Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/419

 Hagood'8 Brigade. 413

the fact that the wounds were generally in the head or upper part of the person, and from the enfeebled state of the general health of the men, they were mostly fatal. Diseases of a low nervous type carried the men to the field infirmary, and at one time there were five hun- dred cases in Hagood's alone. These field infirmaries were places in the woods by some roadside in the rear of the city, provided sometimes with a few tents, never with enough, and sometimes with none, where the men were sent whom it was thought possible to restore to duty in a short time, and where the surgical operations were performed. The regimental surgeons were here. The assistant surgeons were in some place more or less sheltered, as near as one could be found to the lines. Litter-bearers brought the wounded to them, and after temporary treatment they were dispatched in two- horse ambulances to the infirmary. The various post hospitals in Petersburg, Richmond, and even further off, received the severe cases. These hospitals were generally well managed, but the field infirmaries were the scene of much suffering, partly unavoidable and partly from mismanagement. It depended entirely upon the fidelity and administrative ability of the senior surgeon of a brigade how each was managed. The brigade commander was expected to exer- cise a supervision over them, which his duties in the trenches pre- vented from being more than nominal, and the higher medical officers were not, within the writer's observation, particular enough in super- vising their brigade subordinates.

The foregoing narrative has given the outline of the military events and surroundings the naked skeleton of the history ; but it is difficult to convey to one who has not had a similar experience an idea of the actual reality, of the labor and sufferings of the men, who for those long hot summer months held, without relief, the trenches of Petersburg. The following extracts from the journal (MSS.) of Lieu- tenant Moffett, then acting inspector on the brigade staff, and who gallantly and faithfully discharged his full share of the duties per- formed, presents vividly the life we led :

"Seldom," says he, "are men called upon to endure as much as was required of the troops who occupied the trenches of Petersburg during the months of June, July and August. It was endurance without relief; sleeplessness without excitement ; inactivity without rest ; constant apprehension requiring ceaseless watching. The ner- vous system was continually strained, till the spirits became depressed almost beyond endurance. * * * * Day after day, as soon as the mists which overhung the country gave way to the dawn, and