The Curious Case of a Surgeon's Subdued Rank
Carte de visite by John A. Whipple of Boston, Mass. John Savage Delavan, an assistant surgeon in the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, wears a unique pair of insignia on the shoulders of his uniform. These shoulder straps lack the thick gold braid around the edges, a style adopted late in the war by Union officers avoiding the crosshairs of rebel sharpshooters.
One might expect this subdued insignia—essentially a form of camouflage— to be worn by a front line officer. But a surgeon?
An 1865 report by Col. Henry L. Abbot of the 1st Connecticut Artillery discusses the efforts of medical personnel to manage and maintain frontline field hospitals, and mentions Delavan by name:
"Advantage has been taken of the comparative stability of the command to have all the regimental sick properly cared for by Surgeon S.W. Skinner, 1st Connecticut Artillery, who has organized one of the best field hospitals I have ever seen. The patients have varied from thirty to seventy in number. By avoiding the sending of those lightly diseased, to General Hospital, much has unquestionably been done to keep up the numbers of the command. The comforts of the patients have been quite unusual for the field, owing to the attention of the Surgeon in charge, and to the efforts of Chaplain S.F. Jarvis 1st Connecticut Artillery, who has actively exerted himself in their behalf."
"Asst. Surgeon J.S. Delavan has devoted himself to the sick of the regiment in the batteries in front of Petersburg, and Asst. Surgeon N. Watson until broken down by his exertions, to those in the command on the lines of Bermuda Hundred. Although so much scattered, I believe few troops have enjoyed as good medical care during this campaign as mine."
Col. Abbot's report makes it clear that Delavan was active on the front lines, and it is therefore understandable why he would wear subdued rank.
Delavan survived the war and prospered as a respected physician. He died in 1885 in a drowning accident at Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks. Delavan was 43. His wife, Helen, survived him.
The Curious Case of a Surgeon's Subdued Rank
Carte de visite by John A. Whipple of Boston, Mass. John Savage Delavan, an assistant surgeon in the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, wears a unique pair of insignia on the shoulders of his uniform. These shoulder straps lack the thick gold braid around the edges, a style adopted late in the war by Union officers avoiding the crosshairs of rebel sharpshooters.
One might expect this subdued insignia—essentially a form of camouflage— to be worn by a front line officer. But a surgeon?
An 1865 report by Col. Henry L. Abbot of the 1st Connecticut Artillery discusses the efforts of medical personnel to manage and maintain frontline field hospitals, and mentions Delavan by name:
"Advantage has been taken of the comparative stability of the command to have all the regimental sick properly cared for by Surgeon S.W. Skinner, 1st Connecticut Artillery, who has organized one of the best field hospitals I have ever seen. The patients have varied from thirty to seventy in number. By avoiding the sending of those lightly diseased, to General Hospital, much has unquestionably been done to keep up the numbers of the command. The comforts of the patients have been quite unusual for the field, owing to the attention of the Surgeon in charge, and to the efforts of Chaplain S.F. Jarvis 1st Connecticut Artillery, who has actively exerted himself in their behalf."
"Asst. Surgeon J.S. Delavan has devoted himself to the sick of the regiment in the batteries in front of Petersburg, and Asst. Surgeon N. Watson until broken down by his exertions, to those in the command on the lines of Bermuda Hundred. Although so much scattered, I believe few troops have enjoyed as good medical care during this campaign as mine."
Col. Abbot's report makes it clear that Delavan was active on the front lines, and it is therefore understandable why he would wear subdued rank.
Delavan survived the war and prospered as a respected physician. He died in 1885 in a drowning accident at Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks. Delavan was 43. His wife, Helen, survived him.