Civil War Letter, January 1862, Dr. Meigs Case

 Oneonta Herald, Oneonta, NY, January 15, 1862

Civil War Letter from Dr. Meigs Case

Camp Griffin, Va., January 10th, 1862

Friend Carpenter:  I beg leave through your columns to thank certain patriotic ladies of Oneonta [Otsego Co. NY] for their very acceptable present to the hospital of the 43d Regiment.  The box sent contained a well selected and useful list of articles, and they are already adding to the comfort of our invalids.

Mrs. Moore and others in West Davenport, Delaware County [NY], will also, accept our thanks for a similar gift.

As an interest seems to be taken in our sanitary condition, I will at some future time, send you a copy of our Brigade hospital report.

It occurs to me as I write, that it is precisely five months since I entered upon my duties as assistant Surgeon of the Regiment. during which time, I have been acting Surgeon of the Reg't for four months through the absence of my Senior.

During that time, the other Regiments composing our Brigade have lost by death in hospital, from 12 to 19 men, and one regiment for a long time has reported one-fourth of their entire number off duty by reason of sickness.

I am happy to say, that but one death has taken place in our Regiment during the five months past, and we never have reported more than one sixteenth of our full number off duty by sickness.  Thus it will be seen that we are in a most gratifying condition of health.  The Maine Regiments seem to suffer most and one near us has lost twenty-seven men in three months.

The sickly season, however, is upon us, and I fear that we too shall succumb to the terrible depressing influences of malaria.  Our worst enemy at present, is measles, of which we have had within a brief period, over thirty cases, some of them quite severe and complicated with bronchitis pneumonia, &c, &c.  Again, thanking the good people of my native region for their kind remembrances of the sick soldiers, I am Respectfully, Meigs Case, Surgeon, 43d Regt. N.Y.S.V.