Beschreibung:

LINCOLN, Abraham (1809-1865). President . Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, to the Surgeon General [Joseph K. Barnes], Washington, 30 January 1865. 1 page, 8vo, Executive Mansion stationery, neatly inlaid on a larger sheet . LINCOLN RECOMMENDS A MILITARY SURGEON WHO "WOULD DO MUCH GOOD AMONG OUR WOUNDED SOLDIERS" In the last year of the Civil War, many of the North's 275,000 wounded were still arriving from the front or were being cared for in largely inadequate hospitals. Since the war had created substantially more casualties than any one had predicted, regimental surgeons were overwhelmed and found themselves unequipped to cope with the wounds produced by the large caliber arms. As the war progressed, army doctors experimented with new techniques that they hoped would provide a solution. Here, Lincoln seeks the appointment of a physician who had developed certain unspecified new techniques: "Many distinguished gentlemen strongly believe that Dr. Fonha, with his peculiar practise, would do much good among our wounded soldiers, and I have seen some of his experiments, and incline to the same belief - so much so, that I would order him into the service, were it not that I apprehend producing conflict and collision. What says the Surgeon General?" The identity of the physician whose aid Lincoln wishes to enlist remains obscure. The course of the war saw significant advances in the treatment of wounds and infections of the combatants, and by 1865, many surgeons had learned methods to avoid amputation, while improved care and sanitary facilities prevented many needless deaths. Not in Collected Works , ed. R.P. Basler or Supplements and apparently unpublished.