Inventory of
medical supplies and books from Ward "H" at N.Y. Conesus Centre Army Hospital 1865
With the later Revised U. S. Army
Supply Table for Medical Supplies
By Dr. Michael Echols
At the end of the Civil War, there
was a directive to all hospitals to inventory and return supplies,
surgical instruments, and library books to the Medical Purveyor. This communication is in
the Medical and Surgical History of the War of Rebellion.
The following inventory is
from Hospital Ward ‘H’, at Conesus, N. Y, 1865. The inventory (consisting
of books and medical supplies or instruments is drawn from the hand-written inventory.
The number
in ( ) is how many books or items they returned to the Medical Purveyor in
1865.
"Of the 65,000
patients in general hospitals in June 1865, only 97 remained a year
later. The rapid decrease in the number of patients led to a
corresponding decrease in the amount of medicines and supplies
needed for their care and in the number of facilities designed to
shelter them. Surgeon General Barnes was called upon to disband the
ambulance corps; to close supply depots; and to sell or otherwise
dispose of hospital transports, hospital trains, and general
hospitals.
Some institutions were turned over to individual states
for use as homes for wounded veterans, and others were returned to
their original owners.
By the end of the fiscal year 1866 the
Medical Department had received more than four million dollars from
the "sales of old or surplus medical and hospital property."
"Disposal of hospital supplies:
... General hospitals, hospital transports and railroad trains,
ambulance corps, and a number of medical purveying depots, have been
dispensed with, and all perishable articles of medicines and
hospital supplies in excess of the requirements of a peace
establishment have been disposed of by public sale at advantageous
prices. The proceeds of old or surplus medical and hospital property
amount to $4,044,269 59." (History of the Civil War, by
John W. Draper)
(See:
a receipt for sale of surplus government instruments and books to a
former U. S. Army surgeon).
By the
summer of 1866 only the depots at New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis,
New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., remained open. "
1.
1. (Quotation
above
from WD, ARofSG, 1866, p. 1; ibid., pp. 2, 5; in RG 112,
NARA: Ltr, Crane to McCormick, 18 Jul 1865, Entry 7, and Ltrs, W. C.
Spencer to O. P. Morton, 16 Nov 1865, Crane to Conrad Baker, 25 Nov
1865, Spencer to J. M. Richard, 25 Oct 1866, SG to W. W. Corcoran, 9
Nov 1866, Entry 2, and Telg, SG to C. Baker, 17 Jan 1866, Entry 2.)
James A. Tobey,
The Medical Department of the Army
history
The following inventory list
was assembled to document returned medical surplus supplies, in
particular medical text books and instruments and general supplies to be returned at the end of the War.
This data shows exactly what was to be found in a military hospital
at the end of the war. The copies (From which I have chosen to omit
the more mundane
items like bed pans, plates, kitchen utensils, towels,
spittoons, etc.) are at the bottom of the page.
The importance of this
information is in the documentation of what was actually kept in the
hospital inventory, such as scarificators, stethoscopes, various
medical text books, etc. The presence of which, some have
questioned having been present and used during the War.
See the list of
books purchased by the Medical Department for distribution to
the hospitals during the Civil War, which you can used to compare to the inventory list below.
Examples of books, medical instruments, or
supplies in the scanned lists below
(A link
indicates a (Page, example) will take you to
that example in this collection )
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Anatomy Grays (1) Page
1
Surgery (of arteries) Powers (9)
Page 2
Chemistry Towne's (3)
Dictionary medical Dunglison's (5)
Page 4-A
English Websters (3)
Dispensatory Wood & Bache (4)
Page 9-A
Dungilson’s Medical Dictionary (5)
Page 4-A
Webster’s English Dictionary (1)
Hygiene ? Wood & Bache?
(6)
Pharmacy Parish (2)
Physiology Dalton’s (6)
Page 5-A
Practice of Medicine, Woods (11)
Page 5-A
Practice of Medicine, Bennett (1)
Page 9-A
Surgery, Principles of, Erichsen (6)
Page 4
Surgery, Principles, Smith, Stephen (2)
Page 1
Surgery, Gutherie Commentaries (2)
Page 3
Regulations Army (1)
Page 1
Therapeutics, Stiles or Woods (3)
Page 3
Surgery Minor, Packard (1)
Page 2
Longmore on gunshot wounds (1)
Toynbee on diseases of the ear (1)
Page 9
Wilson on diseases of the skin (1)
Page 9-A
Hospital Stewards Manual (5)
Page 1
Bartholow's Manual (5)
Page 3-A
Thomson’s Conspectus (2)
Page 10
Hygiene (6)
Page 3-A
Pharmacy, Parish (3)
Physiology Dalton’s (8)
Page 5-A
Practice of Medicine, Watson’s or Woods (12)
Page 8
Register of Surgical operations (2)
Blank books (26)
Case books (2)
Inkstands (12)
Meteorological Register (1)
Prescription book, hospital (2)
Prescription book, ward (2)
Register of patients (1)
Regulations Army (1)
Page
1
|
Buck's sponge holders
for throat (5)
Cupping globes
assorted sizes (41)
Cupping tins assorted
sizes (52)
Dissecting
instruments assorted cases (6)
Pocket cases
(incomplete) (8)
example
Probangs (30)
Rubber cushions (6)
Rubber cushions with
open center (11)
Razor and strop in
case (3)
Scarificators (17)
example
Scissors (32)
Speculum for ear (2)
example
Stethoscope (1)
example
Stomach pump in case
(9)
example
Stomach tube (3)
Syringe, Davidson's
self-injecting (10)
Syringe, hard rubber
8 oz (7)
Syringe, hard rubber
4 oz (9)
Syringe, Tiemann's
universal (1)
Syringe, Hypodermic
w/ 3 points (3)
Syringe, hypodermic,
w/ 3 points (3)
Syringe, penis glass
in case (11)
Teeth extracting
instruments in cases (9)
Tongue depressors,
hinged (9)
example
Tourniquet, field
(15)
example
Tourniquet, screw
with pad (11)
example
Trusses inguinal
double (2)
Trusses single (15)
General operating
cases (6)
example
Napkins for
ophthalmic (33)
Splint sets (20)
Splints Smiths
anterior (26)
Towels (778)
Blankets (2,735)
Bed sacks (877)
Pillows, hair (1,575)
Scales and weights,
perscription (8)
Scales and weights,
shop (4)
Spatula (17)
Spirit lamps (5)
Test tubes (24)
Thermometer and
Hydrometer (1)
Thermometers (2)
Pill machines (5)
Medicine measuring
glasses (12)
Measurer graduated
(4)
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Scans of selected hand-written inventory pages
(pages omitted for common and kitchen supplies:
