Edward Kittoe Inspected Camp Douglas Prison in Chicago in 1864

From Official Records War of the Rebellion.

Report of inspection made by Edward Kittoe by order of  Cpl. R.C.  Wood, Assistant Surgeon General , U.S. Army,  on January 18, 1864.

He reported that the site was not very good  because of drainage and proximity to Lake Michigan and exposure to cold, damp winds.  "Marshy character of the soil" perfect for fostering diseases.  Plus, at time of inspection ground covered by frost and snow.

As far as prisoners, the soil is excellent for tunneling for escape.  Plus, proximity to large city pf Chicago makes it hard to guard against southern sympathizers.

Barracks and latrines of guards in very good shape.

However, this can not be said for the conditions of the prisoners.

--Old Secesh

Dr. Edward Kittoe

Dr. E.D. Kittoe, surgeon of the 45th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the first year of the war,  impressed himself upon the Army of the Tennessee by his ability, skill and superior executive force.

He was later in charge of important work in the medical department he managed.

During his long term of service, Dr, Kittoe, both as a surgeon and medical director, had no superior.  General Grant, on whose staff he served for some time as medical inspector, was  much attached to him, and had great confidence in his skill, integrity and administrative ability.

--Old Secesh

Surgeon Edward D. Kittoe-- Part 3

From Galena and US Grant Museum.

Dr. Edward Kittoe is not one of Galena's nine generals but his importance to the overall Union war effort was far greater than some of those nine generals.

He served on U.S. Grant's personal staff and later in Sherman's  Georgia campaign.  It was Kittoe who worked to institute more sanitary conditions and better medical procedures during the war.  His efforts probably saved  thousands of lives.

Dr. Kittoe quietly returned to Galena, Illinois, after the war, continuing to serve his town as a beloved family physician until his death in 1887.

--Old Secesh

Surgeon Edward Kittoe of Galena-- Part 2

Civil War Union Army surgeon.

He was commissioned as  Chief Surgeon of the 45th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on August 10, 1861.

Served on that duty until November 7, 1862,  when he was appointed an Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Volunteers.    Promoted to  full Surgeon  on December  14, 1862, he was  promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Medical Inspector on March 30, 1864.

He served until  honorably mustered out on October  31, 1865, having been brevetted to Colonel, US Volunteers on September 30, 1865, "for faithful and meritorious service."

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His son, William Kirby Kittoe (1843-1927) served as a Private in the 45th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

--Old Secesh

Surgeon Edward D. Kittoe of Galena

From Find-A-Grave.

DR. EDWARD DOMINICUS KITTOE

BIRTH:   23 June 1814, Kent, England

DEATH:  25 September 1887 (aged 73)

BURIAL: Greenwood Cemetery, Galena, Illinois.

He was the father of Maria Fiester Kittoe who married Alfred Smith, the son of John E. Smith.

--Old Secesh

Lt. Col. Anthony Eugene Stocker, MD-- Part 3

Medical Director, District of Key West, FL to 8 Dec 1863.  Medical Director of the District of Key West and Tortugas, FL. to Nov 1864 and there  contracted Yellow Fever.

In charge of  Prisoners Hospital, Elmira, NY until mustered out.  This would have been during the time that the prisoners captured at Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865, would have started arriving.

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel US  Volunteers June  1, 1865.  Honorably discharged September 15, 1865.

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University of Pennsylvania MD degree 1840.

Companion Member:  Militay Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Freemason and Master of Franklin Lodge #134.  Royal Arch Mason in Chapter #91 and charter member of Philadelphia Chapter #169 and High Priest in 1852.

Knights Templar in St. Johns Commandery #4 then in Philadelphia #5.  Grand Master of Knights Templar in  Philadelphia 1856.  Scottish Rite 33 and Commander  in Chief of Philadelphia Consistory 1868-1896.

Married  Jane Randolph in 1845.

--Old Secesh

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Eugene Stocker, MD-- Part 2: Lots of Duty Stations

Major and Surgeon in US Volunteers 3 August 1861.  At the Battle of Drainsville Dec 1861.  Attached to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 1st Corps Army of the Potomac.  In the Department of the Rappahannock to May 1862.

Then Medical Director of  of the 3rd Division, 5th Corps until 30 June 1862, when wounded in the right wrist by bullet fragments in the Battle of New Market  Cross Roads.  Was in the battles of the Seven Days  Retreat.  In charge of the Field Hospital at  Harrison Landing and was the last officer to leave when it was evacuated.

In charge of the Hospital at Craney Island, VA.  On inspection  duty in the Department of Virginia 5 Nov 1862 to 5 Jan 1863.

In charge of  Chesapeake General Hospital, Fortress Monroe to 14 Oct 1863.

We Be RoadTrippin'.   --Old Secesh

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Eugene Stocker, MD-- Part 1

From the Society of Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey.

I like to do RoadTrippin' Through History in these blogs and here is an example of it.  I was writing about a man named Anne-Louis Toussard (or Tousard) in my War of 1812 blog.  He was French consul in New Orleans in 1812 when a strong hurricane hit.  Further research on him showed that he played a major role fighting for the colonists in the American Revolution and because of it became a member of the Society of Cincinnati.

Go to my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog July and August to read about Anne-Louis Toussard.

He had a grandson who fought in the Civil War and because of his relationship to Toussard, he also became a member of the Society of Cincinnati.

He was classified as a Hereditary Member, Admitted in 1888.

Grandson of propositus Anne-Louis de Toussard.  Born in Philadelphis, PA, on  5 March 1819 and died in Philadelphia, PA on 23 May 1897.

He began his Civil War service in the Army of the Potomac, 2nd Brigade of General McCall's Divivion from August 1861 to March 1862.

More.  --Old Secesh

U.S. Presidents with Confederate Ties-- Part 4: John Tyler's Children

John Tyler was busy having children of his own and, plenty of them.  His first wife died during his administration in September 1842, and he remarried a woman thirty years his junior in 1844.  In all, he fathered 15 children in his life, some at the age of 70.

One of his sons was  an assistant secretary of war for the Confederacy.  Another was the register of the Confederate Treasury.  At least three other sons served in the Confederate Army.

From Find a Grave

Robert Tyler--  Register of Treasury

John Tyler, Jr.  Colonel in Confederate Army and Assistant Secretary of War

Tazewell Tyler served as a Confederate surgeon

David Gardiner Tyler was a private in the Confederate Army

--Old Secesh

Six Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 5: Just Whiskey and the Tent

MYTH   #5 

There Were No Effective Drugs/Pharmaceuticals During the Civil War and Whiskey Was the Only Painkiller Available.

Morphine, opiates and other pain relieving  medicines were available.   

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MYTH   #6

The First Tent Hospital Was  Established By Jonathan Letterman After the Battle of Antietam (Also Reported As After the Battle of Gettysburg).

Actually, a fairly large  tent hospital was established  after the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.

All Sorts of Interesting Stuff in This Civil War talk post.

--Old Secesh

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 2: There Was Adequate Anesthesia on Both Sides

MYTH 2:  There was no anesthesia so amputations were always performed with the men conscious.

Case studies show that some 95% of amputations done by Union surgeons were performed under anesthesia.  When chloroform or ether were not available, amputations  were sometimes postponed rather than cause unnecessary suffering by the victim.

As for Confederate surgeons, Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire reported "...that in the corps to which I was attached (2nd Corps ANV), chloroform was given 28,000 times..."

In a piece titled "Confederate Medical Service", Dr. Deering J. Roberts expanded:  "Many Confederate surgeons reported that at no time did they fail to have an adequate supply of the three most important drugs, quinine, morphia and  chloroform."

--Old Secesh

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 1: About Those Surgeons and Amputations

From Civil War Talk by lelliott19.

MYTH 1:  Civil War Surgeons Were Uneducated, inhumane "butchers" who amputated limbs  arbitrarily and unnecessarily.

Most had at least some medical training.  Very few had performed amputations or surgery in the numbers they were soon faced with, especially after battles.  Most lacked experience with gunshot wounds.  Most had received experience through attendance at medical lectures, apprenticing under an experienced  physician and/or practiced  medicine before the war.

As far as  amputations, minie balls shattered bones and shattered bones do not heal on their own. There were no orthopedic plates or pins like we have today.  Limbs were amputated as the most effective ways to save lives.

I always have a problem with all the sources I've read, however, mentioning piles of legs and arms in operating rooms after battles.  A bit on the gross side for me.

--Old Secesh

About Those VCU Confederate-Named Objects-- Part 4

Continued from September 24, 2020.

 From the September 19, 2020, Commonwealth Times "VCU approves removal of on-campus Confederate names, symbols" by Eduardo Acevedo.

These are among the names that will be victims of Confederadication on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University:

McGUIRE HALL--   Named after Hunter H. McGuire, surgeon in the Confederate Army.  Not only will the name be removed, but also all associated mentions  and references to McGuire Hall.

GINTER HOUSE--  All mentions and commemorations of Lewis Ginter will be removed on Monroe Park and  MCV  campuses.

