Moore, John (1826-1907) to unknown
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04195.04 Author/Creator: Moore, John (1826-1907) Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 19 September 1862 Pagination: 2 p. ; 20.3 x 12.7 cm. Order a Copy
Written immediately following the battle of Antietam (17-18 September 1862), after Lee's troops had withdrawn across the Potomac. They rested after the previous battle before pursuing the rebels, overtaking their rear as they were crossing the water. He has worked with the rebel wounded left in the surrounding farm houses. "They probably lost 15000 men in wounded and killed. Our own loss is perhaps more than half that. It was one of the most magnificent battles of the war. The invasion of Maryland has thus ended ingloriously and their Army has left very greatly demoralized...No men ever did better fighting than was done in this battle by our troops. They are all in fine spirits."
After serving in the Utah War, Moore returned east, assigned to the Marine Hospital in Cincinnati until August 1862. As a newly promoted major, he transferred to the Army of the Potomac, assigned as medical director of the Central Grand division, where he participated in the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and in Chancellorsville as medical director of the 5th Corps. In June 1863 Moore became the medical director of the Department of the Tennessee, assisting in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and Sherman's march on Atlanta, where he acted as medical director of the armies of Georgia, Tennessee, and Sherman's army, and was given the rank of lieutenant colonel and then colonel. Moore saw the end of the war in Missouri in St. Louis and Vicksburg.
Following the war Moore served two years at Fort Wadsworth and Fort Columbus in New York Harbor then practiced as a surgeon in the New York City area. After short stints in Europe, Virginia, Texas, Washington, and California, he was named Surgeon General in 1886. He retired in 1890 and continued living an active life in Washington, D.C. until his death in 1907.
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