Hillsborough (NC) Recorder
August 7, 1861
Page 4
AMBULANCES
An ambulance is a
moving hospital attached to any army for the purpose of
rendering
immediate assistance to sick or wounded soldiers. It will perhaps interest the reader to have a
description of the ambulances captured by our troops after the battle of Manassas:
The
body is fifty inches wide, and is divided into two compartments, each one
entered by means of a door at the rear.
The driver sits outside, entirely away from the sufferer, and is protected
from inclement weather by an adjustable calash top. The ambulance has four steel springs resting
on the flexible hickory shafts, and the bed on which the patient lies is also
supported by four other steel springs, to which are attached small wheels to
facilitate the movement in and out of a wounded soldier, without his
rising. The bed and mattress is a
decidedly ingenious arrangement, and should be seen to be fully understood. Either end can be raised at any elevation
desirable, made into a good pillow at an instant. A small trapdoor in the centre of the bed,
worked by means of a spring and bolt, affords a convenience to the sufferer
that can easily be appreciated. If the
weather is warm, and the sun too hot to admit of hoisting curtains, a turn of a
button unloosens a section of the side which drops down upon its hinges, and
the cool air can pass through (and over the inmate,)
while the curtains still shut out the rays of the sun. Several also have a rack over the bed, where
trunks or any clothing desirable can be placed, and everything that would
conduce to the comfort of the wounded be immediately
within his reach. In fact, the new
ambulance is a complete moveable hospital, in which the sufferer can rest at
ease, forgetful that he is in the camp or upon the deserted battlefield.
[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]
