 speak of you, and the result of our talk was Genl. 
 Thomas said he would take no steps to hurt you. We 
 all understand how this subject is regarded, and how it 
 may be used to injure. Genl. Thomas, however, was very 
 
 much incensed against a doctor by the name of , 
 
 who is said to be much in the habit of cursing his pa 
 tients. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 J. S. DONALDSON/ 
 
 I might here state as a curious fact that the negroes 
 in this crowded hospital, with their stoves red-hot, with 
 the wards overcrowded with men, women and children, 
 all did remarkably well. It is true that the odor of 
 the wards was abominable, and the cleanliness by no 
 means what could have been wished, yet their wounds 
 healed kindly and few intercurrent diseases occurred. 
 The men seemed to be entirely free from pneumonia, 
 and affections of that kind, from which the negroes 
 are so apt to suffer. Comparatively few deaths took 
 place, less indeed than the average number of such cases 
 of white troops in well-ventilated hospitals. 
 
 It was decided by the War Department to build for 
 the negro troops a large pavilion hospital on the best 
 model, thoroughly equipped, well ventilated, and situated 
 two or three miles from town. The negro occupants 
 were here placed under the best hygienic conditions, 
 viewed from the standpoint of white troops, yet the mor 
 tality was fearful. They died from pneumonia and affec 
 tions of the chest very rapidly, and the results of the new 
 
338 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 hospital contrasted most unfavorably with the apparent 
 overcrowded hospitals in which they had been placed 
 in the city. 
 
 In the early part of my stay in Nashville, when the 
 negro hospitals were full, a great degree of insubordina 
 tion was noticed among these troops. Those who were 
 not sick or injured insisted upon having free access to 
 the hospital, especially when the women and children 
 were furnished shelter in the hospital buildings. They 
 beat down the guard, and attempted to force their way 
 in. I was called to one of these hospitals on an occa 
 sion of this kind. The turbulent crowd gathered around 
 the gate, and fiercely insisted upon pressing in. I 
 stepped between them and the guard behind them, closed 
 the gates, and ordered the guard to load with ball 
 cartridge, and let the men see that this was done. I 
 instructed them to fire on the first man who should 
 attempt to pass the gates. I was asked, "Do you mean 
 this?" I said, "Yes." The gates were opened as I went 
 out, but not a single man attempted to pass the sentry 
 line. 
 
 At the negro hospital No. 16, a singular event took 
 place. In visiting the hospital, one day when I was in 
 the office, examining some of the books, I noticed in 
 the mirror on the wall, the Surgeon in charge stealthily 
 creeping along the entry, in stocking feet, and placing 
 his ear to the chink of the door in an endeavor to hear 
 what I was saying. I detected in the books evidence of 
 irregularity, and on thinking the matter over, I was 
 convinced that I had seen that man before. It flashed 
 across me all at once that long before the war, in a 
 visit to Cherry Hill Prison at Philadelphia, at a time 
 at which my friend, Dr. Lassiter, was the resident phy 
 sician, he had asked me to see a prisoner, a counter- 
 
St. Louis 339 
 
 feiter, who was engaged in carving in ivory some peculiar 
 models. My Surgeon-in-charge of that hospital was 
 that man; I was sure of it. I sent for him to come 
 to my office, and I said to him, Doctor, I have been 
 looking over your accounts; something is wrong; but 
 Doctor I have seen you before at Cherry Hill Prison; 
 I know you." He changed color, and dropped on his 
 knees, and made me the most astonishing confession. 
 He repeated as if reading from a paper, the numerous 
 incidents of robbery and theft of hospital stores; thus 
 he would say, "On such and such a day, I stole an ounce 
 of quinine," and so he enumerated a long list of articles 
 pilfered, extending over a considerable period of time. 
 These articles, he confessed that he sold to Southern 
 agents, and that they were smuggled into the Southern 
 Confederacy. He and his father-in-law had been con 
 victed of counterfeiting United States bank-notes. 
 They were from Ohio, and had been imprisoned in the 
 Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia. Of course, I re 
 moved him from the hospital and placed him under 
 arrest. I notified the Assistant General and Surgeon- 
 General and through them the Secretary of War. I at 
 once received a telegram to place the man in the mili 
 tary prison, to report the case to General Thomas and 
 to have him tried by court-martial, and in the mean 
 time, to open all letters addressed to him and find out 
 what I could. These orders were literally executed. 
 The Secretary was exceedingly angry and was deter 
 mined to punish him severely. 
 
 However, letters continued to arrive from his wife 
 near Pittsburgh, Pa., who knew nothing of the events 
 which had been occurring; pitiful heart-broken letters, 
 begging her husband to abstain from evil courses, to 
 commit no robberies and to desist from sending her 
 
340 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 blankets and stores which she said she was sure he could 
 not have acquired honestly. She told him at the same 
 time that her children were suffering for food, that she 
 had no credit with the baker or the grocer, and that 
 she did not know what would become of them. 
 
