THE SURGEONS OF THE 17th CORPS FIELD HOSPITAL
TREVOR STEINBACH PORTRAYING: Major James Riley Monroe Gaskill - Surgeon
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James Gaskill - 17th Corps Field Hospital. Major Gaskill was from Marine, Illinois (By Edwardsville, Il. Trained as a doctor he answered an advertisement being run all over the State of Illinois in 1863 searching for doctors that were willing to enlist for three years or the duration of the war. In 1863 there was a serious shortage of Surgeons in the Illinois Volunteer troops as many of the Surgeons had completed their two or three year enlistment and were going home. Dr. Gaskill entered the service in May of 1864 replacing Surgeon Conant. Serving as a First Asst. Surgeon at the time with the 45th Illinois under the 17th Corps, he joined the unit in Northern Georgia as Gen. Sherman was fighting to Atlanta.
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He served many times as the 17th Corps Third Division Head Surgeon, attesting to his medical and administrative skills. These skills were tested during the "March to the Sea" by Gen. Sherman and further tested during the march through the Carolina's after reaching Savanna. His re-supply notes from Hilton Head and hand written reports on illnesses during the march attest to the healthy status of the men selected to make the march. After Gen Joe Johnston's surrender, he was part of the grand march through Washington City. His final post was in Louisville, KY where he was promoted to Regimental Chief Surgeon prior to his muster out in July of 1865.
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He returned to Illinois, but later left and became a pharmacist in Minneapolis, MN. never to practice medicine again. Perhaps the horrors of the war made it too painful to continue to practice. In 1898 he visited Danville, Illinois for a GAR reunion and was poisoned with arsenic by "persons unknown" according to the newspaper accounts and died. His widow later moved to California and died in 1920. He is buried in Minneapolis, MN. in the family plot.
(based upon archives)
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BOB NORTON PORTRAYING : Major John Watson - Surgeon
Dr. John Watson - 17th Corps Field Hospital. Dr. John Watson was born in 1836 in New York State. He moved to Illinois in 1854 and opened his shop.
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Originally trained as a tailor, he took up the medical profession in 1860 after his two children died within 10 days of each other the previous April. Trained for two years by a local Dr. Mead, he entered Rush Medical College in 1862 and completed the first year of the two year medical degree program. He enlisted in 1862 and served for 1 year with the 124th Illinois during the Vicksburg Campaign. Resigning to complete his medical degree at Rush, he finished his degree in the Spring of 1864 and was appointed by the Governor as a member of the 17th Corps Medical Staff.
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He served from May 1864 to August 1865 when he was mustered out at Louisville, KY. Upon returning to Illinois he ran for office in 1866 and was elected County Coroner for Kane County. After one term, he did not run for re-election but practiced medicine in the county until the Great Chicago Fire. After the fire he moved his office to the west side of Chicago and practiced medicine in the Humboldt Park area of the city.
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He remained in Cook County until 1894 when he moved to Fitzgerald, GA. for the remainder of his life. At the time many Civil War Veterans were moving to Georgia for the free land offer and because the two year drought in the Midwest had led to an economic depression. He died and was buried in Fitzgerald in June of 1907.
(based upon biography of C.A. Bucher)
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JON COOPER PORTRAYING - Captain John Conant - Surgeon
Surgeon Conant joined the 17th Corps as a Second Asst. Surgeon in April of 1863 during the Vicksburg Campaign. He was promoted in July of 1863 to First Asst. Surgeon as a result of a resignation. He remained a First Asst. Surgeon until, December of 1863 when he resigned and returned to Pecatonica, Illinois, his home town. (based upon archives)
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Dr. Mix attended Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduating in 1864. He became 2nd Asst. Surgeon of the 64th Illinois. He rose through the ranks to be promoted to a Major and full surgeon by the end of the war. He marched with General Sherman across Georgia. He was one of three surgeons that formed a Surgeons Board of Examiners for the Army of Tennessee. After the war he took additional classes at Rush College an then practiced in Oregon, Illinois both with a partner and on his own.
