United States Sanitary Commission bulletin.

Date:
1866
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: United States Sanitary Commission bulletin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    THE SANITARY COMMISSION BULLETIN. Vol. L NEW YORK, JANUARY 1, 1864. No. 5. The Sanitary Commission Bulletin is published on the first and fifteenth of every month, and as it has a circulation, gratuitous or other, of above 12,000 copies, it offers an unusually valuable medium for advertising. All communications must be addressed to the Editor, at the office 823 Broadway, and must be authenticated by the names and ad- dresses of the writers. THE BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA. Louisville, Ky., Dec. 7th, 1863. Bb. J. F. Jenkins, General Secretary, New York; My Dear Doctor—I have just returned from Chattanooga where I have passed the last two weeks, and from a tour of inspec- tion through the chain of agencies of the Commission which -extend from Louisville to that point. It chanced, luckily enough, that I was at Chattanooga through all the exciting scenes of the recent battles, and was able to contribute something to the success which attended the efforts of the Agents of the Commission to relieve the wants and sufferings of the wounded. As you are doubtless impatient to learn more than you yet know of the recent im- portant events to which I have referred, and more particularly how fully the Commis- sion has sustained its responsibilities, I hasten to make my report as promptly as possible, and shall make it as full as the great pressure of other duties will permit. As a pre-requisite to a clear understand- ing of the military operations, the work of the Commission in and about Chatta- nooga, and a proper appreciation of the difficulties overcome, it is quite necessary that any one should have gone over the Vol. L—No. 5. 9 ground himself; and I trust at no distant day you may be able to see with your own eyes some of the enemies, more formidable than rebel hosts, which our noble army have overcome in gaining and holding the positions from which the recent battles were fought and victories won. Until I had been myself to Chattanooga, I had no just appreciation, even with description after description, of the daring and energy which had led General Rosecrans to follow to the very heart of its mountain fast- nesses, the retreating army of General Bragg; and after overcoming obstacles at first sight insurmountable, to seize and hold the key to all the lines of communica- tion through this great mountain-labyrinth. From near Tullahoma to Chattanooga, the whole interval is occupied with moun- tains of formidable height, terminating laterally in precipitous escapements, separ- ated by deep and narrow valleys, over which even a footman finds his way painful and perilous. In justice to those who planned and executed the military move- ments prior and preparatory to the late victories, I must say that our people of the Northern States have no just conception of what our army has done and suffered in reaching and holding Chattanooga; and I am sure if all could see what I have seen, of difficulties overcome, hardships en- dured, and privations so cheerfully suf- fered, there would be much less than there has been of flippant criticism of the soldiers and the Generals of the Army of the Cum- berland. But if the country is more rough and difficult for military operations than any which our armies have before occupied, it is also picturesque and beautiful beyond anything I have seen in the valley of the
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