ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORPS

Few military organizations can look upon their histories with the same degree of pride and awe as the Navy Hospital Corps. Since the establishment of the Navy medical department in Colonial times and the commissioning of the Hospital Corps a century ago, Hospital Corpsmen and their forerunners have proven themselves ready to support Marines and Sailors by giving them aid whenever and wherever necessary. This level of dedication has remained a strong current running through the Corps' history, even as the tools and techniques used by its members have evolved.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR
The first direction given to the organization of Navy medicine consisted of only one article in the Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies of North America of 1775. Article 16 stated:

Aconvenient place shall be set apart for sick or hurt men, to be removed with their hammocks and bedding when the surgeon shall advise the same to be necessary: and some of the crew shall be appointed to attend to and serve them and to keep the place clean. The cooper shall make buckets with covers and cradles if necessary for their use.

Interestingly, the cooper (or barrel-maker), whose skills could be used to make bedpans, had a more detailed job description than did any kind of trained medical assistant.

A typical medical section was usually limited to two, perhaps three men: the surgeon, the surgeon's mate, and possibly an enlisted man. The surgeon was a physician. The surgeon's mate, usually a doctor as well, held status like that of a modern warrant officer but signed on only for a particular cruise. Although surgeons'mates were historically viewed as part of the Medical Corps, their position and responsibilities appear to be more equivalent to those of today's senior Hospital Corpsmen.

Few things changed in medical techniques and organization between 1775 and 1814, the period covering America's first naval wars. Among the less dramatic responsibilities of caring for the noncombat ill and injured were feeding and personal care of the sick. The simple daily ration of porridge, or "loblolly," was sure to be carried down to those in the medical space by untrained attendants.

SURGEON'S MATES AND LOBLOLLY BOYS

Congress approved an act on March 2, 1799, which copied the words of the Continental Congress'medical department Article 16 of 1775 exactly. As a result, there was still no title or job description for enlisted medical personnel. The nickname "loblolly boy" was in common use for so many years that it became the official title in Navy Regulations of 1814. The loblolly boy's job, described in the Regulations of 1818, included the following:

The surgeon shall be allowed a faithful attendant to issue, under his direction, all supplies and provisions and hospital stores, and to attend the preparation of nourishment for the sick. . . . Thesurgeon's mates shall be particularly careful in directing the loblolly boy to keep the cockpit clean, and every article therein belonging to the Medical Department. . . . The surgeon shall prescribe for casual cases on the gun deck every morning at 9 o'clock, due notice having been previously given by his loblolly boy by ringing of a bell.

SURGEON'S STEWARDS AND LOBLOLLY BOYS

A new senior enlisted medical rate, surgeon's steward, was introduced in the ensuing decades. The term is first seen in 1841 in Navy pay charts, but it appears that the new billet was only allowed on larger ships. By April 1, 1843, the Navy Department issued an order allowing surgeon's stewards to be assigned to brigs and schooners. The relative importance of medical Sailors was hereby increased. Surgeon's stewards ranked second in seniority among the ship's petty officers, next only after the master-at-arms.

SURGEON'S STEWARDS AND NURSES
The year 1861 brought civil war to this country, and-due to the enormous expansion of the Navy because of the war-changes and developments in the medical department ensued. On June 19, 1861, a Navy Department circular order established a new name for the loblolly boy.

In addition to a surgeon's steward, 1 nurse would be allowed for ships with a complement of less than 200; 2 nurses would be allowed for ships with a complement of more than 200; and sufficient nurses would be allowed on receiving ships in a number proportionate to the necessities of the vessel.

While the shipboard medical department changed the titles of its personnel, new techniques in mass care of the sick and wounded were also developed. A captured sidewheel steamer was repaired and modified to care for patients. Refinements to the ship included bathrooms, kitchens, and laundries-even elevators and the facilities to carry 300 tons of ice. On December 26, 1862, the USS Red Rover became the first Navy vessel specifically commissioned as a hospital ship. The medical complement included 30 surgeons and male nurses, as well as four nuns.