The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg (review)

This well-written book tells the story of Schumaker Hall ("Old Dorm") at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Located atop a ridge to the west of Gettysburg, it was in a strategic position during the battle, serving first as an observation post and then as a hospital for the next three months. When the overwhelmed Union forces were forced to retreat from the Seminary through the town and up Cemetery Ridge, the Seminary, now behind Confederate lines, contained hundreds of wounded soldiers from both armies. The physicians, with much of their instruments and supplies stolen, were severely limited in their ability to help the wounded. Michael Dreese describes the plight of the wounded in terms of human horror and tragedy, the result of rifles with deadly ranges in excess of several hundred yards, the minié ball that produced massive tissue and bone destruction, exploding artillery shells, and the obsolete Napoleonic tactics employed by both armies to mass men in battle lines to achieve fire power. With the end of the battle, as many as seven hundred Union and Confederate wounded were housed at the Seminary.

The book records the heroics of the volunteer physicians, contract physicians (probably less qualified than military surgeons), nurses, and civilians, including the Sisters of Charity, the patriotic daughters of Lancaster (Pa.), the United States Sanitary Commission, and the Women's Central Association of Relief. Women such as Sara (Sallie) Broadhead (a housewife) returned time and time again to the Seminary to act as nurses. They witnessed hundreds of horribly wounded, some missing arms, some missing legs. Unburied and partially buried dead marked the Seminary grounds. These women saw sights that previously would have revolted and sickened them—yet despite these horrors, including the stench of death and gangrene, they labored on.

The contribution of these volunteers was invaluable. For example, Dreese relates that Sarah Broadhead and other women volunteers rescued multiple helpless soldiers from drowning in the basement of the Seminary after a rainstorm. He also includes the tale of Lydia Ziegler, the young daughter of the steward and matron of the Seminary, who befriended a tired couple who had walked twenty-one miles over the mountains from Chambersburg in search of the last surviving of their five sons; the mortally wounded son was found in the Seminary, regained consciousness, recognized his parents, and then died.

Dreese points out that although the Union medical corps was large and well organized under Jonathan Letterman, a good portion departed after 5 July as the Union Army pursued Lee's retreating army, expecting another battle. The ratio of army physicians to patients at Gettysburg was then approximately 1:150. One army surgeon declared that "the failure to furnish a sufficient number of medical officers . . . cost the country more good men than did the charge of any rebel brigade" (p. 123). This book documents the critical role played by women and civilian physicians in the care of the wounded at Gettysburg.