Letter on hospital space shortage, Portsmouth, Va., 1864
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Description
J. H. Franz, assistant surgeon at Balfour U.S. General Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, wrote to Brig. Gen. George F. Shepley, commander of the Division of Eastern Virginia for the Union army, about the arrival of 150 wounded soldiers and no place to put them. He suggested the basement of the Baptist Church and said he also would need the Episcopal Church. On the back is Shepley's response. Shepley, a native of Maine who was a lawyer and U.S. District Attorney before the war, enlisted as a colonel, commanding the 12th Maine Volunteer Regiment.