Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Stretcher |
Catalog Number |
0985.13.01953 |
Date |
1861-1862 |
Description |
Medical stretcher or cot. Wooden frame with canvas stretcher, large nails secure canvas to frame. Smaller wooden posts are bolted to wooden frame to make stretcher into a cot. Two wooden pieces remain on right side, at both ends - only the bolts remain on left side both ends. Four leather straps are attached to canvas, two at top (one with metal buckle hardware) and two at bottom, and two leather straps remain on side of canvas. Canvas marked in black paint: "Surg. J.D. Cullen Longstreets Div: Yorktown". Left corner of frame marked with two letters, possibly "Hg". |
Dimensions |
W-25 L-77 D-4 inches |
Owned |
J. S. Dorsey Cullen |
Event |
Battle of Williamsburg |
Provenance |
Stretcher used during the war by Surgeon J.S. Dorsey Cullen, C.S.A., who served on the staff of Gen. James Longstreet and Gen. J.E. Johnston. It was left at Bruton Parish Church near Williamsburg, which was used as a hospital for a week after the May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg. "A stretcher of Dr. D. Cullen used when on Longstreet's staff." "An old Confederate stretcher, which was left there [Bruton Church] after the battle below Williamsburg, when the church was used as a Confederate hospital. The stretcher still has the name of Surgeon J. D. Cullen upon it and is in good preservation, it is evidently of Confederate manufacture." - donor letter When war broke out, Cullen enlisted in the Confederate army and was appointed surgeon of the 1st Virginia Infantry Regiment. During the Civil War, Dorsey Cullen served as brigade and division surgeon, and at the time of the surrender was the medical director of the First Army Corps, the Army of Northern Virginia. |
People |
Cullen, J. S. Dorsey |
Search Terms |
Peninsula Campaign |
Subjects |
Medical aspects of war Medical care Medical equipment & supplies Medical personnel Surgeons hospitals Ambulances |