USA > Washington DC > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 16
USA > Virginia > Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia > Part 16
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peculiarity of these wounds has essen- tially modified one of the most important proper administration of the military departments of military surgery, and the hospitals, and it was only fulfilling the
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highest object of its mission, by zealously | brigadier-general, and then to place him co-operating in any plans which sought to accomplish this great object.
on the retired list of the army with his full rank.
As said in the foregoing extract, the A careful, unbiased, and searching scru- tiny of the evidence adduced upon the trial, as presented and reviewed by Dr. Hammond, as well as mature considera- tion of the argument of the distinguished counsel who represented Dr. Hammond on the occasion of his trial, forces irre- sistibly the conclusion that the gravamen of all the charges, save one, was either disproved by the defense, abandoned by the prosecution, or eliminated by the find- ings of the court. The single charge of which the gravamen was not found want- ing by the court, was in itself trifling if not frivolous, and certainly insufficient in character and importance to arraign, try, convict, and pronounce sentence there- upon, in the manner and form as are in the records of the court martial set forth. * * * hospital system received a large portion t of Gen. Hammond's attention. A great part of his time, during the first three or four months of his administration, was spent in planning and locating hospitals and visiting battle fields. With the as- sistance of those members of the corps who understood his objects and entered into his views, hospitals for over twenty thousand sick and wounded were in that period established in Washington alone, and, in one instance, beds for five thou- sand were set up in five days. In the spring and summer of 1862, hospital ac- commodations were provided for over seventy thousand sick and wounded sol- The period when the difficulties origin- ated between Secretary Stanton and Sur- geon-General Hammond was one replete with perplexities and troubles. A great civil war was in progress, large armies were arrayed in active hostilities, and the issue of events was uncertain and inde- terminate. There were, of necessity, antagonisms, ambitions, and jealousies without number, embarrassing and hamp- ering the authorities. Chaos reigned supreme, and the untoward fate of a single person, just or unjust, merited or unmerited, whether in exalted or humble station, weighed not a feather in the momentous balance. Men of elevated rank and reputation were cast from their high estates to give place to others, in some cases the experiment utterly failing and the speculation proving valueless, while in others yielding good return. Success was the touchstone, and to the moloch of its attributes, or what was con- ceived to be its necessities, victims were daily, nay, hourly, sacrificed. Into this whirlpool of events Dr. Hammond was drawn and carried down. The history of that era is an open book, known to and read by all the world. * * diers. These hospitals were mostly built according to Dr. Hammond's designs, after a thorough study of the subject, and were constructed with a view to every nec- essary condition of hygiene and comfort. Unfortunately, however, for the good of the service, he had to encounter from the very beginning of his official career as sur- geon-general, the personal hostility of the secretary of war. This continued till event- ually it resulted in his dismissal from the army, but not till he had accomplished many necessary reforms, and infused a spirit of activity and progressiveness into the medical corps, which it still retains. Relative to this affair, it may be well to quote from the report of the United States senate committee on military af- fairs, made February 19, 1878, on the bill authorizing the president to reopen the case, and, if in his opinion, after full in- quiry, it was evident that injustice had Dr. Hammond, in his argument before the sub-committee, did not seek to cover, been done to Dr. Hammond, to reinstate him in his position as surgeon-general and hide, or shield himself from any blame to
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which he may have been justly amenable, ments of the civilization of our age and nor yet to harshly question or impugn our country, the motives of others who had conspired, as he supposed, to persecute him, treat- ing his case from an elevated standpoint of magnanimity. It was quite possible, he admitted, he had not endeavored to avoid certain antagonisms, believing his duty of caring for the sick and wounded to be paramount to all other considera- tions. It is reasonable, therefore, to infer that men of the positive natures pos- sessed alike by Secretary Stanton and Dr. Hammond would decline to yield or stand by for each other to pass, when they crossed and crowded upon what they conceived to be the path of mutual duty. When they collided, it was the gage of battle hurled by both - a war by the Titans, a struggle for the mastery .. One or the other must have fallen in a conflict of such nature; for there was no middle ground of accommodation between them. Secretary Stanton, in the extraordinary pressure of the times, no doubt became impressed that the displacement of Sur- geon-General Hammond would conduce to the benefit of the public service, and, possessing the greater power, accom- plished, by means of indirection, the desired result.
