| Description | Letter book containing copies of letters sent by McGrigor when he was chief of the medical staff of the Peninsular army. Includes index at start of volume. [A note on page 1 records that this volume continues from page 292 of letter book D.]
1813
25 April (page 1)
Letter to Commissary General informing him of likely arrival of 500 sick at the new hospital establishment at the convent of Agiar, near Castello Roderigo. Asks him to give orders to the officers in his department to issue what stores, fire wood and provisions may be required.
11 July (page 48)
Letter to Director General forwarding requisition for three months supply of stores of medicines for the Peninsular army, proposing that these should be deposited at Falmouth 'from whence they could be speedily transported to any point of this coast' rather than Lisbon which is 900 miles away. Also notes importance of sending medical officers as well as stores and medicines to the coast instead of Lisbon: 'The want of instruments and materials begins to be felt in the Army'. He has sent Inspector Ferguson to St. Anders [Santander], Bilboa and St. Sebastian to form hospital establishments and report on the situation of these places.
Passages, 3 October (page 102)
Letter to Army Medical Board reporting return of Dr. Neale to England on account of his poor health but commenting favourably on his conduct: 'During a period of emergency when kast year the ewhole sick and wounded of the Army passed thro [sic] Ciudad Rodrigo ; Dr. Neale superintended that large hospital station with great zeal and ability'. Also comments on good conduct of Surgeon Cumin who had assisted at the regimental hospitals of the 3rd Division.
1814
17 January (pages 153-154)
Letter to Lord Wellington reporting deficiency in number of moveable hospital buildings due to capture of three depots with hospital stores, and reporting one which is missing and one which was shipwrecked: 'The particular circumstances of this service have rendered it necessary to have recourse to these buildings, for the accommodation of the sick and wounded on the coast and at the present moment they are urgently required - I beg leave to request that in sending out the thirty more required, they should be more lofty and have a double roof. During the weaker season all of them have admitted rain thro the roof, and it has been found necessary to cover them with tar-paulins. I conceive that by having a double roof to these buildings a cooler temperature could be kept up in them during the summer season'. Notes the great benefits of these moveable hospitals and how it has allowed them to quickly accommodate the sick and wounded and most importantly enabled them to separate and class diseases.
Toulouse, 23 April (page 200)
Letter to commissary general reporting orders received from the commander of the forces to prepare to move the sick and wounded from the hospital station at Toulouse to Bordeaux and asking the commissary general to inform him what transport he can provide to convey the patients.
Toulouse, 24 April (page 201)
Letter reporting arrival of medical officers from England including Deputy Inspector Guthrie and Staff Surgeon Woolriche.
Pages 206, 212 and 214 contain letters relating to medical officers who volunteered or were ordered for service in America.
19 June (pages 226-227)
Letter to Army Medical Board noting that he has completed the arrangements for the embarkation of the sick and stores at Passages and Bordeaux: 'I intend tomorrow to set out on my return to England; [Deputy] Inspector Gunning has been put in orders to conduct the duties until the final arrangements are concluded. I have in so many instances had an opportunity of reporting in the most favourable terms of this officer, that I will add nothing in giving up charge. The Duke of W. thanked the Dept. [deputy or department] in gratifying terms on his taking leave'.
[From page 230 (letter dated 21 June) the letters are signed by Inspector Gunning. There is a gap in the letters from 22 July-3 November 1814 (pages 243-244) when the initals of McGrigor appear again in letters sent from Chelsea.]
Chelsea, 9 November (page 248)
Letter to Army Medical Board regarding the effects of soldiers who died while serving in the Peninsula that were not sent to their corps or were deemed unserviceable or destroyed to prevent the spread of infection. He notes that these effects were sold at public auction in accordance with the orders of the commander of the forces, 'the accounts transmitted to their respective regiments with those of their funeral expenses'.
1815
The copies of letters written by McGrigor from January to June 1815 (pages 260-268) are all sent from Chelsea (the majority to the Army Medical Board) and relate to administrative matters such as the pay of medical staff who served in the Peninsula (for example, see letter dated 20 February, page 264), 'stoppage' returns for men of the Ordnance Department (letter dated 9 May, page 267) or the returns of expenditure of general hospitals (letter dated 3 June, page 268).
Pages 268-382 are blank and the information below is recorded, starting from the back of the volume:
'Abstracts of the Proceedings of Medical Boards on Sick and Wounded Officers, sent to the Adjutant General', September 1813-July 1814. Includes note of date that a board was convened and who their report was sent to, where it took place, the rank, name and regiment of the officer examined, the term of leave granted and where they were to be sent to recuperate (marked under 'Station'). |