Jul 8, 2017 3 min read

Canonsburg is rightly renowned for its Fourth of July parade, one of the largest in Pennsylvania. And for being the birthplace of celebrated crooners Perry Como and Bobby Vinton.

Few recognize it as Jonathan Letterman’s hometown, and that is lamentable. He was a medical and military hero of the highest degree.

Letterman was the medical director of the Army of the Potomac, the most important Union army during the Civil War. His work during the excruciating conflict, pitting countryman against countryman on their home soil, resulted in the saving of many lives, as recounted by the Observer-Reporter’s Barbara Miller.

Dr. Letterman, called “the father of battlefield medicine” by the organization Civil War Trust, essentially instituted a “triage” system of medical treatment – caring for a large number of wounded soldiers during battle. Until then, there was no organized procedure for assisting the wounded.

Triage is believed to have been introduced during the Napoleonic Wars a half-century earlier, but that system was not used during the first year or so of the Civil War. Military tradition called for the uninjured, while under fire, scrambling to remove their fallen comrades.

Battlefield injuries during this bloody war were often horrific. Weaponry was crude, medical care and supplies were often insufficient or nonexistent, and numerous conflicts were contested on farmland, increasing the likelihood of infection or disease. In many instances, the severely wounded were left behind.

Letterman has been credited with setting up field hospitals in local houses and barns and even in tents. He organized ambulance corps, using two- or four-wheeled carts to transport the wounded.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine, based in Frederick. Md., said Letterman’s “cohesive plan of triage, evacuation, hospital and supply organization not only saved the lives of countless Civil War soldiers, it continues to save lives” in battle and civilian life.

The son of a Canonsburg surgeon, Letterman left the army in 1864, 14 months before the war ended. Rea Andrew Redd, a history professor at Waynesburg University, speculates that the carnage eventually overwhelmed the doctor, who moved with his wife to San Francisco, where he became a coroner. Letterman was a mere 48 when he died in 1872.

Redd, also director of the library at Waynesburg University, is working to enhance Letterman’s image. Redd sought and got approval from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to erect a marker honoring Letterman, and has presented that proposal to Canonsburg Borough Council.

The Civil War Medicine museum has sent a letter to council endorsing a memorial for Letterman, saying the borough “should be very proud that one of its own (has) made such an incredible difference in thousands and thousands of lives.”

We agree. The memorial should go up.