And, in regard to the manner in which his duties were performed, nothing can be more emphatic than the eulogium passed upon him by the sanitary commis- sion, in these words, from the history al- ready cited:
On his removal from office in August, 1864, Dr. Hammond, undismayed by what would haye crushed less energetic minds or those not conscious of innocence, went to the city of New York, and entered upon the active practice of his profession. For many years he had been interested in the subject of diseases of the mind and nervous system, and he determined to confine his labors to this department of medical science. Often during the early period of his residence in New York, he was in great pecuniary straits, and was obliged to write for the newspapers and periodicals of the day, in order to eke out his slender means; but he persevered in the line he had marked out for himself, and ere long success began to crown his efforts. He was appointed lecturer on diseases of the mind and nervous system, in the venera- ble College of Physicians and Surgeons, and gave the first course of lectures on these subjects ever given in the city of . New York. After about a year he was tendered a full professorship of these branches in the Bellevue Hospital Medical college - a new chair being created for him. This position he held for several years, and then resigned it to accept a corresponding chair in the university of the City of New York, his alma mater. In 1882, he, and other members of the faculty, resigned, in order to found the New York post-graduate medical school,
But it does feel itself called upon to vindicate his administration upon the highest grounds, those which rest upon a belief that it was so conducted by him that those who suffered through the casualties of war received a skillful and humane treatment unexampled in military history. for the further and higher education of This is its duty, not merely because the physicians, and he now holds the pro- fessorship of diseases of the mind and nervous system in that institution. In the year 1878 he decided that the time had come for his vindication from the outrage he had suffered by his dismissal from the medical bureau was its creation and Dr. Hammond its candidate for the post of surgeon-general, but because it is con- vinced that, so far as he was permitted to act freely, he did a work while in that position which will always be regarded by men of science, and the friends of humanity, as one of the proudest monu-larmy. He did not desire to return to
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active service, or to receive any back pay universally admitted to be one of the or emoluments of any kind from the gov- proudest scientific monuments of any age ernment. He merely wished to show to or country. He was also the projector of the government publication known as the world, what was already well under- "The Medical and Surgical History of stood by all familiar with the case, that he the Rebellion," a work highly prized and had been unjustly treated; and this could only be none by a full inquiry by compe-
eagerly sought for by the medical profes- sion of all countries. It appears, on the testimony of the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, tent authority. A bill was therefore, president of the United States Sanitary with the approval of the secretary of commission, that the ambulance corps of the army, which performed such remark- able service during the late rebellion, originated with Dr. Hammond, although it was not adopted until after Dr. Hammond's displacement. In a letter from the Rev. Mr. Bellows to the Hon. Henry Wilson, then chairman of the United States senate com- war and the commander-in-chief, pre- pared and submitted to congress. This bill authorized the president to review the proceedings of the court-martial, and, if in his opinion justice demanded it, to reinstate Dr. Hammond, and to place him on the retired list of the army as surgeon- mittee on military affairs, dated general. The following extract from the report previously cited embodies the rec- ommendation of the military committee of the senate, to which the bill was referred:
Let Dr. Hammond, in event he shall satisfy the president of his right thereto, be restored to his family, his friends or his profession, freed from every taint and
blemish which has hitherto been inflicted out of chaos in his department, and effici-
upon him under fortuitous circumstances. His brethren of the medical profession honor his name and fame, and his coun- trymen look upon him with pride as fore- most in the ranks of American scientists, humanitarians, and gentlemen. Your committee believe this to be a case wherein the constitutional prerogative of congress to redress grievances may be safely, justly, and fairly exercised, espec- ially since the president is invested, by the provisions of the bill, with wise dis- cretion. If he find against the merits and equities of the case, then the relief sought must be denied. If he find other- wise, and hence favorably, Dr. Hammond will then receive that reparation to which he is entitled, and which avoids by the terms of the bill, all reflection and humil- iation upon any other party concerned.
