United States Sanitary Commission records. Hospital Directory archives

1862-1866 D

The Hospital Directory was established by the USSC in 1862 to collect and record information concerning the location and condition of sick and wounded soldiers in U.S. Army general hospitals, and to provide that information to the public. Its four offices in Washington, D.C.; Louisville, Kentucky; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and New York City also gathered information from other hospitals and locations, and searched for soldiers who had lost contact with family and friends. Although the majority of Hospital Directory records refer to state volunteer soldiers, mention is also found of U.S. Army regulars, U.S. Colored Troops, Navy and Marine servicemen, Confederate soldiers, government and USSC employees, hospital staff, and civilians. The Hospital Directory ceased operations in 1865.

Under the terms of its official appointment by order of the Secretary of War on June 9, 1861 (endorsed by the President on June 13 and the Surgeon General on June 15), the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was to inquire and advise as to matters concerning the health and sanitary condition of the troops, their general comfort and efficiency, the proper provision of cooks, nurses and hospitals, and "other subjects of like nature."

The USSC soon created printed forms to standardize the collection of information for camp and hospital inspections. The completed forms were submitted to the USSC's Statistical Bureau for tabulation. The collected information, statistics and other reports laid the foundation for USSC reports and recommendations to the War Department and the Army Medical Bureau, as well as publications directed to the general public.

The USSC recommended improvements which soon moved beyond the care of soldiers in field, camp and hospital, to include changes in the administrative structure of the Army Medical Bureau and other departments connected to the medical care of the troops. At the same time, USSC activities broadened from inspections, collection and distribution of supplies, and field relief to include "special relief" assistance to soldiers and their relatives. Notable special relief assistance included providing temporary lodging and food to soldiers in transit, helping soldiers and their families file for back pay, bounty and pensions, through its various claim agencies, and establishing employment bureaus for discharged soldiers.

Thus, for informational and humanitarian reasons, the USSC worked to improve procedures and record-keeping practice in the Army, particularly in its Medical Bureau. In several cases, the USSC developed forms later adopted for use by the government. One of its earliest efforts was the proper recording of deaths and burials.

The USSC was also instrumental in creating the Army Medical Bureau's "Morning Report of Sick and Wounded in U.S. Army General Hospital (name and/or location)." Morning reports were also called "hospital reports," "hospital returns" and "daily returns." This form provided the hospital's gains and losses by individual patient name, with rank, company and regiment, for the report period cited. Gains and losses included admissions, return to duty, discharges, furloughs, desertions, transfers and deaths. The form also provided statistical summaries of the hospital's gains, losses, occupancy and capacity, for the report period. The reports were compiled on a daily or sometimes a weekly basis by hospital clerks, and the original was signed by a surgeon. The Army Medical Bureau used the USSC's printed form until it issued its own form, with minor change in format. The reports thus provided important information as to sickness and mortality rates in military hospitals, collectively and individually, in addition to noting an individual patient's identity and status at a particular time.

From the Morning Reports, staff of the several Army Medical Departments compiled statistical "Consolidated Morning Reports" of the hospitals in their jurisdiction. The USSC transcribed and further tabulated the data from these reports (by region and season, for example), the results of which were communicated to the government. The USSC also had authorized access to records of the Adjutant General's Office and the Army Medical Bureau in order to conduct analysis of sickness and mortality rates. By mutual agreement, the USSC provided statistical assistance to the War Department and Army Medical Bureau until the government restricted non-military access to its records in the summer of 1864, and its staff assumed some of the statistical work performed by the USSC. The Statistical Bureau also conducted studies of its own from the data.

During the summer of 1862, in consultation with the War Department and the Army Medical Bureau, the executive officers of the Sanitary Commission discussed the creation of a department that would use the morning reports to serve another purpose: providing information concerning the location and condition of patients in U.S. Army General Hospitals to their relatives and friends. This service would give relief not only to the public, but to Army hospital staff besieged with requests for information. As in all its services related to the welfare of the soldier, the information provided by the USSC's "Directory of Hospitals" would be free of charge. The USSC had already received numerous requests for help in locating soldiers, which were handled by its Special Relief Department until the number of applications became overwhelming. Although the Hospital Directory would function as a separate department, by its nature it was a "special relief" service of the Commission, and it worked closely with them.