JEFFERSON DAVIS MEMORIAL CHAPEL--  on the 17th floor of West Hospital on MCV campus.  It honors the Confederate president and Kathryn Wittichen, former president of the UDC.  The chapel will be permanently de-commemorated, permanently closed and four plaques honoring Davis and Wittichen will be removed from the chapel and West Hospital.

TOMPKINS-McCAW LIBRARY--  Named for five members of the Tomkins and McCaw families.  James McCaw and Sally Tompkins operated Confederate hospitals in Richmond during the war.  The board voted to remove the name and all associated mentions of the Tompkins-McCaw from the library.  they also voted for the removal of Confederate plaques and a portrait of John Syng Dorsey Cullen, a  surgeon in the Confederacy, from the library.

WOOD MEMORIAL BUILDING--  Houses VCU's School, of Dentistry.    Named after Judson B. Wood, a dentist and private in the Confederate Army.  His name will be removed from the building , and all associated mentions and references will be removed from VCU's campuses.

--O;d Secesh

Mary Todd Lincoln's "Family Divided"-- Part 2

One whole  page of the article was devoted to Mary Todd Lincoln's "Confederate" siblings and there were eight of them who either served in Confederate armies, were married to ones serving in Confederate armies or were sympathetic to the Confederate side.

Pictures accompanied the names.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TODD

(1825-1902)

Confederate Army surgeon

Was a full brother to Mary

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MARGARET TODD KELLOGG

(1828-1904)

Married a southern sympathizer from Ohio

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SAMUEL TODD

(1830-1862)

Private 24th Louisiana  KIA

This one was most likely Samuel Briggs Todd, but also might have been Samuel Brown Todd.  I've seen conflicting accounts of who is who.  All say Brown or Briggs was half brother to Mary.

Killed at Battle of Shiloh.

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DAVID HUMPHREYS TODD

(1832-1871)  Lieutenant, 21st Louisiana Artillery

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--Old Secesh

The Tale of a Divided Kentucky Family Named Todd-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

ROBERT SMITH TODD

Born 25 February 1791  Lexington, Kentucky

Died 17 July 1849 (age 58)  Liberty Heights, Kentucky

Buried   Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky

War of 1812 veteran.  His father was an American Revolution veteran.

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SPOUSES

ELIZABETH ANN PARKER TODD   1794-1825  Married November 13, 1812.

ELIZABETH L. HUMPHREYS TODD  1800-1874  Married November 1, 1826.

Married twice.

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CHILDREN WITH FIRST WIFE:

ELIZABETH TODD  (1813-1888)  Married Ninian Edwards Jr., son of Illinois' first governor.  Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield Illinois.  Did a lot to encourage Abraham Lincoln in politics and a member of the Long Nine with Lincoln which had the state capital moved to Springfield.

ROBERT SMITH TODD, JR.  (1814-1814)  Died in infancy.  Buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Ky.

LEVI OLDHAM TODD  (1816-1864)  Married Louise Searle and remained in Lexington until his death.  Buried Lexington Cemetery.

FRANCES JANE TODD WALLACE  (1817-1899)  Married Dr. William Smith Wallace. Buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.   Lincoln family doctor.  Accompanied the Lincolns to Washington, D.C., in 1861, and was appointed paymaster in the Army.  Served in Missouri and later Mississippi.  Contracted dysentery from which he never fully recovered.

MARY ANN TODD (1818-1882)  Married Abraham Lincoln.  Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery.

ANNA MARIA TODD SMITH  (1820-1891) Buried Oak Ridge Cemetery.   Married Clark Moulton Smith, a successful merchant.

ROBERT PARKER TODD  (1821-1822)  Died in infancy.  Buried inLexington Cemetery.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK TODD (1825-1900)  Confederate surgeon who served in a Confederate hospital in South Carolina.  Buried in Quaker Cemetery, Camden, South Carolina.

--Old Secesh

Hainesville Civil War Encampment: A Mortal Wound and Embalming

The surgeon then began probing the wound and found... PUSS,  lots and lots of yellow puss.  He scooped it out and threw it down on the ground in front of the spectators drawing lots of yucks and  oooohhs and assorted groans.  Pretty gross.  He said that yellow puss was good as if it was black, that meant there was a gangrene problem.

Next he dug some and found a large sliver of a piece of wood which he also threw on the ground.

He also found that there were no broken bones or a shattered knee cap, which was also good as had he found those, amputation would have been necessary.

When he finished, they tried to bring the soldier back to being awake, but, unfortunately,he didn't revive.  He was dead.

He had died on the operating cot.

