HOSPITAL ABUSES—PUTTING LOGWOOD IN THE COFFEE.
THERE was a very large hospital at Madison, Ind., which was very much crowded in 1864-1865 with the sick and wounded. I established a special-diet kitchen there for the preparation of food for the very sick and the severely wounded, and placed one of my lady helpers in charge. She had scarcely assumed the supervision of the cookery till she began complaining of the quality of the food, especially of the coffee. As she put it: “There is nothing in this hospital fit for a well man to eat, much less these sick and wounded and dying men.”
I was in Washington at the time; but I telegraphed to Miss Louisa Vance, one of the shrewdest and most careful workers of the Christian Commission, to report at the hospital at Madison, Ind., and await instructions. I met her there with carefully written instructions: “Go on with the work, and don’t complain, but watch. There is something wrong in that hospital; find out what it is. The government furnishes good supplies and good coffee; find out what becomes of them, but don’t, for the life of these men, let the surgeon and hospital steward know that they are suspected. Make frequent errands to the room of the commissary,” etc. She was not long in finding out as to the cheating and adulteration. The first clew was obtained because of the rule in that hospital, that a barrel be placed beside the kitchen door, and all the coffee-grounds emptied into it. “Boys,” she said to some of the men who did the cooking, “why do you put the coffee-grounds there? They have been used; they are no account.”
“It’s the surgeon’s orders.”
“He has them hauled away and emptied, I suppose?”
“No; he has them dried on the commissary floor.”
“Gives them to poor people, I suppose?”
“I don’t know,” answered one; but there was a general laugh among the men in the kitchen.
She made an excuse to go to the commissary-room; and there, sure enough, on the floor, was a large pile of old coffee-grounds. The men employed there were busy stirring and turning it over to hasten the drying process. She asked for something in a careless way, and then said as she was leaving,—
“You have a good lot of coffee, boys. What in the world are you going to do with so much coffee?”
“The surgeon in charge is going to sell it, I guess;” and then they all laughed. She felt sure from their manner that these men knew all the secrets of that commissary department, and it must be her business to get it from them. But I was urging her to be careful; for if false charges were brought against the surgeon in charge of a large hospital, it would injure the diet-kitchen service all along the line. We were in daily correspondence. She had tested the coffee every way she could think of, but could not decide as to how it was adulterated. She had a new white-pine sink put in the kitchen, and poured out some coffee on that. It stained the boards logwood color. She knew now at least one article of adulteration. She looked the men of the commissary well over, and picked out one, an innocent young fellow, that she thought she might surprise into a confession. Waiting her chance, when no one was near, she faced him with the terrible question:—
“Why do you men in the commissary-room put logwood and every other vile stuff in the coffee for our poor sick and wounded men to drink? Have you no conscience? Do you want to kill them?”
The poor boy turned pale, and staggered back as though he would fall, as he stammered,—
“We have to do it; it’s the surgeon’s orders. Indeed, Miss Vance, we can’t help it;” and he dashed away as fast as he could go, to tell the others.
“O boys! Miss Vance knows all about the cheating here, and the logwood and everything in the coffee.”
As they wanted to set themselves right with Miss Vance, the others, as soon as they could, went to her to apologize, and to assure her that it was orders. She assumed not to believe that a surgeon would give such orders, and said she could not believe till she saw the orders. They brought them, and also the surgeon’s instructions for mixing, and various other devices for cheating.
“Now, boys, don’t say a word about this till I can see what I can do.”
Of course I got all these facts as quick as the mail could bring them. I wrote her “to be careful, to make copies of all the papers and records of the false entries in the books, and take these men one by one to a justice of the peace or notary public, and have them swear to everything;” for, if the surgeon should suspect what she was doing, he would at once relieve them, and order them to join their regiments, and she would be left to stand alone. I started for Louisville, Ky., the headquarters of Assistant Surgeon-General R. C. Wood, at once, and requested Miss Vance to send to me there all the papers in the case, which she did.
As I read over the villanous record of cheatery, and the disgusting compounds he had put into the old coffee-grounds for the poor sick and wounded men to drink, my soul was hot within me with righteous indignation. When I went into the office of General Wood the next morning I was in a mood for strong talk. He gave me his usual cordial greeting.
“General Wood, if you please, I would like to see you alone,” I said.
He looked surprised, as I had never made such a request before.
“Certainly,” he said, and nodded to the two or three clerks in the room to withdraw. As soon as the door was closed behind them I began:—
“I came to report Dr. R——, of the Madison Hospital.”