 Her letters were those of an honest woman, trying 
 to do right and in great trouble of mind and body. 
 These letters impressed me so much that I sent them to 
 the Secretary of War with a strong appeal on behalf 
 of the man. Finally, I was informed that I might leave 
 him in the military prison under the idea of condign 
 punishment to come, and I did so. The poor fellow 
 remained in prison under the idea that he might be 
 executed at any moment. He was still in prison when 
 I left, and I have never heard anything more about him. 
 
 I have said already that the hospitals in Nashville 
 numbered eighteen or twenty. Among these was one 
 especially appropriated for small-pox patients. I had 
 on an average a chaplain and a half for each of the 
 ordinary hospitals, but for the small-pox hospital it was 
 impossible to obtain the services of such an officer. One 
 morning, I announced that I intended in two days to 
 detail a chaplain for the small-pox hospital. In the 
 course of the next twenty-four hours, I was visited by 
 almost every chaplain in Nashville, each one representing 
 to me how much good he was doing, and how injurious 
 it would be for the cause of religion and to the Govern 
 ment to move him from his present position. I finally 
 selected one of the most inefficient chaplains under my 
 command, and detailed him, despite his protest, to the 
 hated office. He placed his tent outside of the limits 
 of the hospital. I found on my next visit the following 
 morning that he was by no means over-officious in his 
 ministrations, nor did he ever become so. 
 
St. Louis 341 
 
 At this time, numbers of civilian refugees were pour 
 ing into Nashville from the surrounding country. They 
 were a wretched set, uneducated, ignorant, half-bar 
 barous, and in the most destitute state. Very many of 
 their women and children required hospital accommoda 
 tion, and for this purpose, a refugee hospital was estab 
 lished and eventually proved of value. 
 
 When I first entered on duty at Nashville, my detail 
 was that of Superintendent and Director of General 
 Hospitals. Later, in 64, I was ordered by General 
 Thomas, commanding the Department of the Cumber 
 land, to act as Assistant Medical Director. On the nth 
 of January, 65, I was ordered to perform the duties of 
 Acting Medical Director of the Department of the Cum 
 berland in the absence of the Medical Director in the 
 Field, but on his return to Nashville on February I5th 
 I was relieved from this duty, and continued to act 
 under my first detail of duty, that of Superintendent and 
 Director of General Hospitals. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 LIFE AT NASHVILLE LECTURES HOME 
 
 The Medical Director on General Thomas s Staff was 
 Surgeon George E. Cooper. He had been the chief 
 witness in the Court-martial of Surgeon-General Ham 
 mond, and it was especially on his testimony that Ham 
 mond had been cashiered from the army. He was a 
 peculiar man, rough, coarse, and in a certain way honest. 
 He hated Hammond, and at my first interview with him 
 on my arrival at Nashville, he asked me, "Doctor, you 
 were a friend of Hammond s, were you not?" I said, 
 "Yes." "Do you believe him guilty or innocent?" I 
 said, "I believe him innocent of fraud or intentional 
 wrong-doing." He said, "I am glad you say so; I knew 
 you were a friend of Hammond s; I asked you the ques 
 tion to see whether you would answer me in a straight 
 forward manner. Now, Doctor, I will tell you, in the 
 late trial, it was Hammond s head or mine, and I saved 
 mine." 
 
 Cooper treated me well, dealing with me in a straight 
 forward and honest manner, and I never received any 
 thing but kindness at his hands during my stay in 
 Nashville. 
 
 Nashville was always strong in its Southern feeling. 
 There was very little Union element present, and where 
 it existed, it depended upon self-interest rather than 
 patriotism. The lower classes were altogether "secesh." 
 
 I saw a remarkable evidence of presence of mind on 
 
 342 
 
Life at Nashville Lectures Home 343 
 
 one occasion, and had an opportunity of witnessing the 
 power of one soldier when on duty. A soldier had 
 arrested two Southern men and was trying to take them 
 to the military prison. They refused to go with him, 
 and the surrounding crowd sympathized with them, and 
 obstructed the soldier in his duties. Finally, he cocked 
 his gun, stepped back one pace, brought his gun so as 
 to cover one of the prisoners in front, and then ordered 
 them to march straight before him. He said, "If anyone 
 attempts to interfere with these men, or to obstruct me 
 in the discharge of my duty, I will fire, I will kill one 
 or two; and then you may do with me as you like." 
 
