{"value"=>"<p>The Agency for the Purchase of Fresh Hospital Supplies was a relief and supply service directed by Frederick N. Knapp in Washington from late June 1863 through April 1864, with staff in Washington and Philadelphia. The Agency was established to provide fresh foodstuffs of a greater variety and quality, and at a lower cost, than what was currently available to U.S. Army hospitals in the Washington, D.C. area. The USSC, working as an unpaid agent for the Army, purchased market supplies (fresh produce, meat, poultry, and dairy products) at wholesale prices in Philadelphia, for which it was reimbursed, and shipped these perishables to Washington for distribution. It extended similar services to Army hospitals at Gettysburg. Army convalescent camps and USSC homes and lodges in the Washington area also benefitted from access to these goods.</p> <p>The Washington office, overseen by J. B. Clark at the Home, compiled supply orders for Washington area army hospitals and other locations, forwarded the orders to the Philadelphia office for fulfillment, received deliveries from express companies, and distributed the supplies received. The Philadelphia office, under the supervision of Robert P. Woods, purchased supplies at wholesale prices from area merchants, shipped the goods to Washington, and settled accounts with the merchants after receiving payments from the cashiers of the Central Office.</p>"}