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since i am no longer doing the 50bookchallenge, i'm no longer numbering, but last night i acquired and read (cover to cover ~ and to the exclusion of all else that might have been useful) Mary Abbie Walker Porter's The Surgeon in Charge.
The good news is, this is a weird little aggregation of George Loring Porter's leftover diary, letters and notes regarding the conspiracy trial (and he seemed to have saved most everything that got put into his hands).
a bonanza, right?
well no. unfortunately, Porter was a by-the-book fella who took very seriously his oath to convey no information about the proceeding whatsoever ~ not even privately to himself. so the diary ends with him saying he's been called to duty with General Hartranft, and then is dead silent until the 4th of July when he recalls the grand procession in Washington ~ complete with a hilarious reference to Sherman and Stanton: "they had a spat". i doubt anyone on my flist would know this, but Sherman was so furious at Stanton (and visa versa) that they very publicly snubbed one another on the grandstand. even today there is debate about who did the snubbing first, Stanton later claiming it was he who snubbed Sherman, not the other way around. unfortunately Porter doesn't shed light on this very pressing historical issue.
silly generals and politicians. does it amuse me that my two least favorite people in 1865 were such brats? oh yes, yes it does.
anyway ~ the book answers one really important question regarding the whereabouts of the surgeon's reports. there simply were none. Porter reported verbally to Hartranft and, if there was some pressing issue that couldn't be resolved between them medically, Hartranft reported to Hancock, who reported to Stanton, who sat on his throne and made all the decisions. so we'll never know the particulars of who was ailing and what with. and if Porter wrote no reports, then it is highly doubtful that Dr. Gray (the insanity expert who reported directly to Stanton) ever wrote any either.
( click for more woobling and wibbling about all sorts of truck, including a fun picture )
Porter's "ticket" to the execution, signed by General Hancock
(i just love that guy's writing!). even with my very rudimentary
paleography skills, i am pretty confident the handwriting
on the back is General Hartranft's.
The good news is, this is a weird little aggregation of George Loring Porter's leftover diary, letters and notes regarding the conspiracy trial (and he seemed to have saved most everything that got put into his hands).
a bonanza, right?
well no. unfortunately, Porter was a by-the-book fella who took very seriously his oath to convey no information about the proceeding whatsoever ~ not even privately to himself. so the diary ends with him saying he's been called to duty with General Hartranft, and then is dead silent until the 4th of July when he recalls the grand procession in Washington ~ complete with a hilarious reference to Sherman and Stanton: "they had a spat". i doubt anyone on my flist would know this, but Sherman was so furious at Stanton (and visa versa) that they very publicly snubbed one another on the grandstand. even today there is debate about who did the snubbing first, Stanton later claiming it was he who snubbed Sherman, not the other way around. unfortunately Porter doesn't shed light on this very pressing historical issue.
silly generals and politicians. does it amuse me that my two least favorite people in 1865 were such brats? oh yes, yes it does.
anyway ~ the book answers one really important question regarding the whereabouts of the surgeon's reports. there simply were none. Porter reported verbally to Hartranft and, if there was some pressing issue that couldn't be resolved between them medically, Hartranft reported to Hancock, who reported to Stanton, who sat on his throne and made all the decisions. so we'll never know the particulars of who was ailing and what with. and if Porter wrote no reports, then it is highly doubtful that Dr. Gray (the insanity expert who reported directly to Stanton) ever wrote any either.
( click for more woobling and wibbling about all sorts of truck, including a fun picture )
Porter's "ticket" to the execution, signed by General Hancock
(i just love that guy's writing!). even with my very rudimentary
paleography skills, i am pretty confident the handwriting
on the back is General Hartranft's.
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