 Two or three officers, I among them, were sitting on 
 a balcony of a restaurant, smoking, and seeing the diffi 
 culty, but not knowing what it was, hurried down to his 
 assistance, but the trouble had subsided when we reached 
 there. The men were marching quietly away as prison 
 ers, in front of this solitary soldier, who understood 
 how thoroughly to discharge his duty. 
 
 On one occasion, I received a peculiar request from 
 the Provost Marshal. He said a negro came to his 
 office a few days before, a servant in an old family which 
 had left Nashville at the time it was occupied by our 
 troops. Before going, he stated that they had taken all 
 of their silver plate and valuable papers, had placed 
 them in a coffin and had buried them in their lot in 
 the cemetery. The Provost Marshal had been ordered 
 to examine the lot and the coffin, and see whether the 
 money was there or not. For some reason or other, 
 he fancied that a doctor would be a protection against 
 ghosts, or the like, and thought that it would be well 
 to have me go with him when he made the examina 
 tion. Foolishly, I consented to accompany him on this 
 horrible ghoul-like errand. We went to the cemetery 
 
344 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 in broad daylight, the guards were placed at the gates, 
 and we approached the vault. Now, it was not a vault 
 in our eastern sense of the term. Nashville is built 
 upon a rock, the soil is only a foot or two deep, and 
 so instead of burying their bodies, they placed them 
 upon the ground in small iron houses constructed above 
 ground, instead of digging a vault beneath the surface. 
 On examining the door of the vault, there were evident 
 signs that it had been opened by force, with a crowbar 
 or pick, within twenty-four hours. However, the Pro 
 vost Marshal went on. The door was forced. There 
 were coffins in plenty, but no evidences of posthumous 
 disarrangements were to be seen. The negro adhered 
 to his story. He stated that he had helped to deposit 
 the silver in the coffin, and had helped to bring the 
 coffin to the vault, but that things did not look as he 
 left them. 
 
 The Provost Marshal determined to search. He in 
 sisted upon unscrewing several coffins, but the treasure 
 was not to be found. Finally, influenced by his dislike 
 of the work, and by my earnest solicitations, he de 
 sisted and reported at headquarters the result of his 
 search. A great outcry was raised about this piece of 
 vandalism, and I afterwards learned that the negro had 
 been right in his statement, but, somewhat unguarded 
 in the use of his tongue, he had let out his secret before 
 the information was given to the Provost Marshal, and 
 the parties concerned had gone the night before and 
 removed the treasure sought for. I was very much 
 ashamed of my part in this transaction, for which I 
 have no excuse except that of a certain kind of morbid 
 professional curiosity of an anatomical pathological 
 variety. 
 
Life at Nashville Lectures Home 345 
 
 At this time, a series of robberies occurred in my 
 office, which baffled all my efforts at investigation. Let 
 ters for patients in the hospital, with uncertain addresses, 
 and oftentimes to medical officers, were sent daily to my 
 office for distribution to the hospitals. Repeated com 
 plaints were made that letters known to be sent were not 
 received at their destination, especially when these let 
 ters contained drafts or money. Investigation satisfied 
 me that the thefts were committed in my office by some 
 of the clerks or attendants on duty. I had frequent 
 interviews with officials of the Post-office Department, 
 but all our attempts failed to detect the delinquents. 
 We therefore placed decoy letters in the mail, contain 
 ing marked bank-notes. Those which I placed in my 
 box myself were stolen during the night. I determined 
 to arrest everybody in the office, clerks, orderlies, and 
 sentries, and I should say that the sentries had been 
 changed the night before, and strangers from distant 
 commands placed on duty. A thorough search was made 
 of the parties interested, the carpets were torn up, and 
 drawers, books and papers overhauled, but all in vain, 
 the daring thieves were never discovered, and no light 
 could be obtained as to the adroit robberies. 
 
 On the 6th of March, 1865, I received an invitation 
 from the medical officers on duty at Nashville, asking 
 me to give them a series of eight lectures on some points 
 connected with the surgical history of the war. 
 
 This I was most glad to do. I selected for my sub 
 ject the flight of projectiles, and the character of the 
 wounds they produce at the entrance and exit, always a 
 favorite subject of mine. The projectiles to illustrate 
 the course, were kindly furnished to me by Major Mor- 
 decai, of the Ordnance Department, and rifle barrels 
 
346 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 were sent to show the character of the rifling, etc. 
 Many illustrations were prepared by one of my clerks, 
 who was a good draughtsman. These projectiles and 
 diagrams I have still, and have often used them. The 
 lectures were delivered in the Hall of the Masonic Build 
 ing, a large room. My audience was a brilliant one, 
 including all of the medical officers in Nashville, many 
 of the Staff and other military officers in uniform, and 
 others. I had two cavalry soldiers for assistants in 
 uniform, and I lectured in full uniform. I enjoyed these 
 lectures very much, and was only sorry that I could 
 not give the entire course. This, however, was not pos 
 sible, as the lectures were brought to a close by the 
 acceptance at Washington of my resignation. Of this 
 I must say a few words. 
 
