I was visited by my
Colonel to-day. He introduced the subject of reducing my hospital force. I was
extra-polite, and replied that I had not the slightest objection, provided it
was done with the understanding that it would shift the responsibility of the
care of the sick from my shoulders to those of others. The subject was dropped,
and will hardly be renewed. The jealousy existing in the military towards the
medical department of the army astounds me. The military commanders claiming
that the medical have no authority except through them, has driven the medical
officers to assume the other extreme, and claim that they are the only officers
in the army who are really independent of command. This quarrel is often
bitter, and makes not only themselves uncomfortably captious, but subjects the
sick and wounded to suffering whilst these settle their unnecessary quarrels.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 19
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