Inhumanity and Poltroonery of the Rebel Surgeons

The following article appeared in the N. Y. Times - Adams Sentinel, July 1863.

Many Confederate wounded were left to die at Gettysburg.   
The infamy and cowardice of the Rebel surgeons in deserting the men of their army wounded at the battle of Gettysburg is without parallel in the war. In every battle in which fortune has been adverse to our arms and our wounded have been temporarily left within the Rebel lines, the brave and self denying surgeons of the regiments have either remained with the fallen or have immediately applied for peace within the Rebel lines, that they might be cared for. But the Rebels left lying on the field many thousands of their wounded - Dr. Veliom reports the number at ten-thousand-and-one with them neither surgeons, stores nor nurses but literally abandoned them to their fate. These men complained bitterly of the cruelty of their surgeons in thus forsaking them, but bore up patiently under their sufferings for many days until they could be attended to by some of our own surgeons most of whom had at once to hasten forward with their own regiments to other fields.

We published yesterday a thrilling letter from the battle field written on Thursday last, six days after the close of the contest, which stated that there were hundreds of the Rebel wounded not then reached-that hundreds of them it had been found impossible even to cover and they lay in the woods with broken limbs and torn bodies drenched in the rain, some having been even drowned in the floods which rose around them. Of course everything possibly was being done for them, and doctors, wound dressers and nurses were arriving. We were not prepared for, and could not have foreseen the flight of all the Rebel surgeons. It will long be remembered to their disgrace both by the unfortunate Rebels and by the whole country.


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