Finding aid for the Medical Department and Hospital Papers Collection: Union and Confederate Armies


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Union and Confederate Armies
Title: Medical Department and Hospital Papers Collection: Union and Confederate Armies
Dates: 1846-1866
Extent: 1.0 linear feet (3 containers)
Abstract: William Pendleton Palmer (1861-1927) was President of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. He collected documents related to the history of the American Civil War and donated them to the historical society. The collection consists of correspondence, copies of orders, original reports of the sick and wounded, lists of the dead, invoices and reports of medicines and other hospital supplies and equipment, and other papers relating to the medical departments and hospitals of the Union Armies along the Atlantic coast and in Louisiana, and to Confederate hospitals in Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia. The six Army physicians to whom the papers principally relate are: Robert Battey (1828-1895), Renley S. Butler (b. 1834), William A. Carrington, Benjamin Franklin Harrison (1811-1886), Henry M. Kirke (d. 1876), and John Payne Logan (1820-1891).
MS Number MS 2121
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

Biography of Robert Battey, Renley S. Butler, William A. Carrington, Benjamin F. Harrison, Henry M. Kirke, and John Payne Logan

The Medical Department and Hospital Papers, Union and Confederate Armies, 1862-1866, is a collection that was compiled from the papers of six surgeons who served during the United States Civil War. This collection was assembled by William Pendelton Palmer, 1861-1927, former president of the Board of Trustees of the Western Reserve Historical Society, resulting from his interest in the American Civil War.

Robert Battey (1828-1895) was born in Augusta, Georgia. An 1856 graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and 1857 graduate of the Jefferson Medical College, he settled in Rome, Georgia in 1857. In July 1861, he was commissioned as a surgeon in the Confederate Army, and he served with the 19th Georgia Volunteers and Hampton's and Archer's Brigades of the Army of Virginia. Battey was assigned to Grant Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and later to hospitals in Rome, Georgia. In 1864 he established a hospital for the Army of the Tennessee in Macon, Georgia. Discharged from the Confederate Army in April 1965, Battey served as a professor of Obstetrics at Atlanta Medical College from 1873-1875.

Renley S. Butler was born in 1834 in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He enlisted as a private in the 2nd Florida Volunteers of the Confederate Army in 1861. He was discharged in July 1862, and re-enlisted as a Surgeon, serving in the 2nd and 3rd Military Districts as an assistant surgeon with Earl's Light Artillery from 1862-1865. He resigned from the Confederate Army in April 1865.

William A. Carrington was a surgeon and Medical Director for the Confederate Departments of Henrico and of Virginia and North Carolina. His papers in this collection relate to hospitals in Lynchburg, Danville, and Charlottesville, Virginia.

Benjamin F. Harrison was born in Branford, Connecticut in 1811. He studied at Yale Medical School and in New York, and from 1837-1862 practiced medicine in Wallingford, Connecticut. From 1862-1864, he served in the New York Independent Volunteers of the Union Army as a surgeon. He was stationed at Yorktown, Virginia, Beaufort, North Carolina, St. Helena Island and Beaufort, South Carolina, Folly Island, South Carolina, Morris Island, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida. In 1864 he was assigned to the Sanitary Commission, and later that year returned to private practice in Wallingford.

Henry M. Kirke was born in Pennsylvania and served as assistant surgeon from Ohio in the Union Army volunteers beginning in 1863. He served in hospitals 6, 11, and 14 in Beaufort, South Carolina, and mustered out of the military in 1865. He died in 1876.

John Payne Logan was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1820. He studied medicine at Washington College in Virginia, and in 1841 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He practiced medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and was a Professor of Principles and Practice of Medicine at Baltimore's Washington University. Later, he served as a Professor Physiology and Principles of Medicine at the Atlanta Medical College while serving on the Georgia State Board of Health. Logan was a member of the Georgia Secessionist Convention in 1861, and served as Post Surgeon of Atlanta Hospitals in the Confederate Army from 1862-1863. He died in 1891.


