After the Battle of Gettysburg, wounded Union and Confederate soldiers were spread
throughout the area, being cared for in farms, private homes, churches and even in outdoor spaces. Congress quickly passed legislation directing Dr. Jonathan Letterman and his team to establish a central hospital facility at Gettysburg as quickly as practical. The hospital became known as Camp Letterman and was caring for patients by late July 1863. Dr. Letterman became known as the “Father of Battlefield Medicine” for creating medical management procedures that transformed not only Civil War-era medicine, but medical care for thousands of soldiers in subsequent wars to this day.
Established on the George Wolf farm along the York Road east of Gettysburg, Camp
Letterman’s location was ideal, with its abundance of spring water and its easy access to the
Gettysburg Railroad. According to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine website, “The massive facility included ‘a dead house, embalming tent, cemetery, cookhouse and warehouse tents.’”
Union Army surgeons, nurses and members of the U.S. Sanitary Commission rendered care to soldiers from both sides of the conflict, ultimately evaluating and treating all of the wounded who had been transported from the various battle sites around Gettysburg. Meals were prepared for the men by a sizable force of cooks, while guards kept the peace among those who were ambulatory.
Those needing more advanced treatment or who were doing well enough to be moved out for convalescent care were subsequently sent on to the Union’s larger hospitals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
By late November 1863, Camp Letterman was shuttered after treating more than 20,000 soldiers.
Gettysburg Sentinels has several pieces crafted from reclaimed Witness Tree wood that stood at the former location of Camp Letterman, including bottle stoppers, magnifying glasses, shadow boxes, rings and more. View these special pieces of Gettysburg history here.