NPS marker for Depot Field Hospital at City Point

Depot Field Hospital was one of seven

hospitals A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

operated at

City Point, Virginia City Point was a town in Prince George County, Virginia, Prince George County, Virginia, United States, that was annexed by the independent city of Hopewell, Virginia, Hopewell in 1923. It served as headquarters of the Union Army during the sieg ...

, in the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the siege of Petersburg, it was not a c ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The largest, Depot Field Hospital, covered nearly 200 acres (800,000 m²) and could hold up to 10,000 patients. The compound comprised 1,200

tent A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

s, along with 90 log

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

in the winter, and

laundries Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this uni ...

, dispensaries, regular and special diet

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

dining hall A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a schoo ...

s, offices, and other structures. Army

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

s administered the hospital and received support from civilian agencies, such as the

United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private Aid agency, relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the Ameri ...

and the U.S. Christian Commission. Male

nurses Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

serving in the U.S. Army cared for patients, providing them with their own beds and wash basins, along with fresh pillows and linens. The National Park Service claims the "excellence" of the facilities and the "efficiency and dedication" of the staff helped Depot Field Hospital become one of the "finest" in the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited the facility on April 8, 1865, where he is reported to have shook hands with more than 6,000 Union and Confederate patients. Depot Field Hospital treated more than 70,000 soldiers during the Civil War, and the hospital reported deaths among fewer than 3 percent of those patients.

References

{{coord missing, Virginia Virginia in the American Civil War American Civil War hospitals Prince George County, Virginia, in the American Civil War Former medical facilities of the United States Army Former installations of the United States Army

See also

References