the fractured bones of the Sickles' leg attract the interest of visitors to the public exhibits of the Museum (fig.II)." 21[1]
Hammond In Exile
Throughout the last half of 1863, the Medical Department of the Army was in the anomalous state of having two heads— the titular Surgeon General Hammond, who was in official exile away from the seat of government, and Acting Surgeon General Barnes, in charge of affairs at the Capital. Determined to put an end to this situation, Hammond demanded reinstatement in his office or trial by court-martial. Permitted to return to Washington, he arrived on 15 January 1864, to be placed in arrest on the 17th, and ordered to trial, beginning the 19th, on charges of irregularities in the procurement of supplies and falsehood. Hammond sought a postponement to allow preparation of his defense, but it was denied him, and he was forced to proceed to trial in 48 hours on charges and specifications which had required 6 months to prepare. The ensuing trial ran for nearly 4 months, accumulated a record of 2,500 pages, and resulted in a verdict of guilty and a sentence of dismissal from the Service, approved by the implacable Secretary of War and promulgated on 18 August.
Dr. Hammond, far from being crushed by the sentence, retained the respect of the medical profession, and went on to win new honors as one of the founders of the developing specialty of neurology, with a large and lucrative practice in New York City. Fifteen years after his dismissal, on 27 August 1879, by Act of Congress and action of the President, he was restored to the retired list of the Army with his rank of brigadier general, though, at his own request, without pay for the past, present, or future. In its report recommending such action, the Senate Committee summed up the evidence as follows:
A careful, unbiased and searching scrutiny of the evidence * * * forces irresistibly the conclusion that the gravamen of all the charges save one (that of falsehood) was either disproved by the defense, abandoned by the prosecution, or eliminated by the findings of the court.
The single charge of which the gravamen was not found wanting by the Court, was in itself trifling, if not frivolous, and certainly insufficient in character and importance to arraign, try, convict, and pronounce sentence thereon, in the manner and form set forth.
Referring to Hammond's request that he not be awarded pay but only vindication, the Committee wrote:
Dearer and more precious to him than untold gold, the priceless treasure of reputation restored and reparation made at the hands of his countrymen; he was asked that his name
- ↑ 21 (1) Brinton, John Hill: Address to the Graduates of the Army Medical School, March 13, 1896. Journal of the American Medical Association 26: 602, March 28, 1896. (2) Lamb, op. cit., p. 18. (3) Lamb, The Military Surgeon, 53 (1923), p. 100.
