REGULATIONS FOR THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY – 1861

Regulations for the Medical Department of the Confederate States Army – 1861 by [Samuel Preston Moore]. Richmond: Ritchie & Dunnavant, 1861.

Complete with 61 pages. (Parrish & Willingham 1991) Original marbled card wrapper with leather spine. 1.5″ of lower spine missing with corresponding split at the tail of the front joint. Supple, evenly toned pages.

With the outbreak of the war, Samuel Preston Moore, one of the most experienced medical officers in the U.S. Army, retired to his home state of Arkansas to open a private practice, but after some badgering, by Jefferson Davis, he agreed to serve as the Confederate Army’s Surgeon General and establish its medical department.

“In his correspondence to Moore, Davis described the deplorable conditions caused by the overwhelming number of casualties and a lack of Southern physicians trained in military medicine. Moore accepted the position of acting surgeon general on July 30, 1861 and was confirmed by the Confederate Senate in November of that same year. Among the more notable achievements of his tenure as surgeon general was the organization of the Confederate Medical Department, the establishment of examining boards for surgeons and assistant surgeons, the construction of military hospital huts, or one-story pavilion hospitals, and the establishment of drug, hospital supplies and surgical instruments factories around the Confederacy to supply the Army’s needs.” from Civil Practice to Civil War by The Medical College of the State of South Carolina.

The regulations include the specific duties of military surgeons and related personnel, equipment and pharmaceutical authorizations for Confederate military units, and a number of form templates for use in reporting numbers of sick and wounded. requisitioning and controlling medical materiel, staffing reports, etc.

Scarce. As of 2015, there is only one example of any edition (the second) for sale in the trade. OCLC shows only one example of any edition held by an institution, and the Rare Book Hub and ABPC show only two examples have been sold at auction.

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