Your committee deem it proper to call attention to the facts shown by the rec- ord, that Dr. Hammond organized and and founded the Army Medical museum, in the city of Washington, an institution but one dissenting voice, after speeches
New York, February 26, 1863, the rever- end gentleman earnestly bespeaks Sen- ator Wilson's good offices on behalf of the passage of the ambulance bill, origin- ally prepared by Surgeon-General Ham- mond, and which he fears may be lost in the senate by reason of certain antago- nisms. In praising his efforts, the Rev. Mr. Bellows concludes:
The surgeon-general has brought order ency out of imbecility. The sick and wounded owe a hundred times over more to the government and the medical de- partment than to all outside influences and benevolence of the country combined, including the sanitary commission. The surgcon-general ( Hammond ) is the best friend the soldier has in this country, be- cause he wields the benevolences of the United States government. For God's sake don't thwart his zeal and wisdom.
In view of all these facts and circum- stances, your committee feel warranted in recommending the passage of the bill.
In the house of representatives a re- port to the like effect was made by the military committee of that body. The bill passed the house unanimously on the presentation of the report, and a speech in its favor by the Hon. A. G. McCook, who had given great attention to the de- tails of the case; and the senate, with
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made in its favor by Senators Conkling, |As already intimated, Dr. Hammond Bayard, Blaine, and others. The bill was has been an indefatigable worker, not at once signed by the president, and be- only in the practice of his profession, and came a law. The case, therefore, came as a professor in its medical schools, but before the executive, and was by him re- also in its literature. To even enumerate ferred to the secretary of war, who, after all the essays and monographs he has a thorough examination of the records, written would fill more space than can be reported that the finding and sentence of the court- martial ought to be annulled and set aside, and that Dr. Hammond ought to be restored to his position. On the 27th of August, 1879, the president allotted here. The following, however, are the principal books of which he is the author: "Physiological Memoirs," Phila- delphia, 1863; "A Treatise on Hygiene with special reference to the Military Serv- approved of those recommendations, and ice," Philadelphia, 1863; "Lectures on Dr. Hammond was, after fifteen years of Venereal Diseases," Philadelphia, 1864; continued injustice, restored to his posi- "On Wakefulness, with an introductory tion on the rolls of the army, as surgeon- chapter on the Physiology of Sleep," Phil- general and brigadier-general on the adelphia, 1865; "On Sleep and its De- retired list, which position he now holds rangements," Philadelphia, 1869; " Insan- with his original date of April 25, 1862. ity in its Medico-Legal Relations," New In reply to a letter from Dr. Hammond York, 1866; " A Treatise on the Diseases of thanking him for the attention he had the Nervous System," New York, 1871 -- given to the case, the then secretary of seventh edition, New York, 1881; this war, the Hon. George W. McCrary, now work has been translated into French and judge of one of the United States district Italian and is used as a text book in sev- courts, wrote as follows:
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 1879. S
My Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your kind favor of the 2d inst.
Upon reaching the conclusion, after a thorough examination of your case, that a great wrong had been done you, and that you were clearly entitled to vindica- tion, it was with great pleasure that I rec- ommended your restoration to the army.
I can say to you with the utmost sincer- ity that I have never performed an official act with a clearer conviction that I was doing simple justice.
I am glad to note the fact that the country, with scarcely a dissenting voice, approves and applauds the act, and I beg most heartily to congratulate you upon your long-delayed but complete triumph.
Very sincerely,
(Signed) GEO. W. MCCRARY. Brig .- Gen. WILLIAM A. HAMMOND,
Surgeon-General United States Army (retired), New York.
eral English schools of medicine; "The Physics and Physiology of Spritualism," New York, 1870; "Clinical Lectures on Diseases of the Nervous System," New York, 1874; "Insanity in its Relations to Crime," New York, 1873: "Spiritualism and its Allied Causes and Conditions of Nervous Derangement," New York, 1876, subsequently published under the title of " On Certain Forms of Nervous Derange- ment," New York, 1880; " A Treatise on Insanity in its Medical Relations," New York, 1883 (this work is being translated into the Italian language); "On Sexual Impotence in the Male," New York, 1883. Dr. Hammond has also been a frequent contributor to the higher literary period- icals, such as the " International Review," the " North American Review," etc. Dr. Hammond is a member of many home
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and foreign scientific societies. Among | geon-general of the army. And in ful- them are the following: The College of fillment of that vow he left New York in Physicians, the Pathological society, the Academy of the Natural Sciences, and the 1888, and immediately took up his resi- dence in Washington, where he still re- American Philosophical society of Pnila- sides, and where he has established a delphia; of the New York County Medi- large sanitarium for the treatment of the cal society, the Neurological society, the nervous diseases of the system, to which Medico-Legal society, the Society for department of medicine he has exclu- Medical Jurisprudence and State Medi- sively devoted himself for many years. cine, and the American Geographical so- In 1889 he erected the largest and ciety of New York; of the American handsomest residence in Washington, on Academy of Arts and Sciences of Boston, Columbian Heights. This residence is of and of the American Neurological asso- the French chateau style of architecture, is one hundred feet square, furnished magnificently, and cost over $200,000.
