Page:A History of the Indian Medical Service, 1600-1913 Vol 1.djvu/276

 CHAPTER XVI

MILITARY AND CIVIL

" Peace hath her victories, no less renowned than war."

Milton, To the Lord General Cromwell.

Up to the middle of the eighteenth century, the Company em- ployed no regular forces, except the small garrisons of their chief factories. Their medical officers, therefore, were civilians, occasionally employed in the desultory fighting which took place from time to time, but for the most part engaged in purely civil duties. The wars in the Karnatik, with the French and with various native powers, from 1745 onwards, necessitated the formation and use of regular bodies of troops, and, as a conse- quence, the employment of mihtary Surgeons. A similar cause brought about a similar effect in Bengal, where the need for regular troops may be said to have begun with the capture of Calcutta by the Nawab of Bengal in 1756.

A General Letter from Court, dated 22nd Feb., 1764, orders in para. 64 (abstract) —

" Surgeons and Assistants who attend our Troops are equally upon the Establishm' with others & to succeed the Head Surgeons at the Pres^y, if capable."

The Fort William Cons, of 26th Nov., 1764, contain a repre- sentation about their rank and duties from Thomas Anderson, and Robert Hunter, Surgeons to the Army, on which the following orders were passed : —

" It is agreed in Consequence to estabhsh the following Regulation with respect to the Surgeons attending the Army.

" The first Surgeon of the Army shall have the Care of the Grand Hospital wherever it may be estabhshed. The next Senior Surgeon shall have the Care of a second Hospital, if it shall be necessary, and so on according to the Dates of their Warrants. Of course the Surgeons who are to attend the Army without any particular Charge must be the Jumors.

" Agreed further that the Commander in Chief of the Army be wrote to desiring that the same may be punctually observed in future."