GENERAL ORDERS No. 147. USCivilWar.Net wants to thank
Jenny Goellnitz for compiling this information.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC;
Camp near Harrison's Landing, Va., August 2,1862.
The following regulations for the organization of the ambulance corps and the management of
ambulance trains are published for the information and government
1. The ambulance corps will be organized on the basis
of a captain to each army corps as the commandant of the ambulance corps, a
first lieutenant for a division, second lieutenant for a brigade, and a sergeant
for each regiment.
2. The allowance of ambulances and transport carts will be
1 transport cart, 1 four-horse and 2 two-horse ambulances for a regiment; 1
two-horse ambulance for each battery of artillery, and 2 two-horse ambulances
for the headquarters of each army corps. Each ambulance will be provided with
two stretchers.
3. The privates of the ambulance corps will consist of two
men and a driver to each ambulance and one driver to each transport cart.
4. The captain is the commander of all the ambulances and transport carts in the
army corps, under the direction of the medical director. He will pay special
attention to the condition of the ambulances, horses, harness, &c.,
requiring daily inspections to be made by the commanders of division ambulances,
and reports thereof to be made to him by these officers. He will make a personal
inspection once a week of all the ambulances, transport carts, horses, harness,
&c., whether they have been used for any other purpose than the
transportation of the sick and wounded and medical supplies; reports of which
will be transmitted through the medical director of the army corps to the
medical director of the army every Sunday morning. He will institute a drill in
his corps, instructing his men in the most easy and expeditious method of
putting men in and taking them out of the ambulance, taking men from the ground
and placing and carrying them on stretchers, observing that the front man steps
off with the left, foot and the rear man with the right, &c. He will be
especially careful that the ambulance and transport carts are at all times in
order, provided with attendants, drivers, horses, &c., and the kegs rinsed
and filled daily with fresh water, that he may be able to move at any moment.
Previous to and in time of action he will receive from the medical director of
the army corps his orders for the distribution of the ambulances and the points
to which he will carry the wounded, using the light two-horse ambulances for
bringing men from the field and the four-horse ones for carrying those already
attended to farther to the rear, if the medical director considers it necessary.
He will give his personal attention to the removal of the sick and wounded from
the field and to and from the hospitals, going from point to point to ascertain
what may be wanted, and to see that his subordinates (for whose conduct he will
be responsible) at tend to their duties in taking care of the wounded, treating
them with gentleness and care, and removing them as quickly as possible to the
places pointed out, and that the ambulances reach their destination. He will
make a full and detailed report after every action and march of the operations
of the ambulance corps.
5. The first lieutenant assigned to the ambulance
corps of a division will have complete control, under the commander of the whole
corps and the medical director, of all the ambulances, transport carts,
ambulance horses, &c., in the division. He will be the acting assistant
quartermaster for the division ambulance corps, and will receipt and be
responsible for the property belonging to it, and be held responsible for any
deficiency in ambulances, transport carts, horses, harness, &c., pertaining
to the ambulance corps of the division. He will have a traveling cavalry forge,
a blacksmith, and a saddler, who will be under his orders, to enable him to keep
his train in order. He will receive a daily inspection report of all the
ambulances, horses, &c., under his charge from the officers in charge of
brigade ambulance corps, will see that the subordinates attend strictly to their
duties at all times, and will inspect the corps under his charge once a week; a
report of which inspection he will transmit to the commander of the ambulance
corps.
6. The second lieutenant in command of the ambulances of a brigade
will be under the immediate orders of the commander of the ambulance corps for
the division and have superintendence of the ambulance corps for the
brigade.
7. The sergeant in charge of the ambulance corps for a regiment will
conduct the drills, inspection, &c., under the orders of the commander of
the brigade ambulance corps, and will be particular in enforcing rigidly all
orders he may receive from his superior officers. The officers and
non-commissioned officers of this corps will be mounted.
8. The detail for
this corps will be made with care by commanders of army corps, and no officer or
man will be selected for this duty except those known to be active and
efficient, and no man will be relieved except by orders from these headquarters.
Should any officer or man detailed for this duty be found not fitted for it,
representations of the fact will be made by the medical director of the army
corps to the medical director of this army.
9. Two medical officers from the
reserve corps of surgeons of each division, and a hospital steward, who will be
with the medicine wagon, will be detailed by the medical director of the army
corps to accompany the ambulance train when on the march,
10. The
officers connected with the corps must be with the trains on a march, observing
that no one rides in the ambulances without the authority of the medical
officers, except in urgent cases; but men must not be allowed to suffer, and the
officers will, when the medical officers cannot be found, use a sound discretion
in this matter, and be especially careful that the men and drivers are in their
proper places. The place for the ambulances is in front of all wagon
trains.
11. When in camp, the ambulances, transport carts, and ambulance
corps will be parked with the brigade, under the supervision of the commander of
the corps for the brigade. They will he used, on the requisition of the
regimental medical officers, transmitted to the commander of the brigade
ambulance corps, for transporting the sick to various points and procuring
medical supplies, and for nothing else. The noncommissioned officer in charge
will always accompany the ambulances or transport carts when on this or any
other duty, and he will be held responsible that they are used for none other
than their legitimate purposes. Should any officer infringe upon this order
regarding the uses of ambulances, &c., he will be reported by the officer in
charge to the commander of the train, all the particulars being given.
12.
The officer in charge of a train will at once remove anything not legitimate,
and if there be not room for it in the baggage wagons of the regiment will leave
it on the road. Any attempt by a superior officer to prevent him from doing his
duty in this or any other instance he will promptly report to the medical
director of the army corps, who will lay the matter before the commander of that
corps. The latter will at the earliest possible moment place the officer
offending in arrest for trial for disobedience of orders.
13. Good
serviceable horses will be used for the ambulances and transport carts, and will
not be taken for any other purpose except by orders from these
headquarters.
14. The uniform for this corps is: For privates, a green band 2
inches broad around the cap, a green half chevron 2 inches broad on each arm
above the elbow, and to be armed with revolvers; non-commissioned officers to
wear the same band around the cap as a private, chevrons 2 inches broad and
green, with the point toward the shoulder, on each arm above the elbow.
15. No person will be allowed to carry from the field any wounded or sick except
this corps.
16. The commanders of the ambulance corps on being detailed will
report without delay to the medical director at these headquarters for
instructions. All division, brigade, or regimental quartermasters having any
ambulances, transport carts, ambulance horses, or harness, &c., in their
possession will turn them in at once to the commander of the division ambulance
corps.
By command of Major-General McClellan:
S. WILLIAMS,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
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