Even with access to government records, the cost and scope of such an operation was daunting, and studies were undertaken as to its practicality. On September 19, 1862, the USSC's Executive Committee instructed its President and General Secretary to hire someone to establish a recordkeeping system and open an office that would function, on a trial basis, as a central bureau of information for hospitals in the Washington area. After initially engaging a Dr. Tucker, the USSC hired John Bowne (see Biographical Note) as General Superintendent of the Hospital Directory. Bowne opened the first office of the Hospital Directory in Washington in November, 1862.

Hospital Directory Recordkeeping Practices

The term "Hospital Directory," as used by contemporaries, had several meanings. It referred to the Hospital Directory as a USSC organization, comprising its Central Office in Washington and its regional offices. Regional offices were referred to individually as "the Philadelphia Hospital Directory," etc. Since the Central Office also functioned as a regional office, it was usually referred to as the Washington Hospital Directory. The term "Hospital Directory," or "the Directory," also referred to the collection of large hospital directories (volumes) maintained at the offices. These were also referred to informally as "the ledgers," "the books," and "the registers." A "hospital directory", a volume containing names of soldiers at multiple locations, was distinct from a "hospital record," a volume containing the names of soldiers at one location. The hospital directories and hospital records were compiled by Hospital Directory staff from the morning reports filled out by Army hospital staff. The government authorized the Hospital Directory to collect or copy morning reports.

With some variation, hospital reports, hospital records, and hospital directories carried similar headings for date of admission, hospital name (for directories), patient name, rank, and company, and dates of death, discharge, return to duty, furlough, desertion, and transfer. The records might also list the reason for admission ("complaint" or "disease"), and have a column for "remarks", which might note place of burial or provide further detail for the above categories.

The system, as finalized, included the transcription of patient information from hospital reports into large folio volumes organized by state and regiment, or other military identification. Before entering data, Hospital Directory clerks checked regimental pages for the presence of earlier entries that could be updated. Similar in function to a city directory, with a soldier's name and regiment, a staff member could consult the appropriate volume to find the soldier's hospital location and status. "Applications" or "inquiries" for information about soldiers were submitted by their families and friends in person at Hospital Directory offices, or sent by telegram or letter. Those received in writing were also called "letters of inquiry." USSC staff consulted its records, and if necessary, corresponded with military and government officers, as well as its own agents, in the hope of providing reliable information to the inquirer. Verbal applications requiring further work and letters of inquiry were recorded in informal journals and/or formal registers of applications for tracking purposes.

Although alphabetical indexes to Directory registers were created in some instances, the process was extremely labor intensive. Unit identification was the main access point for military records, and remained so for the USSC. In some cases, reports would be copied into the books of more than one Directory office, particularly if a large number of soldiers in a particular battle or distant campaign came from the environs of the other office, and that office could expect to receive numerous inquiries.

Hospital Directory staff also used reports to compile monthly "abstracts of daily returns," thus acting as an important auxiliary agent of the Statistical Bureau. The information collected by the Hospital Directory also supported the work of the USSC's claim agencies.

The number of reporting general hospitals fluctuated during the war, as hospitals opened and closed depending on need. Changes were made to the Army's Medical Department jurisdictions, and the Directory office to which a hospital reported might change over time. The bulk of extant hospital reports collected or transcribed by the USSC are found in the records of the Louisville Hospital Directory and in the USSC Statistical Bureau record group (MssCol 18780).

The Need for a Hospital Directory

The successful operation of the Washington office led to the opening of regional offices in Louisville, Kentucky; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and New York City. By June, 1863, the Hospital Directory was receiving daily reports from all U.S. Army General Hospitals (over 200 in number), and had entered over 200,000 names in its books. Thousands of inquiries were given and answered verbally at Hospital Directory offices.

The scope of the Hospital Directory's activities, based on need and demand, soon expanded beyond the walls of general hospitals to include the collection of "information concerning the location and fate of soldiers sick, wounded or killed - for the benefit of their relatives and friends." (Henry S. Holbrook to John S. Blatchford, 15 November 1865, USSC New York, N.Y. record group, Historical Bureau, MssCol 22263). Placing an "inquiry" with the Hospital Directory was often the last resort for those who could not obtain any news at all of a soldier, or who were beset with conflicting accounts of illness, capture or death. By 1862, frustrated citizens were asking why "a nation of shopkeepers" could keep track of its parcels, but not its soldiers.