 Since I had been relieved at Washington in October, 
 
 1864, and sent to the West, I had made up my mind 
 that in view of the approaching termination of the war, 
 my family interests at home imperatively demanded that 
 after serving a few months more, I should send in my 
 resignation. This, I accordingly did on February 16, 
 
 1865, in the following letters: 
 
 "Nashville, Feby. 16, 1865. 
 Genl: 
 
 I have the honor hereby to tender my immediate and 
 unconditional resignation of my commission, as Surgeon 
 of Volunteers (formerly Brigade Surgeon, August 3Oth, 
 1861). I am led to do so by the urgent necessity which 
 exists for my immediate presence at my home in Phila 
 delphia, in order that I may protect the financial interests 
 of my mother and sisters, jeopardized by unexpected 
 circumstances, which no one but myself can properly act 
 upon. 
 
Life at Nashville Lectures Home 347 
 
 I hereby state that I am not indebted to the U. S., 
 that I have no public property in my possession, except 
 that which I am prepared to turn over to the proper offi 
 cers ; that I have not been absent without leave ; that no 
 charges exist affecting my pay, and that I have not been 
 subject at any time to charges, or trial by Court-martial. 
 I was last paid by Major A. Holt to January 31, 1865. 
 
 Very Respty, 
 
 Yr. Obt. Servt. 
 
 J. H. BRINTON, 
 
 Surg. U. S. V. 
 Brig. Genl. L. Thomas, 
 Adjt. Genl. U. S. A. 
 
 War Department, Washington, D. C." 
 
 After a delay of some weeks, I received, March 23, 
 1865, the following acceptance of my resignation: 
 
 "B. 162. B. 165. 
 
 War Dept. Adjt. General s Office, 
 
 Washington, March n, 1865. 
 Sir: 
 
 Your resignation has been accepted by the President 
 of the United States, to take effect the Qth day of March, 
 1865, on condition that you receive no final payments 
 until you shall have satisfied the Pay Department that 
 you are not indebted to the United States. I am Sir, 
 
 Very resptfy. 
 
 Yr. Oft. Servt., 
 
 (Sd) S. F. CHALF1N, 
 
 Asst. Adjt. Genl. 
 Surgeon John H. Brinton, 
 U. S. Volunteers, 
 
 Nashville, Tenn." 
 
348 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 Presenting this order at the headquarters of General 
 Thomas, I was relieved from duty by the accompanying 
 order : 
 
 "Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, 
 Nashville, Tenn. March 23, 1865. 
 
 SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS NO. 76 
 
 [Extract] 
 
 IV. Surgeon J. H. Brinton, U. S. V., is hereby re 
 lieved from duty in this Department, his resignation 
 having been accepted by the War Department. 
 
 By Command of Major General Thomas, 
 
 HENRY M. CIST, 
 
 Asst. Adjt. Genl. 
 Surgeon J. H. Brinton, 
 
 "U. S. V." 
 
 No longer a soldier, I was now a citizen, and having 
 turned over my official belongings to my successor in 
 office, I prepared to return home. 
 
 I received from some of the surgeons on duty at 
 Nashville, a number of specimens of gunshot. These 
 they had a right to give me, as they had been notified 
 from Washington that they need forward no more wet 
 preparations to the Museum. I was glad to get a few, 
 and had them barreled, and afterward took them to 
 Philadelphia, where they now form part of my cabinet. 
 I had also collected some shot, shell and muskets, used 
 to illustrate my lectures at the Masonic Hall. All these, 
 I passed home under the following orders, a permit, 
 which I obtained without trouble, as all my friends 
 seemed to sympathize with me in my desire to take 
 home my military illustrations for my future lectures. 
 
Life at Nashville Lectures Home 349 
 
 "Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, 
 Office Prov. Mar. Genl., 
 
 Nashville, March 23, 1865. 
 
 Permit is hereby granted Surgeon J. H. Brinton, 
 Supt. & Director of Hospitals to ship by express or 
 otherwise from Nashville, Tenn., to Philadelphia, Pa., 
 one keg, two boxes, and one package, containing two 
 (2) damaged and condemned muskets and objects of 
 professional interest. 
 
 By command of 
 
 MAJ. GENL. THOMAS, 
 (Sgd) R. M. GOODWIN, 
 
 Capt. & A. P. W. Genl." 
 
 "Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, 
 
 March 23, 1865. 
 
 Guard and Military Conductors will pass J. H. Brin 
 ton, Esq., beyond the limits of this Department. 
 
