Autograph letter signed : Ely's Ford, Va., to [Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch, Boston, Mass.].

Item Information

Title:
Autograph letter signed : Ely's Ford, Va., to [Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch, Boston, Mass.].
Description:
Bowditch writes: I write this to send by a waggon train that is going to Rappahannock Station tomorrow morning. They might just as well send us too if there was any one to take the responsibility of it but the comfort of 100 or so wounded men is sacrificed to red tape. My wound is in the right arm just below the elbow. It is getting along first rate. I don't think the bone is injured at all. Lt. [Charles] Longfellow is wounded just below the shoulder blades. The bullet went in below one shoulder blade & came out below the other, just grazing the spine. He is rather stiff but is in excellent spirits & is getting along finely. Lt. Merrill of our regt. has just been brought into the hospital. He was wounded in the leg today. The rebs charged through our camp it seems. I shall direct this to you or Mr. Longfellow in Washington for I suppose [one] or both of you will be there by the time this gets there. A telegram was sent to you day before yesterday. I don't know how long it will be before the medical authorities will stir themselves, but I don't think it can be many days for they will soon have more wounded than they can take care of here, I think. I hope you like this specimen of left-handed penmanship. In this letter to his father, H. P. Bowditch reassures his family after being wounded in his arm two days earlier.
Creator:
Bowditch, Henry Pickering
Date:
November 29, 1863
Format:
Documents
Location:
Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine)
Collection (local):
Bowditch, Henry papers, 1806-1957 (inclusive), 1858-1910 (bulk). H MS c5
Papers of Henry Bowditch, 1806-1957 (inclusive), 1858-1910 (bulk), H MS c5.1.
Series:
Bowditch, Henry papers, 1806-1957 (inclusive), 1858-1910 (bulk). H MS c5
Subjects:
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Gunshot wounds
Extent:
Excerpt (2 pages) from letter
Link to Item:
http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/6107
Terms of Use:
The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in this collection. For use information, consult Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu
Contact host institution for more information.
Language:
English
Notes:
Gift of Mrs. Harold Bowditch to the Library of Harvard Medical School, 1968.
Identifier:
DigID0001668