The undertaker was called in and the first thing he did was look to see if the soldier had paid for his services.  If he had (he did) then he would begin embalming.  If not, the body would be taken out back and buried in a shallow grave and hopefully a wooden marker put up.

Since this man had paid, he began draining the man's blood and putting in the embalming fluid.  Rather gross.

Just Don't Get Wounded.  --Old Secesh

A Beautiful Day Out At Hainesville's Civil War Encampment-- Part 3: Surgery and Embalming in the Civil War

Like I said, it was an absolute beautiful day for this late in the season.  But, it wasn't so great for a Union zouave who had been wounded.  As a matter of fact, it turned out to be his last day on earth, as he died on the operating table.

The 17th Corps Hospital unit put on a demonstration of battlefield surgery.  And, the current, sterile operations of today it wasn't. A U.S. Army surgeon performed the operation on the zouave's leg, with assistance from a contract surgeon, orderly and nurse.  Surgeons were paid very well for their services, contract surgeons well, but not as much.

Contract surgeons were essentially part-timers, hired on for a certain length of time as needed.

The zouave begged for the surgeon not to take his leg as he was a farmer and needed it for that purpose.  If the surgeon found the knee cap had been fractured, this would lead to amputation.

The soldier was laid out on a stretcher and a nurse administered the anesthetic with a can.  She also used a funny-looking hearing devise to find his heartbeat.

 The surgeon began probing the wound with his finger and forceps.  No sterilization.  This man was found to have what the surgeon referred to as an aerial wound.  That would be one made by a shell exploding in the air by a tree and blowing pieces of wood on soldiers on the ground.

--Old Secesh

Richard Sherwood Satterlee

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about the hospital that was named after him.

(December 6, 1798 to November 10, 1880)

Union Army medical officer.  Obtained his medical license in 1818 and practiced in Seneca County, New York.  Joined the Army in 1822 and stationed at Fort Niagara, Fort Porter and Fort Mackinac.  In  1831 he transferred to Fort Winnebago in Portage County, Wisconsin.  While there he took part in the Black Hawk War.

After that, he was sent to Florida and campaigned against the Seminoles.

After that it was a tour of duty at Fort  Adams in Rhode Island and then participation in the Mexican War and took part in the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec.  After that, he returned to Fort Adams in 1848 and survived the sinking of a steamship carrying  an artillery regiment in 1853.

He served throughout the Civil War and was brevetted to brigadier general and was a candidate for the command of the Medical Corps after the dismissal of Clement Finley.  That command went to William Alexander Hammond.  Satterlee retired in 1869 after a long career and Satterlee General Hospital was named after him.

--Old Secesh

Satterlee General Hospital-- Part 7: A Self-Contained City

In 1862, Satterlee added  military tents with beds to handle the influx of wounded after the second Battle of Bull Run.

The hospital was essentially a self-contained city by 1863.

After the Battle of Gettysburg "the greatest number of wounded were admitted to the hospital in a single month ... swelling the hospital population to more than 6000."  Along with this influx came what the clerks called "the greatest number of deaths  in any one month" in August -- an average of one a day.

By 1864, the hospital was surrounded by a fourteen-foot fence and included a barber shop, carpenter shop, clothing store dispensary, three kitchens laundry, library, post office, reading room and a printing office which printed the hospital's newspaper, The Hospital Register.

Over the course  of its operations, Satterlee treated some 50,000 wounded and deaths were remarkably low  260, quite notable considering the sanitary conditions and medical practices of the time.

After Lee's surrender, the number of wounded coming in dropped dramatically and it closed August 3, 1865.  The buildings were eventually razed and during the 1890s much of the site became residential housing.  The lower portion of the grounds today serves as Clark Park.

Quite A Remarkable Effort.  --Old Secesh

Satterlee General Hospital-- Part 6: The Largest Union Army Hospital

From Wikipedia.

Before I saw  the article in the Civil War Monitor, I had never heard of this place before.

It was the largest Union Army hospital and operate from 1862 to 1965 and rendered recovery to thousands of Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners.  It was originally called West Philadelphia General Hospital but renamed  in honor of Richard Sherwood Satterlee, a surgeon during the Black Hawk War and became a brigadier general during the Civil War for his success in the medical field.

It was founded in 1862 under the order of Surgeon-General William A. Hammond in a sparsely populated area of west Philadelphia by 45th and Pine streets on 15 acres.  The initial 2,500 bed facility was built in just 40 days.

Nursing duties were performed by the nuns of the Daughters of Charity.  Ultimately over 100 of them were at the hospital.

Dr. Isaac Hayes was the hospital's commander who was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and had gained some fame as a polar explorer before the war.

--Old Secesh