 By Order MAJ. GENL. THOMAS, 
 
 SOUTHARD HOFFMAN, 
 
 A. A. G." 
 
 I had greatly enjoyed my duty in Nashville. It had 
 been full of incident and new experiences. At first, I 
 had been overworked, but had soon gotten affairs in 
 good running order, and with the exception of the 
 Thomas incident, everything had gone along smoothly. 
 I had formed, too, some very pleasant acquaintances, and 
 among others, I greatly enjoyed the society of Surgeon 
 Fletcher on duty as Medical Purveyor. He was an Eng 
 lishman, thoroughly educated, and a deep Shakesperean 
 scholar. Many and many a pleasant talk we had together, 
 and much I learned from him. After the war was ended, 
 he was in the office of the Surgeon-General at Washing- 
 
350 Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton 
 
 ton, and was employed in the library of the office of the 
 Surgeon-General, and in the preparation, with Dr. Bil 
 lings, of the Index Medicus. 
 
 After taking leave of my friends at Nashville, my 
 last official act was to order the running to Louisville 
 of a hospital train of cars, for as the Director of Hos 
 pitals, I had charge of two or three trains, thoroughly 
 fitted up for the conveyance of sick and wounded. On 
 one of these, I shipped a number of invalids, with whom 
 I went to Louisville. I was accompanied by one of my 
 orderlies who had formed a strange attachment to me, 
 why, I could not tell. He was as sharp as steel, and 
 I never quite trusted him. In fact, at the time of the 
 robbery of letters in my office, I suspected him. But 
 odd as it may seem, the harder I was on him, the more 
 he clung to me. Before I left, he said he would like 
 a few days absence, and come to Philadelphia with me. 
 I assented and he did so, looking after my comforts 
 with the utmost care, and paying great attention to the 
 safety of my kegs and boxes; he behaved, indeed, as a 
 model attendant. 
 
 We stopped in Louisville, where I saw the Assistant 
 Surgeon-General, and afterwards stayed a day in Cin 
 cinnati. We then went straight to Philadelphia, arriv 
 ing there in the latter days of March, 1865; my orderly 
 starting for Nashville again on the same evening. 
 
 I found my Mother and sisters well. How glad 
 I was to be with them again I cannot tell you. It 
 seemed strange to me to be once more a civilian, to lay 
 aside my uniform, and to feel that I was again my 
 own master. But it was hard to discard the habits 
 acquired in the army, and to fall again into the humdrum 
 customs of peaceful life. The Rebellion was now in 
 its death gasp, military operations were over in the West, 
 
Life at Nashville Lectures Home 351 
 
 and were closing in the East. On the Qth of April, 
 1865, General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, and the war was practically at an end. The 
 news was telegraphed from Washington about ten 
 o clock in the evening, and our city was notified by 
 the screeching of the whistles of the fire engines and 
 by clamor and noise of every imaginable character. 
 The War was over. The great experiment had been 
 made. It had been definitely proven that the United 
 States was a Nation. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 LETTERS FROM GENERALS GRANT, SHERIDAN AND ROSECRANS 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NEAR CORINTH, Miss., 
 
 May 24th, 1862. 
 HON. E. B. WASHBURN, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 Permit me to introduce to your acquaintance Surgeon 
 Brinton of the Army, a gentleman who has served on my 
 Staff at Cairo and in the field. Dr. Brinton was with me at 
 Belmont, Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and as we have 
 lived together most of the time for the last six months our 
 acquaintance is more than transient, it has become intimate. 
 Any attention shown Dr. Brinton will be regarded as a 
 personal favor to myself. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. GRANT. 
 
 HOLLY SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI, 
 
 Jan. 7th, 1863. 
 HON. E. B. WASHBURN, M.C., 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 DEAR SIR: 
 
 Learning that additional Medical Inspectors, with the 
 rank of Lieut. Col., are to be appointed, I want to urge the 
 appointment of Surgeon J. H. Brinton, who is now on duty 
 in Washington, having been selected as one to compile the 
 Medical History of this rebellion. 
 
 I have selected you to write to on this subject because you 
 have always shown such willingness to befriend me. I ac 
 knowledge the many obligations I am under to you and 
 thank you from the bottom of my heart for them. I will 
 feel further obligation if you can give this matter your atten 
 tion and support. 
 
 355 
 
356 Appendix 
 
 Dr. Brinton has served with me and messed with me. I 
 know him well. He is an honor to his profession and to the 
 service both for his moral worth and attainments in and out 
 of his profession. 
 
 Although yet but a young man you will find that Dr. Brin 
 ton has won for himself, in Philadelphia where he resides, a 
 reputation attained by but few in the country, of any age, 
 and by none others as young as himself. 
 
