On the Geneva Convention of August the 22nd, 1864 : with some account of the national committees formed for aiding in ameliorating the condition of the sick and wounded of armies in time of war : a lecture delivered at the Royal United Service Institution.

  • Longmore, Sir Thomas, 1816-1895.
Date:
[1866]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the Geneva Convention of August the 22nd, 1864 : with some account of the national committees formed for aiding in ameliorating the condition of the sick and wounded of armies in time of war : a lecture delivered at the Royal United Service Institution. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ral-in-cbief of the Swiss Confederation, accepted the presidency, for the purpose of supporting and encouraging the dissemination of the pro- posals which had emanated from M. Dunant. The action of this com- mittee subsequently led to the convocation of an International Confer- ence on the subject. This was held at Geneva in October 1863, and was attended by delegates from sixteen Governments, viz., from Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hanover, Hesse- Darmstadt, Italy, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wurtemberg. This Congress, which must not be confounded with the subsequent Congress of 1864, sat four days, and discussed several articles which were laid before the assembled delegates for consideration by the Genevese Committee before named. Some of the propositions contained in these articles were assented to; others, espe- cially those relating to the organization of corps of volunteer hospital attendants invested with independent action, were only accepted in part, and became considerably modified in the resolutions wlpch the delegates finally agreed upon. The delegates adopted and recommended a proposal that in every country central and sectional committees should be formed, for the pur- pose of supplementing in time of war, by every constitutional and prac- tical means in their power, the regular hospital service of the army. But they did not support the articles in which propositions were contained for volunteer hospital attendants to be organized under en- gagements to serve during definite limited periods, with the right of being employed, according to their own desire, on duty in the field or in the hospitals. The articles proposed that these volunteers should wear a distinctive uniform; that their exclusively charitable character being recognized, their persons should be held sacred ; and lastly, that following in the rear of armies, they should make no claims on the armies which they accompanied, but that they should take with them their own provision of means of transport, rations, and the material necessary for the exercise of their functions. It was obvious enough to officers of military experience that these proposals, as they stood, would lead to interference with that unity and supremity of control which is so essential for military discipline and success, even if they were not altogether impracticable, and they finally assumed at the hands of the assembly the following shape: that the National Committees, under whose direction the volunteer hospital attendants would be trained, should, in concurrence with the military authorities, designate the places where they were to attend upon the wounded ; that on the demand, or with the permission of the military authorities, the National Committees might send volunteers into the field on the understanding that, while there, they were to be placed exclusively under the order of the Commander of the Forces for duty. So far, then, as regards the manner in which the propositions which were submitted to this Conference of 1863 were dealt with ; in addition, however, before separating, the delegates recorded by general vote a strong appeal to the Governments of all civilized nations to come to an agreement for according the benefits of neutrality to all soldiers of regular armies, whatever nation they might belong to, who