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field. Wo collected our wounded from among J their dead, swollen and putrid comrades, and 1 placed them in old cabins, under sheds and| shady p’aces, drosaed iheir w*uudfi and left them under the.care c*f a fow nurecs who bad retnf inod with their wounded friends.— The field was visited by a p .rtion o»r our surgical force every day until the wounded were collected in the hospital camps, which wasj not done until the eleventh day after the battle. We asked lor transportation repeatedly, but were told that they could not furnish it.On the 6th day wo were furnished one ambulance, with which we succeeded in removing all the wounded, as above stated. Some of the hospitals were furnished once or twice, while: others had to feed their wounded on the limited supply of commissary and hospital stores taken from the hospital wagons before they were sent back. The wounded on the field had nothing to eat ex-copt coffee and wheat, taken from an old house cn the field, and boiled. Longatreet’s men generally treated them kindly, while many of Bragg’s men robbed the dead and the living. Many of these brave men lay ten days on the field, near their ghastly and decaying comrades, where the stench waB almost intolerable, some with limbs amputated, others with very pa:nfut wounds, yet they did not complain, but were thankful for what wo were able to do for them. Some of the hospitals wore robbed, others were not disturbed. The 4th division, (General Reynolds,) 14th Corps Hospital, suffered severely. Wheeler’s Provost Marshal took possession and marched off all the cooks, nurses and stewards. Wo had many wounded laying j under the trees, for whom we could not furnish tents, who were robbed of blankets, and we wero c impelled to build fires near thom at night to keep them warm.A Major, Lieutenant and privata of the 8th Texas cavalry, came in (they said by Wheeler's order) and ordered “8uj ns into line.” We fell in, ten in number. The Major then gave the order “Shell you ovacoats, Sujons” We shelled. They then rodo to a house near by, talked a few minutes wiih the inmates, and then returned and asked, “Whose division do you belong to?” and were answered, ''Gen. J. J. R*?yt old*'.” Toe Ma jor said, “that d—d old For ” “Sujons, into line;” thou, with pistols cocked and presented, they gave the order, “Haud ova yoahats, Sujons.”6ucb, Mr. Editor, h tbo treatment received . by our wounded and their attendants when they fall into the hands of the chivalry of the South. I believe a majority, if not all, of our wounded would have died on the fieldif the Federal Surgeons had not remained to* 1tike caro of them.We appealed to Bragg's Medical Director, Adjutant General and Provost Marshal General for transportation and rations for our wounded, bat vain. “They were too busy to attend to it now,” “the General could not spare transportation,” etc., etc. Your readers may think that this is an over drawn picture, but 1 am sure that no picture can portray the horrors of that battlefield and the fiendish barbarity of the rebels towards our iwounded J. L. Wood**,Surgeon 08th Indiana.
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis Daily Journal
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Thu, Dec 10, 1863
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 22 Feb 2020
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