OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio in the Civil War Pt 9b *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 November 3, 1999 *********************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Diaries of S. J. Kelly Plains Dealer Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley *********************************************************************** Women in The Civil War -- Part 9 -B United States Sanitary Commision-- The Beginnings--- After the publication of the newspaper article of the meeting scheduled for Monday next, in New York of 1861, there were in New York alone, scores of relief societies. soldier's aid societies, ladies aid societies, and etc., all independant of each other with no system or method, no economy or co-operation. Virtually every church, parlor, school and even nursery was alive in making and collecting goods for the boys at the front. But this labor and zeal were valueless without discipline and direction. An informal meeting of the ladies of New York was held on April 25th, at the infirmary for Women; an appeal to the women was drawn up and signed, and was published in the papers of Monday. April 29. After stating the importance of concentration and system and asserting that they had no desires to lead or claim precedence over others, the ladies signed this appeal proposed to meet in the Cooper Institute, to confer and appoint a general committee. This committee would have the power to organize all into a common movement. To accomplish this it seemed necessary to keep two objects in mind; 1-- the contribution of skill, labor and money in the preparation of lint, bandages, and stores, and 2-- the offer of personal service as nurses. With regard to the first, it would be important to obtain and disseminate exact official information onthe wants of the Army. The committee gathering this information should be in communication with other associations throughout the country. As to the second, experience had shown that only picked and skilled women would suffice as nurses, so that the zeal of 99% of the women should be directed at finding the 1% of the women who should be sent. The meeting was held, the hall overflowing with a large body of clergymen, physicians, lawyers, philanthropists, women of all denominations and aid societies. Mr. David Frost was chairman and set forth the object of the meeting. The Rev. Dr. Henry Bellows spoke of the importance of female action-- Dr Wood of Bellevue Hospital stated that they were ready to help by either rendering advice or training nurses.-- Dr. Mott remarked that the lint that had already been gathered could not be consumed in a war of seven years ad suggested that a continuance of that particular labor was unprofitable. Following other addresses a committee was appointed to prepare a plan of operation and reported several " articles of Organization". Among the Articles was the formation of a Board of Management, containing, among others, the names Henry W. Bellows, D.D. and Frederick Law Olmstead. These two names are important to the history of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Delegates visited Washington toward the middle of May, and on the 18th addressed a letter to the Secretary of War upon the special measures of Prevention of Diseases in the now rapidly developing army and the utilization of voluntary contributions from the people. Four days later the Acting Surgeon-General of the Army stated the following to the Secretary of War after pointing out that the demands on his bureau had been unexpectedly severe: The Medical Bureau would be in my judgement derive important and useful aid from the councils and well directed efforts of an intelligent and scientific commission, to be styled " A commission of Inquiry and Advice in respect to the Sanitary interests of the United States Forces" , and acting in co-operation with the bureau, with reference to the diet and hygiene of troops and the organization of Military hospitals". In the plan put before the Secretary of War, the delegates affirmed that they wised no legal authority, but only official sanction and 'oral countance' of the government to further its inquiries. and permission to correspond and confer on a confidential basis with the Medical Bureau and the War Department upon all topics connected with their duties. The commission would inquire with scientific thoroughness into the subjects of diet, cooking, cooks, clothing, tents, camping grounds, transports, transitory depots, and their exposures, camp police, with reference to settling the question how far the regulations of the army proper are or can be practically carried out among the volunteer regiments, and what changes or modifications are desirable from their peculiar character and circumstances. Ever thing appertaining to outfit, cleanliness, precautions against damp, cold, heat, malaria, infection; crude unvaried, or ill-cooked food, and a irregular or careless regimental commissant, would fall under this head. The commission would inquire into the organization of military hospitals. general and regimental; the precise regulations and routine through which the services of patriotic women of the country could be made available as nurses; the nature and suffciency of hospital supplies; the question of ambulances and field services, and of extra medical aid; and whatever else relate to the care, relief and cure of the sic and wounded. The official warrent creating the commision was issued by the War Dept on June 9. 1861, though not signed by the President until June 18th. It named te President of the Commission. Rev Henry W. Bellows, D.D. New York. Put in charge of the Central office as General Secretary of the Commission was Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead. It is to Mr. Olmstead's powers of organizaton that a large share of the success of the Commission must be attributed. Notice that the Commission was formed prior to the First Battle of Bull Run, making it the first history that an organization of this type existed before the major engagement of the war. U.S. Sanitary Commission-- Cleveland, Ohio-- Was organized April 20th, 1861 to provide aid and medical care for the solders of the Civil War. The Cleveland Branch served as a model for the institution of smaller aid societies in other villages and towns in Ohio and was the first permanently organized branch of the Commission and the first to enter the field. It operated under the supervision of the parent U.S. Sanitary Commission. It grew from a neighborhood sewing circle and expanded to represent 525 branch organizations distributing hospital supplies of over $ 1 million. The Cleveland Branch ( Central Office located at 95 Bank St ) began with $ 2 in gold and ended with $170,000 in 1864. Funds were raised by conducting "Sanitary Fairs" at which historical items, artifacts, and Civil War mementos were displayed. The Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair held in Cleveland in Feb. 1864 raised $ 100,000 in 2 weeks. A Solders' Home was established in 1862 and a hospital was built at Union Station called the "Union Hospital ." The Depot Hospital cared for sick soldiers who came to Cleveland by train but were too sick to be moved to other facilities inthe city. The hospital was a large building made of rough boards built just west of Union Station on a long pier extending into Lake Erie. A hospital directory of sick and wounded soldiers was compiled to aid in locating missing and wounded soldiers. The Commission was created and managed by Cleveland women including officers Rebecca Rouse, Mrs. John Shelley, Mrs Wiiliam Melhinch, Mary Clark Brayton, and Ellen Terry. The Commision was disbanded in 1864. The Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, was part of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. This was organized as the Ladies Aid Society to assist soldiers serving in the Civil War. With the National Organization, it demonstrated the protential contribution of philanthropy in wartime. A group of women from various Cleveland churches first met as the Ladies Aid Society on April 20,1861 and organized a " blanket raid " to collect quilts and blankets for troops being mustered at Camp Taylor. *********************************************** To be continued in Part 9 - C- The women of Ohio in the Civil war.