From the Richmond Examiner, 6/11/1864

THE YANKEE WOUNDED IN CONFEDERATE HOSPITALS. – If any evidence was wanted of the utter inhumanity of Grant, and the want of care and neglect of his wounded, it would be presented at the hospitals in this city where the mangled forms of his hirelings, deserted on the battlefields, have been carried for treatment. About eleven hundred are cared for in the several hospitals, of which number four hundred are under treatment at Hospital No. 21, in charge of Surgeon Semple, Cary street, near Twenty-fifth. Their wounds, coming in as they do, after long neglect, are horrible to look upon, especially as the class of wounded are those whose wounds are of the most desperate character, and left behind for that reason to become a burden to the Confederate authorities, and contribute so much towards "crushing the rebellion." The wounds of many, when received, are alive with maggots, and mortification has in many cases set in. Deaths are occurring at the rate of eight and a dozen per day, but even that is a small per centage when the condition of the wounded when admitted is considered. It is a rule that no serious operation, such as amputation, &c., in the case of a patient is resorted to unless the patient himself is willing. As many as four or five operations of a serious character, in which life is involved, take place every day. The hospital is a great clinic, and the operations performed attract scores of surgeons who desire to become familiarized in surgery.

Go to top