Griffiths (standing on left), and his brother Dr. At the peak of the war effort, Louisville hosted 21 General Military Hospitals, including the very large 800 bed hospital at Parks Barracks, on the future campus of the University of Louisville.ĭr. Thomas remained a civilian and served as supervising physician for several Louisville military hospitals. Thomas would become the hospital’s most important medical professional and set the direction for decades of health care service.ĭuring the Civil War, Dr. Marine Hospital after illness forced the retirement of Dr. Thomas Jones Griffiths took over command of the U.S. At the end of his life, he lived as a patient in the hospital he helped resurrect. He was forced to retire and lived his life as an invalid. He only served in this position for three months, when he became paralyzed and blind. David Griffiths, and the Sisters of Mercy, opened the hospital and began to again serve boatmen. Our hospital was closed in 1863, and boatmen were transferred to the old Louisville Marine Hospital. Marine Hospital and was given the responsibility of re-opening the hospital. In 1869, he was named Surgeon-in-Charge of the Louisville U.S. David’s heath was shattered by exposure and the stress of the War and he retired in late 1864. Army, and was a trusted and important part of Sheridan’s command.ĭr. He earned a reputation as one of the finest surgeons in the U.S. Griffiths held the important position of Medical Director for General Philip Sheridan’s Division of the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Potomac. Philip Sheridan, who would soon take over command of the Cumberland Army following the Battle of Stones River.ĭr. Seated in front row (second from left) is Major General William Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland. Griffiths is shown standing at far right of the photo. However, it took much longer for the soldiers and civilians who witnessed such carnage, pain, and death to recover from the psychological wounds of war.Dr. They brought food and delicacies, bandaged wounds, helped write and deliver letters, and read to the soldiers to help lift their spirits.Īll of the hospitals, with the exception of General Hospital #1 on the Hessian Barracks grounds, were closed by March of 1863 and the buildings returned to their former uses. Local women also volunteered at large field hospitals. When families returned home and found their houses and barns taken over for hospitals, they often helped care for the injured soldiers. One pregnant woman in town had torn the family's clothing and bedding into strips for bandages, packed water and goose grease into containers, and headed out to assist the wounded with her young children in tow. The scale of the relief effort cannot be overstated. They gave freely of their time, food, money, and compassion. Many local citizens helped tend to the wounded soldiers on the battlefield, some arriving as early as the evening of the Battle of Antietam. In addition, two hospital camps were set up in tents on the outskirts of the city and many private homes housed wounded officers. A total of 27 buildings were used, mainly churches, schools, hotels and large meeting halls. Additional buildings were taken over for hospital purposes and organized into seven General Hospitals, under the care of seven separate sets of surgeons. during the warĪfter the Maryland Campaign, Frederick was inundated with wounded soldiers, whose sheer numbers overwhelmed the capacity of the existing hospital on the Hessian Barracks grounds. Ward K of Armory Square Hospital, one of over 40 hospitals in Washington, D.C. Throughout the Maryland Campaign, many homes, stores, churches, schools, and barns served as aid stations. Scenes like this were common in the fear and confusion of a battle. The private continued rearward, determined to find a safer shelter. As Confederate forces mounted a massive counterattack on August 30th, a wounded Union soldier was attempting to reach the house for aid when an artillery shell hit the building, "knocking a hole that looked as big as a bushel basket" in the house's western face. To mark the building's new purpose, Northern surgeons hung a red flag from a second floor window.ĭespite the distinctive identifying flag, the Stone House did not escape hostile fire unscathed, underscoring the risks that wounded troops faced at forward aid stations. During Second Manassas, since the house lay more firmly in Union hands, Federal personnel were better able to give aid to the wounded, creating a more established field hospital. During the First Battle of Manassas, Union battle lines swept past the house, leaving the dwelling to shelter wounded men brought inside amid the fighting. The Stone House, a private home and tavern at the intersection of two major roads, became prominent as an aid station during not just one, but two major battles.
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