Civil War Federal Navy Physicians

Military Medicine, Dec 2003 by Lynch, John S

The Federal Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery experienced a substantial loss of officers during 1861. It responded to the loss and the increased demand for its services by augmenting its regular medical officers with volunteer physicians. The medical corps more than doubled in size between 1861 and 1865 as a result of the recruiting efforts. Navy physicians were involved in blockade duty, anticommerce raider cruises, amphibious assaults, riverine duty, and staffing naval facilities ashore. Their services are virtually unknown despite their involvement in most naval activity during the war. This article illuminates their efforts. It does so by analyzing individual service records and reports compiled in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies during the War of the Rebellion. The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery successfully met the demands made upon it during the American Civil War.

Introduction

The Federal Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery receives little attention in American Civil War-related publications and discussions. Its medical officers are even more ignored. Answers to basic questions like how the bureau was affected by the war; what was the physician rank structure, how experienced were navy physicians, what was the physician attrition during the war, what assignments were available, what maladies did they treat, and how were they recognized for meritorious service are not readily available. This article attempts to answer these questions by analyzing service records and official war-time naval reports.

The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Expands

Dr. William Whelan was Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BMS) during the war years.1 He was a senior surgeon, having joined the Navy as an assistant surgeon on January 3, 1828. (He was promoted to surgeon on February 9, 1837.) His physician corps on January 1, 1861 included 61 surgeons, 25 passed assistant surgeons, and 45 assistant surgeons.2 BMS lost 41% of its January 1861 physician complement by the end of the year. A massive recruiting effort soon began, and BMS rapidly grew as a result. Many civilian physicians volunteered and entered the service as acting assistant surgeons. The volunteer physicians comprised 56% of BMS' medical officer strength by 1865.2 The majority of the volunteers either resigned or received honorable discharges soon after the war ended. The strength of the BMS peaked in 1864 with an average of 463 physicians present that year. Table I details the wartime growth of BMS.

Medical Officer Ranks and Years of Experience

There were three ranks for Civil War era naval medical officers. These were (in reverse order of seniority): assistant surgeon, passed assistant surgeon, and surgeon. BMS physicians in January 1861 were experienced officers. On average, assistant surgeons had 6 years in grade (range, 1-23 years); passed assistant surgeons had 14 years of service (range, 6-32 years) with 6 years as assistant surgeons and 7 years as passed assistant surgeons; and surgeons had 27 years of service (range, 2-49 years) with 8 years as assistant surgeons, 7 years as passed assistant surgeons, and 17 years as surgeons.2

Promotion was rapid at the war's outset. All of the passed assistant surgeons were promoted to surgeon by August 1, 1861. Six of the assistant surgeons were promoted to passed assistant surgeon (four of these newly promoted passed assistant surgeons were soon thereafter promoted to surgeons) by December 1861. Nine assistant surgeons were promoted directly to surgeons by the end of 1861.2 Table II shows annual medical officer promotions during the war years.

Medical Officer Assignments

Medical officers were assigned to either shore or sea duty. Many of them served aboard vessels on blockade duty (Table III). An important operational assignment was searching for enemy commerce raiders. The USS Kearsarge (Captain J.A. Winslow commanding) was tasked to destroy the CSS Alabama. Surgeon John M. Browne was the physician for the USS Kearsarge during the famous battle between the two ships. (Browne entered on duty with the Navy as an assistant surgeon on March 26, 1853. He was promoted to passed assistant surgeon on May 13, 1858 and to surgeon on June 19, 1861. Browne continued in the service after the war. He was promoted to medical inspector on December 1, 1871 and to medical director on October 6, 1878. Browne retired on May 11, 1893 after 40 years of service. He died on December 7, 1894.) His after-action report noted the medical preparations and treatment of the wounded aboard the Federal vessel:

. . . The guns' crews were instructed in the appliance of tourniquets made for the occasion, and an ample supply furnished to each division; cots for the transportation of the wounded were in convenient positions; yet neither were brought into use. This has explanation from the fact that the wounded refused assistance from their comrades, concealing the severity of their injury, and one. . . dragged himself from the after pivot gun to the fore hatch, unwilling to take anyone from his station. While I should ever make similar preparations on the eve of a contest, the example of the one in question would teach me, that under the excitement of battle, little reliance could be placed upon the fulfillment of my instructions. This vessel is exceedingly deficient in the provision of conveniences for wounded men; there is no appropriate place for the performance of operations.