FORT UNION Historic Resource Study

Assistant surgeons were regular army personnel and acting assistant surgeons were civilian medical doctors employed as contract surgeons. In one case, that of John H. Bill, a doctor was first employed as an acting assistant surgeon and was later appointed to the rank of assistant surgeon. Dr. Robert E. Smith was [2] promoted from acting assistant to assistant surgeon while he was serving at Fort Union. A major surgeon was the regular army rank above an assistant surgeon, usually given after several years' service as an assistant surgeon.

Assistant Surgeon Thomas A. McParlin, 1851-1852
Assistant Surgeon John Byrne, 1852-1855
Acting Assistant Surgeon O. W. Blanchard, 1853
Assistant Surgeon Eugene H. Abadie, 1855
Assistant Surgeon Bernard J. D. Irwin, 1856
Assistant Surgeon Jonathan Letterman, 1856-1858
Assistant Surgeon William W. Anderson, 1857
Acting Assistant Surgeon J. C. McKee, 1857
Acting Assistant Surgeon John H. Bill, 1858-1859 (later served as an assistant surgeon in 1862)
Assistant Surgeon Elisha I. Baily, 1859-1860
Assistant Surgeon Glover Perin, 1860
Assistant Surgeon Roberts Bartholow, 1860-1861
Assistant Surgeon Kirtley Ryland, 1861 [3]
Assistant Surgeon Joseph C. Baily, 1861
Acting Assistant Surgeon Alfred H. Crane, 1861-1862
Assistant Surgeon James T. Ghiselin, 1861-1862
Acting Assistant Surgeon J. M. Whitlock, 1861
Assistant Surgeon Basil Norris, 1862
Acting Assistant Surgeon D. A. Holden, 1862
Assistant Surgeon John H. Bill, 1862
Acting Assistant Surgeon J. J. Saville, 1862
Assistant Surgeon John C. C. Downing, 1862-1863
Acting Assistant Surgeon Charles Leib, 1863
Acting Assistant Surgeon Thaddeus P. Seeley, 1864
Acting Assistant Surgeon John H. Shout, 1864-1866
Acting Assistant Surgeon Henry Duane, 1865-1866, 1872
Acting Assistant Surgeon John W. Foye, 1866
Assistant Surgeon Henry A. DuBois, 1866-1867
Assistant Surgeon DeWitt C. Peters, 1867-1871
Assistant Surgeon Ely McClellan, 1867
Acting Assistant Surgeon Robert H. Longwill, 1867-1869
Acting Assistant Surgeon B. R. S. Boemond, 1867-1868
Acting Assistant Surgeon William Armour, 1869
Acting Assistant Surgeon Jules LaCarpentier, 1870-1871
Assistant Surgeon Alfred Delany, 1871
Acting Assistant Surgeon Henry G. Tidemann, 1871-1872
Acting Assistant Surgeon Charles C. Arms, 1871-1872
Assistant Surgeon William J. Wilson, 1871-1872
Major Surgeon Blencowe E. Fryer, 1872-1873
Assistant Surgeon Peter Moffatt, 1873-1874
Acting Assistant Surgeon C. M. Clark, 1873-1874
Acting Assistant Surgeon W. O. Taylor, 1874
Assistant Surgeon William H. Gardner, 1874-1876
Acting Assistant Surgeon George A. Benjamin, 1874
Acting Assistant Surgeon John S. McLain, 1874-1875
Acting Assistant Surgeon Loren N. Clark, 1875
Acting Assistant & Assistant Surgeon Robert E. Smith, 1875
Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph S. Martin, 1876-1878
Assistant Surgeon Carlos Carvallo, 1876-1879
Assistant Surgeon John J. Kane, 1879-1882
Acting Assistant Surgeon W. H. Comegys, 1879
Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph H. Collins, 1880-1883 [4]
Assistant Surgeon Frederick W. Elbrey, 1881-1882
Major Surgeon Albert Hartsuff, 1882-1883
Acting Assistant Surgeon Fred Dewey, 1883-1884
Major Surgeon Peter J. A. Cleary, 1883-1887
Acting Assistant Surgeon William Parker, 1884
Assistant Surgeon Norton Strong, 1884-1885
Assistant Surgeon Charles L. G. Anderson, 1886-1887
Acting Assistant Surgeon Emil I. Pring, 1886-1888
Acting Assistant Surgeon Prescott L. Rice, 1886-1887
Major Surgeon Henry Lippincott, 1887-1891
Acting Assistant Surgeon Samuel T. Weirick, 1888-1889

1. Compiled from Post Returns, Fort Union, 1851-1891, AGO, RG 94, NA; Medical History, Fort Union, 1873-1891, AGO, RG 94, NA; and List of Medical Officers at Posts, 1860-1891, AGO, RG 94, NA.

2. Acting Assistant Surgeon Robert E. Smith reported for duty at Fort Union on June 7, 1875, "having just passed the Army Medical Examining Board at New York City." One month later, July 7, 1875, he was appointed an assistant surgeon. Medical History, Fort Union, June-July 1875, AGO, RG 94, NA.

3. Surgeon Ryland died at Fort Union on Sept. 22, 1861. Orders No. 83, Sept. 23, 1861, HQ FU, FU orders, RG 393, NA; and Heitman, Historical Register, I, 855.

4. Dr. Collins died at Fort Union on Jan. 30, 1883.