Medical Materiel Support to the Army of the Potomac

Download or read book Medical Materiel Support to the Army of the Potomac written by Allen E. Rhodes and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, the Union army found itself in dire straits logistically. War materiel was in short supply in every category, from uniforms to arms to wagons. The Army Medical Department was ill- prepared to serve, with an incumbent Surgeon General who was over eighty years old and inadequate numbers of surgeons to support even the few soldiers in uniform at the time. The reorganization of the Department and establishment of a viable medical logistics system in competition with other commodities was a formidable task. The Army of the Potomac began with little to indicate its Medical Department would be equal to the calling, yet the subsequent assignment of Surgeon Johnathan Letterman as its Medical Director became the first step to excellence. His vision and organizational abilities set the standard for field medical support which would be institutionalized by the entire Union Army, ultimately providing exceptional support in the Civil War. Letterman's system was adopted by European armies and would become the basis for current medical logistics doctrine in Army divisions.