Scope and Content

The Medical Department and Hospital Papers Collection: Union and Confederate Armies, 1846-1866, consist of correspondence, copies of orders, original reports of the sick and wounded, lists of the dead, invoices and reports of medicines and other hospital supplies and equipment, and other papers relating to the medical departments and hospitals of the Union Armies along the Atlantic coast and in Louisiana, and to Confederate hospitals in Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia. The six Army physicians to whom the papers principally relate are: Robert Battey (1828-1895), Renley S. Butler (b. 1834), William A. Carrington, Benjamin Franklin Harrison (1811-1886), Henry M. Kirke (d. 1876), and John Payne Logan (1820-1891).

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the medical history of the American Civil War for both the Union and Confederate armies. This collection relates to the medical departments and hospitals of Union armies along the Atlantic Coast and in Louisiana and to Confederate hospitals in Virginia and Atlanta, Georgia. The collection includes three small bound volumes containing copies of orders and other papers; and the original reports of the sick and wounded, lists of the dead, invoices and reports of medicines and other hospital supplies and equipment. There is a small amount of correspondence, very little of it personal, save for the journal and memoranda of Surgeon Benjamin A. Harrison.

These papers are of value to researchers interested in medical practices in general, and particularly the careers of the following surgeons: Robert Battey (1828-1895); Renley S. Butler (b.1834); William A. Carrington (1830-1866); Benjamin F. Harrison (b.1811) Henry M. Kirke (d. 1876); John Payne Logan (1820-1891). The papers contain extensive statistical information on patient physical conditions, causes of death, personal effects of deceased patients, and supplies required by the hospitals. Useful information on the numbers of medical staff and guards required within the hospital facilities is provided. A number of memoranda and reports regarding both medical operative procedures and administration of hospital facilities are included. The records provide an excellent insight into the operations of 19th century hospitals, particularly in time of war.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series. Each series is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
Series I: Benjamin F. Harrison Papers
Series II: Henry M. Kirke Papers
Series III: William A. Carrington Papers
Series IV: Renley S. Butler Papers
Series V: Robert Battey Papers
Series VI: John Payne Logan Papers

Restrictions on Access

While there are no access restrictions on this collection, researchers will be asked to use the microfilm of this collection.

Related Material

This collection is part of the papers related to the history of the Civil War donated by William Pendleton Palmer to the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Confederate States of America. Army -- Registers.
Confederate States of America. Army -- Surgeons.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Casualties.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Hospitals.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Registers of dead.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Registers.
United States. Army -- Surgeons.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 2121 Medical Department and Hospital Papers Collection: Union and Confederate Armies, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gifts of William Pendleton Palmer, 1913-1927. Combined by the Western Reserve Historical Society for ease of access in 1962.

Processing Information

Processed by John J. Horton in 1962.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Benjamin F. Harrison Papers 1846-1866

Box Folder
1 1 Correspondence September 1846-August 1866
1 2 Reports and returns August 1862-June 1864
1 3 Journal and memoranda, including a history of the New York Independent Battalion September 1862-January 1864

Series II: Henry M. Kirke Papers 1863-1865

Box Folder
2 1 Returns of medical and hospital property, Beaufort, South Carolina October 1863-December 1864
2 2 Death records, Beaufort General Hospital, South Carolina 1864
2 3 Reports and lists, Beaufort General Hospital, South Carolina 1864
2 4 Abstracts and other papers, Sedgwick Hospital, Greenville, Louisiana October 1863-September 1865

Series III: William A. Carrington Papers 1862-1865

Box Folder
3 1 Morning reports, General Hospitals, Department of Henrico (Richmond) January-November 1864
3 2 Reports of sick and wounded and return of medical officers, Department of Virginia January 1863-May 1864
3 3 Requisitions and abstracts, Hospitals in Danville, Lynchburg, and Charlotteville, Virginia December 1862-March 1865

Series IV: Renley S. Butler Papers 1859-1865

Box Folder
3 4 Correspondence, reports, and requisitions, Earle's Light Artillery Battery and Department of South Carolina March 1859-October 1865

Series V: Robert Battey Papers 1862-1864

Box Folder
3 5 Order book, Fairgrounds Hospital No. 2, Atlanta, Georgia August 1862-August 1864

Series VI: John Payne Logan Papers 1862-1863

Box Folder
3 6 Order book, Atlanta Hospitals August 1862-March 1863
3 7 Order book, Atlanta Hospitals July-October 1863