During the Civil War, there was no official "dog tag" for soldiers. For this reason, many soldiers who were left behind on the field or on a forced march were never identified. Aside from any unit badges, soldiers relied on a variety of means to identify themselves in case of illness or loss in battle, such as inscribed jewelry or personal property, tattoos, letters from family or friends, or writing their name in india ink on their body or on pieces of paper. Soldiers who lost consciousness, who were mentally confused due to debilitating conditions such as chronic diarrhea, or who were mentally ill, often remained unidentified and undocumented for long periods of time. Many never reached the care of an Army general hospital. The greatest risk of losing track of patients occurred in transit from field to hospital, or hospital to hospital. Hospital Directory records frequently mention cases of missing or dead soldiers who were listed on the Army rolls as deserters due to lack of information.

There were other reasons for difficulties in identifying or locating a soldier. Men enlisted under false names or deserted. There were multiple and fraudulent enlistments to obtain bounty money. Young boys ran away from home to join the Army. When prisoner-of-war exchanges were announced in camps, prisoners would answer to the names of men who had died. Accounts exist in the records of men who tried to escape their past by having friends write home with false tales of wounding and capture.

The ability to identify and locate a soldier, particularly at transitional points in his service (such as transfers, extended illness or convalescence, capture, loss in action, or death), was of critical importance for the soldier and his family, for financial and well as emotional reasons. Receipt of back pay, bounty, and pension monies depended on documentary proof. During the war, local governments and soldiers' aid societies often required families to provide soldiers' letters on a monthly basis as proof of continuing service before issuing benefits.

In some cases, the soldier in question fortunately was in good health, the lack of contact accounted for by failure to write, poor mail service or continual movement.

While families received communications from the War Department, regimental officers and soldiers regarding the death or illness of a soldier, in many cases contact with the Hospital Directory was the only notification families received. Hospital Directory staff often had to break sad news to visitors at the office, or do so by letter or telegram.

The Directory received many inquiries regarding soldiers believed or known to be prisoners of war. This required correspondence with the Commissary General of Prisoners, but often little could be determined regarding their condition or location. USSC staff collected news and lists of prisoners where possible. Families sometimes learned news from letters sent North under flag of truce.

In addition to using official channels, Hospital Directory staff relied heavily on the network of USSC relief agents to trace the path of a soldier, or to learn his condition. Hospital Directory files illustrate many USSC relief activities, such as accompanying the Army on the march, caring for the wounded on the battlefield, visiting patients in hospitals, assisting soldiers to obtain furloughs or discharge for health reasons, or locating nurses who witnessed a patient's death. Agents in frequent correspondence with the Hospital Directory include Amy M. Bradley, William H. Holstein, and James Richardson.

USSC Hospital Directory staff and relief agents also recorded the location and status of patients at field hospitals following major battles, filling out "battle returns" for later entry into Directory registers. No battle returns are present in the Hospital Directory Archives.

The Hospital Directory soon became known as an important resource for families seeking information about the return of personal effects, and about the location, removal and shipment of bodies for burial back home. Staff also issued traveling passes for visitors needing to visit hospitals or make burial arrangements.

Hospital directory functions were also carried out on a smaller scale at branch offices, convalescent camps, and USSC stations at major military bases. Materials documenting those regional activities can be found in other record groups in the collection.

Changes in Procedures, 1864-1865

For the USSC, the collection of information was primarily a means of monitoring government or military performance. From the beginning of its organization, it lobbied politically for changes in personnel and procedures that would "modernize" the Army Medical Bureau. For obvious reasons this meant that the USSC had its detractors, but also its supporters, within those camps. Largely through its efforts, William A. Hammond was appointed Surgeon General in 1862. By the summer of 1864, the military, with the assistance and pressure of the USSC, and by its own experience and effort, had systems in place to meet its medical requirements, even though systems were not always able to meet the occasion of full-scale battles. The USSC remained an acknowledged and appreciated partner, and was a useful intermediary between the government and the public. Nevertheless, its access to the records of the Army Medical Bureau and the Adjutant General's Office was severely restricted when the War Department and the Surgeon General's Office issued orders in June and July of 1864 forbidding public access to their records without specific approval. This action was taken in part to reduce access to information about a soldier that could be used to file fraudulent claims against the government. It also suggested a movement towards proprietary control and responsibility. In August, 1864, Hammond was dismissed from the Army due largely to acrimonious relations with the Secretary of War.

