Little Pills, an Army Story: Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century AgoMcKay, R. H. (Robert Henderson)
History
Little Pills, an Army Story: Being Some Experiences of a United States Army Medical Officer on the Frontier Nearly a Half Century Ago
McKay, R. H. (Robert Henderson)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); United States. Army -- Military life
This post at that time was about seven hundred miles from the railroad.
I doubt if there is a place in the United States today outside of Alaska
or our insular possession where one could go and be seven hundred miles
from a railroad.
Along in the first part of May of that year I received orders from the
chief medical officer of the district to exchange places with Dr.
Seguin, post surgeon at Fort Craig. General Grover was the commanding
officer at Fort Craig and was considered a good deal of a Martinet. As
explained to me by Doctor Seguin, it seems that Mrs. Grover wanted
something from the hospital which the doctor declined to send her and
General Grover thereupon ordered it sent. The doctor disobeyed the order
and the matter was carried to district headquarters and probably higher
up for it involved the question of military discipline and also the
rights of medical officers under army regulations. It is well enough
here to say that the medical corps is a corps to itself, distinct from
any other branch of the service, and orders come through the medical
officers from the surgeon general down to the divisions; departments and
districts, and yet at the military post the commanding officer is
supposed to be "monarch of all he surveys" as you see there was a chance
for controversy. Any way it was settled by Doctor Seguin being ordered
to Fort Selden to take my place and I to his place at Fort Craig.
General Grover was a severe looking man past middle age, and had seen
service on the frontier before the Civil War. He was a strict
disciplinarian and held himself aloof from everything around. I have
seen him walking down the line of officers' quarters straight as an
arrow, maybe with hands clasped behind his back and an orderly walking
the proper distance behind. He never entered an officer's quarters but
if he wanted anything he would send his orderly to the officer with "the
General's compliments and would like to see you." The officer then
walked out to where the general was standing and at the proper distance
stopped, stood at attention and saluted and waited for such
communications as the general would make. He then saluted again and
returned to his quarters and the general went on his way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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