W.G. Freeman's Inspection of Fort Worth, September 7, 1853

Page 5

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Colonel W.G. Freeman, inspection report of Fort Worth, 1853

18.

Subsistence Department—(2d Lt. J.P. Holliday, Adj. Sect.[?] _____[?])

The provisions, of which the supply on hand was
moderate, and stored in rough log buildings, but they appeared
to be in good order. The disbursements are about $300 per month,
principally for the purchase of bacon, flour and fresh beef. The
latter is supplied by contract at 5 cents per pound and issued
twice in ten days, five days issue each time. Bacon, flour and
_____[?], can be bought more advantageously in the vicinity than
they can be shipped from the North. Thus flour delivered at the
fort costs the government nearly $15 per barrel, while it can be
obtained, in sacks, on the spot at $8. The cost of the entire ra-
tion at the fort is 22 cents, seven cents of the amount being added
by the expense of transportation.

Medical Department

Just before my arrival Asst. Surgeon T.H. Williams had
been transferred to another station and the fort was without a
medical officer. The Doctor had taken with him the hospital
records, and the medicines and stores and packed [them] up to be
forwarded to Surgeon Turner, the Medical Purveyor. Under these
circumstances I could obtain very little information in regard
to the hospital department of the fort. The building used for
the sick is of weather-boards, and consists of one large ward
and two small rooms, one of which is the dispensary and the
other the Steward’s dormitory. The sick list, I learn, averages
daily five men, or about 7 per cent of the command, internal-
_____[?] being the most common diseases. Bvt. Maj. Merrill con-
siders the climate temperate and healthful.

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Brevet Lieutenant Colonel W.G. Freeman's Inspection of the 8th Military Department, 1853. Manuscript Collection, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.