Main description:

The essential reference about a surprisingly well-organized medical department

Despite the many obstacles it had to overcome-including a naval blockade, lack of a strong industrial base, and personnel unaccustomed to military life-the Richmond-based Confederate Army Medical Department developed into a robust organization that nimbly adapted to changing circumstances. In the first book to address the topic, Guy R. Hasegawa describes the organization and management of the Confederate army's medical department. At its head was Surgeon General Samuel Preston Moore, a talented multitasker with the organizational know-how to put in place qualified medical personnel to care for sick and wounded Confederate soldiers.

Hasegawa investigates how political considerations, personalities, and, as the war progressed, the diminishing availability of human and material resources influenced decision-making in the medical department. Amazingly, the surgeon general's office managed not only to provide care but also to offer educational opportunities to its personnel and collect medical and surgical data for future use, regardless of constant and growing difficulties.

During and after the war, the medical department of the Confederate army was consistently praised as being admirably organized and efficient. Although the department was unable to match its Union counterpart in manpower and supplies, Moore's intelligent management enabled it to help maintain the fighting strength of the Confederate army.

Contents:

Acknowledgements
Foreword by F. Terry Hambrecht
Preface
Introduction
1. Medical Department for a New Nation
2. The Surgeon General and His Office
3. Medical Directors
4. Medical Inspectors
5. Medical Purveyors
6. Importation of Medical Supplies
7. Turning to Domestic Resources
8. Care on and near the Battlefield
9. General Hospitals
10. Prison Hospitals
11. Striving for Quality in Medical Personnel
12. Adding to Medical Knowledge
13. Examining for Disability
14. War's End and Beyond
15. Conclusion
Appendixes
A. Selected Individuals in or Influencing the Confederate Medical Department
B. Staff of the Surgeon General's Office, November 1864
C. Surgeon General Moore's Proposal for a Medical Evacuation System
Bibliography
Notes