Description:

Joseph E. Johnston
Dalton, GA, March 21, 1864
General Joseph Johnston Circular on Infirmary Corps Selection
Document

A manuscript Army of Tennessee Circular from General Joseph Johnston for the manner of selecting Infirmary Corps for Brigades and Regiments. 1p, measuring 7.25" x 11.5", Dalton, Georgia, dated March 21, 1864. By command of Johnston and Arthur Pendleton Mason, and marked "Official" by Major E. Spruel Burford A.A.G. The circular addresses standard operating procedures in the Confederate Army pertaining to the Infirmary Corps. Copies of the circular were sent to Brigadier General William Y. C. Humes, Colonel John Warren Grigsby, the Commanding Officer of H Battery, and Brigadier General John Herbert Kelly. Docketed on verso. With flattened folds, light toning, and soiling. Some ink bleed-through at the top margin. Very good overall.

Reading in full:
"The Infirmary Corps of the Army will be formed by selecting three good men for each one hundred effectives, including in the selection all musicians suitable for the purpose. A non-commissioned officer will be put in charge of the detail of each Regiment, and a commissioned officer will be placed in command of that of each Brigade. The officers & non-commissioned officers will act under the instructions of the Surgeon of the Brigade and the Surgeon of the Regiment. The officers and non-commissioned officers only will be armed."

During the war, both sides used the terms "ambulance corps" and "infirmary corps" interchangeably, although the Union more often used the former and the Confederacy preferred the latter. Standards for such infirmary corps were often vague and not regulated, as the Confederate Congress had struck down multiple bills to establish such units. Regional commanders frequently prioritized strategy and military efficiency over medical evacuation, which resulted in no establishment of a system that was explicitly under the control of medical personnel. In the Eastern Theater, General Robert E. Lee issued very simple orders to his Army of Northern Virginia in which he gave no specific instruction on precisely how the infirmary corps was to be trained, who it was to be composed of, or whether they would fall under medical or military command. Similarly vague were the orders issued here by General Johnston, in which he only said "the infirmary corps of the army will be formed by selecting 3 good men for each 100 effectives, including in the selection all musicians suitable for the purpose."

This document is unique in that it was written one day before the great documented snowball fight of the Civil War. On March 22, 1864, a huge "battle" took place in Dalton, Georgia in the camp of the Army of Tennessee. There had been a 5 inch snow that day and various Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana brigades were involved. Even General Patrick Cleburne good-naturedly joined in the fray. The battle eventually had snowballs flying between 6,000 men, stretched out for over two miles in a contest that lasted all day. As often happens when roughhousing gets out of control, dozens of soldiers were sent to the hospital with injuries. In an army already desperately deficient in troops, such needless losses could not be tolerated. The Confederate high command issued an order the next day, essentially saying, "Knock it off!"

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.25" x 11.5"
  • Medium: Document

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