Front of note

Small note written on front and back by Confederate Dr. William Davis Ewing (4” x 1 ½”) asking that some clothes and a trunk (if it can be locked) be sent to him by express office and to be sure to get a receipt, should they be lost. Instructs it be directed to W. D. Ewing, Wayside Hospital, Care of Dr. Bass, Surgeon in Charge. He is afraid of his clothes being stolen, as that is a common problem in the camps. Heavily detailed and interesting bio included. Subject of one of my columns for January 2019. $100. 

William Davis Ewing was born in Rockbridge County, Va., in 1828, he was a 30- year-old doctor practicing in Augusta County, Va., when he enlisted as a private on 8/2/61, at Staunton, Va., mustering into Co. G, 52nd Virginia Infantry. He attended Washington College, the University of Virginia and Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. [Per Ewing's own words, he was concerned that he had graduated from medical college in the North]. According to the records he served as an infantry private until April 1862, when he was detailed as a hospital steward, and then returned to his regiment in August 1862. In the fall of 1862, he was detailed as Assistant Surgeon, and later served as Acting Hospital Steward, from Jan. 1863 to Jan. 1864. He then returned to his regiment again, and was captured on Sept. 19, 1864, at the Battle of Winchester, Va. He was sent to the West’s Buildings Hospital, at Baltimore, Md., until his exchange on Feb. 2, 1865. After the war he returned to his medical practice.

Wayside hospitals were formed across the South during the Civil War as means to care for sick and wounded Confederate soldiers traveling throughout the states. Usually situated at depots or other railroad stopping points, wayside facilities provided a range of services to soldiers in transit. Most offered meals and basic nursing, while larger wayside hospitals contained overnight accommodations and were staffed with physicians or surgeons. All wayside hospitals in the state originated through private means, usually the efforts of local women and relief organizations. Although a few larger facilities were eventually placed under the supervision of Confederate medical authorities, all wayside hospitals depended in large measure on private donations of food, clothing, bandages, medicine, and labor. No other city had more Confederate hospitals except for Richmond. Three rail lines terminated in Lynchburg: Virginia & Tennessee Railroad from the southwest, the Orange & Alexandria Railroad from the north, and Southside Railroad from Richmond.

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