 I am now feeling great anxiety about Vicksburg. The 
 last news from there was favorable, but I know that Kirby 
 Smith is on his way to reinforce Johnson. My last advices 
 from there were to the 3ist. If Banks arrived about that 
 time all is well. If he did not Sherman has had a hard time 
 of it. 
 
 I could not reinforce from here in time, and too much 
 territory would be exposed by doing it if I could. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 U. S. GRANT. 
 
 WEST POINT, N. Y., 
 
 June nth, 1873. 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR : 
 
 Learning from your letter of the Qth inst. that you are a 
 candidate for the "Professorship of Anatomy" in the Jeffer 
 son Medical College of Pa., it affords me pleasure to bear 
 testimony to your professional skill and ability as demon 
 strated, in the field, in the early days of the rebellion. At 
 Donelson particularly I always regarded the improvised ar 
 rangements for taking care of the wounded as due to your 
 executive ability and energy, and the care taken of them 
 and success in bringing so many badly wounded out alive 
 as very largely due to your professional skill. 
 
 While I do not join in special recommendation of one 
 friend over another for any position over which I exercise 
 no control, yet I can say, and do say unreservedly, that I do 
 not doubt but that if the coveted professorship should fall to 
 you it will be filled with honor and credit to the institution, 
 and that the directors who put you there will never have 
 reason to regret the choice. 
 
Appendix 357 
 
 My kindest regards to Mrs. B. to whose friends I once 
 gave a favorable endorsement of you and the children. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 U. S. GRANT. 
 DR. J. H. BRINTON, 
 Phila., Pa. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL V 
 
 June i6th, 73. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge a personal ac 
 quaintance with Dr. Brinton during the War of the Rebel 
 lion. In common with all his acquaintance, I can bear testi 
 mony to his high professional standing and the zeal with 
 which he worked in the cause of science. 
 
 His devotion to the unfortunate wounded of our Armies 
 will always be gratefully remembered by his sincere friend, 
 
 P. H. SHERIDAN, 
 
 Lt. General U. S. A. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
 
 June Qth, 1873. 
 MY DEAR DOCTOR : 
 
 Learning that you are to be an applicant for a medical 
 professorship, I thought you might be gratified to have a 
 note from me saying that during your service as Surgeon in 
 the Dept. of Missouri under my command I formed a very 
 high opinion of your ability and professional qualification, as 
 evinced by my appointment of you a chief medical director 
 of the Army in the field during the campaign against Price 
 in 1864, the duties of which, as all others under my com 
 mand, you discharged in a manner that commanded my 
 approbation and won my personal esteem. 
 
 Wishing you a successful and happy professional career, I 
 remain always your friend, 
 
 W. S. ROSECRANS. 
 
 DR. J. H. BRINTON, 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aigner, Dr., 101 
 
 Annapolis, investigation of gangrene 
 
 at, 225 
 Antietam, arrival at, 205 
 
 the wounded at, 206 
 Army Medical Museum, inception of, 
 179 
 
 orders establishing, 180, 183 
 
 assistant curator for, 185 
 
 first catalogue of, 188 
 
 whiskey for, 191 
 
 relief from duty at, 312 
 Army Medical School, 257 
 Army Registers, 224 
 Asch, M. J., Assistant Surgeon, 179 
 
 Bache, Dallas, Surgeon, 327 
 
 Bache, Dr. Thomas, 246 
 
 Barnes, Surgeon, 259, 309 
 
 Belle Plain, 268 
 
 Belmont, Battle of, etc., 70 
 
 Boker, Dr. Charles S., sends London 
 
 "Punch," 164 
 library cases of, 185 
 Brigade Surgeons, 18, 171 
 Brinton, Colonel Joseph, 272 
 Bryant, Surgeon James, 229 
 Buell, General, 148 
 Bull Run, 21 
 Burke, Acting Assistant Surgeon, at 
 
 Cairo, 52 
 
 Butler, Benamin, 275 
 Butler, Major, 80 
 
 Cabell, General, capture of, 320 
 Cairo, arrival at, 34 
 
 organization of, 54 
 
 army society at, 98 
 
 Christmas at, 100 
 Chancellorville, secret duty at, 234 
 Chase, Secretary, 260 
 Clymer, Dr.^ 170, 175 
 Columbus, Ohio, trip to, 55 
 Confederate Surgeons, visit to, at 
 