(based upon archives)
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BRIAN SCHWATKA - PORTRAYING - 1st Lt. - US Regular Army - Staff Asst. Surgeon - Charles Christopher Byrnes
Charles C. Byrne was a graduate of the University of Maryland in 1859. After performing a year as resident physician in the Baltimore Infirmary he performed post graduate studies at the University of PA. In June, 1860, after passing successfully the very rigid examination required, he became a medical officer of the United States Army, and was at once assigned to duty in Texas, where he remained until early in the following year, when the State of Texas seceded from the Union.
About the first of October, 1862, he was assigned to duty in the office of the Surgeon General of the Army, at Washington, District of Columbia, a position he held until April, 1863. He then took charge of the Armory Square general hospital in Washington City. After a few months, owing to the demand for the services of medical officers with the troops at the front, Surgeon Byrne was assigned to duty with the Army of the Cumberland, then fronting the enemy in the State of Tennessee. He had charge of a hospital of 1,200 beds at Chattanooga, where he ministered to the wounded from the battle-fields of Chickamauga, Mission Ridge and Sherman's Atlantic campaign.
After the capture of Atlanta, Surgeon Byrne was placed in charge of the military hospitals in the city of Nashville, Tennessee, where he treated many of the soldiers who were wounded in the battle of Nashville, which took place in December, 1864, and where he remained until the end of the war.
After the War he would continue his career with the postings that included Minnesota and California. Eventually he would rise to the rank of Colonel and Assistant Surgeon General. He died in 1921 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
(based upon archives)
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JON COOPER PORTRAYING - Captain John Conant - Surgeon
Surgeon Conant joined the 17th Corps as a Second Asst. Surgeon in April of 1863 during the Vicksburg Campaign. He was promoted in July of 1863 to First Asst. Surgeon as a result of a resignation. He remained a First Asst. Surgeon until, December of 1863 when he resigned and returned to Pecatonica, Illinois, his home town. (based upon archives)
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BILL WETZBARGER - PORTRAYING - H.A. Mix -Captain.
- 1st Asst. Surgeon
Dr. Mix attended Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduating in 1864. He became 2nd Asst. Surgeon of the 64th Illinois. He rose through the ranks to be promoted to a Major and full surgeon by the end of the war. He marched with General Sherman across Georgia. He was one of three surgeons that formed a Surgeons Board of Examiners for the Army of Tennessee. After the war he took additional classes at Rush College an then practiced in Oregon, Illinois both with a partner and on his own.
(based upon archives)
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BRIAN SCHWATKA - PORTRAYING - 1st Lt. - US Regular Army - Staff Asst. Surgeon - Charles Christopher Byrnes
Charles C. Byrne was a graduate of the University of Maryland in 1859. After performing a year as resident physician in the Baltimore Infirmary he performed post graduate studies at the University of PA. In June, 1860, after passing successfully the very rigid examination required, he became a medical officer of the United States Army, and was at once assigned to duty in Texas, where he remained until early in the following year, when the State of Texas seceded from the Union.
Surgeon Byrne, together with the troops with whom he was serving, was captured by the rebels under General Van Dorn in May, 1861, at Saluria, Texas. He was immediately paroled, but was not exchanged until August, 1862. In June, 1861, Surgeon Byrne established and organized a large military hospital at the well named Camp Parole in Annapolis, Maryland. There he attended to captured Union soldiers who had been paroled back to the North The hospital remained in operation until the close of the war.
About the first of October, 1862, he was assigned to duty in the office of the Surgeon General of the Army, at Washington, District of Columbia, a position he held until April, 1863. He then took charge of the Armory Square general hospital in Washington City. After a few months, owing to the demand for the services of medical officers with the troops at the front, Surgeon Byrne was assigned to duty with the Army of the Cumberland, then fronting the enemy in the State of Tennessee. He had charge of a hospital of 1,200 beds at Chattanooga, where he ministered to the wounded from the battle-fields of Chickamauga, Mission Ridge and Sherman's Atlantic campaign.
After the capture of Atlanta, Surgeon Byrne was placed in charge of the military hospitals in the city of Nashville, Tennessee, where he treated many of the soldiers who were wounded in the battle of Nashville, which took place in December, 1864, and where he remained until the end of the war.
After the War he would continue his career with the postings that included Minnesota and California. Eventually he would rise to the rank of Colonel and Assistant Surgeon General. He died in 1921 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
(based upon archives)
