Medical Director, Army of the Potomac (Abridged, Annotated)

For 18 months in the early days of the American Civil War, no man had more direct responsibility for the health and well-being of millions of Union soldiers than Dr. Jonathan Letterman. As Medical Director for the great Army of the Potomac, he was tasked with providing guidance and directives for the setup of hospitals, treatment of wounds and illness, diet for men in the field, and assignments of other medical personnel.

Here is Letterman's own words is the summary of that enormous task, wr...