O is for Olmsted (Blogging Through the Alphabet)

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Frederick Law Olmsted is recognized for "designing American landscape" according to the National Park Service but this was not his only contribution to America. During the American Civil War he was unable to serve due to a carriage accident but he was able to help his nation in another way. He became the General Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission which helped provide relief for as many as 8,000 soldiers by the end of the Civil War.

Start of the United States Sanitary Commission 

During the Crimean War, there was seen a need to help provide better sanitation to help prevent disease and infections. (Florence Nightingale played a large part in the changes in regards to medicine.) During the American Civil War, there were many local aid relief societies throughout the North that attempted to help the soldiers but they weren't really working together. The Unitarian Minister, Reverend Henry Bellows, visualized an organization that would bring all these relief societies together. The Women's Central Association of Relief and Bellows' idea led to the establishment of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) by President Lincoln on June 13, 1861. Now they just needed someone to oversee the USSC. Who could that be? Frederick Law Olmsted was the man.

Why Choose a Designer of Parks? 

Olmsted earned a national reputation with his design of New York City's Central Park. This was an enormous public works project that not only required his skills as a landscape architect but also as an administrator. Can you imagine the amount of organization necessary to oversee this huge project? He learned through his work on Central Park how to encourage workers (even when they were refusing to work), continue even at the objection of superiors, and set in place procedures and protocols to make the organization run smoothly.

What did Olmsted do with the USSC? 

From the first Battle at Bull Run, the USSC questioned the soldiers about conditions before, during, and after the battle – and Olmsted presented these findings. While no one liked hearing about the poor distribution of rations and bad officers, the commission did spark the long journey to improve conditions for troops in the North. This was just the start of Olmsted's impact through the USSC.

I think one of the biggest impacts of Olmsted and the USSC was ensuring that goods and services were collected, stored, and distributed to the front lines where the troops needed them. Olmsted encouraged the public to send their donations of clothing and other necessities to the USSC so they could distribute them.

Olmsted, in addition to overseeing the organization of the distribution of goods, also personally treated soldiers who had been wounded. In the spring of 1862, Olmsted and about 30 medical staff (including surgeons, medical students, and nurses) set up a floating hospital where they treated soldiers wounded in the nearby Peninsula Campaign. During this tenure as the General of the USSC, there were also pamphlets and reports compiled regarding diseases, wound treatment, medicine, and more sent to the front to assist the doctors and staff in treating the soldiers.

The Sanitary Commission sent medicine, food, volunteer nurses, and bandages to the front. They supplied meals and clothing to soldiers at the front and on furlough. They also provided instruction on the placement of latrines to help with sanitation in the camps. 

Digging latrines (image from wpclipart.com)

Olmsted's Own Battles 

As I wrote from the very beginning Olmsted and the USSC were not necessarily making friends when they presented the findings from their questionnaire after the First Battle of Bull Run. The goal of the USSC was to help the soldiers at the front during the American Civil War and while this is a worthy cause there were problems. The Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, was not pleased with the USSC inferring in what he thought was not their concern or business. But even with the potential for obstruction, things slowly improved for the soldiers.

Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (image from wpclipart.com)

The USSC Continues without Olmsted 

On September 1, 1863, Olmsted resigned as the General of the USSC. It was said he was physically and mentally exhausted but he shortly moved west to become the manager of the Rancho Las Mariposas-Mariposa gold mining estate in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The mine was unsuccessful and Olmsted returned to New York. Olmsted would go on to form Olmsted, Vaux, & Co. with Calvert Vaux.

By the end of the war, the United States Sanitary Commission would conduct almost 1,500 camp inspections, treat 1,000 soldiers, bring over 280 local aid societies together, and advise medical staff. All these things greatly improved the lives of the American Civil War soldier in the North. Olmsted, even though he was only general from 1861-1863, was largely responsible for this success.

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