Buckner Confederate Hospital Medical Logs

Collection

Identifier: MSS-4339

Scope and Contents

This collection from Buckner Hospital, dating from April 1862 to April 1865, is comprised of one ledger of patients treated by the hospital’s mobile unit and one ledger of medical orders. The patient ledger is 343 pages and contains patient names, ranks, regiments, companies, complaints and applied treatments, and whether the patient was discharged or died. The medical orders ledger is 141 pages of general and specific orders concerning medical treatment at field hospitals. The ledgers are fragile and require careful handling.

Dates

1862-04 - 1865-04

Creator

Confederate States of America. Army (Organization)

Physical Description

Very fragile, careful handling required.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

Buckner Hospital, also known as ‘the Buckner,’ was a Confederate general hospital established to treat Civil War soldiers who required lengthier stays and treatments than field hospitals could provide. Buckner Hospital had a mobile unit that operated across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, and treated soldiers in the field who needed less intensive medical care.

William Thomas McAllister (1829-1886) received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1848 before moving to Hale County, Alabama, where he practiced general medicine until enlisting with the 25th Alabama Infantry as an assistant surgeon in 1862. Later that same year, McAllister was appointed as a surgeon in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States. In November 1863, he became the surgeon-in-charge at Buckner Hospital, a position he held until the Civil War ended in 1865. After the war, McAllister practiced general medicine in Perry County, Alabama, with his wife, Martha, who worked as his nurse. During the 1870s he served on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer for Judson College until his death in 1886.