1. Major Jonathan Letterman was an American surgeon credited as being the originator of the modern methods for medical organization in armies or battlefield medical management.
19 Facts About Jonathan Letterman
1. 2.
Jonathan Letterman was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of a well-known surgeon.
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Jonathan Letterman's studies were directed by a private tutor until he entered Jefferson College, where he became a member of Beta Theta Pi.
4.
Jonathan Letterman graduated from Jefferson in 1845 and Jefferson Medical College in 1849.
5.
Jonathan Letterman served in Florida during military campaigns against the Seminole Indians until 1853.
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Jonathan Letterman then spent a year in Fort Ripley, Minnesota.
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Jonathan Letterman was then ordered to Fort Defiance in New Mexico Territory to aid the campaign against the Apache.
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At the start of the Civil War, Jonathan Letterman was Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac.
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Jonathan Letterman was named medical director of the Department of West Virginia in May 1862.
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Jonathan Letterman immediately set to reorganizing the Medical Service of the fledgling army, having obtained from army commander Maj.
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In other words, Jonathan Letterman instituted standing operating procedures for the intake and subsequent treatment of war casualties and was the first person to apply management principles to battlefield medicine.
12.
Jonathan Letterman established mobile field hospitals to be located at division and corps headquarters.
13.
Jonathan Letterman arranged an efficient system for the distribution of medical supplies.
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Jonathan Letterman's system was, though, adopted by the Army of the Potomac and other Union armies after the Battle of Fredericksburg and was eventually officially established as the procedure for intake and treatment of battlefield casualties for the entirety of the United States' armies by an Act of Congress in March 1864.
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Jonathan Letterman appreciated that command had to make hard decisions when allocating transport vehicles for the best overall benefit of the Army's operations and soldiers.
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Jonathan Letterman then ran as a Democrat and was elected coroner, serving from 1867 to 1872.
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Jonathan Letterman published his memoirs, Medical Recollections of the Army of the Potomac, in 1866.
18.
Jonathan Letterman then came down with several illnesses and eventually died in San Francisco.
19.
Jonathan Letterman was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.