“Dr. R——? Why, he is one of my best surgeons! What has he done?”
“You may think he is one of your best surgeons, but my opinion of him is that he ought to be hung higher than Haman.”
The general looked greatly surprised, as he had never heard me use any such emphatic terms about any one before. “Please, madam, explain,” he said.
“He is cheating and starving the soldiers, and selling their good coffee, and giving them a little coffee mixed with logwood and other vile adulteration.”
“Impossible! That is entirely impossible.”
“Nevertheless, it is true; and he is cheating you in making up his hospital returns. I have the proof here in my hands.”
He turned pale. “Can such a thing be possible?” he gasped.
“It is possible,” I said. “See for yourself;” and I handed him the true returns, with the affidavits.
He brought out the official returns which had been sent by the surgeon, and we compared them.
“He’s a villain, a heartless villain,” the general would mutter at each new exhibition of the surgeon’s rascality.
When we had gone through with the papers, he said in a most emphatic way,—
“I will punish that man to the full extent of the law.”
“No, general: he will elude you; he will find some way to escape. If dealt with by military law he will escape; but I have a plan that will reach him.”
“What is your plan?”
“To go to Governor Morton of Indiana, and lay the facts and these papers before him, and put the whole case in his hands. The hospital is in his State, and I don’t think he can get out of the clutches of Governor Morton.” My words were like the shock of an electric battery. He sprang to his feet, and walked the floor in a most excited state of mind. At last he calmed himself enough to speak, and facing me, he said,—
“Madam, do you wish to kill me? Do you wish to kill me? Do you wish to stab me to the heart?”
“Certainly not. I have the highest respect for you. I believe you are innocent in this matter; but I do not want that villain to escape.”
“He shall not escape.”
“What will you do?”
“I will send up Inspector Allen right away.”
“No; that won’t do. Inspector Allen has been going up month after month, and has not seen a thing wrong. No; I am sorry to say it, but I do not believe you can bring this man to justice. Governor Morton is my only chance to secure that.”
I shall never forget with what majesty he stood before me. He looked like a patriarch,—tall, straight, commanding, with his crown of gray hair, his fair and kindly face. A perfect Christian gentleman of the old school, too honest and true himself to suspect others as frauds.
“Mrs. Wittenmyer,” he said, “you could not possibly do me a greater injury; such a thing would likely lead to my removal. You certainly do not desire that. Have I not co-operated with you in all your great plans, removing from one hospital to another surgeons at your suggestion? Have I not placed steamers and trains to carry your goods, and extended to you the hearty co-operation and aid of this office? Why should you wish to injure me?”
“I do not wish to injure you. I only want to bring this rogue to justice. You have done all that any one could do for me, and the influence of your high office has helped me all along the lines. I shall ever hold you in grateful remembrance for your kindness and co-operation; but I cannot stand by and see our sick and wounded men treated in this way, and not do my utmost to bring such a rascal to justice.”
“He shall be brought to justice. I will make this proposition to you: I will appoint a commission to investigate, bring charges against and court-martial him, and you may select the commission.”
“But he will resign as soon as he knows they are going to bring charges.”
“I will not accept his resignation.”
And so this plan was agreed to; as over the opposition of the assistant surgeon-general, who had been my ablest helper, I saw it would not do to go, as I wished to do, to Governor Morton.
I selected Dr. Clendening, medical director of that department, as the president of the court. I knew him to be a true gentleman, of sterling integrity, who would do his duty without fear or favor. The others were among the best medical men of the army.
The last I heard of Dr. Clendening he was in the regular army, and stationed at St. Louis. I think he is still living, as are most of those who are familiar with the facts here recorded. The commission received the documents, went to Madison, and verified all Miss Vance’s statements, and sat down together to formulate the charges. But as soon as the committee came on the ground, Surgeon R—— telegraphed his resignation to Surgeon-General Barnes at Washington. It was accepted by telegraph, and he was on a train far away. The commission was greatly disappointed, and General Wood was very much humiliated over the affair. Shortly afterwards, returning to Washington, I spoke to the surgeon-general about the case, and gave him my views about Dr. R——’s rascality. But the hospital was soon cleaned up; the old coffee-grounds and logwood were dumped out upon the “common,” and good food and plenty of it was served to the men.
I was not known to Dr. R—— in the case; but Dr. Clendening and the other members of the commission, and Miss Vance, will know how the reform was brought about. I do not give the full name of the surgeon, as he may have repented in sackcloth and ashes for aught I know; but there is little danger of my forgetting his name. Miss Vance is now living in California.