|
"Yankee Bullets, Southern Blood:
The Remarkable Journal Of Dr. Henry
M. Dye,
Confederate Surgeon"
by
Dr. Bill Gurley, Jr
Many of you may remember that Dr. Bill J. Gurley spoke to us in
2002, on his first book "I Acted from Principle:" William
Marcellus McPheeters, M.D., Confederate Surgeon in the
Trans-Mississippi Theatre.
Or perhaps you heard him speak at the SCV ceremony in Helena on the
reburial of the Fagan Six earlier this year. If you have heard him
before then you remember that he is a dynamic and passionate speaker
on things to do with the Civil War. If you have not hear him before
then you are in for a real treat.
This year Bill will preview his new book "Yankee Bullets, Southern
Blood.” It is a transcription and annotation of the medical casebook
of Dr. Henry M. Dye. Dr. Dye was a surgeon from Plano, Texas that
served in Arkansas from 1862 until the war's end. His descriptions
of medical facilities in Little Rock and other parts of Arkansas are
one of the few that exist.
The majority of the original journal is comprised of detailed
descriptions of patients that Dye treated while serving in various
hospitals throughout the state. The most remarkable are those from
the hospital at Princeton, AR following the Battle of Jenkins'
Ferry.
Not only does Dye identify each patient as to name, rank, and unit
affiliation, but also he provides detailed anatomical descriptions
of the wounds and how they were.He also draws pictures of each case.
Many of the pictures are quite detailed, and the originals were even
in color.
Some of the methods Dye used were well ahead of their time. The
journal sheds new light on the practice of medicine in the
Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department and dispels the idea that
all Civil War surgeons were merely glorified butchers.
Dye practiced state-of-the-art medicine and approached his
profession from a perspective as physician/scientist; something the
typical Civil War scholar wouldn't expect from surgeons serving in
the backwaters of the Trans-Mississippi Dept.
Bill is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, with the College of
Pharmacy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in
Little Rock.
 This year he received the UAMS Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences Most Outstanding Faculty Award. A 1989 graduate of the
University of Tennessee, Memphis, with a Doctorate in
Pharmaceutics; he has numerous publications related to his field of
study.
He lives in Little Rock with his wife and two children (Patrick and
Rachel).
We Who Study
Must Also
Strive To Save!
FORT MACON RAMPARTS
A publication of the Friends of Fort Macon
Volume XI Issue 1 Spring 2004
OUTSIDE THE WALLS
by Paul Branch, Ranger/Historian
Of all the buildings and structures which once comprised the Fort
Macon military' reservation, the only ones still standing today are
the fort itself and a brick water cistern outside its walls. Yet
while it was in use during the 19th century, the Post of Fort Macon
was a small military city that, in addition to the fort itself, was
comprised of many other supporting structures which are no longer
standing today. What were these structures? Where were they located
and what did they look like? This article is part of a series that
will examine the various components of the Post of Fort Macon.
The Post Hospital
Prior to the War Between the States, Fort Macon's hospital was
located in one of the fort casemates. Requests for a separate
hospital building outside the fort finally resulted in permission
being granted by the Quartermaster Department in August, 1843, for
the fort commander, Captain William Wall, to construct a one-story
building with two 20-foot by 24-foot wards separated by a hall eight
to ten feet wide. The allowance of $1000 to build the structure
proved insufficient and construction was postponed. By the outbreak
of the War Between the States, the hospital still had not been
built. Confederate soldiers established a post hospital after
seizing the fort in April, 1861. It probably was in one of the old
buildings outside the fort which were formerly used as officers
quarters. Later a separate hospital building seems to have been
built since an inspection report in July, 1861, noted .
'Hospital going up now'. The following year it became necessary to
reestablish the hospital in the safety of one of the fort casemates
on March 24, 1862, after Union forces besieged the fort. The new
hospital building was apparently one of the outbuildings burned by
the garrison at the beginning of the siege to clear the field of
fire.
Later in the war after the fort's capture, Union soldiers
established their own post hospital about 250 yards southwest of the
fort on a sand dune. It was a flimsy wooden Tshaped building that
had been floated over from Morehead City in sections. The front of
the building was 52 feet long by fourteen feet wide, with a six-foot
wide porch and veranda. The body of the 'T' was fifty feet long by
22 feet wide, containing a 12-bed ward. During its nearly ten years
of use, the building was never substantial and soon had its
foundations settling in the loose sand. In 1870, Assistant Surgeon
Elliott Coues (famous 19th century ornithologist and naturalist),
who was the post medical officer described the building:
"The hospital is a disgrace to the service. . . the foundations have
given away in all directions, and the building has settled unevenly
in the sand; the flooring presents a rolling surface, gaping here
and there, the walls bulge outward and roof sags inward; none of the
doors or windows can be closed tightly, the former have broken locks
and hinges, or none at all; many of the window lights are unglazed;
the wind and rain are freely admitted through openings in the roof
and walls . . .The door leading to the porch has been nailed up, as
the latter has gone to pieces . . . the veranda in front will
shortly follow."
