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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02649.29 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Dr. Thomas A. McParlin |
| Title | George Gordon Meade to Thomas McParlin regarding a recommendation |
| Date | 16 April 1866 |
| Author | Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872) |
| Recipient | McParlin, Thomas A. |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Major General Meade informs McParlin that he has complied with his request for a recommendation (see GLC02649.30): "I think if any medical officers are entitled to the Brevet of Brig Genl it [is] these who like yourself stuck it out in the field and although whilst in the field I thought two brevets a fair proportion for my staff officers - I did not dream that these out of the field were going to get more and I consider it my duty to modify my recommendations as I have in your own case...I often think of our last campaign and how skillfully you treated me. I shall never forget the obligation you there placed me under, for I did not know at that time even how vital to me it was that I should keep on duty & not be reported sick." Written on "Head Quarters, Military Division of the Atlantic" stationery. Comes with original envelope addressed in Meade's hand. In April of 1865, Grant had ordered Meade and General E.O.C. Ord to corral Lee's retreating forces. During the last days of the campaign, however, Meade became seriously ill. He was treated by McParlin, his staff physician, and was able to continue in command, though forced to accompany his troops in an army ambulance. Meade did not attend the surrender ceremony at Appomattox, but did recover enough to announce the news to his troops at the front. Though he received little credit for the role he played in the Appomattox campaign, Meade's letter to McParlin makes clear that he considered his presence at that time to have been "vital." |
| Subjects | Hospital Civil War Military History Union Forces Union General Health and Medical Letter of Introduction or Recommendation Appomattox Battle |
| People | Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872) McParlin, T. A. (Thomas Andrew) (1825-1897) Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885) Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1807-1870) Ord, Edward Otho Cresap (1818-1883) |
| Place written | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Health & Medicine |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Folder Information: Includes personal and professional letters and documents to and from Dr. Thomas A. McParlin, medical director of the Army of Virginia and the army of the Potomac during the Civil War. Among the individuals represented in this archive are Secretary of War Simon Cameron, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, generals George Meade, George D. Ruggles, John Pope, Rufus Ingalls, noted reformer Dorothea Dix, and numerous Civil War medical officers. Documents include wartime and post-war items. Of particular interest is a lengthy (40 page) manuscript report, prepared by McParlin for General William A. Hammond, chronicling his efforts as during the campaign of the Army of Virginia during the summer of 1862. Thomas Andrew McParlin (1825-1897) of Maryland was a surgeon in the U. S. Army from the time of the Mexican War to after the Civil War. By the end of the latter conflict, McParlin had become Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac and was present during the siege at Petersburg. McParlin was appointed Assistant Surgeon, 03 March 1849; appointed Major, Surgeon, 21 May 1861, breveted Lieutenant Colonel, for faithful and meritorious service in the field, 01 August 1864; breveted Brigadier General for meritorious and distinctive service at New Orleans where cholera and yellow fever prevailed, 26 November 1866; breveted Colonel, for faithful service during the war, 13 March 1865; appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Medical Purchaser, 13 April 1881; appointed Colonel, Surgeon, 16 September 1885. McParlin retired on 10 July 1889; he died eight years later (28 January 1897). George B. Parker (b. 1826?) enlisted as a Assistant Surgeon on 3 September 1862 and commissioned in Company S, 42nd Infantry Regiment New York, he was discharged on 12 August 1863. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Comrade |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Main Eastern Theater |