 Columbus, O., 58 
 Coolidge, Dr., 197, 224 
 Cooper, Surgeon, 342 
 Corcoran, Mr., seizure of his school 
 
 house for Museum, 183 
 Coxe, Charles, 255, 270 
 Coxe, Brinton, 15, 32 
 
 DaCosta, Dr. J. M., 31, 32 
 
 Davis, Surgeon, at Fort Donelson, 126 
 
 Dennis, Dr., 209 
 
 Dienstl, Dr., at Vienna, 242 
 
 Donaldson, General, at Nashville, 335 
 Douglas, Mrs. Stephen A., 263, 313 
 
 Edward, Surgeon Lewis A., 179 
 
 Fort Donelson, 113 
 
 casualties at, 118 
 
 incidents of the siege, 122 
 
 behavior of medical officers at, 122 
 Fort Henry, 113 
 Frederick, Md., ordered to, 203 
 Fredericksburg, 213 
 Fremont, General J. C., ordered to 
 report to, 29 
 
 description of headquarters of, 30, 
 32, 33 
 
 Geary, Colonel John W., 23 
 Gettysburg, arrival at, 240 
 
 description of, etc., 241 
 
 sanitary and Christian commission 
 ers at, 243 
 
 relic hunters at, 243 
 Girardeau, Cape, 95 
 Goldsmith, Dr. Middleton, 227 
 Goodman, Dr. Ernest, 24 
 Gordon, Surgeon, at Belmont, 94 
 Grant, General U. S., first impres 
 sions of, 36 
 
 at Cairo, 66 
 
 expedition with, 96 
 
 sustained by at Cairo, 104 
 
 with Grant at Fort Henry, 115 
 
 sword presented by, 132 
 
 correspondence of, 134 
 
 humor of, 140 
 
 photograph of, 146 
 
 reprimand of, 147 
 
 sword presented at Fort Henry, 148 
 
 kindness of, 149 
 
 abilities of, 238 
 
 on the art of war, 239 
 
 created Lieutenant General, 261 
 
 headquarters at City Point, 277 
 Grant, Mrs. U. S., arrival at Wash 
 ington, 266 
 
 Halleck, General, 47, no 
 
 rumor of "Dictatorship," 201 
 Hamilton, Dr. Frank S., 26 
 Hammond, Surgeon General, 48 
 
 character of, 171 
 
 at Fortress Monroe, 174 
 
 kindness of, 223 
 
 injustice to, 255 
 
 anonymous note concerning, 309 
 
 359 
 
360 
 
 Index 
 
 Hawkins, General, 64, 104 
 
 Hay, John, at Metropolitan Club, 260 
 
 Hewitt, Dr. Henry S., 26 
 
 at Fort Donelson, ng 
 
 sketch of, 122 
 
 poem by, 122 
 Hiller, Captain, 128 
 
 Jenny, Captain, 331 
 Johnston, General Joe, 60 
 
 Kane, Dr. John K., 99 
 Kelton, Colonel, 165 
 
 Lacy, House, 221 
 Lane^ Senator, 249 
 Le Conte, Dr., 177 
 Letterman, Surgeon J., Medical Di 
 rector, 220 
 Lincoln, Abraham, ridiculed, 19 
 
 incident of the flag, 20 
 
 call for volunteers, 21 
 
 New Year s reception, 225 
 
 at Acquia Creek, 232 
 
 insufficiency of personal attendance, 
 261 
 
 incident of the soldier, 265 
 Louisville, gangrene at, 227 
 
 detailed to in 1864, 307 
 Lyman, Dr. George H., 26 
 Lynch Law at Mound City, 45 
 
 Marcy, General, 177 
 Marmaduke, General, capture of, 320 
 Meade, General, at Belle Plain, 273 
 Medical Director, at Cairo, 60 
 
 at Belmont, 93 
 
 of Department of the Mississippi, 
 156 
 
 of Transportation at Alexandria, 
 
 at Nashville, 325 
 Meigs, Dr. John Forsyth, 16 
 Metropolitan Club, 260 
 Mills, Madison, 315, 322, 324 
 Mitchell, S. Weir, Introduction by, 9 
 Mordecai, Major, 345 
 Mosby, Captain John S., 269 
 Moss, Dr., 185, 214, 220 
 Mound City, Mo., description of, 40 
 
 malaria at, 49 
 
 Muir, Dr., of British army, 211, 250 
 Murfreesboro, 230 
 
 Mutter, Prof., loss of his surgical in 
 struments, 91 
 
 McClellan, Arthur, 28, 50, 177 
 McClellan, General George B., 29, 
 
 108 
 
 curiosity in regard to Grant, 177 
 reinstatement of, in 1862, 202 
 inactivity after Antietam, 211 
 incident at Metropolitan Club, 310 
 McClellan, Dr. John, letter to, 50 
 McClernand, Dr., at Cairo, 102 
 
 sketch of, 103 
 McCullough, Secretary. 260 
 McDougall, Medical Director, 156 
 McKeever, Major, 33 
 
