MEDICAL DIRECTOR FRANK ANDERSON, U. S. N.

MAJOR P. M. ASHBURN, U. S. A.
CAPTAIN MAHLON ASHFORD, U. S. A.
SURGEON ROBERT A. BACHMANN, U. S. N.
SURGEON FRED M. BOGAN, U. S. N.

SURGEON W. C. BRAISTED, U. S. N.

MAJOR WESTON P. CHAMBERLAIN, U. S. A.
SURGEON MAJOR S. H. CHANG, PEKING, CHINA.
MAJOR WILSON T. DAVIDSON, U. S. A.
MEDICAL DIRECTOR OLIVER DIEHL, U. S. N.
CAPTAIN HENRY H. DOAN, N. G. PA.
CAPTAIN LOUIS C. DUNCAN, U. S. A.
MAJOR GEORGE M. EKWURZEL, U. S. A.
MAJOR J. H. FORD, U. S. A.

FIRST LIEUTENANT GEORGE B. FOSTER, JR., U. S. A.
FIRST LIEUTENANT L. WEBSTER FOX, U. S. A.
FIRST LIEUTENANT SANFORD W. FRENCH, U. S. A.
COLONEL E. R. GARCIA, MEXICAN ARMY.
FIRST LIEUTENANT ERNEST R. GENTRY, U. S. A.
FIRST LIEUTENANT R. H. GOLDTHWAITE, U. S. A.
MAJOR FREDERICK M. HARTSOCK, U. S. A.
COLONEL JOHN VAN R. HOFF, U. S. A., RET.
PASSED ASSISTANT SURGEON J. R. HURLEY, U. S. P. H. S.
CAPTAIN PERCY L. JONES, U. S. A.
CAPTAIN E. D. KILBOURNE, U. S. A.

FIRST LIEUTENANT SAMUEL LLOYD, U. S. A.
C. S. LUDLOW.

MAJOR ROBERT S. McCAUGHEY, N. G. ILL.

PASSED ASSISTANT

SURGEON ALLAN J.

U. S. P. H. S.

MCLAUGHLIN,

MAJOR EDWARD L. MUNSON, U. S. A.
CAPTAIN HENRY J. NICHOLS, U. S. A.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL L. H. REICHELDERFER, N. G. D. C.
MAJOR WILLIAM W. RENO, U. S. A.

CAPTAIN GEORGE H. RICHARDSON, N. G. CAL.
PASSED ASSISTANT SURGEON R. E. RIGGS, U. S. N.
ASSISTANT SURGEON GENERAL W. C. RUCKER, U. S. P. H. S.
MAJOR F. F. RUSSELL, U. S. A.

MAJOR M. A. W. SHOCKLEY, U. S. A.
MAJOR GEORGE A. SKINNER, U. S. A.
FIRST LIEUTENANT H. H. SMITH, U. S. A.
CAPTAIN L. L. SMITH, U. S. A.

FIRST LIEUTENANT GEORGE P. STALLMAN, U. S. A.
CAPTAIN EDWARD B. VEDDER, U. S. A.

SURGEON CHARLES P. WERTENBAKER, U. S. P. H. S.
MAJOR EUGENE R. WHITMORE, U. S. A.

PASSED ASSISTANT SURGEON J. G. ZIEGLER, U. S. N.

MILITARY SURGEONS

OF THE UNITED STATES

Incorporated by Act of Congress.

22nd Annual Meeting, Denver, Colo.

Officers 1912-1913

President,

SURGEON W. C. BRAISTED,

UNITED STATES NAVY.

First Vice President,

BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES ADAMS,
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL GUARD OF ILLINOIS.

Second Vice President,

LIEUTENANT COLONEL J. R. KEAN,

MEDICAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY.

Third Vice President,

SURGEON GENERAL RUPERT BLUE,

UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

Secretary and Editor,

MAJOR CHAS. LYNCH,

MEDICAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY.

Assistant Secretary,

SURGEON T. W. RICHARDS,

UNITED STATES NAVY.

Treasurer,

MAJOR HERBERT ALONZO ARNOLD,

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL GUARD OF PENNSYLVANIA,
ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Surgeon T. W. RICHARDS, U. S. N., Washington, D. C.

MILITARY ABSENTEEISM IN WAR, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE RELATION OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT THERETO.

[CONCLUDED]

BY MAJOR EDWARD L. MUNSON, MEDICAL CORPS; DIRECTOR, FIELD SERVICE SCHOOL FOR MEDICAL OFFICERS, THE ARMY SERVICE SCHOOLS, FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS.

ABSENTEEISM DUE TO UNNECESSARY DISCHARGES ON SURGEONS' CERTIFICATES OF DISABILITY.

UT the evils connected with the care of the supposedly sick

B and disabled in the

and disabled in the Civil War did not end with the wrongful entry on sick report of the latter, their removal to distant points, their absenteeism under authority of sick furloughs injudiciously granted, or with the delay in sending them back to their proper organizations. Vast numbers of men were unnecessarily or fraudulently discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability, and thus not only needlessly lost to the army, but subsequently added to the pension rolls. The surgeons and civilian doctors who served as the agents in this wholesale disintegration of armies very likely took credit to themselves for meritorious humanitarianism. Certainly they would have resented being regarded as anything. else but patriotic. Yet their acts lacked only intent to be treasonable. Every unnecessary discharge of a soldier at their hands

was equivalent to adding a rifle to the firing line of the enemy. The following figures would indicate that they were a very real, if unwitting, agent in the unnecessary prolongation of the war and its agonies.

The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War gives the following data:

Discharges on Surgeon's Certificate of Disability.

TROOPS

May and June. July 1, 1861 to July 1, 1862 to July 1, 1863 to July 1, 1864 to July 1, 1865 to
1861
June 30, 1862 June 30, 1863 June 30, 1864 June 30, 1865 June 30, 1866

The grand total for discharges on Surgeon's Certificate of Disability was thus 223,525. For comparison, it is interesting to note that report of the Provost Marshal General, dated March 17, 1866, gives the following summary of other causes of loss:

Died of wounds

Died of disease

Deserted ....

Killed in action

34,773 .183,287

199,045

61,362

The loss in military strength through discharge on surgeon's certificate thus exceeded those from deaths through wound or ill. ness combined, was far greater than that due to desertion, and was nearly four times the number of those killed in action. In one year, the losses through this channel nearly equaled one and one-half times the total strength of the present regular army of the United States. In the year 1863, one man out of every six was discharged as being physically unfit to further bear arms. What wonder that General Pope complained that the doctors were stealing away his army!

It is idle to assume that even the majority of such appalling losses at the hands of the medical profession were based on equity. Some of the chief causes of discharge on surgeon's certificate were as follows: