A letter to the Commissioners of Military Enquiry, containing a refutation of some statements made by Mr. Keate, Surgeon General to the Forces, respecting the Medical Department of the Army / [Robert Jackson].

  • Jackson, Robert, 1750-1827.
Date:
1808
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to the Commissioners of Military Enquiry, containing a refutation of some statements made by Mr. Keate, Surgeon General to the Forces, respecting the Medical Department of the Army / [Robert Jackson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of what relates to the subject of medical staff during the time 1 acted as chief in the medical department in St. St. Domingo. Domingo, or other places. I mentioned in my Letter of the 15th June that, when I became senior officer in the medical department in St. Domingo, 1 broke up the ge¬ neral hospital establishment, and, of course, set the hospi¬ tal staff at liberty. This was executed completely only in the district of Port an Prince w here I principally resided; and, as it is evident that there was now a superfluity of hospital officers at this place, and as I recommended a regimental surgeon to be promoted to the hospital rank at this time, it is fit and proper that I here state the reason for which this was done, lest the surgeon general should adduce the fact as a charge of inconsistency, or accommo¬ dation of the service to my own partial purposes. It is shortly this: there was a large colonial force in St. Do¬ mingo, the surgeons of which were French; and, as the colonials were frequently employed on expeditions or en- terprizes, and w^ere, of course, frequently engaged with the enemy, I thought it proper that a British officer of the medical staff should be attached to them, for the pur¬ pose of superintending the concerns of the sick, particu¬ larly in the field. This was my view; and, in execution of my purpose, I recommended for this appointment a person who spoke the French language perfectly, who was acquainted with the manners and character of the French people, and whom I believed to be the best capable of ex¬ ecuting the duty for the benefit of His Majesty’s service. Besides this, I recommended no augmentation of the hos¬ pital staff while I remained in St. Domingo; and when I made the alluded to recommendation, I noticed, in the memorandum, that I had not made it because there was want of hospital officers; (on the contrary, it was expressed on the face of the memorandum that there was a super¬ fluity ;)