 McParlin, Surgeon General, 274 
 McPherson, Lieut. Col. James B., 130 
 
 Nashville, with Grant at, 139 
 
 gangrene at, 227 
 
 description of, 229 
 
 the wounded at, 328 
 
 various details at, 341 
 
 medical lectures at, 345 
 
 resignation at, 346 
 Nelson, General, at Donelson, 139 
 Nicolay, Mr., at Metropolitan Club, 
 
 260 
 
 Norris, Dr. William F., 282 
 Nurses, Volunteer, a nuisance at 
 Mound City, 43 
 
 Ochschlager, Surgeon, 305 
 Orders, Sept. 4, 1861, 29 
 
 Sept. 1 6, 1 86 1, 38 
 Otis, George A., Surgeon, 312 
 
 Pancoast, Prof. Joseph, 23, 25 
 Philadelphia, return to, in 1862, 168 
 
 visits to, in 1863, 252 
 
 return to, 350 
 Pike, Granny White, 332 
 Pillow, General, meeting with, 57 
 Pittsburg Landing, 155 
 Pleasanton, General, 319 
 Polk, General, meeting with, 57, 157, 
 
 196 
 
 Polk, Mrs. James K., 331 
 Porter, Commodore, 106 
 Porter, Surgeon, 286 
 Powhatan, Fort, 176 
 Price, General, 320 
 
 Rawlins, General John A., with 
 Grant at Cairo, 37 
 
 incident of his horse, 136 
 
 protection of Grant, 136 
 
 at Belle Plain, 272 
 Rigor mortis, 207 
 Roberts, Assistant Surgeon, 251 
 Rosecrans, General, meeting with, 319 
 
 sketch of, 324 
 
 St. Louis, description of, 32 
 
 arrival at, 107, 155 
 
 third arrival at, 316 
 
 society in, 322 
 
 Savannah, experiences at, 152 
 Schafhert, assistance at museum, 184 
 Sc.ofield, General, at St. Louis, 108 
 Scott, General Winfield, 22 
 Scull, Major, 247, 288, 318, 322 
 Sheridan, General, meeting with, 162 
 
 meeting at Murfreesboro, 230 
 
 at Winchester, 290 
 Sidell, J. J., Surgeon. 251 
 Simons, Dr., reports to, at Cairo, 34, 
 
 35, 36, ioi 
 
 Smith, General A. J., 320 
 Smith, General C. F., at Fort Don 
 elson, 120 
 
 sketch of, 122 
 
Index 
 
 361 
 
 Smith, General C. F., incidents of, 
 129, 159, 160 
 
 death of, 159 
 
 Smith, General Gustavus W., 60 
 Spurs, at Battle of Belmont, 82 
 Stanton, Secretary, 174, 199, 255, 280 
 Stone, Assistant Surgeon at Belle 
 
 Plain, 269 
 
 Stuart, Edward T., footnotes by, 23 
 Stuart, George H., 277 
 Sturgis, General, at St. Louis, 108 
 Sumner, Charles, 260 
 Sumners, Dr., 201 
 Surgical History of Rebellion, 169 
 
 plans for, 172 
 
 progress of, 203 
 Sweeny, at St. Louis, 108 
 
 Thomas, Asst. Adjutant General, 334 
 
 Thomson, Mr. Frank, 214 
 
 Thomson, Dr. William, 21, 204, 232, 
 
 251, 282 
 Thorn, Colonel, at St. Louis, 108, 
 
 165 
 
 Thurston, Surgeon, at Nashville, 230 
 Totten, Colonel, at St. Louis, 108 
 
 Van Rensselaer, J. C., box sent by, 
 
 48 
 
 at St. Louis, 1 08 
 Vroom, Ex-Governor, 81 
 
 Wallace, Dr. Ellersly, 241 
 Wallace, General Lewis, 279 
 Washington, appearance of, in 1861, 
 170 
 
 return to, after Fredericksburg, 222 
 
 life at, in 1863-1864, 253, 254 
 
 society in 1864, 262 
 Webster, Dr. Warren, 170 
 Weit, Dr., at Monocacy, 204 
 White, Harrison, death of, 207 
 Whitnell, Surgeon, at Belmont, 94 
 Wilderness Campaign, 267 
 Wilkes, Commodore, 263 
 Williams, General Seth, 177 
 Winchester, detailed to, 291 
 
 report on battle, 298 
 Woods, Colonel, at St. Louis, 108 
 Woodward, J. J., Assistant Surgeon, 
 179, 194, 251 
 
 Yeatman, James E., at St. Louis, 109 
 
TO 
 
 IOAN DEPT. 
 
 ^3&&*vssr* 
 
 are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 LD 2lA-60m-7, 66 
 (0442 7slO) 476B 
 
 .General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
005522421^ 
 
 974474 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY