Camp Letterman

In the aftermath of the battle, area farms, homes, churches and other buildings were pressed into service as makeshift hospitals. The government acted quickly to create a general field hospital. It opened on July 22. It was named Camp Letterman in honor of Jonathan Letterman, M.D., the "Father of Battlefield Medicine". The tents of the complex were erected east of Gettysburg. Surgeons and nurses began caring for soldiers from both sides of the conflict. Those needing more advanced care were sent to larger hospitals. By the camps closing the hospital cared for more than 20,000 soldiers.