J. F. Head to William A. Hammond, November 15, 1862

Brig. Gen. W. A. HAMMOND, Surgeon-General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: In compliance with instructions from Maj. Gen. H. G. Wright, commanding the Department of the Ohio, I have the honor to submit the following statement:

Immediately after the defeat of our forces at Richmond, Ky., and the capture of Lexington, followed by the evacuation of Bardstown and Lebanon, and the breaking up of the general hospitals at those places, and by the flocking into this city of an utterly demoralized army, it became necessary to increase suddenly and largely our hospital room. Diligent search was made in this city and the vicinity for proper buildings, and all the available buildings were occupied, with the exception hereinafter noticed.

‘ On the arrival of the Army of the Ohio, under General Buell, there was again a sudden call for large accommodations for: the sick, and it became a military necessity to take all the city school-houses fit for the purpose, which was reluctantly done, under the order of the military authorities, much against the wishes of not an inconsiderable portion of the community.

When the battle of Perryville occurred we had already as many sick as we could shelter, and Surgeon Murray called on me to receive 1,500 or 2,000 additional patients. In this emergency I telegraphed to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Evansville for such accommodation as they could furnish. But with all the relief which these places could afford, we were unable to receive and properly accommodate the sick and wounded, who were rapidly poured in upon us, and were threatened with the fearful dangers of overcrowding. These I refused to incur, and was authorized by General Buell, then here, to seize for hospital use such buildings as might be necessary. Under this order was taken the Asylum for the Blind, a large and commodious building, about 2 miles from this city, which will fairly accommodate 350 sick, and which had been previously suggested by Surgeon Murray, U. S. Army, medi cal director. The trustees protested, and referred the matter to Generals Rosecrans and Wright, by whom it was carefully examined. General Wright ordered the occupation to take place. Previous to taking the asylum, however, one of the finest dwelling-houses in the city, that of Mr. Wilder, a notorious secessionist, was placed by me at the disposal of the trustees, with the assurance that if it would not answer their pur-— pose another should be provided for their use. A delay, which in our great need might be deemed unreasonably long, was granted for the removal of the very few pupils in the institution, and I caused unusual precautions to be taken for the preservation of the building and grounds.

Cuar, XXXiI.} CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.—UNION.

The trustees, though expressing no dissatisfaction with Wilder’s house, saw fit not to occupy it, but removed the pupils to a house in the country, which they had occupied before the erection of the present building, and which had then accommodated a larger number than they now have.

The 21 pupils having been removed, preparations were made for the reception of our sick and wounded, and about 300 of them were comfortably provided for in the asylum building, to which they had been taken, when a telegraphic order was received from the Secretary of War, through General Wright, disapproving the use of the asylum as a hospital, while the Marine Hospital and the houses of secessionists in the rebel army could be had for the purpose, and directing the discontinuance of its use for such purpose.

The unfitness of tre Marine Hospital here for its intended use is notorious. Surgeons Murray and Perin, U. S. Army, and myself had each, at different times, examined it with reference to its use as a military hospital, and all had independently come to the same conclusion with respect toit. One of the trustees of the asylum (who is, I regret to say, a physician) had, however, londly and often proclaimed its superiority to the asylum, and its capacity to accommodate a far greater number of patients than it will safely hold, thus raising a professional medico-military question upon the judgment of three successive medical directors.

Of the grounds of my own rejection of the Marine Hospital, I will only say that, on my visit some months ago, the latrines and cess-pools were in so abominable a condition that their odor was insufferable through a great part of the house, and that, even in its best estate, it could not safely hold more than 100 patients. Lest my opinion should appear to be biased, I subjoin a description of the building, written nearly a year ago, by an architect, Mr. Whitestone. The description applies equally well to its present state.

The extreme inconvenience and expense, not to say the impossibility, of scattering our mass of sick in small squads, such as private residences can receive, the lack of physicians and stewards enough to attend each squad, the unavoidable delay and cost which would be met in providing and fitting up so many small establishments, will be so obvious to you that their mere mention is sufficient to show that the extensive use of secessionists’ houses is a practical absurdity. ;

Believing, from the similarity of language in the Secretary’s order to that of arguments used here, that the order was based on an ex parte statement of a professional question, I send to you this report, respectfully requesting that it be submitted to the Secretary of War, whom I desire to put in possession of the following facts, one or two of which I believe to have been carefully concealed:

1st. There were in the asylum when it was seized only 21 pupils.

2d. Ample provision was made for these pupils and not used by the trustees.

3d. The building will fairly accommodate more than 350 sick soldiers.

4th. The Marine Hospital is unfit for use as a hospital, and, even if put in good order, would not hold 100 men.

5th. There are now in the asylum 330 patients, 25 or 30 of them with typhoid fever, to most of which latter removal would probably be fatal.

6th. It is impossible to provide proper accommodation for those sick elsewhere in this vicinity.. The order of the Secretary seems to be predicated on the supposition that the Marine Hospital can be obtained for the purpose. On this order, though against my professional judgment, above indicated, I applied for the use of the Marine Hospital, and was met by the protest of the authorities in charge of it, and by the peremptory order of Surgeon Holden, medical director, forbidding me ” to interfere with the building or to use it for army service.”

In these circumstances, sir, I await the decision of the Secretary of War, for I dare not turn 300 sick into the road to reinstate a score of pupils before this statement has been laid before him, nor can I believe that such is his intention.

very respectfully, your obedient servant,