ciation. He is a corresponding member of the British Medical association, and of the Anthropological Institute of Great Dr. Hammond is a member of the Manhattan, Metropolitan, Country, and Dumblane clubs, of Washington and New York. Britain and Ireland; an honorary mem- ber of St. Andrew's Medical Graduates' association, Scotland, and foreign mem- ber of the Medico-Chirugical society of Edinburgh. He is a member of the Ver- JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN, ein fur gemeinschaftlich Arbeiten zur of the United States supreme court, Forderung der wissenschaftlichen Heil- is a member of one of the most kunde; of the Verein Wurtemburgische illustrious families of the state of Ken- Wundartze und Geburtshelfe, Germany, tucky. He was born in Boyle county in and of the Provuncaal Utrechtsche Ge- that state June 1, 1833, and was educated nootshaf van Cunsten en Wetenschappen, at Centre college, from which he gradu- of Holland, etc., etc. Dr. Hammond is fa- ated June 1, 1850. Shortly after gradua- vored with fine physical development and tion he commenced the study of law commanding presence. He is over six under his father in Franklin county, and feet two inches in height and weighs at the age of eighteen was appointed about two hundred and sixty pounds. As adjutant-general of Kentucky by Gov. before stated, Dr. Hammond has two Helm. In 1853 he was graduated from children; a son and a daughter. His son, the law department of Transylvania uni- Dr. Graeme M. Hammond, is an able and versity at Lexington, and was the same successful physician in New York city. year admitted to the bar and located at His daugher, Clara, married the Marquis Frankfort. In 1858 he was elected judge Manfredi Lanza di Mercato Bianco, an of the Franklin county court, and served Italian nobleman. one year, and in 1859 was the whig candi-
To revert: Upon leaving Washington date for congress from the Ashland dis- city after the finding of the court mar- trict, running against William E. Simms tial, Dr. Hammond declared that he and being defeated by only sixty-seven would never rest until he returned to votes. In 1860 he was the presidential that city within twenty-five years as sur- elector on the Bell and Everett ticket in
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the same district. In 1861 he organized also engaged in the practice of the law in the Tenth Kentucky infantry for the Chicago. The names of the remaining Federal service, and this regiment he two children are Laura and Ruth. commanded as its colonel until 1863, James Harlan, father of the justice, was when he was elected attorney-general of born in Boyle county, Ky., June 22, 1800, Kentucky on the union ticket by a major- and by profession was a lawyer. His ity of over fifty thousand, and held the public career began early in life and was office four years. In 1867 he moved from as varied as it was arduous. From 1835 Frankfort to Louisville, where he re- to 1839 he was a member of congress sumed his practice as a lawyer, with un- from Kentucky; was secretary of state varying prosperity. In 1871 he was from 1840 to 1844 under Governor Letcher nominated by the republican party for of Kentucky; was one of the commission- governor against Preston H. Leslie, and was renominated in 1875 to run against James B. McCreary; but the democratic party had gained control of the state, and he was of course defeated in both in- stances. In 1872 he was recommended by the republican party of Kentucky as the republican nominee for the vice-presi- dency. In 1877, however, he was ap- ers to prepare the civil and criminal codes of the state; was attorney-general of Kentucky for eight years and United States district attorney for Kentucky under President Lincoln. He was mar- ried December 23, 1823, to Eliza Daven- port, and there were born to them nine children, of whom eight grew to manhood and womanhood, viz: Richard D., who pointed to his present position on the died in 1854; William Lowndes, died in bench of the supreme court - a position IS70; Elizabeth Davenport, wife of Dr. he fills with dignity, and the functions of James G. Hatchitt of Kentucky; Henry which he is fully qualified to exercise.
