Red Cross and Geneva Convention: 

In 1863, Henri Durant wrote a book on the horrors in the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino. He criticized the severe lack in medical aid. This is how the Red Cross arose. They put together relief committees in each nation that agreed to support the Red Cross's initiative. Later in 1864, the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in the Armed Forces was made by the Red Cross. This initiative was provided with 4 legal protection rules. 1) soldiers had the immunity of capture and destruction in the Red Cross establishment of treated wounded and sick, 2) impartial reception and treatment of all fighters, 3) gave protection to all civilians and provided aid, 4) recognition of the Red Cross symbol and the rules to follow with those persons and supplies. Abraham Lincoln didn't vote to put the U.S. in the Red Cross during the Civil War, but he did send observers. In 1882, Clara Barton led the charge to ratify the Geneva Convention innovations of trade affairs for Army Medical Corps officers and established a Red Cross society in 1883.  The Red Cross fulfilled hopes of a medical system for battlefield surgeons. 

 

Florence Nightingale: 

Florence Nightingale went back to London after the Crimean War. After seeing symptoms of diseases that were not in England, Nightingale advocated for more military medicine education. In 1860, the British Army Medical School was established. The French followed the English as the press spread out Nightingale's initiative. Surgeon General Hammond established military medicine schools in 1893 for the American army during the Civil War. This education not only brought up top-tier military medical officers, but also innovations like more hospitals, ambulance modifications, and in the U.S. a non-government organization of United States Sanitary Commissions. 

 

Civil War:

Finally America developed true commissions for Army Medical Corps officers. With the developments from Florence Nightingale, American military medicine was capitalizing on previous efforts. The first Battle of Manassas Junction in the Civil War where Major General George McClellan, the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac, pursued their efforts on the Confederate capital which was a failure and major losses from the battle, sickness, and disease. Major Charles Tripler, the most experienced in operational medicine, was unable to successfully bring medical supplies or evacuate patients where he was then removed from his position. Major Letterman (Father of Battlefield Medicine) was put in his place. Letterman ordered a change to whole system because of the problems with evacuations. An ambulance corps for Army of the Potomac trained with stretchers to move patients efficiently under the chain of command. This system worked until the Battle of Antietnam. Certain hospitals were overfilled with patients while others were underused and critical medical supplies were dangerously low. Letterman established medical directors at the divisional level in each hospital. Regimental aid was the ambulance and amputations had mandatory consultations. Operating teams needed to be pre-selected based on specializations, skills, and experience. All of these suggestions were approved by Lincoln. The next thing Letterman found a problem with was the diet and living conditions of soldiers were inadequate at best. He went to Major General Joseph Hooker to make a formal medical inspector to assure the health of the army. To prevent these an echeloned care was made called the Letterman system in 1864 and was required by law. The Civil War ended in 1865 and these measure left America. 

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Spanish-American War: 

In 1898, there was a small war called the Spanish-American War. This was fought mainly in Cuba and the Philippines where typhoid, yellow fever, and malaria were a first interaction for American soldiers and had no contact it before this time. No organization, little supplies and resources caused an outrage in America. The Reed commission made recommendations for sanitation and mosquito control. This paved the way for the construction of the Panama Canal instead of the Atlantic route where yellow fever death rate was high. Walter Reed is one of the most known Army medical heroes. He pointed out the flaws in the Army medical system and after his death, there was a major re-organization of Army medical support. You might recognize the name Walter Reed from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland with Naval Support.