One fort commander. Captain G. M. Brayton, reported that "unless a
man is very sick it is better to keep him in the quarters, poor,
confined and uncomfortable as they are, than to send him to such a
place." Another, Major Joseph Stewart, felt the hospital to be "such
a building as no humane man would wish to use for his horses."
At last, in 1871 the Quartermaster Department ordered a new hospital
to be built according to a standard plan adopted in 1867 by the
Surgeon General's Office. The building was begun in September, 1871,
but due to various changes and delays was not completed until
August, 1872. Even then, a dispute took place between the Army and
the contractors over changes made from the original specifications
that delayed the formal acceptance of the building for months. It
was finally accepted by the Army in 1873. The new hospital was a
fine facility located about 125 yards southwest from the southwest
angle of the fort. It had a two-story administration building 33
feet long by 34 feet wide, containing rooms for storage, offices,
dispensary, kitchen and dining area, dead room, and so forth.
Attached on its west side was a wing 44 feet long by 24 feet wide
containing a 12- bed ward and wash rooms. A 12-foot wide porch and
veranda extended around the entire structure. According to one
inspection report, the building cost $10,000. The new hospital was
used only a few years. In 1877, the fort garrison was withdrawn at
the end of Reconstruction and only an ordnance sergeant acting as a
caretaker remained at the post until 1898. During this time, the
hospital mostly sat vacant. As such it began to decay rapidly. The
building and its foundations were further damaged in the hurricane
of August 18, 1879. In 1890, the ordnance sergeant reported all the
post building in a very bad condition.
"The piazzas . . . around the Hospital are so much decayed as to
make it dangerous to walk on them." Presumably, the hospital was
used again during the Spanish- American War occupation of the fort.
In 1903, however, an inspector reported that the hospital and most
of the other buildings outside the fort "are badly decayed and are
gradually falling to pieces, and are probably not worthy of
repairs." In December, 1903, the Army withdrew the ordnance sergeant
at Fort Macon and formally abandoned it. On March 9, 1904, the
Engineer Department auctioned off most of the old buildings. The
post hospital brought a total of $210 at the auction. The building
was either removed from the reservation or dismantled for its
materials.
TO JOIN
FRIENDS OF FORT MACON
Post Office Box 651
Beaufort, NC 28516-0651
Email: friends@clis.com
Visit us at: http://www.clis.com/friends
With the completion of the Fort restoration, our long term goal is
the development of a Coastal Education and Visitor Center for Fort
Macon State Park. The design of the Visitor Center has already been
approved. However, until the present N.C. state financial
difficulties are resolved, the project will be on hold. In the
meantime we have embarked on raising funds to build an authentic
19th century officer.s house on the site of the original dwelling.
We invite you to support this most worthwile activity by joining the
Friends of Fort Macon.
PROGRAMS FOR 2004
July 27, 2004 --
Gaylord Northrop, Sherwood,
”Command & Control in Confederate Arkansas“
August 24, 2004 --
Supt. Ralph Jones, Fort Gibson, Okla.,
”The Battle of Honey Springs“
September 28, 2004 --
Don Montgomery, Historical Interpreter, Prairie Grove Battlefield.
The Biennial Reenactment
October 26, 2004 --
Our Annual joint meeting with the North Pulaski Roundtable to hear
Mark L. Cantrell, historian, of El Reno, OK
November 23, 2004 --
Drew Hodges, speaking on “A. P. Hill”
Election of Officers
December, 2004 –
No meeting Scheduled in December
January 25, 2005 –
TBA
February 22, 2005 -
TBA
March 22, 2005 -
TBA
April 26, 2004 –
Tom Ezell, Jenkin's Ferry
May 24, 2004 -
TBA
[LITTLE ROCK]
ARKANSAS DAILY TRUE DEMOCRAT, March 12, 1861,
We copy from the South Western Democrat resolutions passed by the
general council of the Choctaw Nation. We are glad to see our
neighbors taking such a bold and manly position, and think that some
of our own people might learn a lesson from them. The message
of James Hudson, the principal chief, is an able paper, and we
regret that we have not space to republish it. It takes the
position boldly and unequivocally that in the event of a dissolution
of the Union the Choctaw Nation will go with the southern States.
— Read the resolutions below. From the South Western Democrat.