For the USSC, whose agents no longer had full access to hospital reports or regimental rolls, the impact of these operations, particularly to the Hospital Directory, was immediate and damaging. Although appeal was made to the Secretary of War, and minor accommodations were apparently reached, as evidenced by correspondence and the existence of hospital reports and hospital records dating from 1864-1865, the collection of information that described the time and place of a soldier's condition, or indicated standards of care and causes of illness or death, effectively ceased. Families and friends of soldiers, apparently unaware of these developments, continued to appeal to the Hospital Directory when official records failed to shed further light. The Statistical Bureau continued working with the records it had in hand.

In the Fall of 1864, the USSC considered closing the Hospital Directory, but decided to carry on with reduced staff. Aside from humanitarian concerns, the Hospital Directory was important for the USSC's public image. Its purpose was immediately understandable and useful, and had a more humane face than numerical tallies of supplies. It was a service provided to the public, not by it. The Directory retained its primary function of locating soldiers, but the means to do so were substantially changed, as outlined in correspondence between John Bowne and his staff. In many cases, staff encouraged inquirers to write directly to the Adjutant General's Office, or did so on their behalf. When no further information was available from that source, the USSC wrote directly to the regimental or hospital surgeon, or to USSC relief agents in the vicinity. The inquiry process for sailors and marines remained unchanged throughout the War. USSC inquiries were directed to the Secretary of the Navy and to the Marine Corps, whereupon the rolls were checked and a response returned.

In February, 1864, the USSC's Sanitary Bulletin reported that the Directory carried 600,000 names on its books. The USSC's Financial Report of October 1, 1864, listing expenses by activity since 1861, noted that "one million and thirty thousand names of hospital patients have been entered in the Directory, and many thousand anxious inquiries answered." At war's end, the Hospital Directory received many inquiries from those still hoping that soldiers missing as long ago as 1861 might be among the thousands returning from prisoner of war camps. The Hospital Directory staff worked to locate returning soldiers, and to obtain lists of prisoners who died in camp, particularly at Andersonville, with the intention of using those lists as proof of death for pension claims by wives and relatives. It also assisted in the retrieval of bodies from areas previously in enemy territory.

The Hospital Directory was considered one of the Sanitary Commission's worthiest humanitarian achievements, not only by its officers and employees, but by those they served, as seen in the many expressions of gratitude found in its records. The Hospital Directory, along with all public operations of the USSC, ceased officially on October 1, 1865, but staff continued working at the offices until affairs were brought to a close in the following month.

Biographical Note - John Bowne

John Bowne (1820?-1894), a descendent of John Bowne (1627-1695) of Flushing, New York, was the son of Robert H. Bowne (1776-1843), a partner of Bowne & Co., commercial stationers, and his second wife Sarah Hartshorne. Both were members of prominent Quaker families.

John Bowne worked at Bowne & Co. during the 1840's and was known professionally as an accountant prior to his employment with the U.S. Sanitary Commission as General Superintendent of the Hospital Directory and Accountant/Cashier of the USSC's Central Office in Washington. He also worked closely with the staff of the USSC's Statistical Bureau. Bowne resigned from the USSC in late April, 1865, and traveled to California later that year, visiting Frederick Law Olmsted at the Mariposa Estate. Returning to the East, he resided with the family of his brother Richard H. Bowne in Manhattan, and at the family estate in Oak Ridge (near Rahway), New Jersey, with the exception of brief periods when he worked and resided in Washington, DC.

Bowne maintained ties with the USSC after the war, consulting with the Historical Bureau on Hospital Directory matters, and working with the Standing Committee to disburse USSC funds to local charities helping soldiers or their families. He assisted or worked for a variety of sanitary, relief and social welfare organizations in the post-war years, including the Metropolitan Board of Health, the Southern Famine Relief Association, and the American Association for the Relief of Misery on Battle Fields, all of these bearing connections to former USSC personnel. In 1875 he was appointed Corresponding Secretary and General Agent of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. He resigned in 1888 due to poor health, and died in Oak Ridge on 13 February 1894.