The Army Surgeon : an address to the graduates of the Medical Department of the University of Buffalo, February 24th, 1863 / by Thomas F. Rochester.

  • Rochester, Thomas F. (Thomas Fortescue), 1823-1887.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Army Surgeon : an address to the graduates of the Medical Department of the University of Buffalo, February 24th, 1863 / by Thomas F. Rochester. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    ADDRESS. It rarely happens, on an occasion like the present, a quasi-professional epoch of annual recurrence, that a theme, suitable for the customary charge or address to the graduates in medicine, should be afforded by any topic of general and popular interest; such, unfortunately, is not the case, in this sad year of war and wicked rebellion, A. D., 1863. In selecting The Army Surgeon as the title of his discourse for this evening, it has seemed to the writer tha', the subject pertains to the whole audience, directly or remotely, as well ps to that small portion of it com- prised by those who have just receive! the Academic honors, to which it is hoped they are fully and honorably entiled. When, on the 12th of April, 1861, the lightnings were discharged from the ominous war cloud that had so long darkened the southern horizon, when the reverberations of beleaguered Sumpter's guns woke a responsive echo in every patriot's breast; when the great heart of a wounded and insulted natiou—wounded by a most foul and parricidal blow, pulsated with a thrill that vibrated from the shores of each ocean barrier, and ex- tended to the utmost limits of the loyal north; when the proud, strong Mother, America, uttered her cry of sorrow, anguish and auger, how eagerly and earnestly did her sons answer her appeal for succor, and none more promptly than those who had made medicine their profession. What their position, and what their labor and duties, let us now endeavor to describe. According to the Army Register, the grade of the Medical Corps is as follows:—Surgeon General, with the rank of Brigadier General—Assistant Surgeon General, with the rank of Colonel,—Medical Inspector General, with the rank of Colonel,—Medical Inspector, with the rank of Lieut, Colo- nel,—Surgeon, with the rank of Major,—Assistant Surgeon, with the rank of Captain,—Assistant Surgeon, with the rank of 1st Lieut.,—Surgeon of Volunteers, with the rank of Major. The salary of the Surgeon-General is $2,740 per annum; that of the others gradually falls to $1,500. These