Resolutions.
Expressing the feelings and sentiments of the General Council of the
Choctaw Nation, in reference to the political disagreement existing
between the northern and southern States of the American Union.
Resolved by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation, assembled,
That we view with deep regret and great solicitude, the present
unhappy political disagreement between the northern and southern
States of the American Union, tending to a permanent dissolution of
the government, and the disturbance of the various important
relations existing with that government, by treaty, stipulations and
international laws, protending [portending?] much injury to the
Choctaw government and people.
Resolved, further, that we express the earnest desire and ready hope
entertained by the entire Choctaw people, that any and all political
disturbances agitating and dividing the people of the various States
may be honorably and speedily adjusted; and the example and the
blessing, and fostering care of the general government, and the many
and friendly social ties existing with their people, continue for
the enlightenment in moral and good government; and prosperity in
the material concerns of life, to our whole population.
Resolved, further, That in the event of a permanent dissolution of
the American Union takes place, our many relations with the general
government must cease, and we shall be left to follow the natural
affections, education, institutions, and interest of our people,
which indissolubly (sic) bind us in every way to the destiny of our
neighbors, and brethren of the southern states; upon whom we are
confident we can rely for the preservation of our rights, of liberty
and property, continuance of friendship, general counsel and
fraternal support.
Resolved, further, That we desire to assure our immediate neighbors,
the people of Arkansas and Texas, of our determination to observe
amicable relations in every way so long existing between us, and the
firm reliance we have, that amid any disturbance with other States,
the rights and feelings so sacred to us will remain respected by
them, and be protected from the encroachment of others.
Resolved, further, That his excellency, the principal chief, be
requested to enclose, with an appropriate communication from
himself, a copy of these resolutions to the Governors of the
southern States, with the request that they be laid before the State
convention of each State, as many as have assembled at the date of
their reception; and that in such as have not, they be published in
the newspapers of the State.
Further enacted, That these resolutions take effect, and be in force
from and after their passage.
Approved Feb. 7th, 1861.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
FOUND
A hand written list of members has been uncovered. Below is the list
of Charter and first year members for the Civil War Roundtable of
Arkansas.
For the year 1964-65:
Jerry Russell
Ken Watkins
J. F. Meehan
Cal Collier
W. M. Hackett
Louis Cohen
S. W. Van Zandt
Charlie Butler
Ben C. Isgrig, Jr.
Joseph C. Avery
Henry S. Avery
John H. Harp
Gene McCoy
William Brodnax
Ben L. Clark
E. H. Leaming
Ellis Doyle Herron
Greer Lile
James A. Pattillo
Bill Furguson
Ed Chesnutt
G. W. Blankenship
William L. Terry
Added to the list for the 1965-66 year were:
Ed Cordor
W. W. O’Donnell
Fredrick Hotye
Doyle Herron
John McGowern
New members for the 1966-67 Year were:
Bob Naylor
Morton Silfen
 From meeting in someone’s
home to the Fletcher Library, we continue to grow.
The Gen. Robert C. Newton Camp, #197, Sons of Confederate Veterans
join the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the rededication of
the Capital Guard Memorial in Little Rock. The Newton Camp was a
driving force in the original construction of the monument in 1911
and dedicated during the United Confederate Veterans Reunion in
Little Rock. (Pictured is l-r, Adjutant Mike Loum, Compatriot Tom
Ezell, Susan Railsback State President United Daughters of the
Confederacy, and Robert Giles 1ST Lt. Commander.)
THE CAPITAL GUARD
Dedicated in 1911 during the United Confederate Veterans Reunion,
the Capital Guard memorial honors the local militia unit which
participated in the seizure of the Arsenal in February 1861 and
later fought as Company A of the 6TH Arkansas Infantry during the
Civil War.
For over ninety years, the Capital Guard has stood watch over
MacArthur Park. The memorial is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places and recently underwent significant conservation to
repair decades of deterioration. It was rededicated on Saturday, May
15, as the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History celebrates
the historic return of the Capital Guard memorial to Little Rock.
Visit
www.civilwarbuff.org
Register to receive your newsletter on-line.
**********************************
Civil War -Histories-Battles-People-Current Events
PLACES of interest
Searchable Chronology Database
DISPATCHES Current Info-Monthly Newsletter
LINKS major historical and preservation source
RESOURCE for historical Civil War information
GROUPS list contacts for today's information
PEOPLE of history
http://www.civilwarbuff.org
****************************************
We Who Study Must Also Strive To Save!
SEE YOU TUESDAY NIGHT
for Bill Gurley and
the Journal of Henry M. Dye
GOD BLESS AMERICA
|
