Johnathan K. Letterman
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Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac.
1824-1872
Born at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1824, he graduated
from Jefferson College in 1845 and from Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia, 1849. In June of that year, he was appointed Assistant
Surgeon in the Army Medical Department.
He served in Florida in campaigns against the Seminole Indians until
1853, and after a year at Fort Riley, Minnesota, he was ordered to
Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory, where he saw action against the
Apaches. In 1859 he was transferred to Fort Monroe, Virginia, and in
1860-61 was engaged in the Ute Campaign in California.
Late in 1861, he returned East and was assigned to duty with the Army
of the Potomac. Named Medical Director of the Department of West
Virginia in May 1862, was the next month appointed Medical Director
of the Army of the Potomac with the rank of Major (Surgeon). In that
post he completely reorganized the Medical Service, devising a system
of forward first aid stations at the regimental level, mobile field
hospitals behind divisions and base hospitals, all linked by a
proficient ambulance corps under the control of medical staff rather
than the Quartermaster Department, and arranging an efficient system
of medical supply.
At the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, in which the Army
of the Potomac suffered 12,000 casualties, he proved the efficiency
of his methods. His system was subsequently adoped by other Union
Armies in the field and was established officially by an Act of
Congress in March 1864.
After a period as Inspector of Hospitals in the Department of the
Susquehannah, he resigned from the Army in December 1864 and moved to
San Francisco. His "Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac"
appeared in 1866.
He died in San Francisco on March 15, 1872. On November 13, 1911 the
Army Hospital at the Presidio was named Letterman General Hospital in
honor of the man who had revolutionized the care of battle
casualties.
His private memorial in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery
reads:
"Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, June 23, 1862 to
December 30, 1863, who brought order and efficiency into the Medical
Service and who was the originator of modern methods of medical
organization in armies."
His wife, Mary Digges Lee Letterman (October 17, 1833-November
1,1867) is buried next to him under a stone which reads:
"Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord."