Clay, whose death took place in 1849; James, formerly chancellor of the Louis- ville chancery court; John Marshall; Laura, who died in 1870, the wife of Francis L. Cleveland, of Kentucky, also deceased; Sallie, who was married to D. P. Hiter and died in 1890. The death of the father of this family occurred Febru- ary 23, 1863, and that of the mother in IS70.
The marriage of Justice Harlan was solemnized December 23, 1856, with Mal- vina French Shanklin, daughter of John Shanklin, a merchant of Evansville, Ind., and this union has been blessed with the birth of six children, as follows: Edith Shanklin, who was married to Frank Linus Childs, of Worcester, Mass., and died in 1882, leaving one child, a daugh- ter; Richard Davenport, a Presbyterian James Harlan, the grandfather of Jus- tice Harlan, was born in what is now Berkeley county, West Virginia, and was clergyman, whose first charge was the First Presbyterian church of New York, and who married Mrs. P. Swift, nee reared to farming. In 1774 he left West Prouty, of Geneva, N. Y .; James Shank- Virginia and settled in Kentucky, where lin, the third child born to the justice, is he died in 1800. He was accompanied to a member of the law firm of Gregory, Kentucky by his brother, Major Silas Booth & Harlan, of Chicago; John May- Harlan, who became famous in the Indian nard, the fourth child, married Elizabeth wars in the " dark and bloody grounds," Palmer Flagg, of Yonkers, N. Y., and is and was killed at the battle of Blue Lick.
١٦ un talan
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Of Major Harlan, Gen. George R. Clarke of eleven, accepted a position on his once said "He was one of the bravest father's paper, The Republican, published and most accomplished soldiers who ever at Cadiz, Ohio, of which he soon rose to fought by my side." James Harlan, the the position of foreman and afterwards grandfather of the justice, married Sallie became local editor. He served in the Caldwell, who bore to him the following children: Elijah, Jehu, George, Silas, James, John, Davis, Sallie, Elizabeth and Mary. The maternal grandfather of Justice Harlan, Col. Richard Davenport, was born in Spottsylvania county, Va., latter capacity until the breaking out of the Civil war, at which time he entered the service of his country, enlisting, in 1862, in the Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry. In 1864 he was commissioned lieutenant in the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio and removed to Kentucky early in the volunteer infantry, and remained until the close of the great struggle. His serv- ice was with the army of the Cumber- land. After the war (in 1866) he went to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, with his father who
present century. He was a gallant sol- dier in the war of 1812. The paternal great-grandfather of the justice was George Harlan, who was born in Berkeley county, and there his remains lie interred. edited the Journal there, until his death He was a Quaker and descended from in 1869, when the subject of this sketch the Harlans of Yarmouth, England, who continued to edit the same until 1874, settled in Chester county, Pa., about the when he removed to Burlington, Iowa, year 1650.
where he purchased a controlling interest in the Hawkeye. He was postmaster in FRANK HATTON, Burlington for a few years prior to 1881. distinguished journalist of Washington city and ex-postmaster-general of the United States, is a native of Ohio born in the town of Cambridge on the 28th day of April, 1846. His father, Richard Hatton, was the son of Bolen Hatton, who was born in Virginia, and who served in the war of In that year President Arthur appointed him first assistant postmaster-general, and he served from October, 1881, till October, 1884, when the retirement of Judge Gresham from the office of post- master-general, led to Mr. Hatton's pro- motion to fill the vacancy. He discharged 1812. The maiden name of Frank Hatton's the dutles of that position with great mother was Sarah Green, a native of Tyler ability until the close of President county, W. Va., and daughter of a Arthur's administration, and was the Methodist divine who acquired some dis- youngest cabinet officer that ever served tinction in connection with the eccle- |the government, Alexander Hamilton siastical history of that state. Richard alone excepted. From October, 1882, till Hatton was born in Fairfax county, Vir- the summer of 1884, Mr. Hatton was con- ginia, in 1805, and was for many years a nected with the National Republican, at journalist in Ohio, to which state he Washington, and in July of the latter year removed with his parents when a young removed to Chicago where he assisted in man. Frank Hatton acquired his first reorganizing the Mail, of which he re- practical experience in a printing office, tained editorial control until 1888. In an educational institution second in im- January, 1889, in partnership with Beriah portance to no other, and at the early age Wilkins, Mr. Hatton purchased the Wash-
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