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58

(CIVIL WAR CORRESPONDENCE OF SURGEON WILLIAM H. GITHENS)

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(CIVIL WAR CORRESPONDENCE OF SURGEON WILLIAM H. GITHENS)
Extraordinary war-date correspondence of 98 letters covering his entire service by Dr. William H. Githens (1827-1904) of the 16th Illinois Infantry and 78th Illinois Volunteers, dated from June 30, 1861 until his discharge in June 1865. Approx. 265 pages of text, largely written to his wife and his daughter, neatly written and almost entirely in ink, with six letters bearing his original sketches and maps. Sixteen of the letters cover Githens' first tour in Missouri, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. The balance, many with superb content, cover his service as assistant surgeon in the 14th A.C. in Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, before Atlanta, Nashville, and a brief stint in the Carolinas. Far too much content to quote to any great extent, in extremely small part: ""...we worked till near morning - extracting balls and dressing woundsàwe left those who were too badly wounded to take with usàthe 10th and 16thàchased and captured nearly 4,000 prisonersàturned them out into one of their deserted forts like cattle into a penàwe may kick up a breeze with Van Dornà[Chattanooga]àI was busy taking care of our wounded - we had 90 ambulances and about 40 wagons loaded - estimated at 700 wounded, some of them very badly - and I was the only surgeonàwe have thousands of wounded here, intents - lying on the ground on strawàwagon train of 3 or 4 hundred wagons loaded with supplies was destroyed - wagons all burned and the mules killedàif they [the dead] come very fast, the diggers put two in one holeàthere is cannonading every dayàfrom the top of Lookout Mountainàlost his right arm at the shoulderà[Kennesaw Mountain] about 10 o'clock they opened - solid shot and shellàour batteries tried to respond but could not do anything without protectionàthe Doctor was dressing a wounded man and had two soldiers holding up a blanket to keep the Rebels from firing at the light - when they sent a shot and took off a leg of each of themàShermanàkeeps outside and makes his own roadsàthe first thing the Rebels know we have gone by their formidable forst and batteriesàour Brigade advanced rapidly up to within a few yards of the enemyàdug with their bayonets and hands until they got sufficient protectionàthey throw stones at each otherà[a major] was badly wounded and calling for help - they couldn't get him till night - and then he was dead. the killed and wounded of our brigade will go over four hundredàa good many amputations have been performedàGen'l Hooker is constantly driving themàa man was just brought in with a fractured arm - we had to take it off above the elbowà[Atlanta]...[a soldier] stopped to rest for a minuteàa cannon ball came along and cut him nearly in two - he was a perfect mangled mass. His brother found himàwe moved just across the river and established our Hospital immediatelyàover 200 sick and wounded on handàwounds are mostly very severe, the balls crashing through arms and legs - and a great many amputations were necessaryàbrave fellows lying there with stumps of arms and legsàAtlanta is oursàwe commenced dressing wounded before sunriseàambulances, load after loadàjust think of the wagon loads of arms and legs we have had to take offà[Ezra Church] the plan is to cut their railroadsàthe Rebels charged them five times and were repulsed with terrible slaughteràour soldiers buries 1,000 dead rebels and brought in several hundred wounded. I have seen a great many of themàone of the 16th boys was hit yesterday - piece of his nose knocked offàour cavalry has been destroying the railroads in every directionàwe sent away 15 ambulance loads todayàa large portion being shell wounds - and terribly mangledàmaggots get into the wounds despite usàour Colonel's been very dangerously woundedàa stray ball struck him about an inch above the left eye - penetrating the brain some distance - we are not able to find the ballàwe had to take off one arm yesterdayàanother was shot right through the upper part of his face, injuring the tongue and palateà[Atlanta]...[the Rebels] burned nearly everythingàand all kinds of munitions of warànearly half a mile of cars and locomotives [burned]àI saw the flames rolling up mountain highàGenÆl Sherman intends to send them all - men women and childrenàthe army needs all the supplies that can be got hereàGov. Brown of Georgia is here under a flag of truceàthe country will soon be full of cripplesà[Nashville] we have captured large quantities of gunsàour Headquarters are at the house of a wealthy old planteràrebels have stripped him of everything that was moveable, probably our soldiers helpedàdozens of dead men have lain in the rain and mud all day, nearly every one has been stripped of some article of clothingàCapt. White of the 16th was severely wounded in the thighà[April 8] between one and two thousand rebels came in surrendered to our Corps yesterdayàthe whole army is perfectly wild, whooping and yelling like Indiansà[Apr. 27] this cruel war is over at lastàthe army is wild with joyàö. One of GithensÆ final letters offers a detailed view of the Grand Review held in Washington to honor the returning soldiers, mentioning the parade route, banners, and so on, adding: ôàI got a glimpse of the President and Genl. Sherman, but did not see Genl. GrantàThe Army of the Potomac reviewed firstàthey can beat us dressingàthose who witnessed both [armies] say we received the warmest welcomeàI feel proud I was one of themàproud also that I am a Western soldieràö. Much more fine content! Almost all of the letters lack covers, sold with two of his G.A.R. calling cards, and a small amount of additional ephemera. A lengthy and important letter group, overall in very good to fine. 2358
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