36 



AKMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



use of a rope instead of the ridge-pole. They 

 were also made for convenience of transporta- 

 tion, in pieces that buttoned upon each other. 

 When made close, for the sake of warmth in 

 cold weather, these tents soon became filled 

 with impure air, which proved very injurious 

 to the health of those who lived and slept in 

 them. A much better form was obtained from 

 the Oomanche lodge, the common tenement of 

 the Indian tribes of the prairies, and of the 

 traders, trappers, and hunters of the far "West. 

 These are conical-shaped tents, with hides or 

 cloth laid upon long poles, set around a circle 

 upon the ground, and meeting at a point over 

 the centre, where they are secured together. 

 The apex is left open, and a triangular wing 

 is arranged, so as to take the wind in such 

 manner as to produce an upward draught, thus 

 admitting of the use of a fire in the tent, and 

 securing without it a free circulation of air. 

 The tent introduced by Major H. H. Sibley, 

 and generally known in the army as the " Sib- 

 ley tent," is the Oomanche lodge, with an up- 

 right central standard set into an iron tripod, 

 which takes the place of the poles and can be 

 easily transported. This has been used with 

 great satisfaction in exposed encampments, and 

 in severe weather it is made more comfortable 

 by a basement excavated in the ground to the 

 depth of 3 or 4 feet. In the latest improved 

 tents this form is still chiefly preserved, and 

 the principal improvement is in the use of an 

 iron pipe, 3 or 4 inches in diameter, for the 

 central upright, which serves as a smoke-pipe 

 for a small sheet-iron stove. 



India-rubber cloth tents, on a plan invented by 

 Mr. John Rider, and termed " tent knapsacks," 

 are also much used. They are formed of sepa- 

 rate pieces of the stuff, each 5 feet 3 inches 

 long, and 3 feet 8 inches wide, made to button 

 snugly together to form a tent, and when taken, 

 apart each piece makes a tight covering, in 

 which to carry blankets, overcoats, clothes, 

 &c., instead of in a knapsack. The pieces being 

 all alike, any four men carry with them suffi- 

 cient to form a cover that will shelter 5 to 7 

 men. Extra pieces are used with great advan- 

 tage to spread on the ground as a protection 

 against dampness. Various other tents, spe- 

 cially adapted to secure warmth and ventila- 

 tion, are in use by the American army, and in 

 general they are far superior to those of any 

 other nation. 



The sudden and large increase of the army 

 made some modification of the system of or- 

 ganization connected with the supervision of 

 the hygiene and comfort of the troops neces- 

 sary. A commission of inquiry and advice 

 was accordingly instituted, with the object of 

 acting in cooperation with the Medical Bureau. 

 This commission was appointed on the 9th of 

 June, by the Secretary of War. The following 

 persons accepted the duty assigned to them, 

 viz. : Henry W. Bellows, D. D., New York ; 

 Prof. A. D. Bache, Washington ; Elisha Harris, 

 M. D., New York ; George W. Cullum, Alex- 



ander E. Shiras, Robert 0. Wood, M. D., U. S. 

 A., Washington ; William H. Van Buren, M. D., 

 New York ; Wolcott Gibbs, M. D., New York ; 

 Samuel G. Howe, M. D., Boston ; Cornelius R. 

 Agnew, M. D., New York; J. S. Newberry, 

 M. D., Cleveland. 



To these were added by the commission 

 itself others, to wit : George T. Strong, New 

 York ; Horace Binney, jr., Philadelphia ; Thos. 

 M. Clark, D. D., Providence, R. I. ; Joseph 

 Holt, Kentucky ; R. W. Burnett, Cincinnati ; 

 Mark Skinner, Chicago ; Frederick Law Olm- 

 sted, New York. 



The order appointing the committee, vested 

 in them no power beyond that of " inquiry and 

 advice in respect of the sanitary interests of the 

 United States forces." It was directed, espe- 

 cially, to inquire into the principles and prac- 

 tices connected with the inspection of recruits 

 and enlisted men ; the sanitary condition of the 

 volunteers ; to the means of preserving and re- 

 storing the health and of securing the general 

 comfort and efficiency of troops ; to the proper 

 provision of cooks, nurses, and hospitals, and 

 to other subjects of like nature. The office of 

 the commission was thus purely auxiliary and 

 advisory, created solely to give voluntary aid 

 to the Department and Medical Bureau, in 

 meeting the pressure of a great and unexpected 

 demand on their resources. The services of 

 competent physicians were secured, and sent 

 into the field, each having a defined portion of 

 the army under his observation. 



Among the subjects to which their attention 

 was especially directed, and on which they 

 were required to make detailed written reports, 

 were: the quality of rations and of water, the 

 method of camp cooking, the ventilation of 

 tents and quarters, the drainage of the camp, 

 the healthfulness of its site, the administration 

 of the hospital and the sufficiency of its sup- 

 plies, the police of the camp, the quality of the 

 tents and of the clothing of the men, the ma- 

 terial used for tent flooring, if any, &c., &c. 

 Whatever deficiencies or evils they found to 

 exist by which the health, morale, or efficiency 

 of the men might be endangered, they were 

 instructed to indicate to the proper officer, at 

 the same time offering advice, if it was needed, 

 as to the best method of remedying them. 



The results of their investigation, only for 

 the half year since their appointments, have se- 

 cured some valuable information, and increased 

 the comfort and health of a portion of the army. 



After the inspection of each camp or post, 

 the inspector was required to make an elabo- 

 rate report upon its condition. More than four 

 hundred of these reports were received and 

 compared, and digests prepared. The inspec- 

 tions made in the months of September and 

 October, furnish the principal basis of the con- 

 clusions of the commission. Their statistics 

 have been derived from more than two hun- 

 dred regimental returns, of which thirty-seven 

 were from regiments recruited in New Eng- 

 land ; one hundred and one from regiments re- 



