[By] Letterman, Jonathan, Surg., Med. Dir. Army of the Potomac, Gettysburg, Pa.
The ambulance corps . . . acted in the most commendable manner during those days of severe labor. Notwithstanding the great number of wounded, . . . I know, . . . that not one wounded man of all that number was left on the field within our lines early on the morning of the 4th of July. A few were found after daylight beyond our farthest pickets, and these were brought in, although the ambulances were fired upon, when engaged in this duty, by the enemy, who were within easy range . . A number of horses were killed and wounded, and some ambulances injured . . . I know of no battlefield from which wounded men have been so speedily and so carefully removed, and I have every reason to feel satisfied that their duties could not have been performed better or more fearlessly.
The number of our wounded, . . . amounted to fourteen thousand one hundred and ninety-three. The number of Confederate wounded who fell into our hands was six thousand eight hundred and two; making the total number of wounded thrown by that battle upon this department twenty thousand nine hundred and ninety-five. The wounded of the 1st of July fell into the hands of the enemy, and came under our control on the 4th . . . Instruments and medical supplies belong[ing] to the First and Eleventh Corps were in some instances taken from the medical officers of those corps by the enemy .
Sourced from: "Civil War Medicine: Care & Comfort of the Wounded" by Robert E. Denney
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