Charles Garrison, M.D.¸ and the Civil War in Swedesboro, NJ
By Ben Carlton
In 1862, Doctors Charles Garrison and Luther Halsey drew lots to see who would leave his practice in Swedesboro to serve in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion. Halsey drew the short straw (or was it the long one?) and began a distinguished career in his country’s service, becoming one of the chief surgeons of the II Corps, Army of the Potomac. Garrison stayed behind to attend the medical needs of the community; or so the story is told. Unfortunately, Dr. Garrison makes no mention of this in his diary, simply recording in his laconic style on 25 August 1862: “Dr. Halsey, my competitor here for several years, has been appointed Surgeon in the 7th Regiment of N.J. Volunteers.” Further, it requires somewhat of a stretch of the imagination to believe that the sexagenarian, Garrison, would enter the service over the 29-year-old Halsey. After all, war is considered a young man’s game (the average age of a soldier in the Civil War was just 25 years young). And Dr. Halsey had had real wartime experience, having served as an assistant surgeon with the British fleet at the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He was the obvious choice.
Although the story of the physicians drawing lots is most probably apocryphal, it certainly was in keeping with Charles Garrison’s character, a man who “took the deepest interest in everything pertaining to the late Civil War.”[1] Dr. Garrison was a staunch Republican with strong anti-slavery sentiment, unwavering in his loyalty to President Lincoln, even during the darkest days of the war. Garrison followed the movements of the armies with great interest. He pored over the newspapers assiduously for war news (as did Confederate General Lee, who it was said, regularly scanned the columns of northern newspapers for intelligence before plotting his army’s next move). Making this possible was a free-ranging corps of correspondents on the battlefields, who could transmit their stories via telegraph to their editors in northern cities, where the latest war news would hit the streets the next day. Despite exaggerated accounts of battles, inflated casualty figures, and some erroneous reports appearing in the papers, Dr. Garrison was able to get a generally accurate picture of how the war was progressing on battlefields far from Swedesboro.
Anyone reading Garrison’s diary would probably form the impression that, if not for his age, the Doctor would be caring for the wounded on the battlefield, if not actually shouldering a musket on the frontlines. Yet, Garrison took on an active role on the home front. In April 1861, he was appointed to the Woolwich Township committee to aid the soldiers awaiting orders at Camp Stockton, personally donating $20 “to fit out our volunteers.” Later, with winter fast approaching, he gave $1 towards the purchase of India rubber “gum” blankets for the New Jersey troops. The Ladies Aid Society met regularly at the Garrisons’ home to plan fundraisers, gather lint for bandages, and knit woolen socks for the soldiers. Mrs. Mary Jane Garrison (nee Hendrickson), whom Garrison described as “my saucy young wife,” was very active in the society. (“Jenny” was 34 years old in 1865. Garrison’s first wife, Hannah, died in 1853.) After the bloody Battle of Gettysburg, Dr. Garrison shipped “a box of wines, jellies, etc.” to Pennsylvania for the relief of the wounded and suffering soldiers.
Dr. Garrison regularly treated furloughed sick and wounded soldiers in his home. Men like Frederick Nehls of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment, sent home with a shattered left arm, or Benjamin Gill of the 9th New Jersey Volunteers, shot through the neck and discharged from the army, are just two examples of the many wounded soldiers who received medical attention from Dr. Garrison.
While caring for the needs of invalid soldiers, Dr. Garrison also had to manage an extensive medical practice, presumably enlarged by the absence of Dr. Halsey. Dr. Garrison’s practice covered “a large space of the country” and often kept him on the road when he wasn’t preparing medicines to treat the sick and injured. As for his skill as a physician, it was noted that “As a diagnostician and a [prognosticator] he was remarkable, seeming to see almost intuitively just what was the matter, and the probable results.” [2]
Dr. Garrison treated various maladies that were infecting the citizens of Swedesboro, Woolwich, and surrounding areas. Garrison believed that typhoid fever required little or no medicine – better to give none at all than to give too much – but juicy beef tea, milk, and a dose of castor oil at the onset proved successful in most cases. He prescribed liberal doses of brandy for a new disease in the county he called “spotted fever.” As for the numerous bowel afflictions that cropped up every summer, opium seemed to do the trick.
For a time, Dr. Garrison kept a stable of five fast horses in order to keep pace with the demands of his practice. Of course, traveling about the countryside to reach his patients was not without its hazards. “The left hind wheel of my sulky broke short off today,” recorded Dr. Garrison. And he noted in another entry, “Very slippery for man or horse.” “Julian [Dr. Garrison’s horse] fell down today and cracked shaft.” And on 11 November 1865, “Ran against a cart and broke my axletree.”
Dr. Garrison was a leading figure in community affairs, and was personally involved as a vestryman at his church, Trinity Episcopal, of Swedesboro. The rector of the parish, the Reverend Henry Tullidge, had been asked to step down in 1862 because of his apparent southern sympathies. Tullidge offered his resignation, to take effect when he found another pastorate. Dr. Garrison was involved in the search to replace the Reverend Tullige, whom Garrison described as a “Red-eyed, thorough going, dyed-in-the-wool, out-and-out Democrat and rabid secessionist.” It seems that Tullige had the temerity to criticize President Lincoln in the sanctity of Garrison’s own home, declaring that Lincoln was to blame for bringing on “this unholy and wicked Civil War,” for which he would be “forever damned.” Garrison recorded his reply: “I merely and mildly told him I thought he would be the better for a little hanging!”
Doctor Garrison had no charity for southern sympathizers or copperheads. He also wrote disparaging comments about some of his neighbors, particularly the proprietor of Plummer’s Hotel, one James Plummer. After Plummer’s son, Ben, was reported missing in action after the Battle of Chancellorsville and presumed dead, Garrison wrote in his diary, “Poor fellow. He was never found and Jimmy Plummer gave his son to the country – the only thing he was ever known to give for anything or anyone.”
Dr. Charles Garrison was a man of great character, a civic-minded patriot, and a true pillar of the community. By 1863, a year that marked pivotal Union victories on the field of battle, Dr. Garrison had already been serving the Swedesboro community for over 40 years. Though he lost the lottery with Dr. Halsey, Swedesboro would have lost more without the invaluable services of Dr. Charles Garrison during the War of the Rebellion.
Cushing T. and Sheppard EE. History of Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of Their Prominent Citizens. Philadelphia, Pa.: J.B. Lippincott & Co.; reprinted June 1974: Gloucester County Historical Society, Woodbury, NJ: p. 146.
Ibid.; p. 146
Ibid.; p. 145.
