The Diverse Career of Dr. Joseph Howland Bill

In September of 1862, the city of Frederick became what was described as “one vast hospital” after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Many Union surgeons worked tirelessly tending to the thousands of wounded soldiers coming into the city via ambulance from the battlefields. These surgeons often took on many jobs during their careers and worked in other locations throughout the war. One of these surgeons with a particularly interesting story was Dr. Joseph Howland Bill.

Joseph Howland Bill was born in Philadelphia on February 9, 1837. He received his degree at Princeton University in 1855 and then attended Jefferson Medical College. During that time, he received clinical experience by working at a Philadelphia hospital with his uncle, Silas Weir Mitchell, who would later become a pioneer in the study of neurology. After graduation, Bill joined the U.S. Army, was commissioned as an assistant surgeon, and in 1860 was assigned to Fort Defiance, New Mexico. He was a field surgeon and in charge of the ambulances during the Battle of Valverde—one of the westernmost battles of the Civil War. It was during this time that he wrote his 22-page essay, “Notes on Arrow Wounds,” published in the American Journal of Medical Sciences in 1862.

From “Notes on Arrow Wounds” essay by Dr. Joseph H. Bill, U.S. Surgeon

In less than a year Bill was transferred back east, where he administered an emergency hospital in Washington, D.C. and served as a surgeon at the Second Battle of Bull Run or Manassas. Bill then followed the army to western Maryland, where he was ordered to establish a general hospital in Frederick after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam in September 1862. General Hospital #3 was one of the larger hospitals in Frederick as far as the number of staff and buildings. Bill had a staff consisting of nine surgeons and assistant surgeons, two hospital stewards, 65 male nurses, and 14 cooks. This did not include female nurses or volunteers.

In February 1863, Bill was scheduled to be transferred to hospital duty in Cumberland and Clarysville, Maryland, but was instead sent to the Medical Purveyor’s Office in New York. The Medical Purveyor was responsible for obtaining and distributing medicines and medical supplies to the Union Army. Bill was ordered by Surgeon General William Hammond to conduct an inspection of the E.R. Squibb manufacturing plant, one of several privately operated plants making medicines. As a result of Bill’s detailed report on the facility and his overall positive rating of both the personnel and medicines produced, Hammond contracted the Squibb Company to provided medicine to the U.S. Army.

E. R. Squibb Co. Hospital Label (medicalantiques.com)

As the war progressed, private manufacturers and suppliers could not keep up with the demand, so the army decided to build their own facilities. Bill was soon appointed medical officer in charge of the U.S. Army Medical Laboratory at Astoria, New York. Hammond ordered him to begin the “bottling of liquors and the preparation of powders, extracts, and tinctures.” Bill was also still serving on the Medical Examining Board in New York City and was forced to travel back and forth between the two locations to perform all of his assigned duties.

By the end of 1863, Bill had the laboratory up and running and was producing a full capacity of medicines—83 items listed on the medical supply table. In 1864, 22 additional medicines were added to the list, including chloroform. Except for two hospital stewards, all of the employees were civilians, including almost 100 women. Bill was responsible for not only overseeing the production and packaging of the medicines, but he also had to be sure that the supplies of opium and liquor were not used, stolen or sold by the employees. On February 13, 1865, a fire destroyed the laboratory, Bill’s office, and part of the medicine stock. A decision was made not to rebuild the facility, and Bill was awarded the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel for his “faithful and meritorious service.”

Appointment to Board to Retire Disabled Officers (National Archives)

Bill was transferred to the other U.S. Army Medical Laboratory in Philadelphia in January 1866. The workforce was much smaller now that the Civil War was over, but the laboratory was still manufacturing, packaging, and shipping medications to the U.S. Army. The laboratory eventually shut down in April 1868, and Bill requested a transfer to the Pacific Northwest. Bill continued in the Army, serving as a surgeon on the Board to Retire Disabled Officers until his death on July 21, 1885, in New York.

Sources

Bill, Joseph Howland. “Notes on Arrow Wounds,” American Journal of Medical Sciences, 154, 1892.

Flannery, Michael A. Civil War Pharmacy: A History: Second Edition, Southern Illinois University Press, 2017.

Harrington, Hugh T. “Battle Wounds: Never Pull an Arrow Out of a Body,” Techniques & Tech for allthingsliberty.com, 2013.

Smith, George Winston. Medicines for the Union Army: The United States Army Laboratories During the Civil War, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2012.

About the Author

Tracey McIntire earned her BA in English at Rivier College in Nashua, NH. She is Lead Educator at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, site manager of the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, and an interpretive volunteer at Antietam National Battlefield. She is also an active Civil War living historian, where she portrays a woman soldier in various guises.