The U.S. Army Medical and Hospital Departments during the Civil War and their relevance to collecting military surgical antiques

Topics: U. S. Army Medical Department, U. S. Army Hospital Department, surgical sets, medical textbooks, medical bottles, medical textbooks

From the research notes of Dr. Michael Echols, American Civil War Surgical Antiques

Source for this article: "The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.  (1861-65)  Part III, Volume II, Chapter XIV., The Medical Staff.

Previous to the outbreak of the rebellion the regular army numbered one thousand one hundred and seventeen (1,117) commissioned officers and eleven thousand nine hundred and seven (11,907) enlisted men. The Medical Department was composed of one Surgeon General with the rank of Colonel; thirty Surgeons with the rank of Major, and eighty-four Assistant Surgeons holding for the first five years the rank of 1st Lieutenant, and subsequent to that period, until promotion to Surgeon, the rank of Captain. The officers of the Medical Department formed a portion of the General Staff of the army; were not permanently attached to any regiment or command, but were subject to duty wherever their services were needed. Experience had demonstrated this system to be the best for the necessities of an army widely scattered over an immense area of territory, serving in commands of less than regimental strength, while it possessed the advantage of increasing the efficiency and value of the medical force in a professional point of view.

At the beginning of hostilities, in 1861, large forces of State troops, or militia, responded to the several proclamations of the President calling for aid in suppressing the rebellion. Each regiment was provided with a Surgeon and an Assistant Surgeon commissioned by the States in which the troops had been enlisted. These officers were borne on the muster-rolls and permanently attached to the regimental organization, being seldom detached except for urgent reasons.

During the early military operations the administrative duties pertaining to the Medical Department were performed by officers of the regular medical staff, detailed for the purpose, or by volunteer Surgeons appointed as Medical Directors of Divisions, as allowed by the President's proclamation of May 3, 1861.

On the 22d of July, 1861, Congress passed an act authorizing the President to raise a force of volunteers, not exceeding 500,000, and prescribing the organization of this levy into divisions of three or more brigades, and that "each brigade shall be composed of five or more regiments, and shall have one Brigadier General, two Aids-de-Camp, one Assistant Adjutant General with the rank of Captain; one Surgeon,' one Assistant Quartermaster, and one Commissary of Subsistence." The Surgeons authorized by this act were known as Brigade Surgeons, and were borne as such on the official army registers of September, 1861, and January, 1862; they held the rank of Major.

The duties, prerogatives, and responsibilities of Brigade Surgeons being somewhat vaguely defined, the following bill was passed by Congress on July 2, 1862: "From and after the passage of this act Brigade Surgeons shall be known and designated as Surgeons of Volunteers, and shall be attached to the general medical staff under the direction of the Surgeon General; and hereafter such appointments for the medical service of the army shall be appointed Surgeons of Volunteers."

The U. S. Army Medical Department existed prior to the Civil War, during the War, and after the War.  The importance of the Medical Department for this collector relates to surgical sets and medical textbooks produced prior to the Civil War, or ordered by the Surgeon General's Office during the War.

One finds large complex surgical sets with U. S. A. Medical Department markings prior to the War and these sets can be dated by the maker labels in the sets.  Examples of surgical sets by one maker in particular (Snowden and Brother, see label below) has been found on multiple occassions.  There were surgical sets purchased from other makers by the Medical Department prior to the War, among which was Goulding. Surgical sets made by Wm. R. Goulding, N.Y. marked for the U. S. Army Hospital Department (A division of the the Medical Department) were provided for the Army during the Mexican-American War c. 1846.  Most surgical sets provided by the Union Army during the War are marked for the U. S. A. Hospital Department because that department was responsible for placing the orders with the makers.

Snowden and Brother Civil War era label found in a U. S. A. Medical Department set

The U. S. Army Hospital Department during the Civil War was the main instrument of the Medical Department to procure supplies, surgical sets, textbooks, etc. for the Union hospitals.  Basically the Medical Department seems to have set policy or specifications and it was carried out by the staff of the Hospital Department.  For some reason we see both Hospital and Medical Department markings on medical textbooks, apparently depending on the distribution method.  I believe the Surgeon General's Office decided which text books were needed or appropriate and then that office directed purchase of those titles, thus the two markings found on military issue medical textbooks.  It is likely medical textbooks ordered for hospital libraries were from the Hospital Department itself, but I have no proof of that idea, just logical reasoning.

Below are surgical set cartouches (brass plates) and medical text-book marking examples from these two divisions.  Other areas of Civil War collector interest are in hospital supplies, medicines, bottles, ambulances, stretchers, hospitals, tents, and all sorts of medical material produced during the War and marked for the division responsible.

Above: a brass plate engraved for the U. S. A. Medical Department, by Snowden and Bro.

Above: two stamped logos found on U. S. Army Medical Department provided medical textbooks

Above:  U. S. A. Hospital Department engraved brass plate from a surgical set

Above: examples of  U. S. A. Hospital Department logos on medical textbooks

Above: examples of U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. marked medical bottles

The objective of this article was to help a collector better understand the function of the Medical and Hospital Department relative to surgical sets and medical textbooks procured prior to and during the Civil War by those departments.

Dr Echols is strictly a collector and is not a dealer.  If you would like to read additional information on this topic, please see My eBay or search Google for "Dr. Michael Echols" or :

American Civil War Surgical Antiques

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