Harewood General Hospital

Harewood General Hospital
Part of military hospitals in the United States
Washington, D.C.
Bird-eye view of Harewood Hospital
Harewood General Hospital
Coordinates 38°55′44″N 77°00′49″W / 38.928881°N 77.013559°W / 38.928881; -77.013559
Site information
Controlled by Union Army
Site history
Built 1862
In use 1862–1866
Battles/wars American Civil War

Harewood General Hospital was a purpose-built pavilion style hospital in Washington, DC during the Civil War which operated from September 4, 1862 to May 5, 1866.[1]

Location

Corcoran's "Hare-Wood" tract

The Hospital was located on land belonging to William W. Corcoran. It was named after the name (“Harewood”) of the tract of land upon which it was built. [2]

It was located east of the 7th Street Turnpike (now Georgia Avenue NW) just north of the Glenwood Cemetery and south of the U.S. Military Asylium (today the Armed Forces Retirement Home). Today the land is home to other hospitals:

History

The hospital opened on September 4, 1862 and operated until after the end of the Civil War, closing on May 5, 1866[1]

It was located on the Corcoran Farm and built in a “V” pavilion style. The hospital was made up of nine wards of 63 beds each totaling 945 beds. Additional tents of six beds each were set up. With a maximum of 312 tents set up on site, the capacity of 1,872 beds was reached. The December 17, 1864 bed census lists that the hospital had 1,207 beds occupied of the 2,080 beds total. At the time, Surgeon R.A. Bontecon, U.S.V. was in charge. A few wooden barracks and a brick farm house were also part of the hospital complex. [1]

Anecdote

Walt Whitman is well known for having visited sick and injured soldiers in the various hospital. It appears he also visited Harewood General Hospital where on January 21, 1866 he penned a letter on behalf of a dying soldier, Pvt. Robert N. Jabo of the 8th New Hampshire infantry to his wife and six children (he died on December 19, 1866). This letter is one of only three known letter to exist written by the author and discovered in February 2016 in the National Archives.[3]

Pictures

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Harewood General Hospital (Corcoran Farm)
  2. 1 2 Topographical map of the District of Columbia
  3. ↑ Rare Walt Whitman letter, written for a dying soldier, found in National Archives

Digital copy of Walt Whiteman's letter written on behalf of Nelson Jabo at the National Archives

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