{"value"=>"<p>General correspondence comprises the combined incoming correspondence of the Washington Hospital Directory (1862-1865) and the New York Hospital Directory (1863-1864 Feb). The records of the New York Hospital Directory were sent to Washington in February, 1864, and its files at that time, or at a later date, were combined with those of the Washington office. Therefore, these files also contain outgoing correspondence from the Washington, Louisville and Philadelphia Hospital Directory offices as received by the New York office until its closing in February, 1864. The files also contain incoming correspondence from the Woman's Central Association of Relief, which then continued Hospital Directory activities in New York regarding applications.</p> <p>Correspondence, including letters, telegrams, circulars, notes and newsclippings, is filed chronologically by year and then alphabetically as endorsed. In most cases this is by sender; a few letters are endorsed by subject or place. Letters from government, military, medical and USSC offices are generally found under the correspondent's name. Consult the records of the particular Hospital Directory office, providing the names of Hospital Directory superintendents and employees, to locate correspondence concerning a particular office.</p> <p>The bulk of the correspondence is Hospital Directory interoffice communication, but letters from USSC officers and relief agents, government departments, military and medical personnel, and citizens concerning applications are also present. Interoffice correspondence includes discussion of steps taken to locate soldiers in difficult inquiry cases, Hospital Directory record-keeping functions, and office activities and personnel matters. Letters from Henry W. Bellows and J. Foster Jenkins concerning the possible closing of the Directory in 1864 are also found. Of particular interest is correspondence documenting the steps taken to record casualties and locate wounded or missing soldiers after major battles such as Gettysburg, and correspondence from USSC relief agents concerning the identification, removal and transportation of bodies to relatives. There are also extensive checklists of inquiries briefly noting their status.</p> <p>Correspondence for the years 1863-1864, interfiled alphabetically with letters of inquiry for that time period, was separated and placed with correspondence for 1862 and 1865.</p>"}